My new toy!!!

[lectric80]

It had a rotor on it when I picked it up. But, it wouldn't be the first time I missed something simple like that. Cap is off now, going to pull the ignition module and have it tested when I am in town later this morning.

 

[lectric80]

New ignition module is installed and working. Just need to fine tune the timing a bit, but it is really close now.

Ordered new front fender and headlight header panel, but Interstate Auto Body doesn't carry the bumper cover for the 82-84 cars. They are unique in their design, and I don't want to change to the newer version which doesn't look as good IMO.

Going to finish stripping computer harness and change oil, as well as remove the old bumper cover and headlight header. I will probably make a stop at the wrecking yard later today to grab a headlight bucket and turn signal lens. May also see if I can find a horn button that is intact to swap with mine.

 

[lectric80]

No horn button at wrecking yard, but I did get the headlight bucket and turn signal assembly. Installed the Edelbrock valve covers, but realized I have another issue. The stock air snorkel sits directly above the opening I was going to use for oil fill. I guess I will just locate an nice open element filter housing to install.

Still haven't gotten the bumper cover off, but I will have it done tomorrow. Just been a bit lazy, and it is a bit of a pain in the ass.

 

[lectric80]

Happy to report that while I had the valve covers off I saw that there is no sludge built up in the engine. A couple pics:

New headlight bucket and turn signal assembly:

The oil cap that is there now will be getting replaced with one that doesn't have PCV in it, but this will work for now. It is internally baffled which should help prevent any oil leaking.

I will be grabbing the open element filter today as well, hoping to find a store with an Edelbrock one that has the same finned design to match the valve covers, but I am not picky.

Going to put the EGR block off plate on today as well, had to remove the EGR to get valve cover off so I might as well eliminate it now.

Still haven't gotten around to removing the bumper cover, I just have like 4-5 nuts on the driver's side to remove, but they are a pain to get to. I will get it done soon.

I am going to go ahead and throw Silverstar's in for all the headlights as well. Good time to do it since I need all the headlights out anyway.

Not sure where I will get the bumper cover from, since the one that is left at the wrecking yard is brittle and already has holes in it. Not willing to pay $100 plus for something that won't last. I may end up spending the $350 at Classic, although I really don't want to.

I still need to deal with TC lockup, but I have a couple ideas to do it, and it isn't a rush since this car can't be on the road until I get the bumper cover and a set of tires. In other news, tires are damn near as costly for this as they are for 33's on my Blazer. Right around $165 a tire for 235/60/15's all around. Eventually I want to do offset tire sizes, but right now I just can't afford, or justify, the extra expense.

 

[kgblazerfive]

That is just a vent in the oil cap just goes to the air cleaner.

I would think you should be able to find some no name tires cheaper then that.

 

[lectric80]

Yeah, the new air cleaner housing I picked up has a provision for the breather, and I will be using it. I picked up an Edelbrock 14" chrome air cleaner housing, and it looks nice on there. Just wish I could have found one of the finned versions to match the valve covers, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Tires for this car are not cheap, and even low end brands run around $150 a tire. However, this is not a daily driver car it is my one and only hot rod, so to speak, so I want a decent tire on it. Plus I do plan to try to get over to Miller this summer and run some autocross, so good tires will help.

New fender and headlight header are here. Fender is in good shape with only one very minor dip visible, but no dents or dings. Both pieces set me back a total of $90 from Interstate Auto Body. Not too bad, although certainly not as good as factory parts, the quality seems pretty decent.

I cannot find Silverstars locally, so I may just run with standard halogens for now. Not a big deal, this isn't going to be driven a lot so it won't hurt too much.

 

[lectric80]

Busy morning already, got most of the front end torn down. Just need to finish removing the old computer harness and I can get the fender mounted up. There ended up being some other damage I hadn't noticed, the PO had clearly hooked up to the hood latch support for towing. It ripped it out of the bottom of the radiator support as well as twisting it. Going to have to replace it and find a way to repair the radiator support.

More work forthcoming, I really want to finish the computer harness today and get that fender mounted up. Going to take a bit of massaging, but I have some big hammers.

 

[kgblazerfive]

Looks like you have a lot of work to do

 

[lectric80]

A little, but it is a lot of stuff that just bolts up. A bit of pounding on the frame horn to get it straighter, and probably weld a small patch in on the bottom of the radiator support. Beyond that it is just bolting stuff up, well and actually finding the stuff and paying for it.

 

[TerryD]

Nice score on a third gen man. We've got 4 running (as a family) as we speak. Just a little FYI for ya, GM offered a 350 conversion for the CC Q-Jet cars. Came with a jet kit for the Q-Jet, new chip for the computer, and possibly upgraded exhaust. Yours might have that done to it because it was for use with the GMPP Goodwrench 350 IIRC.

