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Tech / General EngineIs your car making a strange sound or won't start? Thinking of adding power with a new combination? Need other technical information or engine specific advice? Don't see another board for your problem? Post it here!
i hope you didn't put them in with the car on stands.the suspension needs to be loaded(on the wheels) and level in my understanding.someone more knowledgeable will probably chime in but i know its not the right way to install them without the wheels(or at least the front wheels and the rear end on jackstands to emulate being loaded)on ramps,a hoist,boards,whatever.i don't know if bolt ons are different but weld in sfc's can make the car crooked if welded in incorrectly.
Even bolt-ons should be done with the wheels on and suspension loaded on as level ground as possible. If it is still on stands, loosen all the bolts but don't remove them. Raise the car and use 4 cinder blocks or something like that. Lower the car onto those and crawl back under the car and retighten the bolts. I do recommend getting even the bolt-ons welded, the holes in the frame could "woller" over time.
Closed up the rented storage locker and brought the wounded Coupe home. New (to me) house with no garage so the car sits on a patio slab base with a car cover.
I've got a lot of work to do on it. Primarily engine as I may have exceeded the life cycle and limits of a few components. Plus the shortblock is very tired and I would think certainly needs a refresh or most likely a replacement. Nothing planned until the fall at which time it should housed in some kind of structure (perhaps one of those portable/temporary shelters) and I'll start taking the engine apart and doing a postmortem. If the heads are OK, then I'll press on with the rebuild. If they're smoked, the car will probably sit for a while as I put together plan B.
I decided it was time to send my quadrajet to Sean Murphy Induction (https://www.smicarburetor.com) for their stage 2 rebuild. When I got the car back in 1993, the dealer rebuilt the carb but did a horrible job. A year later, I took it to a carb rebuilding shop which has since changed their name and didn't really do a good job at it. So after some substantial research, I chose Sean's company. Can't wait to get it bolted back on and have it finally work properly.
Even bolt-ons should be done with the wheels on and suspension loaded on as level ground as possible. If it is still on stands, loosen all the bolts but don't remove them. Raise the car and use 4 cinder blocks or something like that. Lower the car onto those and crawl back under the car and retighten the bolts. I do recommend getting even the bolt-ons welded, the holes in the frame could "woller" over time.
Before installing I emailed with 3 manufactures who said stands are fine as long as I placed the stands near or under the springs. I had the front on ramps and the rear with stands. Plan to weld them in the near future
i struck gold(spray paint that is,liquid gold) i love it,now i have to redo it later after properly restoring the rims bit hey,for $200 im not complaining.....
i hate wiring!! decided to tackle my universal harness install. pulled out all the old harness from behind the dash, spliced into the existing tail light harness. using my power probe, alldata and my fancy mirror setup i was able to figure out the rear wiring. going to probably do the headlight stuff tomorrow, then onto the interior stuff. i tried to do some of the interior stuff but couldnt figure out some of the wiring.
you are a better man that i,i feel twitchy looking at your car now.i wont do fuel injection because of the convoluted wiring,fuel system,ecm nightmare.i cant imagine dealing with this.i bought a GTA last year that had "the old outdated alarm system messing with absolutely everything f u u u c k e r y " so i gutted it and parted the car out,yes it had rust,seized brakes,seat tracks that were rust fused into a position suited for a 5' driver and several other outstanding issues . i had no desire to remove an angry cannibalistic spaghetti colored octopus from a gigantic plate of angrier spaghetti when they already decided to have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship that didn't include me.
The other day I was out for a leisurely drive and blew the heater hose that runs between the intake and throttle body. It was literally the only hose I didn't replace a year ago when I did a complete flush and freshening up of the cooling system. Lesson learned, I guess.
Luckily I was right around the corner from home when it blew so I was able to avoid a tow or roadside repair.
Got that replaced and the cooling system stopped off and the air bled.
