Livin' La Vida Boattail

[rivs72rivgs]

Give Her a Raise

A few months back, I had the front springs in Sacrebleu replaced.  It changed the front ride height enough to give her the Carolina Squat, which kinda looks like a dog draggin’ its butt along the ground.  Not the look I was looking for.

I placed an order with Jamco Springs, less than a week later, rear springs showed up.  I ordered stock height.  No drop.  My goal is to have Sacrebleu at stock ride height front and rear until I convert over to Hydroshox.  Rear springs typically aren’t difficult to do, well within my wheelhouse.  Lift the car up by the differential, set the jack stands under the frame, let the differential droop, and the springs will just about fall out by themselves.  Installation is the reverse of removal, naturally.

If only.

Since I think I know what I’m doing, I pull out the tools and equipment I think I’m going to need.  Jack, jack stands, and a floor creeper.  The floor creeper is to keep from getting scungy laying on the driveway.  Casually, I toss the floor creeper on the ground in front of me, only to be reminded that being careless will earn you painful lessons and reminders.  Today’s lesson: If you aren’t careful where you drop/toss things, they’ll land on YOU.  The creeper landed edge first on my big toe, and it wasn’t like I was wearing safety shoes.  Almost immediately, I can feel my heartbeat in my big toe.  That hurt.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose that toenail.  

Ok, getting the rear end of the car up in the air was fairly easy, using the floor jack under the diff, just pump, pump, pump it up!  I placed the jack stands under the frame, just forward of the rear wheels, to get the car as high up as possible.  I carefully lowered the jack, hearing the jack stands bite into the stone driveway, then rocked the car to ensure it was stable and solid on the jack stands.  Now all that’s left is to pull the springs out, as the rear end was just hanging there, right?

Yeah...

Nope.  The rear shocks were at the limit of their travel, which wasn’t as far as the rear end could have dropped.  Gotta pull the shock mounting bolts. 10 minutes of by guess and by golly, crawling under and out from the car on the floor creeper and I have the right size socket and wrench to pull the bolts.  (3/4″ & 11/16″, if you’re keeping score.)  Another 5 minutes with the 3/8″ impact abusing my ears, nothing is happening.  Much crawling out from under the car taking place, with the help of my 1/2″ impact, the nut on the shock bolt comes out, with the shock bolt itself held in place by the friction of the axle hanging from it.  Judicious application of mechanical agitation (I hit the bolt with a hammer.) frees the bolt from the mount, the axle droops, the spring is loose on the spring mount on the axle.  Unfortunately for me, not so loose that I can pull it out by hand.  Climbing out from under the car, I fetch a pry bar, find the right leverage point and free the spring.  The other side goes a bit quicker, having learned my lesson.  I unbox the new springs for an A/B comparison:

The 2 X 4 is there to ensure I’m measuring uniformly.  50 year old springs, I’m willing to bet.  

That looks like about 3-1/2″ to me.

Alright, installation is the reverse of removal, right?  By now, you ought to be way-y ahead of me.  Let’s everyone say it together....

“Nope!”

New springs taller than old springs, new springs need more room to be installed, where I pried old springs out, there’s NO way I’m going to try and get 3-1/2″ of spring force levered onto the spring mount.

Hm.

Well, one way I could get more room is to lift one wheel up, the differential would act as the pivot point, and the other wheel would go down, and create more room between the axle and the upper spring pocket.  Dragging the floor jack under the opposite side wheel, lifting the wheel up, it’s working, it’s working...

The droop wheel makes contact with the ground, and starts taking load.  No more room.  Crawling under the car, hoping against hope that there’s enough room, wrestling with the unwieldy spring, and...ain’t happenin’.  I need more height on the droop side for the wheel to hang even lower.  Great.  Crawl back out from under the car, lower the opposite side wheel, drag the jack over to the frame next to the jack stand and raise it up.  I’ve got to be close to the lift height limit of the jack, I manage to get the frame up another 1-1/2″.  Lower it back on to the raised jack stand CAREFULLY, then drag the jack around to the opposite side wheel, lever it up with the jack under the wheel, and it’s juuuust enough room to lever the spring in, with a little help from the pry bar.  The insulator is on top of the spring, and in the spring pocket, now it’s time to do the other side.  Same routine, have to lift the side up even higher, nearing the height limit of the floor jack, wrestling the spring in with the help of the pry bar.  I reinstall the lower shock bolts, after playing “Where’s the fastener?” for a while, because I hadn’t done a good job of setting the nuts and lock washers aside.  Finally, I’m able to lift the car off the jack stands, then carefully lower it to the ground.  Dragging everything clear of the car, I park Sacrebleu back where I started, and take this photo:

From Carolina Squat to Stinkbug Stance.  She’s sitting nice and high now, so high, that I’m hoping a little bit of settling will take place, level her out front to back.

Standing behind Sacrebleu, the trunk lid is above my waistband now.  Whoa!

[rivs72rivgs]

Fuelishness

Sacrebleu is a thirsty girl.  Even with the new overdrive unit installed, she is still hard on gas.  I don’t have mileage calculated for before and after the installation, I may still yet do that.  It’s been three weeks since I last filled her up, and yesterday was a nice day, so I took her out for a spin, ran errands, and came home with the fuel gauge reading a quarter tank.  Guess I should fill ‘er up.

Part of the drive yesterday found me going through a touchless car wash.  That’s easily done in a modern (21st Century) car, or even dating to the ‘90s.  But a car built in 1972 doesn’t take as well to these new-fangled inventions.  Navigating into the car wash, the turns are a bit narrow to clear the long hood and front end, I manage it well enough, without dinging the car or my dignity by having to back and fill.  Pulling forward in accordance with the automated instructions, I stop and the car wash does its’ thing.  First, a rinse, low pressure, low volume water.  No issues, and it’s fun to watch the progress from the front of the car, hearing it travel overhead on the roof, then seeing it in the rear view mirror on the back glass.  Then comes the soap. Once again, low pressure, moderate volume, gets nearly all the nooks and crannies and crevices, the interior darkened by the foam covering all the glass.

