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

Well, it's all done, and put back together, with a 400 mile round trip test drive. The ball joints were pretty easy once I got the right tool to take them off, and the springs weren't as bad as I thought they would be.

I was really worried about doing the springs. I had heard horror stories of people having springs fly out and injure them, or to damage to the car, but thankfully the only injuries I suffered were the usual ones. Skinned knuckles and banged fingers, but nothing worse.

I probably didn't "need" to replace any of these things, but I like to do work like this, because now I know that those parts shouldn't have any issues for another 30 years or so. And, if they do happen to go bad, I know exactly how to fix them again!

 

The guy with the '73 Cadillac for trade never contacted me back... apparently something wrong with his email or mine - don't have his #.

I have still be unsuccessful in borrowing a good Quadra-Jet carburetor to see if that is my problem, so with that said, I am tired of messing with it on my own. The wagon is going into the shop in two weeks to have the engine problem diagnosed (by a reputable Chevy mechanic) and REPAIRED and car will be in road-worthy condition. Then the body work will begin!

 

Figured the Super bowl would be lame..so installed a Demon 1904 carb on the IMPALA instead and boy what a difference!!!! This thing really woke the girl up and now that old "roar when you floor" is back !!! Has a polymer fuel bowl/reservoir and was engineered for todays crap gas. Instant starts and was set up for the 200r4, single point fuel line and it looks great with a burnished finish...not to showy...not too drab. Supposed to run cooler in the summer...so we will see about this in a few months. 400.00...from Jegs/Summit. Maybe a consideration in the Holley/Edelbrock...world.

 

Rims and Tires

I took off the aftermarket rims that the original owner put on in '84. they were in near perfect shape, just a little dull and the raw casting of the aluminum between the spokes held brake dust pretty good. I like the look of them but wanted a newer more factory look so I sent them out to have them acid dipped, painted the factory cream colour of the body, then digitised and re-machined and then had 3 coats of clear put on them. They look fantastic and I cant wait to install them on the wagon come spring. I also bought a new set of white walls for them, Toyo Extenza A/S 235/75/15. I bought them in the USA instead of Canada and after all the taxes and duty was paid I still got the spare tire for free! The price in Canada for 4 tires was the same to get them in the USA for 5!!! Something's not right there if you ask me.

 

Nice work

Looks like your money was well spent and the results are outstanding!!

 

Those look great, Thirsty! Done up nicely enough that most people would think they were 'factory'.

 

Thanks guys that means a lot to me. :2_thumbs_up_-_anima That's what I was trying for, a factory look, as the wagon did not come with the original rims or hubcaps. It was 500.00 for the rims all in, they wanted 750.00 but I got them at a slow time of year and paid cash. Still a little steep for a 1984 rim but I wanted that "look" if you know what I mean and I don't think any other rim would look right.

Add in here boys but I think ford or mercury had a rim that looked like mine. maybe a cougar wagon? Any pic's out there of that rim?

 

'77 Thunderbird wheels are close.....

 

Went for a ride...

There was an indoors fund raising car show the next town over to raise money to pay medical bills for a guy that was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. I never get over the quality of the cars in our little county. There were only 3 wagons (sorry, the camera had dead batteries), a 60 Chevy Kingswood rat wagon that looked like it was found in a barn after being a 70's cruiser, complete with the obligatory rust around the windows and a George Wallace for Governor license plate, a really nice 70 Chevelle wagon that was for sale and a nice 58 Chevy 2 door wagon...When I got home I hooked up my tach and the lights for my under dash gauges. Looking forward to a little night cruising tonight...

 

what have you done to me lately???

today we painted the engine compartment and underside of hood

 

Looked at the Premium Sound in my '86 wagon. Thinking about removing the whole thing and replacing it with a Sony Xplod system, and replacing the amp, and all four speakers. Tired of it halfway working.

 

Brakes

Doing , brakes on the big wagon. Hard lines ,wheel cylinders,master cylinder, flex lines ,shoes relined ,drums turned. Found a place that can reline the shoes and arc them to the drums. Timing cover had a leak so while I,am in there chain ,water ,fuel pump.

 

I added remote keyless entry to the Zeph today. It was a cheap kit from eBay, 28 bucks delivered. The instructions were in Chinese, but hooking it up was pretty much a red hot lead and a black ground, then running the wires thru all four doors and rigging up the actuators...

 

I've been having idle issues with my 91 OCC, and got a suggestion about changing the O2 sensor. Well I got my trusty spare part out, and installed it last week. All of the idle issues disappeared. While I was under there, I noticed that my oil pressure sensor was puking oil, so I replaced that too. Since I put headers on the engine, I had to relocate the sensor, and I installed it while I had the engine out. Well, I did not allow for the installation of the exhaust system. It took me about a half hour to do a ten minute job. So, now it works, and does not leak any more. If I got the correct socket for the sensor, it would have been the ten minute job. Reminder: get the correct tool for the job.

 

Yesterday I replaced the body trim panels (thank you Krash Kadillak for that info) and my master cylinder was going out, so I replaced that as well. It was great to be outside with the temperature near 60*F!