Texas82GP's Roadmaster

[joesregalproject]

That's a gorgeous car Jared. I've always wanted a Roadmaster. White is great color on them too.

I'm not afraid of heights or flying but I can pretend if it means I get to buy another car 😁

 

[Ribbedroof]

Jared,

My understanding of the LT1 HP rating is the cam profile, exhaust, and of course B/D bodies got iron heads rather than aluminum. The iron heads are claimed to flow better than the aluminum, but the aluminum head makes higher compression. I have a set of both, in case the LT1 ever actually makes it into the wagon.

I wouldn't say fear of flying is irrational, it does require a good bit of faith, in both the physics, and more importantly the crew, and lately, all the way back to the manufacturer.

I actually used to enjoy flying (dad was a pilot, and I have a couple friends that are as well), but commercial flying has turned into a big time-waster, at least the last couple times I flew.

These days, I'd just as soon take the time to see the stuff on the way via automobile.

Sounds like the Roady went to a great home, enjoy!

PS, my LT1 donor was a 94 Roadmaster sedan (not anywhere near as nice as yours)

Brian (you were right!)

 

[69hurstolds]

I love that car. It's got curb appeal. Nice and comfy too. It makes no apologies.

I'm still debating on buying about an 1984 98 regency. Nice examples can be found for reasonable price, easy to work on since they're basically just a big G-body, and they're just plain f**king cool.

 

[Texas82GP]

I love that car. It's got curb appeal. Nice and comfy too. It makes no apologies.

I'm still debating on buying about an 1984 98 regency. Nice examples can be found for reasonable price, easy to work on since they're basically just a big G-body, and they're just plain f**king cool.

There was a green 78' Olds 98 down the street from the office about 8 years ago. I wanted it bad. I passed because I didn't have the storage back then and I didn't have a place for it. I'm still a little sad about not owning that car.

Thanks for the kind words on the Roadmaster.

 

[Texas82GP]

That's a gorgeous car Jared. I've always wanted a Roadmaster. White is great color on them too.

Thanks Joe. I agree, white is a good color on these cars. Part of the draw to this particular car was the white/blue color combo. White is easier to keep looking good.

I'm not afraid of heights or flying but I can pretend if it means I get to buy another car 😁

Well, you have downsized the fleet quite a bit. It probably is time for another toy. Just don't buy anything local to you. Get a clean southern example of whatever it is and ship it.

Jared,

My understanding of the LT1 HP rating is the cam profile, exhaust, and of course B/D bodies got iron heads rather than aluminum. The iron heads are claimed to flow better than the aluminum, but the aluminum head makes higher compression. I have a set of both, in case the LT1 ever actually makes it into the wagon.

I wouldn't say fear of flying is irrational, it does require a good bit of faith, in both the physics, and more importantly the crew, and lately, all the way back to the manufacturer.

I actually used to enjoy flying (dad was a pilot, and I have a couple friends that are as well), but commercial flying has turned into a big time-waster, at least the last couple times I flew.

These days, I'd just as soon take the time to see the stuff on the way via automobile.

Sounds like the Roady went to a great home, enjoy!

PS, my LT1 donor was a 94 Roadmaster sedan (not anywhere near as nice as yours)

Brian (you were right!)

Thanks for the info Brian. When we were returning from Cooperstown to Houston, We flew out of Syracuse to NYC. they had a cross section of a Boeing 707 in the airport. Seeing it made me like the idea of flying less. You're hurtling along 500 mph four miles up in the sky in an aluminum tube. It's just not for me.

 

[Texas82GP]

Work on the world's most labor intensive tune-up continues. Saturday, after breakfast, Sean and I went to the storage to move the project forward. Not too long later, Dad showed up to hang out which was cool. Sean mostly cleaned parts for me as I pulled it apart. I pulled the air pump and then the air pump bracket. Then I could finally pull the water pump (one of the bolts is a stud and it is shrouded by the air pump bracket). I had a ticking time bomb on my hands. The water pump was obviously leaking and the bearing was obviously out....

I didn't lift the bearing seal. The pump came off exactly like that. I can't believe it wasn't making a puddle of coolant on the ground. I also can't believe it wasn't noisy. I was catching a faint smell of coolant but that was the only indication I had. Man am I glad I didn't mush this thing to San Angelo. I wanted to bad but with only having an expired Florida plate and not knowing the car that well, I decided to take the truck instead.

Next, we pulled the belt, the tensioner and the balancer. Finally, we could get to the Opti-Spark! Next I scraped a lot of crud off the front of the engine, mostly above the Opti-Spark in the interest of keeping it out of the Opti-Spark. Here's what it was looking like by then....

