When we were teenagers a buddy of mine always nagged me about never using the parking brake on any automatic car you didn't buy new (in rust states at least).
When we were teenagers a buddy of mine always nagged me about never using the parking brake on any automatic car you didn't buy new (in rust states at least).
In reply to GCrites80s :
I never used it on this car, and it shows. They probably stopped working about 35 years ago. At least they are simple to change. I am just glad they were all available. Last time I looked was when I was working at a parts store around 2002, when I bought the car. We couldn't get them back then.
Oh hey, we're back!
Last I left this thread, I needed to install the e-brake system with the new cables. I had a rare day off today, so I took some time to get that done.
First, the pedal had to go back in. That was easy.
.
The rear cables needed to come off next. As you can see, they were rusted solid. Also, the ball end to the driver's side was completely gone.
After some finagling, referencing the shop manual, and a quick trip to the hardware store, I got the new cables hooked up. The new cable's threaded rod was way too short, so I had to extend it. And before you ask, yes, it is supposed to dangle under the exhaust. It might need some adjustment, but its on there.
I got ahead of myself and decided to try and see if I could get it running. After a few squirts of starting fluid... yeah, here we go again.
It wasn't pulling much from the tank. This sound familiar yet? This time, I remembered why.
Yeah, I forgot about this. I was looking at getting a new feed line (that's the leaking one) but I'm pretty sure that's an engine-out activity to install it. I may just patch it for now to get it moving and replace them the right way later on.
Oh, and while I was down under the car...
This metal fuel line was hitting the tank after the tank install. It's been on my list to insulate it so it doesn't rub, so I found a chunk of rubber hose and wrapped it. That should help.
The good news is that once I patch/replace that line, it will run and likely drive. That's progress right there.
So, I've been trying to source a pre-bent fuel feed line for the car for the better part of a week. There are two problems:
-GM decided on about 9 different ways to route fuel lines on the 1970-81 F-Body, and none of the options I see for sale remotely look like what I have. Decided that since my car is a 1979 with a 1975 engine block, I'd just get the 1975-77 lines instead of the 1979 ones. The car is basically the same underneath, and they are $40 cheaper and most importantly, they are available.
-The 2nd gen T/A community is beyond annoying. Not only are fellow owners annoying to deal with (Smokey and the Bandit is all they talk about for days on end; I love that movie as much as anyone, but c'mon), so are the vendors! Been trying to get a quote from a vendor that everyone raves about for 5 days now. Still hasn't responded aside from a canned message with some pricing. Great customer service right there. 
So yeah, the car is still sitting until I can figure this all out. I did see some $40 NiCopp rolls on Amazon today, so that's another option. That way I can bend the line to whatever shape I want, it will never rot out, and I can put it anywhere.
Just buy some rolls of tubing and make them.
Tony Sestito said:So yeah, the car is still sitting until I can figure this all out. I did see some $40 NiCopp rolls on Amazon today, so that's another option. That way I can bend the line to whatever shape I want, it will never rot out, and I can put it anywhere.
Sounds like you have your answer, by the NiCopp and roll your own.. 
EDIT .. What he said..
NOT A TA said:Just buy some rolls of tubing and make them.
And that's just what I did. A roll of NiCopp will be here by the weekend. Need to get this thing moving, and I don't feel like waiting any longer.
And that comment about fellow 2nd gen owners was 100% NOT directed at you, just so you know. You've been a great help over the years!
I imagine these car forums for 2nd gens are 50/50 enthusiasts and then movie buff weirdos. Similar to Deloreans.
It's unfortunate that one of the better 2nd Gen TA forums got wiped out recently and apparently had no backup. Years worth of useful information gone there. I find a lot of the 2nd gen information I need on the Z28 forum. Unless you need information specific to Poncho engines they are (for the most part) the same cars underneath.
Anyhow love the 79 and good to see it getting closer to being back on the road.
In reply to SEADave :
Which forum went down? I was on Trans Am County and 78TA forever ago, and both were pretty good for tech info if you muddled through all the SATB movie trivia and people arguing over movie cars. There were some great guys on Trans Am Country years ago, including guys that did actual race car things (like NOT A TA) and some Herb Adams Fire Am enthusiasts. After the last time that forum crashed and lost years of stuff, I kinda gave up on it.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Yes, it was Trans Am Country. Went down in February and they were not able to restore the old info. Too bad too since there really was a lot of good technical knowledge on there that was not just SATB trivia. I was looking for info on beltline trim/window seal installation and ended up just going to the Z28 forum because TAC was all gone.
But seriously, what bicycle-themed movie was a minor hit for SATB director Hal Needham in 1986?
In reply to GCrites80s :
I'm gonna say Rad.
BionicTigerShark (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to GCrites80s :
I'm gonna say Rad.
I'll concur, it's only the best Bmx movie ever
SEADave said:In reply to Tony Sestito :
Yes, it was Trans Am Country. Went down in February and they were not able to restore the old info. Too bad too since there really was a lot of good technical knowledge on there that was not just SATB trivia. I was looking for info on beltline trim/window seal installation and ended up just going to the Z28 forum because TAC was all gone.
That makes me sad. That place was the 1st forum I ever joined. It crashed the 1st time around 2004, and then again about 10 years ago, and after that, I just stopped going. There were some good people over there and, yes, much more than SATB trivia.
