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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 should have taken a "before" pic, but I'm sure you guys know what a trashed floor mat looks like. Mine had a fold in it that I could never undo. The rubber under the fold was cracked, so it's natural state was to have that fold. It was also missing the rubber GM badge.
I tried to find some good condition factory mats, but all the saddle ones I saw were WAY more trashed than mine. So I flipped the mat over so the top part was hanging over my work surface. I cut a piece of cardboard to size, attached it with double sided Rino tape and then duct taped the edges.
Voila! You can see where the fold was. But I think it's invisible to the casual observer. I also found a tan GM badge to glue on.
Beautiful day today. Went to cruise night, hung out with my friends, had a great time. A bit chilly going home tonight with the t-tops off so turned on the heat.
I smelled anti-freeze on the way home and really smelled it when I parked. Where is that smell coming from? There it is!
Any chance this is something other than a heater core? Inside, the car is dry.
Is this the same car that had the smell a winter ago & went away? Hopefully its simple.
Does your car have the engine oil cooler? Aside from something running down the back of the engine near the intake manifold I cannot think of anything else that far back. The heater box has a drain for the evaporator condensation. I would think if you start the car & turned the heat on it would smell big time if the heater core is leaking. Boy you have had some bad luck lately.
Is this the same car that had the smell a winter ago & went away? Hopefully its simple.
Does your car have the engine oil cooler? Aside from something running down the back of the engine near the intake manifold I cannot think of anything else that far back. The heater box has a drain for the evaporator condensation. I would think if you start the car & turned the heat on it would smell big time if the heater core is leaking. Boy you have had some bad luck lately.
No, that was a different car. No oil cooler on this one.
You'd think my passenger floor would be wet, though.
Not sure how the box is designed, I know it diverts water from the evaporator for the A/C, but I am not sure how the heater core is positioned. & if it leaked where the antifreeze would travel. For how many 3rd gens I have had, that is one thing I have never taken apart yet. Coolant leaks can be so strange. Sometimes they only leak under certain pressures, sometimes only at certain temperatures, sometimes a combination of the two.
Found this image on ebay. Looks like the engine side housing has a hole that must just drain the evaporator moisture down the front of the firewall. Heater core must be inside, so to your point, you would think it would be leaking inside then too if it was the heater core.
Any chance its coming from the intake or throttle body, then running to the back of the engine & tripping off the back?
I'm sort of leaning toward something peripheral to the heater core. I mean, if the heater core failed, I really should have a puddle on the passenger floor, right?
If the heater core was leaking that bad, you'd have the Shrek Jacuzzi going on the passenger's floor. They'll usually drip from the floor vent next to the console. You can run a hand over the bottom of the box feeling for wetness, but it'll probably be in the engine compartment.
I'd check out the hard line on the passenger's side frame rail. Obviously check out the heater hoses, gaskets, etc. Frost plugs... Plastic tanks on the radiator... Waterpump weep hole.
So far this year I've had one heater core, a loose clamp at an oil cooler, and a weeping water pump.
If the heater core was leaking that bad, you'd have the Shrek Jacuzzi going on the passenger's floor. They'll usually drip from the floor vent next to the console. You can run a hand over the bottom of the box feeling for wetness, but it'll probably be in the engine compartment.
I'd check out the hard line on the passenger's side frame rail. Obviously check out the heater hoses, gaskets, etc. Frost plugs... Plastic tanks on the radiator... Waterpump weep hole.
So far this year I've had one heater core, a loose clamp at an oil cooler, and a weeping water pump.
Makes sense, to me. Water pump is new, but I'll look that over after work, too.
I "think" the hardline going into the firewall is leaking. And it's leaking pretty good. At first I thought it might be the trans cooling line since there is coolant all over the front of the trans. But I don't think so.
Here are some pics:
Top view:
I'm not sure what is involved in this repair, but I'm pretty sure it is beyond what I'd want to tackle.
I'd try to run a hand down the "?" hose, and try to feel where it gets wet. I could see the heater core inlet/outlet leaking and running down the pipe, or the rubber hose on either leaking.
