Oil Change

[72289] Oil change with Royal Purple 10w-40 synthetic (CH-4/SL - CI-4/SL rating) and Purolator filter.

Pulled the dash pad to fix the instrument panel illumination bulbs and to install new speakers. Two of the bulbs seem to be getting 12 volts on both terminals of the printed circuit they connect to, instead of 12v on one pad and ground on the other. I am planning to add a ground so I can use the existing bulb socket. The new speakers are too tall, with the large magnets and the spacer to get them to clear the center tweeter, so I had to make new brackets for them from sheet metal. Time will tell if they will work out once the dash is put back together.

Alternator

Alternator seems to have gone out on Friday. Alt light coming on then going off irregularly, putting a load on like pressing a window switch would extinguish it. Regulator? Anyway, put in an Autolite rebuilt unit from Kragen/Parts America today and now she's good.

Installed the new Hella E code high beam headlights too. A pair of adapter harnesses a few inches long made the electrical connection. Now I just need instrument panel lights!

LED

Replaced the rear fillers, finishing up today. Along the way, I replaced the tail lights with my experimental LED fabrications. I now know I would make a few changes if I were to engineer them again, like putting the LED modules futher into the housings so they were closer to the lens. But these are fine. Replaced the flasher unit with one that will handle the far lighter LED load, and that project is done.

Updated the low-beam headlamps with a set of 165mm Hella E code lamps with supposedly DOT approved bulbs. Thing is, it came with both DOT and Euro spec bulbs. The E bulb says it's a 60/55w + 50% whereas the DOT bulb just says 60/55w. I added relays so the bulbs draw the heavy juice from the terminal on the back of the alternator and the headlight switch only powers the relays. The lamps came with an adapter wiring harness about 4" long to go between the factory lamp socket and the new lamp, effectively remapping the wires to different terminals. Naturally, in replacing the lamps, I managed to break two out of four of the plastic aim adjuster bases (the right side). HELP provided new ones, though they say they are for Mopar products. They fit just fine though. Look lightly different but as long as they work, I don't care.

I like the beam pattern on these lamps. I just need to get them aimed properly.

Repainted air cleaner, touched up some under hood paint, placed new decal on air cleaner.

RODZ

Dropped of the bumper fillers and left fender skirt at RODZ for paint.

[71400] Took Helen to Gill at Woodman Muffler in Arleta. The CAT did indeed have a huge hole in it and there was a big scrape, so someone ran over something they shouldn't have at some point! Got a new CAT and had them add a resonator back to the tailpipe. The original muffler had been replaced once and the resonator replaced with plain pipe. But the pipes were all solid enough to keep using. Amazingly, while the car *is* much quieter, there is still some rumble! Same deal, under power at freeway speeds! This is crazy! But, everything I have had done needed to be done; prices I paid were very reasonable and workmanship has been exceptional. I just wish this rumble was completely gone!

RODZ

Dropped Helen at "RODZ" yesterday. The drive shaft is now fully rebuilt and balanced. Yes, the yoke U-joint was bad... but the rumble, while distinctly quieter and of somewhat different character, is *still* there! OK, time to go get the exhaust checked.

Rumble On

Helen's rumble is still there and I spoke to Mike at RODZ this week. He suggested we get the exhaust checked out. I went to do that this morning but getting on the freeway, I could clearly hear the engine kick down and change pitch while the rumble stayed just slowly increasing in pitch with the speed of the car, not with the speed of the engine. It became quite obvious that it's not an exhaust issue. So I skipped the muffler shop and will hit RODZ up again Monday. I'm pretty sure it's going to be the drive shaft.

Helen is back from RODZ.

RODZ

Helen is spending a few days at "RODZ" starting today. Mike is the guy I'm working with there and he let me know that Helen's differential is making the rumble I've been hearing. But, they won't know if it is just bearings and seals or if the gears need to be replaced as well until they get the pumpkin out. They want to steam clean the engine and whole undercarriage so they can see what they are doing... no charge. They also looked over the rest of the car and found that the valve cover gaskets are leaking... I knew this, the trans output shaft seal is leaking... I knew this too... So they want to replace the VC gaskets, trans fluid and filter along with the seal. And the water pump /timing cover assembly has a water leak... I knew it was leaking a small amount of water in that area but hadn't found the source yet. They will fix all of this including a new water pump, and throw new belts on while they are at it for $2100. But Mike warned me that if the gears do need to be replaced, it will be another $350. I think it's extremely reasonable considering the last time I had a third member serviced, it was around $1600 with no extras. He told me it might be done Friday but more than likely it will be Monday.

