Messages

91

Maintenance / Re: Firestone vs. Goodyear Poly-glas tires

« on: November 14, 2013, 12:02:00 AM »

I put the girl to bed for the season...

I hear ya.  They salted the roads here yesterday morning - I couldn't believe it.  This weekend is supposed to be in the 50's and I wanted to go for one last cruise.  Oh well.

Let us know what you find - and make sure to settle the suspension before checking the alignment.  You could actually loosen all the bolts now, bounce it up & down several times, then let it sit for the off season before tightening the bolts.

92

Maintenance / Re: Firestone vs. Goodyear Poly-glas tires

« on: November 13, 2013, 09:14:22 PM »

Don-
Did you ever get a chance to check your current alignment specs?  I'd hate to see you change tires when all you needed to do was 'dial-in' the alignment.

93

Restoration / Re: 68 standard grill to body gap problem.

« on: November 05, 2013, 06:15:26 PM »

It looks like if you raise the grille a little, the headlight bezels could be moved out slightly to fit a little closer.

First, I think you should get all the nuts & screws in place on the grille, upper & lower moldings, and headlight bezels, then see how it all fits.  I'm curious if the outer screw holes on the headlight bezels line up with the plastic barrel nuts on the fenders.  Also, I found that the replacement plastic barrel nuts don't match the originals, and needed some trimming & shimming to work correctly.

My 68 now has the original header panel & lower valance, NOS front fenders, NOS grille, NOS headlight bezels, and CHQ upper & lower moldings.  There are gaps of varying size all the way around the grille & headlight trim.  The gaps vary from just touching to pretty good size (never measured them, but could be 1/8" to 3/16").  There were originally some good sized gaps on my car as well.  The varying gaps really bothered me at first, but now that the car is done, I don't even notice it.  

The gaps on your car look fairly consistent all the way around, and IMO it looks pretty good.

94

Restoration / Re: Who makes the correct window fuzzies without the chrome bead?

« on: November 02, 2013, 04:03:15 PM »

Scoop-
Here is some info that you should find useful.  The Re-Pop stuff is no good IMO:
http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=10817.0

http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=11080.0

95

Maintenance / Re: goodyear polyglas tires

« on: October 28, 2013, 01:02:33 AM »

Don-
Here is some good info on alignment with the Polyglas tires:
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=193367

Although I was asking about info for my 68, your 69 should be similar.  I followed David Pozzi's alignment recommendations and my car drives very nicely with Polyglas F70-14s all the way around.  No 'wander' or 'pull' at all.  My car has all new suspension bushings, and the suspension bolts were all tightened to factory specs after the suspension settled.

96

Originality / Re: 68 Console seat belt clip finish

« on: October 12, 2013, 01:18:29 PM »

My original is plated - no signs of paint on it.  It's silver, so either zinc or cad, but it looks more like zinc to me.

97

Originality / Re: 68 Camaro Center Rear Bumper Bracket Grommet

« on: October 10, 2013, 04:30:44 PM »

My 68 had a plastic grommet in this hole.  Not sure where to get one.

98

Mild Modifications / Re: Vacuum Advance - Converting to Full Manifold Vacuum

« on: October 05, 2013, 06:03:47 PM »

Steve - No dashpot.  Carb was just rebuilt, so it's clean.  The shaft bores were bushed during the rebuild, so maybe it needs a little time to settle in.  It's just strange that it only does it with the engine running.  It will be just above the stop when idling, then I shut the engine off and it closes against the idle stop.

99

Mild Modifications / Re: Vacuum Advance - Converting to Full Manifold Vacuum

« on: October 05, 2013, 04:54:06 PM »

Leave it on manifold vacuum, set your idle above the "whistle" point, and drive it.

Well, there is one other piece to the puzzle that I haven't told you (sorry for holding back).  With the stock return spring, the carb doesn't always like to return to idle - it stops just short of the idle speed stop screw.  If I blip the throttle or pull the gas pedal up with my toe it goes  back to a nice idle.  It only does this with the engine running, and when the engine isn't at full operating temperature (but not running on the choke).

Could too much vacuum at idle be trying to keep the throttle plates open?  I hate to throw a stiffer return spring on it because I'm worried about premature wear on the throttle shaft bores.

100

Mild Modifications / Re: Vacuum Advance - Converting to Full Manifold Vacuum

« on: October 05, 2013, 04:47:54 PM »

... but how is the seat of the pants feel during acceleration?
If its not pinging I would leave that alone.

The car drives great and pulls harder than I ever remember before changing the timing curve.  I have not noticed any pinging, and I'm running 93 octane fuel.

 Should be relatively easy to make a home-made limiter plate.
So, keep everything the same, just limit my vacuum advance to 10-12 degrees?

101

Mild Modifications / Re: Vacuum Advance - Converting to Full Manifold Vacuum

« on: October 05, 2013, 04:52:31 AM »

Update:
Here's what I ended up with:
9 degrees initial static timing
Idle timing with VAC connected = 9 + 16 = 25 degrees.
23 degrees of centrifugal advance
Centrifugal advance starts at about 900 rpm, and is all-in (9 + 23 = 32 degrees) at about 2500 rpm.  This is a little earlier than I wanted it to be all-in by, but the car doesn't seem to ping or knock under any conditions.  Should I mess around with even more springs to bump this up to 2800-3000 rpm??

The car runs great with the timing set-up as above.  However, there is one weird issue.  I have the idle set at 700 rpm per the manual, but I like the idle a little lower - around 500 rpm.  If I try to go below 700 rpm I get a loud whistle from the carb.  I contacted Cliff's High Performance, who rebuilt the carb.  He said that with my idle timing at about 25 degrees, I have too much idle vacuum (I measured it at 20") and that's what is causing the noise.  He says that to get my idle down, I'm closing the primaries too much and the airflow is whistling past them.  He suggested that I run ported vacuum to reduce the advance at idle, thus decreasing vacuum.

So, I hooked the VAC back up to ported vacuum and I get a nice idle at 500 rpm, but I haven't driven the car this way.  So, if I keep the VAC connected to ported vacuum, what are the downsides of having the idle timing at only 9 degrees instead of 25 degrees?  Should I give it a try?  

Under all other driving conditions, the distributor advance system should function the same whether the VAC is connected to ported or full manifold vacuum, correct?

102

General Discussion / Re: I found a Sequoia Green Z28 with air plenum 9 k miles !

« on: August 02, 2013, 08:16:29 PM »

Just wondering what it would apprase for a bank loan.

Only 1 way to find out - have it appraised.

103

Originality / Re: 68 Ignition Switch - No Ground?

« on: July 29, 2013, 02:59:21 PM »

^^ I'll put that on my list.  Thanks.

104

Originality / Re: 68 Ignition Switch - No Ground?

« on: July 29, 2013, 02:09:23 PM »

Thanks Ed!  I have console gauges, so all is good.  I'll make a note and put it with my wiring diagram.

105

Originality / 68 Ignition Switch - No Ground?

« on: July 28, 2013, 05:32:12 PM »

I'm putting the dash back together on my 68 convertible.  It has the original ignition switch & harness that plugs into it.  The spot on the plug that corresponds to "GRD" on the switch is empty.  There is no sign that there was ever a connector in that spot.  So, only 6 out of the 7 connectors are used. 
Is this normal?