1971 Firebird Build ("The Other Woman", a.k.a. Project "T.O.W.")

[GregWeld]

I think the car worked better before you "modded" it..... LOL OH MAN!

Originally Posted by carbuff

And a few pictures of the interesting work that had been done to the car prior to my receiving it:

[carbuff]

Ha! Man, it's crazy what some people will do... Shadetree mechanics at their best!

I wasn't aware of the issue with LS's pumping all the oil up out of the pan. I'll look into the pushrods. Interesting...

[Flash68]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I think the car worked better before you "modded" it..... LOL OH MAN!

Looks like the same guy who tackled the air cleaner project.

[GregWeld]

Originally Posted by Flash68

Looks like the same guy who tackled the air cleaner project.

I kind of like the adjustability of the cotter key and cable arrangement... Hadn't seen that one before!


That is an actual shot of Bryan's car by the way. Perhaps pre "The mystery Salt Lick incident", you and Rob and Rodger and I discussed at length - that's so greatly affected his taste buds.

But my thinking is that an "eye" for food --- is also probably the same "eye" that bought this project Firebird. Ya think??



Sorry Bryan --- I just couldn't pass up just one more time of busting your danglers.

[WSSix]

Really glad you had fun beating on the car. Enjoy yourself!

[carbuff]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

But my thinking is that an "eye" for food --- is also probably the same "eye" that bought this project Firebird. Ya think??

That picture actually came from the red car, the original one that I disassembled, and then sold when I moved. You'd think I would learn, after having done this 4 times now, but I bought this one from pictures only. It's amazing what a person will tell you to sell a car. :\

Sorry Bryan --- I just couldn't pass up just one more time of busting your danglers.

Yeah yeah. Love you guys!

[carbuff]

I picked up TOW today after she received from TLC from Eric. I have a list of things to do, but I also have an auto-x tomorrow, so Eric squeezed her in for a day to do some of the quicker items.

• Replace the steering rack with a 'new' unit from AGR
• Check the clutch hydraulics (the engagement has been getting higher)
• Check the brakes, they felt a little soft after my school last weekend

As you may recall, at the Fall FW GG event, I blew a seal in the steering rack I had. I replaced it with a remanufactured unit from PepBoys. While it 'worked' ok, I was never happy with the feel. I just wasn't "right". When Eric pulled it out, he noticed that the poly bushings looked like they were 'moving'. I'm not sure why, the mounting bolts were tight, but he said the bushings looked worn inside.

Today when I drove it after the swap, it was night and day difference! The old rack felt sloppy, but this rack feels like the car felt when I first drove it after all of the work. So whether it was an issue with the reman rack, the bushings, or something else, all I know is that it's MUCH more responsive now to steering input. I like it...

Eric found that the fitting on the clutch master cylinder was leaking, and when he tried to snug it up, it just spun the threads. The reservoir was almost empty, so we definitely had a leak there. He was able to drill out the threads and go 1 size larger, and that solved that problem. Clutch again feels much better, engagement is lower as it should be.

Finally, there was a slight leak at one of the brake fittings that looks like it let a little air into the system. Tightened that up and bled the brakes. Again, they felt better afterwards.

He also discovered that the rear axle was not perfectly aligned to the car, making the thrust angle be off a little. Strangely, but alignment shops the car has been to told me it was just barely off, but not enough to worry about. But the car has always had a slight pull to the right. Well, after he fixed this and did a string alignment on the front toe, the car is tracking down the road straighter than it ever has.

So round one of the little touchups are complete, and the car feels great. He gave her a bolt check also while he was down there, and things look good. We're going to try and tackle some of the exhaust clearance issues next week. I think we are going to try and use oval piping from the headers all the way past the torque arm crossmember, replacing the 3" collector on the headers with an oval one instead. It's the only way we're going to get the clearance I want.

Looking forward to the auto-x tomorrow. This is a serious group of locals, and there are 140 cars registered for the event. I'm curious to see what the cross-section of cars will be.

[gerno]

Glad to hear you got everything straightened out. Have fun tomorrow, I'm jealous I can't join you.

[68LS1]

Originally Posted by carbuff

I picked up TOW today after she received from TLC from Eric. I have a list of things to do, but I also have an auto-x tomorrow, so Eric squeezed her in for a day to do some of the quicker items.

• Replace the steering rack with a 'new' unit from AGR
• Check the clutch hydraulics (the engagement has been getting higher)
• Check the brakes, they felt a little soft after my school last weekend

As you may recall, at the Fall FW GG event, I blew a seal in the steering rack I had. I replaced it with a remanufactured unit from PepBoys. While it 'worked' ok, I was never happy with the feel. I just wasn't "right". When Eric pulled it out, he noticed that the poly bushings looked like they were 'moving'. I'm not sure why, the mounting bolts were tight, but he said the bushings looked worn inside.

Today when I drove it after the swap, it was night and day difference! The old rack felt sloppy, but this rack feels like the car felt when I first drove it after all of the work. So whether it was an issue with the reman rack, the bushings, or something else, all I know is that it's MUCH more responsive now to steering input. I like it...

Eric found that the fitting on the clutch master cylinder was leaking, and when he tried to snug it up, it just spun the threads. The reservoir was almost empty, so we definitely had a leak there. He was able to drill out the threads and go 1 size larger, and that solved that problem. Clutch again feels much better, engagement is lower as it should be.

Finally, there was a slight leak at one of the brake fittings that looks like it let a little air into the system. Tightened that up and bled the brakes. Again, they felt better afterwards.

He also discovered that the rear axle was not perfectly aligned to the car, making the thrust angle be off a little. Strangely, but alignment shops the car has been to told me it was just barely off, but not enough to worry about. But the car has always had a slight pull to the right. Well, after he fixed this and did a string alignment on the front toe, the car is tracking down the road straighter than it ever has.

So round one of the little touchups are complete, and the car feels great. He gave her a bolt check also while he was down there, and things look good. We're going to try and tackle some of the exhaust clearance issues next week. I think we are going to try and use oval piping from the headers all the way past the torque arm crossmember, replacing the 3" collector on the headers with an oval one instead. It's the only way we're going to get the clearance I want.

Looking forward to the auto-x tomorrow. This is a serious group of locals, and there are 140 cars registered for the event. I'm curious to see what the cross-section of cars will be.

Amazing how those small things make the car so much better. Might have to check if Eric is planning a holiday down under.