"New" Z on the way... 1991 #302

[todesengel]

Originally Posted by VetteMed

Update:

Pulled plenum, injector housings, breather box, alternator, AC compressor, oil cooler, AC condenser, radiator, fans, tensioner.

I've removed the secondary butterfly assemblies, and I'm going to have Marc Haibeck burn a chip. I'm not going to reinstall all of the under-plenum vacuum plumbing, it's just too old and dried out for me to want to gamble. Everything plastic is just brittle and itching to crack. I was surprised at how relatively simple the process of removing the secondaries was.

The Fluidyne radiator is still in excellent shape, so that goes back in. Some loose paint on the oil cooler, cleaned that up, got new lines to install for that too. The AC condenser looked to be original, so that's being replaced.

I have a new AC compressor and a rebuilt alternator on the way. New water pump will be going in. Old alternator was making some noise, and the AC compressor was seeping oil everywhere.

The one thing I've found so far which concerns me a little, is some areas of rust-colored staining of the block at the areas of cyls 7 and 8. I worry that this may be a sign of headgasket seepage, but the oil and coolant both look fine, and there's no white smoke from the exhaust... so I'm going to button it all back up and hope for the best.

More to come...

Consider doing a leak down test before you put it back together just to put your mind at ease Med. Napa also sells a "sniffer" that will check for the presence of exhaust gases in your coolant. Just my $.02, but I would rather know for sure than wonder.

[VetteMed]

Argh, I stripped the heads of 3 torx bolts on the passenger side cam cover. Grrr.

[bdw18_123]

Originally Posted by VetteMed

Argh, I stripped the heads of 3 torx bolts on the passenger side cam cover. Grrr.

I feel your pain, I did the same thing on mine, had to drill the heads off. Time for a set of SS bolts!

[VetteMed]

Originally Posted by bdw18_123

I feel your pain, I did the same thing on mine, had to drill the heads off. Time for a set of SS bolts!

Yep, that's the plan, I already have the SS bolts here, but 2 of the stripped heads are behind the AC/heater box... which means I think I may have to pull that out. Might go ahead and replace the AC evaporator, since I'm replacing the rest of the AC components too... lots of the dreaded "job creep" on a 188k mile car

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by VetteMed

Yep, that's the plan, I already have the SS bolts here, but 2 of the stripped heads are behind the AC/heater box... which means I think I may have to pull that out. Might go ahead and replace the AC evaporator, since I'm replacing the rest of the AC components too... lots of the dreaded "job creep" on a 188k mile car

if you are going to do it.. do it right..

good luck on the TORX Bolts.. I had 2 stripped on mine..

[scottfab]

Originally Posted by bdw18_123

I feel your pain, I did the same thing on mine, had to drill the heads off. Time for a set of SS bolts!

This comes under the heading of "too late now" but....
A friend showed me how a swift crack of a hammer on a sawed off
allen wrench helps break the thread bond.
Even in the hard to reach screws you can still sit a crowbar across the
top and whack the crowbar.

[rudolph schenker]

[VetteMed]

Got the passenger side cam cover off today, had 3 bolts that were stripped, lots of fun getting those out. Now, on to the driver's side cover.

[VetteMed]

Driver side cover is off, no stripped bolts on that side

[VetteMed]