Recent content by PartsPile

Bit of a long line at the machine shop, but that's what I get for bringing them another engine block to work on during summer/fall when it's project car/pulling truck season. In any event, just got the call today, I can go pick it up. Wasn't expecting the call, or I would've taken, you know...

New eBay goodies! Not arrived yet: New flywheel cover for the transmission, old one wasn't there when I bought the car and just never got around to replacing it. Original is on some forgotten garage shelf/mile of roadway, somewhere in the universe....

Okay, off eBay, have new reservoir bottles for both the radiator and windshield washer coming. Can't seem to find a decent set of NOS valve covers, everyone has dressed up chrome ones, but I'd like to stay stock, I was kind of hoping someone would have a clean set, but they all look about as...

While the block is in the shop, decided to get working on that "yeah I'll get to that someday" rust. There wasn't a lot of it on the car (garaged all it'slife) but there was a bit of it bubbling up around the front lip and corners of the hood. And since that had to come off anyway.. You know...

Well, started tearing her down. Everything was routine until the moment of truth: time to take off the front cover. I was a bit panicked there. When I popped the front cover off, the first thing that fell out was a chunk of irregular and broken cast iron... But, turns out that was a piece...

Yeah, I forgot to mention, the motor had a little bit of knock in it and while it didn't leak externally, it was using a bit of oil, probably from leak-down or rings. So, I was going to do the whole thing anyway at some point in the future, it just came a bit quicker than I was hoping for...

So, I frequently joked with my friends that my 78' Grand Prix only has a 5 digit odometer, showing what faith Detroit had in the Disco Era that their cars would ever see 100K miles. Well, because the universe is cruel, the other week when I went out to start the car, I noticed that the starter...

Yeah, I've spent a lot of time (and money) in the "Liquid Hope" aisle.

Well, the wiring diagram didn't lie, the two wires in were green and blue, and I have 12 volts there, on/off with the switch (whew, no tearing open the steering column) so that leaves either the unit itself as bad, or, the third vac line off of it to the brake pedal which I haven't tested yet...

I'm getting spectacular mileage for a 38 year old V8 that has 1 hour driving a day... can't disagree.

Well, this is a prime example of why anyone who longs for the "Good ol days" before fuel injection should be beaten, severely. In addition to the accelerator pump, I had two bad plug wires inducing misfires, things like this could be a combination of tiny things adding up.

The Q-jet in my Grand Prix needed extensive cleaning after sitting for a few years, and even then, it would sputter under hard throttle for a few weeks afterward just like you describe before it digested all the gunk and cleared up. (I had feet on BOTH pedals at stoplights for a bit there to...

The fact it looks to share the radio fuse helps, because I know the radio works (just upgraded it to a CD/MP3 last week) And the only two wires going into it under the hood are the same color.

Greetings, I have a recently de-garaged 78' Grand Prix LJ with an inoperable cruise control. Tried pushing the button on it yesterday (for the first time since getting the car), and nothing happened. I immediately checked the usual under the hood suspects and everything seems to be in...

78' Grand Prix LJ Rough here and there, but, reliable daily driver. All original, except for the radio, still has factory T-top bags, jack and spare in trunk. Bought from original owners through their mechanic in 2006. (Dog was not part of purchase, he just loves it when the weather is...