1989 C4 Functional Restoration

[SirReal63]

The car had an intermittent ABS light since day 1. It may have been a steady light but I had connected and disconnected the battery so many times the first month I can't really say. I expected to have a bad relay but as so many other things were going on with he car I had it way down on the list of things to check. I had removed the little black box behind the center console when I blew the interior out. I had no idea what it was for, I just pushed it off to the side. While inspecting the wiring in the burn zone I pulled the black box out and inspected it, the two leading to it had been taped up and were loose. While unplugging it I felt something sticking me, and after getting it out, discovered what was poking me. The ABS Lateral Accelerometer Anti Lock Brake Sensor had been burned badly.

The taped up wires were crispy fried under the tape.

I cut back to good wire, new wire added, heat shrink tubing added and taped back up.

This burning wire appears to pre-date the fire so it makes me wonder if this was the actual ignition source? Of course, there is no way to know but considering the proximity of the burned spot on the ABS Lateral Accelerometer Anti Lock Brake Sensor and where the fire appears to have started it is a possibility. The connector is good and now the wiring is good so I ordered one from Mirrock. I am going to have to peel back the factory tape on all of this wiring and inspect everything really well and correct any issues I find.

 

[SirReal63]

I finished up the sound deadening, it took almost 4 rolls of Frost King and some other foam/foil product I had left over after doing the old F350. I covered virtually every surface with sound deadener/insulation. Most of the original jute and carpet mass loading is still in excellent condition and will be used again. Tapping on the flat panels gives a nice dull thud now instead of a drum beat. This may be one of the quietest C4 convertibles when I am done. I have run 6 channels of RCA to the rear for amplifier leads and speaker wires from the rear to the front.

Time to correct another burn zone issue, the plastic carpet runner from the console that was ripped out when the car was burning. I had most of the pieces that were torn out but not all of them, first we need to join the two pieces back together. I plastic welded the seam to physically join the two pieces back, adding plastic where needed until they held together firmly.

This worked but did not address the one missing piece, I needed or wanted to recreate that missing piece. If I were going back with carpet I could probably leave this piece out and no one would ever know. I do not plan on going back over this area with carpet so I need to fabricate the missing piece to make it look right. I started by heating and flattening out the bumpy surface where it was heat damaged, this worked out fairly well, with a heat gun and blocks of wood I was able to soften and form the pieces to most of their original shape, not perfectly but close enough.

The first step was to create some semi-flexible fiberglass strips and panels. These will be used to form missing pieces and repair screw holes as well as reinforcing broken mounting tabs on the dash. It is basically one layer of chop or biaxial soaked in epoxy resin and cured on a silicone mat for easy removal.

With these pieces I could make my repairs, forming the missing piece that curves around the tranny tunnel. I bonded it in with West System 5 minute epoxy in two stages so I could shape it without having to hold it in place for 24 hours. My old body could not stay in one place that long.

Once it was in place and roughly the right shape I glassed over the plastic weld to add strength and rigidity and give the repair a fighting chance of bending where it needs to without breaking. I used the smaller tabs to go over the mounting holes that were broken out and reinforce others.

Now to fill in the rest of the missing piece that was formed and epoxied earlier. It took 4 pieces of .75 oz chopstrand to equal the thickness of the rest of the plastic and that gave me exactly the right thickness. In order to match the profile of the existing pieces I laid a cut up zip lock baggies over the epoxy/glass and clamped it into place to give me the line that matched the original contour. I did not expect this to work, but it did, and much better than I expected.

I have one more layer of glass to add to cover the whole repair. As it is, it fits back onto the car and contours are correct.

I really wish I had some fast cure epoxy resin, it is really borderline too cold to be working with what I have, it takes about 12 hours to set up enough to not just run off but it is what it is and I will use what I have as it is a few years old and needs to be used up.

 

[SirReal63]

The (mostly) finished product...

The front...

The back...

 

[SirReal63]

I tidied up a lot of loose ends this week in preparation for getting the interior back in.

My ABS Lateral Acceleration sensor arrived from Mirrock in perfect condition. The more I look at this and where the burn marks are it is becoming more apparent that this is what caused the fire/smoldering mess.

I finished the tunnel side pieces and added some 1/8" medium density foam to them to smooth out the bumps and get them ready for covering.

I did clean the carpet with OxyClean and laundry detergent in my carpet shampoo machine. I had been concerned about getting the padding wet as it would take a long time to properly dry, so I removed it carefully with a plastic scraper and it worked beautifully.

All clean, dry and padding glued back in place and finally installed. I used very little soap but it took many gallons of hot water to extract it, my guess is this carpet had been cleaned with that crappy carpet cleaner in a can. My laundry detergent and Oxy is low sudsing so that is the only reason I can see for the amount of soap that came out. The install was really pretty easy when you consider the KilMat and foil/foam added thickness. There are still some rough spots, thin spots and burn spots but it is clean and otherwise in good condition for the age.

I started working on the dash mounting tabs, specifically the one on the driver side that is always broken. Mine was more than broken, it was destroyed and the area where the light switch mounts brittle and cracked.

When I made these earlier...

... it was not only to repair the console side pieces but for dash repair. I found many of the broken pieces on top of the knee bolster so I mixed up thickened 5 minute epoxy and managed to get them back in place and bonded. The epoxy also fills in the missing pieces, and there were a lot of missing pieces. I did not need to be perfect here as this is just step one.

