3 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

Hello,

It has been a while and it is time to catch up.

The Cat is still getting things done and they might finish up the heat / AC / ventilation tomorrow. The dashboard with a new radio and the controls for heat and AC have also been a central focus.

The frontal picture of the dashboard has a good view of the new 4L60E transmission PRN4321 shift indicator done in LED lights. The old indicator just wasn't gonna' cut it for me and Dakota Digital helped out here.

The new dash also has an original Pontiac analog clock that it did not have before . . . but . . . it is not accurate. It gains maybe two minutes every 4-5 hours and only its lamps will be powered - there is no rate adjustment in these clocks at the hairspring. Maybe someday I will put a better clock in. The Dakota Digital box that converts the PCM speed output to a spinning cable input to the original Catalina speedometer is also installed. The new Lokar ACA-1804 shifter linkage is also connected.

The genius of the two people that are doing this work on my car became apparent to me earlier this week. The new heater and AC control panel was larger than the original Pontiac set of controls and the new control would not fit in that hole. So, they put the new larger control in the spot for the radio and put the radio in the spot for the heat / ventilation controls. Modern AM / FM radios have gotten smaller and don't need as much space and the new arrangement can be seen in the picture below.

Rick

wow ! Rick can you show me the dakota digital kit you bought to do the speedo ? thats what i need to do for the 63 ! with my 6l80e trans

Hello Chris,

It is not an already put together kit from Dakota Digital. Rather, an assemblage of individual DD items engineered together into a new and larger capability. The part numbers and links are below:

ECD-200BT - pick the final suffix part number based on the connector at the back of your speedometer. Do NOT immediately pick the GM part number without looking at the back of your speedometer. My Cat had a different speedometer cable connector and I had to go back to DD and buy the specific cable for a 200BT-2.

https://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=886/category_id=-1/mode=prod/prd886.htm

GSS-3000 Universal Gear Shift Indicator

https://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=1222/category_id=-1/mode=prod/prd1222.htm

DGS-12 LED Gear Shift Indicator Lights - four different styles. Pick whatever suits your transmission.

https://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=482/category_id=-1/mode=prod/prd482.htm

Rick

Thanks Rick !!! That’s exactly what I will use for the 63

I will have to email dd and check that the shift light will work with my 6 speed 6l80e

Hello,

The Cat is back home. Made it back Wednesday afternoon and it drives pretty good though I have door rattles that will need a look. Needed a bath real bad and it got it earlier tonight. The right front wheel might have thrown off a wheel weight because a spare wheel and tire drives better. I will get it checked tomorrow.

So many things work now. The speedometer and all seven gears in the transmission. The transmission cooler and its fan have been moved underneath the car and the shifter linkage is now a cable rather than a rod. The eBrake pedal works. The shifter indicator is a set of LED lights and you can see the mechanics of what turns on those lights below. The air conditioner and heater are installed and work but I have put the top down. Who needs AC on a day like today???

I just need to put miles on the car and make adjustments / tightening as I go.

Rick

Nice! Always good to get it out on the road. Looks good too!

What transmission is your Rick ?

This is a rebuilt 4L60E out of a 2002 model year junk yard Chevy Silverado. Unknown mileage on it from the donor but it got rebuilt about a year ago by a local home-based rebuilding shop. Newly rebuilt but stock 1600-1800 RPM torque converter. I paid a grand total of $60.00 USD at the junk yard for this transmission on a Half Price Sale Day, and its failure mode was a burned up 3-4 clutch pack - no other internal hard part problems or case damage. The pump also got rebuilt and I'd have to go back through my notes for any other details.

The rebuild cost me about $1500 including the new torque converter and the price was low because I brought the transmission to the guy and brought it home.

The transmission has a hardened shell but nothing radical. Stock, standard shift points and line pressures in the transmission tuning portion of the powertrain control module. New deep fluid pan with a drain plug.

To stay with the standard gear changing shift force, we did not use a Corvette servo.

Rick

Hello,

I've put about 300 miles on the Catalina odometer and it has been a busy week of chasing rattles and odd vibrations beginning at 50 MPH. But I solve them and other problems as they present themselves.

Both front tires were my initial thought as to the source of some of these vibrations and the vibes only happen at certain speeds. Figuring that they either lost wheel weights or got sloppy balancing at the tire shop, both front tires got another balance treatment at a different tire store. And the vibrations diminished but were not eliminated.

