When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
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 put the new rust free passenger door on today with the hinge rebuild kit from top down solutions. I noticed that the rocker effect was pushed into the bottom of the door from the previous owners jacking the car up by the pinchweld/body of the car. i always knew it was kind of mangled from that but never really noticed it was THAT bad, always just figured the door would stop rubbing once i changed the hinges. i removed the ground effect and bent the plate thing down and the door closes using one finger now. also lubed up the latch assembly and got the power locks working. I will be doing window motors and door weatherstripping very soon. i’ve been putting off working on the body for years so it feels great to finally start tackling the big stuff. i picked up new fenders that will be going on next.
started repairing the t top channel rot today, a guy who made the channels for members on here in the past is making me a set at the moment, unfortunately my rot went further than just the channels. i had to cut out the piece of sheet metal underneath the channel as well as some patches along the edge of the roof and the corners by both of the doors.
i still have to weld in the patch panels for the back and then start the same process on the front channel
shame you are in Connecticut,ive got a gta in my garage with an absolute mint roof.im gonna scrap the car soon
but it would be prohibitively expensive to cut then ship then install(im in Canada,ontario tb exact)
ive got a ton of work to do:
1)350 swap (l98 with vortec heads and hot cam)
2)9 bolt swap/refresh
3)umi torque arm/arm mount /trans mount
4)umi sub frame connectors
5)the associated work involved with these changes.
i do look forward to a better rear gear,more power,tighter handling but at the cost of tons of work.
Sanded and polished my hood. Went to the auto parts store with my van and forgot my formula scoop was on the hood. It dropped on the side of the road and had a heck of a time finding it. Once found it, it was all scratched up. So sanded it again and repainted....frustrated day again.
its the ring gear,its missing a complete tooth.i also found out its actually a 2.92 slug ratio.
the clutch,fork,throw-out bearing,trans,mounts,u-joints and all fluid levels are perfect aside
from the smoked ring gear.so,it looks like ill be putting in my spare 9 bolt with 3.27 gears.
sorry,im confused.how does a formula hood with the scoop fall off? or do you have a bolt on scoop?
It's ok. I polished it while on the formula hood then removed it and put in on my minivan hood out of the way. Took the van to the auto parts store and forgot I left it on the van hood
so is it the entire hood or the part underneath that makes it have cold air induction.
i always thought the offset formula hoods are one piece,so what exactly fell off?
so is it the entire hood or the part underneath that makes it have cold air induction.
i always thought the offset formula hoods are one piece,so what exactly fell off?
At the wide end of bump there is a separate piece. Not sure why it's designed that way. Same on the 2nd gens too. I had it off the main hood to clean out the buffing wax.
started repairing the t top channel rot today, a guy who made the channels for members on here in the past is making me a set at the moment, unfortunately my rot went further than just the channels. i had to cut out the piece of sheet metal underneath the channel as well as some patches along the edge of the roof and the corners by both of the doors.
i still have to weld in the patch panels for the back and then start the same process on the front channel
I had no idea that this channel comes off. Was it difficult? Looks like spot welds. I hate spot welds! I've got the rot as well but maybe not as bad as your was. Do you by chance have any before pics of the channel that I may compare to mine?
yeah it’s spot welded on, a decent amount of them in seemingly random spots. it actually was pretty easy to get it off the car, it looks harder to do than it really is.
take a chisel and hammer and start at one end separating the channel from the body of the car, once you reach a spot weld, drill a 1/8 hole thru the center of the spot weld and then switch to a spot weld drill bit and drill out the spot weld at a slow speed. they drill nice and easy. even if you weren’t directly over the spot weld, the hammer and chisel easily separate what was left of the weld.
i unfortunately didn’t take any pics of the rear rail but here are pictures of the front rail that i haven’t touched yet, keep in mind this front rail looks and is considerably worse than the rear rail i took off, it will require a lot more metal work before i’m ready to put the new channel on.
literally all of this rot was completely hidden by the t top gaskets, the only thing that alerted me was the edge of the channel in the second pic was visibly rotten when i took the headliner out of the car
yeah it’s spot welded on, a decent amount of them in seemingly random spots. it actually was pretty easy to get it off the car, it looks harder to do than it really is.
take a chisel and hammer and start at one end separating the channel from the body of the car, once you reach a spot weld, drill a 1/8 hole thru the center of the spot weld and then switch to a spot weld drill bit and drill out the spot weld at a slow speed. they drill nice and easy. even if you weren’t directly over the spot weld, the hammer and chisel easily separate what was left of the weld.
i unfortunately didn’t take any pics of the rear rail but here are pictures of the front rail that i haven’t touched yet, keep in mind this front rail looks and is considerably worse than the rear rail i took off, it will require a lot more metal work before i’m ready to put the new channel on.
literally all of this rot was completely hidden by the t top gaskets, the only thing that alerted me was the edge of the channel in the second pic was visibly rotten when i took the headliner out of the car
Thanks man. I have some more investigating to do to now.
