I used Weld On the I got from theengineerguy.com. I also cut a sliver of plexiglass that I used to fill in the gap within the crack. I drilled a hole at the end of the crack to stop it from continuing. Regardless of what you do it will not be pretty so painting the top may be the way to go.

Disconnect the hose and remove the retaining clip the rotate the hose around the hard line. A vise grip on the hard line makes sure the flats on the nut don't get rounded off.

What changes have you made that you what to reborn a chip? The 85 is a very forgiving MAF system and my understanding is there is very little performance wise that can be "tuned".

The air conditioner pulley is squealing on my 85. The noise is constant, varies with the RPM and is coming from the front of the pulley. The belt is new and the air conditioning works. Any suggestions? Is it repairable?

Back in the old days before fuel injection and computers the easy test was to turn on the headlights and turn the key. If the lights dimmed it was the battery. If the lights didn't dim, it was the solenoid.

I believe I'm in 3rd before 20mph. Will also shift into 3rd when going up hill and the engine then lugs. No mods to the trans that I'm aware of. I put aluminum heads, camshaft, roller rockers and headers on the engine. I reset the TV using the procedure in the FSM.

I'm not completely sure. I just finished the car and have started driving it. I've taken it out in small trips around the block up until now and it always seemed to shift very quickly through the gears.

My 85 has an automatic transmission. I've reset the TV cable several times and the tans continues to shift very early. Even going up a hill it will shift into 3rd and cause the engine to lug. Any suggestions?

Thanks Bogus.

I just got Bosch III's from FIC and while I'm at it I was going to remove the cold start injector. Can anyone tell me what cap to get to block off the back of the fuel rail?

I just picked up 4 Raptor's from Summit. They were $444 with S&H etc. Some research I did online indicated that Michelin makes them.

The upper control arm will have a ball joint that is riveted in place. When i did mine, I ground off the top of the rivet and used a punch to push out the rest of the rivet. I had the arm off the car so the risk of scoring the arm was less. The lower arm has a pressed in ball joint. For less than the price of the portable C style press you can buy a 12 ton shop press from Harbor Freight. Using a shop press is what I did and it made the process very simple. It is also something that is more versatile that the C frame press. My experience with the C frame press is that it doesn't generate enough pressure to make the job go smoothly. Lastly, if you're replacing the lower ball joints, you may as well do the uppers.

I used the injector calculator Matatk linked and with 350 hp plugged in it recommended 27 lb/hr injectors and at 400hp, 31 lb/hr injectors. I'm not racing the vette, will do some autocross but the primary use would be cruising. So I guess your suggestion Bogus, of 26 or 27 lb injectors would be the way to go.

Jon,
I have an 85. I eliminated the AIR pump and cats, added 86 aluminum heads that I port matched, 1.6 rockers, headers and added a cam with 260/272 duration and .499/.493 lift. Are the rebuilt 32lb Bosch III's too much?

Cast Iron 2.02 double hump heads. Valves done, valve guides replaced, hardened valve seats, new Comp Cams springs and 1.5 roller rockers (casting number
3927186) $600 or Best Offer

Thanks everyone.

I have an 85 and replaced the rack last year. I looked at one from Rock Auto but went through Autozone. Ease of returning the old rack for the core charge made up my mind. I went with the "sport" rack which is 2 turns lock to lock. It was a direct replacement to the old rack and everything bolted up.

I came across some wheels from a 2000 C5 and was wondering if they would work on a 1985. The wheels are 17in front and 18in rear.

Slow down 86Pacer. I've been a member of this forum for some time and have always found BillH to be extremely helpful and never one to be negative or to brag.

For the original poster. I picked mine up at Harbor Freight and I'm pretty sure I paid under $30 for it.

I also responded in your other thread. Did you remove and replace the rear sway bar? If you did, check t make sure you didn't reinstall it upside down. This would cause the bar to lad the suspension and keep it from settling.

