kmcn47

yeah glasses and honestly a mask, i do not know what is in that black tar-like coating that goes on EVERY reman'd part for sale in this country, but it stinks, it was sticky and it didn't stop the thing from rusting at all. you probably missed my thread because there isn't much in it haha. just me messing things up then fixing what breaks

Dakota W.

Welcome to the club....

kmcn47

oh ive been in the club, im a damn charter member. so anyways tonight was unsuccessful as hell, mcneal's law decided to strike. everything that could have gone wrong did, then more **** went wrong, and then everything i did that was supposed to counteract mcneal's law didnt work, two ****in pitman arm pullers at work, and neither one fits, one is too big and slips off the sides, the other is too small i cant even get it on, the most progress i made honestly was hitting the pitman arm from through the engine bay with a big *** lead pipe, and its STILL ON i gave up for tonight pissed

couple things. should i (rhetorical because it ****ing will be from now on, sick of cramped spaces) have the car jacked up while trying to do this, i havent until now because i didnt think id have to

should i bolt the box back in place to make getting the pitman arm off easier?

has anyone done this before? help

kmcn47

atleast one good thing came out of tonight

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

I did the steering box on my car last May... After I got the gearbox out I stuck the pitman arm into a big iron drain pipe sticking out of the ground near my apartment to get the nut off, I left it in there, and used the pointy end of my stock tire iron to hit the shaft coming out of the box, and it popped off... Seems easy in hindsight, but it was a bitch until I decided to try the drain pipe... Haha I assume you have the rubber end out?

If the rubber end isn't out, don't hit directly onto the end of the shaft above the rubber to get it out (it can tear easily) If you can get a pry bar between the rubber, and the arm itself you can get it to wiggle.... Sometimes mallet hits along on the arm can dislodge it if you have a bit of movement already. When the rubber pops out, it isn't a gradual transition... You will feel when it pops out. After an hour of annoyance, you really feel like you've conquered something hahaha.

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

Those look killer

kmcn47

nope, both ends still firmly attached to their respective parts, steering box is pretty much hanging loose, no longer bolted to the frame rail, only the steering shaft is still attached the bolts out but its stuck like all the other 30 year old parts lol

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

Bolt it back up, and remove the nut from the top of the rubber joint. You should replace that, and the one on the idler arm side as well. They are cheap, and will cause a ton of play if brittle or cracked. With the box bolted back up, have at that joint. You will then be able to take the nut off the end of the pitman arm if you haven't already... Once that is off take out the box and hit it as I described.

kmcn47

that's my plan tomorrow if the torch and sledge don't get it done

86_irocz-28

cast iron vht enamel?

kmcn47

the very same, it looks soooooooo good in person

86_irocz-28

Haha my block is the same color

kmcn47

sweet, pics? thinking of doing mine the same, or polishing it

86_irocz-28

Once I get the proper oil pan ill polish it to match the heads

kmcn47

yeah i planned to do my vcs and block in iron and polish the heads and pan, weird whats that they say about great minds? haha

86_irocz-28

Haha yea only plans for now is that and then later about 2500 in Texas speed stuff

kmcn47

none of that expensive stuff for me. i gotta get my car running again before i can devote money for my project

kmcn47

welp, making progress, got my sexy new box in the car, my new lines hooked up, my new pump full of fluid, then i saw the wheel wasn't straight, well ****, took the Pittman arm off again to straighten the wheel, wheel straight, and by this time in the day (have i mentioned how much i hate doing suspension work yet? the sun is down and i cannot remember how the hell i got the Pittman arm back on the splines for the box. so for today the car is just sitting still jacked up with the front tire off in the driveway, also at 3 different times today, it decided to torrential downpour on my while i was working. some pics to follow

kmcn47

i don't know is those lines are stress cracks of death that i've heard about or if they're just scrapes, but after a bit of the ole wd-40 and some elbow grease (not wheel bearing grease that i used for the splines of everything) it was factory white underneath and looked very nice all clean, looked even better with my new box in there

kmcn47

old box, no longer holding fluid, ended up breaking into it in the aftermath of tonight, was very dry inside o.0

kmcn47

pretty much how my day started and ended. car jacked up and not yet fixed. its been......................................going on two weeks now :/

