First time wagon owner intro

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Maliwagon

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Mar 14, 2014
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Hello, I'm brand spanking new to the G body forum. I have a 1981 wagon. It has a 305 with edelbrock intake and 600 carb, turbo 350. I believe it originally had the v6 motor. The last owner hot rodded it a little bit. Took out all the emissions equipment so I installed a cat converter, which was the only visual part of the test my state's DEQ looks for. It miraculously passed...with a little bit of divine intervention. Bought new wheels.

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Currently working on the gauge cluster: dropped off the speedo at a service company today. I replaced the broken fuel gauge with another factory one. Took out the big dash clock, which I'm replacing with a tic toc tach. The clock mechanism seems dysfunctional though, only the second hand moves. (Any ideas, easy repair job? Otherwise I'll leave it disconnected) The tachometer itself hasn't been fully tested by me yet...waiting on a tach filter. I plugged it in though, without the signal connection connected, just had 12v and ground connected. With the ignition in the Off position the needle goes to 1,000 rpm, while it goes to 0 with the key in the On position, engine off. Is this behavior normal?

Other plans include:

-adding an oil temp gauge. The last owner cut a hole in the lower part of the gauge cluster to make a spot for an aftermarket fuel gauge he had installed rather than replacing the original like I did. He apparently had it wired incorrectly the whole time! It sorta worked but he had to mark a new Empty spot around the 2/3 mark of the gauge's scale. I figured an oil temp gauge would be cool as it gives you a more direct actual temp of the engine. Thoughts? I bought aa Autometer oil temp gauge...
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-just ordered a hellwig rear sway bar

-K&N filter of course

-My bench seat doesn't have head rests. Is it possible to pull some head rests off a junk yard car and put them in mine? My seats are nicely upholstered so I wouldn't want to change the entire bench out.

-New carpet. I was thinking a chocolate brown (same color as dash) to contrast with the mostly beige interior.

-I like the original aluminum wiper blades and found a couple at the junk yard except one has a broken spring. So it doesn't make full contact. The way they are riveted together makes it tough to fix.

Way down the road I'd like to install either a 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto with OD and maybe install a couple more smog components to get a little more in regulatory compliance.

Scott
 

Longroof79

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G-Body of the Month
Oct 14, 2008
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Hi Scott,
Welcome to the forum.
Nice clean '81 longroof. Sounds like you have some good ideas for the car.
As for the tach, that sounds like normal behavior. You can't go wrong with overdrive, it's also on my to-do list.
 

Maliwagon

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Mar 14, 2014
32
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Thanks Longroof. If I could get a deal on a 200r4 or maybe a 700r4 I'd throw them in. The 200r4 sound like they almost pop right in. But my long term goal is to get a 5 speed, perhaps the T5. They make driving so much funner :D
 

Kansas Bu Wagon

G-Body Guru
Jul 9, 2012
500
15
18
Wichita, Ks
Man that thing looks nice. Can we get some interior pics? I've never seen the chocolate brown you seak of.

Congrats on the new wagon, there's a lot of info for them here if you ever have any wagon specific questions.
 

Longroof79

Rocket Powered Basset Hound
G-Body of the Month
Oct 14, 2008
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Maliwagon said:
Thanks Longroof. If I could get a deal on a 200r4 or maybe a 700r4 I'd throw them in. The 200r4 sound like they almost pop right in. But my long term goal is to get a 5 speed, perhaps the T5. They make driving so much funner :D
I agree, it would be a blast to row gears with the 5-spd manual. You can't go wrong with either a 200-4R or 700-R4. I prefer the 200.

I'd also like to see pics of the interior.
 

Maliwagon

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Mar 14, 2014
32
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Ok, got more pics

20140324_174027.jpg

20140324_174046.jpg

20140324_173914.jpg

See thru fuel filter
20140324_173924.jpg

Pleather or leather-like vinyly material
20140324_173814.jpg

Gauge still getting worked on. I want to get carpeting that roughly matches the dash color
20140324_173821.jpg

Entertainment center, featuring custom cup holders 8)
20140324_173828.jpg

I guess the last owner installed these rear speakers, not hood thumpers but they get the job done.
20140324_174135.jpg

Old clock & new tachometer
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Clock bracket that had to be replaced with a clock/tach combo bracket
20140316_184321.jpg

new bracket went in without a hitch. the circuit sheet on the back even had the tach posts, not being used with just the clock option. I think instead of tracing the white 17 wire through the bundle I'm just going to run a tach signal wire straight to the distributor once I get a filter. The thing I dislike the most to work on is wiring under the dash and steering column area. Always a back breaker.

