Roadkill's 1983 Chevy Z28 - (Work Starts on Page 5)

[ianjpage]

ok no probs - which day is best sat or sun, i guess once its on then its time to fit it to the car :)

[Roadkill]

Well, with a bit of final fettling we got the P/S pump fitted and the pulley installed.  It took the addition of a washer under each bolt to get the pulley inline but it's all good.

Bloody close to the steering box (about 4mm - just enough gap to get the belt in !!!)

All the pipes are fitted but we couldn't do a pressure test as I need a longer belt, now and can't get one until tomorrow.

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Provided the crank contacts enough of the belt to turn the P/S pump and alternator the steering saga should be over . . . . . although I'm expecting she'll need an additional pulley in there to add tension . . .



We'll see tomorrow.

Cheers to Andy for the stainless spacer (fits perfect and looks pimp).



Cheers to Ian, as always, for providing the much needed extra pairs of hands.

[Cunning Plan]

So goooood

Keep it coming

[Andy]

Dude, looks great! What about engine rock? 4mm is a bit close.

Glad the bits fit though, let me know about those seat spacers.

[Roadkill]

I've got solid motor mounts so am hoping that engine rock won't be an issue !

[Roadkill]

SUCCESS !



(I hope)

We got the belt - 6PK1183  fitted (O-M-G - what a tight fit !!) and started her up . . . no apparent belt slip . . . blipped the throttle a few times - still no belt slip.

Good new, there, then.

The belt runs close (within about 1/2") to one of the mounting bosses on the water pump but doesn't flap about enough to cause an issue (will keep an eye on it, though).

As a bonus, the timing tab is still just about visible under the pump and belt, too.

Got a little worried when the steering remained heavy but after adding more fluid the steering was silky smooth and I was turning the wheel easily, lock-to-lock in just over 2.5 turns.



Did a quick leak-check and so far, so good.

If I didn't know better I'd think the steering saga was over . . . .

We're not "there" yet, though . . . there's still some snagging jobs to do before she's ready for an MoT.

Soooo close, though.

Unless something breaks.

[Cunning Plan]

Quoting: Roadkill

Got a little worried when the steering remained heavy

Quoting: Roadkill

but after adding more fluid the steering was silky smooth and I was turning the wheel easily, lock-to-lock in just over 2.5 turns.

I bet that felt good, worth the effort!



Come on dude, BIG push whilst it is still warm outside!  

[Roadkill]

Am hoping to get some done on Saturday . . . It can't be Sunday as I'm looking after the little'un and I'm intending on taking him to Billing.

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Roadkill

Did a quick leak-check and so far, so good.

If I didn't know better I'd think the steering saga was over . . . .

Gave it another check yesterday and all good.



Also got the horn button fitted, most of the under-dash wiring tidied and run the cable under the carpet for the (future) NOS bottle heater.

Did a very short road test and measured up underneath so I can re-do my ground-clearance drawing.

A successful 5 hours !

Thanks to Ian for assistance and Jensen for instantly cheering up when he saw the Camaro pull up onto the drive.



Next jobs are :

i) Timing
ii) A bit of POR15'ing
iii) Measure up for the seat spacers

Then

iv) M.o.T !!!

[Roadkill]

Ground Clearance Updated . . . .

First One shows static, 100mm and 125mm . . .

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Next one shows more aggressive speed bumps - 150mm, 175mm and 200mm

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Compared to the original drawing I did these are much better . . . and these are worst case as the measurements did differ from D/S to P/S slightly.

Ultimately, the real test will be driving it out of the estate for the first time (or attempting to).

[Big Mouse]

Had similar issues with the camaro when we went to a 4" exhaust, it used to contact on the collector so Webbo welded some titanium pads; used to last for a year before needing replacements.

[Roadkill]

I assume the pads were on a nice solid part of the chassis ?

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Roadkill

Next jobs are :

i) Timing
ii) A bit of POR15'ing
iii) Measure up for the seat spacers

Then

iv) M.o.T !!!

Currently battling through the "bit" of POR15'ing . . . . turns out that I'm actually re-doing the entire engine bay and all 4 arches !

How did that happen ?



On a sidenote I've also re-jigged the number plate fixings so I can attach (and remove) my "legal" pressed plates over the top of my "totally illegal" plates.

It'll add more credibility to my excuses when I get pulled over.  

[Andy]

Been driving with my pressed Ally ones for 12 months, still not been tugged, even with the five-ohh following me on the M40.

Do carry the plastic ones in the boot though.

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Andy

Been driving with my pressed Ally ones for 12 months, still not been tugged

I never was with my white fronts and yellow rears but my new ones are white lettering on a black background.

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Roadkill

Currently battling through the "bit" of POR15'ing . . . . turns out that I'm actually re-doing the entire engine bay and all 4 arches !

How did that happen ?

Engine bay was finished last week . . .

Went round touching up little chips here and there from the assembly process, too . . . was gonna do this later but the hood was off, so -

Also finished painting the hood, too . . . the area under the cowl scoop is simply impossible to spray so I brush-painted the inner-sides of the cowl and gloss-rollered the part of the hood under the cowl part.  Sounds pikey but you won't see it and it's better than seeing the feint red paint everytime you look through the windscreen !!