GCrites80s said:But seriously, what bicycle-themed movie was a minor hit for SATB director Hal Needham in 1986?
You know, I've never seen Rad. I should probably fix that.
TAC owner Mike has not said for sure that all the old threads are gone forever. However if they are, I fear that the forum will slowly fade away as many other model specific ones have in recent years. Without the library of information as a draw for new members there's not much reason for (the fewer potential) new owners to join. And many of us who spent a lot of time building the library of "how to" and technical information over the past decades have no interest in doing it again. For Pontiac specific info this is currently the best library. http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/index.php
https://nastyz28.com/portal/ is the best resource for 2nd gen Camaro info, hopefully is backed up. And as mentioned above, a lot was shared between Camaros and Firebirds.
In reply to NOT A TA :
TAC isn't the only forum to deal with this. As we know, there are tons and tons of forums that flourished from the late 1990's until the introduction of Facebook Groups. A lot of them are either virtual ghost towns now or have disappeared completely. Many of them have lost photo hosting from old threads, which makes tutorials and knowledge bases even harder to understand, if they still exist at all. Some of them might be available due to internet tools like the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, but I'm not sure how compatible that stuff is with forum software. The loss of knowledge is terrible.
Facebook Groups are pathetic as compared to forums for technical information.
GCrites80s said:Facebook Groups are pathetic as compared to forums for technical information.
I loathe that somehow the car world shifted to that platform instead of dedicated forums. You can ask a question about a suspension component and it falls apart into morons just posting pictures of their car looking for validation. Forums used to regulate on those people.
crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:GCrites80s said:Facebook Groups are pathetic as compared to forums for technical information.
I loathe that somehow the car world shifted to that platform instead of dedicated forums. You can ask a question about a suspension component and it falls apart into morons just posting pictures of their car looking for validation. Forums used to regulate on those people.
So. Much. Truth.
Today, I finally got around to dealing with that fuel line. The feed line on this thing is comprised of multiple parts, but the line that was bad was the large line that goes from the tank to the rubber up front. Since the underside of this thing is still in decent shape, I was able to remove all the factory line clips with no issues.
And as I pulled the leaky line, it broke in half.
But this, this I could work with. I used it as a template to bend up that NiCopp roll I picked up. And although I bought a fancy line bending tool to do this, that proved absolutely useless. After two tries, no matter the radius, it just kinked the line. Luckily, NiCopp iseasy to bend by hand, so I bent it up in a similar shape, flared the ends, and tossed it in.
The line still needs some tweaking, but it's close to where it needs to be. All of the clips and bolts are currently soaking in an Evapo-Rust bath, so they will be nice and clean for the next 40 years. But after this is buttoned up, I can technically drive the thing. We're getting real close now!
Yesterday, I buttoned up the fuel line install and decided that getting it running might make for some entertaining YouTube content. I've been wanting to branch out froim writing to video for a while now, and this is as good an excuse as any, so here it is!
This is my first "real" video where I appear on camera, and I have a lot of work to do to make it better, but it's a start. If you are bored, please give it a watch!
In other news, with the car running again, a friend challenged me to do a driveway burnout. That reminded me... does the transmission still work? I was having trouble getting it to shift into gear last year, but it eventually worked after adding a lot of fluid. So I shifted into reverse, and...
OH GOD NO MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very bad grinding sounds out of the transmission and I shut it down. This happened before, and it was low on fluid at the time. But I tossed a bunch of ATF in it last fall, so what gives?
Yup, it all leaked out. I'm not sure from where yet, but it's all on the ground. Great! I will have to address that as well.
That reminded me, if I'm going to run the thing any more, I should clean out all the crap from under it that collected there over the winter, especially if it's saturated in transmission fluid. So, as I was sweeping all of that up, I heard the clanging of a coin dragging across pavement.
Oh, that's weird, another 1979 quarter! This is the 2nd time I've found a quarter from 1979 in or around the car. And I don't know what's up with me and 1979. I've owned 3 vehicles from that year, and own two of them now. And I wasn't even around until 1982. Strange.
So, progress and a setback. I'm really hoping the transmission is OK. If it's not, I do have a TH200-4R core that needs a rebuild. That will have to happen sooner than later.
Progress!!! Good to see!
Fix the choke and it should start (and continue running) MUCH better.
Remove the clear plastic fuel filter for safety and performance. The I.D. of the white outlet where the hose slides on is typically 7/32" due to the thickness of the plastic required so it's a bottleneck. The 3/8" hose can flow about 3X the amount of fuel that the filter can flow. While the car will idle fine and go vroom vroom sitting in the driveway, at W.O.T. for even a short period of time the pump can't push fuel through the small opening fast enough to keep the carb full and the car will fall flat on it's face running lean. Switch to a full metal filter like a 3/8" WIX which allows good flow and also reduces risk of fire.
In reply to NOT A TA :
Not sure what's up with the choke, but I'll look into that. Once I got it running and idling, I was able to start it easily. I still need to find the sweet spot for timing and lock it down, which is why it starts hard.
I usually run a metal fuel filter, but I tossed this one on when I was trying to see if I was getting fuel and whether the fuel was looking nasty or not. This is a Wix one, not one of those parts store "chrome aisle" ones, so they stay together much better, but it will get a metal one once I actually start driving it foir the reasons you stated. They are much better. I had one of those Spectre/Mr Gasket ones fall apart on me once. Never again.
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