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your money pit? dude your 16 you dont have any money.
a rust bucket is always a rust bucket. a high milage car and a guy that cant fix it dont go well together. everyone on this board has learned these lessons and now you will.
its funny in 5 minutes you could bolt a junk yard cluster in there for 20 bucks and fix your problem or at least troubleshoot.
at least you bought a trans am and not a neon.
its called learning, sorry no one in my family does anything with cars, and i do. Its called learning, everyone has to start somewhere. You dont know what my finacial situation is so dont act like you do. If you dont have anything else to do other than troll and flame me for showing my project and asking questions the get the **** out of my thread.
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enjoy the car. i still have my 85 trans am that i bought in 88 when i was 18 almost your age. its 100% rust free and i will have it till i die and give it to my unborn son.
it was just advice i would give my own son if i had one. i was taught not to buy anything unless i had my own cash in my hand. alot of people dont do this and now in the usa 5 million people have lost there jobs and everyone is loosing there houses and cars.
spend spend spend. debt debt debt. might as well start early.
was only trying to help
take care
Well....better read up on the T5 threads. They just aren't known to live well behind big horsepower. If it were me, I would just get it running decent, make it look like something, and enjoy the damn thing. Its great that you are learning, but its supposed to be fun, and if you keep on with "well, I'll do that...." and then "well, I want that now" you'll end up with a project that just never gets off the ground or is always in pieces. I have a couple that are like that, and cars are no fun up on blocks! I think you should paint the car like you planned (assuming the underneath is still good, that rust in the door looks nasty!), keep it running, and plan yourself a nice driveline upgrade to do all at once. Even if the engine grenades in the meantime, I'd probably just slap a used 305 in it until I knew what I wanted to replace it with. Watch the local classifieds, there are good deals out there if you wait and know what you are doing/looking for. Also, I don't care what body guy you spoke to said, the bondo you stuck in the door WILL fall out, eventually. Bondo is for fixing shallow dents or other imperfections. Metal or lead is for filling holes. Keep your eyes out for another door shell, I wouldn't waste paint on one that's rusty like that, there is probably a bunch more inside the door. Enjoy your learning experience, but don't forget to always look for simple solutions to your problems...you'll spend less money that way
Well....better read up on the T5 threads. They just aren't known to live well behind big horsepower. If it were me, I would just get it running decent, make it look like something, and enjoy the damn thing. Its great that you are learning, but its supposed to be fun, and if you keep on with "well, I'll do that...." and then "well, I want that now" you'll end up with a project that just never gets off the ground or is always in pieces. I have a couple that are like that, and cars are no fun up on blocks! I think you should paint the car like you planned (assuming the underneath is still good, that rust in the door looks nasty!), keep it running, and plan yourself a nice driveline upgrade to do all at once. Even if the engine grenades in the meantime, I'd probably just slap a used 305 in it until I knew what I wanted to replace it with. Watch the local classifieds, there are good deals out there if you wait and know what you are doing/looking for. Also, I don't care what body guy you spoke to said, the bondo you stuck in the door WILL fall out, eventually. Bondo is for fixing shallow dents or other imperfections. Metal or lead is for filling holes. Keep your eyes out for another door shell, I wouldn't waste paint on one that's rusty like that, there is probably a bunch more inside the door. Enjoy your learning experience, but don't forget to always look for simple solutions to your problems...you'll spend less money that way
this is waht i was looking for thank you. I have decieded to paint it, but paint has to wait like a month due to some unforseen circumstances, but i went to summit and bought guages im working on getting the dash all cut out and stuff, i bough mechanical guages and i think i shouldve gotten electrical??
Fair enough...mine looks worse, and I'm going to drive it all summer as is. Yes, you should have bought electrical, though they are more expensive. Actually, any decent gauge I have been looking at is damn expensive. I like the Autometer Cobalt myself. If you decide to use those mech. gauges, DO NOT cut the line to the temp sensor to feed it through the firewall. You will need to make or find two holes in the firewall, one for the oil pressure line feed, the other for the temp sensor feed, if you are running those two gauges, which I suspect you are. But like I said before, there is NO real good reason for the factory gauges to go for a dump without some other issues in the car. Bad sensors and bad grounds are my first guess. The stuff is just not that complicated. Hell, I probably HAVE a dash I could test and send down for you. The other downfall to mechanical gauges is you can end up with oil all inside the car if the oil pressure feed line breaks or the fittings loosen off.
idk why they dont work, but i wanted new guages anyway too. I love the cobalts but they were wayyyy out of my price range, they were gonna be 900, i went with the phantoms and paid 500. Im going to take them back and get electrical tomorrow. Its so nice living an hour away from summit!