Note the obvious evidence of the water pump leaking directly onto the Opti-Spark. No bueno. Next, I got the distributor cap off, thanks to MSD including a tool in their cap and rotor kit for the E4 torx screws. I didn't have a deep E4 socket at the storage and was ignorant of the need for one on this job. I have one now! Here's a look with the cap off.....

That's where I ended up stopping. I didn't have a T9 torx screwdriver at the storage to remove the distributor rotor and was ignorant of the need for one on this job. I have one now! I believe the cap and rotor to be the original units. They have a lot of wear on them. Here is a close up of the rotor....

And here is a close-up of one of the terminals inside the cap....

I was surprised to see how dry the inside of the cap looked. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Opti-Spark looks like behind the shield that's under the rotor. I'm not looking forward to the plug wire replacement since I'm going to be a stickler for putting them back exactly as original. I'm not crazy about this LT1 architecture at this point but this project should put a ton of life back in this car. I'm surprised how well it ran, considering. I'm excited to see how well it runs when the work is done.

That's it for now friends. Hopefully I'll have a good update after next weekend. Thanks for following along. Until then....

Best,

 

[superbon54]

I’m watching your progress closely, as I’m starting a very similar endeavor in my 96 impala this weekend. The water pump is leaking and the GD shaft seal in the front cover is leaking oil. Thanks for being my training manual!

Work on the world's most labor intensive tune-up continues. Saturday, after breakfast, Sean and I went to the storage to move the project forward. Not too long later, Dad showed up to hang out which was cool. Sean mostly cleaned parts for me as I pulled it apart. I pulled the air pump and then the air pump bracket. Then I could finally pull the water pump (one of the bolts is a stud and it is shrouded by the air pump bracket). I had a ticking time bomb on my hands. The water pump was obviously leaking and the bearing was obviously out....

View attachment 133419

View attachment 133420

I didn't lift the bearing seal. The pump came off exactly like that. I can't believe it wasn't making a puddle of coolant on the ground. I also can't believe it wasn't noisy. I was catching a faint smell of coolant but that was the only indication I had. Man am I glad I didn't mush this thing to San Angelo. I wanted to bad but with only having an expired Florida plate and not knowing the car that well, I decided to take the truck instead.

Next, we pulled the belt, the tensioner and the balancer. Finally, we could get to the Opti-Spark! Next I scraped a lot of crud off the front of the engine, mostly above the Opti-Spark in the interest of keeping it out of the Opti-Spark. Here's what it was looking like by then....

View attachment 133421

Note the obvious evidence of the water pump leaking directly onto the Opti-Spark. No bueno. Next, I got the distributor cap off, thanks to MSD including a tool in their cap and rotor kit for the E4 torx screws. I didn't have a deep E4 socket at the storage and was ignorant of the need for one on this job. I have one now! Here's a look with the cap off.....

View attachment 133422

That's where I ended up stopping. I didn't have a T9 torx screwdriver at the storage to remove the distributor rotor and was ignorant of the need for one on this job. I have one now! I believe the cap and rotor to be the original units. They have a lot of wear on them. Here is a close up of the rotor....

View attachment 133423

And here is a close-up of one of the terminals inside the cap....

View attachment 133424

I was surprised to see how dry the inside of the cap looked. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Opti-Spark looks like behind the shield that's under the rotor. I'm not looking forward to the plug wire replacement since I'm going to be a stickler for putting them back exactly as original. I'm not crazy about this LT1 architecture at this point but this project should put a ton of life back in this car. I'm surprised how well it ran, considering. I'm excited to see how well it runs when the work is done.

That's it for now friends. Hopefully I'll have a good update after next weekend. Thanks for following along. Until then....

Best,

 

[DRIVEN]

That all looks pretty typical and your timing was impeccable. '96 should have the vent/vacuum hose from the Optispark up to the air intake. Make sure that's hooked up and clear of obstructions. Plugs and wires on that should be quite a bit easier than in an Fbody. You're doing great. Once you're done with the maintenance catch-up, should be trouble free for years to come.

 

[Texas82GP]

I’m watching your progress closely, as I’m starting a very similar endeavor in my 96 impala this weekend. The water pump is leaking and the GD shaft seal in the front cover is leaking oil. Thanks for being my training manual!

Glad to help. I had heard bad things about the Opti-Spark but also heard that they refined/improved it and that the later designs were very reliable. I used that to help rationalize buying this car (a 96). I'll say that it seems like an obviously bad idea to put the distributor under the water pump. I'll also say that the layout of the accessory drive together with the location of the distributor makes it not the easiest engine to work on. Still, this is not my daily so there is no rush. If I get 100k miles out of the tune-up, it's more than worth it.

 

[Texas82GP]

It seems like the Opti-Spark should have been in front of the water pump, driven by the water pump.