1988 Convertible for sunny day drives

[Tourmax]

Earlier on, I posted that I'd be installing an LT1 intake on my L98:

That's the one I picked up for about 80 bucks.

But, lately, I've been thinking that the L98 TPI might be a better choice for the way I drive the Vette. It's extremely rare that I get on it hard enough to even hit 4500 rpm, much less redline it. Then there's the work and expense of getting the LT1 intake to work properly on the L98, plus the loss of a smidge of low end torque and possibly MPG issues. All for better performance above 4500 rpm.

I'll still modify the LT1 intake, but I'm warming up to the idea of just polishing the L98 TPI and calling it a day. It's hard to argue how cool a polished TPI looks in a Vette:

It's an older "look" for sure, but then again, I'm an "older" guy so I guess it fits the situ.......lol!

It also doesn’t hurt that I’ve got two more complete TPI intake set ups on the shelves in my back garage (left overs from when I used to build TPI setups for GMT400 trucks). So lots of parts and pieces to practice on if I want too.

Might even look at hacking one up to make a “large tube” runner set. I remember reading a thread over on a Camaro forum where a guy “upped” the runners to 2”, paired it with a “big mouth” lower intake and kicked out the upper plenum for more volume. Reportedly, he dyno’d it around 350-400 rwhp and it pulled like a freight train from idle to 5500 rpm.

Might be a fun project to fab up something like that. only problem is all my obdI stuff is gone. Sold it off or gave it away decades ago. All I have now is obdII software/hardware. I never thought I’d be messing with OBDI cars again. Laugh is on me I guess, OBD cars are now becoming “classics” and I’ll probably need OBD stuff again. Either for me or my buds.

I guess I’ll have to head to Moates and buy the obdI stuff all over again....once my bank account “rebounds” again that is....

 

[Tourmax]

A before pic once again:

After the first compounding:

Perfect? Well, no. It’s not “perfect”.

But it is perfectly acceptable, especially considering how it used to look.

Not to mention, I still have to do the polish and then the wax.

Not to bad for an old 88 Vette....

 

[Tourmax]

Cut, buff polish and waxed. Then bolted on the new “gm authorized” repo emblem:

I can honestly say that pictures just don’t do it justice.

Most of the rock chips it had have become (essentially) invisible. You can see them when you get right up close, but from anything more than about 2 feet from the paint, it looks (for the most part) flawless. Except for the occational “wave”, “ripple” or orange peel look if you manage to get the light hitting it just the right way. Fiberglass car, you can only do so much with that unless you go to a full strip, bodywork and paint.

But I’m super happy with how it turned out!

Only problem is: now that it looks so good, it’s got me thinking about doing a full body color sand and buff to get that wet mirror finish look.

Must....resist...urge....to do....more.....paint....work....

 

[ddgermann]

Your car looks fantastic!
Just needs a bit of carbon fibre here and there.

Excellent work

 

[Tourmax]

Well, lets see if we can’t make that tonneau cover a little better.

First, a 2000 grit wet sand:

Smoothed out most of the scratches and ridges left by the clear plastic protector.

Then, hit it with the rotary buffer and meguiers compound:

Oh yeah! Thats nice!

It’s not perfect though. Some of the top damage was just a little too deep into the clear to remove conpletely. If you catch the light on it just right, you can juuuust see a line;

Meh, for a paint job thats at least a decade old, I can live with that!

I still have to polish and wax it, which will help a little more with hiding that seal rubbing line.

 

[Tourmax]

Jesus christ I hate idiots that get thier hands on wrenches!

Went to change out the thermostat and come to find the last person to mess with it galled up one of the housing bolt threads.

Now I can’t get it to thread all the way out, or even tighten back down!

I’m willing to bet even of I do get it out, the threads are going to be ratched in the lower intake! That means at least a helicoil repair. Which, of course, means I’ll end up pulling the upper plenum and the runners off becuase GM couldn’t design it where everything wasn’t buried under that upper plenum!

Grrrrrr.........

Anything and everything they touched on this car is just completely f’d up!


Grrrrrr...I want to punch the last f’n idiot who owned the car right in the mouth!

 

[Tourmax]

Alrighty.

I managed to get the bolt out without destroying the lower intake manifold.

Lots of penetrating lubricant and lots of working it back and forth. Eventually, I managed to work the bolt up past the buggered up threads.

When I looked down in the hole, I could see two or three threads were buggered about halfway down. That was a good thing because it meant I had threads at the top to start a tap nice and square and there were threads in the bottom of the hole that were still solid that could hold the bolt when torqued. All I had to do was clean up those couple threads and it would be good as new again.

I pulled the throttle body off (had to to get the other t-stat housing bolt out) and was able to get a 3/8-16 tap in the hole. A bit of patience and some aluminum cutting oil and the threads were refreshed and serviceable again.

