My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[Arquemann]

Got the painted bits on, should've clearcoated (or powdercoated) the fender braces, paint is ridiculously easy to scuff. Can't find cheap semi gloss clearcoat, meh.
Master cylinder cap obviously got scratched the moment I flipped the hold down over it.

Today I washed the car, a bit more thoroughly than usual, scrubbed the trunk opening gaps, hood edges and cleaned up in the engine bay a bit. Especially the channels and corners under the trunk lid have slowly been gathering some unsightly green stuff. Paint needs a good waxing again, but I don't currently have anything other than SRP that plays ball with the rough paint.

My quest for making a nice engine bay is kinda running out of steam. The bottom of the hood, top of the radiator and core support need repainting, and new hood insulation wouldn't hurt. But overall the looks don't quite satisfy me, but I can't really figure out what to do next. Looks busy and scruffy. And I'm not saying it needs a can of silicone spray either.



SPOILERStill alot better than the starting point...



Somehow, every time I wash this car after a longer time, it always surprises me that it's clean white and not off white.

[DerekTheGreat]

That's about as unbusy as one of those can get, you did a great job with it. Most cars look like ass under the hood in just three years, yours is as good as anyone could hope for. The gold rocker covers are a nice touch. The OCD in me would have me spin the air cleaner cover forward, label facing the fan shroud.

[87gtVIC]

Looks good to me. Like you said it came a far way.

[Arquemann]

That's about as unbusy as one of those can get, you did a great job with it. Most cars look like ass under the hood in just three years, yours is as good as anyone could hope for. The gold rocker covers are a nice touch. The OCD in me would have me spin the air cleaner cover forward, label facing the fan shroud.

Thanks, I fing these late 70's / 80's cars to not have the simplicity of older things in the engine bay, but they also don't have clean functional look of modern cars, which are full to the "brim" with stuff, making it look smart.
Air cleaner lid isn't straight because I had to take it off for quickly measuring the filter size, as I went to get a new one today. Have no worries, after I put that new filter element in, that lid sticker will be pointing dead straight. I've thought about getting a "5.0 Liter 4V H.O." sticker from a fox Mustang on the lid. Would be appropriate, I think.

[Arquemann]

Did a couple things yesterday, before heading to a cruise night.

- Swapped in a new air filter, which is too tall and the air cleaner lid won't seal properly. Both old and new are Wix 42073.

- Switched vacuum advance pots, went from a 20° to a 10°. Instead of 12° initial and 20° vacuum, there's now 15° initial and 10° vacuum. Engine really likes more initial and the ~32° total it had under cruising speeds was teeny bit too much and the engine was just on the verge of timing stutter at some speeds. Now it runs clearly smoother.
I'm a bit tempted to try hooking up the vacuum advance to manifold vacuum for a bit more consistent throttle response at low throttle, though it could make very light throttle too lean.


Cruise night got broken up by private parking enforcement of all things. Some concerned citizen called them because people were having a quiet meetup at an abandoned fuel station lot...

A friend of mine got a box, but of the GM variety.

[Tiggie]

I'm surprised to see a GM box over there. How unusual are they? I haven't seen a GM box on the road in years here. A base model Olds?

[Arquemann]

I'm surprised to see a GM box over there. How unusual are they? I haven't seen a GM box on the road in years here. A base model Olds?

Box GMs are much more common than box panthers. Maybe 8 to 1, something like that. And like with Fords, wagons outnumber sedans by like 15 to 1. Finland, go figure

The Olds is a '79 Delta 88, pretty base, no AC or cruise, but has power windows and tilt wheel. Now it has a mid-60's 350 Olds in it, surprisingly it wasn't originally a diesel either.

[Arquemann]

Changed the oil, tiny bit of fine shiny stuff in it, nothing worrysome. Went with Motorcraft A5 5W-30 again, because it was cheap and on sale again. And an FL1A filter of course, only the best.
Also greased the sway bar bushing while under there, they started squeaking again.

Today I swapped the vacuum advance canister from ported vacuum to manifold vacuum in search of better and more consistent throttle response, which it definitely improved upon.
Idle is a touch high and very light throttle is a little bit leaner, as expected, but those can be adjusted on.
I hooked up a vacuum gauge to the ported vacuum nipple on the carb, and as suspected I have to press the pedal a considerable amount to have full vacuum there, which meant a lot of my driving at light throttle was without vacuum advance, contributing to the inconsistent response and sluggishness.
Only thing I need to think about is HC emissions at idle, mainly to pass the emissions check in 2 months. IIRC ported vacuum was created as a concept to reduce HC emissions at idle, as low timing increases cylinder temperature and burns hotter for less hydrocarbons.

[gadget73]

you wouldn't be the first person to have a "normal running" config and a "gets me through emissions" config. My granddad's old Caddy needed a little extra air to pass emissions, he'd pull across the street from the inspection station, pull the PCV valve and leave it laying on the valve cover, get it through inspection, then put the valve back in and go home.

