heading to work.

hopefully i can set my timing later and go for a ride. my injectors blow and a couple are ticking - the stethoscope shows no noise on the valvetrain, head, intake manifold but when i put it on a few of the injectors it's just flat out loud. maybe some crap got dislodged when i pulled the rails? whatever. my buddy has several bags of SVO injectors. i've got a coolant leak somewhere and it's scaring me. it was present before i did the intake and installed a new water pump. i figured the pump was bad as the aftermarket ones seem to start leaking bi-annually. it's not the pump, heater hoses, radiator hoses, or intake. my passenger side hood latch is not opening enough. but holy crap does the superram look cool and rev nicely. i'm getting a small surge at idle, probably from the big TB, but i hope i can drive for a little while until i can afford to get it tuned.

out my office window the crown vic looks damn good clean and with the summer 17's on it. i even used the push bars to move around my parts car yesterday.

i pulled the plugs on 6 and 8 and they look fine.

i'm going to put them back in and start it up with the valve cover off again and tighten the rockers on those cylinders one by one to see if i can make the noise change or go away. other than that, dunno what the hell to do next. watching it run with the valve cover off has me looking at what appear to be 8 properly functioning rockers.

i was almost ready to say to hell with it and put in my LS1 but i know that was just silly thinking.

trying to remember where i put my stethoscope, otherwise i'm buying a new one tomorrow.

i'm making room for it in the garage, when i get it in i'll pull the plugs to see if they tell me anything.

the deeper i dig the more signs i find that the engine was removed at some point. missing screws/bolts, trans dipstick not bolted to the bellhousing bolt and just loose flopping there, etc...

so it's not a rocker.

not sure what is wrong but something is not good. it sounds loudest where #6 & 8 injectors are listening through a pipe up against the manifold. i had the ports covered the entire time and went so far as to put a heater hose on the shop vac and go down the runners before i put the lid on the intake. it does not sound like anything is bouncing around in a chamber, i've heard that noise before(on purpose, i was sending something to the scrapper so i experimented on it to learn new noises).

it's definitely valvetrain, not bottom end. i watched the rockers with the valve cover off and everything looked fine and i could tell the noise was not rocker/spring related. at this point i'm probably screwed. going to have a second set of ears come listen.

all done but not really. i have a ticking rocker now on #6 or #8 intake - which is confusing because i did not touch the rockers, just pulled the valve covers to regasket and tighten the lower runner bolts. of course it can't be the drivers side which is the easy cover to remove and inspect.

definitely need to set timing, sounds off a couple degrees, but fixing the tick is #1 priority now. i dunno what the heck would make something tick that was fine 3 days ago that was not messed with.

couple notes, i had to uninstall the bigger LT1 alternator and reinstall a factory sized one, and the mouth of the holley throttle body is bigger than factory so i need to stretch out the intake tube.

we'll block it off and see what happens to the mpg. if it drops off i'll reinstall and recheck.

i don't remember the water pump being this hard to get to, having to move the AC bracket off those studs sucks.

the big mouth accel base is on, distributor is back in, valve covers have paint drying. stuff is going back together, but it's raining now and the car is outside since the 40 and grand prix are up in the garage being worked on so i had to stop working when the rain started.

interesting find - the intake gaskets had been done once and all the runner to base bolts were loose - it had to be between 1991 and 1994 as my dad bought the car in january 1995 and i didn't change them(and if i did the bolts wouldnt be loose). whoever did it did a crappy job and the ends were leaking big time because it appears they failed to properly clean the base when reinstalling it. there were also corners cut, parts missing, etc... kinda weird since the gaskets almost certainly would have been done under warranty at a dealer. i guess that is par for the course having work done anywhere except in your own garage.

my only concern so far is i'm hoping my AIR pump eliminator bracket works, i installed a 1992 alternator a long time ago(bigger) as the CS130's were dying bi-annually. i might have to slot some bolt holes which would be a shame as this bracket i got is a beautiful piece of aluminum.

i'll be doing mine while i'm under the hood, i fear every time i close the hood that it'll never open again. i had some trouble opening it monday and it scared the crap out of me. luckily the latches were just sticky and hosing pb blaster in there from the cowl helped.

i'm hopefully installing my superram tomorrow. i've got it down to the stock intake base and EGR tube left to remove and snapped my torx socket off on the egr tube bolt and decided to call it an evening.

so looking at things- the new intake has nice EGR blockoffs and i've got one that will fit the tube coming up off the exhaust manifold. so what will it hurt to delete it? on my TBI pickups it never made a MPG difference and never changed emissions test readings, and this car never has to e-check again. aside of the SES which i would have programmed out. i'm planning on headers next year so i'll eventually wind up losing the EGR tube anyway as i don't plan to buy the ones with all the emissions hookups.

anything else to replace while tearing down this far? already doing water pump(leaking out the weep hole AGAIN), AIR delete, and valve cover gaskets and of course oil change.

everything has been straightforward except for the mouse nest and half eaten hickory nuts under the plenum.

my mom and i are partners, we own a remodeling and flooring company. by the time i was 21 i could not deal with working for other people anymore and went out on my own, now i'm happy. we work all over the greater cleveland/akron area.

we have several crews that do the various work, i still do the carpentry, windows, and doors. i'm trying to find a good window installer to take my place or a young guy who i can teach to do it my way. slowly i've been moving to doing less and less of the physical work and more of the business building and sales work. we now are certified by the state board of MRDD and specialize in adaptive living and accessibility modifications because of the aging population and growing number of people with disabilities who choose to live independently since the government quit just jamming them into institutions. lots of roll in showers, wheelchair ramps, reconfiguring bathrooms, wider doorways, grab bars, and stuff like that.

i'm 28 now and have been in the remodeling business full time for 14 years

back online!

debated whether to go with the stupid local cable company or find a better option and there are no other real viable options in this area yet.

almost corvette time, going to go apply for my collector vehicle plates shortly so i can "not use the emissions exemption that comes with collector plates to remove emissions equipment" because my AIR pump is wasted.

in between internets right now.

nothing at the new house till this week, so my computer is still set up at my parents place. the garage is partially moved.

living room is halfway painted, the ceiling is done and the walls are primed, my dad is painting them tomorrow. new front and back doors done - hooray for fiberglass doors and low E glass. ripped the green shag carpet out of the office to reveal some very nice wood flooring that just needs cleaned with murphy's.

plan to move the old truck tomorrow or tuesday and as soon as i'm sure we're not going to get anymore snow the belair and the vette can move too. i'm itching to get the superram and c6 brakes done, new door put on, and polish the acrylic top.

yeah the new house is just inside valley city actually.

thanks guys.

we spun the fridge around to next to the door for now.

i'm a remodeling contractor/finish carpenter by trade so the new kitchen will be pretty fancy with bells and whistles but i'll be going with a classic shaker style maple cabinet with no fancy profiles or glazes or anything.

all the wood is 3/4" tongue and groove knotty pine over the original true 2x4 studs - no paneling over drywall here. the master bedroom and office are the same wood floor to ceiling including the ceiling.

we finished up the wiring today, 95% of the house is brand new romex, the porch was already properly wired pretty recently with romex and the stuff was all grounded.

it's i believe 1.15 acres but i dont remember. we looked at so many houses in the 1-2.5 acre lot range that the numbers fried my brain. i had my fiancee's cavalier in the garage today to fix a bad tranny cooler line and it looks like i can comfortably fit 6 cavaliers in the garage with room for the tools.

i didn't take these, so bear with the fact that they are not of the things a car guy would take pictures of, like the garage or the mechanicals.

from the backyard:



the back corner - the sunroom area is getting converted to real living area with alside vinyl windows with low e glass and a new door. i'm doing the new door and window next to it tomorrow because i have them and when i have spare cash i'll order the rest of the windows.