At the wide end of bump there is a separate piece. Not sure why it's designed that way. Same on the 2nd gens too. I had it off the main hood to clean out the buffing wax.
now i know what you mean,sorry i had a brain fart.ive had 6 third gens(mostly camaros) but no formulas or bulge hoods
Took my new complete exhaust system to the local Midas for them to install on my car. It is a 3" hooker super competition system with the Aero Chamber muffler. L69 performance manifolds purchased from a member here and a Magna Flow 2.25" into 3" Y-pipe. Midas will be making my "Test Tube" to go in place of the cat. This is a independent owned shop that has been making custom exhaust around here since the 80's it has changed names through the years but they make all their own pipes and have all the benders and flares. They work on custom cars all the time and the people are super nice and absolutely love my car.They said they would tweak my system with their benders to make it fit perfect. The mechanic that will be working on my car is a member here... small world! I feel comfortable with these folks and that to me is worth everything. As with everything I touch this spray paint addiction comes out and 7 cans of VHT Flameproof header paint and the whole systems is painted, except for the polished tips! I even bought can #8 and dropped it off with the system as they will paint the pipe they are making. and touch up any scratches from the install.
welded in the first big patch today for the t top rust repair. it was a slow process of doing quick welds and hitting with a wet rag to keep the panel from warping. still gotta make the edge a little more uniform but i ran out of daylight.
there’s another spot with some pitted metal that i’m unsure if i wanna cut out and replace or not, gonna weigh my options with it. would hate to paint it all and have it bubble up later on
Removed and replaced the rusty fog light bezels from my 9 month old repops I purchased from Hawks in January. Can’t explain why they rusted but Hawks was nice enough to ship me out a new pair for free. Ryan with Hawks said it’s the first time he has heard of his fog lights rusting that way.
welded in the first big patch today for the t top rust repair. it was a slow process of doing quick welds and hitting with a wet rag to keep the panel from warping. still gotta make the edge a little more uniform but i ran out of daylight.
there’s another spot with some pitted metal that i’m unsure if i wanna cut out and replace or not, gonna weigh my options with it. would hate to paint it all and have it bubble up later on
Following this ongoing work. Question what is that small squarish thing on top of the t roof on the right of each picture? Keep posting I have similar stuff going on my 86.
Bought parts, procrastinated, stared at it. Gonna see if it will start tonight. Gonna get insurance today and go to the DMV for tags tonight hopefully.
welded in the first big patch today for the t top rust repair. it was a slow process of doing quick welds and hitting with a wet rag to keep the panel from warping. still gotta make the edge a little more uniform but i ran out of daylight.
there’s another spot with some pitted metal that i’m unsure if i wanna cut out and replace or not, gonna weigh my options with it. would hate to paint it all and have it bubble up later on
What did you use to grind the welds? Looks seamless.
drove the car for the first time after tearing into it. it steered funny. think I didn't get something tight. will look at it soon. fun to drive it again
drove the car for the first time after tearing into it. it steered funny. think I didn't get something tight. will look at it soon. fun to drive it again
It is a great feeling to get behind the wheel again. Glad to see you got the freeze plugs tackled, that sounded like a real PITA!
Well I cranked mine in the shop just to keep the battery fresh. Picked up my cylinder heads as they have been refreshed with new seals, springs, retainers, etc.. and now going to hone my cylinders hopefully the weekend hopefully get this swap done December-ish?
After a lot of thought, I think I'm going to pull all the good bits on my 3rd gen and sell the shell or put it to rest. I have a 2nd gen that the engine and trans will go into and improve immensely. Also have a couple of friends with 3rd gens that would be happy to take all the goodies off my hands like the shocks/struts, subframe connectors, strut tower brace, random interior bits I repaired/replaced, maybe headers, etc.
There are a couple things turning me off of my particular 3rd gen. Main one being that it clearly had a hard life. The more I work on it and take things apart, the more stress cracks I find in places that don't seem common when doing searches on the forum, or even make sense unless it's from crash damage. Seems like it took a hard enough hit to the driver side rear that the floor over the gas tank has a wrinkle in it. Left rear quarter looks to have been replaced (poorly) before I got it, and got damaged again after. I've tried centering the rear end and found that the rear wheel arches don't bulge out the same amount by considerable amount either. The radiator support suggests it had a hit in the front too because it bows towards the firewall a bit and both of the support rods that make an X over the radiator opening have broken off of the radiator support. Random holes in the body/frame are torn so it must have been towed improperly and/or put on a frame puller by someone who didn't care to do it well. Should have looked the car over harder before I got it a couple years ago.
The other turnoff is emissions testing. I wish I had just left it all stock, but being a small block Chevy, it's hard to not try to get more out of it. If I knew someone with a 5 gas analyzer or whatever, it would be easier. I don't really want to end up making changes, trying to smog, make more changes, smog again, etc. every 2 years.
Well I cranked mine in the shop just to keep the battery fresh. Picked up my cylinder heads as they have been refreshed with new seals, springs, retainers, etc.. and now going to hone my cylinders hopefully the weekend hopefully get this swap done December-ish?
