Someone on another forum said something that gave me a brainstorm. That other place I remembered was Coleman Racing. I happened to see that website at one time and found what appeared to be the same trailing arms etc. along with heim joints comparable to what was on the Banski site. Thing was you'd have to assemble your own package.

Just saw this. Some time back I was looking for some parts and stumbled upon a company that appeared to have the same arms and heim joints as available through Banski. Still trying to see if I can find them again.

looks pretty good to me. Have to keep this in mind if I ever have to do this. Thanks for sharing.

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Could not agree more on the 'agreed value' insurance. I've got it on both the Vette and T-Bird through Berkley. I have not had a need to file a claim but it's not very expensive for mine. It's a collector car policy and very affordable.
In fact after I had the Vette for a while and put a bunch of $$ into it for various upgrades I called and wanted to increase the coverage and it was very easy to do.
Just FYI.

So sorry for your loss. Then again, insurance is there for situations like this one. At least no additional damage happened to the house or anyone.

Well I think it's fixed finally. In addition to that sensor, I found a fuse had popped which I replaced. I also put back in the rebuilt ecm and it's been running just fine all weekend. I've taken it out 6 or 8 times without an issue. Fingers crossed between that sensor and these other things that it will continue driving as it should.

I was definitely getting a DTC41 error code, every time it left one in memory, only one code. Having said that, I've now taken it out twice for a total of around 50 miles and no SES errors. Thing was it was getting the SES at around 3-5 miles once the engine was hitting 190 degrees or more.
I can't explain it, but this is one mechanic I'd trust a whole lot more than any dealership mechanic. He's found and fixed things for me than no other mechanic was able to correct. I'll be driving it some more and we'll see if Nghia has it fixed or not.

Well I got the car back from my mechanic, and it's hard to believe the solution. I had given my mechanic the manual, some pages printed off that appeared pertinent and my notes on what I'd seen to try and save a little time. He said it was a coolant sensor that had gone bad, not noted in anything I'd found in the manual. Anyway I have a few days to drive the car and confirm whether it's fixed or not. I've done one drive so far and no SES light, so here's hoping.

I'm going to keep looking but I've got an appointment with my mechanic in a week in case I can't find it. As a former IT guy, I hate computerization in cars.

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Yes it is. If this isn't it, I guess it's time to go into the distributor next. I'm hoping the lack of a good ground on the ecm is the problem, if not then onto the next area.

Don't know if it's the answer or not but found something definitely wrong. The ecm had been removed in the past and was just shoved into place and wiring harness pulled below it to hold it into place. I fastened it in and added a ground wire to insure a good ground with the case.
Ran it for 5 miles and ran fine but then again it's done that before. Have to take it for a longer drive and see what happens.

Had it reoccur today for maybe 20 sec. Not near as many times as before but still happened. I'll have to start looking at additional grounds, though these should not have to go onto a lift to get to.

Thought I'd pass along a tip for anyone with a L98 engine that gets a DTC41 error code from an intermittent SES light.
Scenario is I started getting a SES light intermittently, it would come and go when driving or on startup. Typically if you disconnect the battery cable and hook it back up it would clear up the SES light. At no time did I have issues running the car but it didn't give me a warm and fuzzy when it happened. You won't always capture the error code but on occasion I would get the DTC41 error code.
I reviewed my notes on past issues on the car and had it happen 5 years ago (which I'd forgotten for the moment). I did the same fix and it seems to have solved it again. The fix is to disconnect all the ground contacts from the G104 ground on the engine block by the oil filter. Clean everything up, use dialectic grease on the connectors and put it back together. So far it looks to have taken care of it again.
The error code indicates a ECU failure, but the fact it's not continuous lead me to believe it was something else, a bad ground connection in this case.
The error code sucks as they don't describe the problem very well, hope this helps someone down the road.

Thanks. It's cold enough outside I probably won't attempt to work on it till this next month. Got my fingers crossed.
Worst case it will drive without ABS but it's nice to have IMO.

Found another unit along with the break out box for less $$ than that one. Have not had a chance to try it out because of the cold but I have my fingers crossed.

I've been digging a little into it. I found one questionable wire, does not seem to ohm but I need more time to get further. Oh well, this is a winter project so no rush. What I'd like to do if it seems bad is make up a new one and just swap it out for a test without unwrapping the harness for the test. I just wonder if I can find replacement ends to match, one is on the relay and the other is on the connector that has 8-10 wires in it and that's got connectors I've not seen before.

