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Stuartswede great job on interior! it looks BETTER than they were new ! as I looked along i was hoping for the secret on window tint removal- ugh was disappointed to the razor blade ending my 90 is horrible. I think I have a couple turbine rims that would be available for widening if your interested in that. I learned a little from Dagwood on paint guns its nice to get tips from the pros!
now to this motor mount issue
I have my 90 getting another subframe from another 90 and I bought new I had a problem getting holes to line up then I swapped from side to side and Bingo! they magically all lined up! keep doing the good work!
Thanks Zman,
Steam was recommended for the film removal. I think I am going to leave the turbo fins as is and just play around with the super wide mags, my bride is starting to notice the restore purchasing $$$. As to the motor mount, this was how it came out, I don't want to drop the A-arm again for access to the nuts. I know someone said you could do it without dropping the spring and arm, but I don't see how.
You should never begin a sentence with the word "so". So the hood is the last major body part that needs some attention, I have neglected because I am getting old and didn't want to man-handle by myself. Can I say that? Anyhow, I put my hood on the operating table this morning and began rust surgery. Only a half dozen or so thru holes and semi minor for the most part.
Ground down until all rust removed, then POR15nd everything Ground down the POR15, enough to weld in new metal to plug holes and hopefully regain structural strength. Pressure washed the plenum, will test out tomorrow. Got my period correct shifter plate, thanks to that "helping spend other peoples money" addict guy!
Thanks Zman,
Steam was recommended for the film removal. I think I am going to leave the turbo fins as is and just play around with the super wide mags, my bride is starting to notice the restore purchasing $$$. As to the motor mount, this was how it came out, I don't want to drop the A-arm again for access to the nuts. I know someone said you could do it without dropping the spring and arm, but I don't see how.
Seriously dude, get some 3/8"-drive and 1/4"-drive extensions and a 15mm universal socket. I did it for all 6 bolts, you only have 3 to do (or one if you can just hog out the hole in the K-member with a die-grinder to line up with the hole in the motor mount). You've gone to all this effort and expense, and really should have 3 bolts holding the mount on. Put a piece of vinyl electrical tape over the end of the socket before inserting the nut into the socket. That will prevent it from falling out and getting lost down in the K--member, and make it pretty easy to get started on the bolt threads. No need to remove the spring and drop the A-arm. Just let it down as far as the normal suspension travel allows. Probably take you a half-hour or less...
Seeing as how you guys are tag-teaming me, maybe I will.
tag team? I like the term dog piling but I just threw that out that because when I was trying to install mine I was like WTF? so I thought I'd put up my
now I was thinking what TL said as I've done that before on another generation Camaro had to electrical tape the washer/nut to my wobbly socket
so my other is I would find another hood as common as T/A Formula hoods are to find I guess I just hate salt/Rust now I'll get off my high soap box and man they dont have a eating popcorn emoji
this board needs an update
You guys are too much LOL.
I did a quick conservative analysis to show that I am not slacking here:
Assume the engine puts out 1000 lb-ft of torque (very conservative), that would be around 1000 lb of force on the mount in tension, assuming one foot between the mount and engine center-line.
Inertia loads are the other part of the equation, mass times velocity during maneuvers. Any acceleration, braking or cornering wants to sling the engine and tranny out of the car. Assume that braking and acceleration or cornering loads are 3 times 1000 lb, that would total 4000 lb on one mount. Even if you only had one bolt, a 3/8-16 grade 8 bolt (which most automotive fasteners are) has a tensile strength of 11,600 lbs. That's a 3X safety factor, but I had 2 bolts in there, plus the tranny mount helps out some too. I ended up wallering out the hole and inserting another bolt and nut at yous guys urging, but I think it was more a feel good generator than an engineering need, just sayin'. DHO!!! Special tool 0U812, BTW, noticed the filename of this pic is 258, my boot camp training unit number in the Navy; "get off the sidewalk, get on the grass, 258 is marching past, sound-off 1-2" Zman suggested I ditch my old hood, I was thinking about it, I hate rust too. While I was feathering out my body filler, I noticed something, can you see it? My old hood was showing a lot more love than you guys today! Amazing. Not staged I assure you. I think I will keep her a while. Still love you guys tho. Another epiphany, just messing around, black and gold baby! This was the gold caliper paint, more what I am looking for in the gold shade. Just noticed the sweet potatoes on the boat. Again, not staged. I was also wanting to add driving lights/fog lights, and TL gave me this idea. My inserts already have holes. I got 2 of these, ordered plugs wiring and a 3 way switch to mount under dash. I am plagiarizing TL's mounting method on the steel back pane with angle bracketing. Should be cool, see the bracket. First thing in a while from Amazon that was Made in USA! but they had to qualify that with Global materials. Sad, thanks for tuning in!
