My new 1988 T/A

[MP81]

Definitely making very good progress!

[DynoDave]

I hope so. Still waiting on the new belt. Still waiting on trim screws (ebay) (which the seller has given up hope that USPS will ever deliver, and refunded my money).

Rock order with new tensioner arrived, but not as pictured. To return, I have to pay shipping, then they decide if they will refund purchase (no mention of shipping). Rock is a great value when needed, but it absolutely rock bottom when you have an issue.

Hoses also showed up. They might work, but are not as original.

Clamps (Amazon) showed up Monday, but I ordered the wrong size. I splurged on an assortment kit...pricey, but hopefully with this shotgun approach, there will be something in there I can use. Stupid and stubborn of me to wait for them, but what are you gonna do.

[DynoDave]

July 24th

A small victory....the clamps I was waiting for came in (a small victory in itself as trips all over town lead to mail order, and the first order was wrong), so I spend an hour or so getting this ? mark shaped heater core hose back on. What a PITA this thing is. I hope I don't live long enough, or have this particular car long enough, to ever have to do one of those again. Worst part of the job for me. I also took another hour or so to find and lay out all of the pieces for the rest of this system. With a little luck, I may have it running by Sunday. Fingers corssed.

[DynoDave]

July 25

Sometimes I think I get a little carried away with the details. When I reinstalled the heater core, and went to put the cover back on, several of the screws were missing from a previous repair by a dealer.

I didn't have any extras, so I contacted an area seller who parts these cars. Unfortunately, he was out of town and not due back for a few weeks. I looked on ebay, and came up with a very similar screw. So I ordered some. I asked if there was a faster shipping option, as I wanted to finish this thing up. He said the faster method through USPS cost more, but in his experience was no faster. That was July 6. He packed them right away and mailed them with USPS.

Carried on a USPS pack mule, they arrived in Indy on the 11th. Anxious to move on, I found some screws on a local Help parts rack that were vaguely similar, but not really close. I decided if the ebay screws were not here by Friday evening, I'd go to the local salvage yard Saturday. Indeed, Friday they still showed as being in Indy, and were not at my local post office. Saturday I headed to the local U-Pull-It.They had a 4th gen Camaro with a bunch of those screws in the dash, door speakers, etc., so I'm now well stocked. Also picked up some sections of jute insulation to replace the sections removed from my factory carpet during the previous dealer repair, and a pair of Aztec rear window switches for a possible future project. This yard is on the cement slab of one of the factory building that was part of the Pontiac Motor Division complex in Pontiac, MI. Kind of neat history, but also sort of depressing.



With $2 admission, I was in it for $6.95. Not bad at all.



Stopped at the post office on the way home, and guess what was there...the screws I ordered from ebay. Good grief. An 18 day ride from Mississippi to Michigan.

Got my new belt on for the A.I.R. pump replacement pulley, but she's a little short. I have some alternatives, but have to look into that.





Doesn't look like much, but everything is back together. All hoses, plug wires, vacuum hoses, egr solenoid, caps for A.I.R. pipes, etc. etc.



Got 3 of the 4 gallons of antifreeze I bought into the block and systems today, time for a thermostat and housing. Didn't get as much done today because the modem for the house died, and I spent all afternoon getting that resolved. Maybe a few hours in the shop yet tonight.

[DynoDave]

Filled the block through the thermostat housing. Not sure that it will, but thought it might reduce trapped air. Took all but a few drops of 3 gallons to get this far. I bought 4...may need a touch more.



Backing into the new radiator from the bottom up.



I had applied painters tape over the machined face of the thermostat housing, but the spray paint still got under it, and left a 4-5 layer thick blob. Chipped away what I could, but ended up having to scrape it. This put some scratches into the finish, in addition to the ones already there right out of the box. I put a 12x12 plate of glass on the bench for a flat surface, added a sheet of 220, and sanded the face flat and clean.



Dropped in the 180* thermostat, coated both sides of the gasket with Permatex cut gasket sealer (same as water pump gaskets) and the housing is torqued into place. Upper hose in place with repro hose clamps, a little touch up paint to the housing bolts and a few other spots, and she's ready for a coolant top-off.



Once the coolant got near the top of the neck, I had to stop as I had not installed the overflow bottle yet. Was getting ready to throw it on the car, and noticed the spots on the bottom where it was chafing the paint. THAT'S what I bought that tube of clear silicone for! Been sitting on the bench for closing in on two years, and I knew I bought it for something in this project, but I could not recall what. Been looking at that tube for months wonder what it was I bought it for. I had coated one fastener tab when I had this off before, but only had white, and it showed through the translucent plastic a bit. So I peeled that off and recoated it, and all the chafing spots, in clear silicone. It's curing on the bench and will go on tonight.



Topping off the batteries state of charge in anticipation of starting it in the next few days.



Got the ECM wired up last night, but could not recall how the fool thing mounted. Going to have to work on that issue.

[MP81]

Getting close!!!