I lightly sanded and cleaned the area where i could reach and cut 3 pieces of the fiberglass strips to the approximate shape and thickened epoxied one in the rear and two in the front with enough extra to fill in the voids as well as replace the missing material on the top where the bolt attaches. I clamped them in place from both the front and back to ensure everything got filled and remained flat and the proper shape for alignment.

This repair is super strong, semi-flexible and should last a long time. I have used this method before, on both my old Firebird and E38.

I will let this continue to cure today and begin shaping, painting and drilling it next week while looking for any other hidden areas than need repair.

 

[SirReal63]

The finished repair of the broken dash mounting tab.

I pulled the knee bolster to check the wiring under there and found it surprisingly clean for the age. A little dusty and several pieces of dash plastic debris but no droppings.

I am surprised by one thing more than any other, I have not found a single mouse dropping or chewed wire. Obviously I have found plenty of crispy wires but no evidence of mice. This car has lived from New Orleans, East Texas from Houston to Madisonville, Canyon Lake, Leander and now my place. Most of it's life it has lived rural where mice are typically an issue. This may change when I get into the engine bay more but from what I have seen in the engine bay, Bubba has been an issue, not mice. We do have a large population of mice here and typically trap a mouse a day somewhere on the property but mostly up near the animal feeding areas. I will have to be extra diligent to keep any food items out of the car.

 

[SirReal63]

It has been a busy week but not a lot to show in pics. I managed to pick up a nasty cold so that put a damper on work.

I did more dash crack repairs, this is the lower console where it attaches to the tunnel, both sides of this were cracked and no longer attached.
The passenger side was not only cracked but also melted from the burn area. This one was a little harder as I had to flatten and straighten the piece that was also cracked and pulled apart. It took longer to make the piece fit back into place enough to bind thhan the actual bonding did.

The driver side was only broken in two, I glassed around both sides of the "L" shape to give it back the proper strength.

The whole dash is now solid and I think/hope I got the major pieces done for the dash structure, there are cracked and missing pieces of the trim that I probably won't do anything about at this time.

 

[SirReal63]

I also worked on the carpet some more. The rear was actually good for color but the front was sun-faded badly. I ordered 3 cans of the "correct" SEM Cognac dye/paint from Mid America and tried to bring it back to the original color. Since this is really a paint the color of the substrate effects the color of the dried paint, the front carpet pieces were several different shades and the first can was a waste as the different shades all came out a different color and not the color of the rear carpet.

I decided to paint all of the front carpet white with the Duplicolor product so all of the substrate would come out close to the same color. It took 3 cans of white to get them all about the same color. Now when I applied the SEM Cognac it all came out close enough though still not exact. Fortunately most of the carpet up front is covered with seats and shaded enough that it isn't very obvious that they are a slightly different shade. I am saddened that I wasted the first can of SEM, that third can would have really helped even it out but I am calling it a win either way.

The faded carpet I began with...

Finished product installed...

I am not disappointed in the SEM product, it is a little pricey but getting a close color match was worth the added expense.

 

[SirReal63]

It has been a busy past few weeks, not a lot to show in pics but I have also been doing things other than working on the car. I need to get the interior done before lifting the car and working on the mechanical things.

Let's start with the center console lid. This was really showing it's age and use. There were a few cracks, the rubber under the cover was deteriorating in places and the cover was loose. First I had to glue the cover back after cleaning up the foam and then repair the cracked pieces.

I recovered this in leather that was saved from a 20+ year old sofa/loveseat that served our family well. The leather from this was still in excellent condition but the frame of the sofa started to fall apart, I cut up the sofa but we decided to save the leather for various crafts. Prior to recovering I added a 1/4" piece of high density closed cell foam to help with cushioning.

Beginning the long process of making it fit, I do not do upholstery work but I do know leather has a stretchy direction and a not so stretchy direction.

All finished and put back together. This was way more work than I had intended but I also got to learn a little so it was a week well spent and I could do it inside.

The console lid light had been improperly repaired at some point and no longer worked, this is why.

I used this same leather to replace the carpet on the console that was burned and horribly faded.

Attached to the plastic side pieces and left long so I could fit it correctly. I could have used the carpet as a template but I was concerned it had shrunk so I left it long. I will need to add some foam between the tunnel and the leather to smooth it out.

Trimmed and test fit with the seat covers on. I am waiting on the foam for the tunnel to come in and then we can finish this part up.

The armrest covers will covered in this same leather to tie it all in, but that will have to wait until I re-do the doors as they are in bad Bubba shape.

 

[SirReal63]

It has been a busy few weeks, not a lot of work on the car but still progress.

I had a plan for the stereo head unit replacement, a cheap Android unit on top and a half din EQ on the bottom. I gathered up my supplies and dug in. The primary reason for the change from the old JVC CD player was I wanted a backup camera. With the top down it is easy to see where you backing to but with the top up it is difficult. Though I always head check while backing I have grown fond of having the camera as a silent assistant. In addition I also wanted a GPS, the ability to play files from USB, phone connectivity and more tone controls than just Bass and Treble. It is difficult to pack all of that into a 1.5 din slot but I gave it a shot.