Last edited by stuartswede; 05-14-2021 at 06:58 PM.
You've made me proud.
Although I will add that the angle metal is sold at your local hardware stores and Lowe's & Home Depot (just say "NO" to Amazon).
That car is gonna be so cool when you're done...
You've made me proud.
Although I will add that the angle metal is sold at your local hardware stores and Lowe's & Home Depot (just say "NO" to Amazon).
That car is gonna be so cool when you're done...
Hey TL,
I am with you on the Amazon thing, however, since I refuse to wear a mask anywhere, it lets me not wear a mask a lot less...
Hey TL,
I am with you on the Amazon thing, however, since I refuse to wear a mask anywhere, it lets me not wear a mask a lot less...
Governor Desantis lifted the mask mandate, didn't he? I go into stores maskless all the time. No one ever gives me a hard time despite the signs on the front door that say "Mask Required".
My sister & brother in-law there in Florida went into a bike shop to buy a new bicycle. The fool working there insisted that they put a mask on. They said "no thanks, we'll take our business elsewhere". They left and the shop lost a sale due to their own stupidity...
Hey TL,
I have been a prime member since 2013, saves me a lot of time and gas, and it gives me more time to work on the trans am. They are losing money on me as I order several things every day. And yes, our great governor made it illegal for municipalities to fine people for going mask-less.
I actually painted that hood yesterday, but didn't take any photos because of horrible orange peel. I sanded it out today and re-prepped. Sprayed a test piece and adjusted the gun to get more paint on target, and think I got it about right. I put on 2 coats today, one coat front to back and one side to side. Very happy with the results today on trial number 2.
This is after about an hour Only one small orange peel area, on the scoop, about the size of my palm After some reflection...looks like a camo wrap! I did get some bubbles that look like either air or water, I thought everything got atomized. Bubbles, pin head size, calling Dagwood! I remember now when I painted my 240Z I had a moisture filter in the air line in a bucket of ice-water to promote condensation. Plus I haven't emptied my compressors in a while come to think of it.
I put on 2 coats today, one coat front to back and one side to side. Very happy with the results today on trial number 2.
I am not a pro painter, but I do know that you should avoid doing this. This is how you could end up with a checkerboard pattern.
Dagwood, can you confirm this?
I put on 2 coats today, one coat front to back and one side to side. Very happy with the results today on trial number 2.
I am not a pro painter, but I do know that you should avoid doing this. This is how you could end up with a checkerboard pattern.
Dagwood, can you confirm this?
Thanks NoEm,
One of the videos said to do this to avoid "tiger-striping", I don't see any checker-boards, just looks real good. The biggest thing to avoid the orange peel, as I am learning is to get a lot of paint on so it flows out to one even layer. To me intuitively seems like the cross hatch would help in that regard too.
Let’s keep this thread on topic with discussing the restoration of a nice Trans Am.
Unfortunately debating the usefulness / non-usefulness of masks and vaccines is a waste of everyone’s time. People have their minds made up on both sides of the issue and no one is going to change their mind regardless of science, facts, etc. It’s to the point where you can’t have a civil discussion about it. People aren’t even open to admitting the other side has valid points even if you don’t fully agree with what they’re saying.
Anyway - car is coming along nicely. I enjoy reading the daily updates.
What all is done to the engine? My first V8 car was a Cross Fire C4. In an effort to keep up with others I was after more power. I researched for hours upon hours of how to make it faster. Even though I sold it before I was bale to complete all the mods the ones I did helped dramatically.
