Ahhh! The comfortable glow of gas heat! Actually in shop "A" today getting some stuff cleaned up. "A" has a hanging gas heater that at 45K btu does "ok". It hasnt been on for 3 weeks so that shop was just about zero and all contents. Heater ran steady for 3 hours. Im OK with that since NG is pretty cheap up here. Brought the sway bar and both lower control arms still assembled in from shop "B". Finally got to see them in some real light and they were pretty gnarly. Anyone who doesnt think being boxed will strengthen them shoulda seen this operation; Took the arms off and the "factory"(?) stiffeners fell right out. One arm was tweeked as in banana shaped by about 3/16 - 1/4" from end to end. It was off enough by eye to warrant some fixin'. I literally put it in the big vise and reefed on it to straighten it out. The bare arms are 1/8" x 2" x 2", so that aint much meat on the bones. The bolts were nutted but not washered so that did some tertiary damage. I fully expected worse. The sway bar itelf was a bit rusty but was saved by a leaking right rear axle seal and cover gasket. Im stuck cleaning parts with a bench mounted wire wheel and a hand grinder wire wheel. Primed the sway bar with the ZINC primer as always and 2-3 coats of nice shiny black Rustoleo "2X". Got the black buger thing going on and really need a shower tonight with nice clean sheets on the 100*F waterbed... Ahhhhh. Also have the luxury of sitting at my desk finishing the dash bezel a bit at a time with the MOLOTOW chrome pen. Turning out spledid! ws
Got everything together today to tackle the lower arms. Got all set up and found the MIG gun liner was too dirty to pass the wire through. That was it for the day. Gonna pick up a new liner and gas diffuser tomorrow plus some consumables at the welding supply shop. When it rains it pours. Before I know it, it will be spring and then jump back ono the boat. never a dull momeny ya know? Got a really good 20 years outa the Miller 185 so some small stuff dont bother me. All of a sudden, the birds will be chirping and Ill be under the gun to finish. Rhuematologist tomorrow to break the monotomy. I feel like I need a brain transplant into a 20 year olds body! ws Keep the faith baby! ws
So now its gonna get really exciting... yeah right. Got the new liner into Mr. Miller and put the drive stuff all back togther and VOILA.! It welds. Wow. So a little cleaning with the grinder and got the bolt stiffeners tacked inside the arms. They are just a loose fit and I didnt want to struggle with positioning once the arms were boxed. Bolted them in nice and tight before tacking, then ran a drill through them "just to be sure". Got the 2 X 1/8 plate tacked on and squared up nice and commenced welding. Twenty years ago I held NRC certs for high pressure welding, but I gotta tell ya, I am rusty and the hand-eye coordination thing aint there any more. Welded it twice and ground it thrice. Turned out OK so it was ready for shop "A" with the heater going all day. It was a nice 80F inside. Perfect paint weather. Gave them both a nice double blast of zinc cold galvanizing spray and evapped it with the burnzamatic for a fast dry. A little heat and the stuff flashes off bone dry in about 2 minutes. Followed up with 2-3 coats of rustoleum and hung them up to dry overnight. So now heres one for the experts: Taking these off the car intact with the sway bar attached, I went as far as marking the drivers side (paint marker inside of arm plus the zip tie) just "to be sure" for re-assembly. After the paint job today it dawned on me that there are two identical arms. There is an offset to each and the bushings are also pressed in flush on the same "sides". So looking at he pics can anyone give me some insight to whats going on? I went through the chassis manual, the shop manual and even the Fisher Body manuals, with no mention of a left or right arm. All it says is "these holes must face forward (or to rear for sway bar) install". Thats good, as they are hanging in the proper orientation, but the offset bugs me. So, here the quandry: A. I have two left arms B. I have two right arms C. I hafta use what I have D. It doesnt matter These are the units that came of the car and there was no dog tracking at all. Even the alignment guy said its right on. DILLIGAF? Feel free to jump in and beat me up. Thanks!! ws
My vote is for D. I'm not an expert on this Bill, I've had arms on and off before, but never really studied them. The parts book says lowers are the same part#. Uppers are L + R. That's all I know. GB light looks good now! This posting is kind of interesting about arms. Look at the link in post 4 for measurements. http://www.chevelles.com/forums/16-...g/211905-clarification-rear-control-arms.html
Appreciate that Frank! My vote is for C & D. Just seems weird that GM would put that much into a difference yet still be interchangeable. Glad I left the uppers in! ws
"Twas 48F here today and going down to zero by 6 a.m. Looks like a good day to go play "car" for a while. Took Pat window shopping for a 2017 Impala. Any feedback on this one? ws
We have good luck with the Impalas, Bill. Very few issues with that one, probably the most reliable vehicle Chevy makes. Look good, ride good.
