What did you do to your non-G body project today? [2021]

[CopperNick]

So Thursday and Friday turned out to be call in days, meaning that by the time the shift was over I was beat and bent beyond having any energy or desire to head to the shop and turn wrenches. They were also day one and day two after my second Covid shot and it was hard to tell if my body was just feeling its normal self after a day dealing with the city or if if was feeling the side effects of the second shot.

An--ny way, I did manage to drag my bones into the shop and proceeded to drop the 700's pan and pull the nitrile-rubber pan gasket that I had put in originally. it just plain squirmed around too much and didn't want to stay between the gasket faces under any kind of torque on the fasteners. There was actually enough room between the crossmember and the pan that I could get a 1/4 drive socket and swivel in there and access the bolts along that pan face so that made the whole snatch routine a lot simpler. This time around i went with a common cork gasket and made sure to thoroughly saturate it with Permatex Spray A Gasket. Took the set up time to reclean the pan's gasket rails and belly and throw a coat of S-A-G at it too. Added the gasket to the pan and slid the whole thing back under the van and up into position on the T-body's pan rails. This time I just used my 1/4 inch ratchet and 13mm socket to run the bolts back down. There is no listed torque for the pan rail bolts in the manual so it was just a case of repeated passes with the ratchet and socket until i was happy with the resistance i got. Yeah, yeah, totally unscientific but it was a lemons and lemonade kind of day so i went with it.

Today being Sunday, I returned back into the shop and revisited the pan bolts one more time. Got about a 1/4 turn more out of all the them which put me in a happy place so I quit right then and there and added the ATF. The stick says full plus but this is a t-mission that was emptied of all fluid and allowed to drain over a prolonged amount of time (Months) The cooler lines were also emptied and the cooler is not an in the radiator unit but a free standing external version that holds more than usual so I am not worried at this point. I can't get an accurate reading on the stick until I fire off the engine and the t-mission gets to circulate its oil again.

Last I looked the floor under the van was dry. (That fresh new concrete clean surface look went away about five years ago; i go for swept free of debris and go with that.)

Took a few minutes to pay some axe file love to my pair of hedge clippers and get its edges clean and edgie. (Snigger) Not planning to use it on the hedge; that is pure labor and left to my electric hedge whacker. Just some routine maintenance intended to prolong the life of a valuable tool.

Left to do are the exhaust pipes and the VOES electrical/vacuum circuit. For some reason, 3/16ths id heavy wall vacuum hose has become unavailable around here. I can get all the windshield wiper hose that I could ever want but not the heavy wall stuff and I do not want the hose to collapse. Apart from that I still have yet to get out to an old yard whose owner thinks he has a couple of hulks old enough that they might have the rest of the electrical side of the system. Gotta get this done so I can drop the rear end out of the Monte and clean the whole thing up. After that It is on to the S-10 and back to creating a true dual pipe system for it. Oh yeah, and work.



Nick

 

[mclellan83]

Friday night I went to pull my oil pressure sensor on the GTO but realized I only had the correct size for the new sensor at the house and not the old one after fighting to get the plug off for probably 10 minutes since it is so far back and tight for my short arms. Put it back together so that I could take it out to the Butler Mega Cruise after working on the Blazer Saturday and then again on Sunday. Had some landmark progress for the Blazer which I will update in the thread rather than bore you here

https://imgur.com/a/2CHEXBU

https://www.facebook.com/mclellan83/posts/10158971287043612

 

[scoti]

1st oil change since reassembly & break-in (about 200 miles). Inspected things to pin-point a death wobble from the front.
Pass front wheel bearing was loose & driver front tire status was changed from Maypop to a Willpop. Swapped another Maypop on there & definite improvement.

The 'Mod Squad' made to a local drive-in diner joint in East Dallas on Friday night for a antique/custom-car appreciation event.

 

[CopperNick]

Not sure if this is a case of perseverance or just plain stubborn refusal to give up but, after a substantial amount of pickiness, I was able to find not one but two sources for 3/16ths ID heavy wall hose capable of tolerating vacuum. The mfgrs were Continental and Gates and the Conty stuff proved to be just that silly milli tighter, say 4.8 vs 5.0 wide.,, so it grabbed the nipples on the fittings just that minor amount tighter One problem solved.

The other problem is shaping up to be more complicated. Since I have been unable to go out and check an older yard for the connections for the electrical side of the issue that I need, I decided to try Plan ? and employ a completely different pair of connectors. The choices were Deutsch vs Metri-pack and since the latter is most currently common, I figured I'd to an update. Doom on me. There are actually several systems that fall under the heading of Metri-pack. Problem being, the 150 series is the lightest and it gets heavier after that. The 150's come as do it yourself assemblies with the shells or housings configured for various wire counts and the matching contacts to crimp to the wire and insert as desired.

Not so the 280's, which is where I wanted to be. All kinds of contacts, male and female, NO shells or housings. Talked with the manager of the parts department of the local GM distributorship and apparently the current generations of OEM wiring harnesses are so complicated that GM is out and out scared of the possibility that anyone could tamper with them. So, as a way to limit outside intrusion, they have included the 280 housings as "proprietary" and closed off civilian access to them. It is so bad that when the factory ships electrical components out to the dealers, only the service bays get them. They are not available to the parts department for access and the parts techs are not trained to recognize what fits what. They can be located on the Aptiv-Delphi website but the house part numbers don't match what GM uses and there is no way I could spring for a purchase amount large amount to convince the order desk I was a legit buyer.