As luck would have it, I took my Roadmaster Limited wagon over to my favorite Burbank car wash today, the one right next to Warner Bros., and there was a guy with a super sanitary '60 (I think) Falcon who had a sticker on the back window for a local speed shop called "RODZ". So I struck up a conversation with the guy and asked him about the shop. After the car wash, I went by the place, even though it was Sunday. And they were OPEN! On Sunday! I stopped and talked to a couple of the guys there... one of the cars in the bays was getting a trick custom fabricated third member... I'm thinking these guys can handle my factory stock rear end if they can manufacture a custom one-off third member on-site for a race car. So they are going to give me a call on Monday when the office staff gets in to set up an appointment for me. I'm feeling a lot better about this already! Also started working on the tail light LED experiment, as I now have all the parts needed. Six LED panels, two spare tail light assemblies, and some 1/4" plexiglass to mount the grommeted lights in.

The time has come for Helen to have her third member serviced. She is making a substantial amount of rumble when under heavy load/acceleration, the gear oil is black and looks somewhat thin, perhaps even a bit rusty, and the right wheel looks to be seeping from the seal into my fresh brake job. I am not especially pleased about this! Up until I saw the fluid seepage from the right brake drum, I was willing to try to change the fluid for fresh gear oil and see if that quieted things down. I bought the gasket and gear oil already! But with the seal being bad, it feels like more labor than I am willing to do myself just now in 100°+ heat with an inadequate service area. (Driveway and jack stands.) I do a lot of my own mechanical work but I am just not up for this right now with the heat. Also, this is my favorite car and daily driver, so I want it fixed *now* instead of six months from now when it cools down and I feel like working on cars again. So...
Where to take her? I had my former '79 Cad third member serviced at the Symes Cadillac agency and it ran about $1600, which included an axle, bearing and seal in the bargain. I would expect this car to run about the same, but since this is a Brand B, I was thinking of taking it to Thorson Buick, right across the street from Symes. Alternatively, I could take it to Guy Schmidt in Glendale, or a dealer in Van Nuys. I tend to want to take it to a Buick (or at least a GM) dealer because I think the small shops are cramped in their parking and storage, and I don't want them jockeying my huge boat around in a postage stamp sized parking lot. Also, I have had some of those smaller independent shops do work for me years ago and had some fairly horrible and expensive results. I don't mind paying a higher bill if I am well satisfied with the results. Since I have all GM vehicles, I'd like to have a relationship with a local agency anyway.

Finishing up the dashboard mess from yesterday... I modified two of the instrument panel bulb sockets so that I could run a ground wire to one side of each bulb. Clipping the spring contact for that side so it didn't short to the printed circuit panel, I found that they work perfectly. So, with that done, I fabricated a mount for the right hand remote mirror control, right next to the antenna switch, as the factory would have done it had I had that option. It looks reasonably good. Then the pad had to go back on and I had a bit of metal I needed to bend out of the way of the left speaker, but even with that, the pad was a real bugger to get back on all the way. In the end, one clip at the right top end did not want to stay in place, so I left it out. Also, the vent hose for the far right vent kept pulling off the plenum, so I ran a screw through it to keep it in place. So the pad is now back on, the trim is all in place, the dash lights all work, and the two front speakers are now up to date. I have the wire pigtail for the right hand mirror in place so at some point I can pull the right door trim pad and finish running the wires through the door and attach the pigtail.The pigtail stops at the right bulkhead under the dash.

Left-hand electric side view mirror, a new unit to fit an '84 Electra. Physically mounted to the door using the original arm and the new power head re-drilled to mount up. All wired with a joystick in the manual remote joystick location. Was planning to use a joystick with a paddle switch to make it control left or right but I fried that one trying to figure out the wiring. :-(

Brakes Licked!

Brakes: Well that didn't last. Pedal started getting squishy again fairly quickly. All I can say is RTFM! First, I found this on eBay, of all places, I think in reference to a GN:

• "The spring loaded plunger on the front of the proportioning valve should be depressed while bleeding the system. . A "C" clamp or piece of wire and chunk of wood can be used to hold the plunger while bleeding the brakes."

Then I decided maybe I should check the shop manual... who would have thought there would be anything special about this task...

• "Disc brake equipped vehicles except H [Electra is C] require a manual over-ride of the front brake metering valve to permit flow to the front brakes. This is done by depressing the pin, under the rubber boot on the front end of the combination valve..."