 

[lectric80]

I think that is unlikely, the carb that came with the car when I bought it is not a CCC. It doesn't have the plugs that are needed for the computer, and the harness plugs were just sitting there. Regardless, I really dislike computer stuff getting in the way, so it has all come off at this point. I just need to deal with TCC lockup and everything will be back to the stone age, so to speak.

I am going to need to see if it bogs a bit when the secondaries open up, if so I will get in touch with Jet for some new secondary metering rods with more taper on the end.

Not much else done, my wife got me sick so I took it easy today. My buddy dropped off the EGR block off plate, but I haven't even installed it yet. It is looking like the bumper reinforcement steel is available, but not the plastic portion. I am going to go ahead and get the steel portion ordered in this month, and I will just reuse the plastic part. I know it has one block missing, but it should still work well. I am going to run to the wrecking yard soon and see what kind of deal I can work out on the bumper reinforcement, since the one he has is completely intact, I just really don't want to have to pull the entire bumper cover.

 

[TerryD]

The plastic piece on the 84 is damaged on one side. It lets the front end hang funny on one side and has a little dip in the lower edge. You can see it in the pictures in my thread in the front end shots. It doesn't really bother me because I like the look of my car as a beater/sleeper, but you might if you plan on doing a lot of panel aligning like Zim's Vette.

 

[lectric80]

Well, my tax refund came in today, and since I spent a small fortune buying my wife a new fridge that we didn't need, I get to order in a new bumper cover from Classic tonight. It's a bit spendy, but although I can find some on ebay, the used ones are a bit too rough for me, and the NOS ones are way out of my price, but at Classic it is $329 plus about $45 in shipping costs, which really isn't too bad. At least they aren't requiring it to go truck freight, and I should have it here early next week.

I will get over to the wrecking yard and work out something on the bumper reinforcement and the hood latch support. Once all this is here, yes I will in fact be doing a ton of panel alignment, I want this thing to look good. However, I will NOT be painting it purple, for now I will probably just go with a nice glossy black. I have some bondo to help align any waves or issues, and I will grab me some long blocks to work on ensuring it is nice and smooth.

Got the EGR block off plate installed and fired her back up again. Runs so nice! I will work on pulling the attachments off the bumper cover this week, and probably order a pair of side marker lenses.

 

[lectric80]

And the parts are now ordered. I bought a new front bumper cover, I will reuse my chin spoiler, and a new passenger side marker lens. Total investment so far is about $800, including purchase, and should end up close to $1000 when I get the last 2 body components picked up this weekend. By next weekend, I should be able to take her out for a short test drive without attracting too much police attention to the unlicensed vehicle. At least the front end will be intact.

 

[lectric80]

Got the tracking info for the bumper yesterday, but it finally showed up at UPS. Looks like scheduled delivery is for this Friday! This means I am going to have to split my time a bit this weekend because my grandmother is not doing well and my Dad expects her to pass soon, so I need to get up there. I am also working on a bedroom in the basement to split my boys into their own rooms, and I need to get the Camaro going.

I will say my grandmother is priority, the room is secondary, and the Camaro has once again sunk to the bottom of the priority list. Not a big deal, things will get back to moving again soon, my son is supposed to return to school next week which will mean a normalized sleep schedule again so I will have a bit more time to do the work. My son has been out of school for behavior problems for a bit over a month, and it has allowed me to do certain things but it has been pretty limited to the weekends, with him back in school I will be able to sleep in the day like normal and do some work in the evening before I go to work.

 

[lectric80]

New bumper cover arrived today, and appears to be a very quality piece. The only thing I am a bit upset about is the holes are not drilled for the emblem. I need to figure out how to make sure I get the emblem positioned correctly. I hung it loosely off the header panel and it looks pretty good. Over the next week the fender and bumper cover need to be prepped and painted so they can be mounted up.

I am pretty much done under the hood, but I don't want to put it back in place until I get all the body gaps on the fenders and bumper cover set. I will get the gaps set on the fender before I paint it up, just to prevent destroying my hard work.

 

[lectric80]

Didn't do much to the Camaro due to issues with the Toyota. I have a rocker failing, or more than one, but I am not certain which one(s). I cannot safely check the rocker assembly out because it has the head bolts through it. As a result, instead of ordering a new bumper reinforcement, I am now ordering a new rocker assembly and a better performing cam for the Toyota. I need that little truck to save cash, and quite frankly the price of gas right now is a joke.