What all is done to the engine? My first V8 car was a Cross Fire C4. In an effort to keep up with others I was after more power. I researched for hours upon hours of how to make it faster. Even though I sold it before I was bale to complete all the mods the ones I did helped dramatically.
What mods did you do to your Vette engine?
I "cleaned up" the intake manifold to better match the head ports, rebuilt the throttle bodies, added headers with true 3" cat / exhaust and added a mild cam (XE250H-10 from Comp cams). Got my T700R4 rebuilt and am adding a corvette servo. I have a nephew who serves on the Hillsborough County SWAT team, so we get over there now and then. Would love to take you for a ride. I think I75 has more morons than I4 tho.
What mods did you do to your Vette engine?
I "cleaned up" the intake manifold to better match the head ports, rebuilt the throttle bodies, added headers with true 3" cat / exhaust and added a mild cam (XE250H-10 from Comp cams). Got my T700R4 rebuilt and am adding a corvette servo. I have a nephew who serves on the Hillsborough County SWAT team, so we get over there now and then. Would love to take you for a ride. I think I75 has more morons than I4 tho.
75 & 4 are both terrible. Those roads are why I sold my motorcycles. Just terrible drivers.
I started with headers and a good exhaust system. It sounded good but only made more noise and was barely faster. Advanced the timing and used an 85 fuel pump (my stocker was going out anyway) and upped the regulator PSI. The stock pump was a low pressure unit. It ran awesome, faster than my friends TPI Vette at the time but it was still lacking upper RPM pull. Ended up trying to match the ports to the heads. As you have seen the issue with these engines is not that the Cross Fire is a bad design it's that the engineers purposefully hindered the engines performance with the internal runners and the port match to the head. The ports of the intake are about 2/3rds the side of the port on the head. But here is the issue if you only address the intake where it meets the head.
Cleaning it up to have a port size the same as the head will help but it's further into the intake that then becomes a bottleneck. The internal runners are so small all the way up through that opening the end where it meets the head is like putting a bigger nozzle on your garden hose. The hose can still only flow what it did before. The bottleneck still exists. The good thing is your cam isn't huge and should make great midrange with how the CFI is designed to make power.
To really get into it you need to take the intake apart and hog the hell out of the entire runner. Problem is there isn't a lot of space to do it as they are cast down low into the bottom half of the intake. Some guys have tried to make their own runner but that creates it's own issues. If you can fine one a Renegade intake cleaned up with a decent port job will make a lot more power than the CFI unit. But, good luck finding one.
The 84 got a bad reputation from people who didn't know what they were doing getting them all out of sync. If GM didn't hinder the fuel/air delivery the 84 would have made as much if not more power than the 85. But how can you come out with a brand new engine that makes the same or less HP than the year prior especially with this brand new tech? You can't, so you choke it. Bottom end/heads were the same for 84&5.
Last edited by TLS_Addict; 05-16-2021 at 03:18 PM.
TLS, thanks for the info, I have researched all I could get my hands on concerning the stock intake and the renegade, etc. I did read where one guy actually replaced his renegade with stock intake after getting high end instability in the renegade that he could not eliminate. Hoping mine will be happy, as I just love the old stock crossfire system for nostalgic reasons. BTW forgive my ignorance, but what is TLS?
I want to get my engine back in my car, but feel like I have been frozen at the door of the airplane prior to a skydive, looking for other things to do before engine install. Maybe I am worried I did something wrong in the build or forgot something else. Anyhow, Kowabunga!
No more stalling. I installed the Corvette servo today
Old
Out with the old In with the new, BTW the retaining ring was a real PITA to get back in. Forewarned is forearmed. Installed new EGR, BTW I bought a set of these ratchet-box end wrenches, and they are the bomb! Don't know how I survived without them my whole life. Wait, I know, a lot of cussing and screaming. They are flipping wonderful. Better than actual sockets! Of course I didn't discover them until my restoration is almost complete! Soooo nice! New O2 sensor Installed Y-pipe hopefully for keeps. It would be nice to have it installed when putting the engine and transmission back in the car. Remember I cut down the Y-pipe to make 3 inches all the way back. Hoping I can finagle it in. Doesn't look too obnoxious. And I do have a 2 ton and a 1 ton hoist if I need to pull in a different direction, etc. Any thoughts? Obviously can remove the Y-pipe if not successful, but would save a lot of wear and tear on this ole body. OEM on the right, new from Rock auto on the left Guess will use the old one. Brass really shines up nice! Too bad it's all hidden behind the intake.