If you think your car is sitting high after you replaced the bushings with Poly and removed and reinstalled the sway bars, check to make sure you didn't install the rear sway bar upside down. Doing this will load the rear and cause it to hang up and not settle.

I got a couple short pieces of brake line and bent them in an arc so they fed back up into the resevoirs. If one of the lines is not flowing as much as the other, could it be normal pressure difference between the front and rear?

My top was the OEM one. I did notice air bubbles in the surface of the glue when it dried. The glue I used was very thick so any syringe you use would have to be able to handle that. I also laid a strip of acrylic across the bottom side of top where the crack, hoping this would keep the crack from reforming.

I got an acrylic glue called Weld-on from the Engineerguy.com. Then sanded and polished it. I haven't driven it much to see if it will ultimately hold up. I also cat a sliver of acrylic to take up some of the space in the crack.

What kind of cost are you looking at?

I was thinking of using rectangular tubing in the 1 x 2 range to keep things flatter than the R&D brace. Also want to miter the center piece to the front and back which is also different than the R&D one.

I've been thinking of making up a targa brace as it doesn't seem that complicated to make up. I had been thinking of two versions. One made up up of rectangular tubing to keep it as low profile as possible. The other uses heim joints and swedged rods. The heim joint version would allow me to put some tension into play but I question whether that is advisable. I also don't think it would provide the rigidity that a solid brace would. All input and ideas are welcome!

If I pressure bled the system at the master cylinder would that do the same as bench bleeding it? Bench bleeding a master cylinder is on thing I've never done on a car

I recently installed C5 brake calipers, Earl's brake bleeders, new brake hoses and flushed the brake fluid on my 85. I've bled the brakes 3 times and when the car is running if I leave the pedal alone for a couple seconds and then press it, it will go to the floor and the brake light will come on. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?

I did the C5 front brake conversion and picked up ATE front and rear rotors from Tire Rack, $46 each for the front and $41 for the rear. They are silver coated and have a unique slot pattern on them

Thanks Bogus. Thanks for the offer on the picture Matatk, I know where the EST is.

I have an 85 and It's been a while since I had to set the timing on an engine and I'm a little unclear. On the timing cover is the tab with a 0 marking and degree marking before and after the 0 mark. I also installed an aftermarket harmonic balance with the 0 mark and degrees marked on it also. The procedure is to disconnect a wire that prevents the computer from controlling the timing and then set the timing at 6 degrees BTDC. Do I match the 0 mark on the balancer up to 6 degrees BTDC or match 6 degrees on the timing tab or match 6 degrees on the balance up to the 0 mark on the timing tab

Can I ask what you paid to get the wheels re-chromed?

I also looked at the work LD85 did and went his route of making up shock towers. My daughters fiance is a welder and I mocked the towers up in cardboard and her made them up in steel and also welded them in. Whether coilovers are worth it probably as with all things in hot rodding, is a matter of preference. I did QA1 coilovers all around because it was cheaper than replacing the leaf spring. I also can change the spring rate very easily and also ended up with adjustable shocks. I made up a lower rear mount to eliminate using the stock mount. Using the stock mount required shimming the coilover away from the knuckle for clearance and worried me about putting to much force on the stock stud mount.

That is quite a bit of money for coilovers on your car where you will still have to replace the shock tower. The shock tower on an 85 will not support coilovers. Most people will will replace the shock tower with ones from a later year or make up their own. I made up my own. Going with coilovers made for the 85 means you have a smaller diameter spring to fit within the shock tower. If you make up your own towers, you can go with QA1's which are significantly cheaper. Also, that lower mount is very pretty but I can do a lot with that $250 and make up my own.

At this point I have nothing to lose by trying this. The car is not a daily driver and the majority of time the top will be off. Primary use will be to keep the rain out when it's parked. Does anyone know what the top is? I know it is acrylic but is it lexan or plexiglass or something else? I'm also toying with the idea of routing out a strip along the crack into which I would glue a patch piece with the solvent. This would all be done from the inside so it would not be so visible from the outside.

