I was having issues with fuel starvation and I thought it was a tuning issue. Well the fuel pump is so loud, i could hear it bogging down through the floor. Holley came up with a sweet direct fit fuel pump that goes where your existing fuel sender goes. I bit the bullet ($330.00) and ordered one. First off, kudos to Holley for making a very nice setup. No more piecing pumps and regulators together. The fuel filter, pump and regulator are all one unit. The filter is a hydromat, so you don't have to worry about fuel starvation under acceleration or hard cornering with 1/4 tank of fuel. Secondly, it's quiet. The pump in the tank versus under the floor in front of the fuel tank is night and day. I can hear the electric radiator fan and the exhaust, but no more fuel pump whine. Third, the instructions are great. Wiring diagram is easy to understand. They set the resistance for the fuel level sender to work with the factory gauge. Step by step pictures show how to properly install the pump assembly into the factory tank. The only issue i had was not related to the fuel pump. I accidentally cut my fuel return line. My 68 C10 doesn't have a fuel return line, but the Buick does. I cut the return line, thinking it was from the corvette fuel filter with a built in pressure regulator. Fortunately, I cut it close enough that i could pull slack and reconnect without much fuss. I'd say the Holley pump was well worth the money and I'd recommend it to anyone doing an ls swap with fuel injection. I included a picture of both setups to show what i had pieced together and the all inclusive Holley setup. -Josh
I bought some upper and lower tubular control arms for the wagon. I pulled the front sheet metal off to access the heater core. When I moved to Atlanta, I buttoned her up in a rush for the move. Now I can put it back together properly. There's a lot of zip ties and self tappers that need to be addressed. -Josh
Took the time to cut the evaporator box and seal up the broken corners. I have an after market heater core, and it's bigger than the original so the factory straps wouldn't work. I made a bracket to hold it in place and replaced the blower motor and squirrel cage. The front tires rub the inner fenders just a little, so i made relief cuts, hammered down the high spots and then welded the relief cuts for strength and to prevent sharp edges from cutting the tire. On my passenger front fender, 2 of the mounting tabs broke. I welded the top outside tab back on. The inner tab at the firewall was missing, so I used a spot mirror bracket in its place. -Josh
Not much progress, but it's still progress. I wired up 2 led strips over the cargo area and put them on the Silverado control box. Well I bought a 5-wire push button switch off of eBay. It took a little to figure out the wiring, but it takes up a lot less space. -Josh
Some more progress this weekend. I swapped inner tie rods with new ones from CPP. I can't remember where I got the ones I just replaced, but the grease fittings were facing the cross member, making it almost impossible to grease them. The new CPP end have grease fittings on the ends with 90 degree fittings. Much easier to maintain. For almost 2 years, I haven't been able to open the tailgate glass. I tackled that issue today. The passenger side track roller was missing. For some reason, I took the power window motor off the regulator, and that allowed everything to spring apart. I removed the regulator to replace the track roller. Fortunately there are timing marks on the gears, so that was a lot easier to fix than I'd feared. I did have to secure the regulator to a large piece of wood so I could wrestle against the winder spring and get the gears timed correctly. -Josh
I bought new rear axles from summit racing. I had to have the flanges turned down to fit inside the rotors. New moser studs and wheel seals. The old axles had a slight wobble to them and it felt like a separated tire at low speed. I cleaned up the T/A performance rear end girdle and buttoned it all back up. -Josh
I did some interior work. I painted the inside of the car flat black. I cleaned, sanded and wiped the cargo area with lacquer thinner before applying a coat of bed liner. It'll take a few days to cure, but I think it cleans the back end up nicely. -Josh
I removed the driver's side window regulator, because it was getting harder and harder to roll the window up and down. It looks like someone else improvised a carriage bolt to run in the channel. I used the same roller on the driver's window as I did on the tailgate regulator. Now the window operates effortlessly. -Josh
So I started smelling gasoline and found out the fuel return line was rubbing against the transmission. I used a tubing cutter to remove the damaged section and used a compression fitting to repair the line.
The tailgate window started going up crooked, so I removed the access panel and found the right window roller stud broke. Since I replaced it once already, i figured I'd try something else. I bought a 5/16 hex head screw, chucked it in a cordless drill, turned on the bench grinder and ground down the head until it fit inside the roller. Then I chucked it by the head and ground down the threads where they stuck out past the roller. Then I tapped the threads from 5/16 to 1/4 and tapped the regulator to 1/4 as well. I threaded in the new bolt and put a 1/4 inch nut on the back to lock it in from vibrating loose. I also has to grind the head down until it was flush so the roller wouldn't stick in the channel. -Josh
Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention! Nice work! Reminds me of the rollers for sliding shower doors, similar idea, but heavier duty.
I was driving on 285 around Atlanta when i straddled a piece of debris i thought was a pothole. It popped up and took out my driveshaft and the right muffler. The floor pan took a beating as well. Thankfully i have hagerty insurance which comes with roadside assistance. -Josh
i replaced the exhaust from the mufflers to the tips, I've already picked up my new driveshaft. Just waiting for my new input yoke on the rear end and she'll be back on the road. -Josh
with the new yoke, drive shaft, speed sensor, trans output seal and bushing, the wagon is up and running again. It cost me about $600.00 in total repairs. -Josh
what a great read. fuel pump issues - if they are still there, holley makes a thing called hydramat. It's magic, if there's fuel, it will pull and hold it. It also solves the issue of a need for a surge tank. It would replace the sock on the end of the pump in the tank. Bonus is it also works like a sock and pre-filters the fuel (some use it for their only filter). I run hydramats in my Corvette and FJ40. The '40, I get very close to running out of fuel (thanks AAA) - to the point that one fill of its 16 gallon tank was 15.95 gallons (whew).... funny thing, it wasn't surging (motor is a 350 with FiTech EFI).
Well i decided to upgrade the front brakes with c5 corvette spindles from cpp. They come preassembled, but you have to reuse the bar that connects the tie rod end to the spindle. Also, my air shocks leaked down and i dragged the exhaust turning into my driveway, so i decided to replace the rear springs with air bags. I'm installing a mini compressor and air tank and a leveling valve. More pictures to follow as i make progress. -Josh
I had to cut off the pigtail bump on the rear end spring perch and then 1 3/4 inches off the top bag bracket to lower the whole setup 3 inches. The tank and compressor will mount nicely in the spare tire well. The leveling valve is from an International single axle tractor. Cpp also makes shocks for lowered cars, so i don't overextend the bags while on the lift.
I finished mounting the air compressor and wired it up. I also replaced the upper ball joints, because they had a little play in them. And there's the ride height i set the rear at. I'm very happy with how everything turned out.
