1988 Convertible for sunny day drives

Before and after:

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Thats the back and front plates from the compressor body.

Took a day to polish that back plate to this point. It’s not a smooth and clean as I want it, but at least the heavy lifting is done.

Should only take a couple weeks to finish the rest of the compressor...:oops:
 
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More progress:

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Getting there.

next victim:

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Center body. Should be a fairly easy one.

next up:

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Main body. That is going to be a PITB.

Then it can all go back together and I can start on the compressor bracket.

I’m also thinking about relocating the air pump solenoid box from the top right front of the engine to out in the fenderwells to clean up the engine a bit more. At least visually...
 
Ya know Tour, you are really putting the rest of us to shame, LOL. I like how you are thinking and now I am beginning to think about what I can begin polishing up in my engine bay, whenever I can find some free time. Looking forward to seeing how it all looks.
 
I can’t believe yesterday happened. Allow me to explain:

i was on my way to ctc to return some lawn mower blades. New minas is arranged with three lanes: left right and a center turning lane. I pull up to a red light, about 3-4 cars back. I see some guy in a honda pull out into the turning lane, drive up to the intersection and put his right turn signal on to come over into the lane.

The light changes and traffic starts moving. Buddy immediately starts to come over, even turning towards the first car thats right beside him.

First car goes, then the second car goes. Buddy is still pushing into the lane. The third car goes and then I start moving. I look at my mirror and theres no one behind me, so I go around the honda (has a good part of his front bumper in the lane) and think nothing more of it.

About 300m down the lane, I check my mirror. Buddy is behind me and he’s loosing his biscuit! Obscene gestures, yelling, mouthing obscenities, etc. I’m completely baffled. I stare at him through my outside mirror and he starts pointing and doing his foolishness towards my mirror. I’m guessing he sees me looking in it.

Well, I’ve done nothing to him that I can see other than driving past him while he was wanting to merge. So I just ignore it all and keep driving. His problem is whatever it is and as far as I’m concerned, not worth any more of my time.

I turn into the ctc parking lot and get out of my truck. Suddenly, the honda comes to a screeching halt behind my truck, blocking me in. Buddy jumps out, gets in my face and starts screaming....something. Its close to an unintelligible string of profanities.

Now, honestly, I’m not even really hearing what he’s saying at this point. I just want to defuse and leave. I probably made a few “what the eff is wrong with you” comments. But I can’t even recall exact words. I was just baffled at what was going down. I have no idea what is wrong with this idiot, what he’s going on about and what he might do. My mind is to just get away from the whole mess..

So, I’m not a “huge” guy, but I’m not a small guy either. Best description is I’m square and “boxy”. Playing hockey, guys used to eventually just stop trying to hit me. The comment usually associated with someone trying to check me into the boards was “it’s like hitting a tree stump, he.just doesn’t move”. So I decide I’m just going to push by him and leave. So I move forward and basically shoulder him out of the way. Nothing overly violent, I just start walking and bump him out of my way.

Then everything just goes sideways.

I feel a hand drop on to my left shoulder and it yanks me around.

Now, I’m pretty broken up and fragile after flying sar for 30 years. My back immediately hurts from the forced rotation and my neck starts screaming. I start to worry Ii’m going to collapse on the ground right there.

As I’m being pulled around, I catch out of the corner of my eye this guys fist coming for my head.

What.

The.

Eff?

My mind shifts into “operator mode” and just shuts off all the body pain signals. At this point, I’m just reacting to what I see. I drop low and buddy’s fist hits nothing but air. My right fist comes up and hits him under the left jaw in an uppercut motion. Becuase I was crouched, the punch has my entire body behind it, right down to my legs pushing me back up.

I can’t be sure if buddy just went over back wards or if his feet came up off the ground, but he went up and over, smashing his back and whacking his head on the pavement. He’s not unconscious, but he’s not really capable of doing anything except look stunned.

a couple guys walk over and tell me they saw the whole thing. Self defense and they give me their phone numbers. I just want away, so I give them a quick thanks and walk into ctc.

when I come back out, everyone is gone. I walk around my truck to check it over, get in and go home.

Its the next day now and I still can’t believe that happened. I keep running it over in my head and theres just nothing I can see that would have caused that. All I can figure is the guy road raged because he had to wait to merge, maybe he just lost his job, maybe he’s gone covid lockdown crazy....whatever.

I still can’t believe I’m 54 and had to punch a guy. Buddy looked to be somewhere in his 40’s. Grown men don’t do this type of thing. I’m still in shock I think.

now my hand hurts, my back and neck are locked up, I need my cane to walk around the house.

I’m just gobsmacked. What the heck is wrong with this world? How far will we come apart before we realize this type of BS is just not acceptable behavior? Even more bizarre is this was a full grown man, looking like he was in his 40’s. If it was a stupid kid thing, I could understand it a bit more, but his was a full grown mature (supposedly) man. MEN just don’t do this kind of crap.

