80 vette - back on the road

Tom,

Thanks for all the advice. Once I get all of that done, and she is purring again, do you have a few recommended web sites that sell interior items. Not only did I leave it out in the driveway, I was a mean bastard and didn't put a cover on, so the sun bleached the carpet something fierce.

-Rick

Rick:

First of all, fifty lashes with a wet noodle for letting her sit so long! You SHOULD be ashamed.

First things First!! Repair the brakes. Next thing to do is to: Repair the brakes. After that: FIX the damn brakes!!!

If they don't work there's no reason to start the engine.

Drain and change all fluids: gas, oil, tranny fluid, coolant. Change the fuel filter. Change the filter on the tranny. Clean or change the PVC valve. Replace the air filter. Remove spark plugs and squirt in small amount of oil into each cylinder. Buy a oil pump priming tool, here's a link to one at Summit:

Part #: SUM-901010Remove the distributor and using the priming tool and your hand drill (counter clockwise direction), get the oil pressure up to 20-40psi for at least a couple of minutes.Without putting the spark plugs or the distributor back in, dry crank the engine for a minute or two to lubricate the cylinder walls and give the fuel pump time to fill the carb. Do NOT push on the gas pedal during this cranking, you don't need fuel in the engine yet! Put the engine back to timing mark "TDC" firing on cylinder 1 and reinstall the distributor. Now is a good time to change the rotor and cap and the spark plug wires. Reinstall the old spark plugs (they're going to foul quickly with the oil in the cylinders, no reason to foul your new plugs).

Cross your fingers, say your prayers to whatever god or gods that you favor, and fire 'er up.

You'll probably need starting fluid to get her lit the first time, and it'll smoke like crazy. Your timing will be off so it probably won't run for shit until you get it closer to correct, and by then the plugs will be fouled really good. Just get it to idle and let it warm up for a few minutes. Once the smoke quits coming out of the exhaust pipes shut 'er down and let her cool, then put the new spark plugs in. From here, fine tune the timing and the carb (if necessary) and you're good to go. You'll want to change out the engine oil and filter fairly quickly, say

100-200 miles or so. Having sat for so long there's bound to be condensation inside the engine and probably a little grit, rust and grime that will find it's way into the oil. You'd also be wise to put a spare fuel filter in the car along with the necessary tools to change it. Never know how much garbage was in the bottom of your fuel tank that you didn't get out by draining the tank earlier. Fuel filters never clog up while the car is in your driveway. More than likely you'll be driving some country road, 50 miles from anywhere, and the engine will cough and quit. Rather than wait for the inevitable tow truck (and the "I Told You So" from your significant other in the passenger seat), replace the fuel filter and viola! You're on the road again.

Good luck!

TomC '90 ZR1 #792

Rick:

I've had great luck with Corvette Central:

Corvettes Parts & Accessories: Corvette America: There's lots more online sites, but these I've used. You might find that some parts have been discontinued and are no longer offered new. There are quite a few Corvette Junkyards operating around the country, do a web search for Used Corvette Parts.

TomC '90ZR1 #792

Since my post on the 6th, I basically replaced the entire brake system, master cylinder, 4 calipers, hoses, and rotors (was a real bitch getting the hubs separated from the rotors) Completed the fluid swaps etc and after all the other stuff, including charging the battery it fired right up and sounds great. I put new tires on, and also replaced the oil sending unit clearing up a small oil leak.

Now I have a small electrical problem that I need some help with. I seem to have a grounding issue that is impacting the wipers, blower motor, and I think the AC comp. If I hold a wire from the block to the metal casing of the wiper motor the circuit is complete, and it works along with the blower. Where in the engine compartment do all of those grounds come together? I assume it is a corroded/dirty connection.

Thanks for any input.

-Rick

You should have mentioned you planned to replace the rotors. That is frequently a big mistake. The original rotors are machined as a unit with the hubs/spindles and so replacements frequently do not line up true. This creates excessive run-out and causes pumping of the caliper pistons which pull air into the brake fluid.

Then you have no brakes.

You need a dial indicator and bolt the rotors tight to the hubs with proper torque. Then check the run-out of each rotor. You will need the pads out of each caliper to do this, the suspension at ride height (jack stands under each suspension member) and turning the axles/rotors by hand for several rotations.

If run-out is excessive, you can shim the rotor to hub/spindle surface with shim stock to bring them back true. If you can't with the shim, then you might want to simply put the old rotors back on it each one's original spot.

Could be a central ground for the items that seem to not work unless you ground them in the manner you described. The ground is most likely at the fuse panel. The panel has a habit of getting corroded where it mounts to the firewall. You could start by looking there first. Of course you could buy a ground strap and make a permanent connection in the same manner as you did with the wire from the engine to the wiper motor. All depends on how picky you are. However, if it is the fuse panel it will only get worse and start to affect other things.