Build Thread: '87 442 . . . Time to turn and stop
- Thread starter Canon_Mutant
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Well, not much real progress yet. I have been mostly rearranging things in my shop to allow for sliding the frame out the door, flipping it up 90, and sliding it back in beside the body to work on it. That actually involves moving some cabinetry that the original owner put in I've wanted to move anyway and then just a whole lot of reorganization. I am CLOSE to at least showing pics of my shop I don't mind you seeing.
I did, however, decide to punt the dual snorkel 3" CAI setup for a single 4".
[as of today anyway 🤔] I decided to keep the AC and routing even a dual 3" to that PS through all the AC looked nothing but kluged no matter how I tried. And I also decided NOT to move to 950EFI, more cam, different ignition, and matching ECM at this point. I'm still a tad too proud of getting to 450/550 numbers with the 800CCC on the factory ECM and my health will likely NOT let me run this car competitively anyway.
So, I ran the numbers and a single 4" with the size of CAI cone I am putting in that DS corner will move more than enough air to make my current power numbers. Now, if I have a miraculous recovery and get serious about auto-x'ing etc., I can always punt the AC later and migrate to EFI power numbers and back to dual snorkel at that point. Needless to say . . . I AM BEYOND ANXIOUS TO JUST DRIVE THE OLE GIRL! Reinventing the ENTIRE power generation wheel at this point would just be more added delays and nonsense I don't have time for . . .
Now, the bad thing is that, with the frame drop and roll, box and coat, gives me the perfect opportunity to do the EFI swap but, if my health improves enough to where 450/550 numbers are not sufficient, I'll feel good enough to . . . do it twice Garth and move to EFI later. At 60, that is frankly unlikely!
I also found a much better oil spout breather for my dual valve cover PCV valve evacuation setup. This is where I take filtered air clear into the crankcase and then up and out both valve covers instead of just one. I think I talked about this earlier but, even though it wasn't bad at all, Kevin and I were quite perfectionist getting this thing to run factory smooth and the big block had just enough more cam that when the single PCV valve opened I had just a bit of hesitation. Almost felt just a bit like turbo lag does though not even that bad. Kevin did the same thing on his 455 he put in his Caddy. It takes just enough more vacuum to open 2 valves than 1, we got by the problematic rpm point and problem solved. Plus, if you've ever seen all the caked on gunk under the PCV intake valve cover side of a high mileage motor, evacuating both valve covers really does a better job.
I am going to take advantage of the separation, however, to go ahead and try out these Thornton headers since they have to flow more air than my WZs do and my 67 manifolds almost look like original equipment. So headers go on the 87 that are at least up out of the way so they don't piss me off and they dump right into my existing 2 1/2" downpipes without any changes. And the still like new pretty powder coated WZs off the 87 get donated to the 67 project.
Clear as mud?
I did, however, decide to punt the dual snorkel 3" CAI setup for a single 4".
[as of today anyway 🤔] I decided to keep the AC and routing even a dual 3" to that PS through all the AC looked nothing but kluged no matter how I tried. And I also decided NOT to move to 950EFI, more cam, different ignition, and matching ECM at this point. I'm still a tad too proud of getting to 450/550 numbers with the 800CCC on the factory ECM and my health will likely NOT let me run this car competitively anyway.
So, I ran the numbers and a single 4" with the size of CAI cone I am putting in that DS corner will move more than enough air to make my current power numbers. Now, if I have a miraculous recovery and get serious about auto-x'ing etc., I can always punt the AC later and migrate to EFI power numbers and back to dual snorkel at that point. Needless to say . . . I AM BEYOND ANXIOUS TO JUST DRIVE THE OLE GIRL! Reinventing the ENTIRE power generation wheel at this point would just be more added delays and nonsense I don't have time for . . .
Now, the bad thing is that, with the frame drop and roll, box and coat, gives me the perfect opportunity to do the EFI swap but, if my health improves enough to where 450/550 numbers are not sufficient, I'll feel good enough to . . . do it twice Garth and move to EFI later. At 60, that is frankly unlikely!
I also found a much better oil spout breather for my dual valve cover PCV valve evacuation setup. This is where I take filtered air clear into the crankcase and then up and out both valve covers instead of just one. I think I talked about this earlier but, even though it wasn't bad at all, Kevin and I were quite perfectionist getting this thing to run factory smooth and the big block had just enough more cam that when the single PCV valve opened I had just a bit of hesitation. Almost felt just a bit like turbo lag does though not even that bad. Kevin did the same thing on his 455 he put in his Caddy. It takes just enough more vacuum to open 2 valves than 1, we got by the problematic rpm point and problem solved. Plus, if you've ever seen all the caked on gunk under the PCV intake valve cover side of a high mileage motor, evacuating both valve covers really does a better job.
