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Topics - bryes
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« on: June 04 2015, 01:41:42 PM »
Here is my wheel balancer from the fifties I think
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« on: April 29 2015, 08:52:36 PM »
My life has been pretty crazy lately with projects and other thing. Most of my time lately has been spent helping my uncle paint his '78 Malibu (454, pretty quick) recently. He taught me to paint my Camaro back in the 90s, so I owe him!
As can be seen below, the car was pretty straight but did have some rust issues being in Ohio for the last couple decades. We have most stripped to bare metal now:
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« on: March 29 2015, 05:54:24 PM »
Background:
First a little background information to get everyone up to speed. In my Newbie thread I was able to successfully rebuild the engine that was bad in the GN I bought. Not too long after I got the car going (with a lot of help from Steve and the other guys on this site), I lost my job in Georgia and had to move back to Ohio.
In late October of 2014, I successfully towed the car 800 miles to Ohio, the weather was nice and it was dry the entire way. That is until a sudden popup deluge drenched me and the car while I unloaded it off the uhaul trailer. Well the next morning the car was still wet, so I decided the best way to dry it was to take it for one last ride before tucking it in for a long (really long!) Ohio winter.
About a quarter mile from my house is a nice stop sign, just asking for a wot blast. This was probably the first time I had run the car in cooler air, and with 17 psi of boost, the little six felt strong as it shifted from 1st to second. Sometimes the tires would break loose a little, but this time they stuck. The car surged forward, but faltered instantaneouslyy with an audible bang. I remember the odd helpless feeling of a car decelerating while I was still flooring the gas! After lifting off the throttle, the car coasted to a stop.
Symptoms:
So currently the symptom of my transmission, as had been mentioned in the previous thread, is that it has 6 neutrals and a park. Also I should mention that a gear whirring or whine sound are noticeable when idling or revving the engine. And as it turns out, the trans leaked a substantial amount of fluid on the ground over the winter. I did notice it leaking a little back in Georgia, which was one reason I decided to not drive it back (Lucky... maybe).
Pulling the trans:
I was able to pull out the trans in a few hours. The hardest part for me was loosening the top transmission line, that thing is a pain even with the trans tilted down after being dismounted. But overall not too bad of a job. The tag is in the first picture.
Disassembling the trans:
The problem was not obvious at first. I really thought it that the pump might have went bad because of the noise (coming from the front of the trans) and the fact that it was leaking fluid. I pulled the pump out and took it apart, and it looked fine to me. So I continued to dissect the transmission, taking enough pictures so I (think / hope) can get the thing back together. I’ve only taken one other auto trans apart and have never put one back together, so I don’t know what the parts are called. But I pulled the first few assemblies out and didn’t see anything obvious. Then I had to pull out the valve body to remove a couple more… um doohickeys. I got the trans down to the point that I was relatively sure that everything else looked good to me (See middle two pictures below), so I left the back end together.
The problem:
Since all the stuff in the case seemed to be OK, at least to the untrained eye, I decided to take another look at the front end where the noise seemed to be coming from. Since I had already checked out the pump the only thing I hadn’t inspected thoroughly was the torque converter. I looked down in it and everything seemed OK. It seemed to engage with the pump properly, but then I put the input shaft into the converter and turned it… something immediately seemed off. It didn’t seem to be turning anything, I expected there to be some more mass there. Also when I turned the shaft it made some noise, a similar albeit much quieter facsimile of what I heard when still in the car. Still I couldn’t see anything by visual inspection, but I was convinced the converter was bad.
I decided to take the plunge and cut the converter apart to see what was going on internally. I didn’t have much to lose because, as was suspected, it was the wrong converter (stamped 5 all around the perimeter with no “D”) and made my car slug slow off the line. As you can see in the picture below, once it was opened I could see the problem. As can be seen in the final picture below, the teeth that engage in the input shaft were completely stripped out.
Decisions decisions:
Now is where I need some help. I believe I have hunted down a D5 locally that will fix my problem. I’m going to see it on Thursday and will buy it for 50 if nothing is obviously wrong. So my only dilemma is what I should do with the trans. One option is to put the thing back together and run it, since my car is mostly stock and I don’t have really big plans to modify it, this is how I am leaning right now. But I am open to fixing some weak links, upgrading etc. My financial situation is not good right now but is hopefully improving soon, so that will enter in.
Let me know what you think , all advice is welcome!
