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!!!

[DynoDave]

One year old belt used with A.I.R. pump., now too short.



New belt we are trying. Pretty good, but maybe still just a tiny bit short.







I'm going to go back with a toothbrush and clean that tensioner, BTW.

Will stop by this parts store and pick up an extra gallon of antifreeze, and the next size longer belt (by about 3/8") to try out.

Overflow bottle back in, and radiator about as full as she can get to be. Getting closer.....

[DynoDave]

New belt, 1/4" shorter. Predictably, a very small improvement, but moves into the "good" zone, assuming that I'm reading that scale on the tensioner correctly. The biggest improvement is that, for whatever reason, this belt costs about 1/3 of what that previous one did. So if I'm keeping one and returning one, this is certainly the keeper.

[DynoDave]

New belt, 1/4" shorter. Predictably, a very small improvement, but moves into the "good" zone, assuming that I'm reading that scale on the tensioner correctly. The biggest improvement is that, for whatever reason, this belt costs about 1/3 of what that previous one did. So if I'm keeping one and returning one, this is certainly the keeper.

Forgot to post the package and part #, in case someone needs it in the future.

[DynoDave]

Done topping off the system, new cap on.



Overflow bottle filled.



Battery connected and air cleaner on.



Turn the key, and it's alive!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hzDUSbHfj1M?app=desktop

3 short runs of several minutes each, with breaks to top off the coolant. Letting her sit today, will check the coolant again and run it some more. Was just starting to get some steam off the coolant with the cap removed. Thus far, no leaks!

Stopping by the body shop after work to see when he can work me 1) repair seatbelt bolt hole 2) install subframe connectors 3) weld up tiny hole from emergency brake cable s-hook rubbing on floor.

[DynoDave]

After the short runs, I gave it a nice long run. Ran it through the gears. Thermostat opened, fan kicked on, everything is looking pretty good. You can also see that the belt stretched out to be in the middle of what I thought was the "good" range. Not so sure about that now, but we'll run this one for a while, and keep the shorter one as a spare.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...lt-length.html



After the thermostat opened, a small leak (a puddle ultimately about the size of a quarter) developed around the TVS plug in the thermostat housing itself. I only seated that plug while holding the housing in one hand, and the ratchet in the other. Couldn't get much leverage. Tonight, after sitting / cooling 24 hours or more, I was able to get an easy extra 1/4 turn on that plug. Might be able to go a touch more if needed, but don't want to crack the housing. I'll run it tomorrow to see.



I did get an instant check engine light, though the car started right up. It was stinking rich, and the idle at start was very low, but I figured this is the first start on this ECM, and it would need some time to learn.



Digging into that check engine light this evening, using this old tool that I have not used in decades...



...and she has a Code 33, MAP low the FSM says. Then the other little light came on...the one in my head. MAP has a vacuum line and an electrical connector, and is right in the corner of the engine compartment I was working in. I wondered if I had missed something putting everything back together. Electrical connector was in place, seated, locked. Tracing the vacuum line from the sensor, I found this. It got tucked away over by the brake booster, and I was doing all my work over the passenger's fender. Reconnected to the back of the throttle body; I'm sure this will take care of the check engine light, and will likely improve the way it is idling, and how rich it's running. I have the battery disconnected to clear the code. So like the coolant leak, we'll see how it does tomorrow. If it's still a problem, I'll dig out the scan tool and see what it has to say.



It does seem I missed getting a good photo of how this vacuum line was originally routed. Based on it's pre-bent shape, I assume this is correct. Can anyone confirm that?




A few other housekeeping chores. Removed the old Goodwrench / Code Alarm horn wiring, that was crudely installed some 38 years ago.



Used a long straight blade screw driver to apply some clear silicone over hole drilled for that wiring.



While the alarm horn is still out, I cleaned that pocket of space in front of the driver side wheel well. And I did clean the grooves in that belt tensioner. The cleaner removed the factory paint mark, so I reapplied that.



Spoke to the body shop. They need about 3 weeks, so I'm anxious to get it over there an get that clock started. While it's there, I have motorhome brakes to work on, and car hauler tires to replace. The fun never stops. The timing probably puts the T/A Nationals in jeopardy, as far as having the car there. I'll go either way.

[DynoDave]

Out of no where, I suddenly got The Kinks "Give the people what they want" stuck in my head. Had to dig out the cassette I made in 1983 and give it a listen.





Actually went through two of these replacement thermostat housings. I put thread sealer on the plugs in the other one, but it appears I forgot that step with this one. Drained the coolant and pulled the plug, and the threads are clean. Sort of suspected it based on the way it was seeping around the threads. Threads cleaned and sealer applied.





Plug installed. Let it cure for a 1/2 day before returning the coolant to the system. Not so pretty anymore...I'll touch it up later, and it will have to do for now.



While waiting for the sealer to set up, I decided to take a stab at eliminating a few more rattles and squeaks. A light tap on the I/P, even with half the panels removed, and it still rattles. Some of that is in the structure, and I'll never get all of that out. But want to address what I can while it's apart again.



Started with this piece. Any place there's plastic screwed to plastic is suspect. I'll coat those surfaces with thin black cloth, as I did the radio pod some years ago, with good results.

[DynoDave]

Removed this piece of I/P trim, and a lot of the noises went away. So lots of work to be done here.








There were chafing marks here where it had been rubbing the column.



Places too difficult to cover with cloth, I added a skip layer of clear silicone. If this creates a problem, I can also scrape it off.



Decided to try the silicone on the back of these screw locations on the passenger side trim that covers the modules.

[DynoDave]

We'll let all of that dry overnight. Moving on to the bottom side of the dash pad. Clean first.



Manufacturing date?



Change of materials, as I had a lot of this left over from one of my daughters projects years ago.

Adding some screw holes using an old snowmobile track stud hole drill.



Test fit.



Glued down.



Ran out of the glue I was using, so stopping here for the night. More glue ordered.




Coolant refilled again.



Started, running good...no check engine light, correct cold idle, no excess fumes. So the Code 33 is resolved. Up to temp, thermostat open, fan on.



No leaks. I'll touch that up tomorrow, finish the I/P pad, and start putting the dash back together.