Yeah... gotta bite the weenie on this one! I shoulda payed more attention. Mea Culpa! Hope the $20 gasket is OK! This time will be from the drivers side; I can see whats going on and get the T 400 numbers off the plate so i know what Ive got! ws
2300hrs... long day! Will continue tomorrow, BUT would any one with pics of a bare 72ish frame minus control arms showing the frame notches for the front springs please post them? I ran those hoses for the trans cooler up the frame rail and Ill be hornschwaggled if I can tell if they'll pinch in the springs. I DARE anyone to commit to this info. Sweet Dreams!!! ws
Nothin' like talking to a mirror. Dropped the pan back down for a visual on the pick up pipe, and its not bolted in but rather a solid push into a fit with an O ring in the case. The wings merely help position it but its pretty secure otherwise. The governor job turned out good (just a new gasket) and filled the pan with earl. BTW... The book LIED. Its said to refill with FIVE PINTS of ATF and check. Cold should be 1/4" below the add mark on the stick. Hate to tell them, but with the pan, new hoses and cooler in the radiator, it took FIVE QUARTS of ATF just to get to thee add mark. It had been running for 30 minutes at this point so I am satisfied with "warm" ATF still showing add. I was hoping some one could take a pic for me (thats a switch LOL!) of a bare frame up front. Id like to see the pockets that are open in the frame side that guide the front springs into position. I cant get my fat head in there to see and pics dont do it justice when assembled. Am I overthinking this??? Digital cameras are cool; this lil' Canon fits up in the frame bushing access hole so heres a real treat. INSIDE the frame rail by the dog leg bend near the flywheel. Ha! ID tag didnt provide too much info... pretty well rubbed clean... ws
That was kind of what I was thinking on the pick-up, Bill, which is why I thought you'd be ok with it the first time you put the pan on . Yes, 5 quarts, hopefully you didn't run it very long with just 5 pints, could've starved the pump.....Now, if the spring pockets are anything like all the rest I've messed with, you should be able to insert the top of the spring into the pocket and turn it until the spring end mates into the recess in the pocket. Once it stops turning you're in, and you can jack the a-arm into place.
Thanks for responding Luke! The last time I even dealt with a front spring was about 1972 when I had to drop the lower ball joint to R&R a broken spindle (between the 2 bearings!) on a 1967 Impala I had. That was in the beginning, on a driveway with basic tools in 2 feet of snow; The Will To Cruise I guess! I dont think you quite caught the drift of my question though; Are these cooling lines in danger of getting pinched by the spring? Youd think that spring pocket would have enclosed the top of the spring to keep road dirt and junk out. JW made a post a few years back and seems to think not to worry. Again, am I over thinking this? POST #5 http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/flexible-transmission-cooler-lines-routing.328741/ On the ATF deal, I followed the book verbatim. Maybe it was the writers intention of making sure the installer in fact didn't run the pump dry with 5 pints as a primer, but they sure didn't make any reference to topping off with another gallon. Hmmm... That was in 2 spots in the book; same verbiage. I knew from the git-go that way more than 5 pints came out. Ended up using my entire shelf stock of ATF. Shoulda probably used it anyways as I sure it was gonna get rancid from sitting. Whats the shelf life on ATF? LOL... So as it stands, the XGS is screaming to get out, but will probably need to install a snow plow on the front for this weekend, Ha! Thanks again! I owe ya lunch! ws
I follow you now, buddy....Every one I've ever seen or messed with is fully encapsulated on the top except for maybe an extra 1/2" hole or two for who knows what (I put big block front springs in my Dad's '70 El Camino for him the last time I visited the family up in Alaska last July, and that's how his was. I'm betting a Skylark/GS is the same). Plus, I got to imagine if Jim says it's ok, it's actually ok haha.....Snow? Lordy, we're lucky here right now. Got my first SCCA autocross of the year here Sunday. Prepping the F100 to go whoop some Vette/Stang/Slomaro/Subie butt tonight and tomorrow.