My attention then turned to the driveshaft. This drive shaft was built a few months ago with a Series 1310 yoke up front and that yoke had a bit of looseness at the 4L60E output shaft splines that unsettled me. The 1310 yoke was short and lacked a lot of spline engagement. Off came the driveshaft and on went a heavy duty Series 1350 yoke and this one had more than double the length in spline engagement compared to the 1310 yoke. The shop that built this drive shaft only charged me a little over $83.00 USD to swap them out and rebalance the shaft at 2500 shaft RPM but I provided the yoke. This greatly lowered the overall level of vibration and everything is smooth until about 75 MPH but I won't spend much time at that speed anyway.

I took the driver's side door panel off yesterday to de-rattle things inside and it is now much quieter. The passenger door is relatively quiet but the back seat windows have a few rattles. I have made myself a large, bent, specialty flat screwdriver to free the back seat bench from its floor latches to then get to the back seat door panels and their rattles. This back seat de-rattling continues.

Since everything is new up front for steering gear and control arm bushings and with the steering wheel not exactly level, it was time for a front end alignment. That got accomplished late in the day on Friday and there is no wandering pull to the left or right. It centers the steering wheel very nicely when rolling out of turns and the steering wheel is now level when headed straight. All in all, the steering on this car is very good. The junk yard acquired, 1993-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee rebuilt Saginaw 12.4 to 1 steering gear box and its heavy torsion bar hydraulic valve gives this car a very modern and confident contact with the road.

Last week, I discovered a busted hanger weld on my new exhaust system and this gave me a good excuse to fire up my MIG welder. Problem solved.

I'm running a single ounce of UV sensitive dye in my radiator coolant and I got the UV flashlight out today to check for the dye in some tailpipe moisture. No dye detected at either tail pipe. There is also no coolant in the oil which all adds up to no head gasket leaks.

And lastly, I finally hooked up speakers to the new dashboard radio. It sounds very good. I'm quite the tight wad for spending on automotive things where possible and buying radio speakers is no exception. Buying them new can be several hundred dollars for the pair and with my high frequency hearing loss, spending a lot of money on speakers is a waste. So, its a pair of very good speakers out of a late model wrecked car at the junk yard for almost no money at all. I am always reluctant to cut up door panels and kick panels that are perfectly good - these junk yard speakers are low profile and easily fit under the front seat.

The instructions that came with this radio are pitiful and I'm gonna' struggle because of it to get the clock set and radio station presets saved. On the upside of things, the antenna in the windshield glass does very nicely to capture all of the five stations that I listen to around here. I also need to put a few hundred good driving songs on a small SD memory card for future use in this radio.

Rick

Hello,

It has been a while and I continue to rack up miles on the Catalina. And the Cat has not failed me.

Its up to about 450 miles on this car since coming back from the dead a few months ago and I will soon need to consider changing the engine oil and filter. I will absolutely cut open the filter can to see if the paper pleats caught anything.

I finally got the lower cushion of the back seat unlatched and I have not replaced the rear seat belts but will soon. I also need to de-rattle the rear windows and make adjustments to them so that they lay flat on the front windows when rolled up. The passenger side rear window needed its front of the glass rubber in the sash replaced and that got done a few days ago. I had to soften the sash rubber with some kerosene to get the metal sash onto the front edge of the glass - its all good now.

The speakers for the radio are now wired in and it all sounds as good as it can be in a convertible with the top down. I set the clock in the radio and set all of my desired presets but . . . .

I had to pull the fuse for the courtesy lighting and radio two nights ago because I could not get that lighting to turn off. I fiddled around with the door jam switches and there was nothing wrong there but it was getting late so I pulled the fuse to keep from running the battery down. Then the next day, it hit me. That switch in the rear arm rest. Oh yea, that switch that allows the rear seat passengers to have foot well lighting on demand without asking the driver. I must have nudged that rear switch on somehow. So I pushed that fuse back in and my lighting is back under control and now I have to reset the clock in the radio and all of my presets. Again.

I am in the process of building a no kidding modern tire change tool kit because I will never use that widow maker original jack. Its back there in the trunk for display purposes only.

I'm still using the cerium oxide polishing compound and a drill powered, two inch wool pad on the windshield glass. This is slow going and improvements do happen but I'd trade all of this in rather quickly for a new windshield. The wiper rash in the glass is taking a while to remove but it is a lot better already.