The head unit, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP3D46NH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 just a basic Android single din unit with an almost 1.5 din screen. I had hoped to have the EQ under it but that meant the screen would have to go over the dash trim and there would be no way to adequately secure it, and it meant if you wanted to take the dash trim off you would have to take the head unit out first. That wasn't very clean and it wasn't going to work. Not a problem, I can work around it. I had many issues while doing this install, the factory radio wiring was showing it's age and a couple of the leads broke out of the connector, I had to de-pin, clean out and solder those wires back to the connector and get them pushed back in.

The only issue with the head unit is the Blue ANT lead is electrically dead, I swapped out units with Amazon and the replacement was the same. The mfg/seller was not really helpful at all, as in they have no real knowledge of the units they sell. I did get a $30 refund for my trouble of diagnosing their head unit for them, so there is that. I mounted a small switch next to the cigarette lighter port to control the antennae and the amp. It is small and unobtrusive and gives the ability to not have the amp and antennae on except when I want them on.

I ran the GPS antennae through the dash and it will come up where the defrost vent is and be secured with Velcro. The microphone went through the dash, up the A pillar and is clipped to the visor. The visor will get replaced at some point in the future, low priority currently.

The EQ, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B45X7C3?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details not a bad little unit, the fitment issues with the head unit turned out to be a blessing, the led lights on this EQ are exceedingly bright and blue of course. I have a strong dislike for blue LED as it does more to blind you than is needed, red is a better choice to preserve night vision but these are a fixed blue. The solution was to add it next to the amp which made everything cleaner.

I had a lot of fun with the back up camera, mostly the wire routing. I knew how I wanted the wiring to go but it didn't want to go that way. I am glad I chose the path I did as it exposed other issues I did not know about. I ran the wire along with the rear electrical/bulb wiring and found the connector a disaster, corroded badly with broken wires. It took a lot of deciphering and help from others to get all of this corrected but in doing so I now have a much better connector and found the spare tire light where it had been pushed up into the frame and now it works as it is supposed to.

I have been swapping out to LED lighting whenever I open up a new area of the car.

I cannot test the back up camera as I have no back up lights, if you remember. I got the car as high as I safely can with 4-6 ton jack stands and went about working on the back up light switch. I took a cheap harbor Freight offset 7/8" boxed end wrench and ground it until I could get it on the reverse switch and remove it. I got it out and sure enough it was bad so I ordered a replacement from Zip and decided to drain and fill the transmission. I ordered some Castrol 10W60 and then figured since I was right there I would see if I could figure out why the speedo didn't work.

I removed the VSS and gave it a spin with a variable speed drill and it showed varying AC voltage. It works or at least sends a signal, so I went to inspecting the plastic gears and both are in perfect condition. While checking the small gear on the tranny shaft I noticed it would spin freely and move laterally, this of course wasn't right. No retaining clip on the shaft so that explains why the speedo doesn't work.

I think/home I have found a replacement from transmissioncenter.net at least I hope it is right or can be modified to work. It has a different part number than ZF shows but I believe they are the same part. https://transmissioncenter.net/shop/th350-700r4-516″-speedometer-drive-gear-clip-6261781/ I hope someone lets me know if it is wrong and has a source for the right part because I could not find an original ZF part. (Edit, this is the wrong part for a Black Tag ZF, this was the correct one. https://www.classictransmissionsolutions.com/th400-speedo-drive-gear-clip/ )

This coming week I get to remove the C Beam, the driveshaft and tailhousing to try and get the gear attached back to the tranny. I am going to go ahead and replace the driveshaft u-joints while I am there.

 

[SirReal63]

I did not have a speedo or reverse lights. It took a little while to get the cross brace off, the exhaust off and to diagnose the issue. It turns out the issue with the speedo was the drive gear clip had broken and while doing so mangled up the drive gear. The driven gear on the VSS was perfect and the VSS functions with an AC signal being generated. I do not know if it is the correct pulses per minute but I have a spare VSS if the original still has issues. I removed the driveshaft, C-Beam and tail housing to remove the drive gear. Thanks to @IHBD for the guidance on replacement parts and Classic Transmission Solutions I was able to source the correct gear, tail housing bushing and seal. It was an education, and a good wrenching experience.

Old gear, just enough damage to warrant replacing.

New bushing, seal and drive gear.

While waiting on parts I replaced the reverse light switch. This was a pain to get to, not enough room to get any of the wrenches or sockets in that I have. I ended up taking a 7/8 offset wrench from a cheap Tractor Supply set I had and ground it to fit into the small space and removed the clutch slave for more access. The wrench set was one of those $5.99 deals in the bins by the front door, I had zero guilt in grinding on wrench as it is the poorest quality you can imagine. I had to grind not only the head to a smaller diameter but also the handle to get enough purchase on the hex part of the switch to turn it. Now it functions perfectly to remove that dang switch.

Switch replaced, for now.

The irritating part of this reverse light is it still does not operate when you put it into reverse. The old switch tested bad and the new one tested good. The factory wiring is good as I can jump across the terminals and the backup lights come on but they do not connected to the switch. I suspect something in the tranny is amiss but I will deal with that at a later date, getting the speedo to function was the main goal.

The wheel well to hood seal was worn and torn on the driver side only. I know these are inexpensive but I had time to kill while waiting on tranny parts so I took the 3M weathersrip adhesive and glued the tears back together. I really didn't expect this to work but to my surprise it did. I will replace these at a later date as they are not a priority and now they won't be flapping in breeze until they get replaced. For the time being the repair is as strong as the rubber, which was still very pliable.

