Lucy, Lucy, Lucy

[JUSTA6]

8 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

thats very interesting , did you see them ? 

 you know how we love pictures mate 

please tell me your not using nuts and bolts on a flex plate that should have welded threads in its self ?

Wasn't gonna say anything, but thinkin the same on both topics.  Messed up U bolts?  They would have been left loose to begin with as there is really no way for the nuts to back off.  The bearing caps are firmly held in their pockets. If they were loose you would have to feel or at least hear it.  I've had many more stick than auto trans, but nut N bolts seems waaay wrongway?    Could very well be wrong, I've messed more with auto trans workin on the GTO's 350 N 200R4 then my entire life. I'm assuming they got the interior back together OK?  That alone is huge. 

[Frosty]

17 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

thats very interesting , did you see them ? 

 you know how we love pictures mate 

please tell me your not using nuts and bolts on a flex plate that should have welded threads in its self ?

No I didn’t see it myself, that’s what he told me over the phone. I did ask for photos since I do know how co-dependent this bunch is for pictures.

This engine and tranny were installed in Lucy by my local Pontiac dealer in 2005, after I grenaded the first 455. I had no reason to believe they’d do something this stupid. But what do I know????

[Frosty]

I got another call from the mechanic yesterday. He's missing a couple of pieces to put the interior back together. One is the central dash A/C duct. It is the chrome bezel that lets you set the direction of the hot or cold air coming from the AC/heater. Second piece is something that was on the original steering column - something that connected the key tumbler to the column. Not sure if I still have it or it was destroyed trying to get the key tumbler out of the column.

I am also taking my rear tires (which rub under load) to see if I need a different back sparing or a different size wheel.

The engine is back together now. The oil pan did knock the oil pickup loose. It was tach welded to a bracket, The tach broke, so he re-welded the pickup to the brabket before installing the new oil pan.

I plan to stop over there at lunch today.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Frosty

[JUSTA6]

Hope you have that dash vent.  $$$$$ ouch!  Your new steering column should be complete.  Just drop in your tumbler. 

Now this can go into the new tilt column and I don't have to re-key the car. It's beer me time! 

As this point, I am not sure what I am going to do with the remains of the old column. Do I pitch it? Save it for parts? Send it off to be rebuilt?

[Frosty]

I found the vent last night. I am also taking all the spare parts from the old column with me.

According to the mechanic, there is something that attached between the tumbler and the column that is missing.

[Frosty]

So I went to the shop at lunch as promised. Here is what I say.

The engine and tranny are back in the car.

Here are the defective torque converter bolts and the bad U-bolt.

Grade 8 bolts have now been used on the torque converter.

Now for the Wall of Shame is the dented oil pan.

[JUSTA6]

Glad it's gettin close to bringing Lucy back home. I Know whats it's like to not be able to drive your car.

[Frosty]

Yes she had been out of commission for far too long now!

Edited September 15, 2023 by Frosty

[64 kiwi boni]

That’s a good job fixed mate 👍👍👍

down under we call that “shit happens “

and the bolts where not grade 8 ? 
dont appear  to have any lock tight on the either ? 
 

The u bolt looks likes to have been cross threaded ? That’s a installation fault 

Edited September 16, 2023 by 64 kiwi boni

[Wrongway]

Thats a hell of a dent Snowman. To me looks like the nut may have backed off a hair and the pushing and pulling on the u bolt due to torque flattened and trashed the threads. But that may justa be on my screen . Super glad she'll be home soon bro.

[Last Indian]

18 hours ago, Frosty said:

So I went to the shop at lunch as promised. Here is what I say.

The engine and tranny are back in the car.

Here are the defective torque converter bolts and the bad U-bolt.

Grade 8 bolts have now been used on the torque converter.

Now for the Wall of Shame is the dented oil pan.

Yeah those are not GM torque converter bolts! These are. 
 

the ubolts are a story as I don’t see the nuts, but GM always ran grade 8 nuts with grade 8 lock washers on their driveshaft ubolts. One thing that does come to mind for the ubolts though, because I have seen it more than once, is upon installation of the universal joint caps into the of the cradle they will move out slightly because of the grease. Then they are not trapped between the two tabs that retain them in their pockets. The ubolt will still install, but over time the nuts will loosen & the cap will either move back into the pocket, leaving the bolt even looser or cause rapid degradation of the U joint. My two cents.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Last Indian

[Frosty]

The thing that makes me mad is the engine, trans, and drive shaft were installed by my local Pontiac dealership in 2005. So there is no real excuse for using substandard hardware. 
 

I did notice some engines lying around the shop while I was there. Some definite eye candy.

 

‘57 Ford wagon.

Pair of Oldsmobile motors

Your basic superchargerd LT-4 crate motor with a $3k pulley system and custom headers. This baby is going into a ‘68 Camaro with a Detroit Speed and Engineering front subframe. This is $20k worth of motor right here. He has a second identical motor for the same customer to put into an El Camino. Must be nice to have money.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Frosty

[indymanjoe]

Glad she's sorted and back in business!