I have found that the "303 Protectant" spray on the dashboard vinyl, door panels and sun visors has re-moisturized the vinyl. It looks great compared to what it was.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/303-Aerospace-Protectant-Provides-Superior-UV-Protection-Helps-Prevent-Fading-Cracking-Repels-Dust-Lint-Staining-Restores-Lost-Color-Luster-10oz-3030/185324931?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=102796969&selectedOfferId=2E60501A5BD0377DBB3CB51B1A40BC7E&conditionGroupCode=1&adid=222222222272E60501A5BD0377DBB3CB51B1A40BC7E_14069003552_202077872&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42423897272&wl4=pla-2449037643288&wl5=9025463&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=5580043631&wl11=online&wl12=2E60501A5BD0377DBB3CB51B1A40BC7E&veh=sem&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=202077872&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIrYbhcdxz1XW1wI-43-YUGN1&gclid=CjwKCAjwnN3OBhA8EiwAfpTYerrN3aQL30x2o81dBL3Ydx6PYoGeThEeKyHmJyg84M_CnHYhqL6Y6xoCvakQAvD_BwE

I have used the free PCM tuning tools - Tuner Pro RT and PCM Hammer - to kill off DTC P1638 in the operating system of this LS engine. The engine harness in this car does not have the required "F" terminal wire at the alternator that P1638 is looking for so this particular Check Engine Light code is of no use at all. That test will never be ran again inside this operating system - and no more Check Engine Light for that code ever again.

Overall, last week's fixes for excessive vibration continue to work well. I'm continuing to inspect underneath for leaks and loose hardware every few days and I'm not seeing much wrong.

Rick

Hello,

Things are definitely slowing down on fix it items for the Catalina but as we all know, this will never really stop.

Its up to around 700-800 miles on the odometer and it got an oil change yesterday. I thought about capturing some of the oil for a Blackstone Labs oil analysis but I had no sample cups. The magnet on the drain plug only had a slight amount of metallic peach fuzz stuck to it. After letting the filter drain upside down for a day, I cut open the can this evening with the filter can cutter and then pulled the paper pleats out and unfolded them - no metal, nothing shiny at all.

I turned on the car's AC tonight and the compressor was chattering a bit. I'm not sure if the compressor oil had separated from the refrigerant and the compressor pistons were trying to compress liquid oil that can't be compressed. I will try this again tomorrow night.

Rick

Hello,

The Catalina is in the vicinity of 900 new miles on the odometer!!

I have added two new Autometer gauges to the car - oil pressure and water temperature. Idiot lights simply are not enough for me. I'm using the previously unused and plugged hole in the passenger side rear of the head for the temperature sensor and even in stop and go traffic, this LS engine does not go above about 210 degrees F. This is typical for a Gen 3 engine and a little warmer than a 350 cubic inch Gen 2 motor. The LS engine in my El Camino has temperatures about the same.

Oil pressure is from the standard center, top, rear of the engine port and I'm very happy with those numbers. Cold oil or hot, idle RPM or driving around town, it is never lower than 45 PSI nor more than about 62 PSI.

I had the AC compressor checked out today and it did not make the belt chatter during this test at the installer's shop. The pressures looked good and it produced very cold air. So, IDK what's going on here.

And I'm thinking strongly about abandoning the polishing of the wiper scratches on the windshield. I made good progress and cleared up quite a bit but one of the glass shops here in town can get a new windshield with the original tint at the top and the radio antenna in the glass for less than $500.00 installed. They say getting the windshield trim off and back on without damage is easy so . . . I think that is the next big project for this Pontiac.

Rick

4 hours ago, B52bombardier1 said:

And I'm thinking strongly about abandoning the polishing of the wiper scratches on the windshield. I made good progress and cleared up quite a bit but one of the glass shops here in town can get a new windshield with the original tint at the top and the radio antenna in the glass for less than $500.00 installed. They say getting the windshield trim off and back on without damage is easy so . . . I think that is the next big project for this Pontiac.

i was thinking that when you started polishing Rick !!!

here in nz most insurance companys have a free glass policy .... soooo

its easier to justa break it and get it replace for free !

$500 installed sound a tad dear !

whats a screen worth for your car ?

Edited May 14May 14 by 64 kiwi boni

Hello Chris,

The problem has been that none of the usual paper catalog places carried a replacement glass for a 70 Pontiac Catalina - I've looked and asked on the phone. They had glass for a 70 GTO and possibly a 70 Grand Prix but nothing for a Catalina or a Bonneville. The parts car a little over an hour west from here that I've been slowly picking apart still has a front glass and I was considering paying a glass tech to travel with me to retrieve it. As you can imagine, removing it from this parts car and carrying it back here has its own risks.

Thusly, price has only been of a small concern. The glass lady that found this new windshield wrote me a quote for $385 plus sales tax = $423.50 USD. It would be mounted with a black urethane epoxy and not the butyl rubber that was originally used.

Rick