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History / OriginalityGot a question about 1982-1992 Camaro or Firebird history? Have a question about original parts, options, RPO codes, when something was available, or how to document your car? Those questions, answers, and much more!
I haven't done anything about the oil leak but I have replaced the driver's door handle, cracked arm rest sleeve and lubed up the power door lock.
I also ordered some of this:
I have power washed, scrubbed, degreased, etc, the undercarriage of this car so many times I've lost count and I still can't get it to look good - even though it's EXPONENTIALLY better than how I got it, it's still not what I want. So I'm gonna give this stuff a try.
I think it's time some of these companies started sending me free samples.
I haven't done anything about the oil leak but I have replaced the driver's door handle, cracked arm rest sleeve and lubed up the power door lock.
I also ordered some of this:
I have power washed, scrubbed, degreased, etc, the undercarriage of this car so many times I've lost count and I still can't get it to look good - even though it's EXPONENTIALLY better than how I got it, it's still not what I want. So I'm gonna give this stuff a try.
I think it's time some of these companies started sending me free samples.
I was cleaning out the garage and figure I'd try out the Bare Bones today. It'd be better if I jacked the car up or put it on a lift, but too lazy and just did a small section on the driver's side front suspension.
Before:
During:
It's currently dripping purple droplets on a piece of cardboard in my garage. You're supposed to let it dry and wipe off. I'll get a pic of that later.
Oh, and lest you guys think I've ignored my undercarriage, I can assure you that I've power washed and scrubbed it at least a dozen times. It's a combo of tough Minnesota dirt/clay and dealer undercoating. My driveway used to run light brown with all the dirt I've taken off the undercarriage....
Looks like it gives about the same effect as tire foam.
Gunk Gel and Mineral Spirits does a commendable job at loosening aftermarket undercoating. Until the undercoating is removed it'll capture dirt and turn brown just like tire sidewalls.
Looks like it gives about the same effect as tire foam.
Gunk Gel and Mineral Spirits does a commendable job at loosening aftermarket undercoating. Until the undercoating is removed it'll capture dirt and turn brown just like tire sidewalls.
I've actually tried tire foam under there. Doesn't do much.
I've got a can of Gunk Gel. I did a little spot. It worked well on the undercoating, but also started melting my asphalt driveway.
I agree, the best way is to remove all of the undercoating. But man, what a big, messy, tedious job that would be. I dread it.
Short of stripping off all that undercoating, which while exposed to rural Minnesota's gravel and dirt roads has turned a gross rusty tan, I will accept a nice dark, homogeneous blackish, which it appears this product will give me.
Same with my asphalt. I dripped some Gunk Gel on it and it was mushy for months.
Maybe if you pull up the asphalt there are hardwood floors underneath?
I de-undercoated my project Firebird last spring. Pretty much the entire spring. Filled a couple kitchen size garbage bags with blackened paper towels. Wasn't much fun at all, but the result was worth it. I've gotta do my Iroc next, and I'm not looking forward to it.
Charlie, I used the Gunk Gel on my car. I put down a blue tarp, parked on it, jacked up the rear as high as I could get it, sprayed the under carriage with the gunk gel, let it sit and sprayed it off with a pressure washer. The pressure washer should dilute it enough that it shouldn't damage the driveway. I then threw the tarp away!!!
Charlie, I used the Gunk Gel on my car. I put down a blue tarp, parked on it, jacked up the rear as high as I could get it, sprayed the under carriage with the gunk gel, let it sit and sprayed it off with a pressure washer. The pressure washer should dilute it enough that it shouldn't damage the driveway. I then threw the tarp away!!!
That seems like the easiest way to do it. Let chemistry do the hard work, then blast it away!
I've been driving it around lately. It's really satisfying to do a few things and have a more pleasant driving experience. Things like, change the water pump and car runs cooler. Change the door handle and door opens nicer. Clean and lube the power door lock mechanism and locks work better/smoother. Change the heater control switch and no more maddening hissing. Apply leather sealer on steering wheel and no more sticky feel.
Techron and MMO haven't fixed the gas gauge, though.
Charlie, I needed to replace my fuel gauge when I had an issue. I don't remember what you said you were having issues with, but mine was dancing all over the place.
Scott, I think my sending unit is gummed up. The gauge was stuck on beyond full. After some Techron concentrate and MMO in the tank, needle has started to move between 3/4 and full. Some of the guys on the C5 forum have this problem with the sending unit. Many have cured it with a few tank fulls treated with Techron.
