1996 Impala SS - Team LoPrep's Challenge entry!

In reply to eastsideTim :

Sorta takes the surprise out of life, doncha think?

In reply to eastsideTim :

Yeah, I would have worried that the Rampage's first-year exhaust would get it in trouble but nobody batted an eye at it...

wae said:

In reply to eastsideTim :

Sorta takes the surprise out of life, doncha think?

They say surprise is the spice of life...

wae said:

In reply to eastsideTim :

Sorta takes the surprise out of life, doncha think?

Well, I won't stop you, but we might want to take some measurements to make sure it'll help, first

If it's out of alignment or bent that requires fixing.  However I've had two cars that had a hard pull to the right that were fixed by swapping tires front/rear.  Never would have believed on the first one - I had an alignment, drove out of the shop and turned around to yell at them.  They swapped the tires on the spot and it was fine.

In reply to jwagner (Forum Supporter) :

I’ll have to give that a try.

I posted that nice list of mechanical issues that need to be dealt with a few days back.  So, of course it was time to work on the interior.  Hooked the rear speakers to the factory wiring, then started pulling apart the work that had been done for the stereo install in the past.  Once the carpet in the trunk was up, there was a sea of MDF:

After removing what seemed like an infinite number of screws, I was treated to this:

Well, the trunk was very well insulated.  Got a little itchy, pulling the insulation, and vacuuming up the bits that didn't want to come out by hand.  The wood framing appears to be glued down by liquid nails or something similar, which makes sense, as the gas tank is directly underneath the trunk.  I didn't try to remove it, and figure some of it may make for a good mounting location for the nitrous bottle brackets.  I went ahead and re-covered it with the carpet, and went on to reassembling the rear seats, and pulling more wiring.  I should probably see if the wires with RCA cable style connectors at the end are worth anything, in order to get a bit of recoup.

Reinstalled the factory head unit, which required removing the lower dash.  Didn't take a lot of work, but during the reassembly, I found I'd damaged the mounts for the ash tray/cup holder.  I'll have to find a way to fix it, or just go without for now.  Turns out the radio works, but reception is a bit weak, probably because the power antenna is in the lowered position.  The CD player, sadly, does not.   At least now, I can just turn the radio up and drown out any noises. 

I need to rotate the current tires to confirm whether the tires or the alignment is a problem. Sprayed some silicone lubricant on the alternator, and hoping that does the trick to quiet it down.  I'd like to get it back out on the road again a few times this week, and maybe order tires soon.  Once I pay for a set of tires, I figure I'm committed, and might as well sign up for the challenge, as well.

At first glance I thought that was expanding foam under the MDF and I heard a sad trombone noise.  I'm glad I was mistaken ;)

Thank goodness it was regular insulation.  Expanding foam would have been a nightmare to clean up.

I wasn't able to swap tires from front to rear, but I did swap the front tires side to side today, and took the car out for a test drive:

1. Alignment seems better.  Wasn't pulling to the right strongly.  Still, I needed to do a lot of steering correction in general, and return to center was not overly strong.  Could probably use some caster, but I think I can live with it as is for now.
2. The squeaking was still happening, even after another hit to the alternator with some WD40 w/silicone.  It was very loud when the engine was at higher RPMs.  By the time I got home, I couldn't hear it at idle, but revving it a bit still made it happen.  I doubt the belt is slipping, but I do have some belt dressing I could spray on it.  I also still need to get a mechanic's stethoscope to see if I can isolate where the noise is coming from.  Will try to pick one up this weekend.
3. Power steering is still leaking, just not as bad as before.  Next time I have the car in the garage, I may try to replace the o-ring again, in case I damaged it before.  I really wish the PS pump wasn't hidden under the alternator, or it might be a lot easier to see where the leak is coming from.
4. I don't think I felt the intermittent misfire on the highway this time, though it was a shorter trip.  I've read that some ignition component has problems in high humidity when it starts to fail (other than the optispark), maybe the ignition control module or coil?  It was humid tonight, but not as bad as on the last test drive, where it was way more humid, and it started pouring for part of the drive.
5. Still hearing the whining noise, and now wondering if it is just rear end noise.  Still only seems to happen under load, so could be the differential, could be u-joints, not sure what else.  I suspect if it doesn't get louder rapidly, it won't be a problem.