This is when it gets interesting.  The “wash” portion of the car wash uses high pressure, high volume water to blast and scour dirt off the car.  Over the hood it comes, a loud drumming thunder approaching, approaching, up the windshield, muted by the glass, then along the roof, and the sides of the car, where the door seals...don’t seal.  My sweater, arm to shoulder gets a flow of water running over it, pushed through the aged rubber and no longer snugly aligned window.  I look at my arm, and begin to chuckle, then laugh.  There’s nothing else to do, it’s out of my hands.  I watch the passenger side, and see that it too leaks, though not as badly.  

The first wash pass finishes, and the automated system lines up again to repeat the process.  This time I know what’s coming, and with a little smirk on my face watch the water marching toward me, only this time I decide to try and add a little pressure to the leak point on my side in an attempt to seal it.  Mmm.....yeah....that’s a big NOPE.  I let in even more water, and instead of my sweater catching it, the water runs INSIDE my arm, down my wrist, to my elbow, even more than before.  I’m HOWLING with laughter at this point, there’s NOTHING I can do!  I’m still chuckling as the spot free rinse and wax/sealant passes are made, before pulling away with Sacrebleu much cleaner (and me, wetter) for the experience. 

I took Sacrebleu out this morning again, to do a little grocery shopping, and to fill the tank.  When the engine is cold, it runs like a cold engine.  Does not want to accelerate, sputters and tries to die.  Nursing her down the lane, up the grade, onto the driveway can be an adventure all by itself.  The lane itself isn’t so bad, although unimproved, the neighbor’s handyman keeps the ruts somewhat filled in kinda.  Sorta.  The grade up to the highway can be tricky, as the cold engine doesn’t like taking a load without careful attention to throttle input.  The easiest way to do it is with momentum. but the turn from the lane onto the grade can be...bumpy.  Once I have her at the crest of the hill, about to turn onto the highway, most of my worries are behind me.  Making the turn is easy, and easing on the accelerator has her up to speed quickly, with the overdrive engaging with a customary shock.  Midway along the highway route is a stoplight, red as I pull up to it.  When the light turns green, I goose it, figuring a mile or so of road is enough to warm the engine up.  Uh...no.  Sacrebleu sputters and bucks and the engine nearly dies.  Whups, ease back there, speedy, recover the engine, and try a more gradual approach.  That works, and before long I'm in town, with the engine more nearing normal operating temperature.  Pulling up to the pump, there’s a little bit of dread in mind, fuel prices have hit record highs recently, thanks to world events. *cough, cough, RUSSIA/UKRAINE* Would you believe it’s almost a relief when I see that gas is $5.79/gallon?  Yeah, crazy, huh?  Well, I’m USED to paying $4.99/gallon, so with that forming my perspective, $5.79/gallon isn’t THAT bad.  $83 later, Sacrebleu has a full tank, when I get ready to climb in, a fella compliments me, “Nice car, brother!” I smile, thank him, and leave the station shortly after.  

Before long, I find myself at the grocery store, noting for not the first time that Sacrebleu’s power steering seems a bit weak, requiring more effort than I am used to, especially at low engine speeds.  Well, another thing to add to the list of thing to do, in keeping her in good condition.

[rivs72rivgs]

Custom Car Consequences

Things take longer.  Custom work takes longer than simple parts replacement.  After the custom part is installed, there are often additional modifications that need to be made.  For the overdrive, the exhaust pipe was touching on one side of the overdrive unit, the other side had maybe 1/8″ clearance.

Driver’s side, ALMOST touching the solenoid, S wrapped the solenoid with heat shield tape for protection.

Passenger side.  Definitely touching.

What’s a guy to do?  Well, call an exhaust shop that you trust.  Easier said than done, that.  This is the THIRD exhaust shop I’ve tried.  The first shop straight ripped me off, installed the exhaust without putting any thought or effort into it.  That exhaust hung LOW, and despite my asking that they use the provided strap clamps, they decided to weld the system together, and then offered to buy my clamps off me at a discount.  *eyeroll*  Yeah, I got the hookup there.  I’ve been bad mouthing them ever since.  

Shop #2 was where I took my truck to have the exhaust reworked, back to stock.  When talking it over with them before work began, I asked “So, can I bring it back to you once the exhaust cutouts arrive?” to which they replied “Sure, no problem.” They installed the exhaust, I was tickled with how it turned out, when the cutouts arrived, I called and scheduled my truck in.  The day arrived, I dropped my truck off the night before, and waited for a call to come pick it up, the work is done, the truck is ready.

Instead...

“Hi, this is ----- from ----- Muffler and Brake.  We aren’t going to be able to put these in, there’s no room.”

Wait, what?  

Weren’t you the same shop that said “Sure, no problem” when YOU were the ones a week ago putting the exhaust in my truck?  That was YOU guys, right?  C’MON, man!  *eyeroll* Well, what can a guy do, but pick up the truck.  On to shop number 3.  “Yeah, we can do that, our guy is a whiz with that sort of work.”  Scheduled it in, dropped it off, picked it up, and the cutouts were in.  Beautiful.  Magical.  Perfect, they looked SO good.  

When the time came to make a call to get this exhaust modified/clearanced, they got the call.  Here’s what it looked like after:

Driver’s side, closer to 3/4″ clearance, should be sufficient with the heat tape to protect things from overheating.

Passenger side.  Looks so good.  PLENTY of room.

When I dropped off the car, I waited.  No big deal, aside from showing up on time at 8:30am to see that their business hours started at 9:00am.  Brief moment of panic, but sure enough, someone was there at 8:30am.  I got to make a new friend while I waited.

A good doggo...with purple painted nails/claws.