The crossbrace had 34years of damage from speed bumps and other obstacles. Since I had it out I straightened it and gave it a nice flat black paintjob. A variety of adjustable wrenches from large to small made easy work of this once it was clean, it was really dirty too.

Time to button up the removed pieces, fill the tranny and see if the speedo works. I won't pull the tranny out and apart just for reverse lights, it is easy enough to wire them to a switch if I cannot find the issue elsewhere. As this is a functional restoration and I have pratically zero experience in tearing a manual tranny apart if it has something wrong internally that prevents the reverse switch from operating it does not make sense to pull it apart for just that as the transmission otherwise operates correctly. Parts availability being what it is for the ZF-S6-40 I won't make a bad situation worse.

 

[SirReal63]

It has been a busy few weeks, as usual, more so now that Spring is here, lots of other chores to do and not much time for the car.

I got everything under the car put back into place and tidied up. Some interesting things learned, the P.O. said the exhaust had been worked on but did not elaborate. It turns out the pre-cats (I believe that is what they are called) and Y-Pipe had been replaced and the cat hollowed out at some point. We have no emissions testing in my county for this vintage of auto but the P.O. did have them in his county. I assume it passed emissions with just the pre-cats. The rest of the exhaust is stock and in near perfect condition with original mufflers. It took a lot of configuring of the exhaust piping to get it tucked back under there so the cross brace would fit, it was actually very difficult and I ended up using floor jacks to hold everything in the right position long enough to secure the bolts as it kept wanting to drop down enough to prevent the proper clearances. While I was under there I also cleaned up the fiberglass repairs as best I could and gave it a coating of Flex-Seal which matched the original undercoating nicely. I meant to get pics of that area but was so wiped out from exhaust pipe fun I forgot. The burn area got a coating of penetrating epoxy glass, thickened epoxy and sealer. It was a nightmare trying to sand that area in the tunnel with the tranny hanging so I did the best I could. I regret not getting any more pics of that area as it turned out decent considering what I was working with.

The inside of the burn area after repair and sealing, the sealer took longer to dry on the fresh epoxy than the older areas. This area as well as the floorboard repairs got sealed and a liberal coating of Flex-Seal after the sealer cured.

After getting the under side back as it should be I finished up the backup camera install and mounted a remote switch by the center console release button and seat switches. You would never know it was there and gives the ability to turn on the reverse camera at will, instead of only being functional in reverse. It is in a natural position to activate when your arm is resting on the console. To me, this was a better solution than opening up a huge can of worms trying to repair the transmission.

The underside work was a success, I now have a functioning speedo, reverse lights and backup camera. The cross brace is freshened up and properly secured as well as the burned tunnel glassed, repaired and sealed.

I have been casually shopping for some wheels to use on the car while I sort out the mess I have with the original wheels. I bought the car with 1 driver side wheel and 3 passenger sides and mis-matched tires with a variety of date codes on them. The original wheels need to be refinished and I need another driver side wheel. I found a set from a 90 that was 30 minutes away for a steal of a price. I just wanted wheels and did not really care too much about the tires. The place I got them from is a classic car specialty shop, the place was about half a city block in size and they specialize in 50's to 60's hot rods. There were probably 20 cars in there being restored, I was blown away but didn't want to try and snap pics of the place. I had no idea I had a shop like this so close. The owner of the shop bought these wheels to burn off on his 90 ZR-1 but he sold the car before he got a chance to turn them into rubber dust. They have some damage which I knew about before making the drive but they are just to have something on the car while the originals get some love so I didn't care. The surprise was tires are Comp2 Sports with a 1919 date code and almost no wear. I gave $200 for the set and felt like I scored a good deal. There is only 1 wheel with any substantial damage and it can be repaired if choose to do that in the future. For the money I am happy with them.

I began diagnosing my lack of A/C. I don't really "do" HVAC even though my Dad did it for a living, he decided when I was young to make sure I did not get into that business and that I should do something he considered better. So I never learned it. Time to learn a little I suppose. I tested the clutch first and it was not engaging with 12 volts applied to the terminals. This isn't good and began shopping a new clutch and or compressor. I do not mind spending the money for a new compressor and clutch but I wanted to continue to learn diagnosis here so I then tested to see if the system was even commanding the clutch to engage, it wasn't, so a new/rebuilt compressor probably wasn't needed. I checked the low pressure switch and sure enough it was open so I ordered a replacement. I have no idea how long it has been since the A/C operated in this car so I decided to work on the clutch to see if it was just stuck or actually bad. I tapped on it lightly a few times and then gave it 12 volts and sure enough it pulled in like it was supposed to. I then wanted to know if the compressor was actually capable of turning on and cooling and if there was sufficient charge to function. I bypassed the low pressure switch by jumpering the connector the compressor came to life and instantly began cooling. Seems like success to me! The new low pressure switch arrived last night and will be put on today. I will then check the charge and go on from there. I suspect the charge is fine as it was blowing ice cold for the few minutes I had it on. Since I do not yet know if the high pressure switch is good I did not want to run it for long.