[DerekTheGreat]

Thanks, I fing these late 70's / 80's cars to not have the simplicity of older things in the engine bay, but they also don't have clean functional look of modern cars, which are full to the "brim" with stuff, making it look smart.
Air cleaner lid isn't straight because I had to take it off for quickly measuring the filter size, as I went to get a new one today. Have no worries, after I put that new filter element in, that lid sticker will be pointing dead straight. I've thought about getting a "5.0 Liter 4V H.O." sticker from a fox Mustang on the lid. Would be appropriate, I think.

It's all those Rube Goldberg systems used to drive things like EGR, AIR and whatnot. I hate it too, but if you delete that trash, those engine bays clean up rather nicely, aside from all the damn V-belt driven accessories.

The new lid would be appropriate.

Ah, so WIX isn't just screwing up air filters for my truck. I had the same issue several years back- the new WIX filter was all cattywompus and caused me to strip my air cleaner's wing nut. WIX sold out around that time, so they're shit now, but their prices have remained unchanged..

That is a nice base D 88. Needs some dog dish hubcaps and a good whitewall scrub.

[Arquemann]

Since swapping the vacuum advance to manifold vacuum, this things runs great at pretty much every speed and throttle position, and the AFRs are good enough to not fuck with any more.

But oh, the idle... It idled a bit high with 25° of idle timing, and after turning down the idle to where it's at, it idled quite rough and a bit rich. Around 13-13.5 in park and a bit leaner in gear. But the clutch fan didn't sound like an Airbus A400 anymore.

I leaned it out to about 14 afr, where it idles beautifully in gear, but with the AC on it still had an annoying rolling idle, and it still idled quite rough in park.
Today I leaned it some more, and now I have no idea what's the carb doing. Cold was a bit cranky, went to run errands and it idled mostly fine around 15-15.5, then at some point it decided its idling at about 14.5 all of a sudden. Went to a store, after that it was idling at 15.5 again and I stalled a couple times fucking about in a tight parking lot. I got home and it was idling around 14.5 again, nicely so. I went inside, changed pants, dug out an RPM gauge, wired it temporarily and fired her up again. And now it was idling at around 15.5 again...

El cheapo Auto Gauge tachI have said it was idling at under 500 in gear and about 600 in park, which seems bullshit and I do not believe. Feels and sounds like more. In park the exhaust sounds weird, like a steady boom. There's no burble or rumble. I'd like a timing light with RPM, but they're pretty expensive.

I dunno. I guess I need to keep driving the car to let it figure out the idle situation. Or if it won't I will. But currently NFC. Surprised that she idles so nicely even at ~16 afr, only in gear though.

I've been daydreaming about a wiring a high idle solenoid through the park/neutral switch as a diy IAC. I've also been dreaming about e-fans to not have to listen to the BWAAAAAAA of the clutch fan, but with AC it'd require a bit more fiddling and the first step to e-fans would be a 3G alternator anyways...

[Arquemann]

This thing actually idles at 450 rpm like a champ!
Too bad that's a bit too low, as snappy parking lot maneuvers can make it stall a bit too easily and cold starts aren't as good.
So I've raised the idle a bit, no clue what rpm it is, but so far it has been promising, runs pretty smooth in gear and in park, ac hasn't caused a rolling idle yet.

Today I was going to chop off the leaky banana-shaped flanges between the cats and y-pipe and replace them with sleeve clamps. Nope! The shitty y-pipe is shittier than I remembered. The ends of the y-pipe are welded into the flanges at an angle, so I can't use the sleeve clamps. Disappointed, I jammed some exhaust cement around the flanges, maybe it'll stay in place for more than 30 minutes (they won't)...

Since the front was on ramps, I made one tie rod a turn shorter and the other a turn longer to straighten out the steering wheel. Might not be enough, but I didn't want to overshoot the adjustment either. And under the car I concluded that the u-joints are not greasable.

I wish I could weld, I'd redo the factory single exhaust in 3 inch. Over axle is toight!

[DerekTheGreat]

Years ago I was struggling with idle on a particular vehicle, "But the book says!!!" Well, I told my plight to a friend and he gave me a piece of advice regarding idle speed and it's stuck with me to this day, "Does it sound right?" Yep, it sure did. Begrudgingly, I left it there. When I finally got a piece of equipment that could accurately measure RPM it turned out that it was right all along. Learned not to trust the in-car tachometer.

[Arquemann]

Years ago I was struggling with idle on a particular vehicle, "But the book says!!!" Well, I told my plight to a friend and he gave me a piece of advice regarding idle speed and it's stuck with me to this day, "Does it sound right?" Yep, it sure did. Begrudgingly, I left it there. When I finally got a piece of equipment that could accurately measure RPM it turned out that it was right all along. Learned not to trust the in-car tachometer.

Thing is, to my ear the idle sounds a bit high and the clutch fan is kinda loud, mostly in neutral/park. And now it's even higher.
An exhaust that doesn't sound like an angry vacuum cleaner would probably help the impression of rpm. And a quieter clutch fan.

[sly]

white tape on the crank and a laser (or photo - cheaper) tach will tell the truth. I can find some photo tachometers on the usual suspects for less than $30. If you really wanna verify the tach speed.