Reply I have been so busy with everything else since this car came along that I haven't had the time to worry about the smaller stuff. But yes mine are also cloudy & appear to clean up nicely. Since they are 21 year old plastic pieces I imagine that they are chemically breaking down & probably will have to wax them often.
Finished product Those are latest pictures of car finished. Took it on the first ride yesterday to a car show at a local donut shop.Runs like a new car.Now going around & tightening up some details & will continue to make it as nice as possible. The A/C needs a recharge & the headliner is starting to sag, The antenna of course doesn't work. Changing that will be a good experience for my friend Brent ( underboost ) which I will supervise as I'm having a beer. We all know what a fun job that can be.
Lou, The car looks great! Pick up some black lug nut covers. I have attached a picture below of what they look like!
Reply Thanks your right with everything else going on & my head spinning from all this just one more item to take care of. where can I get those & didn't the mid 80's corvettes use them?
Lou, Readily available. I looked on gmpartsdirect and they are GM PART # 10028614 CATEGORY: Front and Rear Wheel Lug Nut Cap PACK QTY: 10 CORE CHARGE: $0.00 GM LIST: $2.17 OUR PRICE: $1.33
Lou, Car is looking sharp! One trick on the antenna replacement. As you probably know, the fenders on GNXs have additional panels riveted together to accomodate the larger wheels. Don't do what I did, which was drill out the rivets and separate the inner and outer fender. Instead, access the antenna by removing the fender louver and ductwork. Hope that helps. -john
Reply Thats exactly how I did the last one. I didn't know that there was an easier way. I will study it further thanks for the tip.
Reply What I have right now are the standard GN lug nuts with stainless caps which came with the car. Are these not correct for the GNX ? Are the lug nuts themselves threaded to accept the plastic caps your referring to ?
Lugs Yes, you need the factory lugs with the screw on outers to accept the black caps. Kirban Performace sells a repro set of lugs and black caps that are identical and cheap.
Reply Thanks for pointing that out to me.Need all the advice i can get. I will handle that through Kirban.
Reply John thanks again for the tip. I was able to remove the antenna actually easier than a non GNX. I'm going to try & repair the old antenna as they are no longer available.The replacement is a universal one that doesn't fit as well .Got any suggestions about that before I go into paralysis by analysis.
Lou, I've not tried to repair an antenna, so my knowledge on the subject is pretty much tapped out. I have heard that a common failure is the nylon cord joint. Glad to hear that sneaking it through the louvre hole worked. When the GNX owner told me about that trick I about kicked myself thinking of all the trouble it was to mess with the rivets. You got any tips on adjusting the door windows? I have the book but it still is a PITA. I get it adjusted so that is seals good in all areas, then when I roll the window down and back up it shifts front to back and binds up. One thing I haven't tried is silicone on the seals. In other news, I broke a cam sprocket bolt this weekend when torquing it per the factory manual spec of 31 ft-lbs. Is this a common treat on these cars, or am I just lucky? Let us know how the antenna repair turns out. -john
Reply John, I removed the louver & snuck the antenna out. the brace that holds in is a real challenge to get to the serrated nuts that hold it in.I found a mast pt.nu. 22048583 & replaced it. The plastic cord was all cracked & dry in the old part. I got it all back together & AM doesn't work. I can't now listen to Rush Limbaugh which is kind of a drag but FM works OK. I never broke a cam sprocket bolt. Did you use a 3/8 if you didn't the 1/2 isn't that accurate at lower torque value's have broken enough bolts in my day that I rely on experience & feel unless its a really critical part.
Reply I noticed the same situation with mine .Could be the plastic or paint are breaking down from age.
I'll tell you, it was a hoot watching Lou liberally lube up his hand/Arm with lotion and dive inside that inerfender louver vent. :biggrin:
