Bought a new starter anyway. Got the Powermaster 9100. Wasn't the starter after all. Battery is 4 yrs old. It was to weak to crank over a warm engine. Don't regret getting the mini. I luv it.

I got it. Installed the ring and it pulled it away from the ring gear. Problem solved.

Installed a Powermaster 9100 in an 87 with a 383 Jasper engine. Intall went well, shimmed it but it looks to close to the ring gear. Yep, it was to close. Sounded terible and scared the &%#! out of me. It appears to be hitting right on the corner of the ring gear. I circle the car several times thinking of a solution. None came up so I went and took a shower, got on the forum and did some searching this problem. (I'm getting to the question, patience) Along with the bolts and shims in the box there was a round ring in there. Here's the question, does that go between the mounting block and the starter motor to get the gear back away from the ring gear?

Thanks Matt. No codes yet but haven't ran it much. Its a different prom than OEM since I put the 383 in. Will drive it for a while and check milage to see if anything has changed. Milage I expect to go up a little. AIR sytem may not have been programmed in, not sure thou.

I did notice the starter struggling a little, not sure if it is from the increased compression ratio or the starter going bad. I still have the OEM starter in there now. Jaspers paperwork said the ratio is 9.7/1. With the heads shaved, my mech said it'l probly go up approx. 2-3/100. If I'm not to badly mistaken, the OEM motor is 9.1/1. That is a considerable difference. Anyway, one thing at a time. I'll address the needs as they occur. Thanks again.
Rex

Update; Fired her up at 3:50 pm. Purs like a kitten now. Did the AIR delete and gutted the pump. Engine compartment cleaned up nicely. Best mod (except the 383 stroker) I've done. Bearings were nasty on the rear of the pump. I cleaned them and packed with grease. Should last awhile. I do feel a little pride in accomplishing this as well as saving a bundle of $$$$. Thanks again to all who gave input. You helped me more than you know. Ya'll have a good day and God bless!

Heads shaved, bolts and sealing surfaces cleaned, threads tapped, parts received, ready for assembly. I was thinking, why not remove all that crap associated with the AIR pump and gut the pump. It would be easy to cut and krimp the tubing to the exhaust manifolds while off. Looking for opinions, WWYD? It sure would clean up the engine compartment considerably. Also going to bypass the water flow from the throttle body. Anyone had any adverse affects from doing any of this?

Yea, I didn't say which ones but its the exhaust manifold bolts to connect the flange. I soaked them in Marvel Mystry oil before heading to work and will dose them more while cleaning everything. Hope that works. They've been there 24 yrs thats why I'm concerned. If soaking don't work I guess I'll have to break out the torch and heatm a little. Thanks.

Update;

Finally got around to doing the work. Pulled the heads and yep, just as I suspected. Found a very small channel in the head and gasket in the #7 cylinder. This channel lined up center of the small water jacket hole in the head where exhaust gasses could get into the cooling system.

Took the heads to a machine shop and they found both heads were warped. No cracks and had resurfacing done. They didn't find anything else wrong with them. I did notice those head bolts on that corner of the engice were easier to break loose than the rest.

I'll start putting the engine back together in about a week and a half (since I'm working now and won't be off till then). Its been suggested to go back with ARP bolts so they are ordered. Also ordered the gaskets recommended by Jasper. New water pump, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, hoses and exhaust bolts (anybody had any problem getting the old ones out of the manifold?). Got a lot of cleaning to do before installation begins.

Just thought someone may be interested in the outcome since this was a puzzle to me finding the problem. If I were to have another engine built I think I would use a local builder than buy one built on an assembly line. Jasper is good to do bussiness with but I think maybe too many hands were in the pot during the build. I found the rocker arm nuts tighter on the right bank than on the left bank so that makes me wonder if the heads were torqued by the same individual. No rant, just an observation.

Mr. 86PACER, the test you advised proved my theory. I found some antifreeze in the back of the engine by #7 cylinder. Then I went and got the tester at Auto Zone and yep, pee yellow it turned. Looks like I've got some work to do but will wait until it gets a little warmer. Yes I will have the heads checked when the work is done. Thanks guys for all the input. I knew I could count on ya'll. Luv this site.

My vette is 23 yrs old now. Want to put a new dress on her. Any body know of a good paint shop to paint my baby.