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« on: October 04 2014, 04:54:32 PM »
I'm in the market to purchase a known good factory MAF to use as a spare in a couple of weeks when I am traveling cross country.
Let me know what you have.
Thanks!
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« on: October 02 2014, 02:42:23 PM »
To summarize my situation, my GN has recently awakened from a decade long slumber. Now that I've gotten most of the bugs worked out, I have to move. The plan is to drive it from GA to OH in the next few weeks, a trip of about 800 miles. I could trailer it or have it shipped, but I've decided to save some money and drive it. Being unemployed, I have a lot of time on my hands, so a road trip sounds like a nice distraction anyway.
I appreciate the thought Earl,
I've only put about 200 miles on the car since completing it's reawakening. It seems to do fine on the highway other than minor things (no radio, odd idiot lights etc.)
Just for background info, the new or rebuilt parts that I've installed and can think of right now are listed below:
Engine: Freshened.
Brakes: Converted to hydroboost. Rotors and pads are good.
Tires: Replaced all 4
Fuel Pump: New WB 340
Cam Sensor Cap: New
ECM: Rebuilt Autozone
Crank Sensor: New
All Common Filters and fluids:
Belts and hoses are replaced or nice.
The car is pretty much stock with the upgrades in my signature. No liquid leaks yet whatsoever... believe it or not, and I've checked thoroughly.
Obviously I am taking a chance by driving a 27 yo vehicle that many miles, so i want to eliminate risk by having a few parts at hand if possible. To me the most likely candidates I think are:
MAF
IGN Module
Coils
Radiator stop leak
The module and coils I think I'll buy from a parts store, and return them when I'm home. I'm not sure what to do about the MAF though, any ideas? Do I have to have a spare? Are you dead in the water with a bad MAF or is there a way around it?
Finally, do people ever set their cars up to run on 87 for long trips? I think it'd only save me about 20 bucks, so I'm leaning against it.
I'm interested in hearing everyone's opinions and experiences. What would you do if you were in my shoes?
Thanks
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« on: August 23 2014, 08:53:37 PM »
I went to change the headlights today in my GN and everything was going along fine until my bit-driver tool, whose magnet has weakened over time, let go of the bit. First off, aren't they called permanent magnets for a reason? I guess in the world of magnets a decade or so is all you need to qualify as permanent.
Anyway that torx bit saw it's chance to escape and rolled down my bumper filler into the abyss that is the GN front bumper. For the first hour or two I tried everything to retrieve that stupid piece of steel. First I used my hands, risking a black widow attack. Then a magnetic retrieval tool. Finally, I resorted to the air and water hose. All to no avail. I squeezed my fingers and hands into all the little crevices, each layer of skin more painful than the last. I craned my neck under the front nose, stuffing my head up into that area, just to catch a glance shiny glint of the tool... and nothing! I kept on thinking that maybe I had been mistaken, that there had to have been the secondary sound of tool on concrete, so I expanded my search area.. under the tire? behind the air hose? maybe it rolled 20 feet to the other side? ...Still nothing.
Yes it would be easier, less time, less stressful just to run to the store and buy another bit; but dammit, I just wasted two hours of my life in 100 degree high humidity mosquito and sand gnat infested Georgia heat looking for it. And I really expect that at least a month was expended off the balance of my life in doing so. So at this point I'm going to start removing parts from this car until I find it...beginning with that stupid bumper.
Now the bad thing about pulling the bumper, the really bad thing is that I can't do it by myself. So I had to enlist the not-too-happy female manual labor in the 100 deg heat to assist. Needless to say, instead of watching black air tonight I'll probably be stuck watching Bridget Jones Diary. And worse yet, with all that contorting earlier, I write this now I feel like I've been through a minor car accident, so the chance of me being able to catch some zs in my chair during the movie are slim.
Finding the bit was just more of a relief than anything else. As I pulled down the bumper it was just laying there in the open, I'm sure it wasn't there the whole time, couldn't have been! It had to have slipped out from some mysterious place or found a wormhole somewhere. Pretty much the whole day was wasted, but at least I have a couple new headlights in there now!
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« on: August 17 2014, 05:19:54 PM »
New or known good. Let me know what you have, thanks.
Also I'd like a new or known good PM accumulator ball.