I ran a die over the bolt and cleared out a good amount of aluminum and “schmutz” from the base of the threads. Yep, someone had run that bolt in and galled the threads. Proof was the ratched aluminum packed into the the root of the bolt threads.Probably some careless mechanic with an air tool. Too much speed with steel in aluminum and you are 100% certain to gall up the threads. Hey, who cares right? It’s not like you have to take it apart next time. Get it done as fast as possible and get paid. Screw the next guy who has to take it apart, right?



With that handled, I tested the old and new thermostats. Just takes some water on the store and a cooking thermometer.

Sure enough, the old t-stat didn’t start to crack open until 205-210F. New one cracked open at 195-200 and was wide open by 205-210F. The old one had drifted up in temperature, like they all do when they get too many miles on them.

Once cooled, I took the new t-stat over to the drill press and put two 1/16” holes in the face. The holes are small enough that they don’t impede the t-stat operation, but they will allow trapped air to cycle out of the block and into the rad where it can be vented away. I do this to all my t-stats. Time and experince has shown me that the cooling system just works better if you have these “steam relief holes” in it.

Then it all went back together. Every steel bolt that went into aluminum got a nice coat of copper antiseize, like every steel bolt in aluminum should to prevent galling and seizing.

With that done, I moved on to the wiper arms. Namely, they sat too high in the oark postion and the drivers side kept kissing the windshield side molding. After a good deal of fiddling around (adjusting the c4 wiper sweep is a major pita to get right) the wipers park down below the hood like they should and now there’s a good inch between where the wiper stops and the windshield molding.

I’m almost afraid to fix the next thing on this car. There seems to be no end to what some PO has f’d with....and generally made a mess of.

 

[Rruuff Day]

Haven't felt your pain for quite a few years Tourmax but admire the perseverance and attention to detail you are performing. Hope the ride starts to get smoother for you soon.

 

[ddgermann]

It reads like a true love/hate relationship.
Plenty of good material here for reference though. Will likely help out a few guys in the future.

 

[Tourmax]

Oh, I like the car. There’s no real hate for it here. I’d like to punch all the previous owners in the mouth though. The poor thing has been “jackassed” to within an inch of it’s life. They just kept slapping it together rather than fixing it right. The car needed someone like me to Take away it’s pain. It was right at the breakover point between being a “cherry ride” or becoming a junker.

It’s really all just small stuff. The basic/big stuff is solid. But there’s so much small stuff, it becomes one big problem overall. Compounding that issue is that I can’t pass a fault and it has to be done right or not at all.

I probably could have left it all alone and just driven the car as is, but it would have driven me nuts to know things were not right and you never know when someone’s “bodge” is going to break and leave you stranded. Then you have to figure what went wrong with the bodge as well as what orginally went wrong to need the bodged up fix. Thats an absolute nightmare when broken down away from home somewhere...

I just can’t live with that worry and I like my cars EXACTLY the way I want them (ie: done right). I’ve got the skills, knowledge, time and tools to do it myself, so I do it. Not to mention, I shudder to think how much I’d have to pay someone else to fix all this stuff. I just occationally lack the patience and temperment, which is when I just put the tools down and walk away. Well, I probably also post and gripe about it when I loose my temper with it....lol!

 

[12cents]

This is the perfect spot to down tools to post and gripe about having to fix someone else's botched up jobs. I fully understand when things are not done correctly because someone just couldn't be bothered.
The enemy of doing it right is called "good enough".

 

[Tourmax]

Well, the thermostat change certainly helped on the engine temperature front.

It used to run up to 230f and kick the fans on all the time.

The max I saw today was 225f, usually no higher than 215/220f and for period of time it would run in the 205-210f range.

Ambient temperature was 24c today.

Tomorrow, I’ll pull the radiator stack apart and clean the cores (the exterior). We’ll see if that gives me another 5-10f degree drop. Running a consistent 205-210f will be what I’ll call a “win”.

 

[Tourmax]

I’ve never liked the way the C4 center console had just a “cubby” with the mirror and seat controls in it. Just seemed to look....”unfinished”.

I’ve seen pictures of some cars that have a cover over this spot, but they all looked like an aftermarket piece.

I searched for it a bit, but didn’t seem to be able to turn up a source for it. If it ever was offered for sale, it’s probably long since been discontinued.

So, not being able to find this piece, I decided to just make my own:

Just a piece of scrap plastic and one of theose “L98” placards.

It needs to be painted the same color as the rest of the console and I need to make a hinge/pivot so it stays put until I need to lift it to adjust something.

Looks half decent IMHO, for a home made thing that is.

 

[ddgermann]

I’ve never liked the way the C4 center console had just a “cubby” with the mirror and seat controls in it. Just seemed to look....”unfinished”.

I’ve seen pictures of some cars that have a cover over this spot, but they all looked like an aftermarket piece.

I searched for it a bit, but didn’t seem to be able to turn up a source for it. If it ever was offered for sale, it’s probably long since been discontinued.

So, not being able to find this piece, I decided to just make my own:

View attachment 30407

Just a piece of scrap plastic and one of theose “L98” placards.