Quote:

Didn't think about that. Fan spins when cool but heat may change rpms of the fan motor. Question, will the amps be higher when everything is warmed up? How did you know the fan motor was going bad? Mine still runs but didn't notice the difference in RPMs.

Bogus - Jasper mounted heads
Matatk - Burped it on ramps but worth doing it again before pulling heads.
Steve40th - Its a new thermostat but I won't rule that out either. Ran car in driveway with term. open and have good flow in rad.

I'm going to do the pressure checks and compression test and see what that shows. Thanks guys for the input, really.

Wow! outstanding job. Rebuild and patience to post process.

Quote:

Forgot to mention I have changed that to. Oh and I did change the sending unit also. Both show the same temp readings. Pulled the belt off and spun the water pump. Didn't notice anything. Ever heard of a water pump going bad and not leaking? No water in oil and no oil in water.

Didn't think about the spark plug being steam cleaned. I have already trashed the old ones, Oh well. I may pull the new ones I just put in and see if there is a difference, thanks jonszr1.

I'm with ya biggrizzly about the more testing. Nothing points to the head gasket yet so before pulling the heads I need to make sure thats the problem. Thanks

Thanks BillH, it will be a part of my troubleshooting excersize. May take some time to find the actual cause. I think I may get my local mech. involved. He's pretty good. I'm just a shade tree.

Kinda aggrevating but it aint completly broke down yet. When the temp is elevated it seems like the water is not circulating. Thats got me stumpped. I want to find it and fix it before more damage is done. Thanks for the input.

Complete explaination could be lengthly so I'll try to hit the key points with short explanation.
Its a cruzer, not a racer. I may do a little stop sign burnout from time to time, can't help it.
87 vert. with Jasper 383 installed. 180 degree thermastat with chip installed. Approx. 35K on engine. No water leaks evident but looses water slowly (suspect out tail pipe), new cap anyway. Coolant temp. started running higher than normal when stopped at red light, 232 degrees. Temp OK on the road. New Radiator, checked it anyway - OK. Replaced coolant, Idled for a long time after burping, no problem. Went for a drive 30 or so miles, stopped at red light, temp. went up to 232 then came down when on the road????? Checked fans - OK. Water pump seems ok, feel surge when reving engine. Have not done a compression check yet, engine runs fine, changed plugs and all looked good. Let engine idle in drive way after running it to see how high it would go. 241 is as high as it went????

My theory. Some exhaust gasses cavitating pump when engine slowed to idle after running (heater in car does not blow hot air during this time but works normal when temp is normal?????) Suspect slight leak in head gasket. Oh, I do see vapor out the right side after everything is warmed up and shouldn't be any condensation in exhaust. Sorry so long, bout don't have any hair left. What do you think? Am I way offline.

Quote:

Thanks, looks like we got the same rims.

I just finished doing mine. Hands have not healed up yet. Its an 87. Simular procedure as Bogus.
1. Remove dash
2. Install heater core
3. Replace dash
4. Get on guru and say "I did it"

It is a PITA! But don't let that scare you. Dive in.

Just finished installing a new heater core. Old one had a leak. Halled it around since the summer dreading the install. Cold weather got here and it hindered me driving the vette. It was a job! Almost had to dismantle the dash to get to it. My hands look like I was in a one man fork fight and I didn't have a fork. So many tight places where it was not easy to get to the screws. Not much info around for help other than pictures of how its made and the location of the heater core housing. One thing I did learn from the job was that the front part of the housing comes off (after removing all the screws) and you don't have to remove the whole housing to get to the core. Putting the screws back in on the top of the housing was by feel cause you can't see where the holes are.
Anyway, I found 2 screws and I had 2 screws left over when job was complete. All parts were replaced and no leaks. Now I can enjoy the ride in warmth with my chin held high and a sense of pride for a job well done (bloody hands and all). I did not check to see what it would cost for me to have someone else do it but I bet it aint cheap. Besides, I would have missed all the fun. Now I can ENJOY THE RIDE.

Never had one before. It got my cherry.

Searching for anything C4 (parts mostly keeping the old girl active) and walla! Here I'm are.

Doesn't look like weer gonna.

Worked. Gulf of Mexico. Still doing it. Making the oil companies richer and I have to pay the same as everyone else for gas. Something aint right. Oil stock sucks too! I want to go home.

