BUILD THREAD DINO THE EL CAMINO - ‘81 you’ve seen before

[blk7gxn]

Here's an old thread but a great one, maybe it will help !

Water leak on passenger side floor

So quick question when it rains my passenger side floor gets super wet. i hear it can be a drain plug get clogged up or windshield can leak. My question is, is the drain plug for the hvac accessible from the inside of the car or under the hood? And if it’s the windshield. how do i take the...

gbodyforum.com

 

[fleming442]

It's not a quick job to do correctly, and removing the hood will be way worth the extra effort.

 

[5spdCab]

On my one Malibu, same deal, the ac box had a clogged drain hole, very common with the G bodies

I suspect that is the case also with my Caballero. I keep one of those boot trays in the passenger footwell to catch the water, and a large sponge to soak it up and I squeeze it out outside.

 

[GP403]

well the water getting in is now the least of my problems. I guess the electric fuel pump hafrod put in didn't like sitting for so long, which must have been my problem yesterday. I couldn't even get the thing started today, and sure enough, there's no fuel getting to the carb. Best I can figure it was gummy and then just freed up, but I guess shutting it off again killed it. I dunno. Time for a new pump I guess. Tried a few things but no luck. It seems way louder than I remember so I'm almost positive its toast. I'd put a mechanical on it but (reads up the thread) this block isn't made for one. *shrug*

That and the stupid air shocks won't hold a charge. Screw that crap I'm gonna put a set of coil-over load shocks on it instead.

I just wanted to go to the post office and instead spent 3 hours screwing around and now I smell like a gas can. #winning.

 

[5spdCab]

well the water getting in is now the least of my problems. I guess the electric fuel pump hafrod put in didn't like sitting for so long, which must have been my problem yesterday. I couldn't even get the thing started today, and sure enough, there's no fuel getting to the carb. Best I can figure it was gummy and then just freed up, but I guess shutting it off again killed it. I dunno. Time for a new pump I guess. Tried a few things but no luck. It seems way louder than I remember so I'm almost positive its toast. I'd put a mechanical on it but (reads up the thread) this block isn't made for one. *shrug*

That and the stupid air shocks won't hold a charge. Screw that crap I'm gonna put a set of coil-over load shocks on it instead.

I just wanted to go to the post office and instead spent 3 hours screwing around and now I smell like a gas can. #winning.

Speaking of hafrod, haven't seen or heard anything from him for a couple of months it seems. Has he just been busy?

 

[blk7gxn]

well the water getting in is now the least of my problems. I guess the electric fuel pump hafrod put in didn't like sitting for so long, which must have been my problem yesterday. I couldn't even get the thing started today, and sure enough, there's no fuel getting to the carb. Best I can figure it was gummy and then just freed up, but I guess shutting it off again killed it. I dunno. Time for a new pump I guess. Tried a few things but no luck. It seems way louder than I remember so I'm almost positive its toast. I'd put a mechanical on it but (reads up the thread) this block isn't made for one. *shrug*

That and the stupid air shocks won't hold a charge. Screw that crap I'm gonna put a set of coil-over load shocks on it instead.

I just wanted to go to the post office and instead spent 3 hours screwing around and now I smell like a gas can. #winning.

Got to love those quick tasks that turn into HOURS!!! This was almost my experience last Sunday!! But after hours of process of elimination, discovered my CPS was shot on my 87 Park Coupe ...... Waisted a whole freaking day!

 

[Ribbedroof]

Speaking of hafrod, haven't seen or heard anything from him for a couple of months it seems. Has he just been busy?

He's out of the "G"s, and has been working the '55. Still posts on Youtube pretty much weekly.

 

[GP403]

Put the new shocks on, easy peasy. well, except for the PITA top bolts which really aren't that bad. Raised the back up about an inch, maybe slightly more. Not positive but I think the springs are wasted, too. The bottom coils still seem way too close together. I'm gonna run it like this for a while and see how it feels.

While I was under there, I was like hey wait a second, and dug this out. Unfortunately the threads on the bolts were garbage and I need to go get new hardware.

The fuel pump, well, @#$^. I took the old one down, and quickly realized, crap, this new pump has smaller barbs with it. Gotta find new ones of those. Besides I'm not 100% positive the threads on the included ones were correct because they wouldn't go in all the way(!) Need to play around with it. Ran out of time and still had to plug a screw hole in the wifey's tire (need to find those lost screws? just ask her.)

I think though I might take this old pump and see if it can be kickstarted back to life. Stick the in and out hoses in a bucket of gas and see if it will pump anything at all. Maybe it just caught air and couldn't get primed. Worth a shot. Gonna play around with the threads on the new one and see if the included barbs were in fact wrong. Not now. She isn't going anywhere.

I also might play around with these air shocks. The "hoses" if you can even call them that were just some tiny little lines stuck into the ends of a plastic plug at the shocks. It's no wonder they wouldn't hold air. maybe there's a more robust and non-leaky way to do it.

or maybe I screwed up and got the wrong pump for the job. any opinions? from what I could tell from the various reviews and such it should work but I know squat about rigging up this stuff so...

 

[GP403]

got some 1/8" NPT -> 3/8" fuel line fittings this morning, jammed it in there and ran it. To me its 110% Roadkill but it is what it is I guess.

Started right up and runs like a top again. A loud obnoxious top, but its running again. The throttle still feels "sticky" right off the bat, not sure I like it. It's possible to push too hard and "pop" it and give it too much gas. Maybe its the cable, the pedal, IDK. I put a lighter spring on the throttle but it still feels sticky.

 

[1evilregal]

glad to see you back at it again, and that Dino is indeed, still around. that pump should do the trick, and you'll def want the 3/8ths barbs, otherwise it'll starve under heavy load fairly quickly. get it out and enjoy it. Learn it's bad habits, and how to deal with them, and drive it!