The only thing that my keep me from installing the engine tomorrow is the knock sensor. Ironically the old one is stuck in the block and I spun the sheet metal nut trying to remove and replace. Soaked with PB blaster and using slip-joint pliers but still not budging. Go figure. See the new sensor lower left! Help me get the old one out. Thanks for tuning in.
Last edited by stuartswede; 05-16-2021 at 06:32 PM.
Some wonderful eye-candy.
Corvette servo; been there - done that. What I didn't do that I should have (and I hope you have) while the transmission was on the bench, is replace the speedometer driven-gear seal & O-ring. It's easy, but easier while the trans is out of the car. I had everything together, poured the ATF in, and an hour later there was a puddle on the floor. All fixed now...
I have so much to learn from you guys, so let me ask...my speedometer is a bit bouncy. I changed the cable twice, second one seems smoother but it does seem to not be en pointe. Since you guys were talking about the speedometer cable, thought this would be a good time to discuss.
Some wonderful eye-candy.
Corvette servo; been there - done that. What I didn't do that I should have (and I hope you have) while the transmission was on the bench, is replace the speedometer driven-gear seal & O-ring. It's easy, but easier while the trans is out of the car. I had everything together, poured the ATF in, and an hour later there was a puddle on the floor. All fixed now...
I have so much to learn from you guys, so let me ask...my speedometer is a bit bouncy. I changed the cable twice, second one seems smoother but it does seem to not be en pointe. Since you guys were talking about the speedometer cable, thought this would be a good time to discuss.
I would solicit opinions from the observing experts at this point. I don't have enough expertise.
I have so much to learn from you guys, so let me ask...my speedometer is a bit bouncy. I changed the cable twice, second one seems smoother but it does seem to not be en pointe. Since you guys were talking about the speedometer cable, thought this would be a good time to discuss.
Two things to check:
Did you grease the new cable?
Have headers? The cable sometimes ends up so close to the headers that the heat from the headers cooks the cable.
I have so much to learn from you guys, so let me ask...my speedometer is a bit bouncy. I changed the cable twice, second one seems smoother but it does seem to not be en pointe. Since you guys were talking about the speedometer cable, thought this would be a good time to discuss.
Usually, replacing the cable solves that problem, so all I can think of at this point is make sure there are no tight bends in the cable, and it may need lubrication. Someone else here may have a bit more insight....
TLS, thanks for the info, I have researched all I could get my hands on concerning the stock intake and the renegade, etc. I did read where one guy actually replaced his renegade with stock intake after getting high end instability in the renegade that he could not eliminate. Hoping mine will be happy, as I just love the old stock crossfire system for nostalgic reasons. BTW forgive my ignorance, but what is TLS?
Yeah, some folks had issues with the Renegade and others nothing. For what you're doing your car will be a blast to drive. They say too much power is never enough but it can make the car less enjoyable to drive.
Yeah, some folks had issues with the Renegade and others nothing. For what you're doing your car will be a blast to drive. They say too much power is never enough but it can make the car less enjoyable to drive.
This is a TLS.
My Bride made me get rid of my Yamaha Virago 920. Been there done that!! If anything could rival the thrill of a thirdgen, 2 wheels could.
Last edited by stuartswede; 05-16-2021 at 09:55 PM.
[QUOTE=1985_IROC;6426647]Oh boy...here was my baby. I know what you mean stuartswede "My Bride made me get rid of" Marriage and kids had me make the decision to sell it. ;-)
So you traded your bike for that Yugo in the background?
So you traded your bike for that Yugo in the background?
ROFL, iirc that was my neighbors 1990ish Honda Civic hatchback, we was putting himself through college and entering NJ State Police Academy. Think he also worked at Nathan's hot dog joint in our mall.
I had the IROC and this bike, my license plates were ONEBADZ (IROC), and the bike had (ZBAD1).
05-12-2021, 09:54 PM
man they dont have a eating popcorn emoji 