OK... Once again, and following the directions this time, and was able to bleed they system properly. But... there was more than one issue. Now I had a good firm pedal, but it still felt like the pads were not gripping well. I knew the drums, rotors, shoes, and pads were all new, and had all been thoroughly degreased with brake cleaner before assembly. I knew nothing was leaking, so the surfaces could not be wet with brake fluid or the friction material soaked with it. The only other answer was the friction material itself. Shoes, I don't remember, but the pads were semi-metallic. Well, it seems Helen doesn't like those. In fact, organic is the recommended replacement material according to PartsAmerica. For $16.99 I could afford to give it a try. Pads are easy to swap out anyway.

You guessed it. Braking is *way* improved and the firm pedal is proof that following the manual is always a good idea. I didn't try any panic stops, since I want the pads to wear in a bit first. But I can feel the difference easily enough already. The brakes feel confident again. Keeping fingers crossed that this time I really have it licked!

Brakes

Re-bled with the pressure bleeder... pedal feels firmer now but I think there is some contamination in the linings from the cosmoline that was on the new drums and rotors... more after a better test drive. [Yes! The pedal is nice and firm now.]

More Brakes

Booster is in and the system is re-bled. It is better, but not by as much as I had hoped for. I think part of the problem is the material the linings are made from. The shoes were not arced and the pads are semi-metallic. Maybe ceramics would be better. But I can see that there is also some moisture still in the fluid at the very furthest wheel cylinder. I'm getting a new pressure bleeder for this car so I can do the job better. Hopefully next weekend! (Bleeder arrived 4/23... missing chain so need a hardware store run.)

Brakes Again

Not much though... just ordered a booster and adjusted the parking brake cable for a bit more travel.

Brakes

Front rotors, calipers and hoses. Boy, did I screw up. Didn't buy new inner wheel seals for the rotors and didn't buy new banjo bolts for the calipers.

Left banjo bolt kept leaking slightly. I have the feeling I over-tightened it but it isn't leaking now. Right seems ok. But the right flair nut would not come loose from the hose. So I had to improvise. The parking brake does not have enough slack so I need to loosen that a bit. The brakes still feel a tad mushy so I think a re-bleed is in order. I'm too beat to do it today. I may end up buying a booster later on because it seems kinda weak. But I'm sick of brakes for now.

Right-hand side view mirror from an '84 Electra. Physically mounted to the door but not yet wired.

Brakes. Rear drums, rear hose, shoes, master cylinder

The right rear wheel had evidently been leaking from the wheel cylinder for some time. Rusty, dark brake fluid coated everything inside the drum. The shoes hadn't quite gotten down to the rivets because they hadn't been gripping due to the brake fluid. The flare nut for the cylinder was frozen to the tubing, so I had to finagle the cylinder off the tubing without being able to turn the nut. Once off, I stuck an Easy Out into the opening in the tubing and used a flare nut wrench to apply pressure to break the nut free without twisting the tube. Liberal applications of PB'laster helped. I don't think the Easy Out hurt the tubing but held it in place without twisting. The left wheel's flare nut was stuck the same way and it took a little more work but I was eventually able to free it the same way. At least the left cylinder had not been leaking much. There was a small amount of fluid seeping from one boot, but no evil mess like the right.

With the frozen nuts on the cylinder ends of the brake lines, I was afraid the center rear brake hose would be impossible but there were no issues at all in replacing that. I painted both new rear drums with black caliper paint before installing them. The master cylinder was an uneventful swap.

The vacuum booster is pretty rusty looking but as long as it's working well, which it is, I won't mess with it.

Finished putting in the radio and swapped out the rear speakers with a pair of 3-ways from Kragen... Duel or Dual... I forget exactly. They were all of $21 for the pair and sound just fine.

Radiator and Brakes

Started to do the brakes and found that the drums would not come off unless I backed off the shoes. Figured that was a bad sign... So I went to adjust the shoes and found that the backing plate still had the knockout plug in place... so these brakes have *never* been touched since the car left the factory. Another bad sign? Yep. The left drum has two very deep gouges from the riveted brake shoes. Too deep to salvage, I think. I didn't even bother to pull the right drum to inspect. I just put it back together for now. Nice that the Raybestos brake hardware kit I bought includes the rubber plugs one needs after removing the factory knockouts! New drums are now on order. I have already seen the front rotors when I did the quickie brake pad change, and they looked OK, but I decided to order new rotors now, while I was getting drums. Drilled and slotted, no less.