My wife and friends keep bugging me to report it to the RCMP. Me? Its over. I just want to put it behind me....
 
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Wow, sorry to hear about all this. I was expecting to get an update about your rebuild; rather than a fight description. On a bright note, it could have been much worse had he simply struck you from behind. I'm not sure about the odds of you running into him again but if it's a good possibility, you should consider reporting the incident to the police. Whatever happens, keep the info from the witnesses. The one thing about the police getting involved now, is that they may contact the witnesses and get a statement from them, before their memory fades. The other benefit of police involvement, is possibly preventing him from doing this again or at least putting him on the police radar. However one consequence of police involvement will be them wanting to press charges and you having to spend the time/effort on testifying, so keep that in mind. Glad you're (for the most part) OK.
 
I agree. Whether the police do anything, which I doubt they will, you should report it and at least get it on record. JMO
 
I agree, report it. In the future, if your health worsens because of this, there is an ongoing record of an incident that aggravated your condition. It would also add to the statistics of these kinds of incidents happening and help enforcement be able to justify paying more attention to this kind of unnecessary crap. Plus it would reinforce the message to this so-called man to grow up when the RCMP pay him a visit (if they do). When people don't report stuff happening, there is nothing enforcement can do in the future to deal with it.
 
I'm over it. As mentioned, I just want it behind me. I'm pretty stiff and sore, but that will pass with enough time.

As to buddy boy, I'm pretty sure he's going to think twice about trying that type of thing again. I'm not proud of it, but he got laid out pretty good. It was only one punch and he went down like a sack of wet potatoes. That's a pretty bitter pill for someone with that type of "ego" to swallow. I hit him so hard, I'd be surprised if he's not eating steak through a straw right now or nursing a nasty concussion from head hitting pavement. He may still mouth off in his car if he gets PO'd at something, but I doubt he'll be taking the risk of a physical confrontation with someone again and risk getting his ass handed to him.

I'm pretty sure he's going to be avoiding any big black four door F-150's in the near future too.

I'm covered on the medical front. Both my back and my neck are covered by Veterans affairs (they were messed up on the job). It doesn't matter why they get worse, VA covers it since the initial injuries were DND's "fault". Any worsening of my DND injuries is automatically covered, no matter what the cause of the worsening is. I'm also part of the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP). I was given the option to continue my group coverage when I retired and I took it. It's about the least expensive med coverage you'll ever find. Between that and my wife's PSHCP coverage, I don't even pay a deductible. Anything not under PSHCP is under MSI (Nova Scotia health care).
 
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Hmmmmm.....

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I’m undecided. Those are original vette valve covers and a c4 “corvette” emblem from the rear of the car.

I’ll likely pick up a set of tall finned center bolt covers (need clearance for full roller rockers) to modify this way and leave the originals alone.

But, I haven’t made up my mind yet. The C2 script “Corvette” looks ultra-cool , but the C4 lettering better fits the era of the car....what to do? What to do....

;)

I also ordered 3 sets of intake manifold gaskets. The LT1 intake fab is on hold for this year, just too much to finish before the driving season. So the plan is to pull the TPI manifold doen to the lifter valley and polish that up for this season. We’ll see how the LT1 intake goes when next winter rolls around again...
 
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Ok, back to the fight. I just want to say that I’m so glad the right guy wound up on the ground. We have all seen the road rage incidents over the years, and it is absolutely unacceptable. Altercations can be very frightening, so the bully mentality can be intimidating. I hate conflict, so the ending to your story was great to hear, as he got what he had coming to him.
Dale.
 
Dale124 said:
Ok, back to the fight. I just want to say that I’m so glad the right guy wound up on the ground. We have all seen the road rage incidents over the years, and it is absolutely unacceptable. Altercations can be very frightening, so the bully mentality can be intimidating. I hate conflict, so the ending to your story was great to hear, as he got what he had coming to him.
Dale.
Click to expand...
I’m actually not a violent man in any way, shape or form. Well, the occational ptsd overflow, but I usually feel it coming and make sure I’m FAAAAR away from people when it flares.

But I also won’t back away from violence if it has to be done. Nor will I look the other way if something is wrong, someone is being a bully or someone is in danger. To do so would be betraying the very essence of who I am at the core of my value system/principals.

30 years in the military at the “pointy end of the stick” has given me one or two “skills” when it comes to defending myself and the mentality that I can’t/won’t stand by if its happening to someone else. I’m trained as a “defender”, not an aggressor. Thats a hard thing to break when you’ve been doing it for 30 years, especially since its also one of my natural tendencies.