A few days before that happened, I had started to hear a weird rattle at idle from the drivers side front of the engine compartment. I could hear it clearly with a stethoscope through the power steering pump and more sharply through the alternator. I had never heard this type of intermittent, random rattle from an alternator before, but I figured it was on it's way out and I ordered a new OEM AC Delco unit from Rock Auto.
I always try to have my 15 year old son involved in any car repairs, so I had him replace it with me just supervising. A nice easy job for him to tackle solo.
All squared away - rattle is gone, volt gauge on the dash is reading a bit higher than before, and we measured a solid 14.6 volts at the battery while idling.
I bought a used set of dougs long tube headers. they were mounted on a formula that was being built into a race car. they sat on the motor in the car for two years without being run. the outside oxidized badly. the insides still brand new. i looked up how to polish ceramic coated headers and have been working on them for a few day. its a mess but coming back slowly. these things had the same finish as the statue of liberty for rear guys.
The other day I was out for a leisurely drive and blew the heater hose that runs between the intake and throttle body. It was literally the only hose I didn't replace a year ago when I did a complete flush and freshening up of the cooling system. Lesson learned, I guess.
Luckily I was right around the corner from home when it blew so I was able to avoid a tow or roadside repair.
Got that replaced and the cooling system stopped off and the air bled.
A few days before that happened, I had started to hear a weird rattle at idle from the drivers side front of the engine compartment. I could hear it clearly with a stethoscope through the power steering pump and more sharply through the alternator. I had never heard this type of intermittent, random rattle from an alternator before, but I figured it was on it's way out and I ordered a new OEM AC Delco unit from Rock Auto.
I always try to have my 15 year old son involved in any car repairs, so I had him replace it with me just supervising. A nice easy job for him to tackle solo.
All squared away - rattle is gone, volt gauge on the dash is reading a bit higher than before, and we measured a solid 14.6 volts at the battery while idling.
You made the right call by getting a brand new unit. Rebuilds are no longer completely rebuilt. All that is done now is to replace the defective component(s), clean the unit up, and sell it again. The rest of the parts could have 200K miles on them.
You made the right call by getting a brand new unit. Rebuilds are no longer completely rebuilt. All that is done now is to replace the defective component(s), clean the unit up, and sell it again. The rest of the parts could have 200K miles on them.
I hear ya, brother. I've been burned on junk "reman" alternators before and have no desire to do it again.
Add in the fact that the new and remanufactured units were essentially the same price on Rock Auto, and it was a no brainer.
I bought a used set of dougs long tube headers. they were mounted on a formula that was being built into a race car. they sat on the motor in the car for two years without being run. the outside oxidized badly. the insides still brand new. i looked up how to polish ceramic coated headers and have been working on them for a few day. its a mess but coming back slowly. these things had the same finish as the statue of liberty for rear guys.
Looks like those headers are cleaning up pretty nice. What's your method?
the other night i ordered the rest of my stuff for my brake upgrade kit. last night my buddy milled down my calipers so theyll work with the kit. today did some more wiring. need to wire up the wipers then do all the wiring inside the car. hopefully ill get everything wired up right. ive caught myself soldering the wrong wires together once or twice already.
tried to go to home depot to get some dynamat but didnt feel like waiting in line, so decided to go to the junkyard eventhough i know there wasnt any 3rd gens i went looking for cobalts/ g6 coupes. found exactly what i was lookign for for when i get my corbeau seats. they should actually work with stock seats too. picked up some seatbelt guides. gonna eat some lunch then get back to wiring.
Looks like those headers are cleaning up pretty nice. What's your method?
aluminum wheel polish with a polishing ball on my drill. they aren't perfect. anytime you mount a set of headers they get a little beat up but they will be plenty nice for my daily driver.
got some stuff from bigbrakeupgrade. hubs, mounting brackets and brake lines. c7 z51 rotors from KNS Brakes to go with my 6th gen calipers, and also got some home depot dynamat.
