progress on the banshee...

[The Dark Side of Will]

Try it again with distilled water and dye?

[ericjon262]

I'll have to try it. I'm worried it might have a blown head gasket, but there are no other symptoms. yesterday I finally ran a snake down the driver's side coolant tube, and got nothing at all. I guess tomorrow I'll try the passenger's side.then maybe try back flushing the radiator to see if that does anything. the most frustrating part if it is a blown head gasket, is that I didn't put them in, and I haven't done anything that should cause them to blow. if it comes down to replacing head gaskets, there's going to be an insane amount of work done to engine mounts and an 88 cradle. to get this thing more on point.

[ericjon262]

Car hood looked like crap and has for a long time. whoever painted it last gobbed the paint on, so thick that on the driver's side headlight door, the "Pontiac" letters are half-way filled in. I thought it would be a good idea to wet sand it with 800 grit, then 1000 grit, then 1500 grit, then buff it. expected outcome... the hood would look better, because by god it couldn't look worse... unexpected outcome, now it looks so much better that the rest of the car looks like fresh hammered dog shit.... other than that, I haven't really touched it, I'm starting to think more and more that one of the headgaskets must be garbage, I cant think of anywhere else the air is coming from. I still need to snake out the passenger side cooling tube, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Emc209i]

Polished paint work makes a big difference.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I'm starting to think more and more that one of the headgaskets must be garbage, I cant think of anywhere else the air is coming from. I still need to snake out the passenger side cooling tube, but I'm not holding my breath.

Can you put air pressure into the cylinder via a compression test adapter? If you get bubbles (or lots of coolant!) out of one of the coolant fills, then you have a bad head gasket.

[ericjon262]

I don't currently have an air compressor, I would like to get one though. that would help with indication. I ran the snake down the passenger side tube and got nothing, and am going to pull the radiator and flush it really well to see if anything comes out. it's odd, because everything seems to point towards a clog in the system somewhere(except for the air), but I can't find anything.

anyone run one of the aftermarket aluminum radiators? I've seen at least 2 different one, the champion, and this one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Rows-Aluminum ... 3641.l6368

any thoughts?

[Shaun41178(2)]

Rent a compression tester from AutoZone. That will tell you if you have a bad head gasket too. You are making this more difficult then it is

[Emc209i]

How do you not have an air compressor? Get one.

[ericjon262]

How do you not have an air compressor? Get one.

well, I do have an air compressor, it's just 600 miles away...

Rent a compression tester from AutoZone. That will tell you if you have a bad head gasket too. You are making this more difficult then it is

yeah, I should do that.

[Emc209i]

Get another one. Your project car shouldn't be more than 300 feet from one. Buy one off craigslist. Re-assigned? Sell it on craigslist for what you paid for it.

[ericjon262]

Get another one. Your project car shouldn't be more than 300 feet from one. Buy one off craigslist. Re-assigned? Sell it on craigslist for what you paid for it.

I've been looking, most of what I've seen has been garbage for top dollar.

[ericjon262]

quick update, did a pneumatic test of the cooling system, went to 22 PSI, and was at 20 PSI in 2 minutes, took about 23 minutes to go from 22 psi to 12 psi. not sure how much (if any) was test rig leakage vice system leakage. I'm going to fill the system, and start the car to see how quick pressure builds, if it immediately jumps, probably the headgasket, if it doesn't, probably not. . If it doesn't point towards that, I'm gonna back the car out of the garage, clean the floor, and lay down some paper, refill the system with water and dye, and re-pressurize to see if I can pinpoint a leak location.

Edit:

Radiator cap tested good.

[Shaun41178(2)]

Still no compression test huh?

[ericjon262]

Still no compression test huh?

yeah, this was the first time I've touched the car in weeks. I hit a deer on my motorcycle and wasn't feeling it. I think I have a compression tester in the garage, but the test I'm going to do when I get off work should tell me if it's a headgasket too.

[ericjon262]

well, started it, and pressure remained steady. I did notice that the lower radiator hose was soft, it's a stretch, but maybe it was collapsing? if it was, awesome, I replaced it. if it wasn't, awesome, it needed to be replaced anyways. I'm gonna try and dig out the compression tester tomorrow see what it comes up with.

[ericjon262]

I hooked the cap tester back up, and pressurized it to see how well it held pressure, left it overnight, and it still had pressure when I got off work earlier, so I think it's safe to say the test rig isn't bleeding any of the pressure off. I'm going to go over every clamped joint and tighten them/make sure they aren't leaking.

[ericjon262]

re-torqued the head gaskets the other night, wasn't real happy when I got almost a whole turn on several of the studs. between that replacing a couple of old worn looking hoses. the cooling system appears to be holding pressure I haven't done a high pressure test yet. I'm also about 2/3's of the way done with my low mount alternator bracket. the alternator will be mounted near where it was on the stock 2.8, but still retain the factory 3x00 accessory drive (serpentine belt). I re-clocked the stock bracket so it points down, and am adding a few steel supports so the cheap cast aluminum won't fail.

pretty crappy picture, I'll take more as I finish it up.



all I have left to do is fab up the lower mount, and a heat shield to protect it from the exhaust. the idler pulley pictured directly above the alternator most likely won't be necessary. the plan is to use a LT1 (gen 2) f-body belt tensioner between the alternator and crank pulley.

this will allow me to install a dogbone again in the stock location, as well as put a valve cover with an oil fill on the rear head, which is much more convenient.

[ericjon262]

also, here's a pic that shows how well the paint polished up. the nose hadn't been polished yet, but the hood was done already. it's not perfect, and it has swirl marks all over the place, but it looks pretty good for a 30 year old POS.

[Emc209i]

Dunno if it's the picture or the actual urethane, but the bumper might night buff out like the hood did. But you did a good job with the hood, looks nice. Hope you get your engine sorted soon.

[ericjon262]

Dunno if it's the picture or the actual urethane, but the bumper might night buff out like the hood did. But you did a good job with the hood, looks nice. Hope you get your engine sorted soon.

thanks, bumper buffed out pretty good too. I'm planning on working on the car most of the day tomorrow if it's not too crazy hot in the garage. hopefully I can get the low mount alternator finalized.