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CroatianAlzheimers posted:More like a thousand bucks, 'cause you need four of them. I used to be a commercial automotive photographer, and we used these things to push cars around studios and parking lots all the time. They're great, but they're overkill for what you're doing. I love the Nova, by the way. Is that green a factory color? I'm sure they absolutely have their place, but that place is not my garage. That is indeed the factory paint. Paint code 43 - Lime Green.
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Jul 23, 2014 17:07
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:Nothing actually wrong with it. No leaks and not a peep from it when I drove it home. But the ratio absolutely sucked and the effort was super low. Stock ratio was 16:1 and the Camaro box is 12.7:1. Response should be a ton faster and it will take more than a lazy finger to turn the wheel. This is funny because in my opinion you made it worse. If you can spin the wheel with a little finger, you can spin that fucker super-fast quite easily. Nicest steering I ever experienced was in a Cadillac DTS, when that was the performance package on the DeVille. No effort to turn the wheel but I had plenty of feel for the road. No idea how Cadillac managed that, but it was awesome. There's no arguing taste, I guess, though.
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Jul 24, 2014 01:30
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The one thing that they did well on that car was Magna-steer. It really helped keeping 300HP to the ground with out the torque steer, and its a fairly impressive system.
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Jul 24, 2014 01:49
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Red_October_7000 posted:This is funny because in my opinion you made it worse. If you can spin the wheel with a little finger, you can spin that fucker super-fast quite easily. Nicest steering I ever experienced was in a Cadillac DTS, when that was the performance package on the DeVille. No effort to turn the wheel but I had plenty of feel for the road. No idea how Cadillac managed that, but it was awesome. There's no arguing taste, I guess, though. Low effort due to powerful assist /= low effort due to extremely low gearing; manual steering gears use mechanical advantage to make the wheel easy to turn at the expense of less wheel motion for each rotation of the steering wheel. It can be as low-effort as you like, but if you have to turn it 4 turns to reach full lock, it's not gonna turn very fast. Sacrificing just a little steering effort (which will still be fairly easy at speed) for fewer turns to lock will absolutely be beneficial. I bet that Cadillac you drove wasn't more than maybe 1.5-2 turns from center to lock. E: I guess this car had power steering, but those older units still typically have more turns lock-to-lock than modern cars.
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Jul 24, 2014 01:51
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Fucknag posted:Low effort due to powerful assist /= low effort due to extremely low gearing; manual steering gears use mechanical advantage to make the wheel easy to turn at the expense of less wheel motion for each rotation of the steering wheel. It can be as low-effort as you like, but if you have to turn it 4 turns to reach full lock, it's not gonna turn very fast. Sacrificing just a little steering effort (which will still be fairly easy at speed) for fewer turns to lock will absolutely be beneficial. Ding. Yes, it's a power steering car, but like I mentioned earlier, the steering ratios are totally different. I went from a variable ratio (16:1 in the center moving to 13:1 at end of travel) to a solid 12.7:1. Super fast turning the steering wheel =/= super fast turning of the road wheels. Either way, the Camaro box is about 20 years newer  .Weather was awesome today so I spent a little more time in the garage. Pulled the rear wheels off just to do it and get them out of my way. Anybody want to buy a set of 15x7 steelies with 235/60R15 BF Goodrich Radial T/As? The 8.5" and the yoke are both cleaned and fully painted. I need to pick up some brake cleaner and get to work on the LSD. Started bending up the lines from the master cylinder to the prop valve as well. I need to either rent or buy a flaring tool. Any recommendations on brands that don't totally suck?
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Jul 24, 2014 03:00
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Can you please continue to be wordy on your updates? You have an engaging writing style, I enjoy it.
