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

I think a lot can be salvaged. For the glasses it's a good idea.

 

Not too much to report, just a teaser as to whats coming in the next weeks possibly..

Im actually taking a week off to go to South Carolina this week, friend either lunched the head gasket or the block in his 77 Malibu. He decided its easier (and cheaper) to just have me come out there and help him fix it or swap engines. Leaving tonight to head that way after the races are done here.

Also, for the few of you that like my youtube videos, heres a 2nd one for you.

 

I replaced my steering column on my 92 OCC recently, and it was all for nothing. I was at my dad's, and the car would not start. I ended up swapping the starter...would not start. I found the ground wire from the battery was loose. All that effort for a loose battery cable. Then to make things worse, the previously installed column ended up having a bad dimmer mechanism that I thought was good. I had to replace the column again. I just happened to have another column at my dad's. It went in a lot faster than the other one.

On a good note, I got my 91 back from body rehab. With a little work on the fuel injection tune for the 454 it is driving better than ever, and looks really slick with the new one off carbon fiber hood I made. I must install the grille on the body instead of the hood, and then there will be pics.

 

Looking forward to the pics Fred.

 

Maaaannnn, I cannot tell you how many times I've rescued GM owners just by wiggling the cables. The design is lousy, and has always been lousy. The only improvement GM has made is making the terminal ends with removable covers. If I had known you were swapping columns because of a no-start, I would've spoken up. When you get some time, undo the cables, pull the mounting bolts, and clean the parts in a gallon of hot water with a 1/4 cup baking soda, wirebrush the metal, rinse with clear water, dry and reattach to the battery. You'll be happy the car starts more strongly.

 

Based on the intake it looks like Vortec heads? Should wake that engine up quite a bit over the open chamber heads that are on it if they are original.

 

Yes sir, highly worked over set of vortec heads. I used to run them on my 383 I had in my 81 camaro for years. That car ran 11.30s at 3600lbs. The cam isn't as hot as the old 383, its a hydraulic flat tappet, .488 lift, .292 duration. Hoping to make about 375hp.

 

That will be plenty to make your wagon scoot.

 

Sounds nice. Aside from our '67 Biscayne we run Vortec heads on all of our SBCs. Even in stock form with a little work to increase the valve lift limits they can't be beat for the money.

 

I verified that my power window relay has failed. Now I just need to get another so I can get the windows operating again correctly!

 

I has just installed the battery, and had no reason to suspect that it was loose, so I neglected to check the cables.

I swapped the column because the switch broke, not because of a no start. The emergency column I installed had a different issue (dimmer switch did not work), that I did not discover until it was in the car. There was no wiggling of cables that would have made the original column work. The key turned without resistance in the column, and the ignition was stuck in accessories.

 

Ooh, OK. The picture's a little clearer. However, it's logical to think, that even if either column wasn't broken, it still would've ended up with a no power symptom, all else on the car being equal?

 

Yes, it would have ended up with the same situation, but like I said, I had just installed the battery, and tightened the leads, so my first impulse was not to check the battery leads. Had I not just installed the battery, I would have suspected that, and addressed it. I have had a number of these wagons in the last 10 years, and not much gets past me. After installing the new starter, and it still not starting, I realized that I had not checked the battery connection, and felt really frustrated.

 

I got my recovered Recaros back, and they look great. I think that I got ripped off a little, but they do look good.

I also have a new issue. The recently installed quarter glass has decided to leak. It will have to be removed and reinstalled. I hope this gets done in a reasonable period of time, not like the 15 months it took to get fixed and painted.

 

I installed my body mounted grille.