Welcome to the Michigan FBody Association website.
The Michigan FBody Association is a centralized website for FBody enthusiasts to discuss what's going on in the Michigan area. MiFbody.com was created to allow for an easy one-stop place to find out what's going on in Michigan as far as FBody events, to find out what clubs are available in your immediate area, and for an easy place to post classifieds for items you want to sell! Our goal was to create a more close-knit community of FBody enthusiasts in the state of Michigan, and to bring Camaro and Firebird enthusiasts alike together for some amazing FBody events!
The most important thing to know about the Michigan FBody Association is that we are NOT a club! The Michigan FBody Association is open to everyone, and is a community. Thus, we will have get togethers, casual cruises, events, and such like that, but this is not an exclusive club and it's 100% free to join this site! So what are you waiting for? Register now!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us!
OK, I have all 4 Kicker speakers installed in my daughters Saturn. Wait, wrong forum.
Sadly, the bird has to compete for my time. Had just a few minutes last night. Went through all the parts Lon shipped to me, and to keep the old grease out of the new grease, I cleaned all of the parts up that will be reused.
And a quick electrical test of the motor...smooth as silk. Cleaned up the worm gear, and we're ready to start reassembly. Tomorrow.
Well...I wish I had found a smoking gun. Something CLEARLY broken. But I never really did. The guides are very worn, for no more miles than are on the car (and therefore likely a low number of hatch openings and closings). But they are worn and cracked, and a chunk is missing. The two parts that the guides separate didn't "seem" loose to me, but who knows.
I also found one small crack in a screw hole/boss in the gear housing. But not the catastrophic fracturing of the housing that is more typical. And my gear nut looks like new. Motor tests good, reversing switch tests good. Just not sure.
So I'm refreshing the assembly (new, reinforced housing, new guides, new gear nut, new grease), and hoping that the answer is in there somewhere.
It failed on our color tour last year. We were parked in a field along a rural road at a cider mill. As a result, the flexi-flyer t-top T/A was sitting on uneven ground, and the chassis was flexed. The doors were slightly hard to open. So that may have created enough of a side load on those worn guides to jam it.
Tough to find even a few minutes in the garage the last week.
I did get the motor bolted up.
As described in the instructions, the guides are a little snug. Will play with some different combos, and resort to saanding-to-fit if required, per the instructions.
OK, the original guides were too tight, and I just wasn't sure about sanding that much material off. So Lon graciously sent me another set.
They were tight too, but I now had 4 of the thinner "I" guides.
Time to break out the belt sander.
The coarse belt left the guides pretty rough. A little finish smoothing with a file did the trick.
It took several passes to get them right. My tracks seem to be particularly narrow. Also took a hair off the top of one of the guides. By the time I was done, one of the grooves had broken through the face, and the others were tissue thin. A quick call to Lon confirmed that this was A-OK, so I cut the others out too. Didn't want them breaking loose later and gumming up the works.
A test fit was good, so I greased everything up, and she's back together, slicker than snot on a door knob.
Dropped the pin and nut in, and we're good to go.
Installed and working well. Time for a bath, and a shake down cruise on Woodward.
Thanks again to Lon for the parts,and the great support.
Took the T/A out to Woodward tonight with my son, as he heads back to his university on Wednesday.
Hopped in the car, dome light very dim, pump primed, but would not turn the engine over. First time that has happened.
With a little boost from a jumper pack, she's up and running. I double checked that I could hear the second "click" when the hatch motor reached the end of it's travel. I could. So that means it's off, and not draining the battery (I think). I wanted to check it first, as it was the most recent thing worked on. Sub, off. Cooling fan for amp, off. Power antennae, off as far as I can tell (can't hear it running). The AC Delco battery is the one that was in the car when I bought it 4.5 years ago, and is probably a few years older than that. So it may be on it's last legs.
The car restarted without hesitation during several stops on Woodward. I have the battery back on it's trickle charger now. I'll have to pull it and have it tested soon.
Car ran well. Just before arriving home, she got a bottle of injector cleaner, and a tank of 90 octane pure gas.
Last edited by DynoDave; August 12th, 2018, 10:24 PM.
And lets be honest...very embarrassing to go out on Woodward, or to the Frankenmuth Autofest, and have the car not start. Maybe I'll get lucky (famous last words) and it will make it through this season.
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