I may be able to get away with using the 150 series Housings as the incumbent wire is 18-16 AWG which falls within the service range of what the 150's can accept.

Plan ?? was to go with the Deutsch connectors and in their favor I have all the necessary components in hand. I did elect to use them when I built the wiring for the FI install a few years ago, but saw an advantage in going with the Metri-packs in order to differentiate the various circuits and make it easier to trouble shoot should the need arise. Plus, the two systems won't mate so keeping what plugs into what gets a lot simpler.

So this is on hold, again.

Did get the inspection cover on the -R4 rehung and was able to rehang the passenger's side exhaust system and hook up the O-2 sensor again. Left the driver's side sitting on my two-step while one of the flange studs took a bath in a spray of Deep Creep. May hose it down a few more time before trying to persuade it to let go. That stud was custom created to deal with a problem that I enountered back when I first hung those pipes and since it worked I have no desire to revisit the matter in search of a better mouse trap.



Nick

 

[CopperNick]

Ref: Pic One And this is what a Basic Vacuum Operated Electrical Switch assembly (aka VOES) for a pre ESM GM engine looks like.

Pic Two is a detail shot of the new, freshly attached, Metri-Pack electrical connection. I am not going to get into the details of this, mostly because this is highly likely to be familiar ground, particularly to the LS contingent, many of whom suffer from Metri-Pack madness due to the insane number of them that now accompany most contemporary engines. If you can crimp a connector to a wire then you pretty much understand the basics of assembling the Metri-Packs.

Pic Three is the vacuum end of things. Nothing too complicated. The little plastic cylinder is a one way valve for the vacuum line. it is there to keep the line under vacuum and immediately operable.

Pic Four, immediately above, shows the other half of the electrical harness for the VOES, including a close up of the matching Metri-Pack connection. For the mildly curious, yes there is a convention for how the connections are created. Allowing for some exceptions, any wire or harness delivering power to a device or component will typically be fitted with a female connector. This is done for safety as much as for any other reason. With a harness disconnected for any reason but still live, having the terminal ends buried in the connector helps to prevent shorts or arcing.

And Pic Five, the same section of harness, only now wrapped in a length of corrugated sleeve to protect it against life in an engine bay. This is a raw loom. By that I mean it has not been cut to length or laced into the existing master harness or had its wires fitted with ends or otherwise been integrated into the scheme of things. Obviously at this point it is way too long and will remain so until it gets routed up, down, around, over, and under the various obstacles that will have an impact on getting it to where the factory says it ought to be. (Maybe) For those unfamiliar with the stuff, corrugated sleeve is a nuisance to work with and hard to get to cooperate and ingest the wires. However, if the objective is to bundle wires and secure them from possible injury or POL contamination, corrugated sleeve does the job about as well as anything. And yes, I could have gone with Heat Shrink Tubing and loomed the wires into that and shrunk it down. Doing that, however, denies me the opportunity to add wires. Once shrunk, unless you used an over sized tube, you are stuck with what you have. Could have gone belt and suspenders and done a heat shrink for the two wires and then stuffed that into the corrugated sleeve; that still might happen, or not.

Apart from getting this far with the VOES, today was a clean up day or sorts; making sure that everything was connected and all the wires and hoses were run and located in places away from the engine and its heat.

And yes, at day's end, I was able to tease that nut off the orphan stud still attached to the head pipe flange. It will get a spa treatment courtesy of the wire wheel on my grinder this evening to prep it for its return back to the exhaust manifold.



Nick




Duplicate: ignore it.

 

[mclellan83]

Took the GTO out last night to get some dinner at a really good restaurant thats about a half hour away, the drive out isn't fun because its still rush hourish. But the way back is always really nice, food was amazing as always. Brazilian Steak Sandwich and Peachs n Creme cake

 

[CopperNick]

Okay, I'll bite, what is so special about Brazilian Steak? I have heard that Argentina has excellent beef and of course there is always the high zoot item that Japan produces, Kobe beef but Brazil? Much as I'd like to tear into a decent steak, i haven't sunk my teeth into anything approaching outstanding in the T-Bone or better class of meat in quite a while. Too much kumbaya and tofu burger being touted instead of good red protein. Figure one of these days that walking into a restaurant will mean running a gauntlet of vegans waving signs with "murderer" written on them because the menu includes genuine meat.



Nick

 

[CopperNick]

Oh, yeah, did get that stud section all cleaned up and pulled a quick slide job to get under the van this past pm to set it back in place. The heat was totally tolerable but our local air quality is the sh*** due to so many forest fires in the region. Bad enough but the prevailing winds bring in more smog from the west. No sign of abating any time soon either. It is almost at the point where the covid masks are becoming air filters for the smog. Any worse and my dust mask is going to be my next full time accessory.



Nick

 

[CopperNick]

Ah, McLellan83, caught the slide show up above and one thing baffles me. Is that orange Heintz, the one with the 68? GTO front clip hung on a Olds Cutlass body and all plopped down on a 4 by chassis just something for the shows and meets or is it actually a daily driver? Marrying half a goat to half a non-goat, well, genius and sacrilege both come to mind, and either or both could even appear in the same sentence, depending on perspective.



Nick

 

[Injectedcutty]

Found some new mower tires on sale, but they've been sitting in my basement which don't work lol. Called a couple places yesterday, but they wanted too much moola. Luckily the neighbor had tire tools, so after fighting with them for a bit the Cub has new tires that don't leak and rides nice now!