Powermaster 48203 200 Amp Alternator and 2-gauge alternator cable. Old cable melted.
The only non-stock load are my two audio amps. They are each connected with #10 and pull about 25 amps each. All ground connections (chassis and block) are cleaned and healthy.
The difference is surprising. I must've been having low voltage issues for a long time.
The voltage stays locked at 14.5 volts. It does not move. Ever. All of the lights in the car a noticeably brighter and are rock steady. The audio system can play more loudly and still remain clear. The engine is more peppy, doesn't ever lag in idle, and seems a little louder (pop-ier).
The old alternator cable was one item I never changed. I realize now that the car probably came with the 105-amp setup but the alternator wire was pretty small, maybe #8 at biggest. Maybe that was enough to over-run it. Anyway, the two year old AC Delco Professional alternator burned out and the cable connection at its back melted the plastic.
I guess I overlooked this.
Update: Now I am burning out weaker connections. Melted the wimpy cooling fan connector.
Last edited by Tootie Pang; Jun 19, 2020 at 10:48 AM.
was going to install my brake upgrade but went to get hardware for the calipers and found out the threads on one of the bolt holes was gummed up pretty bad. its a damn weird size tap so i had to order one. couldnt find any in any local stores. maybe ill install them next weekend. anyways got the wiring pretty much all done minus dome lights, hvac controls and a button for the high beam since the lever on the column doesnt click and i dont wanna tear into the column since i already messed one up and just put this one in. installed my dash again. also installed some home depot dynamat stuff in the front section of the car. going to do the rest of the tunnel, maybe a little in the doors and behind rear speakers then hopefully find a carpet.
I've had my 84 w62 T/A for 7yrs now. Did little things here & there & collected parts. It was basket case when I bought it. Bumpers & lights were off it. Interior was out. Hardware was mixed, incomplete & in paint mixing cups. Work & life got busy, so the car took a backseat.
so this past weekend, I put in a battery & got her running. Then backed her out of the yard & into the street, to where she got her 1st real bath in several years. While washing her, several neighbors commented on the car & thought that it didn't run. She'd been sitting there longer than some of them have lived on the block. Then I backed her into the yard. I then proceeded to order a Felpro exhaust manifold gasket & bolt kit. Something that I never got around to over the years. I also ordered up a new heater core & hoses, as someone previously bypassed it, so I'm going to assume that it's no good. Anyone know which order the hoses go or have a pic? It's a 305 non-H.O. I then proceeded to start testing other systems in the car. Hatch release, works. Headlights, high/low beam, flip up/down, works. HVAC, nothing. Fuse, good. Blower motor, good. Wiring, unplugged from the controller, plugged it in, works all speeds. Vents dont seem to change direction, will look onto that further. Cowl induction, harness routed wrong, corrected & plugged in. With the key in ACC, not running, didn't seem to work, will look into that further. Shift cable may need adjustment as the reverse lights dont stay on & the tranny doesn't always go into reverse, gotta play w/ it a little sometimes, hopefully it's not on the way out.
had a pretty serious power steering leak. turned out it was the pressure switch. pretty easy to replace and about $40. I replaced another vacuum line. im slowly making my way through the entire vacuum system. I also jacked up the car using the new sub frame connectors for the first time. love it. much easier.
been super busy. got a bunch of stuff for my birfday. carpet kit, corbeau seats, turn signal led's, door handle bezels, firebird a/c controls, spark plug wires, bunch of steering linkage parts, 10an hose and fittings kit, turbo drain fitting, coolant reservoir and fab'd a bracket to mount it.
things i did: mounted coolant reservoir, mounted and wired turn signals, installed front carpet, installed center console, ran amp wiring and installed amp (gotta figure out a sub box), installed spark plug wires, dropped oil pan and had my buddy weld a drain bung onto it, removed right control arm then removed and replaced balljoint (freakin bolt for control arm stripped when tightening it so now i need a new one). installed sway bar end links.