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Jul 25, 2014 17:39
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Jonny Nox posted:Can you please continue to be wordy on your updates? You have an engaging writing style, I enjoy it. Thanks. I always feel like I write strangely online. Maybe it's like how hearing your own voice is weird. It's kind of a stream-of-consciousness sort of thing. I tend to write how I speak. It's gonna be hot and nasty again this weekend, but my schedule is wide open. I need to do a little work on the Mustang's brakes then maybe I can gently caress up some brakelines for the Nova. I'll see if Pep Boys has a flaring tool worth a gently caress. BRAKES
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Jul 25, 2014 21:37
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Well this weekend was not very productive. Rented a flaring tool from Pep Boys and that loving turd couldn't make a straight flare for poo poo. I made about a half a dozen flares and not a single drat one was centered on the tube. My last few flares themselves looked good, but they were off-center and a bit oblong. The tool obviously had some miles on it and was pretty beat up. Luckily, my wife is nice enough to return that one today and go get one from Advanced while I'm at work. The last tool I got from Advanced was actually brand new, so I've got a good feeling about that one. Since brake lines were a bust, I figured I'd do a little cleaning on my 8.5" parts. Picked up a can of Brakleen and made short work of it. Hosed out the axle tubes and ran some rags through with a broom handle (only the finest engineering in this garage) and sprayed/wiped/sprayed/wiped down both differentials I have. Popped the ring gears off as well. I have a matched set of 2.73:1 and a lone 40-tooth. Maybe I'll try to sell the set and turn the 40 into a clock or something. Anybody wanna buy an 8.5" Series 3 open diff carrier? My workbench now looks like it belongs to a guy that knows what he's doing. 
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Jul 28, 2014 16:12
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First flare tool from Advanced was garbage. The taper on the yoke was all hosed up so it got swapped. New one looked good, made 1 good flare and 1 decent flare, then the taper on this one was deformed too. What a load of bullshit. The taper is made of softer metal than the inserts so it gets all hosed up when you crank down the first part of the flare. This is incredibly frustrating. I should have these loving lines done but I keep getting hosed by bad tools.
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Aug 1, 2014 04:16
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This is a big part of why I was quite happy to be able to get pre-flared, hand-bendable lines 
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Aug 1, 2014 05:09
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IOwnCalculus posted:This is a big part of why I was quite happy to be able to get pre-flared, hand-bendable lines The real bitch of it is I need a new driver's front hardline because one nut is completely trashed and the other is now the wrong size. I've yet to find somewhere to only buy one reproduction line with custom nuts. Think inlinetube.com would just sell one?
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Aug 1, 2014 14:55
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Couldn't hurt to ask!
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Aug 1, 2014 18:14
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Since it's now August, I went out to the yard again with the goal of getting some gears. 1977-1994 GM half-ton trucks and vans were equipped with the 8.5" and often came with 3.42:1 gears. That should go quite nicely with a T56. I got a list of potential victims together and started with the youngest of the bunch. '93 GMC C1500. Initial inspection confirmed an 8.5" so things are looking up. I'm going to interrupt myself here and say that I had no power tools with me. I figured I could wedge the yoke with a big screwdriver or other means and get the pinion nut off, then rig up a way to hold the diff carrier while I break the ring gear bolts loose. Anyway, I've become pretty damned efficient at tearing down 10-bolts, so I ripped the cover off, counted ring gear teeth, and confirmed a possible 3.42. Undo cross pin bolt, take cross pin out, push axles in, remove C-clips, remove axle shafts and brake drums. At this point, I needed to get the driveshaft out so I could spin the pinion and count teeth. Undid the straps, pry on driveshaft, no movement. Introduce big-rear end screwdriver/prybar and the BFH to the situation and driveshaft removal follows shortly thereafter. Now I can spin the pinion, count my teeth, and confirm my 3.42. Got it on the first truck. Cool beans. Now I remove the bearing cap bolts, bearing caps, and work the carrier out. This one was a little more reluctant than the other ones I've taken apart, but it came out without too much of a fuss. Gears are still in great shape. The time comes to employ my grand plans of leverage to get these gears separated from their respective prisons. I started with the pinion. I managed to wedge my screwdriver into the yoke and against the exhaust. This held the yoke so I could actually get some torque on it with a ratchet. Unfortunately, I am apparently not strong enough to tackle the likes of a  GMC TRUCK and couldn't get that motherfucker to move. Knowing that at this point I was beat, I made a feeble attempt to remove the ring gear bolts and was met with similar failure.It's painfully obvious at this point that I need a cordless impact wrench. I'm not about to buy an entire rear end just to get it back to my garage so I can get the gears off. I've decided I'll buy an HF impact with a 20% coupon, use it to blast these bolts/nut off and take it back. Anybody have any experience with this turd? http://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-18-volt-cordless-impact-wrench-60380.html I just need 11 fasteners worth of give-a-poo poo from this thing. Next trip to the yard should be much lighter. Impact, 2 sockets, extension, screwdriver, and hammer. Sorry for lack of pictures. More focused on the job. I'll get some next time.