86_irocz-28

ease of swap IIRC it also holds more gas has the charcoal canister in the tank so keeps it cleaner under the hood also having the right pump will prevent the need of a fuel pressure regulator plastic never rusts basically a great thing to do if swapping to lsx

kmcn47

those were also all great reasons i want one

86_irocz-28

I got one but not to happy with the price of a fuel pump $400

kmcn47

hmm a quick rockauto search has showed me that aswell, cheapest one is 232. plus whatever shipping would be

kmcn47

well. new steering box is on, everything is bolted down and tight and nothing is leaking, steering wheel is still a bit off center. and steering still feels twitchy, kinda hesitate-y and for some reason or another the check engine light is on and i have no! i repeat NO! power from mid rpm up. pics to follow, think i found my problem, but didn't know it would have this much of an effect, i have a massive vacuum draw somewhere (naf help)

kmcn47

more rant! ****ing photobucket is **** now and i only can upload one at a time and my email is ****ing my pictures up and now everything is ****ed up, im gonna ****ing shotgun the car my phone the computer and a comcast van pretty soon (im kidding of course) but damn can we not **** with **** that aint broke?

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

Good you finally got the box out. When I did mine steering still felt like crap. Alignment solved the issues. Try Flickr for photos, and go with a Holley carb and leave your engine problems behind.

kmcn47

maybe im old fashioned but ive always believed holley is a great carb for a race car, but it will need played with alot, an edlebrock is a great street carb, set it and forget it. this was my first (and pending the purchase of an 85 k5 blazer) might be my last, pics are slightly working, my steering issue i think is i just need to re adjust the steering shaft, take it off then turn a bit and put it back on the box, it wanders to the right with the wheel straight

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

Still sounds like an alignment issue. Makes all the difference in the world. You can correct steering wheel position with the shaft but not wandering issues. How did the rag joint look?

kmcn47

okay, so here is what i think is my problem, cant say for sure because well steering went kapuut the day all this happened, id been looking for the correct ported vacuum switch for awhile, cant find the damn thing, it doesnt (anymore) exist as far as i know. well because i couldnt find it and though what the hell this ones ripped in half and probably not doing **** anyway i put in a pipe plug

well two, count em two hard plastic (very small) vacuum lines ran off this switch and to the (wtf to call it) big black plastic air smog junk **** valve thingy on the passenger side of the motor, (seriously give me names for this **** people) the one with 3 hoses coming from the air tubes going to it and one going to a filter and one going to the air pump idk what it is or does, but no belt on the air pump since ive had the car i figured nothing, so i took the two little plastic lines off and capped the ports

blue caps here


well that day the car ran great right up until i started up my hill, then it started acting funny and i had no steering after that. well just today after getting the car running again (i know its been awhile almost two weeks) it got real hot (despite a low temp reading on the gauge and a good working 180 thermostat) just topped up on antifreeze too actually. and smelled oily as all hell, ran like ****, no power, no top end, revv'd the nuts off of it just to get it back up my hill to home. when i get home i pull the pcv valve out to check it, the neck is bent, and it keeps doing that weird thing where it pops kinda sideways and back (do they all do this is there one that doesnt?) and then i found this plug


nothing plugged into it (there are two of these by the way one black on eon top and this gray/white one here) well nothing plugged in because dun dun dun



its mother****ing melted, couple questions (naf five7kid 68strat? anyone know?) is this whats causing my problems? where if i even can can i buy:
a. that plug first of all
b. the correct ported vacuum switch if putting it all back will fix this, or is there a well known one that works

and finally. whats the cheapest carb/manifold combo that will get all this vacuum hosed egr air smog pumped up **** off of my damn motor? and still let it run good enough for me to drive it everyday?

any help would be appreciated guys, i am so seriously burnt out on just everything today. spent the last 3 days on my back in a stone driveway using all my strength to fight 31 year old suspension, i looked like the creature from the black lagoon too. was it worth it? hell yeah, its my dream car after all

kmcn47

to be honest? like a ragjoint, its original i know, everything is, never had anyproblems with steering until today, wander isnt really the right word, justy pulls because i think i have the wheel misaligned, none of this is easy as a one man show ya know?

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

With your motor I'd recommend this manifold, pretty cheap, and works well. I had a Performer RPM on my car, but my motor being a fairly stock 350 at the time, got the 2701 intake and picked up some torque for sure. This is the manifold I painted red, and fused the carb spacer to.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-2701

Are you sure you want to go Edelbrock for the carb though? I always had run Edelbrock carbs on my motors until I got a Holley with vacuum secondaries, and no lie my mileage increased from 16-18 MAX to 22-23 on the highway.

I now run a Holley Double pumper... People are scared of tweaking them? I don't know why... With your motor, maybe, just maybe twice a year spend 5 minutes with a vacuum gauge tuning for most vacuum at idle.

Free yourself from emissions!

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

You didn't adjust the sector lash did you? Wheel position shouldn't change anything, but you are the one driving the car. The rag joint in my car was toast... I replaced mine, but I needed to drill out rivets to do it. Drove it for awhile, and then I bought an astro van u-joint shaft off a guy here, and all play is gone completely. Did you end up checking play in your idler arm?

Sorry I am grilling you... I went through all this crap, and I ended up just doing the whole front end (bushing and links) in one day... Piece by piece sucks. The play all adds up as each joint has its issues.

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

In fact I might have an Edelcocked carb in the basement... If I find it I'll send it to you.

kmcn47

didnt mess with anything, it was as simple as could be really, more or less didnt try and move anything. but did end up having to put everything back to what i thought was right, and now tomorrow im gonna pull plugs and check them, then probably try and run some carb cleaner through it, still can't think of where the vacuum leak would be

Dakota W.

Check the hoses running to and around the EGR especially well.

kmcn47

theres only two, and both are on

Richboll

After establishing a steady idle, you can use starting fluid and spray around the carb base, valves, lines, and any other areas around the top of the motor in short bursts. When it surges up in RPM from a steady idle, you're in the area of your vacuum leak. You should be able to find it from there. I hope this helps. Good luck!

kmcn47

it does, i was gonna use dawn lol, you dont think losing that broken switch would caus emy issues though?

Dakota W.

It's possible. Check to make sure your hoses aren't cracked ANYWHERE. It could also be a combination of a few things causing your problem(s).

kmcn47

well replaced all the cracked, old, ruined, hoses, and well now it still has no *****, no torque, gets hot way too fast, my old plugs were white and cracked looking, and apparently my secondaries do dick all, with the car idling i forced them open and hosed it down with carb cleaner, nothing happened. sprayed just a bit in the primaries, car died. no ****ing clue, its just no power, it sounds like it has a low rpm miss, but my wires are fine, plugs are brand new, gapped right. its getting gas, its like it isnt getting enough air, i hear no more vacuum leaks. it kinda feels like it doesnt wanna shift im just sick of dealing with it. anyone got any ideas?

86_irocz-28

time for the 5.3 lol

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

You won't see the secondaries open unless they are under load. How is your distributor cap? Any possibility the distributor moved on you, and changed timing? That could cause it to heat up quickly, and run like a bag of dung.

kmcn47

less then 2 months old on the cap, i know i wont see them, but id for damn sure here them, and feel the power, and i sure dont (either one) i don't think its out of time, it idles fine, couple things i discovered today that could possibly be my problem? efe valve this thing


also since the check engine light has been on this whole two weeks i figured id check it, well i dont know what i was doing wrong, but it didn't work, both methods ive heard did nothing. key on to run but not started and use one of these, on terminals a and b (top row farthest right) that did nothing, other way i hear was to do the above, but then take it out, start the car and put it back in with it running, this also did nothing. well now im pretty well stumped, couple things to note, well known local mechanic (right next to AZ) looked at it for me, told me to take it to meineke and have them check system back pressure, and tomorrow morning thats what i'll do, anyone know what it costs to get your thirdgen straightpiped instead of catted (test pipe*) or can i have them break all that air tube **** right off and weld up the holes no problemo? please answer em if you can PROMPTLY as im fed up as hell with having an old camaro haha, also while i hear ya on the ls swap 86_irocz-28 could we try and keep the posts to helpful info? thanks for trying to help 68 strat, but honestly i havent ever messed with the timing, and i dont plan to, like wih the check engine light ive heard several ways to actually set base timing and adjust it, but they all kinda confuse me

kmcn47

the added pics ............. hopefully

check engine light tool

efe valve ....... hopefully, it was an awful picture

kmcn47

odd development, i found a screw bolt, not sure where it goes or what its from but it sure as hell wasn't where i found it a few days ago

kmcn47

does it go here?

kmcn47

also, and i know this is an odd question, is my choke broken? because it looks weird to me

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

for one you stick the jumper in before you turn the key on. second your engine is running way lean. whether its a vacuum problem or carb or timing issue is hard to tell. those engines are sort of all or nothing, basically everything has to work for it to run right, and to me its too much and too complicated for what little benefit you get. when i had a 305 i took everything off it, used headers, a mid 70's hei from a junk yard, and a tc lockup kit. the cc carb seemed alright at wot but not sure how the mileage was at that time i didnt care gas was like 99 cents. honestly i would just put a eldelbrock rpm and holley dp on it. way less to mess with once you get it tuned initially.