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What have you done to your El Camino today!

718K views 7K replies 689 participants last post by  Indianjohn 
3 day weekend for me. more like, can I get off my lazy butt and see what I can get done....(hopefully, at least the carb re-installed)
wow, I actually did get off my lazy butt and get the replacement carb installed!

unfortunately, I found that the little bstrd mice/rats have been chewing on some lines and wire harness in the meanwhile! dammt! :censored:
 
went to the Belton pull-your-own-part and got a set of double-piston calipers/front spindles/rotors/brakeline connection from a 2000 S10 Blazer. now that I've yanked the parts, I can do a write-up on that :smile3:
 
Sent 320 bucks to OPGI for a few of the missing parts . I originally just wanted some mirrors and an owners manual but they had free shipping on orders over 299 bucks so I went through my list of stuff I didn't necessarily need right now but would need in the future and added a few items until I was over 299 :biggrin2:
send me $300 bucks and I'll give you lifetime free shipping for unlimited buckets of AyeEyeArr :poketounge:
 
As a Dad I'll say that your old man probably had as good a time if not more so as you did. I always enjoy when my son comes over to work on his or my car with me. I'm sure most Dads on the site would agree.
Ang.
I should be so lucky. I'm the groundbreaker in my family, learning it the hard way. My dad was an Air Force pilot who could light you up with the smallest details and discuss the merits of the U-2A versus the U-2B models and the various cameras they carried to perform their reconnaisance.
and it's too early to tell if my daughter will ever get into it like we do (but I'm trying!).
 
It doesn't make a difference if it's twistin wrenches or flying kites it's the time spent together and the memories you'll create.
Ang.
oh,I know, but shared interests like working on cars is much more fun. I get to go help sell Girl Scout cookies today :fluffy: . Have to avoid "sampling" the inventory! :biggrin2:
 
finally got a few hours to myself to change out the heater core...

...3-1/2 hours later....

I now have the process documented but if I don't have to do it again that will be too soon. and that was just too get the heater core out!

next step is to clean the sticky old sealant off the firewall and upper shroud that I removed. anyone got some suggestions for that (other than elbow grease)? and what should I use in it's place?

also, there was some kind of open cell foam mesh sheet that had been attached to the a/c core but had disintegrated and fell to the bottom of the enclosure. anyone know what it was for and do I need to replace it?
 
managed to get out there and do some scraping of the firewall. cleaned off most of the sealant surrounding the upper plenum with a small scraper blade. still can't believe the factory decided to pour that stuff over the air-handling plenum cover. what a friggin' mess (and a PITA) to clean up! half was like dried mud, the other half was sticky rubberized crp that had to be scraped off.

now I just need to go in there with some carb-cleaner/lighter fluid (or something similar) and a rag to get rid of the rest.
 
Picked up my 69 from the tranny shop this afternoon sporting a 200 4r and 3:55 posi replacing the worn out TH 350 and 2:56 open rear end. Talk about a performance upgrade.......... :Eyecrazy:

Oh yeah I put in one of those Tree Air Fresheners too.

Tree Air Freshener? wait, you live in the great NW, land of trees. what you need a Tree Air Freshener for? rolling down the windows ain't good enough?

you're like my wife. it's 85 in the house and 75 and breezy outside, so she turns on the a/c instead of opening windows.....:stern:


bought new windshield wipers, Doug Roe "Quadrajet" book ($10! :nana2: ), some RTV sealant to seal up my air plenum box, and made a plan to get ready for Belton....
 
I noticed that the alternator pulley is not lined up properly on my serpentine belt system. I need to shim the pulley out from the back of the pulley to get it to line up properly. However, if I shim it out 1/8" (125/1000s) then I will only have two threads on the nut on the alternator shaft. So the pulley will be off to the machine shop shortly for a little lathe time to take the thickness of the inner part of pulley done about 200/1000s.

question....

wouldn't it be easier to just shim the whole alternator out 1/8"? or is that not feasible with a serpentine setup?
 
completely scrubbed down the air fan plenum cover in preparation for putting it back in with a new heater core. cleaned out the air plenum box, got rid of 27 years of caked on debris. vacuumed the rest out. started to change heater hoses out.....whadda you mean one is 3/4" and the other 5/8"? :banghead: (only had 5/8"since that was told all I needed)

...packed it in and went to the annual neighborhood picnic where I had bbq'd brisket, turkey, sausage, cole slaw, ice tea, and a bowl of Amy's Ice Cream. :biggrin2:
 
-got a new set of keys cut since I only had the original 27 yr old set; the Door key works right off but Ignition will need to be re-cut

-got the rest of the air handling plenum cleaned out with my wet-vac, including the nasty dissolved muck at the bottom. vacuumed the whole area around there getting rid of all the tree droppings (leaves, twigs, dirt) and more.

-new heater core installed, new hoses installed, new soft foam sealant panel cut and fit into heater core opening

-installed new weatherstripping sealant around heater core and on bottom of leaf guard that sits on top of air handling plenum

-top of air handling plenum re-installed with red RTV sealant
 
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