I already drilled the end of the crack to prevent it from spreading anymore. The benefit to the weld on is that since it's used for acrylic/plexiglass, it works by capillary action so it wicks into the crack. I think putting the thin strip on the interior side of the top can be sanded and buffed. My hope is that using the strip to bridge the crack will add strength and reduce the chance of re-cracking.

The targa top on my 85 has a single 10inch crack in that I have been toying with ideas on how to repair it. I tried using an epoxy to fill the crack but as soon as the top was stressed it re-cracked. I came across a product called Weld-on 40. It's an acrylic adhesive with 4000lb/inch strength. My idea is to use this product but also use a piece of thin sheet acrylic to lay over the crack to bridge it. I'll probably do it on the bottom so I can sand and buff out the top. Anyone with thoughts or other ideas?

The end links I made up.

Sorry, I'm having problems posting a picture. Can you tell me how to do this?

Here are a couple photos of my engine I recently changed the heads, cam, added headers and roller rockers to. I also made up an air pump eliminator bracket and actually used the bracket from the air pump itself. Lastly I made up lower brackets for my rear coilovers that allowed my to eliminate the shock mount and also space the coilover away from the knuckle enough to eliminate interference. I threw in a couple pics of the interior.

Attach file:

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  Pulley 1.jpg (980.07 KB)


  Pulley 4.jpg (983.57 KB)


  Engine.jpg (966.13 KB)


  Front Coilover.jpg (983.75 KB)


  Rear Coilover.jpg (970.06 KB)


  Sway bar.jpg (966.43 KB)


  Drivers Side 1.jpg (969.71 KB)


  Back.jpg (976.50 KB)


  Door Panel.jpg (971.97 KB)


  Rear.jpg (995.46 KB)


  Hood.jpg (925.06 KB)

Try running the engine with the garage lights off and see if the are any obvious arcs coming off the cap

I need to check the timing and make sure everything like the idle etc are all where they should be. The idle has a nice lope to it and best of all, no codes.

I got the 85 started tonight and was able to break in the cam. I changed the heads for aluminum from an 86, port matched the heads and intake, added 1.6 roller rockers, headers and an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. I also eliminated the air pump and EGR and switched over to an 88's smaller starter. I had a lot of cleaning to do and had a couple false starts. First was the distributer being 180 degrees off cause I was watching the exhaust rocker rather than the intake when i was setting top dead center. Then I had a bad oil leak from the two piece Summit timing chain cover that forced me to drop the pan and take the entire front of the engine back apart so i could go back to the original cover. It was all worth it though after it fired right up and I ran at 2000rpm to break in the cam without a problem or leak.

It's a Sears model. Also Bogus another question. The heads I put on are aluminum ones from an 86. I put spark plugs for an 85 in the engine and was wondering the other day if spark plugs for an 86 are different?

I've installed a BBK adjustable pressure regulator along with changing the heads and cam and adding 1.6 roller rockers. It's not starting and I'm chasing done the problem. I put a pressure guage on the fuel rail and when I turn on the key the needle pegs at 50 and then rapidly drops to 40 then to 20lbs. It will hold at 20 and then slowly drop. Turning the screw on the regulator in or out doesn't seem to change anything.

Neither my battery cable nor any of the other wires were even close to attaching. On the 85 starter they mount to the solenoid on top of the starter. On the 88 starter, the wires mount on the bottom of the starter. They were several inches too short

I went to Autozone a picked up a 19" battery cable with lugs on both ends. I bolted it to the exiting cable and found a black rubber washing machine drain hose at Busy Beaver that was thin and cheap and a piece of it slid with some persuasion over the ends of the cable I bolted together. I extended the other wires and the extra lengths allowed me to pull and route the wires away from the headers I installed.

I switching over to an 88 starter on my 85. As a result I need to extend the wires. Can I just go to TruValue and get wire to extend the battery cable?

I picked up a no name mini gear reduction starter at a swap meet a while back and need to replace the solenoid. Can I pick one up at AutoZone?