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Aug 4, 2014 19:02
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:Anybody have any experience with this turd? http://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-18-volt-cordless-impact-wrench-60380.html I just need 11 fasteners worth of give-a-poo poo from this thing. I guess it depends on your budget, but I couldn't imagine spending that much on an HF cordless tool. Especially if this won't be your last trip to the junkyard. I went for a name brand based on that alone.
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Aug 5, 2014 02:59
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Yeah, Snap-On makes a reeeeally nice cordless impact that has enough grunt to handle most bolts on any non-commercial-truck sized vehicle for around $300 and change iirc, I'd spring for something like that - they're useful enough to have that it's worth keeping one around.
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Aug 5, 2014 03:17
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Yeah, the thing is that I don't see myself making very many trips to the yard after this and I have every intention of returning it when I'm done. I think all I'll need from the yard after the gears is a backing plate. I can get that with hand tools no problem.
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Aug 5, 2014 03:29
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Even if you don't strictly need it, an impact is nice for zipping things off quickly, especially if it's something preloaded so you have to keep cranking on it for a few turns before it spins freely.
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Aug 5, 2014 03:35
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Fucknag posted:Even if you don't strictly need it, an impact is nice for zipping things off quickly, especially if it's something preloaded so you have to keep cranking on it for a few turns before it spins freely. I've actually got an electric impact at home, but I cant exactly run 12 miles of extension cord to the yard
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Aug 5, 2014 03:56
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:I've actually got an electric impact at home, but I cant exactly run 12 miles of extension cord to the yard I've got one of these, and it worked better than the cordless that I tested at the time. YMMV.
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Aug 5, 2014 21:56
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Just wanted to make sure if you are aware that the ring gear bolts are left hand thread on the 8.5" GM 10 bolt.
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Aug 11, 2014 03:17
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Hit the yard on Saturday to finish grabbing the gears out of the GMC that I found. I did pick up an HF cordless impact for my trip to get the nut off the pinion and attempt to get the ring gear off the carrier as well. I was traveling pretty light with just a bag containing the impact, 2 socket extensions, 3/4" socket, 1 1/4" socket, screwdriver, gloves, hammer, Aerokroil, and a towel (always bring your towel). Now, last week when I pulled the carrier I didn't have the tools to get the pinion or ring gear actually off, so I just tucked it underneath the truck so I could come back to it. I was a beet leery about this, but figured "nobody wants that drat thing" and didn't really think much about it. Naturally, when I got there on Saturday and went to the truck the carrier and ring gear was no longer there. After the initial mutterings, I figured I might was well try to find it since I didn't have the tools to pull a different one. Despite all odds and laughing in the face of my notorious bad luck, I found it sitting in the bed of the truck right next to the original victim. Couldn't believe it.  The pinion came out easily enough. HF impact spun the nut off without problem, but I did have to use the axle shaft I had pulled the week prior as a hammer to actually knock the gear out of the axle. Made sure to spin the nut back on to give me something to hit so I didn't trash out my pinion. Once the pinion was out, I could set up shop on the tailgate of the next truck over and actually work on my feet for a bit while I tried to get that ring gear off. Now, the thing is with the 8.5" gears is that the ring gear bolts are all left-handed. Not normally a big deal, but when you try to use an impact gun that's designed more for breaking nuts loose (counter-clockwise) than tightening them (clockwise), you quickly realize that the odds of pulling this off just went down the shitter. I managed to get 2 bolts out of 10 removed at the yard. I then admitted defeat, grabbed the whole drat thing, and went home. Counter guy gave me a break since I told him I really didn't want the carrier and the spider gears were already gone. So I dragged it home, threw it in the vise, and tried to blast the rest of the bolts out with my corded impact. When I did the LSD out of the Firebird, my impact spun them right out. Couple seconds of hammering, then they'd let go. Not so much here. gave a couple bolts 10 or 15 seconds worth of hell and then decided to just go for the breaker bar/cheater pipe combo. Short work was made of the bolts.  Both were given a thorough Brakleening, then put away for later assembly. I blasted through my August budget in a hurry with this acquisition, so it will be mostly cleaning and other small jobs this month. Next month is my anniversary, so maybe I'll get lucky with some new parts. In the meantime, there's a couple car shows that I'm going to be heading to in hopes of getting rid of some of these extra parts.  Seriously, anybody want to buy some gears? 