the kitchen - screaming for a remodel but i'll put up with it for a couple years



the living room - 14x30 with a sweet fireplace



the blessed virgin to watch over the house while i'm gone



jake in the bathtub



and finally jake pulling old knob and tube wiring out of the walls



we've had the keys since wednesday. i've already ripped out the front entryway which was a cobbled mess of 3 small closets and a too narrow 30" front door. now it's an open entrance with a 36" fiberglass door and 1 large closet. my dad and i have put in a new main panel and rewired the entire house top to bottom. i've pulled/run over 600 feet of romex so far, just need to get a GFCI outlet into the bathroom and rewire the light/fan in there.

it's a good solid old house, the old guy that owned it took great care of things before he passed away, and his wife passed in november. they raised 7 kids there, and we've met 2 of them who are very happy that we got the house. apparently they refused the first 2 offers not based on the $ but based on the people making the offer.

i'll be taking garage pics soon, probably start moving things over there thursday.

well we've had the new house for 5 days now.

i've totally redesigned the front entrance, it was extremely claustrophobic before. i put in a 36" fiberglass front door w/ low e window that has leaded craftsman style glass in it, the original front door was a leaky wood 32" door with lots of unsecure glass. we put in a new main panel right away then began rewiring the entire house to delete the old knob and tube cloth covered wire. there is probably 1/2 day more electric. the wallpaper in the living room is stripped and ready to prep for paint.

everything is going pretty much at warp speed since i'm a remodeling contractor and this is what i do every day, so i treat this house like it's a paying customer. tomorrow i scheduled myself to finish the wiring, tuesday after my paying job i am going to do the new back door and window next to it. i've been putting in long hours, worked till after 10:30 4 of the 5 days.

we did spend the night there last night, but i'm back here at my parents house tonight. the bed they left, while super clean and in great condition, is rock hard and my back can't take it. as soon as the major work is done - plan to have the new entry area drywalled and that and the living room painted by the end of the week - i'll start moving in. most important is figuring out which cable plan to get so i can move the big TV over there.

got the keys!

now officially we own our new house.

and i had some guinness with my dad to celebrate.

i did catch a glimpse of my cousin piping on the news so not all was lost. i'll have to make the parade next year.

no parade for me, have to work.

house is supposed to close today, hopefully the title work gets done and we get the keys.

crown moulding on cabinets today(finishing up a $24K kitchen for a very happy customer). worst idea ever especially with full overlay doors.

itching to drive the vette

stainless chassis? someone tell that to my car, it has a major rot hole in the crossmember between the rear axle and spare tire and the crossmember up front that the hood hinges bolt to is rotted and needs replaced as well.

i get to do vette welding and fabrication over the summer to fix those things.

on my SR the previous owner tapped the runner flange of the inside bolts and supplied bolts to thread down into them from the top, sealed with nylon washers and safety wired "just in case"

looks like it'll work fine to me.

will do. apparently the underwriter's offices burned today but since everything was done and it's all backed up on off-site servers they say all is still good to go without delay. i guess the whole building that their offices are in went up last night or this morning.

recovering from a nasty bug that came on strong monday night, kicked my ass all day tuesday and wednesday. i've consumed all of one bagel and a few crackers in 3 days.

still on target for closing on the new house tuesday.

good chicago irish american punk band the tossers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fy9v7wpcbA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt_7KhSbExE

my sister took this one, she's tony's buddy and part time roadie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V64xop48wAQ

i'll be celebrating my heritage on st patricks day at the parade in cleveland then we are closing on the new house in the afternoon. so i'll probably be doing my best to drink guinness at the new house tuesday night and probably pass out there and spend the night.

my parents place, they're right on one of the major rivers here that flows up into lake erie.

the new place is high and dry, up on a hill with great drainage.

i've learned where to park here when it is raining alot. a few years back we had one of those "50 year floods" and it wiped out my lumina euro's engine and interior(i know it was just a lumina but it was a week after taking first place at carlisle and i loved that car). went out at 3am and the water was over the hood and equal level inside. pulled it out and had to throw out the interior, let the car dry, and put in a new engine.