Been in communication with the seller. He sent a rma to return the unit. I really wanted it but it is what it is. I'll keep an eye out for a working unit in the future.

I have not found a specific reference to which wires should be powered on 'key on' and which aren't. Will be checking for continuity etc.
Worst case, you can drive without abs but it is nice to have.

Unfortunately according to the only stuff that came with it it's for 86-89 Vettes only. I have an 86 and the only member of the car club with an early C4 so no others available to test it against.
Finally got all the stuff into SquareTrader insurance, after all the hoop jumping I had to do they came back and said they won't cover it cause it wasn't working when received. I've sent a msg back to the seller about returning it. According to the instructions I have, hook it up to the cable for the abs, turn the ignition to the on position and it should power up, which it isn't.

All I can say is "Oh Joy". Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the help offer.

Well I got it out to use today - no joy. Looks like the unit is DOA. I bought the year warranty on it so now I'm trying to deal with them and either get it repaired or replaced. It won't power up so suspecting something is burnt out internally.
Had good intentions. I did some voltage and checking being I had the well open anyway. I also made a little relay tester and did some checking there too.
I'm not sure as it will take opening up some of the wiring harnesses but if I have traced the wires right, it may be a bad wire that's the cause but won't know for sure till I have some more time to deal with that.
Right now I'm trying to deal with the insurance company on getting the tester repair.

I've got both the info out of the fsm along with the instruction booklet. Not a lot of info so far but I'll be reading them multiple times before I start.
Thanks for the offer.

If I run into issues, I assume you've used it before. Can I post any questions I come up with?

Turns out there is a instruction set that came with the unit.

My ABS is starting to act up again (light on) on my 86 and does not seem to be the relays this time from what I can tell.
I think I have a chance to get ahold of this tester for a while but apparently does not have the instruction manual with it from what I'm told.
Wondering if there's a download available on it or someone has one they're willing to scan for me? I've been looking online but so far have not found one.

Thanks for any help.
Paul

I ohmd the old vs one of the new switches I got after I finished the replacement. Got some differences in readings so pretty sure the old one was bad. I used to take them apart like you did and file the contacts but for what the new one cost it wasn't worth the effort and the passenger one is used so little compared to the drivers side, but I did keep the old one in my 'bad parts' bucket just in case.
Before I buttoned it back up, I did test it and it worked so seemed like a no-brainer to me. If this one lasts another 30 years like the old one did, it won't be me worrying about it.

Last time I went to take the Vette out the passenger window wouldn't roll down. Surprisingly enough, turned out to be easy to find a replacement window switch unlike most parts. It also turned out to be not that big a deal to replace it.
You have to strip the covers off the instrument cluster, the center of the dash, the console cover and the area around the shifter. The fun part is getting the switch out of the mount and the connector through the hole to disconnect it.
About 2 hours to strip everything off, replace the switch and put it all back together but it's done.
I have a closet of parts I've collected over the time since I bought the car, but guess what part I didn't have? I bought 2 right away to have a 2d one on the shelf just in case.

Chalk one more winter job being done.

Not sure if this should go into restoration or tech, so I put it here.
The driverrs seat foam in my 86 had taken on a permanent sag due to age and wear. I bought a formed replacement foam from Corvette America but I will touch on that shortly. The seat covering is in pretty good shape for the age so I reused that. Before I started I talked to an upholstery shop about having them do it: $145 and a day to take the cover off one seat cushion and put it onto the other. I decided I can try it myself for that.
In addition to the foam and hog rings I picked up a hog ring pliers at the same time, not really worth the money. I went to Fleetfarm (farm supply store) and they had a LME brand that I bought, works pretty good.
I took pictures of how it was set up, but what I didn't do was compare the 2 sets of foam. Best I can figure, looks like the replacement is a little different and did cause some issues later on.
Now for the real tip. I had a couple of false starts, things just didn't want to go together right. After starting over I had the brainstorm that solved the issues: do the center depression first, then the area between the wings and the main cushion, then the front, the sides and finally the back.
Unless I pulled the seat cover down into the middle of the seat and fastened it first, you can't get that to line up if you start anywhere else. Same with the area between the main section of the seat and the wings, don't have them done first and never will get them down if you have other areas fastened first. Once those are done, then start at the front, get that pulled down, taut and smooth and fasten it. Next the sides and finally the back.
I had some issues with the foam itself as I think there were some differences between the original and replacement. If I had trimmed the new to match the old it might have been easier to get the cover on, but I eventually did.
Hope that helps someone else down the road It was a bear for me till I figured out the order to do it in.