I try to be easy going, but when a situ develops, I shift from my usual mild self to “the operator” and then its a simple “see, assess, decide, act” process. I don’t even really think at that point, its just all reaction. It’s almost like I’m sitting back and watching someone else run my body, except that I still have the final “go/no go” decision. But once the “go” is given, I’m almost just along for the ride. No time to think about actions when in a survival situation, theres just one thought....MOVE! Right or wrong, its just act to maintain my survival. I do still have the decision that its over and time to stop though. “Restraint” is another CAF trait that I have beat into me.

Thats probably why it ended the way it did. Buddy boy was acting out rage, but my mind was running on “survival behind enemy lines“. There was no holding back on my part. Just cold, calculated, matter of fact survival instinct. Do whatever it takes to end it quickly, quietly and then get the hell out of there.

Thats why I’m usually worried about someone starting something that may prod me i to actions. As I mentioned, before I was RCAF aircrew. I was trained to survive, escape, resist and endure torture (if need be) behind enemy lines. Yes, I’ve been waterboarded. No, its definitely no joke. Yes, you definitely think you are going to die, even if its your own guys doing it to you for training purposes...

So among other things, I’ve been trained to kill with my bare hands. Quickly, quietly and how to “disappear” afterwards. I’m always worried if I get in a scuffle that my training will kick in (if its going badly for me) and before I know it, I’m trying to explain to the RCMP officer the dead guy on the ground in front of me. Thankfully, that didn’t happen this time. Other than laying the guy out, it was a fairly mild encounter. At least from a “fight” point of view.

Still, I’m in no way proud of what happened. As far as I can tell, I did nothing to start it all (except maybe being in the wrong place at the wrong time). The guy left me no choice, but that doesn’t mean I’m “happy” about anything that evolved that day.

But I’m still dealing with feelings of shame and depression. My fault or not, I never feel good about having to use violence. Violence is never the way, even of its forced upon you. The emotional messed up side of that is just a nice little side bonus from 30 years as an operator in the CAF.....
 
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i congratulate you for handling it the way you did. It is sad when something of this sort happens but there are many that feel they can push their weight around just because. Glad you're alright and will heal up. Now back to work on that Vette!.
 
Center body of the compressor:

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Now I just have to do the piston cylinder body. I may take a couple days off though. I’ve been polishing so much lately, I’m loosing my drive for it and beginning to accept a “lesser” job than I’m capable of.

Things like not as polished as it could be, small sanding scratches, etc.

Just a little fed up with polishing I guess. Its just such a boring, monotonous repetitive process that seems like its never done.

Yeah. Probably time for a couple days away from it....
 
drive the car, enjoy it. Sanding and polishing next winter. When its too cold to go for that drive!
 
Coles notes update:

1. Seats sent out for restoration. "Slide your azz" into the seat bolster wear/tear repaired, cracks and welts filled, redyed and marine grade coating applied (better for a convertible than standard coating). Looks much better. Not brand new looking, but looks like original seat leather that's been lightly used and well cared for.

2. Found some NOS Recaro 3 chamber lumbar bladders, hopefully replace the crumbled GM bladders that you can't get anymore.

3. Abandoned the LT1 intake project, gearing up to work on "Big Tube" TPI project. Will likely mean EGR has to go.

4. LT1 throttle body. Arizona Speed & Marine, bored out to 52mm.

5. Infinity reference series sound system. Still working on it, mostly speaker enclosures and mounts.

6. Removed AIR pump and plumbing. Turned off flags for it in BIN files so ECM doesn't try to direct air to exhaust of overboard dump.

7. No headers, but going to port match the round header ports to the D ports on the heads. Other exhaust tweeks, but no replacements.

8. Installing a Blowerworks MAF system:

exactmaf.jpg


Replaces the GM expensive and delicate "hot wire" one with a 2005+ Ford Blade style MAF. Cheaper to replace (25 bucks), easy to find, very robust (drop it and no damage, try that with a GM Hot wire one) and higher flow rate. Also future proofs the car from early GM MAF being discontinued or needing to use "cheap" reproductions that set all kinds of fault codes. Does away with Burn off relays. Integrated IAT in Ford MAF if desired for logging, tuning or eliminating "heat soaking" the current MAT sensor in the plenum. Currently just installing a 3" tube, but easily scaled to bigger if more air needed. Bigger than 3" is not really required until getting into forced induction.

9. Custom BIN file to remove the cap on injector size and to read the MAF higher that 256 Grams/Sec (GM limited to 256 in the ecm hard code). New BIN goes to 512 g/sec. Can deal with turbo or supercharging as a "blow through" MAF if wanted.

10. Various flags and tables adjusted though Moates APU1 and tunerpro RT.

11. Crane Roller rockers. tip and fulcum. Stock 1.5 ratio. lift and duration will be adjusted when choosing new cam for the modifications.

12. Underhood polishing continues.

13. Currently 3D printing various small plastic parts that you can't get anymore or are stupid expensive to buy.

14. Drive it and enjoy the summer sun....
 
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