What's New
10/08/2002 Got back from work today and went to shift into forward to park and my car didn't move!!! Stuck in the middle of the driveway!!! and of course it was raining!!! Had to jack it up the rear and had to move it, I needed to leave room for my landlord!! The shifter was VERY loose. I took the shifter apart and found that the eye hook broke!! It was late and the parts store was closed so I left it until the next night and plus, it was raining.
10/09/2002 Today went to the parts store and got me a shifter cable. Put it in with a little adjusting and it shifted smoother than before!!
10/27/2002 Got a set of KYB's on the 85, the shocks were SHOT. Had some problems installing them, got aggravated and put everything away. wanted to go to the track this weekend, but there weren't any rubber grommets on the mounts of the shocks and talk of easy to compress!.
10/28/2002 Went to P------. Told Tommy Gleave what I was doing and what happened. He said he could DEFINITELY help me and "get the car outta there and bring it here NOW!" so I did. The nut on the shaft in front would not budge! and I lost the nuts (for the shocks) and had to get new ones that would fit. I found the nuts, but I mushroomed the shaft on the way to his house (The nut of the partially installed shocked popped it's nut). He used an air hammer to cut it off the stuck nut, fixed the mushrooming and he had it done in less than 45minutes!! At this time he noticed a leak I had in the front of the engine, but he didn't have time to look closer with me. This will be fixed when the spring rolls around with the warmer weather.
10/30/2002 Went to the track with Tommy, Rob and Ben. Went to put on Pete's slicks at Rob's house and the rims were the wrong backspacing, couldn't use those. When we were getting gas, Tommy noticed my tire was leaking. Only got in 2 runs, MAN WAS IT CROWDED!!, but they were nearly identical runs, 14.15 sec at 95.41 mph. This was on my deflated street tires with losing traction and no Crane HI-6s. I was hoping around I'd run about 13.7sec.
11/09/2002 Got a scare today while going to Brooklyn. When I left I noticed the oil pressure gauge pegged!! pulled over and shut down immediately. Went out looked and didn't see a problem so, I restarted it and it was fine!?!?!? I guess I have a gauge problem. Also, reattached the A/C unit to the evaporator and condensor while I was in Brooklyn, thanks to my cousin Rob. Now I have to recharge it with R-134a.
12/05/2002 Well I did it! the 80 Vette Rally's are now on my car. But, the caps and spinners that go on are TOO WIDE and don't fit in the hub of the rims!!!! So, I need to wait to put them on. I need to POLISH them now!!!
12/15/2002 I had to do the wheel bearings and brakes today. WHAT A STORY!!! Not a problem with the car, but dealing with the great people at the autoparts store (will rename nameless, but I think you all know the one that starts with a P------). Needless to say, what should have taken less than an hour ended up being over a 4 hour project!!!!
12/27/2002 Just bought a new digital camera. A NIKON 4300, my friend and co-club member Tom Romanski has one and it takes great pics. Also, I got a cheap set of air tools to help me with the intake fix.
01/03/2003 Home Depot was having a sale on tools. So I grabbed a 165 set of Husky mechanic tools in a case, for those jobs on the run and salvage yards.
03/15/2003 The throttle on my 85 was sticking so I went to spray some WD-40 on it and I noticed that the cable was routed incorrectly. So I fixed it and sprayed it. But, it still sticks!! so the TB must be gummed so I will spray cleaner into it.
03/16/2003 Went to NYC today. Man am I annoyed! When I get in to take some pics, the compact flash card I have been using isn't working. I tried to take out the CF card, the battery and that did not work. I blew out the CF card and the port and that didn't work! I went to a store to make sure the problem was the card. The Tech there tried the same things, to no avail. Then he tried a new card and BINGO it worked, so I bought it for $20 more than the other cost me and it's made by the same manufacturer!!! OH WELL! When you are in a fix.
04/18/2003 Went to the Jacob Javits Center for their annual auto show.
