CMNT's 1980 Turbo Trans Am. It's alive, it's alive
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Cleaned it up today. I didn't have the power washer, but just with some soap, scrubbing with a brush (Yea, I know Gav is probably curled up in the fetal position reading that...), and I would say I got 99% of the crud off. The wheels and the front clip cleaned up really nice.
Not sure but I know that front plate in the grill is bugging the heck out of me.....lol
Yup, the flares and air dam or missing, the plate is, well, "special" engineering... (along with the power cord used as speaker wire, the bungy cords used to strap the seat back in, the coat hanger for a hood release... ) I won't use the real term in light of the environment, and yea, those tips are going to go once I get that far. But no one has seen it yet. I even had to do a double take and walk around the vehicle to see if both sides were the same.
The third pic might actually help too.
The third pic might actually help too.
I don't know of the pics really bring it out, but when you stand next to it, without all that, the front end of the car looks too high. Almost like it's on ramps or stands or something.
Ignition switch came today, went over and installed it, mine seemed to be a bit more involved than some of the other earlier year 2nd gens that I watched steps on, like I ended up having to remove some electric contact switch and then loosen the upper portion of the column to provide slack for the old ignition cylinder to come out.
But it's alive... Ran it for about 20 minutes. I need to fix the negative cable, it's rusted and loose at the terminal to the battery and likes to provide fireworks while cranking.
I also need to replace the thermostat gasket. It was leaking while running. Oh, and a lot of blow-by and blue smoke out the tail pipes. In the second run, it seemed to hang up around 2,200 rpm and nothing I could do other than choking it, would slow it down. Any Quadrajet peeps out there wanna take a look at it??
Blue smoke is probably somewhat expected out the exhaust with it seeping a few years of old oil that got past the valve guides out. It may be the turbo too though. There's also a chance the engine's roached. Does it have the oil/coolant or coolant/oil mix at all? That's something I'd check.
Luckily being a Pontiac means it should be stupid easy to compression test compared to a Chevy. I'd just pull plugs and see if you've got a hole that looks like hell.
Start looking around for vacuum leaks is my opinion on the 2200 RPM idle. The solenoid on the front driver's side of the carb is the fidle solenoid. It doesn't look stuck but who knows. I'd be afraid of one of the shafts being kind of jammed up and the butterflies not closing fully.
Luckily being a Pontiac means it should be stupid easy to compression test compared to a Chevy. I'd just pull plugs and see if you've got a hole that looks like hell.
Start looking around for vacuum leaks is my opinion on the 2200 RPM idle. The solenoid on the front driver's side of the carb is the fidle solenoid. It doesn't look stuck but who knows. I'd be afraid of one of the shafts being kind of jammed up and the butterflies not closing fully.
Agree with above on vacuum lines & the electric choke. The choke should have 12v all the time with ignition on. It definitely can be stuck after all this time sitting. There is a fast idle cam under the choke if I remember correctly. I'd make sure the linkage here moves freely.
If you do get the carb off, make sure not to over tighten when reinstalling as the base plate warps very easily. People make this mistake often. While running spray whatever you have laying around (carb cleaner, etc.) at the base plate and see if the RPM's change. If so, this is your likely source for a vacuum leak and causing the fast idle.
Make sure the cruise is off. One of my cars was idling high due to mechanics of this. Also, make sure the brake booster vacuum line is hooked up. I doubt these are your issues, but doesn't hurt to double check.
If you decide to rebuild, buy a kit from Cliff Ruggles. It will be a quality kit that can save you aggravation later on. I used his book and kit with great results on 3 quadrajets. He also redid the carb in my 10th and it was perfect.
I wouldn't waste money on a local parts store generic quadrajet. Getting yours working correctly shouldn't be too difficult.
If you do get the carb off, make sure not to over tighten when reinstalling as the base plate warps very easily. People make this mistake often. While running spray whatever you have laying around (carb cleaner, etc.) at the base plate and see if the RPM's change. If so, this is your likely source for a vacuum leak and causing the fast idle.
Make sure the cruise is off. One of my cars was idling high due to mechanics of this. Also, make sure the brake booster vacuum line is hooked up. I doubt these are your issues, but doesn't hurt to double check.
If you decide to rebuild, buy a kit from Cliff Ruggles. It will be a quality kit that can save you aggravation later on. I used his book and kit with great results on 3 quadrajets. He also redid the carb in my 10th and it was perfect.
I wouldn't waste money on a local parts store generic quadrajet. Getting yours working correctly shouldn't be too difficult.
I will dink around with it tomorrow. I almost think, at this point, a rebuild of it should be on the list of to does.
I'm really more concerned about seeing if the smoking comes down after running it a few times.
If rings/ring lands, valve stem guides and anything else are, shot, i may have to consider other options.
Thanks all for the carb advice. It's amazing how far we've come with fuel injection that i hate dealing with abcarb anymore.
I'm really more concerned about seeing if the smoking comes down after running it a few times.
If rings/ring lands, valve stem guides and anything else are, shot, i may have to consider other options.
Thanks all for the carb advice. It's amazing how far we've come with fuel injection that i hate dealing with abcarb anymore.
Another thing I just thought of that perhaps makes this quadrant unique, is that under boost, I believe it has a mechanism that basically dumps a ton of fuel in to keep 8t rich enough not to pre-detonate. This is different from a normal enrichment circuit on a n/a engine.
But again, I could be wrong.
But again, I could be wrong.
Blasphemy!
I'm very happy your trying to bring this back to life, old cars lives matter!
Not all of us can have a totally epic better than new project car. Not my forte. I'd be dead before I got to drive it.
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