Wishing everyone the Merriest of Christmas and a Safe and Sane Holiday Season.

Some lowlife stole my van the evening of 11/11. Police have found nothing on it which is surprising. It was an 02 Caravan, nothing particularly special about it other than being in good condition physically and mechanically.

On Wednesday, the insurance company said they would be paying me out on it so had an idea what extra cash I'd have to work with. I found a beautiful 2015 Focus Titanium edition hatchback where I take my truck. Got it for a reasonable price and it's got all the bells and whistles. Plus another 12K on main stuff and 70K on the drivetrain.

Had my first issue tonight - turned on the rear wiper some how and took at least 5 minutes with the manual to figure out how to get it turned off.

Hopefully I can get at least 10 years out of it, it's in good enough shape to certainly seem possible.

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Last weekend we had the annual Fall Color Run in La Crosse, Wi. I think there was a good time for all but Sunday was an eye opener. Went to brunch before heading home, saw a little moisture in the air. Getting ready to leave and it's getting a little thicker. Well by the time we hit the road heading home - IT WAS SNOWING!!!!!!!

I think there was maybe 2" in some areas on the roofs etc., and in selected areas it felt like it was starting to get a tad slick on the road. Not much but something was there.

I have tread on my tires, I wonder how those with the newer models with those virtually treadles tires felt on the road Sunday? There were around 200 Vettes so there was virtually every model present.

You want to see the good pictures, check out: http://suburbancorvettesofminnesota.c ... %20the%20Stars/index.html

Couple in particular you'll want to check out: the black 55 or 56 Chrysler with a 392 Hemi. The Jeep with the oversize tires, The C4 Calloway, The 58 TBird, the mid 40's Ford, the pair of Model A's, the list is too long to list so just go check out the photo's! There's even one of me in there doing the raffle. The dealership had someone with a drone flying overhead taking pictures, though I have not seen them yet.

3d picture to left of the red C7. 94 Opal Blue LX.

Trying again. These were shot before we even had the gates open for business. I wanted to insure I got some pictures this year - last year I didn't even get a chance to talk through the cars any time during the show.

I think I even got one of my T-Bird in there (the blue one, not the red one).


Hope you like them - he says with fingers crossed that they load.

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Site does everything except let me upload the photos ;-(

Got a few, have to figure out how to get them off the phone (can't find the right cord at the moment).

I do have photos, and the show turned out to be a great event.

Last night we had our 28th Annual Cars Under the Stars charity car show. It will take the weekend to get the official tally in but seat-of-the-pants results: more cars, more spectators and more raffle tickets sold over last year!

We had so many folks show up, whether showing a vehicle or acting as spectators; we had quite a crowd last night. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food, the vehicles, the music and the raffle.
The quality of the cars, trucks and vans impressed the heck out of me: the oldest in attendance I believe was a Ford Model T and the newest was a 2019 ZR1. We had the Village Chevrolet main lot filled to overflowing with such a range of vehicles it's hard to put into words. Whether you are into any of the big three you were covered with decades worth of vehicles. We also had a showing of foreign vehicles so whatever your taste, you should have been able to wet it.

It was such that I felt like I needed a spit towel while going through the cars and viewing them. There were so many I almost drooled over, and didn't want to mess up their chances for one of the trophy's.

The weather was great, the vehicles and people were fantastic. Everything about the evening went so well. I'd like to thank those that came to the show for your participation and know that you've done something special to those with Spina Bifida.

Thank you again and hope to see you there next year.

I have the pleasure of co-chairing a charity car show at Village Chevrolet in Wayzata, Mn on August 11th. Starts at 7:00 PM and the proceeds benefit the Spina Bifida Association of Minnesota.

The show is open to all street and race cars, vans, truck, etc. so there should be something for everyone. You can pre-register a vehicle or do it the night of the show, your call which you do but you get a pre-registration discount. Know though either way, pre-register or the night of the show the proceeds go to the kids (be generous).
There will be a DJ on site playing tunes, a food truck will be there so there will be food and drink available for purchase. There will be a raffle with a wide range of prizes and some are 'incredible' and hopefully some will knock your socks off so buy a lot of raffle tickets.