It needs to be painted the same color as the rest of the console and I need to make a hinge/pivot so it stays put until I need to lift it to adjust something.

Looks half decent IMHO, for a home made thing that is.

Looks pretty good

 

[Tourmax]

A piece of coat hanger wire plus a little hot glue and the hinge point is done:

Sits flat when closed and the rear hinge lets it open (mostly) straight up so it’s easy to get to the switches.

I hinged it at the rear because I jhad to leave a “gap” to allow the cover to pivot open. A small gap isn’t as visible at the rear, but it would have poked you right in the eye at the front.

 

[Tourmax]

Got the rad stack pulled apart.

It was about as fun as.......well, lets just say it wasn’t fun.

Once the shrouds were off, my suspicions were confirmed: brand new radiator. Clean as a whistle and not a damaged fin anywhere:

Well thats a little confounding, seeing as the Vette runs pretty warm.

So I turn my attention to the evap core in front of the rad. It doesn’t look too bad at first.

My AC is “flat” so I just unbolt the lines and pull the core out. Hmmm, some damage, some “fibre mat” and lots of bug carcasses and pebbles jammed in the cores.

Could use a clean and fin straightening all around. So I spend the rest of the day with magnifiers, dental picks and fin pliers.

Right now, it’s soaking in “scrubbing bubbles” and will get it’s final rinse once thats had a bit of time to do its job:

Them back in and we’ll see if it makes a difference in engine temps.

There’s no reason why this thing shouldn’t run in the 200-210 range all the time the way I drive. No traffic to speak of, reasonable speeds, reasonable ambient temps. It should not be pushing 225-230 all the time....

 

[Tourmax]

Well, turns out there was more crap clogging the evap core than I thought.

It took several cleanings and I had to go through EVERY fin with a pick to clean out everything from plant fuzz and bug carcasses to embedded rocks. Combined with a few bent over sections, I have little doubt the evap core wasn’t passing a lot of airflow to the rad. Took a couple hours to get it all cleaned and straightened, but it’s done..

There were also multiple missing and wrong fasteners in the rad core stack. More Robinson headed wood screws again....

Luckily, it’s all put together with clip nuts, so just changing out to the right bolts was all that was needed in most cases. The wood screws didn’ t damage most of the clip nuts, except for a couple I had to replace because some jackass forced screws that were too big into them.

But, it’s all clean and clear, back together and all the wrong fasteners have been replaced.

I also took a little time to clean and apply plastic dressing to the parts in the rad stack to freshen it up a bit. Lastly, I cut and blended the shroud under the upper rad hose so I can remove the shroud next time without opening the cooling system.

Now I just need some decent weather so I can take the ol’ ‘Vette out for a long enough burn to get some heat into it and see what happens....

 

[Tourmax]

Well, took it for a burn.

Stayed right around 200-205. Would creep to about 210-215 in slow running, but would come back down to 210-ish with a little speed.

Let it sit at idle to 230 and the fans came on. However, instead of staying at 230 like it used to, the fans would bring it down to about 214-215 and then cut out. I let it climb back up to 230 and the fans would again click on and drag it back down to 214-215 before cutting out.

Overall, thats a big improvement. It used to run up to 230 and stay there no matter what you did. Around town, highway or sitting still, it was going to run to 230 and stay there.

Next up will be a coolant drain and refill with new and maybe a new rad cap, just for good measure.

Not much more that can be done after that without replacing the rad with a double core aftermarket one. Won’t be doing that any time soon.....to much $$$ for too little return.

Also, my quick fix for the RH headlight gear must have failed. It won’t go full open now. No big, it worked long enough to get through inspection and I have two sets of new headlight motor gears on the shelf, just waiting to be installed.

 

[dannyboy]

This is the perfect spot to down tools to post and gripe about having to fix someone else's botched up jobs. I fully understand when things are not done correctly because someone just couldn't be bothered.
The enemy of doing it right is called "good enough".

And "good enough" is NEVER good enough.

 

[Tourmax]

Well, changed out the broken RH headlight motor gear today. My wooden dowel pieces had shredded and the gear had once again split.

New gear and pins in, works great again.

Then, because I had ordered two sets of gears anyways, I pulled the LH headlight to check it out.

It had the 3 plastic pins, but the gear had also split in nearly half in this motor as well.

So I just popped in the new gear and pins and put the 3 good pins from the old gear into a bag and back up on the shelf.

For good measure, I gave the gears, pins and bearing surfaces a good coat of dry graphite. Just to keep everything moving smoothly.

Now both lights open and close in perfect synch.

Next up: I’m going to put a switch on the underside of the hood so the “work lights” don’t come on when the hood is open. They just run the battery down in the daytime and I don’t want to leave the connectors disconnected and exposed to the elements.

With a switch, I can just open the hood and pop the lights on if I need them or leave them off when leaving the hood open and not worry about running down the battery.