So, let's talk door handles. I bought a door handle off of eBay a couple of years ago. It wasn't the cheapest one either. Anyway, it sat on my shelf for all that time.
One evening a couple months ago, I had a couple friends in my garage. We were doing something and finished. I said, "hey, let me throw this handle on here really quick". "Really Quick", that's what I thought. Soon, the three of us were working on this damned door handle. We finally realized that it wouldn't fit and additionally the clip on it was from a passenger door. What a POS part!
I finally said, forget it, I'll just order another one. My one friend said, no let me take it home and modify it. He enjoys that fiddly stuff. He stopped by the next morning after he had modded it with his grinder, changed the clip and the speed nuts. It went right on.
I wonder how many door's sheetmetal have been damaged due to crappy door handle parts? Lots, I'd bet.
Is 33 years a long enough time to be using the same brake fluid? Asking for a friend.
Flushed and replaced the original fluid last night. I think the drums have never been off the car. The passenger side still had the retaining clips on the drum.
These are all factory components, note "Delco" on the pad. Everything with a date, was date coded April 1985, which makes sense since the car was assembled on May 1985.
I also cleaned up the tank vent, which was filthy. Hoping this might help my screaming fuel pump.
Do you think cleaning the tank vent somehow affected freeing up the gauge.
I don't know. The gauge was starting to move a bit before cleaning the vent. BTW, the vent was not just clogged with dirt, it was also clogged with undercoating.
very nice IROC...i remember being in the Army in 1988 and there was a 1985 Iroc in Yellow with the L69...it had the HO emblem on the rear bumper. It was parked in the same spot for a year or so during work days.
I wanted that car back then and would love to see one now!
very nice IROC...i remember being in the Army in 1988 and there was a 1985 Iroc in Yellow with the L69...it had the HO emblem on the rear bumper. It was parked in the same spot for a year or so during work days.
I wanted that car back then and would love to see one now!
Thanks!
I looked for a long time for an '85, yellow, L69 before I bought this one.
It's back home. Now to replace the 2000 and 2002 date coded tires. I was going to go with the BFGs but the brand new General GMAX RSs are getting great reviews.....
Seem to be. I wish Tire Rack had a comparison on them published. Too new yet I guess. But at $112 per tire through Tire Rack, with the positive reviews about their responsiveness, wet traction, and great grip, and (comparatively) long tread life, they are certainly tempting.
The headliner on this car is starting to look a bit shabby. I have repaired it a couple of times by pulling up the fabric and regluing and looks fine with the t-tops on, but as soon as I drive at highway speeds with the tops off and it gets buffetted by the wind it looks bad again. IOW, time to do something more serious. What's a better solution? Getting a new ABS headliner or removing the original and having an upholstery shop recover?
The visors are also a bit wrinkly, but I don't want to lose the factory warning labels in the inside.
Well, opinions vary. And I'll be accused of being an intolerant purist, but the ABS ones I've seen don't impress me that much. I'd at least TRY to save my original. If that fails, I'd try to find a salvageable original. My last resort would be the ABS.
You can have a shop do it for you, but this is a job anyone can handle from a skill point of view IMO. If you can get it in and out, you can recover it. I've done a couple on solid roof cars (one Buick wagon, one Dodge). Pulled off the old cloth (which largely falls off, keeping it as a pattern), prep the backer with a light sanding or scraping to get the old glue and foam off. I used a razor blade as a scraper, pulled backward toward myself...not pushing forward with it digging in). In the case of the 3rd gen. F-body we may need to include reinforcing some damaged areas with fiberglass resin. Cut the fabric to match the pattern, and spray glue the cloth to the backer. Missing lots of details in that, but that's really about all there is to it.
Well, opinions vary. And I'll be accused of being an intolerant purist, but the ABS ones I've seen don't impress me that much. I'd at least TRY to save my original. If that fails, I'd try to find a salvageable original. My last resort would be the ABS.
You can have a shop do it for you, but this is a job anyone can handle from a skill point of view IMO. If you can get it in and out, you can recover it. I've done a couple on solid roof cars (one Buick wagon, one Dodge). Pulled off the old cloth (which largely falls off, keeping it as a pattern), prep the backer with a light sanding or scraping to get the old glue and foam off. I used a razor blade as a scraper, pulled backward toward myself...not pushing forward with it digging in). In the case of the 3rd gen. F-body we may need to include reinforcing some damaged areas with fiberglass resin. Cut the fabric to match the pattern, and spray glue the cloth to the backer. Missing lots of details in that, but that's really about all there is to it.