[rivs72rivgs]

Building in Stages

Returning Sacrebleu to the best version of herself means ensuring that everything about her as as good as, or better than when she rolled off the assembly line.  For example, she was built with a Turbo Hydramatic 400 transmission, which is a heavy duty 3 speed transmission with a final drive ratio of 1 to 1.  She still has that transmission, BUT!  Now she has an overdrive unit attached to it.  Better than original.  She was built with a Stage 1 engine.  What’s a Stage 1 engine?  Well, it’s essentially a performance version of the stock engine.  Buick marketing decided to call it the Stage 1 in a nod to the Space Era, as the 1st stage of the rockets flying into space were the biggest and most powerful.  I’m sure you can see the connection they were trying to make.  I’m pretty sure the Stage 1 engine Sacrebleu was built with is gone, replaced with the big blue painted engine currently residing in the engine bay. *growls*  What makes a Stage 1 engine is mainly two parts.  The camshaft, and the cylinder heads.  The Stage 1 camshaft came in two versions, one for the A-Body car, the Skylark/GS and the one for the big cars, including the Electra 225, LeSabre, Centurion and Riviera.  The A-Body camshaft was designed for a bit more top end power, the other camshaft was engineered with more torque in mind, to help move the bigger, heavier cars from a stop.  The actual specifications of the camshafts seem to be lost, there isn’t a definitive stock replacement for the GS/Stage camshafts.  It’s left to be by guess and by golly.  I relied on the best guess of one of the experts in the field, and had a camshaft core ground to the recommendation.  With that done, it’s time to talk cylinder heads.

Stage 1 heads differ from standard heads in one respect.  Valve size.  Standard heads used a 2.000″ intake valve and a 1.600″ exhaust.  Stage 1 heads used a 2.125″ intake valve and a 1.75″ exhaust valve.  On the intake, that’s about 14% more surface area, and the exhaust sees a nearly 20% increase in surface area.  This increase in surface area means more air flow, which in turn, means more power.  Big block Buick cylinder heads were manufactured from 1967-1976, with the most desirable castings being the earlier years, specifically known as “Big Port” heads.  These were found on 1967-1969 Buick 430 engines, typically without the larger Stage 1 valves.  Later cylinder head castings are less desirable, with larger combustion chambers that lower compression and reduce power.  These later heads were designed to meet new emissions standards, and one of the ways to do that was to reduce compression.  It happens that I bought a set of the desired castings 12 years ago, and finally took them to a machine shop to have them built to Stage 1 specification, with a set of valves I had purchased over a decade ago.  These things take time.

Here’s what the machinist returned to me:

Shiny!

Buick Red!

Look at those things, ain’t they just beauty?  Here are a few more photos, including some with calipers showing the measurement of the new valves.

2.125″ Intake

1.750″ Exhaust

For reference, here is a comparison of a later cylinder head with the freshly rebuilt head:

It may be hard to see, but if you look at the unrebuilt head, there’s a very easily seen gap between the two valves in the cylinder, as well as the general volume of the combustion chamber.  Compare that to the rebuilt cylinder head, where there’s nearly no gap between valves and much smaller combustion chambers. The rebuilt heads will help make more power both in allowing greater air flow and higher compression.  All of which will make Sacrebleu better than she was built, to continue showing taillights to all sorts of Hondas. ;)

[rivs72rivgs]

It’s Getting Better (All The Time)

Sacrebleu is home.  Emotionally, it’s been an ordeal.  For the rest, ehhhhh?  It only took until Mid-February to get her home.  Shall we continue from where we left off?

As there was nothing to do but wait, I waited.  The driveshaft has to be reworked, the tech can’t do much more until the driveshaft comes back to the shop.  Ultimately the driveshaft comes back, this time to the correct length, the tech finishes the work, and I get a call to come get the car.  

When I show up, the tech is clearly ambiguous about the whole thing, muttering about this and that and qualifiers and reasons for this and that.  Dude, ok.  I get it.  It’s a 50 year old car that’s being modified.  Customized.  It’s not the same as replacing a failed part with a good part.  I go see the manager, and we discuss how it went, ultimately he discounts the labor rate and agrees to pay for half of the cost of the second time the driveshaft was reworked.  Once the bill is settled, I spend a few minutes talking with the technician.  At this point, all bills are paid, there’s nothing more to do or be done.  S (the tech) explains that he didn’t finish the work in the passenger cabin, because he didn’t know where I wanted the indicators and switch installed.  Never mind that I was available to be asked, it just didn’t get done.  The indicators and switch are hanging down from the lower dash, below the ashtray.  I ask about the fluid I’d provided to fill the overdrive unit, he said he hadn’t gotten it, and that he’d used the supplied transmission fluid (Dex III) as specified in the instruction/installation manual.  Wait, what?!  I went out of my way to make sure he had ALL the fluids, including making a phone call to the manufacturer to determine which fluid was best for the application.  Somehow, the fluid specified by the manufacturer, that I provided, didn’t get used...and in fact went missing.  (Stolen?)  Sure enough, the installation/instruction manual specifies Dex III in the unit, online, two different fluids are given as options, both gear oil, one being synthetic, the other non-synthetic.  

I collect up the remaining ATF I’d supplied (Their shop doesn’t keep such antiquated fluids around, y’know.), put it in the trunk, and head home.  I’m ginger with the car, mindful of all the things S had said regarding this and that, the transmission slipping, the broken motor mount, the exhaust hitting the overdrive unit.  When I start the car, a red indicator light comes on, informing me that the unit is powered, but not engaged.  That’s exciting!  Once on the interstate, I watch the speedo carefully, waiting for the overdrive unit to do it’s thing, around 48 miles per hour according to S.  40, 42, 45, SLAP, red light goes out, green light comes on, 48, 50...and engine speed dropped and wow, it works!  Everything does what it’s supposed to!  The SLAP is pretty much just that, the overdrive unit engages firmly, but not harshly.  It isn’t unsettling, it is noticeable.  WOOOOOOO!  Is it good to be behind the wheel again, yes, yes it is.  

The rest of the drive home is uneventful, above 45mph the entire time, until I get off the interstate.  The overdrive disengages with a noticeable movement.  As I come up to speed again, I give the engine a bit more throttle, and that softens the overdrive shift noticeably.  Hm, so...I have to HAMMER it for it to shift smoothly?  Oh, darn.  I guess I’ll just have to make that sacrifice. 

[rivs72rivgs]

An Imperfect World

Foreshadowing, right?  Foreboding, eh?  Forewarned is forearmed, and all that.

A few months back I teased a photo of a box.  In the box was an overdrive unit. I called the shop where I get Sacrebleu worked on, and made arrangements to drop her off, with an understanding that the work would be done on an as available basis, but finished by the end of January.  To that end, after dropping her off, I periodically stopped by with additional bits and pieces needed to ensure everything that was needed to complete the installation was available.  