I am going to take advantage of the separation, however, to go ahead and try out these Thornton headers since they have to flow more air than my WZs do and my 67 manifolds almost look like original equipment. So headers go on the 87 that are at least up out of the way so they don't piss me off and they dump right into my existing 2 1/2" downpipes without any changes. And the still like new pretty powder coated WZs off the 87 get donated to the 67 project.
Clear as mud?
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Per a couple PM questions:
My battery in the DS corner is going to the trunk, (1) 40 lb’er to (2) 12 lb Deep Cycle batteries in parallel, one over each rear tire back on my amp/sub shelf. Check back a few pages.
Yes, still running the factory hood. Going EFI would require at least a 2” cowl bump so, if I (EVER) get to feeling better, punting the AC, moving to likely just a drop in fiberglass cowl hood helps to better evacuate heat from the engine bay, just lightened the car and improved the front/rear weight balance by (what?) 40-50 more lbs?
Of course, you guys keep asking questions like this . . .
you’ll talk me back into converting to EFI again . . .
My battery in the DS corner is going to the trunk, (1) 40 lb’er to (2) 12 lb Deep Cycle batteries in parallel, one over each rear tire back on my amp/sub shelf. Check back a few pages.
Yes, still running the factory hood. Going EFI would require at least a 2” cowl bump so, if I (EVER) get to feeling better, punting the AC, moving to likely just a drop in fiberglass cowl hood helps to better evacuate heat from the engine bay, just lightened the car and improved the front/rear weight balance by (what?) 40-50 more lbs?
Of course, you guys keep asking questions like this . . .
you’ll talk me back into converting to EFI again . . .
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Anyone know how to repair a dent in the dash? I’ll snap a pic tomorrow but it has been there since I got it. Yet another example of the long list of pi$$ poor quality from the factory. The dealer said nothing could be done nearly 33 years ago. I have never had the dash apart and do not know if the plastic cover is laminated to the pad underneath or can they be separated so I can fix it? Truthfully I might be the only one that would notice it but it looks to me that maybe when they were sitting it in at the factory, some yahoo maybe was struggling to get it to fit into place so they smacked it hard probably with the heel of their hand(??). It’s just right below the top of the dash just to the right and above the center control/radio section.
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Your dealer was wrong. They could have replaced the dash pad under warranty as it was a quality in workmanship issue. You should have pressed the idiot. But I also recall GM wasn't keen on fixing things under warranty back then unless something was falling off.
Unfortunately, there's no good fix for it that wouldn't cause other issues you don't have yet. You'd have to replace it to make it right. There's foam under it that no doubt is deteriorated to the point where jacking with it may cause more problems than you fix.
Or Just Dashes can charge you $40,000,000 to fix it with a new covering. 🙂
Oh, I know the dealer was wrong but this is the car that had silver stalactites hanging all along the bottom of the car amidst all the paint runs. Had to get the factory rep involved just to get that fixed. It was the factory rep that said the entire dash could not be swapped and with all the other issues wanted to just refund my deposit which would have just sold it to someone else “less picky?” Could not get another one bought or made. All were sold. Just took it up the wazoo on the dash dent.
Anyway, tearing into the center dash to install the Retro head and was wondering if I was 2 steps away from perhaps fixing that while I’m in there?
Apparently not . . .
Of course, 🤔 I could just wrap it all with CF wrap like the 1000HP AWD dude? Wouldn’t fix it but would give people a different focal point and GBODY dudes could start forming the slap Garth line.
Anyway, tearing into the center dash to install the Retro head and was wondering if I was 2 steps away from perhaps fixing that while I’m in there?
Apparently not . . .
Of course, 🤔 I could just wrap it all with CF wrap like the 1000HP AWD dude? Wouldn’t fix it but would give people a different focal point and GBODY dudes could start forming the slap Garth line.
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Still want to see a pic but I say if it bothers you, send it to Dashes Only.
Probably cost you around a grand but look at it this way, new dashes are available for my '83 El Camino and they are in the $1200 range.
I had Dashes Only do a dash for me several years ago for my '76 El Camino SS. They did a beautiful job.
Probably cost you around a grand but look at it this way, new dashes are available for my '83 El Camino and they are in the $1200 range.
I had Dashes Only do a dash for me several years ago for my '76 El Camino SS. They did a beautiful job.
Dashes Only? Do they have contact info? I haven't heard of them and Google doesn't recognize them. Keeps making me look at Just Dashes results.
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