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Aug 11, 2014 04:10
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Ok for the inquiring minds. How good is the HF cordless impact gun. Is it really worth the money?
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Aug 11, 2014 16:52
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"Inquire at face" made me laugh pretty hard.
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Aug 11, 2014 17:16
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I honestly didn't use it for long enough to make a good judgment on that. It spun the pinion nut off just fine, and managed to get 2 ring gear bolts out, but I think those were flukes. It didn't lose any power while I was hammering on those bolts, but it got pretty drat hot. I've used my corded one for longer and not had it get nearly that hot, so I'm kinda leery about that. If I were to buy one to own, I'd pony up the bucks for a Milwaukee or the like. I owned it for less than 24 hours so it's really hard for me to say it was worth the money. I could have just spent the money on a name-brand one since I was returning it anyway, but I didn't want them to be all "no returns on used equipment rear end in a top hat" and then I'd be sidled with a $300 tool that I'll rarely use. With the current 20% off coupon, the HF gun was just over $100, so if somebody wants to potentially eat that in the name of science, go right ahead. HF return policy on power tools is 90 days, so depending on amount of use, that gives a pretty good window to paint a picture of the overall quality. I got their 4.5" grinder for $19 with the coupon and I already replaced the garbage grease with some hi-temp poo poo so we'll see if that thing wants to stick around. Edit: ^^^ In case you're wondering, there are two signs there that I'll be wearing as a sandwich board. Hopefully I don't get kicked out for soliciting
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Aug 11, 2014 17:20
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Went to the show, wore my sign, came home with all my parts. Had a couple nibbles on the wheels and gave some business cards away. Maybe they'll tell their friends. I've got a swap meet and another show to head to this summer so maybe I can get somebody to pull the trigger on these things. My parents were visiting this weekend so I didn't really get much done. Dad brought me a pretty sweet dial indicator with a magnetic base, so that should help in getting the rear end together. I've been putting off the brake lines since I'm reluctant to rent another POS tool, but it's going to have to happen sooner rather than later. I finally cleaned up the instrument panel a bit and put the speedometer back in. This is a pretty good picture of the butchering done by some jackass PO for the hackjob stereo install. Any input from you guys as to what I could do with it?  I'll probably go over the lettering for the controls with some white paint.
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Aug 18, 2014 03:33
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Blech. My first reaction there honestly would be to see how much a repro bezel would cost.
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Aug 18, 2014 04:06
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Yeah, that or find a bezel that is destroyed except for the stereo hole and graft them together. That sucks, it's one of the things I was extremely happy about on my 122, nobody hosed with the radio hole.