Tell your friends and family, bring them all and tell everyone to bring a lot of money, it's going to the Spina Bifida Association of Minnesota.


Whether you want to show your car or just be a spectator, there's something for everyone. Come on out and enjoy the evening and know that the proceeds go to a good cause. What could be better for a Saturday night.

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You're being too kind!

The only thing I found was in the FSM on page 8A-30-1, a schematic that includes that part. I talked to the Chevy Parts Department, NAPA, Autozone, Oreilly's along with a couple of other places without any luck. No one has a part number, no one has a burn value on it, no nothing.

My hope is therefore that some place that sells rewiring kits should have something available. I pulled most of mine out of the wire wrap and did not find any indication of a lump like in the other fusible links so I have to think the whole wire is a fusible link. I just don't know what to use to replace it.


I know I can use what I have for some time, but I've been replacing and upgrading parts along the way to keep it dependable.

Apparently the whole wire is the fusible link from what I can tell. I've been down length of it and I can't find any form of fusible link in it. It's a bear though, can't find a part number on it, can't find a value on it, nothing. I've emailed a replacement wiring house if they sell a replacement or know what the value is supposed to be on the thing.

At least It's working, so that's one of those 'nice to do' things when conditions permit.

Here's some info in case someone runs into the same thing. If a known good alternator doesn't charge, try temporarily hooking a wire between the bat lug on the alternator and the positive battery post, if it works now, it's wiring.
The wire from the bat lug is a resistance wire and goes from the alt to the power distribution lug under the battery. There's a pigtail off the positive cable that also goes to that lug.

In my case both wires ohm'd ok, so it made no sense why it wasn't charging. Turned out the crimp on lug on the alt end of that wire wasn't "tight". Recrimped it and it fixed my issue.

I wish I could find a replacement for that resistor wire, but so far no luck on a new one.

Alternator is rebuilt, but apparently took out the fusible link on the alternator bat wire. Think I know where it is but at the moment don't know what the value is on it to replace it.

20 miles and the reman crapped out. Taking my original out tomorrow and see about getting it rebuilt :-(

I have to agree that many remanufactured units aren't too good, but then again so are so many of the new units. I've had both fail over the years so it's a crap shoot, it's just the luck of the draw. Even rebuilding the old unit, it all depends on the quality of parts I can find whether it's worth the effort or not (heavy sigh). So much (whether units or parts) come from overseas and many lack apparent quality control in their product.

I'm just hoping this reman unit will hold up a while, have to see what happens. Wish me luck.

Just passing along a potential source to everyone. Last Sunday the alternator died in my 86, had enough juice in the battery to get home so at least I didn't have to have it towed. The alternator looked original, so it lasted 32 years.

Thing is when I was looking for a replacement (wanted the same as was in it) all I could find was a reman Delco Remy units and the prices were all over the place depending on who you were looking at. Found one on Amazon for $65 delivered with no core charge through some place doing listings on Amazon (not the highest price nor the lowest). Seemed reasonable and ordered it. Came in the other night (3 days from when ordered) and 45 min and the old one was out and the new one was in. Quick run and everything seems good again.

No core was a good thing for me, I'm hoping to rebuild my old one for putting on the parts shelf once it's repaired. Going through the FSM it looks like all you need for diagnostics is an OHM meter so giving it serious thought to try rebuilding it myself or send it to one of the local shops to do it. Never can have enough spare parts for an older car.

Big thing is at $65 delivered with no core charge, if this thing lasts I think it's a decent deal. Just passing along the info.

First thing I'd do is see what type of rotors your pad manufacturer recommends for the type of pad you plan to use.

This is all based on reading so take it with a grain of salt.
Drilled and slotted will remove brake dust and dissipate heat better. The down side is they can be prone to cracking around the holes. This would be more towards a tracked vehicle.
Second is slotted. Dissipates dust better but not the heat like the above. More inclined towards someone that drives aggressively.
Last is your normal solid rotor for standard driving.
Slots and/or drilling will wear softer pads quicker than straight rotors.

I have ceramic pads on all 4 corners of mine, drilled & slotted rotors on the front and slotted on the back. It takes a little time to warm them up so they really grip. Why do I have this setup - because that's how I bought the car and haven't had a need to replace them yet. I don't track my car but I do love those country roads with curves and these do pull the speed down right now.

Sorry - that's all I can say on the subject. Hopefully someone more knowledgable will add to this.

