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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!
In the last month put new brake booster, mastercylinder, front and back rotors, brake pads, brake calipers and flushed brake fluid on my 89 Iroc...Ordered rear calipers from Orielly's Auto Parts they will be put on when they come in...A lot of work but this was a fun project done in my garage on my Iroc with 68000 miles...Also had my 16 x 8 wheels refurbished and new Cooper 245 50 r16 tires installed...The wheels look brand new very happy with how they turned out...I enjoy working and installing new parts to keep my Iroc looking good...
I’ve been struggling with valve setup since replacing the cam (modest 420/443 grind).
Today I did the running valve lash adjustment (at operating temp). So far I’m pleased with the result. The exhaust has a different tone, but dyno says notably more power and no clatter at startup.
For the first time in 2½ years I got it out into the light of day, washed it off, and drove it about three miles (along with a couple of other beaters).
I had to reorganize the space a little to make room to slide my tractor in there.
I havent been on much. I was in a motorcycle wreck at the beginning of the summer and I'm just now starting to be me again. My cousin helped me install the rear end a couple weeks back but I had some ride height issues that turned out to be suspension binding. Got that corrected and it was sitting lower than with the original rear end. Looks good though. When I tried to bleed the brakes I found that the front pass bleeder valve had welded itself on. Had to replace that caliper. I feel like the reaR pass drum is sticking a little. I can really feel the difference between the 275 open and the 323 limited slip. Almost wish I had gone 355 or 373 but I think this will be fine.
I lowered the rear of the car.
I have had these Vogtland springs sitting in my garage for over 2 years and was hesitant on using them. I didn't like the 2" of rake I had on the rear but was concearned that these would harshen up the ride and maybe be to low and make it a "sagging" look to the rear. It did neither and now sits approx 3/4" higher in the rear.
In hindsight I should have put these on years ago. I also used the Founders Performance LCARB and did not need to recenter the rear.
I lowered the rear of the car.
I have had these Vogtland springs sitting in my garage for over 2 years and was hesitant on using them. I didn't like the 2" of rake I had on the rear but was concearned that these would harshen up the ride and maybe be to low and make it a "sagging" look to the rear. It did neither and now sits approx 3/4" higher in the rear.
In hindsight I should have put these on years ago. I also used the Founders Performance LCARB and did not need to recenter the rear.
Thanks Vinny and right back at you thats a beatiful looking convertible!
Getting ready for UMI Subframe Connectors in a couple of days. Had to remove the exhaust. May as well investigate tinny oil leak... Yep rear main seal. Transmission came out without removing center console. Did the shifter from under. Thanking the Lord for the Hoist!
Did A Temporary Fix To My Intermediate Pipe Until I Decide What I'm Going To Do Unfortunately The Major Exhaust Companies Have Discontinued The 4 Bolt Intermediate Pipes
Make sure the steering wheel "returns to center" after coming out of a typical "Surface street" (around the neighborhood, 90* turn) turn. If not, it's adjusted too tight.
My 92 TBI was my daily, off and on, for almost four years. Then my son blew up his Civic, I let him daily my car for a couple months, and last night it developed rod knock. Sure enough, no oil.
Edit: He wants to be a mechanic, so he'll be fixing it for me. He swears he learned a lot by rebuilding his K20 (even though he ran out of money during the 2nd attempt), so I'm willing to risk a broken 305 on him.
Last edited by Moonlight137; Feb 12, 2023 at 05:32 PM.
Make sure the steering wheel "returns to center" after coming out of a typical "Surface street" (around the neighborhood, 90* turn) turn. If not, it's adjusted too tight.
After sitting in the garage for 15 years with the last 4 working on everything from suspension, interior, exhaust, engine and everything in between she goes into drive and reverse for the first time in a very long time
After sitting in the garage for 15 years with the last 4 working on everything from suspension, interior, exhaust, engine and everything in between she goes into drive and reverse for the first time in a very long time https://youtu.be/c1O2gAGo41w
Congratulations, it's a gratifying feeling for sure. Mine set for over 17 years. Still so much to do but road worthy none the less.
Sometimes it’s the little things…… Broken old Cheap new knock off The black replacements didn’t look right, they made the sun faded belts look even more bluer. Returned the black ones bought a set of grey used ones from Hawks. Even thought the interior is black the grey ones blend in better.
My 92 TBI was my daily, off and on, for almost four years. Then my son blew up his Civic, I let him daily my car for a couple months, and last night it developed rod knock. Sure enough, no oil.
With my son's help, we:
Drained the oil. No metal in the oil nor the filter. (It was not dry, just low. )
Took off the intake. Nothing wrong with the lifters either.
Cleaned the valley and the pushrods while we were at it.
Took off the oil pan, and discovered the "knock" was a loose flywheel cover banging around.
Cleaned and painted the oil pan.
Clean and painted the intake.
Replaced the leaky oil-pan gasket and front seal.
Replaced about 10 feet of 30-year-old brittle plastic vacuum lines.
Replaced both brittle, yellow, broken TBI injector connectors.
Replaced the brittle A.I.R. bypass valve, that had broken apart when my son yanked off a hose. (It was a cheap part, and I wasn't ready to worry about deleting stuff.)
