My new 1988 T/A

[DynoDave]

The wonder bar is an add. Pontiac did not use them.

Touched up some rusty spots on the air cleaner lid. Not pleased with the result, but at least it will stop the rust. Not repulsive, but not pretty either. I have another air cleaner that is the long-term solution.

Shocks and struts painted. Didn't come out great either, but as I mentioned, was doing it more for rust protection than for looks. You can't see much of them when installed, some I'm OK with it.

7.jpg

New K&N cleaned, dried and re-oiled.

K&N Clean.jpg

8.jpg

Got the old front sway bar end links out tonight. Had been soaking them in Blaster, and trying to drive the bolt out but both seemed pretty well rusted to the outer collar. Tonight I took a sawzall to the passenger side, and before I could get all the way through the only metal cutting blade I had was done. I thought, what have I got to lose by trying once again to drive it out with a hammer. And lucky day, out she came. The driver side came out with no cutting at all. So I'm ready for the new ones when I get the struts on. Just leaving them out of the way for now.

2.jpg

Those are another story. I'm still screwing around with the damn strut bearings. (Shown here with the bearing sitting on top....I know it bolt in from below). I slipped them into position on the struts today, and they are quite loose fitting. Does not seem right. It would be counting entirely on the clamping load of the top nut on the strut shaft to hold it together and not rattle, and to not let the shaft shift around in the too-large opening. The bearing is also not quite straight, and I can't get it to straighten up. It also will not rotate. I've already called J&M twice with questions, and to be fair, both times they were helpful, and my assumptions about how the thing went together were completely wrong. But I just wish they'd have included a damn instruction sheet! Left a message with them today.

4.jpg

Lastly, got a couple of coats of chassis black on these stud plates for the strut bearings. They came with a nice bright silver coating, but I figured a little extra protection couldn't hurt, and black seemed a less distracting color than bright silver. Etch primed, and two coats of color.

9.jpg

Wonder bar is in.

TDS 6.jpg

[MP81]

The struts should definitely not be rattling around within the bearing/bushing up top - it should be a smooth fit. Are you sure the bearing isn't intentionally canted as part of a handed design?

[DynoDave]

I spoke with J&M again today. Walked through each of my 3 questions.

The flat of the bearing plate faces the rear of the car. Check.

The bearing should not spin. Check. But I will be able to change it's angle once the strut is in it (I could not do this by hand with the strut shaft inserted in the bearing, but I don't have a lot of upper body strength any more).

There should not be a big gap, but a little. I got out my vernier caliper, and measured the bearing, as he thought maybe I'd been sent the wrong ones. The dimension I came up with is exactly what he said it should be to fit a factory strut. So now the question is, are these Koni struts "wrong" in some way? J&M seems OK with the amount of looseness in this, claiming the nut and washer will clamp it all together. I'm still very hesitant. Nothing but the machined smooth surface of the shoulder on the strut shaft and the smooth triple-thick washer that came with the strut clamped together by that nut will hold that shaft "centered" (if it is centered when I tighten the nut, but who knows). And what's to stop it from sliding around and changing the caster and camber?

I'll know more when I have the stock struts out and can compare their fit (factory strut to factory bearing) with what I have now. I was hoping to know all the answers BEFORE I tore it apart, but I guess a little exploratory surgery is going to be required. I can also then measure the stepped shoulder on the factory strut with the Koni, and see if there is a difference. I also found a contact # for Koni North America. Looks like I need at least one additional part that is missing....that split nylon disc under the knob/nut/washer.

[MP81]

Yeah, I'm trying to think back to when we did the struts (Koni Yellows) in the Mustang. Technically, I did the top parts twice - once when I installed initially, and then the second time when we did the MM Caster/Camber plates. I don't remember them being too loose of a fit.

[DynoDave]

Well, I was hoping to "know more" before I went to bed tonight. Started on the passenger side, got the brake flex line off the strut, moved up top to break the nut on the shaft loose, and of course after 35 years, it is spinning the strut shaft. There's a cover over the shaft on a factory strut, so shy of destroying that, no way to grab the shaft. It's a job for an impact, which can knock that nut loose. But I don't have the compressor set up again post-fire. Have new hoses, new filter/drier, but have not hooked any of it up. So that's what I ended up getting done tonight. Air tool oil is one of the many things that disappeared during the garage clean-out, so I'll have to hit the hardware or auto parts stores tomorrow and pick up a bottle. I'll pick up there tomorrow.

[MP81]

May be worth borrowing an electric (corded or battery) impact from someone in the meantime. Most of them are even more powerful than an air-powered one - I know my M18 is.

[DynoDave]

Yes, story of my life. Just about the time I get my album collection going well, here come CDs. Now after a lifetime of collecting air tools as needed, electrics are the hot ticket. I will probably make that jump one day, at least for an impact and a driver.

This was good actually...forced me to finish setting the compressor up. Parts have all been sitting in that corner under the bench for at least a year. Now I'm good to go once I get a bottle of oil. I'll run out at lunchtime and get some. I have an item to pick up at the post office today anyhow.

Out walking the dog last night and my wife asked how much she could spend on something for herself. I just laughed and told her she had seen the stream of parts flowing in for the Trans Am. She can buy pretty much anything she wants and I'll have nothing to say about it.

[MP81]

Yes, story of my life. Just about the time I get my album collection going well, here come CDs. Now after a lifetime of collecting air tools as needed, electrics are the hot ticket. I will probably make that jump one day, at least for an impact and a driver.

