Progress Thread Therapy Car-- Freshening Up the Lower Intake

[Olivethefet]

Another quick question. I mentioned that I'm having issues with the dash lights not working. Something else I noticed the other day is that the drivers side headlight and marker lights are reasonably bright, but the passengers side headlight and side markers are pretty dim. Could these two issues be related? I plan to check the connections at the bulbs, but beyond that I'm not sure what to look at next. Just start tracing wiring back?

Oh, I guess the car settled some during the road trip. When I got back home I actually had trouble getting it back on the lift. I'm worried that once the subframe connectors are in place it might make it very hard to get it on the lift. IDK we'll see. I guess I could make some little ramps to pull the car on to get in on the lift LOL.

 

[90sickfox]

There are little 9/32nd green bolts on the top of the core support...one on each side. They are ground wires for the headlights. If you have a bad connection it'll make the lights on that side dim. Turn the lights on and jump from the ground terminal on the battery to that wire. If the lights brighten back up you found your problem. I've had them get brighter just from loosening the screw and tightening it back down again.

 

[droopie85gt]

There are little 9/32nd green bolts on the top of the core support...one on each side. They are ground wires for the headlights. If you have a bad connection it'll make the lights on that side dim. Turn the lights on and jump from the ground terminal on the battery to that wire. If the lights brighten back up you found your problem. I've had them get brighter just from loosening the screw and tightening it back down again.

What he said. Not a bad idea to take both of those off, sand the metal underneath back to bare metal, hit the terminal as well, and put it back on. Dim lights are usually a bad ground.

 

[Olivethefet]

Thanks guys. I read that in some other threads as well. I'll give that a try tonight.

 

[Olivethefet]

Changed the oil last night and took the car out for a short drive. No major issues. I put the car back up and checked everything out, After letting the car sit for a while I checked the oil. It looked great! No discoloration or evidence of water. I plan to leave this oil in the car for a little while. Drive it around town some and try to put a few miles on it. Then I'll dump it and put the synthetic oil back in and call it good. I'm glad to have this little episode behind me.

The other night when I went to move the lawnmower so I could get the car out of the garage it blew a bunch of gas out to the exhaust. My father in law runs a lawnmower shop. Hes been at it for decades now. He's also where I got this mower. I gave him a quick call and found out that this is an uncommon failure, but not unheard of. He gave me a checklist of things to do to take care of the issue. Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow morning!

 

[General karthief]

Putting a turbo on your lawn mower?

 

[Olivethefet]

Not sure if I positioned the speedometer drive gear in the wrong spot or if it moved when I installed it but it isnt engaging the gear on the cable. That's why I's got no mph. I've got a cheap little bore scope thing but the battery is dead. I'm going to take a look inside tomorrow and make sure everything looks ok. If it does I'm going to reinstall everything and just drive it for a while. I had to take the H-pipe off to get the cable off the transmission.

 

[Willybill32]

New washer every couple of changes? This is the first car I’ve needed a washer to keep my plug from leaking.

My other car is a Honda S2000. Every time I buy a Honda oil filter for it it comes with a new drain plug gasket/washer.

 

[Willybill32]

Nick, just ran across this thread a few days ago and have read all 39 pages over the past several days. It's a pleasure to see all the work you've gotten done, even though you've still got a ways to go. I wish I'd run across it several months ago so I could have added some information.

I've been through my '86 GT suspension and engine, finally getting it running again in January, then having to replace heater core, evaporator coil, power steering system and myriad other details, so I can appreciate all that you've been going thru. Mine is running and has a full interior, so I'm driving it. It gets a new 3:55 rear end Monday, still many, many more details still to go, including new paint.

Good job!

 

[Olivethefet]

I got to take the car out for a joy ride today. First time in a long time. Just me, the car, and the driver's seat. I did fix the seatbelt by the way. Put about 80 miles on it. The only issue was a scrubbing, draining noise coming from the right rear drum. If I touched the brakes or put just a tiny bit of e-brake on the noise went away. I'll try tightening that brake.

My only question. The speedometer gears are not engaged so the speed sensor is not seeing anything. Is that an issue?

 

[Olivethefet]

Oh, even with the drain plug copper gasket the plug still leaks some.

 

[General karthief]

New plug?
And about that noise in the rear brake, do yourself a favor and yank the drum and see if anything is amiss.

 

[Olivethefet]

Old plug. I'll pull the drum and check it out. I'll get a new plug to replace it with the next time I change the oil.

 

[Olivethefet]

Any advice on the speedometer gear?

 

[General karthief]

Any advice on the speedometer gear?

Nope, no clue.
Sorry

 

[Olivethefet]

I decided to tackle the faulty drivers side window tonight. It looks like the pucks aren't my problem. Can I get just this piece or do I need a new window regulator motor?

 

[General karthief]

Yeah, LMR sells the gear 'loaded', plastic gear, pucks and the drive gear like fifteen bucks.

 

[Olivethefet]

I now have a working drivers side window! I found a Dorman regulator kit at O'reilly's. It was a little more but I was able to get it today. It came with a ziplock bag of grease. I had to reuse the old larger gear. I couldn't get the new gears to go together with the pucks in it.

 

[Olivethefet]

I pulled the ground wire for the right headlight set off of the core support. Cleaned it up and put it back together. Unfortunately it didnt help. I know I've
Got a light out on the left side. Hopefully you can see the difference in brightness.

 

[90sickfox]

Have you tried swapping bulbs side to side ? Check the sockets that the bulbs plug into. Should be some old crusty grease in there but no dark brown burn spots.