not sure if i wanna mount the corbeaus yet cause someday my car will got to my buddies shop to get my turbo stuff built and dont really want the seats to get messed up.
re installed my side moldings after repainting them ,did my umi sub frame connectors and re installed my rear swaybar after i swapped rear ends and left it off temporarily.
when i see some of the other third gens on here i really think why do i even bother but hey,i guess it keeps me sane and entertained.
moldings back on(i love it) sub frame connectors in FINALLY(what a difference)
bought a stock 10 bolt for $50 so i can get the shock mounts and measurements for my 9" diff. didnt feel like spending $400ish dollars for fancy brackets. also modified my stock seat tracks to fit my corbeaus. cut the legs down on them.
you can see the difference in height from the stock leg to how much i shortened it. think it was almost 2"
eventhough it was like a million degrees out i did a couple things. ran a vacuum tube from the back of my intake to my a/c unit (just need to figure out which line it needs to hook up to behind the controls. mounted up my drivers side corbeau seat, triple checked for more fuel leaks then made a cover for my trap door. re-installed my rear seats although im thinkin of doing some kinda seat delete storage box thing. oh got something ive been wanting since ive owned my first 3rd gen, clear headlight covers. gonna figure out a way to mount them a little better than how they want you to.
i think you need a metal bracket from the core support to the light covers and better molding obviously.im assuming you put a rubber gasket under the fuel access cover or siliconed it? might let exhaust in if not.light covers will look good if you can figure out the mounting.
i have the brackets but they only use double sided tape which i dont like. so im gonna see if i can fab it so its a little more permanent. and yes i have some rubber weatherstrip stuff under the access cover. you can kinda see it sticking out of the bottom right corner.
i hope you didn't put them in with the car on stands.the suspension needs to be loaded(on the wheels) and level in my understanding.someone more knowledgeable will probably chime in but i know its not the right way to install them without the wheels(or at least the front wheels and the rear end on jackstands to emulate being loaded)on ramps,a hoist,boards,whatever.i don't know if bolt ons are different but weld in sfc's can make the car crooked if welded in incorrectly.
If you have a nice level and flat concrete floor and four stands, two the same at each end and use the same jacking points front and back, you'll know pretty soon if the frame is bent up. It'll sit on all four stands evenly. The suspension has little or nothing to do with it really. The frame is welded up on a jig on the assembly line in the first place. Replicate that and you're good to go. Hence the need for a flat concrete floor and similar stands to work from.
There are reference drawings available too if you really want to measure.
If you think about it, with the car completely assembled the weight at each corner is uneven and you may be inducing a twist in the frame as it settles. You'll be welding that warp into place permanently.
I had my chassis down to the bare bones on a rolling frame (no drivetrain or suspension). Brought it to the shop, put it on a two post lift, lowered the car onto the Spohn SFCs bearing against the rocker/floor and supported by (very ) tall stands and welded them in. Level floor. Level stands. Level car. No drama afterward regarding alignments, tracking, fitting doors or fenders. The car lifts two wheels on one side when jacking up at the factory jack points.
Last edited by skinny z; Jul 15, 2020 at 04:38 PM.
is the molding supposed to go all the way around the cover? anyway,if these were cleaned up and buffed they would look sick.
no the 2 spots on the sides where theres no molding is where the mounting brackets go. i took that pic literally right after pulling them out of the box. i sorta polished them up a little. gotta go over them a little more though.
threw my 9" under the car to see what im dealing with. eye ball lined it up with the stock diff. straight in line of the driveshaft. looks like i might be close on the drivers side and short on passenger side. now do i try and cut and fab this up myself or sell this setup and try adn save for one that bolts in (i cant save money if my life depended on it) so itll probably never happen. im not building a drag car just want a little stronger diff than a 10 bolt. although i have never blown one up yet, but then again i have never put the power through one i should be making