I did mine without a hose. Could reach in but a little tight. I'm 6'4" so working on my knees was easy. On the pasenger side, front 2 spark plugs it is easier to work in wheel well with the correct length extension and a swivel.

Nice car Z51!

Oh yea! Straight to the trash pile.

Looks good!!

Warm weather is upon us again. Time to go cruizin. 87 vert., 172000+ miles and plan to put more. Just got back from the smokies. Did the "Tail of the Dragon" and "Blue Ridge Parkway", with her top down; beautiful! Would anyone like to share the milage on your ride?

HMMMMM! What are you willing to pay? Just kidding, I don't like to pass up an opportunity. Hadn't really thought about price but if you need them, maybe something could be worked out. I might not ortta do this but I'll ask the rest of the community what they think a fair price is and we'll see what comes out. All puns welcome. Seriously the rims are in good shape with a littl bit of fading.

As you can see, there is a dark spot on the inside of the wheels. Hmmmm! Yep, started the old paint the calipers job. Its so much fun. Asbestosis and red finger nails. Oh well, the X painted hers, fingernails that is. I'll post a picture when the calipers are done. DaleD I agree with your comment, "anything but stock". Anyone need a set of rims?

Oh no! Skippy Chuckleface. Not very macho.

Yea, I pondered the chrome also. Had a guy at work do some magic with a photo program and the silver suited my taste. I love the change it made over the stock rims. Gotm on Ebay, tires (kuhmo ecsta supra) and rims $800. Couldn't beat that with 2 sticks.

Just put on new wheels and trying to post a picture.
[IMG]http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll124/pod50/Vetterims.jpg[/IMG]

By George, it worked.

Here in south MS.

Here in south MS.

Drag racing. Overcomming traction problem.

No problemo!

Thanks Case, your right, I did not say it was an 87 vert with the electronic controls. I believe the door to the defrost vent does not close all the way or does not move at all. Other vents will change when the controller tells it to. My problem is I always have air comming out of the defrost vent. That is why I think I need to pull the dash apart. I believe vacuum is OK but maybe a cracked line or a stuck door.

Already did that. Condensation accumalates outside of the windsheild when driving at night or early in the morning while temps are low where driving want evaporate it.

Been dreading this for a while but I need to do it. The problem is in the summer time, and the A/C on, air comes from the defroster and fogs the windshield. I had a cheap fix installed (rolled up towel in vent hole). Been doing the tlc repairs and this was not high priority, plus dreading tearing down the dash. I think my problem is going to be a relay that operates the door but will not know for sure until I get to it while standing on my head, top off and feet in the air. I was wondering if anyone has tackled this before.

Check out this site. Board is at the motor.
http://www.tld-corvette.com/products.asp?dept=928

I haven't done research on the vettes, but I had the same problem in my sierra trk. I was told when the controller boards get a little age on them (as our C4's have now) corrosion is a problem. Long story short, I replaced the board and the wipers worked fine. No more intermitent wipers.

Well I look at it this way, if anyone can beat the 51 then they deserve the win and I won't care if I have no wins. But here is a challenge to anyone out there, bet cha can't.

Did it last night. Didn't think 50 could be beat, scored 51. Ain't nuttin to dis game. I think I have beat myself 5 times. How come I got only 1 win?

[font=Arial:71f80fb9f2] [/font:71f80fb9f2][size=12:71f80fb9f2] [/size:71f80fb9f2][color=#444444:71f80fb9f2] [/color:71f80fb9f2]
This game is hard to leave. Such a challenge to beat the computer. 50 points, not bad if I may brag. Love this board.

[font=Arial:d6361c5856] [/font:d6361c5856][size=12:d6361c5856] [/size:d6361c5856][color=#444444:d6361c5856] [/color:d6361c5856]
For what it is worth, this is my experience with the MAF. I have an 87 vert. that I installed a Jasper 383 stroker. Ran fine after a few bug killings. Then all of a sudden the engine ran bad (no code) and poured black smoke from the exhaust. Long story short, the MAF malfunctioned. Found it by unplugging sensor. Ordered a new one, installed and been running fine ever since. This was 6 months ago. I have scratched and sniffed to figure out why it did not set a code. Even discussed with my mech. which is very reliable. Hope this info helps.