Next I went to work on changing the radiator out. The new 4-row radiator is a good bit thicker than the original 3 row, so I had to cut a wedge out of the two top and two bottom rubber isolators that secure the radiator in place. The upper and lower hoses still looked and felt pretty solid but new ones went in, including the "bypass" hose from the intake to the water pump and the two heater hoses. I used some new wormgear clamps I found that have a wingnut to let you tighten them down without a tool. These worked OK but I can't say I'd want to buy them again. The wingnut part is a lovely bright yellow though. ;-) I'd noticed some intermittent leaks from the cooling system over the past couple of weeks and I'm happy to say the old radiator had various places where tell-tale signs of leakage were convicting it of being the guilty party. They were easy to spot once the core was out.

Started to put in the new Autosound stereo. Removing the "wood" trim panel was a snap and the radio is held in by a plastic plate that has four hex bolts. Removing the two shaft nuts and then those bolts leaves just a nut on the right side of the radio to get off from under the dash. Then the radio pulls out from the front. Very nice! The old radio showed some writing on the top that indicated it had been serviced for some complaint in the early history of the car. I didn't get a chance to really read it in the failing light last evening. I fitted the new radio to the plastic plate and will likely not try to attach any back support to the old radio's rear attaching point. The new unit is very light and there is no fitting on the right side, only the rear. I suppose I could make a bracket that wraps around from the back to the side attaching point, but it hardly seems worth it. I used wire taps to connect the new unit's wiring pigtail to the car's harness, leaving all the original connectors so that the car can be put back to original someday, if desired. The front speakers have plus and minus leads so I could "bench test" the new radio before installing it. It seems to work fine. I then used a hot glue gun to ensure the little chrome adapter plate and other trim bits wont shift about. I need to run two wires for the rear speakers as the originals are grounded to the chassis. BTW: the new unit seems to work OK with the original speakers, so if I don't get the speakers done this weekend, I won't be tuneless.

Ordered and received a new radiator from Radiators.com. Also, the Custom Autosound radio arrived. I hope it looks better in the car than it does right out of the box. I hope it sounds better than it looks!

[69308] During the past week, idle has gotten rougher and drivability issues have arisen. I an effort to eliminate the problems, I changed PCV valve, breather filter, air filter [Delco A212CW], the remainder of the vacuum hoses. I also found the carb was a bit loose and probably leaking vacuum, and the EGR valve I though I had disabled by putting a plug in the line, had started working again since the plug was leaking! I just disconnected the line entirely but the were still issues. So I pulled the EGR valve and fabbed a new gasket with paper and Hi-Temp RTV, and now it looks like the issues are gone! Celebrated by driving her over to Cooper's and getting a hood bumper for the left corner.

The FM modulation thing is crap. I've ordered a different kind of modulator, but I also realize that this factory stereo is just not going to do it. I ordered a USA-2 from Custom Autosound through the San Diego outfit "Garden of Speedin'". 

Got a different device for the XM (direct from Delphi) which connects between the antenna and radio. Works way better than that stupid Sure Connect thing. This will be great until my new radio arrives and can be installed.

Put Sarah Lee's Tires on Helen, installed the XM kit.

Spark Plugs

Replaced the spark plugs with Rapidfire #2's and replaced the plug wires with a tailored set from Summit. The old plugs looked very good and can't have been too old. They really seem to have kept the car up very well. Adjusted the choke to be richer.

[68960] Oil Change. Shell 10-40 plus STP Red, K&N filter HP-2003. Bought a set of rear body fillers for the bumper on eBay. Proceeded to attach the last connector so the trunk pop now works, then cleaned up the loose wires laying about, etc. I put new Bosch wipers on and added three cans of R-134a+ to the A/C System. It is blowing cold, but we'll see how fast it leaks out. Next I changed the oil. Then I changed the vacuum lines coming off the carb. The line that supplied timed vacuum to the distributor was going through a temperature control valve. I bypassed that to go directly to the distributor. I also inserted a plug in the line going to the EGR valve. I'll have to remember to change those two things back for smog testing. I was tempted to bump up the timing a bit but decided on a test drive first. She seems a lot smoother and peppier so I left the timing alone for now. Will be interesting to see how she starts up in the morning. At the end of the day, I applied a heavy coat of Vinylex to the roof, and a quick spray of wax on the paint, cleaned the windows and applied Meguires Foamy dash and trim dressing to the interior.