Nice, did not know you where going through the entire engine. I think you are going to be real happy with that thing after you finish that swap!
After a lot of thought, I think I'm going to pull all the good bits on my 3rd gen and sell the shell or put it to rest. I have a 2nd gen that the engine and trans will go into and improve immensely. Also have a couple of friends with 3rd gens that would be happy to take all the goodies off my hands like the shocks/struts, subframe connectors, strut tower brace, random interior bits I repaired/replaced, maybe headers, etc.
There are a couple things turning me off of my particular 3rd gen. Main one being that it clearly had a hard life. The more I work on it and take things apart, the more stress cracks I find in places that don't seem common when doing searches on the forum, or even make sense unless it's from crash damage. Seems like it took a hard enough hit to the driver side rear that the floor over the gas tank has a wrinkle in it. Left rear quarter looks to have been replaced (poorly) before I got it, and got damaged again after. I've tried centering the rear end and found that the rear wheel arches don't bulge out the same amount by considerable amount either. The radiator support suggests it had a hit in the front too because it bows towards the firewall a bit and both of the support rods that make an X over the radiator opening have broken off of the radiator support. Random holes in the body/frame are torn so it must have been towed improperly and/or put on a frame puller by someone who didn't care to do it well. Should have looked the car over harder before I got it a couple years ago.
The other turnoff is emissions testing. I wish I had just left it all stock, but being a small block Chevy, it's hard to not try to get more out of it. If I knew someone with a 5 gas analyzer or whatever, it would be easier. I don't really want to end up making changes, trying to smog, make more changes, smog again, etc. every 2 years.
Wow! I guess I don't blame you on this, sounds like it could be quite the money pit after all.
Yeah there were a few times when I hesitated continuing with it, but told myself it's not really that bad. Would probably make a good race/drift car shell if it were getting a cage anyways, but unfortunately I'm not into that.
Kind of been wanting something different anyways since I have the 2nd gen that I can go nuts with. It's hard having two similar-ish project cars too, can't change something on one without wanting to change something on the other right after Probably going to eventually pick up something late model that's more like how I want it in stock form so that it only needs minimal bolt-ons to be happy with, if it even needs it.
Nice, did not know you where going through the entire engine. I think you are going to be real happy with that thing after you finish that swap!
Didn't need machining @ 70k mi but I fugured to be safe we would hone it and re-ring, re-seal, freeze plugs , etc and change valvesprings and cam. Engine supposedely has a bit more rowdy SLP cam and double valvesprings so toning it down a bit with a stock #049 GM cam and new set of Comp Cams valvesprings
Well picked up the car and first just want to give Midas Northlake a huge Man did they do me right! system all welded, tucked up tight and added hangers, the good ones so the system is solid. Car came back just as I left it and John the mechanic really treated the car as if it was his own. Could not be happier with the whole crew! They left the bolt on @ the muffler so the whole rear section can be dropped if I ever need a fuel pump. This thing sounds Bad A$$, holy crap!! it sure does not sound like your typical 305 Wow! I was I little worried about using the Hooker system as it does not get much love. Well I am lovin it! And the Quad tips, love em also, just another piece of my modern look and something else I was not too sure about. I am trying to post the vid I ran but I think it is too large 103 mgs. Any one know how I can reduce the size of the vid...you guys gotta hear this thing.
Well picked up the car and first just want to give Midas Northlake a huge Man did they do me right! system all welded, tucked up tight and added hangers, the good ones so the system is solid. Car came back just as I left it and John the mechanic really treated the car as if it was his own. Could not be happier with the whole crew! They left the bolt on @ the muffler so the whole rear section can be dropped if I ever need a fuel pump. This thing sounds Bad A$$, holy crap!! it sure does not sound like your typical 305 Wow! I was I little worried about using the Hooker system as it does not get much love. Well I am lovin it! And the Quad tips, love em also, just another piece of my modern look and something else I was not too sure about. I am trying to post the vid I ran but I think it is too large 103 mgs. Any one know how I can reduce the size of the vid...you guys gotta hear this thing.
put the car on ramps and put a torque wrench on the inner tie rod. I put that bolt on a week ago but I did it without loading the suspension which is a no no. its correct now.
10-12-2019, 06:38 PM
Probably going to eventually pick up something late model that's more like how I want it in stock form so that it only needs minimal bolt-ons to be happy with, if it even needs it. 
Man did they do me right! system all welded, tucked up tight and added hangers, the good ones so the system is solid. Car came back just as I left it and John the mechanic really treated the car as if it was his own. Could not be happier with the whole crew! They left the bolt on @ the muffler so the whole rear section can be dropped if I ever need a fuel pump. This thing sounds Bad A$$, holy crap!! it sure does not sound like your typical 305 Wow! I was I little worried about using the Hooker system as it does not get much love. Well I am lovin it! And the Quad tips, love em also, just another piece of my modern look and something else I was not too sure about. I am trying to post the vid I ran but I think it is too large 103 mgs. Any one know how I can reduce the size of the vid...you guys gotta hear this thing. 