Reamed and reinforced the oval hinge holes in the steering column. We didn't do it perfectly; there's still a slight wobble, but I'm a lot happier.
The hi-beam actuator rod got a little bent disassembling the column, so I fiddled with it and got it bent back so it didn't hang up the ignition actuator.
Replaced the broken signal / cruise lever.
Pinched the distributor wires under the edge of the cap, so it shorted to ground while I was trying to set the initial timing.
The engine quit immediately and wouldn't start again. I had no spark and no fuel, and I thought I'd blown my HEI, based on the wiring diagram. The wire I shorted also ran straight to the MSD, which meant even more possible failures.
I didn't have time nor funding, and my wife didn’t have patience, to start troubleshooting by buying parts. I entrusted it to my mechanic.
EDIT: New distributor + 3-4 hours of troubleshooting = $600. I may or may not have come out ahead by not doing it myself.
Last edited by Moonlight137; Mar 23, 2023 at 03:19 PM.
Bought a 1984 Trans Am! About 55k original miles and in great shape. Some light hail damage on the hood, some bad clear coat in spots, but mechanically excellent. It had a busted AC compressor but came with factory air. It has the 305 L69 paired to the 5 speed manual. WS6 and Aero package.
What I've done so far:
Replaced the floor mats.
Replaced the AC compressor and dryer.
Flushed and refilled AC system. Works great now!
Got an alignment after the previous owner replaced the steering box. The wheel was about 45 degrees off but the alignment fixed it.
Immediate plans:
Replace the steering shaft with one from an Astro Van (currently a lot of play)
Some body work to get rid of the hail dents.
Repaint the hood and re-apply the Aero decal. Might end up doing the whole car.
Install Vintage Sound radio since the current, original one is busted.
Needs new rear tires.
Fix a rear seal leak. It's minor, but a little annoying.
I would leave the paint alone and maybe use that paintless dent removal method, but an H.O. with the 5 spd is pretty rare, great find.
Thanks! Yeah, I was in love pretty quickly.
You can’t see in that picture but there is some rough clear coat damage as well. May just try the pointless on the dents like you said and just do some extreme polishing to minimize the look of the clear issues. Paint will probably be my last resort.
Not sure about the hood decal though, it’s pretty scratched up. Not sure if I could get it off to replace it without damaging the paint. Might try though, or just leave it as is. The previous owner had already purchased the replacement decals.
That is a perfectly equipped 84’ IMO, very nice find and looks to be in great shape.
I would check the rest of your steering components for wear before going to the Astro shaft. My GTA didn’t like the Astro shaft as I picked up a dead spot and clunk when steering off center. Also no real gain in steering either but that’s just my own experience.
Also if you haven’t already that would be a fun car to start a build thread for.
That is a perfectly equipped 84’ IMO, very nice find and looks to be in great shape.
I would check the rest of your steering components for wear before going to the Astro shaft. My GTA didn’t like the Astro shaft as I picked up a dead spot and clunk when steering off center. Also no real gain in steering either but that’s just my own experience.
Also if you haven’t already that would be a fun car to start a build thread for.
The previous owner had the steering box replaced, along with some other components. I took it to a shop to have them check it out since there was still some play, the steering wheel was off-center, and it pulled a bit. They did an alignment and said everything else looked good. She now drives straight and has a straight wheel, however this is still some play in the steering. I figured I would give it a shot and pivot to something else if it doesn't work out.
Thanks! I've always wanted a 5 speed Trans Am. My last F body was a 1981 Z28 but I've always been drawn to third gens. I feel super lucky to have grabbed this one.
Today I swapped out the busted stock radio with a RetroSound unit. I'll keep the stock one, may try to fix it, just to have it. Easiest radio install I've ever done, took about 45 minutes total. Next I just need to figure out what to do with the built-in subs in the sail panels. The stock speakers sound surprisingly OK but definitely lack in the low end so I definitely want to swap them.
Started to figure out the mounting of this factory spoiler, I got it really cheap compared to a in great shape OEM piece or a aftermarket one, it was damaged and needed/still needs a quite a bit to get it back into shape. Driver side Pass.side
Yeah, rather my friend in our machine shop at work did. We reversed engineered it base on measurements I found online which I think it was designed for a factory radiator, The Champion 2 core rad that I have is a really close direct replacement. formed a test piece to check to see if the shape would work, formed the full size piece then test fitted it to the car, I used some 1/4-20 rivnuts, brought it back into work as we also do powder coating here, I really like the textured black as you might be able to tell, it hides dirt and if it's scratched it doesn't scream look at me like a gloss black powder coat.
I've been trying to Fugger out my rough idle, I think it's the dizy but not sure. When I checked the with a timing light I was around 20 degrees in timing. wlp time to get back at it.....
Replaced the center link, inner and outer tie rods (with new non-OEM style connectors), and idler arm.
Proforged for everything except the idler arm. Initial idler arm was wrong, got it from Autozone. Saw a thread here about wrong idler arms. I rolled the dice on one on Amazon and it was a perfect fit! Search MAS IA6249
Steering is great now. I eyeballed the alignment and did a pretty damn good job, but still going to get it done more precisely.
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even more possible failures.
