BUILD THREAD 87 Cutlass EFI build: 9/13/23..NEW STUFF!

Gotta ask, were those gears that got fugged up in your car GM gears or aftermarket along with the bearings? (What I mean by aftermarket something other than say Richmond, AAM, Dana or other OEM supplier) Like "Joe's Differential Gears" or some off brand.

Just wondering. I'm assuming they were set up properly because if not, any gear set will eat itself. I've always used Timken bearings and seals with GM gears and NEVER have seen that sort of damage. I've popped off a GM ring gear tooth once.
 
Gotta ask, were those gears that got fugged up in your car GM gears or aftermarket along with the bearings? (What I mean by aftermarket something other than say Richmond, AAM, Dana or other OEM supplier) Like "Joe's Differential Gears" or some off brand.

Just wondering. I'm assuming they were set up properly because if not, any gear set will eat itself. I've always used Timken bearings and seals with GM gears and NEVER have seen that sort of damage. I've popped off a GM ring gear tooth once.
Tbh I'm not 100% sure. They were in the 8.5 when I got it in 2004-05, the shop just added the powertrax locker. I had bought a new Richmond gear set but it wasn't needed since the ratio was the same. The shop never mentioned anything about the pinion teeth. They had to have known since they changed the carrier, and as mentioned I never had chunks of metal in the fluid. They never made noise, and had thousands of miles on them, not to mention drag racing, burnouts, donuts, etc.
 
Injectedcutty aka Mr. beef


dave chappelle GIF
 
Guess I'd better update the ol build thread. Last couple weeks have been busy, rearend was sent off and rebuilt, and is back installed. Just have to finish fabbing the e brake brackets, and bleed the brakes. Ended up ditching the blazer rear bar as I noticed there is interference with the exhaust. I was jogging my brain last year trying to locate the source of the noise.
Luckily Cory still had the factory sway bar from his Monte (I was a dummy and tossed mine years back!). Got it cleaned up and put a custom hammertone finish on it.
Also got the front end tore apart and new BMR lower arms and Viking coilovers installed. Still have to finish adjusting them to check ride height, but making a little progress daily.
I also still need to pull the valve on the frame and swap for the new disc disc unit. If these damn stainless lines cause issues on the valve I'm gonna order steel ones and rip these suckers out! Y'all pray for me, I'm gonna need some patience with that. Enough of the chatter, pic dump....
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This might help....
 
That's a good video, I'll put that into practice when I swap the valve. I'll admit I haven't done that before.
Btw, do you have a link for the ODB2 scanner you were showing on your truck thread?
LAUNCH X431 PROS Mini 3.0,2022 New Bi-directional Scan Tool,35+ Service, OE-Level Full System Automotive Diagnostic Scanner, ECU Coding, Active Test, Key Programming, AutoAuth for FCA SGW,Free Update https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071DQPN4N/?tag=gbody-20

It's expensive but works on everything. It's basically an Android tablet. It's Chineseum, but so far the quality is fine. It's bluetooth to the dongle that connects to the car and also has wifi. It has a browser on it so you can surf the internet to look up codes or whatever else you want to. My distaste for buying Chinese stuff is well known (China Bad), but I doubt there is a made in USA scanner to be had. I got this one on a lightning deal for $697. That's what made me pull the trigger when I did. When it got here, it obviously was a used unit that someone bought, registered, used to fix their problem and then returned to Amazon. I couldn't register it to use it, since it had previously been registered. The folks that sold it to me were great to work with though. Very responsive and great communication. They offered to ship me another unit (actually new) or they could help me re-register this one. If I was ok with re-registering this one, they offered me a $30 credit and two years of free update service. I went that way. They must have added tax to the $30 credit as they actually credited $41 so out the door, I spent $710.12.

I've been a car guy as long as I can remember. Dad taught me the basics. In the late 80's a show called "Shadetree Mechanic" came out on The Nashville Network (TNN). TNN became Spike and now I think it is gone. Shadetree Mechanic began teaching me how to work on OBD I vehicles (how to read codes and do basic testing). I bought my first good scanner, an Actron CP9150 back in like 2005. It works on OBD I and II and reads live data. I doesn't read any of the other modules though. For too long, I haven't had a good enough scanner to really be able to work on modern vehicles. I've been relying on the shop that works on the trucks at work but I'm hesitant to leave my stuff even with them so I mostly have just done without.

I'm really pleased that I made the investment. I picked the X-431 Mini based on bang for the buck and from watching @ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO on YouTube. He's talented at diagnosing modern vehicles and I've drawn some inspiration from watching him. He uses all kinds of scanners (must have some sort of deal to try them out as long as they are in the video). He's pretty sophisticated. He's got the laptop with the air card and professional AllData access. I've also seen other technicians on YouTube using the X-431 and the X-431 Mini.

I guess I'll never be done buying tools. In the very recent past I've bought the scanner, the pneumatic brake bleeding kit, a smoke machine and a top side creeper. I'm not ready to quit working on cars yet and I love having the right tool for the job so for now, I'll just keep going.
 
After some cussing and then talking sweet nothings, I finally got all the brake lines sealed up proper and bled all 4 corners. I swapped the frame valve over the weekend with a disc/disc unit. Had one fitting that just wouldn't stop seeping. Managed to get a tad more turn on it and it stopped.
Even with speed bleeders all around it was tough trying to determine if the brakes were bleeding right, so I recruited my 12 year old yesterday to be the pedal pumper. It took a whole 32oz bottle of fluid, but they're air free and checked off!
Gonna chip away at it this week, but there's a World of wheels show here this weekend so I'll be there Saturday for sure. Anyways, getting closer to finishing upgrades, but still need to tweak the mufflers up some, do a random nut/bolt check for good measure (found a loose trans mount bolt the other night!). Obligatory pic.....
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