What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

I had to bring her home. Damn mechanic wasn't getting the roolbar I already paid him for done. Been three weeks and he hasn't touched it.

 

Pulled it out of the garage for some cleanup and more pics

 

Starting to get my Suabru wagon ready for the winter.My car needed tires so I decided to put on real snow tires.Went with the General Artic Grip snow tire.
Must say for a snow tire they are very quiet on dry pavement as we don't have snow yet.Did another oil and filter change and gave the car a looking over for the upcoming cold weather.All's looking good.Hope we get some snow so I can see if I really needed snow's.

 

Trans replacement

So after the TH350 transmission died, I replaced it and what a difference... The new (old) trans shifts nice and has second gear so no more 1st to 3rd shifts. Gas mileage is awesome!!!, and he pulls hard again!!! I also replaced the Flowmaster mufflers with OEM Cadillac ones from the 70's. Sounds nice and quiet!!!

This video is a tad long, but you get the idea... 326 stock bottom end with 068 cam, Performer intake Holley 670 carb, HEI ignition, stock manifolds. TH350 with 2400 stall.

So nice to be driving the wagon with power!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hulyA3W0qd4&feature=youtu.be

 

Finished up the rear brakes and the shocks. Saved the old springs and reused them (money tight). Those rear shock upper bolts are in the absolute worst place to get your hands in to loosen. But we preveiled! Today we will look into fixing the front passenger side window. Would be nice to roll it down again!

 

Replaced the alternator and voltage regulator today. Went for a ride last night and the alternator idiot light started coming on and off. Made it home thankfully. I figured it was part of the damage caused when I fried the wiring harness autocrossing in September. $70 for both parts - cheap insurance. I have new gauges (volt, oil pressure, water temp) that I'll install this winter when I swap out fthe dash pad and install the tachometer in the dash as well.

 

Thanks for your input, Marshall. The gap is actually equal all the way across the width of the front end. That's probably better than on just one side which would indicate the kind of damage you described. The damage to the original bumper looked like it was from backing out of a parking space and swinging the front end to the left hitting a post or something. Not, fortunately, a front type collision. I checked everything before I mounted the new bumper and didn't see anything obviously wrong, so I hope to be able to adjust it.

Mike

 

I saw your photo and was thinking that the fender itself could be damaged or out of adjustment. I had a filler that I couldn't line up on one of my rancheros. I finally was able to see that the fender was bent enough to prevent proper alignment. But not able to see the damge with your eye unless you compared it to another undamaged fender. (just a thought)

 

Good eye, Dan. The bottom part of the fender where it meets the bumper was a bit out place and it took some doing to get the the whole thing ready to fasten up. I'm not sure it's the cause of the gap since I left that side slack and tightened it up last so it (hopefully) wouldn't affect the rest of the alignment. I'll definitely look into it though, when I get around to working on it again. If my car wasn't a woodgrained type I would have gotten the fender of the donor car as well as the bumper. Thanks for your help.

Mike

 

"What have you done to your wagon"?

Still nothing. Still setting and winter is coming. Some guy my dad knows well (who knows older Chevys well) came by today bumming something and he asked whose all cars were here in the driveway and dad mentioned to him the problem with my wagon and he was like, "huh... well I am going to head out of here, blah, blah and he was gone". Still waiting on my uncle to see if he is going to help me with it, but it dont look like it. I am going to give him a couple of more weeks to do something with it and if he dont, then I think I may put it on ebay, Craigslist or wherever and call it quits. I have $5000 invested and I know I will never get anywhere near that for it and afraid so low that it will be in danger of being a memory.

Heck, I paid $4000 for the car itself. You learn from your mistakes... sometimes.

It wasnt meant for me to ever drive this car I dont think.

Oh well, maybe after my dad actually gets his retirement that he was supposed to have got a long time ago I can find another already in fine condition.

 

Swapped out the Dash for one i got of craigslist. $40 score.
The one I had was hacked up real bad, was painted.

Went pretty well, what i didn't have on the new one i got off the old one to mount it properly.

TS the gas gauge.
Short the Tan wire to ground at the gauge, Goes Empty- Good gauge.
Short the tan wire at the rear driver passenger door, goes empty- wires good to there.
Short the tan wire at the rear bumper before it goes up to the tank, goes empty- damn its the sender.

Double check the ground. of course its good.
Soaked the tank straps for a saturday fun fest. Good thing is ran the tank dry.

 

Friend of mine bought a 74 sedan. I took all the perfect blue interior parts, bumper fillers, taillights, new dual exhaust, door seals, window weatherstripping, air shocks. Will make use of some of these parts on my two door. The other parts will go into storage for the next wagon

 

Kingswood: From what I've followed on your problem here's what I'd do: Replace the timing chain if you think it's loose while ya got it apart, forget the balancer etc. and put it all back together so that it starts and runs. Then call a rollback or friend with a trailer and get it to a reputable tranny shop. ( I would avoid Aamco) My bet is the trans is cooked! I've seen it time and again with GM (&other makes) when you change the fluid/filter it seems to go bad somehow. A re-build will be between 9-1200$ if you take the whole car. Another way to go is have someone help you drop the trans yourself and take it in, that will save you half the money and should only take a couple hours. Good luck and don't give up! Looks like a nice car overall and you will get very little out of it in it's current condition.

 

Did some photo ops with the new sedan with the wagon







Primered the sons Firewall on the Camaro

Painted the motor, its metallic flake and looks like it has runs but it does not

Painted and installed the rear filler on the sedan

So pretty productive day

 

I installed a pertronix unit, and while doing that noticed the cap was cracked in 2 places 180 deg apart, and between 2 leads on both sides. Now she runs awesome. Drives like a new car. 455 and a 2 barrel when running good is pretty impressive. Now to rebuild the front end and install some new springs shocks and poly bushings should firm things up a bit and get rid of the water bed suspension that we are enjoying now.:banana: