Back in Black

worse comes to worse, can't you cut those rear bushings if they don't come off with WD-40?

Yep, going to cut them off! When I get a chance...and by that I mean is...

The radiator is leaking. Driver's side tank is cracked. Not leaking a LOT but it's bad enough that it needs replaced. Just as well...the front trans mount needs replaced too so it'll give me more room.

I plan to work on the paint some more tomorrow, probably at least the driver's side fender and door, then hopefully Wednesday my radiator and mount will be here from 'ol Rockauto and I can get that crap done.

I don't feel like doing any more big projects right now . I just wanna DRIVE.

Z-type wrote:

Yep, going to cut them off! When I get a chance...and by that I mean is...

The radiator is leaking. Driver's side tank is cracked. Not leaking a LOT but it's bad enough that it needs replaced. Just as well...the front trans mount needs replaced too so it'll give me more room.

I plan to work on the paint some more tomorrow, probably at least the driver's side fender and door, then hopefully Wednesday my radiator and mount will be here from 'ol Rockauto and I can get that crap done.

I don't feel like doing any more big projects right now . I just wanna DRIVE.

Aaah don't wig out. Sounds like the right "projects" are coming up given the age and mileage. If you got a good rad from RockAuto that's once-and-done maintenance. Same with those brake lines and such.

Suggest you check the wiring grounds while you are at it, especially the one under the coil pack and the one on the pass side frame rail in front of the (+) power point.

Haha I'm keeping cool. And I agree...it's about 'that time' for a lot of this stuff. Regardless, I'd like to weed out any other issues ASAP. Though, having been as deep into the car as I already have, I don't see much going wrong anytime soon.

Thanks for the reminder about the grounds. I'll bet the one under the coils is questionable, but the frame rail is pretty clean. The ground under the back seat is excellent as well.

I got a Vista-pro from Rockauto, pretty much the same one I put in my T-type, and it does a phenomenal job in that car. I've heard a lot of good things about that brand, so I'm sure that'll do the job.

Z-type wrote:

Haha I'm keeping cool. And I agree...it's about 'that time' for a lot of this stuff. Regardless, I'd like to weed out any other issues ASAP. Though, having been as deep into the car as I already have, I don't see much going wrong anytime soon.

Thanks for the reminder about the grounds. I'll bet the one under the coils is questionable, but the frame rail is pretty clean. The ground under the back seat is excellent as well.

I got a Vista-pro from Rockauto, pretty much the same one I put in my T-type, and it does a phenomenal job in that car. I've heard a lot of good things about that brand, so I'm sure that'll do the job.

I'm happy with the Rock Auto Vista Pro I put in my Riv last year.

While you are at it, Z, you might want to test that radiator cap if it's original. Mine died this spring. A hint is that the cooling system is in good shape and the coolant is fresh, but the temp gauge goes over one tick past midline on a 85 F 9or cooler) day.

For the rest of you reading this (andrew Z knows no doubt) the cooling system is under pressure, each pound of addl pressure buys you 15-20 F or so of coolant temp management. A 15 lb cap keeps the coolant in the Riv from boiling in most conditions as long as everything else is sound/working. If the coolant is not boiling, the water pump will circulate it... So here is a "longevity hint" - If you overheat due to a bad cap, replace the thermostat while you are at it because that running hot may have forced the wax to leak out of the therm's pellet and that sucker will quit working (stick closed) at a time of high inconvenience. I mean, at least check it and if there is any waxy residue near the pellet (no mistaking it, it's thick, waxy and sticky but there will not be much of it) replace the thermo - and don't cheap out on it either.

Albertj

Ah thanks for the suggestion Albert...I didn't even think of the cap, but I remember reading your post about yours failing. I will do so ASAP!

In related news, I did get the radiator replaced today, in close to 100F temperatures lol. I'm so worn out just from being hot. Anyway, a few pics, because that's what I do:

Just tearing it apart. I managed to break two bolts - ones that hold down the left and right sides of the radiator cover. Oh well. It's still secure.


The fans were actually easier to remove than I expected.


The top transmission line loosened up just fine, but the bottom was rusted all the way to hell. I just turned it and hope it broke...luckily, it did. But this is a picture of the reason I'm replacing this radiator - this is a decent sized crack. This is just on the other side of the nozzle for the top rad hose. Strange place, but it's the culprit.


Just checking the old with the new. Everything matches perfectly!


I swapped over the level sensor and bottom hose coupler, then had to figured out something with this bottom trans line. Luckily the rest of the line is in decent shape, so I cut the line off back about 6 inches. I went to Advance and got a length of line, but ended up hacking off one of the ends and 'patching' the line with high pressure hose and good clamps.


All put back together! Filled it up and ran the car until it got to operating temperature. There doesn't seem to be any leaks I can find, coolant or trans or otherwise, but I haven't driven it yet.


So, since the rad only took me about 2 hours from start to finish, I decided it was a good time to do those rear sway bar links. I got out the trusty Sawzall:


And this is what became of the links in a matter of minutes.



That's about it for today. Depending on what I have to do tomorrow, I intend to get the driver's side of the car polished/touched up/waxed completely. Depending how long THAT takes, I'll start on the passenger side. Still a few other little things to do as well, I realized I have to replace the front trans mount and it was just delivered today, and there's still engine bay cleaning to be done.

Phew! It doesn't seem like it's ending .

Actually, you're pretty far along. I would watch out for the shocks/struts weeping (you might want to clean them off with windex or 409 then hit them with rust converter and then some paint) and tie rod ends. I would consider checking under the rear seat - condition of floor pan, battery, wiring, fuses/breakers. It should end up being a quick cursory check.

Nice work, Andrew! Your cracked plastic radiator is so typical. Same exact place as mine, and a few others have reported near identical cases. Just a word of caution if you refreshed the coolant with new, and your water pump isn't new - keep an eye on your water pump over the next few hundred miles. Mine (original) failed about 2 days after replacing the rad and coolant. I didn't have a flush.

If you search enough, you'll see water pump failure is quite common shortly after a coolant change. Some feel it is coincidence, others blame it on flushing, and some blame it on not burping the air from the system. Still others feel that new coolant actually acts like a flush to dislodge debris, etc. It's really hard to say. Keep an eye on it - if you see a temp increase, loss of coolant, or hear squealing belts, don't assume a leaking hose or loose clamp. The pump could be telling you it's time. Or, there may be no problem at all. After a thousand miles, I think you're probably safe from whatever it is that causes this phenomena.

Cleaned up the front struts as you suggested, Albert. Everything looks good under there, actually.

And thanks for the tip Aaron...I hadn't actually noticed many water pump failures myself, but doing a quite search I see it is kinda common. However, I'm wondering if my lower-mileage engine might help me out here? I'm optimistic it'll be ok, but I'll keep a close eye on it for sure! Since I've done so many little engine 'things' on the car lately, there's a lot I'm watching closely right now.

Speaking of engine 'things', I ended up swapping the front trans mount with a new one today. I think I got the last one available on Rockauto. I think if any others go bad I'm going to do the polyurethane mod. I've never done anything like that before so it'll be fun. But I don't need to do it right now lol. Anyway, you can see the old one is GONE.





I felt rather ambitious today and did a trans fluid pan drop. The filter and seal were a PITA to remove for some reason, but all is well. I luckily had the original metal gasket and it was in fantastic shape, and there was almost no debris on the magnet inside the pan. Regardless of how nice it was, I hate doing trans fluid lol.

As far as my ambition goes right now though, I think the paint will have to wait until Sunday to get done. Between yesterday's work and todays work, my arms are just a little too worn out to be wet sanding and polishing lol.

If/when the new one fails, use hockey pucks for the front mount! It's an almost free, forever lasting mod that will improve throttle response when you hit the go pedal.

I like the hockey puck mount. I did that on my SSEI and it seemed like a pretty nice easy way to improve response. Luckily for us guys here on the Riv board, the Bonneville/Park Avenue mount brackets aren't horrible difficult to obtain.

I used my existing OE Riv mount bracket and bolt, an iron pipe as a sleeve, and a couple pieces of nylon rod as spacers. It's super easy to do, bit if you already filled a mount, that works too!

That reminds me, where does one obtain the polyurethane to do that kind of job?

I purchased from McMaster Carr. They sell various types of material stock in small quantities for a reasonable price. Might help you out on a future project. Shipping from Ohio, I usually get my order the next day. There ARE cheaper ways to get things, but MC is extremely convenient.

Sweet...I'll keep them in mind because im sure I'll need it sooner or later...

I think I just made another decision...first thing I'll do on Sunday is install my boost gauge . I'm thinking I'll do the door vent mounted version . It's your basic Sunpro gauge but i have a green bulb cover so the color will match at least!

Ok everyone, I finally have some stuff to update. Last night I decided to install my boost gauge, and i did end up putting it in the doorway. I didn't expect it to take as long as it did, but everything seems good and everything is functioning properly!









I love the way it looks at night! I can't get a great picture of it, but I had a leftover green bulb cover from my other boost gauge in my T-type, so the color is nearly perfect to the other gauges. I have the lighting power coming from the ashtray light, and I grounded it on the parking brake bracket. The tubing is T'ed into the fuel pressure regulator line. The L67 is making about 8 PSI at the top of 1st gear, which make sense, considering the LIM porting and FWI. I'm pretty happy.

But the main reason I'm posting is because I finally got to work on the car's paint. If you recall, the paint looked like someone had wiped the car down with a towel full of rocks. I spent about 7 hours today on the paint, and I'm very very happy with the results.

Might not look like much, but here's the finished driver's fender.


The top of the door was so bad with scratches that I had to wet sand it.


This is one of my favorite types of pictures...a sort of before and after in the same shot.


Aaaaah lovely.




So, my plan was just to sand and polish the driver's side and quit for the day. I got inspired, and the rest of the car got done. I sanded and polished the rear bumper, and polished the passenger side of the car (no bad scratches). I also applied a new pinstripe...the original was painted on but I found a good tape replacement but applied it the stock 'pattern'. Anyway, after all that was done, I applied some Meguir's black wax and mothers pure carnauba wax. The front bumper still needs replaced and the roof needs painted, but they're not so bad that they're distracting. Enjoy!






















Yes, I put a GS emblem on the trunk . I think I can justify it though. Engine upgrades/mods, suspension upgrades, wheels, and some interior changes. Also, the gray on the bottom of the car still needs painted black. I think a GS emblem makes sense .

Some little details here and there need done, but overall, I'm VERY satisfied with how the car has been turning out. I'm such a sucker for black and this is one of those cars I can't stop looking at . Once all the cosmetic stuff is done, you can bet I'll be taking some calendar worthy shots ...

Looks great,a plus!!!

Nice work! What a transformation!

Z,
I do believe you're causing the former owner to bleed from his eyes

Great job on that paint! looks really sharp! nice crisp reflection! love it!!!!

Andrew,
Your car looks amazing. It obviously took a lot of work to get it to look as good as it does. I just hope it will stay that way. Before I had my Riviera stripped to bare metal and repainted, my paint look liked someone had polished it with steel wool. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think the paint will hold up. Those fine lines are the beginning of the end for the paint on our Rivs. What happened on your roof will eventually happen to the rest of the car. Seen it many times. Hope I'm wrong. Love the wheels, later model Buick?

Thanks everyone for the compliments! means a lot to me .

Larry - I know exactly what you're talking about with the 'fine lines' in the paint. Mine was nothing like that. I've seen exactly what you're talking about, mine was actually man-made scratches. They didn't look anything like the 'steel wool' look that we all know and love (hate). The roof, yeah, it's shot. I feel that the rest of the car should last at least a few more years, the way I take care of it. I thank you for mentioning that and reminding me though!

The wheels are off of my dad's '04 Regal GS. I don't know how much longer I'll get to use those wheels because the chrome is peeling like crazy from the back and is slowly making it's way to the front! I feel the paint will outlast the wheels .

Sean - I don't if the PO is bleeding from the eyes or not, but I'll bet he might want it back .

Looking really good Andrew! Definitely like the black.

Thanks Matt! Can't go wrong with black .

Small update. Two exciting things happened on the way to work this morning (always on the way to work, at the most inconvenient time...). The vacuum line I used for the boost gauge decided to split at the vacuum tree connection on the blower so my boost gauge was reading a maximum of 5 HGin of vac. Fixed that when i got to work, and when i went to take some things outside after lunch, there was a palm sized puddle of trans fluid on the ground . So i popped the hood while we were slow inside and checked things out.

I figured it was leaking at the hose piece I replaced the line with when i changed the radiator. I got home and took the passenger side fan out to see what was going on. I started the car up and found it was leaking at the radiator fitting. I took a wrench to it out of curiosity and found out that it was just not torqued down enough. I had put that end of the line in with the rad out of the car and didn't really 'finish' that part. As soon as i tightened it, the leak stopped. I'm going to keep and eye on that too...

Another day in the life of an old car .

Hard to beleive these are "old" cars now, they are technically, but before I got my Riv I was (and still am) a big Fiero guy. Those are now nearly 30 year old cars. That's old. Similar to the age of your 88 T-type.

EDIT: I really like that boost gauge install...want to install mine next? I have a Autometer gauge sitting here, just waiting. How did you do yours, similar to the "how-to" thread I saw on this forum?