I've never seen the pipe rust out completely, but I'm sure it can. I know it was really common on the 2.8 and 3.1L Grand Prix/Chevy Luminas back in the day. The daily driver fix for those cars was to cut the hardline at the pinhole, and slip a piece of heater hose with a couple clamps over the leak, and seal it up. If it's rusted bad enough to be leaking, it's probably not something that could be easily welded up.
Not sure if anyone is reproducing the heater lines. 85-86 TPI cars don't have the T for the heater bypass valve used on 87-up, so the line gets the dreaded "1LE" treatment on Ebay. You could use one from a 87-up V8 car and just cap the T, or try to find one from an 85-86 or 87-up V8 without A/C.
Yeah, that's about where the tab for the screw that goes into the side of the frame rail, is welded. Seems like the tabs give corrosive salts and whatnot a place to collect.
You might be able to clean up the rust, cut out the bad part, and splice in a new piece of tubing. Weld it all up, and once it's smoothed and painted, no one would ever know.
Yeah, that's about where the tab for the screw that goes into the side of the frame rail, is welded. Seems like the tabs give corrosive salts and whatnot a place to collect.
You might be able to clean up the rust, cut out the bad part, and splice in a new piece of tubing. Weld it all up, and once it's smoothed and painted, no one would ever know.
Since it's wet that far up, can we rule out a leak from the heater core inlet?
Start at the top and work down. Water follows gravity, so anything below the leak could be a trickle. Only caveat is that leaks can squirt or be blown around onto other parts.
Not sure if anyone is reproducing the heater lines. 85-86 TPI cars don't have the T for the heater bypass valve used on 87-up, so the line gets the dreaded "1LE" treatment on Ebay. You could use one from a 87-up V8 car and just cap the T, or try to find one from an 85-86 or 87-up V8 without A/C.
I've located 3 used heater lines with the T and none without. If you were me, would you keep looking or just get one with a T and cap it?
I'd probably get the pipe out of the car, and take a good look at how bad it's rusted. You might be able to fix it. Might be able to cut out the section that's leaking and weld in a good chunk of a more common pipe. I've got one from an 86, but it might not be in any better shape than what you've got. Anyway, I sent you a PM with some pics of the one I've got laying around.
Yah Charlie get the original one off first and see where you're at. If your original has holes, it may be able to be repaired at a radiator repair shop.
I'd probably get the pipe out of the car, and take a good look at how bad it's rusted. You might be able to fix it. Might be able to cut out the section that's leaking and weld in a good chunk of a more common pipe. I've got one from an 86, but it might not be in any better shape than what you've got. Anyway, I sent you a PM with some pics of the one I've got laying around.
Yah Charlie get the original one off first and see where you're at. If your original has holes, it may be able to be repaired at a radiator repair shop.
I'm surprised no one noticed the yellow overspray on the pipe!
As far as I can tell, the underside of the hood and engine compartment were resprayed, maybe even at the factory. It looks like the original coat of paint was super thin.
All I see is the Demon Cancer who eats steel slowly, and the gooey tar vomit which is supposed to prevent it. Quite the dichotomy. If it were to hang in an art gallery, the photo could be called "The Inevitable Futility" or something. Of course if it actually was to gain any appreciation, it'd have to have the colors inverted, a filter or two, and call it "Flower".
I broke down and took the car to a shop today to drop the tank and replace the pump and sending unit. I'm also going to have them deal with the leaky heater pipe. I'm 99% sure the pipe has a pinhole. We'll know for sure soon.
In the meantime, a friend dropped off a replacement yellow IROC at my doorstep!
Heater pipes! So, I looked around for a replacement. I found a bunch of '87 and ups with the T for AC. I was ready to get one of those and cap the T. But guess who had a correct one? Our own Drew. Used and not perfect, but appears serviceable.
Drew prepped it a bit, then I soaked it overnight in rust remover on the problem areas and gave it a couple coats of high temp semi gloss engine paint.
Should be able to use as a pattern for the fab shop and have a few extras made.
When I bought mine from the dealer, it had a slight texture to the paint but the 90deg steel elbow (T-body to heater core) didn't have the same paint on it.
Should be able to use as a pattern for the fab shop and have a few extras made.
When I bought mine from the dealer, it had a slight texture to the paint but the 90deg steel elbow (T-body to heater core) didn't have the same paint on it.