rain, rain rain rain rain


driveway is up to the rockers of my dually.

the vic almost floated away when i got home, water was coming in the doors. the river probably has not crested yet and it's out of the banks. my 42 pickup is technically in the river right now, water up to the middle of the wheels.

i've replaced it at least 5 times. it has failed every year since the original one died.

the ones i got came with new gasket for the tube. and since it's lifetime warranty they keep giving me new ones. i finally got a deal on an eliminator

i'm going out to work on the 40.

the mortgage came out of underwriting approved yesterday so it's 100% official that we get our house.

cool, now find a way to keep it dry and i'll buy one.

that block has caused a few issues over the life of the 91. the main terminal off the battery corrodes from moisture and electrical stuff acts funky/car won't start intermittently until i pull all the wires off and clean it up and put dielectric grease on it.

no paint choice yet.

i'm going for lowet CG possible, it's going to handle like it's glued to the ground. front has a huge splined sway bar and rear i'm making one. plus i did not want to have a massive trans tunnel in the floor, i'm already going to have to make a pretty big driveshaft tunnel under the seat.

waiting for flooring distributor to deliver 53 cases of tile so i can deliver them to the customer.

someone stole my kart and never got another.

working on the tailgate, front "bumper", bed front panel.

bed is shortened about 18" from stock. waiting on a radiator/shell/grille, valve covers, master cylinder. then it's paint/plumb/wire/rig up some seats/drive.

cleveland weather is lovely.

wednesday's forecast low: 6

friday's forecast high: 60

only a 54 degree temp change in 2 days.

today it went from white out/blizzard to bright sunny skies in the 2 minutes it took me to run into the home depot and grab 2 boards and pay.

tommy buy the crimper tool and just pull new PEX through the walls yourself.

i'm still not sold on it and prefer to use copper but for retrofitting where you can pretty much pull it like wire it's pretty sweet. we only do remodeling so i'm constantly looking for new ways to get water around corners, through walls, to new bathrooms, etc...


my sunday morning was lame, FHA required us to paint the foundation, some trim, and the awnings on the new house, as well as fix the garage door opener and seal a duct - before they would give final approval on the loan. my mortgage guru went back and forth with them on the painting because - cleveland in winter is no time to paint outside - they told us to paint it or bugger off. so we painted yesterday morning, and i don't care how it looks as long as it does not fall off before the appraiser goes back out. he's a tool as well, they charged $415 for the appraisal($65 more than any appraiser i know) and they are charging $125 to go back out and verify the repairs. this new system they have where the mortgage person can't pick the appraiser sucks, now they can bend you over a barrel because the FHA has a pool of appraisers and they just dole out the work in rotation.

the accel gaskets are a touch bigger(1/16"ish) than the untouched openings on my SR base/runners.

perfect for that classy biker wedding. the groom can even wear his "if you can read this the bitch fell off" t-shirt!

i bought the accel set from summit for around $25.

i'm going to install mine in the spring while i'm fixing oil leaks since the intake front seal is leaking anyway, waiting till i can afford a cam as well. and then when i can afford them i'm doing headers.

my dad said the same thing as Dale the other day, and he was thinking of taking a grand and buying ford stock.

my name is patrick, 28 years old, i live near cleveland and am getting married in august. we're buying our first house right now, and i'm an addict when it comes to building cars. always working on something new. it sure beats having to go to a shrink anyway. something about fabricating my own parts is therapeutic.

i own a remodeling and flooring company, we work all over the greater cleveland/akron areas and specialize in kitchens, flooring, accessibility modifications for people with disabilities(wheelchair ramps, making bathrooms accessible, etc...) and custom carpentry. we do pretty much anything but those are the things we like to do the most.

i love the browns, indians, and cavs therefore i hate the steelers, ravens, white/red sox, yankees, lakers, and celtics.