Im gonna end up getting leds to go in it, and change the colors to blue for it.
If I lived that close to summit, I would be constantly broke! At least when you run elec. gauges, you only need one hole in the firewall for all the wires, and I *think* your existing sensors should all work. Do they supply new sensors with the gauges? that would be very handy. If you wanted to be real slick, you could get a wiring diagram and wire the gauges directly into the existing dash wires, then you don't have to run a whole wack of extra wires through the dash. Just an idea.
I just took the stock gauges out of my 85 and swapped them for the 140speedo. Could have sold you my old cluster and I know that all the gauges work. Odometer doesn't really work though. Keep up the good work. Have you thought about going with a t56? It can handle a lot more than the t5. Should be threads all over telling you how to do the swap.
If I lived that close to summit, I would be constantly broke! At least when you run elec. gauges, you only need one hole in the firewall for all the wires, and I *think* your existing sensors should all work. Do they supply new sensors with the gauges? that would be very handy. If you wanted to be real slick, you could get a wiring diagram and wire the gauges directly into the existing dash wires, then you don't have to run a whole wack of extra wires through the dash. Just an idea.
Yeah i am constantly broke, anytime i get money its time to make a trip to summit lol. See i was trying to see if anyone had a wiring diagram because thats what i wanted to do and not have to run all new wires, so im gonna check my haynes repair manual tonight, if anyone has a diagram PLEASE post it and help me out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rdog30
I just took the stock gauges out of my 85 and swapped them for the 140speedo. Could have sold you my old cluster and I know that all the gauges work. Odometer doesn't really work though. Keep up the good work. Have you thought about going with a t56? It can handle a lot more than the t5. Should be threads all over telling you how to do the swap.
Yeah ive read a little about the t56 swap, but if i do that i will throw in an LS1 and i think i would rather stick with the small blocks and a 383.
Let me see what I can do. I have the GM manual for an 89 and a 91, and a scanner. I'll try to get it to you by Friday night (email), no guarantees, otherwise, it will be Sunday. The 89 will be what I send, thought I think they are all the same thing, or nearly so.
yeah they basically are the same thing but i think i got the wiring chart now, so i might not need it. And to wire them in i think im just gonna take the wires to the prongs the stock guages used because im keeping that plastic thing in there.
With all the rust, have you pulled the carpet? Thirds are famous for the floorboards rusting out. Also, I am sure your parents friends gave you a good deal, did you take it anywhee else for additional estmates. Plus for someone that wants to learn, that car sure is making alot of trips to the dealer. First thing you want to learn is a dealer will jack your *** up. Find a small garage that will deal with you. I have one up the street that worked on my car during slow times and cut me a hell of a break. I have to agree with a couple of people, the fun is finding deals and slowly putting it together. Your going to take out a loan for a 20 year old car, with a 20 year old motor, trans and drive trane. Good luck, if someone rear ends you or you wreck it, the insurance will give you 500 bucks for it. But hey, it looks nice. Dont forget about your girlfriend.
appreciate the kind words, and yes i have been told on other forums the shiney doesnt work, so im either gonna re paint it or make another and have two. The nice thing about the dealer is i know its gettting done right and everyone there knows us, becuase weve been there for 8 years now. It only goes in for things that i know i cant fix. Like the window problem is because a clip broke off and a glass guy has to fix it, i cant do that myself. And no more girlfriend so im in the clear there
Dude, don't let these old people rain on your parade. You're young, ignorant, and adventurous. That's the whole fun. You'll never learn if you don't get out there and make mistakes.
I love seeing a young kid due alot of work himself.Being a gearhead since 16 myself its a disease.Keep up the good work and take your time with things.cluster looks pretty good i do agree with the satin or flat paint idea.you could also use a flat textured paint.Look for good used parts alot of guys here will definitly help.
thanks everyone, unfortunatley its been sitting in the driveway becasue of the blown intake gasket. Lately ive been putting most of my money into my grand am getting stuff for it so it will look nice for summer and senior pictures. Im hoping to have the trans am painted still and hopefully before pics. Starting here soon im gonna start working on her again and make some progress.