Not a bad idea, I guess I could hold on to my old one for that.
Yellow IROC is back home. Looks like they pulled it out in the rain a couple times so needed some clean up.
As I mentioned, I had a shop drop the tank for a new pump, sending unit, do an alignment.....and fix the leaking heater pipe.
A funny thing happened though, not funny as in haha, but funny as in haste makes waste. I was convinced that my heater pipe was rotted and leaking. The shop was convinced that the pipe was rotted and leaking. So started my national search for one of these *****. All I found were the later units with AC T's, until Drew came up with a correct one. I refinished it, (above) and ran it over to the shop. After installation the shop called and told me the car was still leaking coolant. As it turned out, the rubber hose between the pipe and heater core was leaking. My pipe was PERFECT. The above pic is the worst spot and is purely cosmetic, in fact the inside is still silver! I think I'm going to clean it up, repaint and swap it back - one day!
In the meantime, it's nice not to have a screaming pump and a gas gauge not stuck on full.
..so a few posts ago Charlie I pointed out that you may have a freeze plug leaking. My '86 had steel freeze plugs and I had one leak on me years ago when it got a hole in it. I've always assumed that all factory freeze plugs were steel.
Well this weekend when I was putting a new water pump on my '85 Z28, I noticed it had brass freeze plugs. I quickly ran the VIN on the block and it matches the car. And with only 89k miles, and as dingy as it was I have to assume it's original and never been rebuilt.
So the question is, do the 82-85 cars have brass freeze plugs? Do ALL of the later cars have steel plugs? Whats going on here?
At any rate, I now suspect your car may have brass freeze plugs, so ignore my horror stories of failed freeze plugs on your car.
..so a few posts ago Charlie I pointed out that you may have a freeze plug leaking. My '86 had steel freeze plugs and I had one leak on me years ago when it got a hole in it. I've always assumed that all factory freeze plugs were steel.
Well this weekend when I was putting a new water pump on my '85 Z28, I noticed it had brass freeze plugs. I quickly ran the VIN on the block and it matches the car. And with only 89k miles, and as dingy as it was I have to assume it's original and never been rebuilt.
So the question is, do the 82-85 cars have brass freeze plugs? Do ALL of the later cars have steel plugs? Whats going on here?
At any rate, I now suspect your car may have brass freeze plugs, so ignore my horror stories of failed freeze plugs on your car.
It is sold. But the water pump failed last week coming home from work. So I put a new pump, heater hoses, and all new belts on it before the buyer came to see it.
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.
Just wanted to get back to these new General GMAX tires. The handling on them is phenomenal. Incredible grip and and steering feel. Brings our old cars up another level. Two thumbs up!
I broke down and took the car to a shop today to drop the tank and replace the pump and sending unit. I'm also going to have them deal with the leaky heater pipe. I'm 99% sure the pipe has a pinhole. We'll know for sure soon.
In the meantime, a friend dropped off a replacement yellow IROC at my doorstep!
Takes up way less garage space!!!
What brand of sending unit did they use?
I'm trying to find a good replacement but I only see one brand, I think spectra? everywhere.
Just wanted to get back to these new General GMAX tires. The handling on them is phenomenal. Incredible grip and and steering feel. Brings our old cars up another level. Two thumbs up!
In the meantime, a friend dropped off a replacement yellow IROC at my doorstep!
Takes up way less garage space!!!
Anyone swapped wheels on the Ertl promo models? Just realized my blue 87 Iroc promo is rocking 15" Z28 wheels, and my Yellow promo actually has Iroc wheels. Thinking they're like most AMT/Ertl models with a metal shaft pushed into the wheels...
Busy night at Lombard! The weather was just perfect! The car runs so good now. I can't believe I put up with that stupid screeching fuel pump all of these years, thinking it was some ancillary system. I should have changed it the second day I owned it. What an absolute pleasure driving it home tonight with the t tops off.
Nice to know how much gas is in it without having to calculate by the odometer reading. It just runs so smoothly and effortless now, if that makes any sense. And OMG, the new tires are so sticky and perform so well. Just really fun to drive now!
07-04-2018, 02:30 PM
