project 40th

[dbeast420]

I swear,you could polish a .05 turd and turn it for 100.00

[swampthing]

After that, only a few issues remain: Mounting the new truck latch and replacing the grumbling motor mount.

sounds like somebody's got truck on the brain this is an awesome turn around to watch it must be immensely satisfying at the end of the day to know that car looks like that because of your hard work.

[ddalder]

That's some mighty fine work there, Andrew! Looking VERY nice! Bet you're glad now that you didn't go ahead and part it out

[ohenry5]

Andrew, you are the man! Nice work. Gosh I loveee the 40th in that color!!! (I'm not biased at all, lol)

[crash93ssei]

Looking good for sure! The Porter Cable buffer will do an excellent job for you, but be warned. You will very likely end up addicted to what it can do. Even a very light polish will make a huge difference in what the car looks like.

If you are going for perfection, be prepared to spend about 12 hours on the exterior alone. A quick and simple single stage polish would probably take about 3 - 4 hours but will still leave the paint looking absolutely amazing.

Do you know yet what you are going to be using for polish and pads yet?

[pokey]

Man, that is looking fantastic! Excellent work!

[TenGHz]

Wow, great work. Looks like new!

[wjcollier07]

Looking utterly fantastic.

Quick question Andrew..

Do you, have you, or are you going to follow up the magic eraser cleanup with a high quality conditioner like lexol? They look fantastic, but it would be pretty sad to see any cracking start from lack of conditioning.

[00Beast]

PSST, I have Lexol.

[harofreak00]

I have Megs leather conditioner, already applied it.

[harofreak00]

Did this today: http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 16#p118216

Well I tinkered on the car a lot today. I got the mount replaced quite easily, I'm glad I didn't drive to Ed's to use the lift, it would have just made things harder LOL.

The front mount was definately shot, but it wasn't causing the grinding. I took it for a test drive immediately after the swap and it was exactly the same. I was pretty sure its not the rear trans mount, so I didn't even mess with it.

I took another look at the TAM mount and decided to take it off to have a better look. It came out pretty easily and I noticed that the metal "tube" was amost completely seperated from the rubber. Looking at how this mount is designed to work, I figured the way it was failing shouldn't be causing the grinding. The engine is pulling down on the mount. However, when the engine is accelerating, the engine rocks back and the TAM actually rubs against the metal engine bracket. I REALLY want to narrow this down, but I don't wanna be tossing money on this car like its nothing. Rockauto wants $41 for the TAM, reasonable. Right?

After getting the mount fixed, I took it for a longer test drive than normal. I got it up to temp for the first time. I pulled into the driveway at home and noticed there was a coolant leak. After the thermostat opened it caused a leak high up on the side of the radiator (the plastic part). I put a couple layers of JB Weld on it, hopefully that holds, I don't feel like getting a new radiator, I just sold my parts car one...ugh.

The car still isn't running 100%. It seems like the MAF is bad, because I can unplug the connector and the idle doesn't change. I swapped in 2 other known good MAF's and it doesn't change either. Maybe I should try some new plugs, who knows how old they are. The wires look new... there is even new dielectric grease on the coils!

I was at the point today where I just want to sell the car, I'm sick of working on it. Gotta keep plugging on... can't give up.

[ddalder]

Hang in there, Andrew. You`ll work through this... you always do

We`ve come to know the top quality work you do!

[harofreak00]

Replaced the TAM today. The grinding is completely gone.







After I fixed the mount, some more problems came into view. The engine still isn't running right. It doesn't sound like a miss, it just doesn't have any power. I swapped out the spark plugs and wires. Didn't change.

[crzydmnd72]

Just my .02. When I got rid of my Malibu, it had less power than when new and it had been throwing Catalytic codes. General consenus was a plugged cat. never fixed it, just got rid of it. Just didnt have any oooomph anymore

[harofreak00]

Good idea... I'll look into that.

[petraman]

Keep plugging away, Andrew! You've come this way, it would suck if you gave up now...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ2HcRl4wSk

[Skippy1827]

go, go, go

[harofreak00]

I pulled the exhaust off and took it for a drive (loud!). Still not getting the power it should.

The cat looked fine.

[petraman]

Uhh, this has probably already been discussed... But have you changed your O2 sensor out recently? It looks like it's been running pretty dang lean... Check fuel pressure? I know my car ran pretty bad with a bad fuel filter...

[crzydmnd72]

Rats, sorry the cat wasnt it. OTOH, I'm glad it wasnt it. They wanted 250 bux to change mine lol.