The next bit of fun was cleaning my throttle body and fixing various vacuum leaks. The car has an issue where it starts and idles at about 700 rpm's and as it warms up the idle increases to 1000 to 1100 rpm's, opposite of what it should be doing. I knew I had a few vacuum leaks and began tracking them down and replacing hoses as I get to areas. I needed to take the throttle body off for access and decided to go ahead and give it a thorough cleaning, new TPS and IAC. Bubba has been in here and the mess of hoses needed some attention.

Dirty and degusting TB...

Cleaner and less disgusting TB...

The new TPS will arrive today and the IAC a few weeks out. I very carefully cleaned and lubricated the old IAC and will put it back in place until the new one arrives. I have the IAC relearn process and TPS setting printed off and will get those done in the next day or so.

 

[SirReal63]

I got the AC low pressure switch installed, fan clutch kicks on but goes on and off every few seconds. I suspect the charge is actually low and that is causing the cycling. I am going to wait to recharge it as I want to replace the o-rings on the system first. It does cool well at the current state of charge but the temps were about 65 when I bypassed the low pressure switch so that attributed to the mistaken idea it was charged correctly.

While chasing vacuum leaks I found the HVAC/Cruise Control check valve "Tee" was missing the line to the HVAC, well, part of it is there and when I pulled it up it was obvious we have an issue. I believe the missing part goes behind the distributor and into this loom/bundle of wires going through the firewall. That bundle of wires is going to be fun to get my big hands on and find the missing tube, if it is in there. The plastic tubing on the check valve is sealed off and does not leak vacuum but I am sure the HVAC really needs that to function properly. I have a new GM replacement check valve already that I had bought when I decided I would replace all of the vacuum lines I could when the intake is out of the way.

Note the chewed spark plug wires, I hadn't seen those before so it is time to get some replacements on order, these look like GM original wires, which would be amazing if they are.

My fan runs constantly, I knew a prior Bubba had wired around them, time to correct this mess and see if the temp sensors and relays work correctly, I bought 4 or 5 relays awhile back just to have on hand.

The desiccated remains of a previous offender.

I love old cars. lol

 

[SirReal63]

Things have escalated this week.

I really needed to get to the vacuum line for the HVAC but there really is no way I can get my booger hooks into that small space. In addition I had wanted to remove the air pump and had ordered a delete bracket to do the job. I started taking things off in preparation of the pump delete and decided to just keep going. Now is the time since I will so much apart so I decided to remove rest of the air system, solenoids/valves hoses/tubes and crap associated with it, replace the thermostat, the belt, vacuum lines, upper intake gaskets, replace the fuel rail o-rings, injector o-rings, paint the valve covers, clean upper intake, check over the gobs of wiring in hopes of eradicating Bubba and general condition checking and replacing of anything suspect. Yeah, it always snowballs.

The only hope I had of finding the broken HVAC vacuum tube was to get stuff out of the way. I took the cowl seal off, it was actually fairly easy, I removed the distributor cap and peered down into the abyss behind the engine. If was filthy back there, as expected, but I did find the melted vacuum tube, on the driver side of the dizzy, not where I expected to find it. It had not broken in the bundle of wires but instead melted well out of the wire bundle. That was good news! It was still an issue with my big hands and no room but at least I could see the problem. I was tempted to remove the distributor and still may if I see any evidence of leaks around the lower intake but the china rails are not leaking oil that I could find with a mirror.

The melted end of this...

...used to be attached to this...

Here is what it looked like when I discovered it.

I managed to use tools to cut the melted part off, attach a new silicone hose to it and route it back where it belongs. I did cleans as good as I could before attempting the repair.

This car in an 89, something on the fuel rail does not belong there...

The number on it comes back as an 88.

Of course it threads into the lower intake but it makes me wonder just what effect this has on the fuel system as the 89 isn't made for that 9th injector.

 

[SirReal63]

I have a different block than factory, the intake off an 88 and who knows what else.

Block casting number from passenger rear is 10243880 Vortec block from 96-2000 or so. I was unable to get to the casting number on the driver side rear, too much stuff in the way but did find 288 and a clock stamp that I cannot see all of as well as Hecho En Mexico, which is correct for a Vortec block.

The stamp on the passenger front of the block has been a little harder to decipher and the suffix has returned zero results from my search.

It appears to be 2M0824, I have no idea what the "2" is but the rest appears to be Aug 24th. I could have the stamping information all wrong but the casting number is clear, it is an 880 Vortec block from 96-2000.
The Suffix is kicking my butt, I cannot tell if that is a "1" or a scratch but the P06 is visible but I could not decode that, maybe someone else can? The "P" could also be an "R" or a "B" if the stamping was light or off center.

I did not get under the dash to see if the ECM is original, I have tossed out my back and there is no way I can do that maneuver right now.

I have been cleaning and ordering parts, new belt, sensors, 180 degree t-stat, FPR, injector firing device for cleaning, injector o-rings, 200-185 fan switch for B4P front fan, etc. I haven't ordered plugs and wires yet, there are just way too many options and I am having analysis paralysis but I am leaning towards just AC Delco 9616W wires but concerned they will not route the same, for the plugs I am considering Bosch 6712OE ACDELCO 41-808 or BOSCH 4419 for their extended life.

I have an extra temp sensor on the front of the lower intake manifold. It has no markings on it but I suspect this intake may have been off of an F-Body, anyone have an answer? Nothing plugs into it.