Yeah, I was thinking about doing it myself. The thing is, if it's not a perfect job it would bug me. What's a good source for fabric?
I don’t believe a man of your standards will be happy only replacing the headliner and not recovering the visors. The likelihood of matching 30+ year old material is going to be extremely difficult. Maybe an upholstery shop could work some magic with your old fabric or perhaps you can have the visor warnings duplicated and place them on the recovered visors? Then there’s the sail panels. Had all mine done at once, came out beautifully, but no more warning labels. Material was sourced from Miami Corp.
I don’t believe a man of your standards will be happy only replacing the headliner and not recovering the visors. The likelihood of matching 30+ year old material is going to be extremely difficult. Maybe an upholstery shop could work some magic with your old fabric or perhaps you can have the visor warnings duplicated and place them on the recovered visors? Then there’s the sail panels. Had all mine done at once, came out beautifully, but no more warning labels. Material was sourced from Miami Corp.
Have no idea what you will find, but if the visors have failed like the headliner (foam decays, breaks apart, turns to dust, but the core and the cloth are still good), I'd try scraping the old foam and glue off the inside of that cloth, and see if you can spray glue it to a new foam backing, then back over the core. Saves your labels. But it will be the old clothes, so it could be a color match issue as mentioned above.
Have no idea what you will find, but if the visors have failed like the headliner (foam decays, breaks apart, turns to dust, but the core and the cloth are still good), I'd try scraping the old foam and glue off the inside of that cloth, and see if you can spray glue it to a new foam backing, then back over the core. Saves your labels. But it will be the old clothes, so it could be a color match issue as mentioned above.
My fabric is in good shape, both on the headliner and visors. I need to noodle on this and see if it could be reused.
Does anyone have pictures of their headliners? My 87 has foam that is getting bad. Still looks good in general, but I touched it a while back & made what looks like semi permanent finger prints. Like soft clay rather than foam. Its days are number too. Sure miss the days when we could run to the dealer & buy any of theses parts. Not only where they available, they were not all that expensive either.
Well, opinions vary. And I'll be accused of being an intolerant purist, but the ABS ones I've seen don't impress me that much. I'd at least TRY to save my original. If that fails, I'd try to find a salvageable original. My last resort would be the ABS.
You can have a shop do it for you, but this is a job anyone can handle from a skill point of view IMO. If you can get it in and out, you can recover it. I've done a couple on solid roof cars (one Buick wagon, one Dodge). Pulled off the old cloth (which largely falls off, keeping it as a pattern), prep the backer with a light sanding or scraping to get the old glue and foam off. I used a razor blade as a scraper, pulled backward toward myself...not pushing forward with it digging in). In the case of the 3rd gen. F-body we may need to include reinforcing some damaged areas with fiberglass resin. Cut the fabric to match the pattern, and spray glue the cloth to the backer. Missing lots of details in that, but that's really about all there is to it.
Have you ever tried to re-cover the t-top headliner in a thirdgen? The yellow fiber based structure is a crumbly disaster. Trying to re-cover that would be an absolute train wreck. I've never tried to re-cover one because every one I've taken apart has been a complete mess. I've re-covered headliners before myself as well, but they were all cardboard based or had a heavier duty fiber board base that wasn't a fragile crumbly conundrum.
Have you ever tried to re-cover the t-top headliner in a thirdgen? The yellow fiber based structure is a crumbly disaster. Trying to re-cover that would be an absolute train wreck. I've never tried to re-cover one because every one I've taken apart has been a complete mess. I've re-covered headliners before myself as well, but they were all cardboard based or had a heavier duty fiber board base that wasn't a fragile crumbly conundrum.
I have done one before the aftermarket headliners were being produced. It was in a hard top and I would never do another one! Although it came out well it was like working with egg shells and what a mess. I had to wear a respirator to keep from breathing the yellow fibers. I can't even imagine recovering a t-top headliner as flimsy as they are. I doubt that it would be up to the standards I would want in my car.
