Got a carb turbo torn apart and

[CamoDeafie]

i HATE the duplicolor crap. lol. Nason's made by DuPont, yes...and i;m keeping the spray gun cuz its the only one i have when i do find a car to work on, i;ll focus on engine first then the bodywork if any....hoping to find another A_body coupe with a 3.8 v6, either the LG3 or the flat tappet version (1984-85) so i could build it a different style....give it a black paint job....i know, it needs so much prep and stuff to get it right...even with single stage paints; but i'm prepared for it. I may need to repaint the DD's trunk lid and possibly the roof and hood, but will do the cut n buff method first to see if it looks better.

 

[usetaboost]

Better be checking the rest of the front end and see whats bad. You should always check the front end on a car you just bought. You never know what could be bad. I'm glad nothing got damaged and you didn't get in an accident

 

[MNcarbturbo]

The stupid part, I had the car aligned this spring and they checked everything out and it checked out. Car has 110K on it, but its 30 years old. And before that I looked the front end over and nothing was wrong. I wouldnt be suprised if the bolt broke or something dumb like that. Nothing in the front end is wore to the point that it would break like this.

 

[charlief1]

The stupid part, I had the car aligned this spring and they checked everything out and it checked out. Car has 110K on it, but its 30 years old. And before that I looked the front end over and nothing was wrong. I wouldnt be suprised if the bolt broke or something dumb like that. Nothing in the front end is wore to the point that it would break like this.

Glad to see you're ok but the alignment shop should've caught the ball joints. It's hard as h-ll to break one of the studs, believe me, we've tried on the dirt cars.:tongue: The joint pulled apart, I can guarantee it. When lifting a lower control arm make sure that you're as far out toward the ball joint as possible so you can get the best results. I'd bet they didn't even bother to check the car out other than just wigling the tires side to side.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Do you have to pull the lower arm out to replace the ball joint or can you do it on the car? I know its press fit, but how tight is it?

 

[usetaboost]

I would try to get a ball joint removal kit from the store. You can usually rent them. Get that thing back on the road and start tuning. I want to know what it can do!

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Dont even know if Im going to get tuning on it this fall. After Thanksgiving its off the road. And Im going to pull the front clip off, clean it up a bit, change cam, maybe get some 8445 heads and port them, and mill em a bit to make up for my thick gaskets, and paint the car. Plus getting a A/F guage. Or even a new rear ratio. Plus im broke. Going to end up redoing the ball joints on the front after this too.

 

[charlief1]

Do you have to pull the lower arm out to replace the ball joint or can you do it on the car? I know its press fit, but how tight is it?

No, you don't need to pull the arm. The bad part is the stud is probibly stuck in the steering knuckle. Take the wheel off first, then the nut that holds the stud in. Use a hand sledge and hit the steering knuckle where the lower ball joint mounts. This should jar the stud loose. Then hit the ball joint from the top while supporting the LCA and it will pop out. You can rent a ball joint press at AZ and several other places and when you return it you get the money back.:biggrin:

 

[usetaboost]

Dont even know if Im going to get tuning on it this fall. After Thanksgiving its off the road. And Im going to pull the front clip off, clean it up a bit, change cam, maybe get some 8445 heads and port them, and mill em a bit to make up for my thick gaskets, and paint the car. Plus getting a A/F guage. Or even a new rear ratio. Plus im broke. Going to end up redoing the ball joints on the front after this too.

Bumping compression a bit would be a good thing I think. Lots of guys running up to 9.0 anymore with good engines. If you are running a 3 speed trans I would get a 3.08 rear and let it be.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

****ty deal on the ball joint man... that really stinks.

A.j.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Pulled the spindle end out of the ball joint, and it broke just like charlie said. Split and lifted out the top. Tried poundin the bottom end out with a punch and a big hammer, ended up putting a hole in the bottom. So I stopped. Need to do something else oviously. Probably just need a removal tool.