This was good actually...forced me to finish setting the compressor up. Parts have all been sitting in that corner under the bench for at least a year. Now I'm good to go once I get a bottle of oil. I'll run out at lunchtime and get some. I have an item to pick up at the post office today anyhow.

Out walking the dog last night and my wife asked how much she could spend on something for herself. I just laughed and told her she had seen the stream of parts flowing in for the Trans Am. She can buy pretty much anything she wants and I'll have nothing to say about it.

Yeah, I have a good number of air tools as well - and in some instances, they're still better than the electric tools simply because they're half the size and actually fit somewhere.

And my situation is the opposite: the amount of shit (clothes and books) my wife buys means I can literally buy several other vehicles.

[DynoDave]

Had a decent car day thus far, but not without some setbacks.

The little light bulb came on again (for like the 4th time on this subject of strut bearings), and I figured out the way the thing works, for the most part. It is the correct part and fits correctly, as far as I can tell. Spoke with Koni N.A., and they are sending me a pair of those (nylon split washers) "bump plates", so that's good. Was going to get new nyloc nuts from them, but decided to just get them at the local hardware store. Wrong. It's M14 x 1.5, and in M14 they have 2.0 and 1.75 is all they have at the local store. Found a 4-pack on Amazon, so they are on the way.

The bad news was with the compressor. It held its pressure overnight (good), but when I cracked open the drain, I got about a pint of brown water and rust out. Ugh. That's been sitting like that for 3 years, so not cool. I just put a fresh filter and desiccant assembly, it this will trash the desiccant with the first tank of air. So I ended up adding an extension to the drain (it made a hell of a mess the first time I cracked it open with out that) and bled 4 tanks of air through it. Not getting much liquid out now, but the air coming out is VERY humid...like a mist. I can't spend too much more time on it, so I'm just going to have to hook up the impact and go with it.

[MP81]

I need to get myself a dryer for mine, especially for those instances where I'm running tools for hours straight (air drill loves to do that, though I hate the day I have to use an air drill).

[DynoDave]

I bought one of these. Nothing fancy.

https://www.campbellhausfeld.com/air...ategory_id=333

Knowing that I'm going to trash the desiccant that I just loaded it with, I was shopping online for some more little packets of the stuff. Came with 2 packages, one package being just the right amount to fill the reservoir. Guess what? The little packets are discontinued. Still selling the housings, but not the refills? I'm leaving that browser tab open to call them on Monday. I found a place selling a "bulk" container, probably enough to refill it 4 or 5 times. But how dry does that container stay once you open it? Factory CH fill changes color when it needs to be replaced. I wonder if the "aftermarket" stuff does?

Got the trailer dropped off today. Glad I"m not making that run annually.

[DynoDave]

Sunday, my day of rest. Took it easier today.

Ran a few more tanks of air through the compressor. Seems to be getting pretty good. Still damper air than I'd like, but always is to some degree. Still could not bring myself to run it through the tools just yet, so I ordered some disposable filters/traps for use right at the tool. They are meant for painting, but should help if anything gets past my filter/drier. They should arrive tomorrow.

Added another round of penetrating oil to all the brake bleeders and the fuel filter. I have one side of the filter cracked loose, but the other end is fighting me. Installed the new wiper blades. Started cleaning a few items I'll need next month when the work moves to the interior...a piece that survived the garage fire, and it's pretty dirty.

Also, this showed up Friday afternoon. I shouldn't have, but I could not resist. A $269 + tax and shipping piece from UMI, I got it for $99 with free shipping "used" from ebay. Obviously repainted body color for a previous vehicle (I'm not sure why, as you can only see the piece when the car is in the air). Doesn't look like it was ever mounted after being painted. I'll be just slightly less silly about the aesthetics and shoot it chassis black. If it chips, who cares? Oh, also came with a new transmission mount and torque arm bushing, both of which I need.

4.jpg

If I'm able to get to it (which I'm starting to doubt), I'd like to install this overhead console. When I unwrapped it, clearly this is an item that got a VERY quick post-fire clean-up by me before being stored. It needed a lot of additional cleaning, and not everything coming off of it was soot. Lots and lots of layers of brown coming off of it...previous owner must have been a heavy smoker. Cleaned up pretty good.

3.jpg

1.jpg

[MP81]

Oh I remember those stupid dials on my IROC...I could never, for the life of me, figure out what the point of them was. Like...I can change them...but why?

[DynoDave]

Yes, the dials are of low value to me. Same with the little pen-light flashlight. I have plans to replace both with items of equally dubious value!

Just finished dinner. Have to do another hour or so of work. Might make it out to the garage for a few minutes. Tried to get the fuel filter off the other night, but only got one end to break loose. Pipe ends and fittings are pretty rusty. I'd guess it's the original. It's been soaking in Blaster for a week or more. I need to get a wrench to fit the filter side (perhaps a 19mm). Was hoping to work on that this evening, but not sire if I have time for a tool run or not.

The disposable air filters I ordered from Amazon... promised at sale to be here by 11am Monday. Nothing. Check the site, revised to be delivered by 10pm Monday. Nothing. Check again today, and they skipped today and are now supposed to arrive tomorrow.

[MP81]

I assume you're using line wrenches?

And yeah, I've had issues with Prime delivery from time to time...it's extremely irritating.