One of the things I needed to provide was a cut-down driveshaft.  The reason for a cut-down driveshaft is the overdrive unit bolts to the back of the existing transmission via an adapter and the existing driveshaft would be too long.  According to the manufacturer, the measurement could be made by test fitting the unit, then measuring.  When I got the information, I asked how they arrived at the length to be shortened and was told “math”.  “Oh, I did some calculations, and this should be right.”  I asked at that point “Ok, who pays for it if it isn’t right?”  The response I got was a helpless shrug.  *sigh*. This wasn’t what I asked for, I could have done math myself.  These are the experts though, so I took the driveshaft, had it cut down and rebalanced with new u-joints installed, and delivered it to the shop.  

On the last day of the month, I went down and spoke with the manager.  He tried smoothing things over, explaining that there really hadn’t been time, and other customers had been coming in.  I was unimpressed with his explanation, and said so, reminding him how he had agreed to have it finished by the end of the month.  There was nothing to be done, I left frustrated.  

Later that day, I hear from the manager, he tells me he’s spoken with the tech and will be getting started on it bright and early two days later.  There’s nothing I can do, so I thank him for the information and wait to hear back.  

Two days later in the afternoon, I hear from the tech doing the work.  What I hear are a litany of reasons and woes regarding the installation.  Oh, there’s a broken motor mount, oh, it’s going to need exhaust work, oh, the driveline has to be reworked, so it’s been sent back to the vendor.  The wiring still needs to be done, but then it’ll be done.  Ok, cool, I should have it when the driveshaft comes back from the vendor.  I asked who was paying for the second trip to the vendor.  The tech goes on to back and fill and hem and haw and “remember how I said it was going to be a crap shoot?”  No, I don’t remember you saying it was going to be a crap shoot, I asked you for MEASUREMENTS, not CALCULATIONS.  He goes on to gripe about the yoke on the driveshaft not being right, that the correct one was supplied by the overdrive manufacturer.  Throughout the month of January, I stopped by numerous, repeated times before the driveshaft numbers were given to me, at any point the tech could have discovered the yoke supplied by the vendor that needed to be fitted to the driveshaft.  That didn’t happen.  

It’s also going to need exhaust work.  I’m not particularly surprised, the exhaust on there was fitted for the car without an overdrive unit.  Now that it has one, the exhaust will need to be redone to accommodate the overdrive.

The tech goes on to vent about “This is what happens when you buy an aftermarket kit that’s supposed to fit generically everything.” I remind him that it sounds like I’m going to be buying a second trip to the driveshaft shop, and he begins rattling on about “You wouldn’t want me to do the work twice, taking it apart to measure, then reassembling it to move the car in and out, that would cost you even more money.”  Uh, no.  Take it out, mock up the unit, get the measurements, then PUSH THE CAR OUT, and wait for the driveshaft!  No one is telling you to reassemble it to keep the car mobile, the car was LEFT there for a reason, so the work could get done!  If the car needs to be moved in and out, use the car pusher, it’ll be FINE, I promise!

Finally, the tech starts in on how he doesn’t like feeling pressured, cornered, etc, etc.  I’d like to have more sympathy for him, but he had the car for a whole month, and the last two weeks of the month, I was being as politely encouraging and reminding people at the shop as I could.  The tech claims that he was trying to get the car in the shop, but received pushback from the foreman and the manager, that other cars kept getting pushed in front.  There’s no way for me to know the truth, but I’m skeptical.  This tech has a way of doing things what he wants, when he wants, and it seems to me that he just didn’t want to until he pushed it off so hard, the manager finally stepped in and said “Do it.”  Really struggling to be sympathetic, but when you’ve had my car for 5 weeks, the sympathy is going to be mostly in the dictionary.

[rivs72rivgs]

Update?  Update?!  Update!

I have a confession.

Sacrebleu isn’t authentic.  

Mind blown, right?  Here’s the deal.

The beautiful big block Buick 455 nestled between the fenders isn’t original.  I think.  Why?  Because it’s BLUE.  Blue?  BLUE!  So what, it’s blue.  No.  No no no no no no no.  It’s BLUE.  B-L-U-E.  Blue.  It should be RED.  Specifically, BUICK Red.  Buick Red.  Deets forthcoming.

Buick big block engines from 1967-1974 were painted Buick Red.  Later Buick big block engines, 1975-1976 were painted Blue.  Medium Metallic Blue.  The engine in Sacrebleu ought to be red, even if it’s rusty, patina’d, worn off, burnt off, red.  Instead, the engine is a VERY pretty and clean blue.  The engine runs STRONG.  Like, fresh engine strong.  Like, recently rebuilt strong.  Like (I suspect) engine replacement strong.  Sacrebleu (probably) doesn’t have her original engine.  I’ll know for certain when I look for the numbers stamped into the block by the timing cover over the oil pressure switch.  I’d say there’s a 75% chance the engine isn’t original.  

So?

Well, Sacrebleu (Miss Sacrebleu if you’re nasty.) is a Riviera GS.  That means that she was built with a Stage 1 Buick 455 engine.  What’s a Stage 1?  Well, if the Buick 455 is a reasonably powerful engine, with good driving manners, the Stage 1 455 is the engine that went to the gym, and doesn’t have time to put up with your BS.  What a Stage 1 engine consists of for 1972 is a different camshaft and cylinder head specification.  In the smaller bodied cars such as the Skylark and GS, the camshaft has more lift and duration, allowing it to breathe better at higher engine speeds.  In the big cars, the camshaft has even more lift, but less duration than the small body cars.  The big cars got more lift and less duration, trading off top end power for bottom end get off the line torque that heavy cars needed, that realistically, weren’t going to see a lot of top end engine speed.  The cylinder heads were specific too, with larger valves, allowing more airflow.  

Proceeding on the assumption that Sacrebleu doesn’t have her Stage 1 engine anymore, I’m feeling a little fraudulent.  How can I be driving a ‘72 Riviera GS without the Stage 1 engine?!  Well, I’m doing something about that.  I live near a camshaft manufacturing facility; they also regrind camshafts, allowing me to take an existing 455 camshaft and have it ground to new (big car Stage 1) specification.  I’ve taken a set of big block Buick cylinder heads to the machinist, along with a set of valves I purchased over a decade ago to have them turned into Stage 1 heads.  The heads are a set of big port 430 heads, supposedly flowing about 5% better than later big block heads, while having a smaller combustion chamber to increase static compression ratio.  For 1972, the advertised compression ratio was 8.5 to 1, with an SAE net rating of 260hp for the Stage 1 option, 330 ft-lbs of torque.  These heads will help raise the compression ratio, with a corresponding increase in power.  The camshaft will help too, improving air flow in and out of the engine, making more power.  The compression should be worth about 10hp, if I get a full point of compression increase.  With the larger valves to aid airflow and the bigger camshaft, I’m hoping for between 20-30hp more in total at the wheels.  Ultimately, these are all intermediate steps towards a fully rebuilt engine, but steps that can be used in the interim on the existing engine.

Remember, folks: “Fast, With Class” and “Got Torque”

Yes, yes I do.

[rivs72rivgs]

Wait, what?  Holdup, STOP!

Sacrebleu has been a bit temperamental as of late.  She likes to go, and is reluctant to whoa.  There’ve been no issues with panic stops and such, which I’ve been ginger about doing, but have happened.  (She skids nicely on OLD tires, haven’t yet had the pleasure on the new rubber.) What’s happening, is at a stop, stoplight, stop and go traffic, etc, the brake pedal has occasionally slowly gone to the floor, accompanied by the “BRAKE” light on the instrument cluster illuminating.  If I pump the brake pedal a few times, I can restore the pedal level.   I’m thinking the brake master cylinder is at fault, it’ll take a bit more diagnosis to confirm. Remember, recently I had a wheel cylinder replaced and effectively had the brake fluid flushed.  The master cylinder currently installed on the car isn’t very pretty; it had been prettied up with some paint, the rust has started bleeding through.  Time to start searching for a replacement.  I go to the usual auto parts websites, including one that rhymes with Stock Taco, and find a part number that rings a bell in my head.  Do I have one of these in my parts hoard?

YAAAAAAAAAS!

Score one for the “Imma hang onto it, just in case” rationalization.  Before I install it, I’m going to wipe it down with degreaser, then paint it, with either clear coat or cast iron.  If I don’t paint it, the master cylinder WILL rust, and that’s not a good look.

[rivs72rivgs]

Spring in Fall

Before:

After:

What a difference, huh?

A stall was ready for me when I pulled up in Sacrebleu, so after driving her in, I headed to the trunk, pulled the springs and spring compressors (H loaned me one, plus the one of my own.) and began compressing the springs.  The spring compressors specifically and explicitly ban the use of impact tools, the jarring blows could cause items under tension to shift, and break loose, and bad things could happen.  I brought along my long handled 1/2″ drive ratchet and sockets to use on the spring compressors.  Starting with the spring compressor H loaned me, it takes a moment to get it positioned properly in the spring.  My thinking on the compressor alignment is: As close to the ends as possible at the top and bottom, leaving enough room that once the spring is installed, there’ll be air gap enough between the coils to lever the tool out.  I’ve done springs once before, and I have distinct memories of fighting that particular battle, having the spring compressed enough, but then finding the tool pinched between coils, requiring me to take it out and reposition the tool in the spring.  After the coil spring compressor H loaned me is installed and compressed, I move on to the second spring, using my own coil spring compressor.  There are some minor differences between the two spring compressors, primarily, the shop one seems to be slightly heavier duty with thinner arms to hold the coils.  Thinner arms offer more clearance before getting bound in compressed coil springs once installed in the car.  Aside from that, the design is the same, before long, I have the my spring compressor installed with the spring compressed.  Finished, and slightly warmed from the physical labor of compressing the springs, I turn things over to “I” and head to work.

Shortly before lunch, I get a text from “I”, asking if I wanted to replace the sway bar end links.  Apparently, they looked pretty munched, and he has to remove the end links to access the springs.  A quick search shows the local parts store has them, I order them for delivery to the shop.  Another text comes before lunch, asking me to come by.  I do, and find the old springs laying on the ground, cut in pieces, “I” has a measuring tape in hand, telling me he needs two more inches.  Compressed.  Sighing, I grab the ratchet and socket and begin compressing the spring down more, after 5 minutes of moderately vigorous work, the spring is compressed two more inches.  I leave to grab lunch, slightly breathless, and a bit warm.

Fast forward to the end of my workday, I come back to the shop, where one side is done, and “I” is waiting for me.  “This compressor (mine) won’t work, the threaded rod is too long, and sticks out, I can’t get the spring into the pocket.” *sigh* Taking my trusty ratchet, I UNDO all the work I put into compressing the spring, pull my compressor out, install the shop’s compressor to begin compressing the spring.  I’m a bit worn, so this takes longer.  “I” patiently waits while I labor through the process.  Handy and ready with the measuring tape, he is, pointing out how much further I have to go.  This time, compressing the spring goes harder for me, as I end up having to loosen and tighten the compressor a second and third time before getting the arms lined up on the coils correctly.  By the second time of loosening the compressor, I surrendered and began using a borrowed impact wrench.  I was tired.  If I died, I died.  Well, I didn’t die, the spring got compressed, and “I” finished installing them in the car.  When it came time to pay the bill, I found out how kind and generous “I” had been with his time.  He billed less than 2 hours of his time, and I know, know KNOW it took him over 3.  What a guy!  I’m humbled and grateful, all my own efforts paying off tangibly with my wallet being touched lightly.  Oh, he’s getting a NICE lunch.  

Update:  Bok-a-bok Chicken is Bok-a-BOMB.

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Feelin’ Low

Sacrebleu makes a beautiful Lowrider.  Joe Ray, Editor-in-Chief of Lowrider Magazine built an award winning Boattail featured in the movie Corvette Summer starring Mark Hamill, but the real star of the movie wasn’t the RHD Corvette, it was the ‘71 Riviera named “Dressed to Kill” that Joe still owns.  Maybe I’m biased.  

As nice as Sacrebleu looks sitting low, I get nervous with the low ride height.  Scraping the undercarriage of the car is high on my list of “Things to be avoided behind the wheel of Sacrebleu.”, and I have a pair of front coil springs I’ve been hanging on to for about 15 years.  Brand new, never installed, bought when I  worked at a parts store, lo, those many years ago. 