The other bad news, I think my tire is a gonner. Has a 1/16" slit 1/8 the way around the inside of the sidewall and a 1/8" cut 1/4 the way around right where the tread meets the sidewall.

Looks like its a $200 failure.

 

[charlief1]

Pulled the spindle end out of the ball joint, and it broke just like charlie said. Split and lifted out the top. Tried poundin the bottom end out with a punch and a big hammer, ended up putting a hole in the bottom. So I stopped. Need to do something else oviously. Probably just need a removal tool.

The other bad news, I think my tire is a gonner. Has a 1/16" slit 1/8 the way around the inside of the sidewall and a 1/8" cut 1/4 the way around right where the tread meets the sidewall.

Looks like its a $200 failure.

Ok, start again.

You don't need a punch, just a big@ss hammer. Hit the socket where the joint came out and it should fall out after a few hard hits. I've done this more than I care to but it's pretty simple.

Then take the nut off the stud and hit the spindle side where the stud goes in. This will jar it loose so you can get it out.

You can put the new joint in with out a press but it will make it much easier if you have one.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Got the ball joint fixed friday. Had to pull the lower arm off. Dad put it in the press at work and it blew the bottom out, so he ended up cutting it out. Thing was stuck in there hard, there was no way pounding on it with a hammer of any size would have knocked it out.

Took it on a 1000 mile trip or so this weekend too. Cam tick isnt stopping like it used to. This spring it used to only clack at a hot idle and on and off at cruising, but now it clacks all the time, except for when cold on fast idle. And it has a soft miss at low RPM, like 800ish when hot in drive. So it looks like I will be pulling the top end off in december and swapping out the cam with a 204/214. Only problem is I dont know who makes the edelbrock one, and I dont want a COMP as I have heard their lifters clack. All I want is a 204/214 and then I will just order a set of GM lifters or something. Does COMP make a 204/214 alone? Just would rather not buy a cheep Ebay one or one from napa as I dont know who makes it.

 

[mat231v6]

Got the ball joint fixed friday. Had to pull the lower arm off. Dad put it in the press at work and it blew the bottom out, so he ended up cutting it out. Thing was stuck in there hard, there was no way pounding on it with a hammer of any size would have knocked it out.

Took it on a 1000 mile trip or so this weekend too. Cam tick isnt stopping like it used to. This spring it used to only clack at a hot idle and on and off at cruising, but now it clacks all the time, except for when cold on fast idle. And it has a soft miss at low RPM, like 800ish when hot in drive. So it looks like I will be pulling the top end off in december and swapping out the cam with a 204/214. Only problem is I dont know who makes the edelbrock one, and I dont want a COMP as I have heard their lifters clack. All I want is a 204/214 and then I will just order a set of GM lifters or something. Does COMP make a 204/214 alone? Just would rather not buy a cheep Ebay one or one from napa as I dont know who makes it.

i think napa sells speed pro cams.

 

[usetaboost]

i think napa sells speed pro cams.

That's what I have in my car. I used their lifters in my car, so far so good, but I haven't heard a whole lot of good things about them. I would get some new GM lifters if the funds are there.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Yeah, I looked on NAPA's website and saw they had speedpros but they dont have a 204/214. Just a stock NA cam and a stock GN cam.

 

[charlief1]

Click on this guys other parts. He's got it in his stuf for sale.

PRO STOCK PERFORMANCE CAM BUICK 231-252ci LIFT 472 496 : eBay Motors (item 290492602973 end time Nov-25-10 01:29:16 PST)

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Are elgin cams any good? Guess I never heard of them before.

 

[charlief1]

Elgin, Melling, and Speed Pro are all pretty much the same. All of them are old companies and are getting their parts from the same place.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Cool, thats what I wanted to hear. Im assuming everyone that has a 204/214 has it ground through the same 1 company so it doesnt matter who I go through.

Now I gotta decide if I want to go with the lifters they include or go big and get GM lifters.....