Left rear power lock actuator went in, had to mount it slightly further forward than I did the right side. Then the front left door... the fronts are completely different and the actuators have to mount vertically toward the bottom of the door with the action being up and down, while the rears were mounted horizontally at the top of the door. Then the right front door caused me a lot of trouble getting the linkage lined up and connected. Not enough openings in the sheet metal to get in there and work. Had a lot of trouble getting the factory linkage in the two fronts loosened up and limber enough for the actuators to work. No wonder GM used those huge (and LOUD) solenoids from the factory. With all the lock actuators working right, I put in the keyless module next. I got it working with the door locks easily but had trouble with the connector I used to tap into the parking lights. Eventually started over with a fresh tap and now the light flash function is working too. I ran short of one connector so I was unable to finish the trunk pop. Everything else is done.

First of the power door lock actuators is in, on the right rear door. The wire is run down the pillar and under the seat.

Brakes

New front brake pads went on before I left for work this morning. The dome and trunk lights, clock, as well as trunk pop and key buzzer/speed buzzer were all powered by a missing 20a fuse, which Gene had told me about, but which I had forgotten. Now all of that works. But the instrument cluster lights are not working, though other dash lights like the climate control, clock and radio dial lights do work. Maybe there are some bad contacts on a panel connector. Might have to pull the cluster to see. Electric lock/keyless kit shipped today. Picked up oil and filter to do her first oil change since 2003!

ARRIVAL!!!

2008-03-10 @ 12:30 PM. She's beautiful! Got her smogged, got her registration finished, got plates put on. The door striker bushings were all gone so first order of business was to get those quickly taken care of. Put a locking gas cap on right away too. Front brakes are squeaking like mad, so I picked up a set of brake pads to slap on. Later I'll do a proper brake job, wheel bearings, etc. Meanwhile, I ordered an electric lock/keyless kit.  

At The Terminal!

Got a call from Juan and we set up delivery for tomorrow between 9 AM and 11 AM. He said it's likely to be around 10 AM. The DAS tracking page has been down all day.
 

They stayed in Phoenix quite awhile. Prolly had some cars to drop off/pick up. Arrived at Gardena, CA around 6 PM. Didn't show as being "At Destination Terminal" until much later.

Weather clear for the rest of the trip. Seems like the driver tucked in early tonight, at around 6 PM in Arizona City, AZ.

Nasty weather in Oklahoma and Texas, right where Helen went though, especially in Dallas. Looks like they are spending the night in Pecos, TX, heading west on the I-20 to where it meets the I-10.

Moving for real now. South down US-35 and then west on US-44...Through Iowa, Missouri, and into Oklahoma.

Moving!

It is now listed as "In Transit" as of early this afternoon. It's only moved about 5 miles from the terminal, to Brooklyn Park, MN.

DAS tracking page ETA updated to 3/8/08.

DAS tracking page ETA updated to 3/8/08.

"A Problem Starting the Car"

DAS was supposed to be delivering the car to me today but instead, she still sits in Minneapolis. On Monday (25th), I called DAS to voice-verify what the web page was saying. The automated phone system said the delivery date was now 3/5/08. So I menued to get to a representative, and she told me that there was a problem starting the car. Gee, we have certainly been here before! And at the very same terminal! (This place must be like the Devil's Triangle or something. Cars get pulled in and disappear for weeks!) To summarize, the plugs weren't getting spark; the terminal had a mechanic who could work on it, if they knew what to look for; I faxed (763-253-1569) the ignition troubleshooting chart from the shop manual to them; by-and-by the mechanic got around to looking at it. So Thursday (28th) morning the DAS dude (Carl, 763-253-1568) at the terminal called to say it was running outside his office as we spoke. He contacted DAS in Texas to let them know and I followed up myself later. Later in the afternoon, status updated to "To Be Loaded" again, with an ETA of 3/7/08.

Repairs per invoice from the terminal were replacing the cap, rotor, coil and module (practically everything), and 2.5 hours of labor, for a total of about $300.

"To Be Loaded"

DAS site now says "To Be Loaded".

At Terminal

DAS updated their web site to show the car is at the terminal in Fridley, MN (Minneapolis). Registered the vehicle with DMV and paid the fees. Needs to have the VIN verified and the smog check done.

DAS Pickup

2008-02-18: DAS picked up the car today... (delayed from the 16th) but the web site has not been updated yet. Gene called me as soon as DAS left with it and informed me he had gotten a second set of keys made and put in the glove box along with the original window sticker with all the options and prices listed. Cool!
 

Title

Title arrived from seller. Along with the title, the seller sent this fun little document that apparently was with the car when new:
 

Payment

Seller received check and sent the title back to me. Move scheduled with DAS. (Armando Alanzo, 866-327-3229 X1410. Door-to-door price $886.)

Purchase

[68808] Purchased eBay item number 170190725230 and sent the check.