04/26/2003 Took a trip to Montauk Point today, the eastern most point on the southern tip of Long Island. Take a look! Man is it beautiful and tranquil!
05/03/2003 Started the intake leak today on the LT1 (pics coming soon), well it was supposed to be the intake! Thanks to the help of John Gavlik for his driveway/help and Russell Martilla for his help!!!!(oh and thanks to Elaine for putting up with me!) We found that the intake was not leaking, the front and back of the intake are completely dry! John said "look at that you are leaking Anti-freeze!" I got under the car and noticed an antifreeze leak coming on the belt. WATERPUMP! Ordered that from Quick Auto Parts on Bloomingdale Rd and Hicksville Rd in Hicksville (cheap advertisement) these guys are knowledgeable! anyway! With a little coaxing from Russell & John I also got the seal kit for the timing cover. I asked for a Vette, I thought they were the same! Got back and found that the optical sensors are different between the Caprice and the Vette!!! Quick didn't have it and it was too late to order it from their warehouse. So Russell and I drove to 6-7 auto parts stores and everyone looked at us like we had 6-7 heads!!! None of them knew what we were talking about! Meanwhile John got the waterpump prepared, a bolts head was stripped round and he removed it. Needless to say we couldn't finish! So we cleaned up.
05/06/2003 Picked up the gasket set in the AM before work. Went to John's house with Russell to button it up!!! NOT!!! Well, we put in the seals in the cover and then went to install it. IT WOULDN'T GO ON! We dropped the front bolts of the oil pan and nothing!! The dowels on the block makes it impossible, there are 4 for the timing cover and the a lip into the oil pan. The gasket slightly slipped out and we then saw instead of a 1 piece seal it was ripped on the drivers front. I need to order a pan gasket. We cleaned up and went home!!!
05/10/2003 I went over Johns house to continue the work, while Russell did his body swap. John and I were putting everything back together and the water pump seal broke again!!! It separated. Again I went searching for it!!! I was about to give up and I was making a u-turn by Performance Chevrolet in East Meadow, NY. Decided WHAT THE HELL, lets see if the parts department is open. Drove to the back and saw a sign 9-5 mon-sat! YES! went in showed the guy the seal and he said "WHAT THE FU** IS THAT FROM!!!" I told him "that's not the phrase I like to hear at the parts counter!" So I told him what it was he raised a finger went to the back and pulled out a bag and there it was!!! He said you are lucky, the guy who ordered it didn't need it and I was going to return it tomorrow. Well, without hesitation I bought it!!! We went back to work and finished the job! I will put a page up on this job shortly to tell a couple of tricks we figured out, the hard way! 3 waterpump seals later!
05/12-15/2003 Every night worked on different areas of my 85 until at least 10:30pm for the PAMCC event. Oh, and by the way Russell finished his body swap and now just has to do little things for road worthiness.
05/16/2003 I think my tranny died in my 85 tonight! Called up my tranny guy, Neal at More Miles transmissions, and he said it might be an electronics issue, but he needs to put it on the computer to see before he gives a definite. I polished my rims, cleaned my engine bay and interior for nothing!!! I was to go to the PAMCC BBQ on 5/17!!!!
05/17/2003 I ended up going to the PAMCC event with John Keskes in his 2001 MCSS.
05/26/2003 Waterpump page is up and running.
05/28/2003 Found out its the TPS today so I am picking it up today and doing the fix myself. I will do it Sat! Picked up the car tonight. It shifts weird with the TPS disconnected. It has a fixed time of when to shift. He says it's ok to drive a short distance like this until I can do the fix.
05/30/2003 ALL fixed!!! Picked up the TPS before work today and took 5 minutes to fix it when I returned home!
06/06/2003 Had it checked for more codes. The only one that comes up is for the VSS (vehicle speed sensor). Everything else is fine. So that's next!
06/08/2003 Some of us went to Flowerfields on LI today.