I called up the shop where Sacrebleu has been having work beyond my scope done and asked about getting them installed.  Fronts only, so she’ll be doing the Carolina Squat until I can get the rears in.  The shop got back to me, their steering and suspension tech, the guy that checked my work on the centerlink, H, is leery.  There’s a lot of stored energy in coil springs, and if things go wrong, people can get hurt.  He passes on the job.  One of the HD techs tentatively agrees, so I bring the car in, and once I arrive, he’s had a change of heart.  Thanks, N.  You’re all heart.  S’okay, I don’t want people working on my car if they have concerns about their health, well-being, or ability to do the job safely.  Sacrebleu is not worth dying for.  A third tech, I, after hearing the other two had bowed out was incredulous.  “What?!  Turning away work?  Sacrilege!  HERESY!”  Dude is old-school, some ways.  He’s NEVER done them before, but after consultation, he agrees to take a swing at it.  Another tech, S, chimes in willing to take the torch to cut the old springs out.  Thanks S, much appreciated.  (How many lunches am I going to end up buying?!) Tentatively, Sacrebleu will be having the front coil springs replaced this coming week.  

After some thought I realized that the wariness surrounding coil spring replacement on Sacrebleu MIGHT be tied to watching Steve Dulcich and David Freiburger on Roadkill Garage, one of the tent poles shows of Motor Trend On Demand.  A common trope across many of the MTOD shows is mocking the automotive reality TV shows, “If we don’t get _________ done, we could lose the shop!” MTOD has gotten a fair bit of mileage out of this bit, but it seems as though they’ve come up with their own version.  Steve and Dave make a big deal out of replacing coil springs in the Bang Shift Cougar, playing up how dangerous it is.  “If we’re not careful, we could DIE”, “Nobody wants to DIE.”, etc.  One of these guys welds with FIRE.  Doing coil springs is more risky than THAT?  C’mon!  Yeah, it CAN be POTENTIALLY dangerous.  So is driving a car. So is taking a car down the drag strip.  So is getting out of bed.  SO?  I’m thinking H and N have been unduly influenced by the recent episodes showing off that schtick.  Thanks a lot, Motor Trend.  Thanks for nothin’.

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Iykyk.  Full post coming...thanks GearVendors

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Shoes Wisely (Bleu’s Shoes)

Fast forward a day from the flat tire on Sacrebleu.  Walking out to the driveway, I notice she has a list.  A quick glance confirms my observation, the same tire has gone flat.  Again.  Mm.  :-/ I guess that tire is done, she’s going to need new tires.  After shopping the usual websites for the tire size, I’m frustrated.  Now, I know 20″ tires aren’t going to be cheap, and if I do find cheap 20″ tires, they’re likely not going to be good, but geez!  I start going to specific retailer websites, Costco and the like, enjoying a similar lack of success.  The tires on her now seem like they probably came with the wheels, as part of a wheel and tire package.  They are actually a good looking tread pattern, buuuuuuuut...I’ve never heard of the brand of tire.  It wasn’t a problem until it was a problem, y’know?  Finally, I find a good deal/value.  Goodyear makes an Eagle GT Sport in my tire size, $140/tire.  I call the store advertising the tires, they explain the process to me.  They’ll order the tires once I prepay for them, then will call me when they arrive.  Um...ok.  That makes sense, I suppose.  The store doesn’t want to get stuck with a set of oddball size tires.  I place the order, pay over the phone and wait for the call.  A couple days later, I get the expected call, my tires are in and when do I want to get them installed?  “Saturday?”, I ask.  “Sorry, our Saturday tire and oil change guy quit, we can only install tires Monday through Friday.” Hm.  :-/ Well, I guess I’ll just pick the tires up IN Sacrebleu and take them to the shop that does all the rest of my work.

It’s a trek to the store to get the tires, involving a water crossing and an even earlier start to my day than usual, but all that is offset by the novelty and experience of it in Sacrebleu.  The night before, I aired up the flat tire, when I walk out to the car, it was still holding air.  That’s something, right?  I make my way to the water crossing, and on the other side of the crossing finish driving to the tire retailer.  I arrive at the store, make small talk with the attendant, pick up my tires, and in short order, am on my way to my usual shop.  I’d called the shop when I’d been notified my tires had arrived to schedule an appointment, so they were expecting me.  The shop takes good care of me, putting their most senior general service technician, J, on it.  This guy has probably installed more tires than I’ve had meals in my life.  He’s a great guy with a funny sense of humor, and so good at what he does.  My car is in good hands with him.  I get a call a few hours later, and after work, pick my car up.  There’s not a lot to it, old tires are gone, new tires are installed, here are your keys, thank you for your business, and drive safely!

I take J aside and ask what he wants for lunch.  It’s a little thing, but letting him know he’s appreciated for the work he gets paid to do makes it more meaningful, to both of us I think.  He grins, thinks for a moment and gives me his order.  The next day, I deliver it around lunchtime with my thanks.  Another grin from him, along with an effusive thanks to me, he wanders off to eat in peace.  Can’t say as I blame him.  

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Sacreblew

Feeling frisky last weekend, I turned left onto the main road under acceleration. Harder than usual, kind of pushing Sacrebleu.  For funsies, you know?  Well, I suppose it would help to understand.  I’m turning onto a 6% incline from a slight incline.  After getting onto the main road, she was pulling HARD to the right.  Tf?  I thought I took care of the steering woes already!  *eyes narrow* Ok, some quick driving diagnosis, it pulls at any speed, under acceleration or deceleration, or at steady speed.  Hm.  I pull into the shopping center about 2 miles up the road, get out and walk around the car.  Oh.  Damn.  Ze passenger front tire, she ees flat.  *sigh* Brought that on myself, didn’t I?  My guess is that the hard cornering loads pulled the tire off the wheel bead and let the air out.  I’m in a parking lot, with a flat tire, no nearby service station, and the tire rubber is pretty toasty warm, like it would get from say, driving on a flat tire?  There’s an auto parts store in the shopping center, I buy their cheapest 12V powered tire inflator and return to Sacrebleu.  The booster pack is still handy, I grab that, and settle on the ground in front of the tire.  Pull the inflator from the box, it’s pretty small and chintzy, but if it works once, that’s all I need from it.  The inflator is designed to be plugged into a 12V power outlet, the booster pack doesn’t have a 12V power outlet, it has big honkin’ clamps to attach to battery terminals.  Attaching the tire inflator to the tire, I notice these tires were built in 2005.  They’re 16 years old!  Cripes, that’s way-y too old for the driving I’ve been doing, especially the “spirited” driving I’ve been doing.  Oops.  Damn. (again). Taking a moment to think, I attach the negative battery clamp to the metal terminals on the barrel of the inflator’s power plug, the positive is attached to the tip end.  Turning the booster pack on, I activate the “ALL THE POWER” mode, turning it into a indiscriminate power supply.  Flipping the rocker switch on the inflator, it makes small air compressor noises.  I monitor the pressure gage, with no small relief watch the needle on the gage begin to move.  The tire begins to hold air, I’ve once again dodged another self-inflicted cartastrophe. (Yes, I spelled it that way on purpose, seemed more appropriate.)

