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

[5spdCab]

Yesterday, along with some time working on the Caballero, I was able to do some parts shopping, and scouting for a location to mount a battery cut-off switch on my Pinto. To get access, I pulled the driver side front fender. Years ago, I had drilled a hole and mounted a CB antenna. At the time, I was too young to realize that I should have reinforced the metal in the area of the antenna, so the vibration caused metal fatigue and damage, then add an additional 25 years of rusting away. My plan now, is to grind the rust away, weld on a reinforcing layer, re-drill for the antenna, and also mount the cutoff switch beside the antenna. It probably sounds like a goofy idea to mount the cutoff switch through the fender, but I don't want to drill the dash, or have to pop the hood open every time I want to use the car (which probably won't be often anyway).

I am thinking that I will move the antenna back toward the windshield about 1-1/2 inches, then add the cutoff switch about 1-1/2 inches forward of the current antenna location. The new battery cables are in place.

The top of a Pinto's fender, for those who haven't seen a Pinto since forever, has almost the same curvature as the Earth's surface. An exaggeration of course, but so near to being flat that I should have no problem fitting a piece of metal to reinforce the location for the switch and the antenna holes.

 

[CopperNick]

Texas82GP, Yeah, there is probably a Fuel Cut Off or similar setting located somewhere in the fuel delivery mapping that might trigger the equivalent response to what a choke would do.

Thing here is, Because of the initial twin issues of the recalcitrant, reluctant, obstinant pita Tip in, and the unadjusted idle stop, most of the fuel default settings had been turned down to zero to try and work around the tendency for the motor to bog and stall out because of the Tip in being so brutal. Basically what would happen is the vehicle would come to a light or sign, stop, and then cut out during the pull away. The pivot point for the accelerator was just too close to the physical center of throttle shaft and anything less than a heavy input by the foot on the gas pedal was totally unable to defeat the tension generated by the throttle shaft return springs. There is an option to access those springs and physically remove one; the throttle lever is secured by a nut, instead of being peaned or riveted solid. Only thing is that the throttle body almost has to be removed from the manifold to gain the necessary working room to snatch that spring.

Once the light bulb went off, and with a little assistance from the Boob Tube, I was able to shift the pivot point outward linearly from the throttle shaft physical centre and this virtually eliminated all the resistance to tip in that I had had to deal with previously. Very soft pedal and easy tip in now.

That issue rectified, I could turn to the idle stop screw and reset it back to the default position. it had been "bumped" to advance the throttle blades off the idle circuit in an attempt to overcome that miserable tip in issue; didn't work. Now it could be reset to bring the blades back to the fully closed position so that, at idle, the idle circuit could function correctly again. Getting back to that sweet spot has taken a couple of tries, mostly because it takes very little twist on the screw to get change so the adjustments have been along the line of one TPH of a turn at a time and then run it.

Most of the remaining changes are likely going to be in the tuning values in the computer/ECU. It is tuneable directly so no need for a laptop.

I also have a call in for a completely new HEI Distributor, my choices being a Davis DUI unit, Moroso, or MSD. My existing timer is 40 years old and has never been pulled for overhaul so it is probably pretty loose internally. I just picked up a 454 version HEI at the recent swap meet and after a little love and cleaning it spins cleanly. At some point it must have sat without a cap on it because the reluctor tips were all contaminated with that fine metal dust you get from a grinder or cut off wheel. Doesn't take much more than one miniscule grain of tha stuff to bind the shaft up solid.

Anyway, most of what is going on now is tune on the fly. Tweak it, run it and see if things get better or worse. Also thinking it may be about time for another set of plugs. The current ones are the last set that I put in just before I benched the Holley and went FI so they could be all carboned up from the Holley being so psychotic. Think that carb ran right about 5 days of the month and it had to be 75 degrees or higher with no humidity. Any kind of moisture or dampness and it just would not run. Barf, fart, wheeze and stall, but not idle. Think i about wore it out anyway; was on its second base plate, converted to cathedral bowls, had been fitted with the brass floats but think I put it over to the new nitrophyll ones that tolerate low e gas. At least one of the old brass ones was showing signs of lead/solder issues so..............

Right now it is run what I have time as I have to concentrate on the S-10 and getting the past years damage to its systems seen to. There are pictures of what is left of the passenger side post muffler exhaust pipe posted on the Non G site. BEyond salvage, I'll use it as a template for the new one because new one it must be, or be made.



