What Did You Do To Your G-Body Today? [2021]
- Thread starter CopperNick
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yea none of that was an issue.. i used a wrench on the backing plate bolts came out no problem . i seen people use impacts and they snap tho yea . and the pivot post was not a problem either . 1/2" air gun blasted it off no problem.
yea got new axle tube bearings and seals aswell
for the shock posts i havent seen any issues they look perfectly fine.
and for paint have a can of por 15 i might slather on it ..
I've used POR 15 myself and like it, only thing being that I have encountered comments that it has to be overcoated with normal paint or it can become UV damaged. Not sure how true that is. I have used it on suspension components and frame rails on winter driven vehicles and it does abrade or wear.
And, of course, don't get it on you. If the smear or drop is fresh it can be wiped off and POR makes a thinner/reducer for its products. If it is dry when you find it, Good Luck. Sandpaper will work with a lot of effort maybe a DA with very fine disc. Had some luck with a coarse bristle brush and Sunlight Soap and repeated sessions of scrubbing.
Nick
And, of course, don't get it on you. If the smear or drop is fresh it can be wiped off and POR makes a thinner/reducer for its products. If it is dry when you find it, Good Luck. Sandpaper will work with a lot of effort maybe a DA with very fine disc. Had some luck with a coarse bristle brush and Sunlight Soap and repeated sessions of scrubbing.
Nick
So I managed to devote my day to waiting for a furnace repair person to show up at the house and replace the heat exchanger in my furnace. 10 hours of nothing. Phoned the call center and was assured by the rep that the tech had downloaded the work order and would show up. Got a phone call from a supervisor saying the tech was running late but would show up. Maybe in another version of reality, but not in mine.
Finally said screw it and went out to the shop after supper to see if I could throw a little time at the rear end. I did manage to strip off the masking tape and things looked almost decent, I elected to start installing the new S/S brake lines and A-N fittings that I had waiting.
Took a moment to clean the wheel cylinder brake line ports of any paint and crud they might have picked up and then installed the first 04 A-N x invert adapter in the port in the wheel cylinder. It went in just fine and tightened up okay. Then i went to do the other one....................................................
Didja ever encounter that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, y'know, the one you get when you screw a bolt or screw or other fastener into its hole, get it all the way down, start to tighten on it, feel it tightening up, and then, it's not tight any more, it's loose, and it turns, and it turns, and it turns, and it turns, and it turns...............................................And then you back it out and discover the carnage.
In this case the whole face of the wheel cylinder broke off, as deep as the cone shoulder at the bottom of the line fitting boss. Nice clean break, no sign of rust, it just.................broke. Screwed the fractured piece off the adapter and set that aside. Used a group of 2x4 as shims to lift the housing away from its cradles so I could pull the drums, Dug out my trusty brake pliers and popped off the springs, and used a fine point drift punch to persuade the retainer rings for the cylinders to let go. So now I have to add two new wheel cylinders to my list of "to get" items for tomorrow. Along with them, it now looks like one of the top anchor pins for the shoes has decided to betray the wear it has on it so add that to the list as well. Friday before a long weekend with a forecast of rain.
Not sure at this point whether I am going to phone that call center early tomorrow or just saddle up and take care of business and then come home to see if the voice mail has any news for me. BOTHER!
Nick
Finally said screw it and went out to the shop after supper to see if I could throw a little time at the rear end. I did manage to strip off the masking tape and things looked almost decent, I elected to start installing the new S/S brake lines and A-N fittings that I had waiting.
Took a moment to clean the wheel cylinder brake line ports of any paint and crud they might have picked up and then installed the first 04 A-N x invert adapter in the port in the wheel cylinder. It went in just fine and tightened up okay. Then i went to do the other one....................................................
Didja ever encounter that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, y'know, the one you get when you screw a bolt or screw or other fastener into its hole, get it all the way down, start to tighten on it, feel it tightening up, and then, it's not tight any more, it's loose, and it turns, and it turns, and it turns, and it turns, and it turns...............................................And then you back it out and discover the carnage.
In this case the whole face of the wheel cylinder broke off, as deep as the cone shoulder at the bottom of the line fitting boss. Nice clean break, no sign of rust, it just.................broke. Screwed the fractured piece off the adapter and set that aside. Used a group of 2x4 as shims to lift the housing away from its cradles so I could pull the drums, Dug out my trusty brake pliers and popped off the springs, and used a fine point drift punch to persuade the retainer rings for the cylinders to let go. So now I have to add two new wheel cylinders to my list of "to get" items for tomorrow. Along with them, it now looks like one of the top anchor pins for the shoes has decided to betray the wear it has on it so add that to the list as well. Friday before a long weekend with a forecast of rain.