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Aug 18, 2014 07:09
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I found your car's sister! http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/calgary/1971-chevy-nova-low-miles-2nd-owner-original/1012204206?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
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Aug 18, 2014 07:15
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IOwnCalculus posted:Blech. My first reaction there honestly would be to see how much a repro bezel would cost. 300 bones. http://www.classicindustries.com/product/1971/nova/parts/n668205.html I may wait until the interior gets redone and pick one up. There's also these, but they look pretty tacky to me. If anything, I'll just take the speedo out of the factory bezel and rig up mounting for other gauges. http://www.classicindustries.com/product/nova/parts/46951911.html
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Aug 18, 2014 13:49
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Powershift, that was the color of my '72. So I mentioned earlier that my wedding anniversary is rapidly approaching and that may lead to a budget adjustment. Well fortunately the CFO approved an extension for the month of September on stipulation that we wait until her first paycheck of the season shows up (she's a teacher). I've been getting my thoughts together as to what needs to be tackled next and I will now present to all of you those ideas in full Slung Blade fashion. I've been running this list for a couple months to keep track so I'll omit the things that are already done. - Get that loving driver's side brakeline finished and reinstalled - Buy the Richmond Gear kit and get the 8.5" together - Pull out the old 8.2" and get the hardlines moved over to the 8.5" - Buy some pretty new softlines from Kore3.com to go from my old hardlines to the new calipers - Buy rear rotors - Check fitment of rotors on axle shafts. Get hub faces machined down if necessary and get new wheel studs. - Install the 8.5" - Install backing plates/axle shafts/rotors/calipers - Install all my new softlines - Double check all brakelines and go buy fluid - Bleed master cylinder - Bleed brakes - Start buying wheels and tires. I'm pretty sure that the wheels and tires I'm going to buy will fit, but I'm starting off piece by piece. Buy front wheel, verify front fitment, verify back fitment just in case. Buy front tire, mount, check front and back fitments. Buy BACK wheel, repeat process. Once I verify everything fits where it should, buy the other 2 wheels/tires and strap 'em on. -  PUT THE loving ENGINE AND TRANS BACK IN!- Check all my torque settings for the front suspension steering once it's back on the ground Once all that poo poo's done, I'll start buying suspension parts.
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Aug 19, 2014 21:19
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:300 bones. http://www.classicindustries.com/product/1971/nova/parts/n668205.html  Even from the spendy shops, that same part for my truck is <$100, and at least a few years ago you could find it for <$50 easy.
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Aug 19, 2014 21:35
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:I've been getting my thoughts together as to what needs to be tackled next and I will now present to all of you those ideas in full Slung Blade fashion. I've been running this list for a couple months to keep track so I'll omit the things that are already done. Hahahahhaa, awesome. I hope this becomes a thing. Also I like your Nova, they're neat cars. The grill is iconic and I love it. Race you to road legality!
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Aug 19, 2014 22:40
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Slung Blade posted:Hahahahhaa, awesome. I hope this becomes a thing. Your Coronet is pretty goddamned cool too. All I need is to put the engine back in it, finish the brakes, buy new wheels and tires, put the dash back together, renew the license sticker, and get it insured. Loser hangs up the winner's flag in the garage?
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Aug 19, 2014 22:54
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Boaz MacPhereson posted:Your Coronet is pretty goddamned cool too. All I need is to put the engine back in it, finish the brakes, buy new wheels and tires, put the dash back together, renew the license sticker, and get it insured. Loser hangs up the winner's flag in the garage? THE DIE IS CAST I might have a slight advantage because I'm not taking the motor out until it's road legal, so maybe we, or someone, will have to come up with a mitigating factor.
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Aug 19, 2014 23:03
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Slung Blade posted:THE DIE IS CAST We should add the October 4 (newbie day) or October 5 (final event of the year) autocross events at Fort Macleod to the checklist.
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Aug 19, 2014 23:10
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I sense the purchase of a Canadian flag in my future...
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Aug 20, 2014 00:47
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Why not take 10 minutes to just measure your wheel wells once the poo poo is all done? Fitting wheels isn't a crazy science. Then you order wheels once (hopefully ).
