Bummer... I wish people would take better care of their vehicles. If a vehicle has been really neglected, there's always something that pops up.... I really love the G-P look of the 1st and 2nd gens. If you really wanted to, you could do a complete overhaul on it... just depends on what ya want to do.
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Here's a starter pic:
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Moved the worst of the tires (they are all bad) to the spare position, can't believe he was driving on this:
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They are all pretty bad rims though:
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Interior is slowly cleaning up with a lot of elbow grease:
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Still a lot of dirt caked in the driver's seat, need some car shampoo.
Moved the worst of the tires (they are all bad) to the spare position, can't believe he was driving on this:
They are all pretty bad rims though:
Interior is slowly cleaning up with a lot of elbow grease:
Still a lot of dirt caked in the driver's seat, need some car shampoo.
Fedex dropped me some fresh rubber this weekend. Four new super-delux-el-cheapo no-name-brand all terrain tires dropped at my door for $280. I don't typically buy off-brand tires but for this non-DD beater everything is on a tight budget to make it into a modest spare car to use for some light soft-roading. Odds are the tires will dry-rot before they could ever get enough miles on them to justify anything more expensive.
These are 215/75R15, the smallest you can get these tires. Should make for a beefy look.
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Since the tires will be nice I figured its worth a minimum effort to hit the rims with the wire grinders and a little rustoleum rusty metal primer, and eventually a couple top coats of some black rattle-can enamel. There isn't much rust on the car itself so no reason the rims can't look decent from 20 feet away. At least this way if something major blows up in the next few hundred miles and I scrap the car I will have a decent set of rims and tires to post on facebook marketplace 😁
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I got the upper control arms replaced so I'm hoping thats the end of the issue with the tires wearing unevenly. I hate to spend any extra money on it but I'm wondering if it will also need an alignment just to be sure. Not sure anyone will want to put this beat up car on their alignment rack but its free to ask...
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I see I have one bad sway bar end link up front and one bad one in the back. Given that I only plan to use this as a spare car for light duties on short local trips and hopefully a significant amount of light off-roading on the local trails, I'm thinking I will just disconnect both sway bars for now. I know it will handle a little funny but the extra articulation off road will be nice and really nobody will ever be driving it but me. If I end up selling it I will throw some new links on so I don't have to have dreams about the next owner putting it in the ditch swerving around a deer. I've done that sort of thing before, had an s10 with a full-spool rear end and it was a) not a daily driver and b) something I understood to drive very carefully. When I sold the s10 I took the locker kit out and put the spider gears back in.
That primer takes ages to dry and harden completely and I'm contemplating sanding and doing a second coat, so I'm guessing the car will remain on jackstands most of the week. Hope the neighbor's ankle-biting dog doesn't go playing under it 🙄
I've found the upper radiator hose to be leaking which makes me feel better about why I had to add antifreeze to it back when I got it. Easy fix, I'll get those on order but those too will likely keep me off the road since everything is shipping so slowly these days. Oh well, I have many other projects around here to play with. I would like to get through these initial basics and just be able to drive this one around a little bit though.
I'll keep chipping away at it and probably post back here kinda like a dedicated project and update thread. Cheers!
These are 215/75R15, the smallest you can get these tires. Should make for a beefy look.
Since the tires will be nice I figured its worth a minimum effort to hit the rims with the wire grinders and a little rustoleum rusty metal primer, and eventually a couple top coats of some black rattle-can enamel. There isn't much rust on the car itself so no reason the rims can't look decent from 20 feet away. At least this way if something major blows up in the next few hundred miles and I scrap the car I will have a decent set of rims and tires to post on facebook marketplace 😁
I got the upper control arms replaced so I'm hoping thats the end of the issue with the tires wearing unevenly. I hate to spend any extra money on it but I'm wondering if it will also need an alignment just to be sure. Not sure anyone will want to put this beat up car on their alignment rack but its free to ask...