inside the bed you can see the racecar underneath.

not sure on paint, i'll probably do the bodywork over the summer and paint it something, just don't know what yet. bounce back and forth between leave it, paint it satin black, or paint it satin ww2 bomber style green.

my new house has a 26' wide by 32' deep garage, about 20 years old pole built, still looks new. the electric is lacking, they just ran romex through underground conduit and have one 110V circuit for the whole deal and one shop light in the middle. totally not cool for vehicle stuff.

we're going to upgrade the house panel, have to because it has one of the old recalled federal pacific breaker boxes. depending on the main size i'm going to call my electrician and ask about upgrading to a 200 amp main service. my dad is a trained "super milrite" from the steel mill and had to take every electrical class that an electrician would in order to be licensed by the state to perform electrical work in the mill, and he will be doing everything.

as for the garage - we will be running a new 220V line to it and putting in it's own main panel. there will be plenty of lighting.

with a blank slate - what would you do? i'm planning to position all the outlets at workbench height so no matter where stuff ends up along the walls i will not block outlets.

would you hard plumb air lines or stick to hoses?

stuff that is a given and will be moving with me:

60 gallon upright compressor
large blast cabinet
20 gallon parts washer
52" roller tool chest
26" roller chest(houses all my automotive elec/plumbing supplies)
30x80 steel worktable
welding cart w/ welder
usually 2-3 engines on stands at a time

need space for 2 bench grinders, have thought of mounting them right off the wall but any thoughts?


there is a 5' wide overhead door that goes out the rear of the garage, i've already thought about adding on a room in the back for the compressor, blast cabinet, storage of engines on stands, and general parts inventory that may otherwise take up valuable floor space, but this would have to be next year.

one final hurdle to close on the new house, septic system inspection this morning at 10am.

then it's a matter of waiting for paperwork to get done.

it rolls.

i've been working on this thing for just over a month. it rolled into the garage as an old stock car. i built new frame rails, installed a 12 bolt rear end w/ 3 link suspension, and i've got a 350 in it with a th350. typical small block that everyone and their brother has, but i'm building this thing out of mostly stuff i had laying around so the engine/trans were available free. aiming for sub $2000 completed with a spare set of wide sticky tires.

three steps closer to closing on the new house. termite inspection done and the septic system inspection and appraisal are both scheduled for early next week.

waiting is a pain after you find what you want. that big garage keeps calling me.

winter is getting to me, i need to get my cars out and go fast or my head is going to explode. i need a good long visit with I-271 and the high side of the speedo.

oh yeah, i brought home a 1942 chevy pickup today too. and my mclaren turbo grand prix that i sold over the summer is coming back home to me.

papers signed, guy just has to acknowledge that we have accepted his terms with a signature and we're on our way. closing date is st patricks day - perfect reason to celebrate with some guinness!

with a little luck(not really luck i guess) we'll have a new house soon. we've accepted the owner's counter offer, just need to sign the papers tonight to get the ball rolling. already pre-approved for the mortgage and have the down payment. luckily i've got a good realtor working for me(he's a longtime friend and customer of mine) helping us through the process and making sure it all gets done right.

soon i get my own garage, with room for fun

don't paint - it looks awesome.

how can they definitively say it is him from that pic anyway?

who cares - maybe it was tobacco or maybe it was weed. the important part is he passed the drug test for the olympics

Quote:

exactly. it's nothing new.

i've done government jobs before, the first one i was asked to explain why my quote of 23 grand was 10K less than the 2 other quotes and i was using better materials...

the other guys were working the system and making a killing.

we had nothing but trouble with alternators in the 91 ever since 1995 when my dad bought it.

yearly it would kill one, whether it was delco or parts store brand, the lifetime warranty paid for itself big time.

about 5 years ago i swapped to a new delco 1992 alternator. had to modify the bracket a little bit and made a new rear support. has been fine since.

not sure if the cs130 design is prone to heat failure or what.