[Frosty]

Good news, bad news gang. The good news is Lucy is almost completely back together. He has run the engine, oil pressure is great. He put my large back tires on, he determine that I needed one more inch of backspacing to get those big meats under the fender without rubbing. So instead of a 4.5” backspace, I need a 5.5” backspace on an 8” rim.

Bad news is he is missing the ashtray / steering column lower dash bezel. I can’t find it anywhere. I literally tore the garage mahal apart tonight. I can’t find it anywhere. I even had him check the trunk and FP the convertible well for it. No luck. Damn.

I ended up ordering one off of eBay tonight for $38 plus shipping. It should be here from Tampa next week. While going through everything, I found my QA1 adjustable upper rear control arms. So I will have him install them too.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Frosty

[64 kiwi boni]

thats all good news mate !!!... and once your finished the trim will turn up .... hahaha

[Frosty]

8 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

thats all good news mate !!!... and once your finished the trim will turn up .... hahaha

That's exactly what I was thinking Kiwi. I'm sure it will happen and then I will just get pissed for a moment. I can't complain about the $38 price though. I saw another one on eBay in worse shape, asking for $100. F' that!

[indymanjoe]

i have the lower trim frosty always check with me first lol

[64 kiwi boni]

35 minutes ago, indymanjoe said:

i have the lower trim frosty always check with me first lol

[Fitzy]

What's all this about torque converter bolts??? I remember reinstalling my TC to the flex plate and was amazed that only 3 small bolts hold it all in place. It also seemed that the torque value specified by the factory manual wasn't very much - I remember feeling a little uncomfortable about what I perceived to be an underdone job when I had finished torquing the bolts and then checking them. Threadlocker sounds like a damn fine idea. I might crawl under there one day and do it again. I'll also check that they are indeed Grade 8 bolts.

[Frosty]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:13 PM, indymanjoe said:

i have the lower trim frosty always check with me first lol

I should learn my lesson Joe. Check Joe's part stash first before buying anything new! Check.

What makes this worse is that I didn't need to buy the part after all. I have included the trim with the car. He was under the impression that there was another trim piece that covered up the AC ducting that hangs low under the dash for the vents. No such part. So I think the car will be done today or tomorrow.

On 9/19/2023 at 3:50 PM, 64 kiwi boni said:

Shit.

21 hours ago, Fitzy said:

What's all this about torque converter bolts??? I remember reinstalling my TC to the flex plate and was amazed that only 3 small bolts hold it all in place. It also seemed that the torque value specified by the factory manual wasn't very much - I remember feeling a little uncomfortable about what I perceived to be an underdone job when I had finished torquing the bolts and then checking them. Threadlocker sounds like a damn fine idea. I might crawl under there one day and do it again. I'll also check that they are indeed Grade 8 bolts.

The torque converter bolts were finger tight and was not grade 8 bolts. So I could have had serious issues down the line. Threadlocker and grade 8 bolts are now in place and torqued. See the pics above for the old hardware.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Frosty

[Frosty]

Well gang, Lucy is home. I picked her up just before I left for the WV Drag Racers Hall of Fame show in Winfield WV last weekend in Black Beauty. She is back together. The tilt column is in place and looks great. The motor is running and the oil pressure is fine.

So I paid the guy and left, with my older brother driving my pickup. We left but he took off and didn't wait for me after I caught a red light and he got through. I got about 2 miles down the road when the steering got tough and then the engine quit! I pulled into a local business parking lot. 

Of course my brother chooses to not have a cell phone. So I can't call him and tell him to turn around, I call the shop and tell him what happened. He said that I might be out of gas! He forgot to point that out to me when he was working on the car. He noticed how low the fuel gage was and he forget to remind me about it. Ugh. Embarrassing but hopefully that is the issue. He closed up the shop and grabbed a couple of gallons of gas and brought it to me. I was about 400 yards from a gas station. Obviously I filled up after that and she ran fine. 

 Lucy - Dead as a door nail without any gas. 

I got her home. She needs a thorough cleaning from top to bottom, inside and out. Perhaps even a clay bar cleaning too. 

I hope to do a fall color tour in her in a couple of weeks. I need to test her our under some longer driving conditions before I commit Lucy to next year's Hot Rod Power Tour. I want to have some faith in her since it was the broken belt in 2019 that led to the car overheating and blowing up the heater core in the first place.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Frosty

[JUSTA6]

As the sign say's....Your at the wrong GAS station, Lucy doesn't run on AIRgas.    Glad she's finally back on the road for ya. If ya figure out how to run er on AIRgas  Lemmme know.

Edited September 27, 2023 by JUSTA6

[Frosty]

Yeah well there weren't exactly any PUMPS out there either to even try to fill 'er up.

[Last Indian]

On 9/27/2023 at 10:29 AM, Frosty said:

Yeah well there weren't exactly any PUMPS out there either to even try to fill 'er up.

No! But there was a lot of air; which is a gas you know!

[Frosty]

So are farts, doesn’t mean I’m going to collect the methane gas and convert Lucy to run methane!