My new 1988 T/A

[MP81]

Simple solution: never draw the line, then you never have a deadline!

[DynoDave]

Still working away at this when time allows. A few things I've found / learned / got done.

Found this nice bit of wear / contact between the clamp on the bottom of the heater control valve and the valve cover, chaffing the paint and leading to a little rust. Since you couldn't SEE the valve cover before, it was hard to know this was happening.



And it appears we have a little contact here between the drier bracket and the heater hose.



New design multi-piece heater valve arrived from RockAuto. They have already shipped a replacement.



Decided to pull all of the items in the way of getting to the candy-cane shaped heater hose. That would include this one at the intake, with the clamp driven from the REAR!



Having reached the limit of my patience that night, I moved to the other side of the engine compartment to resume work on the Goodwrench horn. Got it out...it was sort of captured in a little pocket of space.



And it got it's first good bath in 37 years.



And I'm working on pulling all the dealer installed wiring to the horn. I know the "tech" assigned to install this was not worried about visual presentation, but really? Power wire down the engine side, dangling over the booster and under the master cylinder, wrapped around the washer bottle, came up 6" short, so it ends up with 2 crimped splices within a foot of the horn. The the ground is neatly tucked up under the fender and runs to the firewall fairly unobtrusively, but has the run-of-the-mill hole punched through the dash, complete with flashing and sharp edges, unpainted, unsealed.





x

[DynoDave]

I could NOT figure out a way to get to the screw head on that clamp at the intake. Ratchet, extensions, swivels, open and box ends...there just was not an angle that I could get a tool at to drive that screw. So I decided to cut it with a Dremel.



That's better.



And out of the way with this whole mess.



And for the first time, I can see the whole ? hose, and it's lower clamp. Victory is in site!



And look! The better part of the passenger side valve cover!



While I had the belt off, I spun everything. Air pump could be a little quieter, but it will do for now, since they are made from unobtainium.

But the noisy tensioner is another story.



Cleaned up and went back in the new parts box, in case I decide to find a new bearing for it someday and get that original tensioner look back.



New one in place. Original cupped shaped large washer will not work with it. I went through the FSM, but could not come up with a torque for this bolt. Anybody?


x

[DynoDave]

I tried all of the tools that I had that might reach that clamp behind the cylinder head, but I just could not reach it. Looking online, HF had this tool...thin shaft, 14-15" long, 1/4" on one end, 3/8" on the other end, both swivel.



With everything else that could be removed out of the way, and using a 26" screwdriver to push the electrical harness out of the way, this ratchet was able to get to the clamp.



Cut the top of the hose and pealed it loose.



Then to cut the bottom. Nope. No knife that I own would reach it. Thought I could cobble something together, but no luck. So from tedious job to trying to build a tool, I'm now a couple of hours into it. It's a few after 10pm, been at it for 2 hours, put the tools away and get to bed for a decent night sleep. Turn out the lights, and it hit me.

I have some X-acto knives that we used to use to create service manual art mock-ups with. They have thin aluminum rods for handles. And I have 2 stainless extensions that are for extending your reach with a drill bit...one end is hollow with a couple of set screws. If the knife will fit in that, I'll have plenty of reach, and good leverage for cutting with.

The knife is a little too big around, but there is enough material in the extension to drill it out. It will take burning through 4 bits of ever larger sizes, and a lot of time, to be able to get the knife in the extension.



And FINALLY.



This took until about 12:30am.

Tonight I'll try to clean up that pipe, and maybe take a peak at that alarm wiring. My son is coming over tomorrow and I'm going to put him to work getting to that heater core.

[MP81]

I truly wonder what the actual service procedure is for all of this. There's no way in hell I imagine any dealership doing that.

[DynoDave]

The FSM is amazingly lacking in detail. Just do it!

Got the pipe cleaned up. A touch of surface rust under the hose, but still very solid.



Time to move inside. This panel seems to be a bit waterlogged. Pulled the foam off the panel and washed it out. Glue it back on and it will be as good as new.



UQ7 amp (and the extra wiring I added) out of the way, along with the ECM.



Remove the HVAC case cover and there she is. We have finally reached the core!

[DynoDave]

I wondered why I didn't have to fight with that famously hard-to-get-to 5th fastener. My predecessor took care of that fastener for me.




But with some wrestling, out she came.



Looks pretty good, actually. We'll keep it and have it repaired....for next time.

[MP81]

That all looks...unpleasant. But hey, you got it out!

[DynoDave]

Removed the heater core from the core support plate and baffle. This spring steel strap is pretty rusty. Soaking it in some acid for a few hours to clean it up.







Cleaned out the inside of the heater box. Can't imagine anything worse at this point than to put it all back together and smell coolant, and not know if it's old stuff I missed, or a leak from the new core.



We also made it by the Pontiac Transportation Museum last night for a great presentation on GMC Coaches. I spent quite a few years working on this Pontiac Truck campus, so it was a fun look back, and I learned a lot. Several retirees from the plant were present as well.

[DynoDave]

Strap acid dipped, cleaned, etch primed and painted. Way overkill for a piece that would not rot through in 3 lifetimes, or ever be seen. But I feel better.



At 37 years old, the foam seal is pretty tired. So I scraped it off and replaced it.




Back together and ready to go.



Now to drain the block. Knock sensor is looking a little aged, but the access is good. So I'm going in this way.



6-point impact socket and she came out with no drama. And the last gallon or so of old coolant with it.


x

[MP81]

Are you not installing a new heater core?

[DynoDave]

A different heater core. It's an original I bought used, and had Superior Radiator test.

[MP81]

Oh, perfect, so good to go then!

[DynoDave]

Listened to the replay of the Tigers/Yankees game while I pulled the upper rad hose, thermostat housing and thermostat. Nice and clean inside. Adding clamp photos of the original clamps as someone in the History section was asking about them.






Got the knock sensor hole cleaned up. Was going to install the new sensor tonight, but the one the parts store had was wrong. Mine should be in tomorrow.

[DynoDave]

Boy, have not been able to find the shop time that I need of late.

Wasn't going to mess with it, but figured since I'm switching the thermostat for a 180*, I should go ahead and pull the temp switch for the fan. Probably a good thing....plastic end of the connector on the switch was broken off inside the connector. Another item that's a PITA to get to on this car.

Unfortunately, my plan to switch to a JET fan switch I picked up some years back is not looking so good. Switch is a different diameter. It was my understanding that this was the JET part # I needed, but perhaps I got some bad info.?



Factory switch fits nicely in this box end wrench (for reference).



The JET, not so much.



So while I'm working on some answers for that, I moved on to this old issue. Original owner had GM dealers do all his service work, so when the alternator failed, a Delco reman went in.



But when they reattached the bracket to the intake, they came up a little short, to say the least.





Got lucky...appears they hand started this (cross-threaded), and gave up. The nut backed off with no apparent damage to the threads on the nut or stud. Cleaned it, lined it up, and on it went.


x