Not sure at this point whether I am going to phone that call center early tomorrow or just saddle up and take care of business and then come home to see if the voice mail has any news for me. BOTHER!
Nick
Once upon a time, No, that line has been used, In the days of yore, (Never could figure out who Yore was. Maybe they meant Eeyore and ate the first vowels) Many moons ago, nope can't go there either. Bother, running out of ways to start these tales of woe and agony.
Ah. let's see That upper brake shoe pivot pin, the nut accepts a 21mm 6-pt impact socket; the flats on the shoe side take the open end of a 15/16 combination wrench, and yes, as commented on above, air will yard that nut off, and yes it does have to be a 1/2 gun, and if the compressor fires, give it a rest for a minute to let the tank catch up. (Reminds me, gotta drain the tank again. Humidity = Water and even with a line filter some get by.)
Which brings me to my question for the day. Consequent to some parts surfing it has been brought to my attention that if you want that upper pivot pin, you apparently have to accept the backing plate that comes with it. Thing here is, Unless said backing plate comes with the cute little slot cut into it at the bottom and that piece of sheet metal that acts as a cover for tha slot, you have to invade the diff and pull the axle retaining horseshoe washers to pull the axles to unbolt the backing plate.
So has anyone managed to discover if that upper brake shoe pivot pin comes by itself as it's own part number and, if so, from whom???
This time around I got lucky. I actually had an orphan sitting on the parts shelf in brake country. It has to have been hanging around for at least the last decade as it does have some shelf rust from sitting but is otherwise pristine. Only thing is, it doesn' have a p/n or mfjgr stamp on it so no clue when I bought it and from where it came.
The other piece from the unobtanium files for today is the re-inforcing plate for that same stud that sits between the nut and the flange on the rear end. For that, I ended up having to visit the Cutlass rear end resting peacefully on the rear end rack and disturb its slumbers for just long enough to see if I could harvest that plate, and I could, and did. Captain Air Gun....... strikes again!
It would seem that, at some point in the past of this ride, someone had issues with the back brakes and went the minimalist route in repairing things. Now it has both that new pivot pin and a freshly wire wheeled and painted support plate installed. Tomorrow is pick up the cylinders day, along with settle the account day, pick up the sleeve day, pick up the sand paper day, think there might a few other items to add to the list.
Onward and sideways. The question about brazing the exhaust manifold.
First, I honestly never considered the possibility. My shop is peculiar in more ways than one but the arguably oddest thing about it is that I do not have torches. Nope, No, Nyet, Nein. Reason? Part of the shop is given over to my deck. When I made all those 2x4 assemblies that i stacked in vertical columns to create sufficent height to get the TH350 out and the TH700R4 under my non-G-Body G-Body, all the measurements and cuts were done on the saw deck and I am still sweeping up saw dust. Succinctly, too much wood in the shop, so having a hot red wrench becomes a fire hazard.
The other point to brazing, which is a very good option by the by, is that cast iron, I think, might require some kind of bronze or bronze/nickel alloy to do the repair and not have it crack or split again when exhaust heats it up once more. Not saying common brass rod wouldn't work ,just considering the need for both a different type of brazing rod due to the material involved and possibly a different gas pair such as oxy-propane or? to generate a lower temperature that is more compatible with the cast iron material.
i have seen vintage repairs made using both brass and alloy, but the super-geezers who, as once young men, wielded rod and torch tip to do them are getting fewer and fewer by the day and many of them still hold on to their secrets and hard won knowledge about metallurgy and seldom if ever share. I suppose that somewhere there may be a Boob-tube video that actually shows the how of alloy rod brazing without a lot of unneccessary pre-action babble and stupid mood music but i have not come across it yet. Most of those who still are around and have that kind of knowledge also tend to have an abiding dislike, bordering very closely on contempt, for short cuts and "New fangled technology" and might be totally adverse to having a camera hang over their shoulder while they try to re-unite two pieces of old iron that might fight back.