Thanks Luke. So far the Impalas seem like a good size/bang for the buck. GIGANTIC trunk and the fold down back seat is a plus! ws
DUH!!! Forgot to ask; under the hood is a conventional battery for starting and in the trunk on the drivers side is an OEM panel you pop off and theres a large motorcycle sized battery installed. This is a used car with 13K on the clock and was privately owned. If not I could guess at it being an ex squad car with extra battery capacity for electronics or zombie zappers. Whatcha think? ws
Does not sound familiar. I'll ask the guys that actually still work on them tomorrow at work to be 100% for you. They only need me to help them wrench if there's a car with a distributor or carb on it or they need somebody to pull on a pry bar.
Well, I asked the fellas, and they say it has the start/stop option. It will turn the car off at stop lights and when sitting, and automatically start the car again when you push the pedal to go. The auxillary battery keeps everything electrical running while the engine is shut off.....see? No pry bar, no knowledge........
Whooda thunk... That sounds more like a friggin' golf cart! What happens if its 100F and the car shuts off at a light? NO AC? Or is that interlocked to keep the engine running. is that a California thing maybe? ws
That I don't know, Bill, but it's not a California thing, as any 4 cylinder Impala from 2015 up can have it, but not the V6. They do it to increase the city mpg rating. They'll blow cold for quite a while anyway, but I'd bet it'd keep running if the A/C is on (don't quote me on that). I assume this a 4 cylinder turbo you're looking at......They put a bigger starter and some other upgrades to handle the extra startups all the time. To be honest, I don't think I've had a 4 cylinder Impala in the shop, but we've sold lot's of V6s. The turbo 4 does well in the Malibus, and we've had a lot of those, but the car around it isn't nearly as nice as the Impala.
This used to be one of my customer's cars. Looks really good with the chrome Torq-Thrusts. Apparently he traded it in for a Dodge, but just thought I'd show you that they can look cool, too, if your wife is so inclined....
That's gotta be THE dumbest s%@t ever put on a car. Talk about wear and tear on your charging and starter systems! I had a new 3.6 Lacrosse loaner with that on it and hated it. I learned to trick it by stopping and then releasing the brake to keep the engine running. I'm assuming the car thought it was in a stop and go situation.
Agreed, and it's weird when the engine shuts down. The hybrid Tahoes are REALLY strange to drive when the engine shuts off and it's electric only.
YEP... that TEC (?) starting BS was a real turn off, plus its only a 4 banger. I had the hood open too and couldnt tell from all the black plastic boxes and stuff that obscured the engine. I dont assume (ass/u/me) but took it for granted it was a V6 at least. It did run pretty good tho, but while still cold had a little stumble on hard acceleration. So Pat's all over the place on the blower this morning trying to put a deal together. We have a major problem. Three months ago she was in Joplin, Mo. and her clitaurus transmission took a dive. That was after a $1800 water pump job on a $1500 car. It was time... Her SIL works at a dorf dealer and got her a pretty good deal on a brand new exscape. Now at 10,000 miles (she does drive a lot!) she's upside down in it. Like buying a '70 GSX that really needs a frame off and paying 75K for it. The math dont figger. She just came home in the local Chevy dealers courtesy car, an '018 Impala that looks just like the link you posted; Loaded,V6, heated seats, the whole schlemele. Plus a 150A alternator with a POWER OUTLET, 120-VOLT, LOCATED ON THE REAR OF CENTER CONSOLE. The bastard has 2300 miles on it, plus they knocked off 8K and will roll her toy dorf into the note for 8 years. That kinda sucks, but after a few years in a real car, the depreciation should "subside". She keeps her stuff pretty nice. We do our loan stuff at the local Credit Union and always include KAK insurance. That is if either one of us KAKs, the notes insured for pay off. Like the old adage; we are worth more dead than alive LOL. I gave her carte blanche to make that call. May hafta make a call in Missoula haha... ws TO WIT: http://www.pietroske.com/VehicleDet...pala-LT-Manitowoc-WI/3010284683?cs:o=82534200
Fly in, hang out, drink some good microbrews and whiskey, sleep, drive home....I got room for you two.