However, because of the weather around here lately, I needed to move the Toy into the garage, so I drove the Camaro out. The first time in 4 years or so that the car has moved under it's own power. The trans feels good and I think I should be good with it for a while, however I found the power steering pump is bad. It may just be low on fluid, but if it is it is because it leaked out, so I am replacing it anyway. That is still down on the list after I get my DD back on the road.

I also found that the #1 spark plug on the Toyota had broken, so I replaced the plugs, wires, cap and rotor, along with a new exhaust manifold gasket. It fires up much quicker now (some plugs were gapped at nearly .50), and I am sure it will get a bit better mileage and power with the new plugs.

 

[lectric80]

Spent last weekend tearing the top end of my Toyota down, and found that 2 rockers were bad and the cam is damaged a bit. Not a big deal, since I already have new rockers and a new longer duration cam to go in, but I had a problem with one head bolt that makes me suspect either the head gasket was leaking or the head is cracked. One, and only one, of the head bolts was badly rusted. It was bad enough that I nearly had to break out a cheater to put on my 1/2" breaker bar. All the other bolts looked perfect, but this one had to be pounded out. I am waiting on a buddy of mine to come over and take a look, but I am thinking that I will probably order a new head in, just for safety sake. It wouldn't be a big concern, and may even be coincedence, but the bolt that was rusted was between the 2 bad rockers. I should know what I am going to do later this week.

The Camaro is out of the garage, and is going to have to stay out until I can get the top of the engine back on the Toyota.

My little brother gave me the latest addition to my fleet, a 96 Cadillac Deville. It isn't in the best condition, but isn't nearly as bad as some vehicles I have had. It has a decent leather interior, 32 valve 4.6l Northstar V8 that is getting 24 MPG right now, power everything, steering wheel mounted stereo and AC controls, remote keyless entry, traction control and a 6 disc changer in the trunk. It doesn't have any keyfobs for the keyless, but I can order them at some point. It has had some issues, hence my brother choosing to get rid of it after buying it for 2k and spending 3-4k on repairs, but should be a decent driver. Pretty impressive to think about having 275 HP under the hood and still get 20+ MPG. My wife likes it, and that is really saying something, so I guess I will just have to get used to it. I took some pics of it yesterday, but got busy and forgot to bring my camera in, I will upload some pics later today.

 

[folkenheath]

Spent last weekend tearing the top end of my Toyota down, and found that 2 rockers were bad and the cam is damaged a bit. Not a big deal, since I already have new rockers and a new longer duration cam to go in, but I had a problem with one head bolt that makes me suspect either the head gasket was leaking or the head is cracked. One, and only one, of the head bolts was badly rusted. It was bad enough that I nearly had to break out a cheater to put on my 1/2" breaker bar. All the other bolts looked perfect, but this one had to be pounded out. I am waiting on a buddy of mine to come over and take a look, but I am thinking that I will probably order a new head in, just for safety sake. It wouldn't be a big concern, and may even be coincedence, but the bolt that was rusted was between the 2 bad rockers. I should know what I am going to do later this week.

The Camaro is out of the garage, and is going to have to stay out until I can get the top of the engine back on the Toyota.

My little brother gave me the latest addition to my fleet, a 96 Cadillac Deville. It isn't in the best condition, but isn't nearly as bad as some vehicles I have had. It has a decent leather interior, 32 valve 4.6l Northstar V8 that is getting 24 MPG right now, power everything, steering wheel mounted stereo and AC controls, remote keyless entry, traction control and a 6 disc changer in the trunk. It doesn't have any keyfobs for the keyless, but I can order them at some point. It has had some issues, hence my brother choosing to get rid of it after buying it for 2k and spending 3-4k on repairs, but should be a decent driver. Pretty impressive to think about having 275 HP under the hood and still get 20+ MPG. My wife likes it, and that is really saying something, so I guess I will just have to get used to it. I took some pics of it yesterday, but got busy and forgot to bring my camera in, I will upload some pics later today.

If you need a keyfob I bought one for $11 off ebay when I needed one. Just make sure it has the correct buttons etc that you need (trunk, Driver #1 and #2, etc). Then there is a procedure you can do with pressing the lock buttons in a certain order and during key-on to program the vehicle to accept the keyfob. If you need it let me know I can dig it up. If that vehicle has seat memory pay special attention to get a number 1 and a number 2 keyfob, they are different part numbers.

 

[lectric80]

Yeah I found a couple that have the right buttons, luckily this one doesn't have the seat memory. Just needs to have lock/unlock and fuel and trunk release.

Got my pics here, just need to get them uploaded then I will edit this post.