The bulk of this week has been cleaning the upper intake. The runners came extremely clean and bright, the plenum came clean but I cannot get it to match the brightness of the runners. I decided to paint them as well as the valve covers with High Heat Paint. Cleaned, sanded slightly, burned off, cleaned with alcohol, masked, primed with High Heat Primer, painted with Aluminum colored HH paint and cleared with HH clear.

In process...

I am going to paint the grooves in black instead of the red body color as I think red is overdone. I have yet to sand the valve covers, I am hoping to find someone local who can sand blast it for me. I managed to get all of the black soot/deposits from the runners and plenum, they were not bad but they did have a decent amount of buildup on them.

 

[SirReal63]

It has been another slow week here, my back is still out so I haven't been pushing it, I do not want another surgery on my back. In spite of the back issues, I did manage to get some more work done. Plug wires arrived and have been changed, that wasn't difficult except for being careful to not bend over too much, just about every wire management clip broke, as expected but every wire popped right off the plug and slid right back into place. I expected this job to be a lot harder than it was. I suppose I should do spark plugs while I am here as now is the time while everything is apart but I haven't ordered them yet.

I did clean the cowl seal and firewall area as well as touch up the wiper area which had the paint worn off of it.

Since I had everything apart, I decided to tackle the valve covers. I tried sanding them to remove the factory finish, whatever it is, it is hard as a rock and tougher than my sandpaper. Those of us who are older remember when you could go to the hardware store and buy a paint stripper that actually worked, but that hasn't been the case in decades. I knew that my local Ace would have nothing to strip this rock hard coating, but O'Reilly's did, Aircraft Ultra Paint Remover. I was amazed at how well and quickly it bubbled up that finish. It is probably the most noxious smelling chemical I have used in a very long time, if ever and you absolutely have to use it outdoors, if trying to use indoors you will need a full respirator and a way to evacuate the fumes, it was absolutely brutal even outdoors. I stayed upwind of it, coated the valve covers, covered them in poly and let them cook for about 20 minutes. This was after round 1 and maybe half an hour of soaking and brushing off, I did a few more touch up rounds to get the rest of it off, especially the grooves and bolt holes.

I did a second coat on the areas that did not bubble up and managed to get about 95% of that coating off. I washed them afterwards with plain water and let them dry. The coating that did not come up was softened enough to be scraped and sanded. Though they did not come out perfect, there is no way I could have got them this good with sandpaper. I painted them with High heat Primer, Aluminum Paint and the "grooves" were painted in High Heat Black and then baked in the oven, first at 250 for 20 minutes, allowed to cool and then baked at 450 for 20 minutes. Before they get put back on the engine I will need to clean them good with acetone to remove tape residue that I did not see until they were baked. There are some nicks in the valve covers that I did not fill, these are mostly around the perimeter of the top and bottom, where they will never be visible so I left them alone. I did not see the point in trying to find a filler that would withstand the heat.

The rest of the intake got the same treatment, a very thorough cleaning, priming, painting and baking. This was a real pain the butt to mask but I am glad I took the time to carefully mask the sealing surfaces and anyplace two pieces touch, including the bolt holes. It should go back together exactly as it came apart with no issues from adding thickness of paint. The inside of the plenum and runners got very clean, I soaked everything in gas and used an extra long bottle brush to scrub the coking out of them.

The sealing surface of the runners is a little beat up, I may try leveling them off with a piece of float glass and some fine sandpaper. My wife wants to take a crack at re-painting the logo for the valve covers, if it doesn't come out good enough I will order a replacement.

All in all it was a good week, I had wanted to do more but I had to do what I could while being mostly seated as bending over was too painful and dangerous.

 

[SirReal63]

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I updated this. I spent almost 2 weeks with really bad back pain so bending over the engine bay did not happen much. I did manage to get the AIR pump deleted, along with the associated solenoids and lines, throttle body bypass, new plug wires, intake back on, injectors cleaned, "some" wiring and some vacuum lines changed.

In process...

This EGR solenoid gave me pause, when you look at it, it is obvious something plugs into the end with the retainer clips. I did not remember taking anything off that end but clearly something goes there. It took quite a bit of research and the FSM did not help, but I believe it once held a filter and the clips held the filter in place. I took nothing off and I put nothing back on.

AIR pump delete bracket, it fit like it was supposed to with the stock belt. It has two alignment holes on the long arm, I assume for different year models, I needed the one that extended the arm all the way, but this meant the brace that goes from the alternator to the head would have to come off. The alternator is still firmly attached without that brace and I have not managed to slip the belt off since I put on the delete, and I have tried.

You may also notice the looming replacement. I hate the corrugated stuff and after 35 years it is brittle and crumbles when you touch it. I did not want to use the corrugated stuff so I found a different option and I think it looks better, at least when clean and is supposed to withstand 150c or 300 degrees in Freedom Units.

I have about 95% of the engine bay vacuum lines replaced with silicone hose. I still have a little to do in the headlight bays when I am comfortable enough bending over for an extended period of time. Somehow I managed to not got a pic of any of it. Next time.

I will have some more wiring to replace the next time I jack the car up high enough to comfortable work under. This is the wire to the IC temp gauge, it is very crispy and corroded. Unfortunately the way it is routed I cannot replace it easily unless the exhaust is off as my hands are too large to fit in the allotted space. I ordered some Mica/Glass high temp wire to replace it with once I am up to dropping the exhaust.