I'm debating ordering tires tonight.  I have Friday off, and could potentially get them installed, but that would mean getting the car back in the garage and on jackstands before then.  With all the other issues, I kind of want to hold off a bit. 

I think I've reached the point where, if I can fix the power steering leak and get new tires, I'd be okay with competing at the challenge with it as it is mechanically, I'm just not so sure about driving there and back.  I'm tempted to run out to a junkyard this weekend, and see about snagging a window switch and wiring harness in order to jerry rig an external window control, so we can climb out of the car while it's on the trailer, then roll the window up from the outside.

I'm thinking it may soon be time to go with the shotgun approach to ordering parts for it, and have them on hand.  Will try to do a bit more diagnosis first, though.

The Impala must have had a crazy stereo in it. That is some wacky stuff to do to a car.

I was shopping for a SS as well and came across this Caprice. Look at the rear deck lid! Same stereo installer? 

https://ventura.craigslist.org/cto/d/camarillo-1996-chevy-caprice-classic/7187344399.html

In reply to OjaiM5 :

Yikes!  Thankfully, the deck lid on the Impala is intact 

I've got a stethoscope and an endoscopic camera that I could bring over for a Friday work session if you'd like.  Or whenever is cool.  I've got a couple more poles I need to convert but otherwise my weekend is basically wide open.

In reply to wae :

Hmm, Friday may be good, as long as the weather cooperates.  I've got errands to deal with in the morning, but should be free later in the day.

Got my $25 ebay coupon, so I should probably figure out what I can buy for the Impala for the challenge.  I need to check and make sure the nitrous line is long enough to mount the tank in the trunk.   Could also be a bit wasteful and see about grabbing some seat covers or a blower motor resistor so I can take a smaller budget hit on them.

Hit the junkyard with wae yesterday, and grabbed a window switch and plug assembly from a Caprice.  Spent a bit of time poring over the wiring diagram for the thing today, and ran some continuity tests on the wiring, and couldn't figure it out.  Cut the plug out from the wiring, along with the leads, and connected them to the old door's window motor.  Then just touched the two wires to a battery. 

Brown wire + = window goes up

Blue wire + = window goes down.

I'll extend the wires, and see if I have some decent sized clips to connect to a 12V battery.  After it gets plugged into the window motor in the car, it'll make it a lot easier to get in and out of the car while it is on the trailer, and keep weather out.

Minor update:  Fired up the car, and hit the serpentine belt with some belt dressing.  Almost immediately quieted down, but the noise came back, including some others that I hadn't heard before.  More belt dressing tended to knock down the sounds for a little bit.  Maybe it's time to throw on a new belt and see what happens.

The power steering reservoir had a ton of bubbles in it.  So, either it still needs to be bled, or more likely, air is still getting in wherever fluid is getting out.

Finished gutting the old door today, so it is no longer taking up space in the garage.  Will see if I can sell the door glass.  Think I’m going to keep the door lock/latch mechanism and the window motor/regulator, just in case.

Squeak =bad tensioner?

Agent98 said:

Squeak =bad tensioner?

Possible.  I picked up a mechanic’s stethoscope today, so hopefully that’ll help.  Also borrowed a camera scope from wae , so am hoping that will help me find where the power steering fluid is leaking from.

I'm leaning more towards the noise being the belt.  I couldn't really isolate the squeaking noise with the stethoscope.  Overall there was more noise on the tensioner than elsewhere, but not a ton, and I kind of expect it since it was closer to the engine than the alternator, PS pump, and ac compressor.  I'll try swapping the belt when my order comes in.

Waiting on the camera to charge to see if I can figure the leak out, but did find another viewing angle, and I just don't see anything actively leaking.  Also, no bubbles in the fluid this morning. 

Couldn't get a clear enough picture with the camera.  I think it is too bright outside.  Next time I pull the car into the garage, I'll see if I can get it to work better

Today, the budget finally goes downward.  Sold some wiring and crossovers that were left over from the stereo, and I think I've pulled as much change out of the car as I am going to find.

Prior budget:  $1575.27

-$10 - Sold stereo wiring

-$1.09 - change found in the car

Current Budget:  $1564.18

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1245529342474911/

In reply to EvanB (Forum Supporter) :

Holy Crap!

They are a bit far from you (and pretty much everyone in Ohio) but I figured too cheap to not post.