06/14/2003 Went into Brooklyn today to recharge my a/c system with my cousin. It took about 1 1/2 cans, but the compressor did not engage. Probably an electric issue. The Belt Pkwy was REALLY backed up. So I went home via the Gowanis and BQE to the LIE. Took me more than 2 hours!!! I didn't break 15mph for more than 3/4 of the trip, from the Gowanis to the beginning of Nassau County. DAMN was it HOT in there!!! I later went to meet up with some of the club at Kohl's in Deer Park on Carl's Path and Grand Blvd. Ben went to jump the a/c system and now I know that it is not getting electric! So, that's probably next weekends chore!
06/27/2003 Went to Russell's to figure out my a/c problem. His mechanic, John, said that the engine is grounded properly, but my compressor is not receiving the electric. He said he needed the schematics for the Caprice harness. So, off to the dealer we went! We went to Meyer Chevrolet and went to parts they said they do not have the schematics for anything that old?!?! WTF it's a 94!! He sent us to service. We got NO HELP from the lazy guy in Service, just "We don't go back that far". Then we went to Major Chevrolet in Queens, NY and we waited until their lunch was done, about a 1/2 hour. The parts guy again directed us to service. We asked him and he said the same thing, but then he said let me check the Used Service area. He couldn't get it there either. We talked for a moment. Then it seemed like a light bulb went off and he went to a mechanic. He waved us to come over and he printed them out for and just gave them to us!! John said the dark green wire is my problem. So, we looked around at the computer in the passenger compartment and that wire didn't come in there. It was much to hot to really dive into it today, it was like 97 degrees. At least we know what to look for now! And AGAIN it took like 1 1/2hrs to get home!
06/28/2003 Alot nicer today! I checked my wires out. The dark blue wire from the 85 SS goes to the dark green wire of the LT1. Problem is that the dark blue is being used for the fuel delivery!!! DEAD END! Also went to Kohl's tonight with some club members. On the way home, when i went to pass some one I heard a rather loud POP. Russell was following me thankfully. Drifted into the Dix Hills Fire House. checked for block leaks, nothing also clear at the tail pipes. Then I thought Opti-spark. Drove back to Kohl's to ask my friend Rich with the 96 T/A and immediately he said Opti. So we called it a nite and I left my car.
06/29/2003 Got my car flat bedded today. I don't have time to look at it today, but I will do more analysis soon.
07/02/2003 Checked the fuel, it was fine. Checked all the fuses, ok here. Made sure everything was hooked up, fine. Checked the module, not that. Then I checked for spark the old fashioned way, NOTHING! So now I know it was the optical sensor or the timing chain. Russell sent me some links on the Opti-sensor. I will ask permission to get them linked, but it doesn't look hard at all to rebuild them! Looks like a flat distributor inside, with a rotor and all! Also found out what the difference was when I was doing the seals. I have a 95 vented Opti with a 95 timing chain cover. If I can link u will see.
07/03/2003 I returned home early from work. So I began to take apart the front of the engine. It took alot less time then what I thought! (about 45min) hardest part was draining it. Which I just drained it from the heater hose on the bottom of the waterpump. Then more came out from the bolt on the drivers side. Everything came right off with no problems! Man I love air tools! I didn't even need to remove the crank pulley!!!
07/04/2003 New Opti coming in today. I will have it by 2-4 PM! I will put in on in the AM. What a difference a month makes! I thought I'd be doing a VSS!! I went into NYC to see MACY'S Fireworks.
07/05/2003 Went to get my Opti this morning and all they had was the base of it!! It is sold in separate pieces!!! Then I went to Performance Chevrolet in E Meadow, NY. They had a COMPLETE one there. So now I have it! Went to work, boy was it sticky out there!!
07/23/2003 Here is the difference between the first 2 LT1 timing chain covers.
The first one is for a nonvented Opti-spark and the second is for a vented one. Notice the size difference of the center hole? There is another with a hook up by the bottom of the crank for a sensor
08/09/2003 Went to the NJMCC 2nd annual BBQ. GREAT EVENT!!!
08/17/2003 Went to Princeton University today.
02/04/2004 Bought a 74 Dart today!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!