I see I have one bad sway bar end link up front and one bad one in the back. Given that I only plan to use this as a spare car for light duties on short local trips and hopefully a significant amount of light off-roading on the local trails, I'm thinking I will just disconnect both sway bars for now. I know it will handle a little funny but the extra articulation off road will be nice and really nobody will ever be driving it but me. If I end up selling it I will throw some new links on so I don't have to have dreams about the next owner putting it in the ditch swerving around a deer. I've done that sort of thing before, had an s10 with a full-spool rear end and it was a) not a daily driver and b) something I understood to drive very carefully. When I sold the s10 I took the locker kit out and put the spider gears back in.
That primer takes ages to dry and harden completely and I'm contemplating sanding and doing a second coat, so I'm guessing the car will remain on jackstands most of the week. Hope the neighbor's ankle-biting dog doesn't go playing under it 🙄
I've found the upper radiator hose to be leaking which makes me feel better about why I had to add antifreeze to it back when I got it. Easy fix, I'll get those on order but those too will likely keep me off the road since everything is shipping so slowly these days. Oh well, I have many other projects around here to play with. I would like to get through these initial basics and just be able to drive this one around a little bit though.
I'll keep chipping away at it and probably post back here kinda like a dedicated project and update thread. Cheers!
Did you create an account just to share some kind words of encouragement? 😄
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Thank you! Interested to see what your project is that you mentioned.
I'm feeling obligated to put in some better effort to keep the project going and document it nicely. How about a little video of a test drive?
Fair warning, I look like a caveman since with all this virus stuff and working from home I lack the motivation to trim my beard and I'm not able to go out for something as trivial as a haircut
This video is from last week so its a little behind, I've already replaced the upper control arms and the second coat of primer is drying on the rims as I type. I've also changed the oil/oil filter and fuel filter since this video was taken.
Not much else I can do at the moment the weather has turned a little sour and the primer I had lying around is a variety that takes a very long time to cure. I'm actually a bit worried that it will never really "harden" within a reasonable time frame before the neighbors start to wonder if the car will ever come off jackstands... It probably needs a week, I can give it about one more day here and then the paint needs to go on, and then off to the shop for tire installation.
If the top coats of paint don't seal in the primer too badly it can continue to cure sitting in the driveway. I won't be driving it until I get the radiator hoses replaced and those won't get here until Sunday at the soonest. I guess I'll have time to do yard work instead.
Anyways...
Thank you! Interested to see what your project is that you mentioned.
I'm feeling obligated to put in some better effort to keep the project going and document it nicely. How about a little video of a test drive?
Fair warning, I look like a caveman since with all this virus stuff and working from home I lack the motivation to trim my beard and I'm not able to go out for something as trivial as a haircut
This video is from last week so its a little behind, I've already replaced the upper control arms and the second coat of primer is drying on the rims as I type. I've also changed the oil/oil filter and fuel filter since this video was taken.
Not much else I can do at the moment the weather has turned a little sour and the primer I had lying around is a variety that takes a very long time to cure. I'm actually a bit worried that it will never really "harden" within a reasonable time frame before the neighbors start to wonder if the car will ever come off jackstands... It probably needs a week, I can give it about one more day here and then the paint needs to go on, and then off to the shop for tire installation.
If the top coats of paint don't seal in the primer too badly it can continue to cure sitting in the driveway. I won't be driving it until I get the radiator hoses replaced and those won't get here until Sunday at the soonest. I guess I'll have time to do yard work instead.
Anyways...
Sprayed the rims with some black metallic today, quite a hack job but still better looking than they were. Tomorrow I'll probably have the shop across the street mount and balance the new tires, then I can clean up any paint damage from that and get them back on the car.
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Great guys at the local shop got my tires mounted. Took a fair number of weights to get some of them balanced but should be good enough for this buggy. I would hardly care at all except that we do live right off of a 70 MPH highway so it won't be uncommon to have this car up to a pretty good clip even for local errands. Some vibration at high speed is totally acceptable for this car, on our newer ones I am a lot pickier.