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Also spent a hour-or-two re-sticking the weather strip at the bottom of the drivers door.  It's always been a problem but I'm hoping Tiger Seal's sorted that.

While I was poncing about doing that Ian was busy re-jigging the seats so we could get a final seating position so I could measure up for spacers.

The driver's seat needed reclining a bit to increase the distance to the steering wheel and me (being me) wanted the passenger side to be the same.



Finally I spent about 2 hours on my back in the passenger side foot well tidying the cables under the dash . . . there's been numerous additions since Titsy did the first install so it just needed a bit of organising to make it look right.

Still need to POR15 the 4 wheel arches before re-fitting the front arch covers (but that's not critical).

Finish doing the timing is the next (and only) major job to do while Andy turns-up the seat spacers for me . . .

[Andy]

Turned them up just before finishing tonight. Gonna give them a blat in the rumbler tomorrow morning then post them off first class tomorrow lunch.

[Cunning Plan]

Still really enjoying this thread with the dedication and passion for detail, whilst getting it right and to a high standard.

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Andy

Turned them up just before finishing tonight. Gonna give them a blat in the rumbler tomorrow morning then post them off first class tomorrow lunch.

Cheers, Andy.  Much appreciated.  I'm trying to get them to buy me a lathe in our workshop but the guv'nor's having none of it.

Quoting: Cunning Plan

Still really enjoying this thread with the dedication and passion for detail, whilst getting it right and to a high standard.

Thanks, matey.

It's dragging on a bit, now, I must admit.  It's wearing me down, too.  Still hopefully the end is nigh and there'll be good news to come.

[Roadkill]

Hmm.

Where to start.  

O.K.

I got the spacers from Andy on the Thursday morning and got the passenger seat half done Thursday night (left work late so didn't make a massive impact) . . .

Friday morning, before Brighton, Ian popped over and we finished the passenger side and fixed the drivers side.

Next mission was to test her over speed bumps . . .

The only way to do this legally was to book an MoT for that day (she's insured but has no tax or MoT - so the only journey she's allowed to do is to an MoT station, basically), so an MoT was booked for the early afternoon.

Good news is that she cleared all the speed bumps leaving the estate in one direction and grazed one on the way back in in another direction.

All pretty good news.

But with good there's always bad.

Some idiot, in a rush and feeling a little stressed, I suppose, kinda forgot to put the bonnet pins back on (despite Ian reminding said idiot shortly before) . . . .

Anyway, after clearing the ramps the plan was to turn around and head back home the same way (all low speed, no need for the pins) . . . however, by the time I'd reached the main road that'd been forgotten and it made far more sense to me to drive around the estate on the main road and back in from another direction to test the clearance there . . . .

Good idea, eh ?

No.

The timing was still off and she was a little sluggish so I opened her up, heading up the hill to the other entrance to the estate, after the roundabout.

Quick as a flash, the hood took off, clearing the car and landing on the road behind.

I should've been annoyed.  I should've been shocked.  I should've been panicking.  

All I could do was chuckle quietly to myself as Ian left out of the passenger door to inspect the damage.



If you can't laugh about these things, as they say . . . .

On the plus side the bonnet landed flat, causing minor, minor structural damage and limited cosmetic damage, too.
I'm guessing the raised cowl helped vent the air through the hood to stop it going nose-first into the road (which would've totalled the bonnet) so, I suppose, by design, I was lucky.

As planned, the MoT was cancelled as we were due to head to Brighton, anyway.

I had booked another for Monday afternoon but I'm not happy running at high revs at speed with the timing still noticeably "out".

The bonnet will need a repair and re-spray but with the weather beginning to fail, this, unfortunately, is likely to be next year . . .

Two small steps forward, one large step back . . . .

I'm still aiming to MoT her this month.  

[Titsy]

And you took the piss out of me when I lost a T-Top in the same fashion....

[Andy]

In fairness, who HASN'T done something like that. Oil filler cap, t-top, bonnet pins. When you do get on the road, the urge gets the better of you and suddenly you're in a world of pain.

At least it didn't cause any damage to the car or anyone else!

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Titsy

And you took the piss out of me when I lost a T-Top in the same fashion....

Yeah, cause it was funny.

Loosing a bonnet was just f*cking hilarious !!

[Roadkill]

I've just ordered a Sealey Gold HVLP gun to repaint the bonnet.

I used a Devilbiss before but they're £260 new and the Sealey is £28.

The Sealey gets 5* reviews and I figure I'm painting Satin so it's worth a go.

I used a Sealey suction gun on the nosecone with a 1.8 tip and the finish came out great so finger's crossed.

Still got just under a litre of Satin paint left, too, which should be enough to re-paint the bonnet both sides if I'm careful.

Got some P40 and filler, too.  

[Titsy]

Quoting: Roadkill

Yeah, cause it was funny.

I bricked it at the time as i'd just overtaken a brand new Audi A6 and didn't know what direction the spinning lump of glass was heading... Thankfully it headed diagonally towards the verge and not into the path of traffic.

I had considerably less to pick up afterwards though as a tree caused it to come to a very abrupt halt...

It's funny looking back on it, but it was shear panic when it happened