69 GS California in Superior WI

[Craig Gerlach]

Pulled rear cover to see how previous owner went from a 3.90 open to a posi and discovered a HD Safe-T-Track posi unit with the 4 spiders, a pleasant surprise, some metal in oil and a tad milky, metal looked like brass though, confused how it could be in there unless brass is used somewhere inside posi unit?
Gear contact had good pattern, no noise or howls going down the road, will pull cover off again after a few hundred miles and look for more debri, if gone might assume they used some funky posi additive, installed chrome cover so she will go fast now.lol might have added this earlier, forgot at this point what was said and what was not when the large update vanshed and gave quick one, carrier has a 70 date code, housing is a 67 Pontiac. checked toque on bearing caps and ring gear, all was good...

[bob k. mando]

them chrome diff covers are the detroit version of wings on a ricer.

[Craig Gerlach]

Installing new cam, found out front cam bearing had groove in it and #4 is chipped, had to fork out $100 to buy the buick cam bearing tool, chevy ones are only $25 and a tad bigger, could have reworked it but no lathe, they forgot the assembly lube so waiting on that and the tool to proceed. Went with a Comp Cam 268H and standard timing set so no dialing in cam available to me, noticed cam was rusty and lifters were almost touching next lobe, chain was pretty tight, wear on cam dist drive a tad off, perhaps because cam had slid back a bit. They recommend new springs but these stock ones should handle up to 500 lift and cam is only 469 so hope safe, not expecting to redline her so not worried about float. If it's not one thing it is another, thought would get buy with just a intake swap, but saw rusty cam... Mic'd that cam, had anywhere from 330 to 450 lift so was well worn OEM cam, doubt was ever rebuilt, or they put factory style kit in it..

[bob k. mando]

had to fork out $100 to buy the buick cam bearing tool


i think TA has a loaner / rent program?

[Craig Gerlach]

Tool wouldn't work only use is for when crank out and block standing on end..
Then I mic'd the replacement bearings and they were 0.002 larger than what was in her so chipped 4th and grooved front bearing are staying in her...
So far only slid in cam and installed timing set, had the typical hold up tearing down oil pump for booster plate, 1 bolt snapped, with less force than I used on other bolts too, drilled through center as close to threads as possible, used Krol, tried to get out, could not, rethreaded hole, may use longer bolt and nit on other side, at least it was a hole where it came out other side of cover. Enough for today, that took me 5 hours to try and get that done without the use of a drill press and all free hand, went dead center, always been good with a drill...
Tomorrow, clean and pack and install front cover, tempted to install new fuel pump, it had some slack in travel, but didn't hear any noises, didn't leak, and could handle WOT so good enough for now, easy enough swap later on if needed. Have part number for the high volume stage 1 pump from airtex, $33 at Amazon.

[Craig Gerlach]

Been a while since posting, forget where I was in thread..

I did install a new fuel pump, motor would tick at higher RPM, 4k range, no loss of pressure, discovered it was the OEM springs I had left in her for cam break in. So installed the matching Comp Cams valve springs, retainers, and push rods. Took care of the ticking sounds.

Next issue to arise was random overheating at cruise RPM, thought it was the Holley running lean, put the Q-Jet back on, it cooled it down a bit, but would still random, swing gauge all the way back around to 100 on gauge, then quickly return, it was a capillary tube style Sun and never had that happen before, switched over to electric gauge and it would still run hot once in a while, but the recorded temp was 210F instead of the crazy 300+ it was reporting..
I added a 1" wide aluminum radiator for safety, and tops 200F now with a 160F thermostat.
Had bounced around between fans too, tried some electrics, the 1998 Camry fans fit in there nicely, had one full time and 1 set to start at 190F and shut off 180F, then switched to HD fan clutch and 19" Derale 17119 to get these temps.

Added an electric washer pump, went through steering column, they had a 5 tooth gear mated to a 7 tooth rack so found a 6 tooth gear to install so could get both ACC and Start, was enough travel for both with mismatched gears.

Patched a hole in floor pan and Por15 the floor, added thermal padding and new carpet and seat cover, cut out the radio insert and put in a Pioneer BT head unit and set of Yamaha box speakers on top of package shelf, the shelf was bowed and bolting them down on top flattened it out, painted it flat black and almost looks like new. That car was awful hot in this summer without the carpeting, had to be 140F or so in there, I almost repaired the AC, but didn't know where to source any hoses, knew where to get condenser-drier-compressor and have manifold set and vacuum pump. Next year.

I cleaned out the super lube from wheel bearings, found out that grease did not stick and was spinning out the grease from the bearings, noticed excessive play in new front bearings when had it up in air, bearings were still good, but the grease had turned color and was condensing. So I do not recommend it on this type of wheel bearing, perhaps trailers where cavity is solid packed, not where it can pool and move away.

Working on cruise control now, made mistake taking apart the transducer, no documentation other than image of the valve you use to adjust for any internals. Unit would surge above, and let off and do it over n over, wanted to peek inside since it was without hoses 20+ years, probably was just an adjustment on the makeshift linkage I used on the 79 servo I used.

So still putzing around with her, about a month before she gets put up for winter, get cruise fixed, add bottle of posi additive and get a road trip out of her before snow flies.. Next year will start with trunk, replace pan, craft my own outer wheelhouse and patch the quarters, and add a rocker and patch a fender, then will be plenty close to paint...

Oh yeah, 1 more thing got done, found cover for trunk lock cover and fixed that, was great, tight, worked like new, until some idiot at Menards decided he had to see in my trunk in checkout of lot, and he was impatient and tried to get into my trunk and must have pulled it towards him instead of flipping it upwards and now it is loose and actually just fell off today, so dealing with their insurance company, they never asked for an estimate yet, so worried about that...

[Craig Gerlach]

Forgot about this one, had decent oil pressure, but when she was ticking thought tied to fact I never clearanced the pump, just added the gasket they gave me, well it was too thick, had 0.007" clearance...
Bought new gears and shim kit and got it down to 0.002" and now have 35# idle hot in gear, 60# anything over 1500 RPM and 70# over 3000 RPM.
Was 15# hot idle in gear before, 45# cruising, and people thought that was fine.
Using 10w40 oil with Lucas Zinc additive and Wix filter...

Just wanted to add that clearancing the pump with gaskets from TA is the way to go, something not to be overlooked.