Nick

 

[CopperNick]

Yesterday, along with some time working on the Caballero, I was able to do some parts shopping, and scouting for a location to mount a battery cut-off switch on my Pinto. To get access, I pulled the driver side front fender. Years ago, I had drilled a hole and mounted a CB antenna. At the time, I was too young to realize that I should have reinforced the metal in the area of the antenna, so the vibration caused metal fatigue and damage, then add an additional 25 years of rusting away. My plan now, is to grind the rust away, weld on a reinforcing layer, re-drill for the antenna, and also mount the cutoff switch beside the antenna. It probably sounds like a goofy idea to mount the cutoff switch through the fender, but I don't want to drill the dash, or have to pop the hood open every time I want to use the car (which probably won't be often anyway).View attachment 183695

I am thinking that I will move the antenna back toward the windshield about 1-1/2 inches, then add the cutoff switch about 1-1/2 inches forward of the current antenna location. The new battery cables are in place. View attachment 183696

The top of a Pinto's fender, for those who haven't seen a Pinto since forever, has almost the same curvature as the Earth's surface. An exaggeration of course, but so near to being flat that I should have no problem fitting a piece of metal to reinforce the location for the switch and the antenna holes.

Might want to check a marine supply shop to see if they have water proof versions of that switch. Out on the fender like that is kind of exposed to the elements, unless this Pinto is only going to be a sunny day tripper.


Nick

 

[5spdCab]

Might want to check a marine supply shop to see if they have water proof versions of that switch. Out on the fender like that is kind of exposed to the elements, unless this Pinto is only going to be a sunny day tripper.


Nick

Good idea, and being in the Seattle metro area, there are no shortage of marine supply stores here.

 

[CopperNick]

It also occurred to me that you could put that switch back on the rear tail light panel ala gasser rules and throw some pin striping around it for overkill. Being back there offers the switch a little more protection than your front fender and having it there will make people wonder just what you have stashed under the hood for a mill. Oh, those mind games.

Spent most of the morning tracking down 2" tube and bends for that new exhaust assembly for my S-10. Yeah, yeah why not go bigger, 2-1/4 " or?? Short answer, limited available real estate under the truck, plus this is a V-6 we're dealing with here and tube diameter that might help a V-8 to breathe and better scavenge exhaust is both overkill and useless to a motor that can't take advantage of it. Wiped out two separate suppliers for what I needed and still came up short on components. Have a third supplier who found what I needed down the road a piece and they will be here, probably on Friday. Meantime I can still cut and test fit the remaining sections and tack them as necessary to make sure it all lines up and runs where it ought to.

Did finish the oil change. Napa had the cute little oil seals for the drain plug and the local GM dealer actually had the plugs themselves still in stock. Royal Purple has apparently stopped selling its own brand name of filters for some reason; had to go with K&N. At least I could get the filter number I needed with the fillets in the outer casing for a can wrench instead of having to deal with that goofy tin nut that some of them have tack welded in place. Had one of those on the van and it failed almost immediately. Took a strangulation style strap wrench to finally remove it; that strangler strap turned what used to be round into a square, and off it came. Still went with Royal Purple for my choice of oil. Oil changes for my truck get done yearly simply because it does not accumulate that many miles between changes. 5W30 synthetic seems to be able to successfully deal with anything from -40 to plus 40, talking degrees silly-cycle here, and even after sitting for several days with only the battery charger doing its thing, the engine fires right off.

Tomorrow I get to pay a visit to the grease nipples and recharge them. For them I prefer Quaker State, high temp disc brake grade grease; the stuff looks like thick honey but I would not put it in anything but a ball joint or tie rod end so my loaf of bread is safe!

Did manage to get out to the yard between bouts of rain and was finally able to complete the topside dissection of an engine management harness assembly for my 5.3. There are still plugs in place under the donor but that is somewhere I cannot go. House Rules. The yardman is going to have to bring in the forklift and raise the hulk just enough to put stands and timbers under it for safety; or they might just raise the thing to wheelie high, use the tall stands, and walk under it; what is that saying, work lazy, not crazy?..............



Nick

 

[motorheadmike]

Put a few exercise miles on the TBSS this morning for the daycare/school drop off run. Got a deep perplexed stare from a little dude waiting for his school bus on my way back.

Yes, it is nothing like your Dad's minivan. This is a manvan, my boy.