Once the gage reads 35psi, I turn it off, replace the valve stem cap, and continue on my merry way.  Which included taking the car to a friend’s to see it, and leaving 11′s on the road in front of his house.  (The ones I’d left with my truck had faded, they needed to be renewed.) Driving home is a non-event, I park Sacrebleu, and walk in the house without a backward glance.

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Can’t Start Won’t Start

Monday, Sacrebleu went to the shop, to replace the Bluetooth battery cable.  Today’s technician, M, decided to replace both cables, and who can blame him?  I went by the shop on a break, and M told me some of the challenges he had run into changing the ground cable, he had to remove the air conditioning compressor to get access to the lug on the block, along with a ground strap between the passenger side cylinder head and the firewall not being attached.  I took it in stride, as I accept that things may take a bit longer with it being an unfamiliar car to the various technicians, who get paid for their time, costing me a bit more.  It’s a hobby though, right?

After work, I picked up the car.  Well, I went to the shop and found it in the air.  M was just about to let the car down, and invited me to inspect his work.  He’s a thoughtful guy, and with his droplight in hand, I took a look at the underside of the car.  The replacement cable to the starter was not a factory replacement, so he exercised some zip-tie skills to secure the cable.  It looked really good.  I checked where the ground cable mounts to the block, and began to chuckle.  M, who was comfortably ensconced on his stool watching me climbed off the stool, ambled over to me with a quizzical look on his face.  I pointed up to the ground cable lug on the block. “Gee M, it doesn’t really look like you have to take the A/C compressor off to replace the ground cable.” The lug end is clearly in sight, and easily accessible from the underside of the car, and he saw exactly what I saw.  He chuckled, shrugged his shoulders and said something about it being a learning experience.  It sure is, M.  It sure is.  

Once we completed contemplating the work he’d done on Sacrebleu, we walked over to his work bench, where he had saved the starter cable, for my viewing pleasure:

Sacrebleu had her original starter cable, 49 years old, with multiple “repairs” made to it over the intervening years.  I’d say the cable had given good service far beyond the designed service period.  

Here, the exposed conductor and the plastic shield the cable runs through is shown, with the shield being brittle and broken from heat and age.  The shield actually is fastened to the block, but the plastic portion to fasten it is long gone.  

Definitely scungy, the terminal end is designed to fit specifically and securely to the main power lug on the starter.  The replacement is a standard style lug, without even the 90 degree bend in it.  I found a “correct” replacement battery cable, with the plastic encasement and terminal end like this.  I may buy it later, as it’s a bit better fit and more “correct” to the car.  For now, Sacrebleu starts, runs, drives, and stops, and most importantly, re-starts just fine.

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The Good, the Bad, and the Stranding...

It was ugly.  More “ugh” than ugly, honestly.  I woke up this morning, drove Sacrebleu to get coffee then headed to the gas station to top Sacrebleu off, as I had plans to get together with a friend and take him out to an informal cruise-in.  I pull up to the pump, fill Sacrebleu up, and slip back into the driver’s seat to head home.  

The whole time I’ve owned her, she’s always started hard when hot, and I had it on the to-do list to replace the positive cable, as it’s grody and corroded, and rocking a temporary “repair” battery clamp on it.  The kind where you cut the old clamp off, strip back some of the insulation from the cable, and clamp the cable like the meat in a sandwich.  Those are not supposed to be long term solutions, but people (including myself, obviously) are lazy.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!  Riiiiiiight.  About that.

Key in the ignition switch, twist, and the customary painfully slow crank...then nothing.  Um.  Ok....roll the window down, and listen carefully as I try cranking it again.  This time, it cranks and almost fires, then nothing.  I turn the key a third time, and there’s nothing.  No click, no sound, no noise, no...just, no.  My heart sank, and I pull the hood release.  Once I lever the massive hood up, I look immediately at the battery.  

Oh look!  Bluetooth battery cable.  That little piece of slag between what’s left the clamp and the two bolts running through that fitting MELTED.  Lots of current multiplied by resistance due to heat and corrosion equals MORE HEAT.  Enough heat to melt the repair clamp.  Oh, brother!  A guy at the pumps asks if I need a jump start, I decline, as I have a super duper booster pack.  This thing has all the power, and is rated to start big block gasoline engines and even medium/heavy duty 12V power Diesel engines.  I clamp the negative clamp to the battery clamp, and the positive clamp to the cable end.  I turn the booster pack on, and put it in “forced jump” mode, which basically means ALL THE VOLTAGE is active at the clamps, bypassing any microprocessor safeties built into it.  I get back in the car, turn the key and Sacrebleu cranks slowly, then stops cranking.  The booster pack doesn’t have enough oomph to overcome the resistance and corrosion in the cable.  I’m stuck.  It’s 7:20am, the gas station has a store that opens at 8am, I’m left waiting, hoping that they’ll sell me another repair clamp and perhaps an adjustable wrench to make the repair.  