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Aug 20, 2014 02:50
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Here's one on ebay for $50, looks a little rough though http://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-1974-Nova-Dash-Bezel-/111257206146?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19e7723d82&vxp=mtr or you could just epoxy a piece of black plastic over it and mold the epoxy lovingly
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Aug 20, 2014 06:22
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Huggable Bear King posted:Here's one on ebay for $50, looks a little rough though I actually saw that one the other day when I was looking around. Too bad that radio slot's been gutted too. I actually found a place that specializes in Novas about 10 minutes from my house so maybe I'll drag mine over there to see if they can do anything for me. Well Slung Blade lit a bit of a fire under my rear end to get things rolling so I decided that I'd rip out the old rear end last night to make way for the 8.5". The victim:  You like that muffler install? There's a soup can under that clamp. Only the finest in this garage. I approached this a bit differently than when I pulled the 8.5" as I plan on actually driving this car and possibly reusing some of these parts. HULK SMASH doesn't really apply here. FSM provided a good jumping off point for the process, but naturally it never goes exactly as it does in theory. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I wanted to get this done fairly quickly as I knew today would be a long day at work. I'll also add here that I am still completely loving astonished that every single nut that I spun off put up no fight whatsoever and came right off. Couldn't loving believe it. Removal was as follows: - Go buy another HF moving dolly. - Jack up the diff so I can reposition my jack stands. - Undo lower shock mounts and make sure shocks are free from the axle. - Undo the 4 nuts per side holding the axle tubes to the leaf springs and remove the lower plates. Note: no U-bolts. The top half of the clamp on the axle tubes has little studs that run through the clamp around the leaf. Didn't even realize it before last night. - Realize that I shouldn't have hooked the parking brake cables back up and loosen it all to get enough slack in the cable to free the ends going into the drums. - Go against factory procedure and leave the front leaf mounts connected. Hope that doesn't bite me in the rear end. - Notice that there's no loving way I'm getting the lower rear shackle bolts out without dropping the tank. - Link up some combo wrenches to get enough leverage to break the top rear shackle bolt loose. Proceed to take for-goddamned-ever to twist the nut off with a box-end because my ratchet won't fit. Note to self: buy 11/16" ratcheting box-end wrench. - Pry out top bolt and drop the drivers side spring out of the way. - Rinse and repeat for passenger side. - Notice that I completely loving forgot the brake line from the body and miraculously undo it without rounding off the nut or loving anything up. - Transfer the 8.2" from the floor jack to the dolly and roll that fucker out.  I'll be heading back out there momentarily to gently caress with getting the hard lines off the 8.2". Edit: Might as well just tack this on here. Went out and pulled the brake lines and parking brake cables out. Cables kinda sucked since I had to rip apart all the drum hardware to get to the end, but oh well. I think I've finally resigned to just scrapping the 8.2". Nobody with any sense is going to buy it. Brake lines and bracket are in/on the vise, cables are on the stool. Soft line with the tee fitting feeding the two hard lines will be getting replaced with braided stainless from Kore3. Gonna have to figure out a way to get these cables to work with the Camaro brakes. 
Boaz MacPhereson fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Aug 21, 2014 |
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Aug 21, 2014 01:52
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With the rear end out, I've got pretty good access to the rear floorpan of the car. I probably won't get this kind of access again, so I figured I'd better clean it while I can. I pulled the driver's side shock and leaf to give myself some room and rolled under to take a look. Ugh.  Gross. I suited up with a dust mask, glasses, and a face mask and gathered my tools. Garden hose, Simple Green, various brushes of the scrubbing and wire varieties. I hit it all with the hose and gave it a heavy bath with the Simple Green. Gave it a minute to soak and started in with the brushes. Once I was sufficiently coated in 40 years of crap, I hit it with the hose again and was pleasantly surprised.   With that done, the next purchases will be new hard lines for the axle and a gear install kit from Richmond Gear. I'll keep myself busy for the next couple weeks until I buy those so updates will probably be sparse.
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Aug 26, 2014 21:24
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