Just need to touch up some spots on the rim from mounting and installing weights with a little more paint and I can probably mount them up. Weather is pretty crazy here right now though so it might get put off a day or two, we'll see. We keep going from sunshine to snow to sunshine then rain, then snow, then sun again... spring in Minnesota.
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Just need to touch up some spots on the rim from mounting and installing weights with a little more paint and I can probably mount them up. Weather is pretty crazy here right now though so it might get put off a day or two, we'll see. We keep going from sunshine to snow to sunshine then rain, then snow, then sun again... spring in Minnesota.
Well, as usual two steps forwards and two steps back.
New tires and painted wheels are on. Had to hammer back the pinch seam to have passable tread clearance on the back tires but no big deal otherwise.
Managed to remove all the end links front and back first while they were easier to reach. With no anti-sway bars it handles like a 6-ton caddy but my wife doesn't think that cornering is a priority, so no green light on fifty bucks for some new end links and bushings for now. The rear one probably couldn't even tell that its gone but the annoying thing about the front bar is it can't be removed without a bunch more work so its just zip-tied up in a silly fashion underneath, and I don't really want to leave it that way. The rear one had a nice spot to swing it out of the way still in its bushings but not so lucky with the front, if left in the bushings the lower control arms would smack it and you can't swing it up out of the way without hitting the tie rods. Oh well, it really isn't the priority right now.
Went to go for a test drive and I fully expected it to be a titch slower off the line with the larger, heavier tires but it was SUUUUUPER SLOOOOOWWWWW, no pep at all. It was quickly apparent that something was wrong, even though all the usual dead giveaways were disabled or burnt out...
What I mean is, the previous owner put black tape over the check engine light so I don't get that tell-tale, and the indicator light for regular D/D4/Drive also either doesn't work or has been removed... if the D4 light DID work, it would be flashing I'm pretty sure...
Super. P1768 was actually set when the car was first unloaded into my driveway, I cleared it without looking it up because it was one of many codes and I wanted to see what would actually come back after putting in oil and some basic things.
P1298 I'm not even concerned with right now. There may be a short somewhere or something but I've only seen that once when I used the headlights, I'll circle back to it later.
I'm much more concerned about the transmission code and it driving around in limp mode. If I clear the codes it will drive fine for a while, but eventually it trips P1768 again and goes into limp. I knew the transmission fluid was looking bad/brown/burnt but hadn't gotten around to it yet.
P1768 (in this car) seems to relate to"Transmission Shift Control Lockup Solenoid". I have a Chilton manual on its way but in the meantime making due with the internet, which will confuse you with Acura version of the same code that is not quite the same problem.
I tested the resistance on the solenoid pair that was easy to get to up top, 13.3 ohms and 13.5, from what I have heard that is within spec but I won't know for certain until my Chilton's book from Ebay gets here middle of this week.
I tested the solenoids with a jumper from 12v+, the left/passenger side one clicked right away. The one on the right/driver's side didn't really start clicking until after hitting it a few times with the 12v jumper, and even then didn't seem to "click" as strong as the other one. Hmmmm.
Well, I should order up a new solenoid pair but thing being a budget rig as it is I'm already toeing a fine line having gone in for new tires and now transmission problems rearing its ugly head. This all happened the very first time my wife joined me for a test ride so she is not impressed and not eager to spend any money on parts when the entire transmission could be too far gone.
I'm going to see if I can get my hands on a few jugs of Valvoline MaxLife in town this week, change out a good 9-12 quarts and then pull that solenoid pair and see if hopefully
1) it has the gasket with the little mesh screens, and hope they are blatantly gunked up and easily cleaned, and
2) bench test the solenoids some more and try to clean them up and get them both firing reliably.
Since the ohms check out on both of them (based on what one guy in a youtube video said was within spec...), I'm banking on finding dirty mesh screens and doing a little cleaning and then hopefully they will continue to work provided I get lots of good clean fluid swapped in. Fingers crossed.