I'll pass along a couple of things I found doing this, may make it a little simpler for others.
First off you'll need a 7mm, 10mm & 13mm wrench. You don't have to drain the radiator or pull the fan the way I did it. Don't know if everyone approves of this as I did one little mod, but it worked. Remove the air cleaner assembly off the top and unsnap it from the intake. I pulled the 2 studs off the cover just so I wouldn't lose them.
Unbolt the top 2 bolts off the fan (13mm). Unbolt the cover from the radiator support (a mix of 7mm & 10mm) - 7 mm on the front and 10 on the back side. You also need to unbolt the power steering reservoir off the cover along with the a/c drier. There are retainer clips on the dryer so if you loosen it evenly the bolts will be held on the dryer DAMHIK.
Here's the mod I did so I didn't have to drain the radiator etc to gain access. Pull the wire off the low coolant sensor under the radiator car. You might be able to work it up with just this, I couldn't. There's a hole for that sensor and tranny cooler lines, I took a set to sheetmetal snips and trimmed the tab areas below then so the cover would slide off the passenger side completely. Work the cover up and around the upper radiator hose, you now have complete access through the top.
Mine had a lot of gunk and it was hardened over the years. I took a L shaped rod and went down in there to break it loose. A vacuum cleaner small hose will fit between the radiator and the a/c condenser. Just keep at it till it's all out. I also took an air hose from the back side and blew through the radiator core to insure it was as clean as I could get it.

Reassemble in reverse order and you're ready to hit the road. I probably should have taken some pictures but I didn't. Ironically I was checking engine temp - before and after cleaning out the junk. Ironically it ran around 186-189 degrees before I cleaned it, and it's run 186-190 since but a slightly hotter day - both times were highway driving.

Can't say it helped the engine temp, but it gives me a little better peace of mind now knowing it's cleaned out.

I took the time today to remove the cover over the radiator and a/c condenser today, boy was there a lot of crap in there!
I was surprised that the area was probably packed 1/4+ of the way up from the bottom with leaves and other stuff that had accumulated over the years. It turned out to be a lot of fun getting it all out of there, it was packed in there solid. I had a small vacuum cleaner hose that just fit through the gap in the top and was able to eventually get it out. I had to take a L shaped rod and rake it to work all the stuff loose. Once loose, then suck it till the hose plugged up, clean out the hose and do it again till it was all out.


I was amazed at just how much junk had collected over there, then got to thinking that it's probably not been touched since it left the factory 32 years ago.

If you haven't looking at yours, may be time to do just that.


Paul.

The washers came in, here's my visual analysis on them:

The washers came in. I'm going to try and do a visual comparison between what I remember from the oem ones I got from the Chevy parts department and put in 3 years ago vs these from Corvette Central.

The oem's (again based on memory) were very even is size, rolling of the lip on the inside and Teflon coating. The coating was even in color and texture across both sides of the washers. To me it looked like the metal part was formed then it was Teflon coated.

The Corvette Central part appears to have been first coated then either the cutting and rolling were done in a single operation or the washers were cut and coated then the bevel put on the inside edge. You can see what appears to be some damage to the Teflon coating in the area where the dies were used to form the rolled edge on the inside of the washer. I think had the dies been used to roll that angle prior to the Teflon coating on these, the Teflon coating would have been uniform across the washer just like the originals were. I figure when I have the need to use them, I'll grease the heck out of them first just to be safe. One last thing, I'm not sure if the Teflon on these is as thick as on the oem's.

I tried to take a picture of them but I don't know it shows up that well.
They're going on the parts shelf for now, about all I can say on them.

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84-96 Rear Wheel Hub Inner Washer
Part Number: 584093


$9 each plus $6.56 shipping on two.

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There are those more knowledgeable than me but AFAIK the main reason is to eliminate friction noise between the axel stub and the hub. Pull the spindle nut then the half-shafts and you'll find them behind the splined portion of the spindle stub where it slides into the hub. I have read where people have stated replacing the Teflon washers has eliminated noise when it hasn't been u-joint related. That's pretty much why when you change U-Joints it's suggested they be changed also (do the job once). If you don't mind the noise I don't know that you'd need to replace them but I don't know if you might introduce extra wear if the Teflon coating is compromised.

2-3 years ago you could get these for about $3 ea IIRC, definitely more expensive now but you take what you can find. GM has discontinued them in the last couple of years, so availability has been sketchy.