Have you ever tried to re-cover the t-top headliner in a thirdgen? The yellow fiber based structure is a crumbly disaster. Trying to re-cover that would be an absolute train wreck. I've never tried to re-cover one because every one I've taken apart has been a complete mess. I've re-covered headliners before myself as well, but they were all cardboard based or had a heavier duty fiber board base that wasn't a fragile crumbly conundrum.
Originally Posted by yo soy el warg
I have done one before the aftermarket headliners were being produced. It was in a hard top and I would never do another one! Although it came out well it was like working with egg shells and what a mess. I had to wear a respirator to keep from breathing the yellow fibers. I can't even imagine recovering a t-top headliner as flimsy as they are. I doubt that it would be up to the standards I would want in my car.
You guys are making me lean toward a new ABS board. I've seen a few youtubes of folks recovering t-top headliners, and although looking better, aren't exactly perfect looking.
Got my General GMAX tires today. It started drizzling while they were getting installed and only drove it a few miles home, so I can't give a full review yet. They seemed fine. I just hope I can use more than 50% throttle in 1st gear now, without doing a peg leg smoke show. The Yokohamas that were on the car were 16 and 18 years old.
No. Toss the fabric, because the foam backing will have rotten away to dust. Very, Very, Very carefully; remove the headliner board from the car. It helps to remove the seat belt guides from the seats so the seat belts can swing around easier. Be careful removing the seat belt escutcheons so the clips don't break. The last piece you want to remove is the dome light. It helps to take the sail panels loose so the headliner doesn't hang up on them, then carefully lower the board down, slip the seat belts out of the slots, and fish the entire thing out the hatch.
Now if you aren't careful, the material will crease, or tear, if you rub it against anything it'll fall apart, etc. So treat it with the utmost respect to avoid damaging the board. Set it on a large flat surface, like a card table, something that will support the entire headliner board. Carefully peel away the old cloth, and you'll be left with the board with bits of rotted foam all over, some areas better than others.
Get yourself a mildly stiff brush, like a cheap HF chip brush with the bristles cut back to about an inch long or so. The idea is to make it stiffer, without turning it into an abrasive scrub brush. Use the brush to sweep away any loose remains of the foam, until you're left with the fiber board. A cornball, low suck vacuum can be used to clean the board, or just hold it on end and carefully shake the crud off.
Any areas that have been creased or torn, or are otherwise coming apart can be reinforced at this time. Tears can be glued with Cyanoacrylate (CA, aka superglue), or whatever glue you like. Weak spots, or creases, whatever can be reinforced by soaking with thin CA, or fiberglass resin. Really bad spots can be patched up or filled in with fiberglass cloth and resin, in a pinch you paper mache paper and glue to reinforce or replace bad spots. It's not too finicky. An old cereal box cut into pieces and glued in place can be used to fix a missing section.
When the board is clean, get yourself a couple yards of headliner cloth, and a can of 3M 08088 General Trim Adhesive. If you're picky, you might want to order the cloth so you're sure it'll match, or get enough to do the sunvisors and speaker covers. If you use any other spray glue than the 08088, and the new cloth falls the first 102* day, it's on you. The 08088 is tried and tested, it works.
Cut a section of your cloth with a few inches of overhang over the edges of the headliner board. Spray the board liberally with the 3M 08088, do the same with the foam backing of your cloth. Let it dry to tack per the instructions. Start at the center of the board, and center of your cloth, and press the cloth to the board working your way out.
On a T-top board, leave extra material around the T-top openings, you'll need to stretch and fold, cut reliefs, and carefully work the cloth around the corners. You'll want the cloth to overlap an inch or so if you have any gaps around the inside of the tops, you'll see headliner cloth instead of the back of your ghetto'd paper mache fiber board. You'll want the same overlap at the front across the windshield, and anywhere else the edge isn't covered by trim. It's up to you to decide if you want to overlap the edges that are covered for additional strength or to hide damage, just keep in mind that extra thickness under the trim can make it harder to fit the trim.
Trim away the dome light, and sunvisor openings with a single edged razor blade, and carefully reinstall in the car.
It's really not that hard, you just have to be careful working with the old board, especially while removing and reinstalling. The cloth will hide a multitude of sins. The foam backing will cover up a lot of ghetto repair.
01-03-2018, 03:30 PM
Its days are number too. Sure miss the days when we could run to the dealer & buy any of theses parts. Not only where they available, they were not all that expensive either. 