I know it could be too little too late for the torque converter or the clutch packs, not so much from the 51 miles I've put on it so far but knowing that it had that code when I got it means no telling how long the previous owner was driving it with this issue. If the clutch packs are disintegrating then it probably won't last long, and then we will have to face the difficult decision of upping our investment for a replacement transmission or a rebuild. I'm crossing my fingers that there are still some miles to be wrung out of it with new fluid and cleaned mesh screens but hard to say at this point.
I also discovered (but am not dealing with right now) that the cv boots are both torn on the rear driver's side axle, and the passenger side doesn't look like they will last much longer. Not even going to touch those unless the transmission does a complete 180 with some fresh fluid and such. Another chunk of $$$... I've done the "just the boots" before on other cars, and it stinks and I said "never again I'll just order the whole axle assemblies"... Well I don't know in this case... dollars vs time. Oh well, another day's problem, transmission first otherwise all else is moot.
I changed the upper and lower radiator hoses so no more leaking coolant and got some fresh coolant in there. Pretty sure the upper hose was only leaking because the valve cover kept leaking oil on it causing the rubber to swell and weaken. That problem is gnawing away on the heater hose right next to it as well but it will have to hang in there for now.
Not sure when I will get out to search for the fluid, most places have outrageous shipping times on it right now but I am also going to pay out the nose to get it in town. Time vs money again. At least I can feel like I'm supporting the tiny local parts shop if I pay 30% above internet price for 3 gallons...
Will the transmission come back to life or will the project grind to a halt? To be continued!
I'm with you on the worm gear clamps but that's all I had on hand, and with the whole virus thing I am not shopping out and about much. My local small town parts store does not carry the spring-style clamps and I have not been able to find a good source for them online (Ok I admit, if its not on amazon I didn't look that hard, but I DID look on amazon pretty carefully and only found like two options that cost a fortune for one or two clamps...)
Weirdly, the bottom hose had nice spring clamps and just the upper hose had the geared clamps. My guess is the previous owner swapped to the gear clamps thinking he could "fix" the leak on the upper hose by tightening the life out of them. Luckily he only did that to the engine-side hose which is aluminum, but it was definitely over-tightened by someone poking at it previously.
Thousands of people get by with the geared clamps, not my favorite but they work if you don't over-tighten and check them once in a while, after putting on stiff new hoses they usually can be snugged up a half a turn or two after a few heat/cool cycles of driving around and then they settle in and are mostly OK.
I only spent about 25 bucks on the new hoses so spending 16 dollars for a couple spring clamps I couldn't justify on this budget project. Spring clamps are definitely my first choice when given the option though
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I have three gallons of transmission fluid now so as soon as I get a chance I can start shuffling new fluid in and I think I will pull the solenoids and clean them and their screens after the fresh fluid is in so they have less chance of plugging up again right away.
Weather still all over the place here, sunshine to snow and then sunshine with snow, below freezing... the weekend forecast looking much nicer so it might wait till Saturday.
Weirdly, the bottom hose had nice spring clamps and just the upper hose had the geared clamps. My guess is the previous owner swapped to the gear clamps thinking he could "fix" the leak on the upper hose by tightening the life out of them. Luckily he only did that to the engine-side hose which is aluminum, but it was definitely over-tightened by someone poking at it previously.
Thousands of people get by with the geared clamps, not my favorite but they work if you don't over-tighten and check them once in a while, after putting on stiff new hoses they usually can be snugged up a half a turn or two after a few heat/cool cycles of driving around and then they settle in and are mostly OK.
I only spent about 25 bucks on the new hoses so spending 16 dollars for a couple spring clamps I couldn't justify on this budget project. Spring clamps are definitely my first choice when given the option though
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I have three gallons of transmission fluid now so as soon as I get a chance I can start shuffling new fluid in and I think I will pull the solenoids and clean them and their screens after the fresh fluid is in so they have less chance of plugging up again right away.
Weather still all over the place here, sunshine to snow and then sunshine with snow, below freezing... the weekend forecast looking much nicer so it might wait till Saturday.
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