OK I'm finished with brakes and wheels!!!!! But the car is back up on jacks again....undergoing transmission work at the moment. I got some pictures of it before I backed it right back into the garage to work. The drums were a b!tch....the hardest parts is trying to keep the parts in one spot while installing the various springs and linkages againou: The chassis manual helped out a TON! I got the wheel centers painted last night...took me around 3 hours to get them masked and painted. Now I'm looking for a set of chrome acorn lug nuts. Who is the best supplier for these? I actually cleaned every one of my lug nuts to make them look presentable...let's see, 6 sides to a nut, and there are 20 nuts Oh I also got those hideous HD springs out from under the rear end, so now it sits nice and purty again. Here are the pixxx:Brow: I'll save the transmission work for the remainder of this week. I'm letting the fluid drip out right now. I don't need no stinkin' tranny fluid shower!! THe kit looks a bit intimidating, but the directions are fairly straight forward. Or I'll just bug the guy who sold it to me:grin: The governor recalibration kit is next, along with some distributor work. I've got to get the little advance bushing one there. It advances way too much....something like 45*:shock: So I need to get the bushing back in there to limit it to 36 or lower.
Wowch!! Did all my brake work last year. Yes, drums are a b@$#%. In the rear, I had to replace everything... cylinders, drums (past the limit)... whole nine yards.... yes, master cylinder was leaking, too.... for future reference, GM must have thought it humorous to use two different master cylinder types that year - maybe a strike thing. The parts houses usually stock one type, and of course mine used the other. For the fronts, I have now done the last machining they can take. They are still the factory-style rotors with the groove. I cleaned mine up a little bit, but not to that extent Adam. That does look sharp.
Adam are you going to do a complete trans tear down? nowadays most transmission shops do a trans fluid exchange which pumps something like +98% of the old fluid out where a simple drain and fill can leave up to a 1/4 of the old fluid in the tranny. unless you're going to tear it all the way down i'd take it to a transmission house for that reason alone.
Good point, I was talking to a buddy today about that. I'll probably take it there after I get the new bits in there...then I'll get it to a shop that does the fluid exchange.
Sweet ride :TU: Have you always had the bumper guards on the front bumper? They look super shiny, and if not, was it you who bought the NOS one's on ebay a couple of months ago? And also, what's the size on the tires?
The bumper guards are original to the car....they are on the back, too. Tires are 235/75/15's from Coker. I do have a set of NOS front and rear bumper guards though....somewhere!:laugh:
Nice wheels, Adam. :TU: Please share your adress once you find the chrome nuts. I think I found some in Car's catalog, but not enough details to make sure therse are the correct ones.. as you can see, although my wheels are nicer than the impression given by the pic, I envisage a complete rechroming, as the groove where water is retained is rusted. 1/2 bolts are niot presentable too, but let's be generous and change the 20 of them !
Just jealous wishing I could spend a fraction of that amount of time tinkering with it. When I did the back brakes, it was on jackstands for a month.
Nice Wheels!!! I wouldn't have thought the whitewalls would have looked so nice, but that's great! :TU: I like the idea of the fluid exchange, except that they don't touch the filter. But since I'm sure you'll put in a new filter, a fluid exchange would be just the thing to "top off" the job. Which trans kit did you get, and which "level" are you going for?
I bought a trans-go kit from JW, supposed to be a better kit than what you can get at the retailers... I'll be doing the "Street Rod - very short but not brutal" setup. My transmission already has a good little 1-2 shift, but I want a little more, plus a good 2-3 shift - which my current one is way too soft. And yes, I am putting a new filter in:spank: The wide whites DO look good...better than I imagined. Thank GOD!! I also like the way it sits much better than the "rake" it had with those stupid cargo springs that came out of the Riv I stole the posi out of.
Adam, when you get to the front suspension as you mentioned, it's easiest to do it all at once - upper control arm bushings, u/l ball joints... and the steering linkage... it's easy if you're doing it all at once... had it all finished in one weekend, then had it aligned on Monday. Rides and steers really sweet. It's also best to use GM parts, if you can find them (they really are better)... next best, I think is Moog... the only thing I had a hard time finding was the center link... Rare Parts in California carries them...
Most shops will be afraid of doing a fluid exchange on an older car with some mileage on it. Especially if it hasnt be done in a while. New trans fluid will wash away any varnish buildup on your clutch packs causing the trans to slip. It may be the kiss of death for your trans.
That happened to my last car.... It had 110k miles on it, and as far as I know it hadn't gotten a fluid change in a LONG time. A couple months later, my 2nd gear went bye bye. Hopefully this won't be the case here. 80k on this one..
I got a new one from AutoZone last summer, I think it was $80 with a $35 core charge, LOTS less than the $135 Rare Parts wanted... I see that now they list: CENTERLINK for a 1971 BUICK CENTURION Special Order DURALAST DS780 LLT $47.99 RARE_PARTS 25831 LLT $118.99 Dang! I always buy high... :rant:
Made me a bit nervous.. The car had the transmission rebuilt a year ago, and a couple of weeks ago I cleaned the kick down solenoid, so the fluid was changed again. Now it seems a little bit slower getting in gear and when engaged it sits there a little bit longer. Also I thought I was driving around with an unusualy high rpm, I thought well myabe I'm a little up hill or something, not wanting to shift.. on with the radio... Hmmm... Or could it be me just being a bit paranoid.. Probably so, I won't lose any sleep over it, and I'll investigate it tomorrow.
Did you guys do a full flush or just a filter change, I had planned on changing the filter, but you guys are worrying me!
i don't mind brake work for the most part. The asbestos is good for you. it's bleeding of the brakes I can't stand open pump close, open pump close. next wheel open.. open. *SNAP* F!@#!!! S@#%%&$!! C@$*&. for drum brakes a 2 flat head screwdrivers, medium sized needle nosed pliers, and a vice grip and done. f