I wrapped the EGR tube with Titanium wrap and stainless zip ties, I have a couple hundred feet of the stuff thanks to turbo diesels. I am planning on wrapping the exhaust pipes with it and coating it with DEI silicone spray to protect it. I am uncomfortable with how close the exhaust is to the bottom of the car and may wrap it at least back to the main cat where it drops away from the floor pan enough for comfort.

I took the car out and drove around the neighborhood, all dirt roads, because it was dry enough to not get the car muddy. I added a can of Prestone coolant system flush and wanted to give it a good heat cycle before flushing, which is next on the list. The rain here has been almost non-stop for a month, as you may notice from the grass height. It was just cut about 3 or 4 days ago but is still too muddy to cut in most places.

That is where I am as of today. I did change the cooling fans operation but it is not tidied up enough for pics yet.

 

[SirReal63]

It is often said to clean between the radiator and condenser. I absolutely agree with that advice. I am changing radiator hoses since I did the flush and decided to go ahead and open up the top to Narnia. Both rad hoses appear to be original, and that is a surprise, not as much as original spark plug wires, but a surprise just the same. I have had no overheating issues or temps over 220, and with the change in how the fans operate (will cover that later) it will get to 200, the primary fan comes on and it drops immediately to 195 or below in idle and warmed up. In keeping with the theme of a functional restoration, it was logical to open up and clean the rad. I am glad I did.

Dirty cover that one of the numerous previous owners cut to allow easy removal, specifically where the hose exits on the bottom. It just pulled off easily once the crews were out.

What I found. Honestly it wasn't as bad as I expected but still a good amount of trash has collected.

Mostly clean but with hair?

It wasn't bad but it also wasn't good. I am glad I took the time to clean it out.

 

[SirReal63]

It was a good week, I got a lot done but not in picture format. I got the cooling system flushed, drained, rinsed and refilled. I got the new radiator hoses on, new serp belt on, cleaned and re-attached the temp sensor wire though I did not replace it, that will have to wait until I drop the exhaust to wrap it though the high temp wire came in. I cleaned the radiator shrouds and got everything associated with the cooling system finished including a 185 degree fail open t-stat.

The main fan had been direct wired by a previous owner so that when the key was on the main fan was on. I put everything back to stock according to the FSM and the main fan did not come on, I let the engine get all the way to 230 degrees before shutting it down. I replaced all of the relays, double checked the wiring and made sure the connectors and grounds were clean and correct. Still nothing, so I jumped the sensor in the intake to try and force the fan on, still nothing. I suspect something in the ECM is preventing the fans from coming on, everything else is correct but still not working.

I had previously ordered a new temperature switch for the aux pusher fan that comes on at 200 and goes off at 185. I used this as a trigger for both fans to come on and everything works as it should it just comes on sooner. The fans will probably not come on with the A/C but that may not be an issue as the fans come on at 200 degrees.

The only crappy pic I took...

I scored/stole/purchased a replacement driver side stock wheel. I see these frequently on Ebay but they are almost always beat to death or ridiculously priced for beat to death wheels. Buying wheels on Ebay is a crapshoot, and you really never know how good of a deal you got until it arrives and you choke down the shipping costs and spin it. In this case I got lucky, a single drivers side wheel, in amazing condition and delivered in two days. The total price was under $160 delivered and I paid almost as much in freight as I did for the wheel. I feel lucky because it was cheap and will require very little to get freshened up. It is in better shape than my other wheels and is true and round.

I will get better pics once I begin stripping and polishing the wheels, but I consider this a lucky buy.

I typically scour Ebay for parts, specifically NOS parts, even if I don't need them as well as original used and excellent condition parts that I do need. This month I managed to get all 4 pieces of the lock trim pillar seals for $54 dlvd. that are used but in perfect condition, which is the usual price for one aftermarket piece out of the 4 needed. I also got a NOS in original box Delco/Remy distributor ignition module for $65 dlvd. I suppose most people know the ones you buy new today have a high failure rate but the older ones did not. I would not be surprised if the one in the car was original but I have a replacement to keep in the car now. I also got a replacement power steering reservoir cap for $14.50 dlvd. as mine leaked. Add those to the ABS Lateral Accelerometer I got from Mirrock as used OEM but perfect condition and I have done pretty well in the parts department.

I may not do anything next week except road test the car. I have door panels on the project list next and I am dreading that task as I know it is really messed up on the inside. I can also start wheel refinishing and that may be slightly more appealing than the door panels. Perhaps I should just clean the shop and put a vast assortment of tools back where they belong.

 

[SirReal63]

I got the lock pillar gaskets and covers installed. The covers were a nightmare but did get taken care of. My original passenger side was intact and in great condition, weatherstrip was ok but the drivers side had no trim and was missing the upper half of the weatherstrip. I mentioned earlier I got a used but excellent condition replacement weatherstrip, all 4 pieces and they arrived perfectly. The first order of covers arrived with the drivers side having a broken pin, it happens, no big deal. Ebay seller sends me a replacement drivers side, a week later it arrives and has transformed into a passenger side. Ooops, again, it happens, we all make mistakes. I asked the seller to send me the correct driver side and a return label so I can send him back the broken piece and the extra passenger side. Another week goes by and I finally have both sides, installed and looking like it is supposed to. I left the seller a great review, things do happen and not once did he even hesitate to try and correct the problem.