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« on: June 21 2014, 09:31:33 PM »
Hello everybody. I still have a couple of nagging issues that have prevented me from driving my GN much after getting the motor back together. The major one right now is the powermaster. Unfortunately I don't have any bars of gold laying around to trade for a rebuilt one, and the used one that I bought as a "known good" unit turned out to be a core; so I'm left now with trying to rebuild it myself. Fortunately, since completing the engine a year ago (or was it two?) there has been an empty space in my living room just begging to be filled again with buick parts. And with temperatures approaching the century mark here in Savannah, I have a some spare indoor time on my hands right now. So I took this time to tear apart the core that I have and I'd like to get it to a point that I just have to just swap it in, bleed the system and go. I have labeled my PM parts below similar to the one in http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/brakes/powermaster.jpg. I have measured the o-rings and seals with calipers and matched them to standard sizes as well as I can, and they are summarized in the picture. Since nobody makes a rebuild kit anymore, it looks like I am going to have to get all o-rings and seals from a hydraulics place. In researching it, i have found that EDPM or Silicone are the two options that are compatible with brake fluid, and it seems that EDPM is superior.I'm just looking for advice for those who have been down this road before. Maybe i'm just a glutten for punishment trying restore a PM (and not convert), but I'd at least like to get a good PM MC in the car to decide if 1 of the 2 accumulators I have em "accumulated" is good. I think that the seals will not cost very much, so all I have to lose is my time... and that is not worth anything  Finally, it looks like somebody cut the end off of the power piston spool (#46) in my core with a hacksaw. Does anyone have a power piston assembly laying around (#25) they wouldn't mind parting with? I think Autozone was out of stock! If I had to, I can hopefully use the assembly that is in my car right now, but I'd rather not.
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« on: February 26 2013, 09:16:02 PM »
I had been letting my oil cooler lines soak in penetrating oil (PB Blaster) since last april. Every last one of them were still rusted solid, so last Saturday I reluctantly had to heat them to break them loose.
I always use penetrating oil anyway, but the more time goes on the less useful I think it is in breaking free rusted fasteners. Once the fastener is loosened a bit, then the oil is thin enough to get in and it helps in backing it out. But in most cases heavy corrosion seems to seal out the penetrating oil altogether, which had to be the case with these oil lines. I've noticed before, even after soaking for long periods of time that basically any internal surface not sprayed directly with the oil will be bone dry.
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« on: July 25 2012, 09:38:13 PM »
As you can see below, I like for my air compressor to have more cylinders than my car. Over the fourth I was able to finally pick up my "new" air compressor. It's a Gardener Denver with a Hercules motor. If you count the rings on that stump it will show how long it was setting at its previous location!
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« on: March 06 2012, 07:58:42 PM »
Does anyone have recommendation s for a machine shop that does good work on turbo buicks near Savannah?
I'm going to be doing a stock rebuild on my '87 231 and am willing to drive some for the right place.
Thanks
Bryes
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« on: February 29 2012, 10:36:58 PM »
Hello everyone, A couple weeks ago I bought an '87 GN project (it turned out to be more of one then I was hoping for!), and now I a few questions. Any replies or reading suggestions would be much appreciated. I have begun reading Steve Wood's excellent tech section, but it looks like it will take a few reads through before it really sinks in.  In the meantime I would like to ask a few questions about my particular situation if someone wouldn't mind answering some newbie questions. The GN that I bought had been setting for the last decade. To get the car running again, the previous owner said that he changed plugs and wires, and I think the fuel pump. However, whoever did the work hooked up the plug wires in the wrong order. Thinking the problem was a "dirty" injector he proceeded to "clean out the injectors" , by driving the car. During this "cleaning", the car started smoking what I am judging to be blue oil smoke. When I started working on the motor I discovered that the middle PS cylinder had 0 compression. I also noticed that the spark plug electrode was burnt maybe halfway off. Since then, I have started to remove the head to repair what I am hoping is a burnt Ex. valve. Additionally, I think the turbo might have a blown seal. I noticed that it was weeping oil right above the oil return line and there is oil residue in the intake Manifold (Before pcv inlet, so I think it could only be from the turbo). When I get it fixed I intend to use the car just to cruise with. I am open to some performance upgrades that wont hurt driveability / reliability if anyone has suggestions. My questions are as follows: 1: Any ideas, suggestions, similar experiences, etc..?? 2. Now that I will soon have the heads off, what other components should I look into replacing and suggestions on where and what to buy? As it stands right now I will also be replacing the timing chain and water pump. Any additional pointers are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Bryes '87 GN, 51k miles (not verified)
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