 

[g0thiac]

Did actually a lot of wiring the past 2 days.

Added a fan for my amp on Friday, and retuned it for my subs. Then cleaned the area this afternoon the best I could without a vacuum, then upgraded the alternator cable as well.

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[g0thiac]

Then came the fun part, helping wire my friends S-10 with his dad’s old subwoofers and amp.

Fighting the wire through the grommet at 8AM for nearly 2 hours, instead just drill a hole and add a new one but his Dad wouldn’t let us do it but his way lol.

Then to tear apart the dash again from last night because the amp remote wire wasn’t connected to the right one… AAAGH lmfao.

Now it’s 2 ‘12 MTX subs and an amp rated at 800W… RMS. The peak is well over 1500W and I’m genuinely surprised the stock alternator works lol.

Still gotta tune his amp because it is clipping, but his reaction that you can barely hear with the bass drop is pretty priceless 😭😭😭😭😂

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[5spdCab]

We had rain and wind on Saturday, so I pretty much stayed indoors, but Sunday was mostly dry with a couple of very light showers and a few sun breaks. On my Pinto, I reinstalled the fuel tank (without the sending unit), installed the radiator and fan, put oil in the remote filter and the cooler, then added another 5 quarts to the engine before it began to show on the dipstick. Next, I attached the priming tool to the drill and pumped oil through the system to get the air out of the cooler lines. I was startled when oil shot out of the camshaft about a 4ft stream just inches from my right shoulder, so I stopped at that, then readied a new gasket on the valve cover. That was all the work that I did on the car. I spent some time in the basement on the computer ordering a fuel sending unit, and posting on the Pinto forum.

 

[CopperNick]

So last week I was in CTC (Canadian Tire Co, think cdn eqiv of O'Reilly's or Champion) in the nearby mall, waiting on a newby clerk to see if they had a part that I needed, and happened to notice this. Harkening back to several threads that came and went about OBD and the myriad joys and pleasures of dealing with it in its various iterations, I decided that this might be a good reference book to add to the library. Be aware that this text is all about OBD I, 1981 through 1995, which puts its information and application right square on top of the G-bodies.
The close up is to show the part number so that someone interested can visit Amazon or Chapters or ? and score their own copy.

And these were the objective of my multi-franchise search. You would think that one store would have enough inventory on hand, but no, not even close. Took visits to both the parent franchises to get the basic materials, bends and tube, that I was going to need to replicate that deceased exhaust pipe system whose corpse I showed to all and sundry several pages ago. It turned out that even with what I had managed to acquire, I was short in the bend department and had to call one of the affiliated parts stores that CTC has created locally. They did not have what I wanted but were able to do a search for availablity at other stores in the province and found two of the desired bends down east. A few days later, the phone rang and they were MINE.

And this is what I made of them. The first picture is the exhaust dump that will poke out from underneath the truck box just before the rear bumper.

The final three are of the pipe section that rises up and over the differential axle tube and then drops back to align with the other pipe assembly already there. Together they move onward to the back and exit as described earlier. Yeah, could have gone straight pipe out the back and under the bumper but there is a tow hitch there that has kind of taken up all the excess real estate, making plumbing in an exhaust pipe something of a moot point. Besides, having both pipes exit side by each tends to baffle folks and that is all to the good, sez I.

The big wait now is for the pipe clamps. I have two of the compression style clamps on their way and the plan is to use them instead of those round rod guillotine versions that tend to crimp the tube and make subsequent dis-assembly a sawzall chore.

The keen eyed will have noticed that anywhere two bends came together on that multiply bent section, there are no obvious seams. Once they had been clocked to each other and to the old pipe in order to create as close a replica as possible, those bends were completely seam welded to each other and then the seams were ground smooth and polished down to offer a clean visual aspect that also makes it difficult for rust and water to find places to lodge in. Of course decay will still happen; just looking to defer that event for as long as possible.

All of which made today a day of rest, or rust, or roost or ???? Did elect to tear down the 5.3 water pump to expose the impeller and see if possible what was causing it to bind in rotation. Nothing obvious. Just a lot of galvanic corrosion due to exposure to the elements and having to deal with both aluminum heads and an iron block at the same time. The cover O-ring was shot. Not sure if a simple O-ring will work or if it has to be a quad ring which is what the old one appears to be. More research. Bother........



Nick