Mental note: I guess I need to keep a small tool kit in Sacrebleu.  :-( 

The guy from the pumps that offered me a jump start helps me push Sacrebleu sort of into a parking spot away from the gas pumps, and a couple minutes later, we’re both puffing hard from exertion.  He drives off, I settle behind the steering wheel to wait for the store to open.  Eventually it opens, I ask where the batteries are, and find the repair clamp.  Then I ask if they sell tools, the cashier regretfully shakes her head no.  Ok, so I have the part I need to make the repair, but I don’t have the tool.  Great. Just...great.  Awesome.  Ok, breathe.  Center yourself.  Think.  Sacrebleu has been sitting for 40 minutes, cooling down.  Maybe try the booster pack again.  I’m a bit dubious, but it’s not like there are a lot of other options.  The other option is to walk a mile plus to the nearest auto parts store to buy an adjustable wrench, so why not give it a shot and maybe save myself a two mile jaunt?  

Repeating the process with the super duper booster pack, albeit with a little less faith, hallelujah!, she starts and idles.  Disconnecting everything, putting it back in the car, taking my place behind the steering wheel, she stops.  Engine turns off again.  Really?  Really Sacrebleu, you’re trying me, here.  Testing me.  Once more, grab the booster, hook up the clamps, set the jump pack to maximum overdrive, and she starts once again.  This time, I rev the engine, suspecting that the alternator hadn’t had enough excitation in the windings to make power at idle.  Again, I disconnect the booster pack, put it in the car, and hold the idle a little higher than usual.  With trepidation, I drop the car into gear, and the idle drops as the transmission engages the engine via the torque converter, putting some load on the engine.  She remains running, and with a bit of a high idle, I nurse Sacrebleu home.  

That’s enough excitement, I decide, and go in for a nap, leaving her parked.  I’ll finish the interim repair once I wake up.  I message my friend, along with the photo, explaining that I won’t be able to meet up with him to take him to the informal cruise-in.  I’m treating the temporary repair as though that’s exactly what it is, not taking any extra chances.  Having been stranded once, I’m wary of being stranded again AND having him along.

After the nap, I take care of a few chores, then go out to the garage and gather the tools I’ll need to install the temporary battery repair clamp.  I decide that since I’m replacing the clamp, this would be a good time to replace the battery with an upgraded battery I bought some time back for one of my other cars, a yellow top Optima from @optimabatteries​. The old battery comes out, the new yellow top goes in, gets clamped down into place, the repair clamp is installed on the positive cable, but there’s a fair bit of tension/strain on it, then put on the battery post, followed by reinstalling the negative cable on the other battery post.

Moment of truth.  The buzzer sounds when I put the key in the ignition as I have the door open, that’s encouraging.  Twist the ignition, Sacrebleu fires to life!  I leave her to idle until the engine comes up to operating temperature, as measured by the upper radiator hose getting hot once the thermostat opens.  I turn the car off, and put away tools.  Once everything is put away again, I go back out to Sacrebleu, to see if the hot hard start condition is still there.  Nope, Sacrebleu fires right up, no issues, no problems.  She starts fine when cold, and I think that bringing the engine up to operating temperature isn’t the same as having the engine nice and toasty hot after a drive to get, say...coffee.  I plan on taking her out tomorrow morning to get coffee.  Monday, she’ll be back at the shop, AGAIN...this time to have the rest of the starting system replaced, both battery cables and the starter.

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Sacrebleu brake woes. (Whoa woes)

Sacrebleu has been getting caught up on maintenance, both with encouragement from friends, and from my own sense of what’s needful.  Way-y back in the mists of the earliest posts, there was a mention of her pulling under hard braking.  That, along with wanting to get all the fluids changed out led me to taking it to the shop to have a brake flush done.  The shop got me in with little trouble, and the tech began the process.  He was nice enough to let me stand with him when he opened the master cylinder, and at first glance, it didn’t look TOO bad.  I went back the waiting room, before long, I was back in the shop, under Sacrebleu, with the tech showing me bad news.  *sigh*. I suppose I’m still waiting for the first time a tech brings me out to the car to show me GOOD news.  *eyeroll* Sacrebleu’s passenger rear wheel cylinder has a broken bleeder screw.  There’s no bleeding it.  I suggested replacing the bleeder screw, but the tech nixed that idea.  Probably gave him the willies that happen with potential broken fasteners, and he was already looking at it broken.  He countered with a suggestion to replace the wheel cylinders, to which I was unimpressed.  A quick poll of the shop sided with the tech, that wheel cylinder replacement was the solution.  I was reluctant, and even grudging to accept the consensus, but hey, that’s how these guys make a living, in effect, it’s what I’m paying them for.  You’d follow a lawyer’s advice, right?  Same thing applies.

The brake flush is (sorta) completed, noting that it wasn’t possible to fully bleed it, and that the tech actually had to ream out the bleeders to get them to flow.  I guess the brake fluid was actually pretty cruddy, so it was a good thing to get what was in there out, even to a limited degree.  I paid for the service, and drove Sacrebleu home.  That night, I ordered wheel cylinders for Sacrebleu, and returned the following week to the shop.  Surprise!  They couldn’t work me in right away, to my frustration, but the tech managed to slip me in between big jobs.  Both wheel cylinders were replaced, the system was re-bled, and the brakes are in good condition.  The tech did note that the front calipers looked new, so the bleeder screws up front were no problem at all.  Sacrebleu now has new hydraulic-mechanical actuators (wheel cylinders) at the back, and newer ones (calipers) up front.  I feel pretty good about the brake system’s condition now.  I’ll probably bleed the brakes again in the spring, just to make sure.

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French Supermodel Endorsement

Seattle Cinnamon Roll Co reached out and wants to use Sacrebleu to advertise! I drove over there to get some photos on a nice morning and some tasty, tasty pastry goodness.  The store wasn’t open yet, but there were people getting ready for the day, baking and such.  I thought that the building itself is picturesque, and so is Sacrebleu.  Two great things that go great together, yes?

After I took the photos, the owner (I assume) visited with me for a few minutes, and asked if I’d be willing to have Sacrebleu featured in some advertising online.  He offered me a dozen pastries of my choice, at my convenience, meaning I could come in and get one or two at a time, on a tab, until they were all squared up.  I said yes!  We’re in the process of figuring out when we’ll get together, to get the photos.  How exciting!!  

“Yeah, my car has been featured in advertising.”  HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE?!

Oh, she looks goood.