Also have to throw in a pic of my folding bike which is almost always in the back of the car.
20140324_095316.jpg
 

ssn696

Living in the Past
Supporting Member
Jul 19, 2009
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When you want to make the T5 swap, I have some (not all) of the parts. The S-10 short tailhousing may work out best for a bench seat, but the S10 overdrive ratios are not too great; World Class versions came late and were packaged in a Ford case. The Camaro bellhousing tilted the trans 18 degrees towards the driver so you'll have to fab a custom transmount if you use a G-body bellhousing (10.5" clutch max). You can use a Ford Mustang trans with an Astro van 4.3L bellhousing and yoke change on your driveshaft, plus a Ford clutch disc between a GM clutch cover and flywheel. Mechanical speedometer sender tailhousings were more common on the Camaro T-5s.
Be sure to check out the Garage Scene when scoping the swap. http://www.garage-scene.com/
Missing bits and pieces can also be found here: http://www.4speedconversions.com/78-88-a-g
Finally, when boneyardin', here is a webpage that gives you ID tag info for T5s: http://www.britishv8.org/articles/borg- ... d-tags.htm

You're very lucky on the nice headliner. Did I read that the previous owner chopped up the instrument panel to put in an oil gauge? I might, might, might have a green gauge cluster face panel. Buried in the shed patience required.

Hope this data helps your research project.
 

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Maliwagon

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Mar 14, 2014
32
0
6
Thanks for the resources ssn696, I hope to tackle the transmission maybe in a year or so. I'll be weighing all options and researching in the meantime. Might as well abuse the 350 till I've broken its spirit a little more :lol: But obviously won't be making any cross country trips in it. How is your t5 running? How's the shifting and responsiveness?

The last owner cut a hole in the cluster for an aftermarket gas gauge. The factory one stopped working at some point and I suppose he couldn't find a replacement. He's a senior, probably not used to this internet fad where I found a NOS one on Ebay for $25. Actually I'm thinking he had other people do all the work for him. I'm going to use the hole already there for an oil temp, it's just under the tach. BTW not a bad location for an extra gauge, just redundant to have two gas gauge in there.

The previous owner did pick a nice color. Sort of a golden tan.

I'm also having issues with the rear electric windows apparently not working.
 

ssn696

Living in the Past
Supporting Member
Jul 19, 2009
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The car project has suffered from the ravages of creating three children. This summer, I had a rebuilt SBC 400 in my garage when I made the decision never again push the engine-less coupe around by hand. I had a Tremec TKO600 in a dusty box. I made it all the way to the point that the drivetrain was in, the 3.73 axle moved from the wagon BACK to the coupe, but ran out of steam when the dusty headers did not fit the mechanical clutch linkage. This is AFTER pulling the motor back out because the clutch ball hole is not drilled in a 2-bolt 400, AND the Elco 11" flywheel I had hoarded for 20 years turned out to be drilled for only a 10.5" clutch disc. Assumed, never measured. :blam: The T-5 was last driven back in 2000-2002. It shifted nicely, but it did not have much of an overdrive (0.72). I used an S10 shifter, which felt like ape-hanger handlebars on a Harley.

If you want to keep the bench seat, consider building a trans using S10 parts. I can't verify that this will work, but you can see where the Camaro tailhousing places the shifter. That's the passenger bucket right behind it. You'll need a curved stick fabbed to place the knob in the palm of your hand, shaped like a backwards question mark. Use an S10 stub so it's not tilted away from you and it has a threads for the stick. Get a World Class GM case, preferably from an 88-91 305 Camaro (2.95 1st) or next best, a 90's V6 car (3.35 1st). The 2.95 will have a 26-spline 1-1/8" input shaft, just like the old Muncies. The 3.35 will have a 14-spline 1" input shaft, but I have seen an adapter clutch disc for just his conversion: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/add-716104/overview/ The mechanical speedo remains the problem. Here is one last reference for T5s that might be useful: http://home.roadrunner.com/~schickling/ ... vy/T5.html

Quinn
 
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