All finished up.

Since I had time to kill I went ahead and replaced spark plugs. I really wanted ACDelco Iridium but had little luck finding them. I went with ACDelco 41-808 double platinum, with the rebate from GM they were only $3.39 each. That was a great price so I can live with not having iridium. I have heard the horror stories about changing plugs on a C4 but honestly it wasn't bad at all and only the passenger rear cylinder is difficult to get to. I used an offset wrench on the socket's hex on just that plug and a ratchet on the rest and all of them came out by hand once broken loose. The plugs themselves look really old and rusty. I had expected them to be in better physical shape as this engine block was replaced art some point, and you would expect new plugs at that time because, why wouldn't you replace them.

Rusty but really only 2 cylinders appear to be running rich, one looks slightly rich and the other 5 look great. I expected them to look newer on the outside. I am going to replace injectors before the year is out.

I have a weird issue with the Miles to Empty and Avg MPG. It shows incorrectly all of the time, it will begin counting while in motion, but with the wrong information, like full tank of gas and 29 miles to empty. The interesting thing is if I press and hold the Reset button, it show the correct information but defaults back to the erroneous info when the reset button is released. I send Brian at Batee an email to see if he had a solution or had seen this before, he did not know know the exact issue but offered to check out the cluster and info panel as he suspects the cluster has an issue. I have not yet dug into this as it is pretty far down the list of priorities, but it is interesting.

Erroneous info...

Seemingly correct info when Reset is pressed...

I assume the 12.8 avg mpg is from the hours of idling while trying to decipher my high idle problem.

Speaking of my high idle issue I have made some progress, I am not sure which direction that progress is in but I am progressing. I had replaced the majority of the original vacuum lines up to this point, but not all of them, there were still a few 35 year old disintegrating lines in the system, lines so bad they leave your hands black from jut brushing up against them. My idle issue would indicate a large vacuum leak as the car will start and run at 900 rpms and as it warms up the idle increases to 11-1300 rpms. I reached out to a few people here I trust and enjoy chatting with for some direction as I could find nothing wrong. I bought a vacuum gauge to see how bad of a leak I really had.

In the green @19 and with a steady needle, dang it, no apparent vacuum issues that would cause such a wild idle.

I have been having fun with this. I have set the IAC and TPS numerous times, sometimes I could get base idle to 500-550 and other times I could not, in fact the times I could not the idle set screw could be completely off the throttle stop and have no impact on the idle speed. I was educated on the fact that there were a few different pintle sizes for the IAC and since my car has 57 Varieties of Heinz parts on it, it made sense that I had the wrong pintle size and that was how air was getting in to raise the idle, it was logical. My TB appears to be from an 86 or early 87 so I made sure and ordered an IAC for an 86, it was exacftly the same as he one I had replaced earlier and the same as the one the car came to me with. Frustrating. I also used a small transfer pump and a cigar to give the intake a smoke test. The only leak I found was on the "Purge Control Solenoid", one of the rotten vacuum lines was off. I replaced that hose but it made no difference to the idle.

The line was off on this...

I discovered if I disconnect the EST wire that is when I can get base idle down to where it is supposed to be, set screw functions against the throttle stop as it is supposed to and everything is perfect and in range. That is, until I plug the EST wire back in again and then the idle resumes it's crazy ride. I do not have a complete understanding of the ESC/EST system and I know correlation does not always mean causation. Knowing this I did the only thing that made me feel better, I ordered a used but known good ESC for $25 that should be here next week. (I hate one week lead times).

Since I have time, I decided to tackle the rest of the hand blackening vacuum hoses. I have started where I was already this week, the drivers front trash can.

As it was, filthy and like sticking your hand in graphite.

That looks better, clean and new silicone thick walled hoses.

The last thing I have done lately is replace the alternator brace. I had to remove the actual one when I did the A.I.R. Pump delete. I don't believe it is absolutely needed as the alternator is firmly held in place but it bugged me. Sometimes life throws unexpected surprises at you, while looking for something to make a new brace out of I grabbed one of the A.I.R. Pump brackets, surprise, surprise, it is exactly the correct length and shape as the former alternator brace. The lower angle was maybe half a degree off but that was easily corrected. It bolted into place like it was made to fit. I double nutted it for safety reasons and to have an extra nut in the engine bay as it is a common size in there, in case, just in case.

Edit...I really should have sanded and painted that brace.

I am certain I have done other things but I cannot remember them, other than I have started stripping the clear off the 89 wheels but there were enough rain delays that I postponed that job. The chemical is so noxious that I cannot do it in the shop for fear of growing alternative appendages from the otherworldly fumes.

 

[SirReal63]

Time to start on the door cards, boy, what a mess. They were bad enough that I considered buying the re-pop ones but I have read very little positive about them as far as fitment goes. It also goes against the philosophy of this thread, so I jumped in with both feet and hands.

Let's start with the bezels, cracked, broken and fragile. These may get replaced so nothing is lost here.

Thickened epoxy and a little glass.

The top/right of the drivers door still had a broken out screw hole. I did not fix it because I know I have that piece somewhere and I would rather glass the original piece back in instead of making a thickened epoxy replacement. The original with a glass back is far more durable.

This was a quick and dirty repair since I may replace them, they are super brittle. The wiper switch got an LED bulb as did both courtesy lights.