Drive it like ya stole it! Thanks pal; needed some encouragement! Now I can sleep good tonight zzzzzzzzzzz... ws
A couple things Bill, I'm not following the whole pinched line deal too well. I'm can't really remember what the spring pocket looks like at the top. But I know on the lower control arm there's a hole that the end of the spring should end at. I always assumed the top really didn't have a specific place for the end of the spring. The trans stuff? I think when I looked at your pan in a pic before I noticed it was a deeper than stock pan. Like a truck pan or H/D pan. If that's the case, then it would take more fluid than the manual says. If it's the deeper pan, there was a longer pipe inside the trans, should be a longer bolt with a spacer to move the filter lower, also. The longer pipe is typically plastic. Like Lucas sad the tabs are just to hold the pipe in position. Whatever happened with Lo Hung? Is that how you bought the Hatteras?
Yo Frank! Where ya been??? Theres just a few links (previously here) where the naysayers said the lines will get pinched by the springs if run through the frame. Couldnt see that happening, but wanted to be sure! The general consensus now is its OK. I have no idea where the trans came from. As the pic shows the tag is polished clean. Another day, another try to get the stamped numbers off it; maybe thatll give me a lead. Think the pan is deeper than a car pan? I can argue that point. Used to know that stuff at a glance but after 40 years it all went south LOL... The pan and the floating filter sem to rest comfortably on the bolt. Its like a grad 5-6 with a longer than usual shank and short threads on it. Looks OEm to me. It all seemed to work well before, just a new filter now. I was just amazed at how much ATF it took after all those years of adding a pint here or there on other various vehicles. After a filling and a firing in the shop, it goes into F & R effortlessly. Lo Hung must still be out to runch. He no backee at work. He say bye-bye long time. ws
Well now, since my shop is DIS organised LOL, Ill ad a post here now and then about the XGS. Got those ol' steel tubes replaced for the trans cooling lines and a good full warm-up presented me with a single drop of red oil on the cardboard after sitting for about 4 days. Its either runoff from when I overfilled the funnel, or a weeping mainshaft seal, and that job aint gonna happen during this rodeo LOL. Got a whole big stack of shear cut 3/16 aluminum sprayed down with layout bluing and gonna begin the big fit up on the yacht. For tomorrow, I still need to get under the shrink wrap and get the base wood framing sanded with some #60 and cleaned up with the vacuum to seal it really well with 3-4 coats of varnish. Im sure we'll be getting into the High Freq TIG and a bunch of MIG fabrication stuff so pay attention. Hope everyone else's winter stuff is drawing to an end; its supposed to be in the 50s for the next week. Good for snow melting after that 24" trick mama nature played on us! ws
Do a build thread, Bill! I'm sure you've got all kinds of pics of progress along the way since you bought it. Give us some retro active pics and descriptions from the start. I'd love to see and read it myself, plus you're usually doing something to the XGS so it'll be an ongoing thing
Heck dude, with 3400+ views I am trying to establish a new record here LOL. It gets lonely up here at the 45th parallel and sometimes I just ramble on. Just dont call me a Rambler haha. I have a 3X weekly lymphedema treatment at 0800 till 0900 then Im gonna jump on this guy. I think once all the open wood on the outside gets sealed up with some varnish, Im gonna pull the shrink wrap. Right now the stuff has dried all winter and there wont be a better time. One good deluge and that can change. Gonna hafta ramp it up for a few weeks; no more lazy days for a while! ws
So today I was having a flashback; happens once in a while usually after dark tho...I see trails once in a while LOL. I was in 5th grade and Mrs. barnes was asking everyone what they did on their spring break. "I was helping my dad work on his boat and he let me run the electric sander..." "OOH, that sounds kind of exciting!" "Yes Mrs. Barnes, it was. Especially after I ran the sander across the windshield and my dad beat the crap outa me". His exact words "KEEP THE SANDER OFF THE GLASS AND CHROME SON". Tonights homework assignment: Write 500 times: Do not use bad language in class. So now its time to get back to work. I guess I wont cut woodshop class anymore hahaha. No more screwing around! ws
Poor Bill. Weather might be nice this coming week but he has a few things to tie up at the bank. Tuesday and Wednesday. Can't do them on the same day. It stinks. I miss the days of helping on the Hatt Trick. Now I sit at home or run all over the place. Physical labor ( especially the sanding) is just too much on me. I am blessed to have Bill understand.
Some pudding proof. Hmmm. Took Pat out on the HOG for a spin and then moved vehicles around... Spring Sprang! Sher beats sitting around the shop smoking dope all day getting nothin' done. (Wade Gordon 1985) ws