Repair became moot when I was able to score a replacement manifold from the yard; they had one on the shelf from a previous pull. I will have to introduce it to my portable vice and various diameters of air wheels and grinder stones both to clean up the flange faces and to smooth down and remove the casting seams. Back to getting sliced by a sharp seam or edge that you don't notice until you put vinegar on your french fries and start to scream and swear which lights the wife off because she doesn't like you to teach the kids all those neat new words that they then take to school and abuse the teacher with. ( It's a cross border thing, y'know)
Nick
Ah. let's see That upper brake shoe pivot pin, the nut accepts a 21mm 6-pt impact socket; the flats on the shoe side take the open end of a 15/16 combination wrench, and yes, as commented on above, air will yard that nut off, and yes it does have to be a 1/2 gun, and if the compressor fires, give it a rest for a minute to let the tank catch up. (Reminds me, gotta drain the tank again. Humidity = Water and even with a line filter some get by.)
Which brings me to my question for the day. Consequent to some parts surfing it has been brought to my attention that if you want that upper pivot pin, you apparently have to accept the backing plate that comes with it. Thing here is, Unless said backing plate comes with the cute little slot cut into it at the bottom and that piece of sheet metal that acts as a cover for tha slot, you have to invade the diff and pull the axle retaining horseshoe washers to pull the axles to unbolt the backing plate.
So has anyone managed to discover if that upper brake shoe pivot pin comes by itself as it's own part number and, if so, from whom???
This time around I got lucky. I actually had an orphan sitting on the parts shelf in brake country. It has to have been hanging around for at least the last decade as it does have some shelf rust from sitting but is otherwise pristine. Only thing is, it doesn' have a p/n or mfjgr stamp on it so no clue when I bought it and from where it came.
The other piece from the unobtanium files for today is the re-inforcing plate for that same stud that sits between the nut and the flange on the rear end. For that, I ended up having to visit the Cutlass rear end resting peacefully on the rear end rack and disturb its slumbers for just long enough to see if I could harvest that plate, and I could, and did. Captain Air Gun....... strikes again!
It would seem that, at some point in the past of this ride, someone had issues with the back brakes and went the minimalist route in repairing things. Now it has both that new pivot pin and a freshly wire wheeled and painted support plate installed. Tomorrow is pick up the cylinders day, along with settle the account day, pick up the sleeve day, pick up the sand paper day, think there might a few other items to add to the list.
Onward and sideways. The question about brazing the exhaust manifold.
First, I honestly never considered the possibility. My shop is peculiar in more ways than one but the arguably oddest thing about it is that I do not have torches. Nope, No, Nyet, Nein. Reason? Part of the shop is given over to my deck. When I made all those 2x4 assemblies that i stacked in vertical columns to create sufficent height to get the TH350 out and the TH700R4 under my non-G-Body G-Body, all the measurements and cuts were done on the saw deck and I am still sweeping up saw dust. Succinctly, too much wood in the shop, so having a hot red wrench becomes a fire hazard.
The other point to brazing, which is a very good option by the by, is that cast iron, I think, might require some kind of bronze or bronze/nickel alloy to do the repair and not have it crack or split again when exhaust heats it up once more. Not saying common brass rod wouldn't work ,just considering the need for both a different type of brazing rod due to the material involved and possibly a different gas pair such as oxy-propane or? to generate a lower temperature that is more compatible with the cast iron material.
i have seen vintage repairs made using both brass and alloy, but the super-geezers who, as once young men, wielded rod and torch tip to do them are getting fewer and fewer by the day and many of them still hold on to their secrets and hard won knowledge about metallurgy and seldom if ever share. I suppose that somewhere there may be a Boob-tube video that actually shows the how of alloy rod brazing without a lot of unneccessary pre-action babble and stupid mood music but i have not come across it yet. Most of those who still are around and have that kind of knowledge also tend to have an abiding dislike, bordering very closely on contempt, for short cuts and "New fangled technology" and might be totally adverse to having a camera hang over their shoulder while they try to re-unite two pieces of old iron that might fight back.
Repair became moot when I was able to score a replacement manifold from the yard; they had one on the shelf from a previous pull. I will have to introduce it to my portable vice and various diameters of air wheels and grinder stones both to clean up the flange faces and to smooth down and remove the casting seams. Back to getting sliced by a sharp seam or edge that you don't notice until you put vinegar on your french fries and start to scream and swear which lights the wife off because she doesn't like you to teach the kids all those neat new words that they then take to school and abuse the teacher with. ( It's a cross border thing, y'know)
Nick
I ripped out my 307 a couple weeks ago, which decided to eat its bearings. Tonight I finally dropped in an old 350 I had laying around from a toronado. Going "non computer" for now until I decide what I want to do for a permanent solution. I'm just really hoping to get her back out on the road this weekend!
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