TireSmoke.org

I don't see any signs of the motor being that far apart, but you never know. Since this is a common issue, I'm not going to start guessing at far out stuff until the obvious things are squared away first.

-BP

I agree - also wonder if wrong heat range plugs could be a factor. Just one more thing to keep in mind while troubleshooting it

I'm about to order a pile of parts for it. And all will be stock replacement type stuff. I'm going with Autolite platinum plugs, as I've had good success with them over the years, but stock replacement version. The car doesn't need anything different than that as it's stock and will be for a long time.

-BP

We got a bunch of parts from Summit the other day, and some are still being shipped. In the meantime, today we ran Machine Glaze polish over the paint and put a nice coat of wax on it. I think it helped quite a bit.
I also talked with Tim Wilson (Mark's brother) at breakfast this morning, and at his shop they use Justice Brothers 3 step fuel injector cleaner to clean the top end of carboned up motors. He says it usually works pretty well. I found several kits on ebay CHEAP, so I ordered two kits today and will work one of them through the car next week sometime.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325278047022?h ... Sw-rVfvp6g

So next week we'll get into some of the mechanical stuff, but for now, it's blingin'. Oh yeah, we cleaned the wheels too since they weren't on the car when we washed it last time. They're not perfect, but WAY better than they were.

-BP

On a recommendation to fix old carbon build up, I bought a JB (Justice Brothers) three step kit to clean out the carbon. We put the cleaner in the tank, the cleaner in the motor oil, and sprayed cleaner in the throttle body while it was running, and then took a normal drive (to GM Johnny's place).
On the way back home we drove the car a little harder, and there was still some detonation during hard acceleration gear changes. When I was backing into the garage I noticed something resembling smoke inside the car, so we popped the hood quickly to see what was up. There was liquid dripping right on the driver's side catalytic converter, which was blazing hot from some of the harder driving.
Once it cooled a little and we realized there was no more fire threat, we determined that the head gasket was leaking coolant, and maybe a little oil from the rear of the cylinder head. I'm sure the cleaning we did finished off what was left of an already dying gasket. And we noticed a small puddle of coolant on the floor from before we took the trip, so it was already dying. This I'm sure is also the mystery puddle we saw on the seller's driveway before we bought the car.
So our chances at track time this year are out the window, but it will give us a chance to do some of the other updates like EGR and air pump removal while everything is apart.
We did get the new tires mounted and balanced today as well.

-BP

If not already on the list, I recommend replacing the power steering lines (unless they already look replaced). It'll be way easier with all that stuff off.

They already leak (sometimes), so they will get done, as well as adding the power steering cooler.

-BP

The leaking head gasket was a real downer, I suspect things will start happening soon.
In the meantime, BP suggested that the new wheels could be cleaned up.
I spent time better organizing the 32V Garage creating places to set things
for when we really begin to take the C4 apart.

In the meantime I did take some time to polish our newly acquired wheels. I was surprised to see an old weight on that last wheel with new weight on the opposite side,
wish I would have noticed that before I gave them that wheel so I could have removed it.

The wheels were pretty rewarding, they came out looking really nice considering how old they are.
At my old consulting rate of $200/hr. this was a $1,000 polishing effort, worth every penny!

For a $160 set of wheels, they look amazing! Nice work. I'm thinking we'll get a few hours in this weekend on the teardown, and then again during the week next week to hopefully get the heads off completely.

-BP

If that wheel balancing was done at Newbury Tire I would take it back and get it rebalanced. Someone might learn something about balancing a tire

I'll send the picture to Carsten...

-BP

Over two Saturdays we were able to get the cylinder heads off. No major surprises here. I didn't see any smoking gun in the driver's side head gasket, but it didn't come out in one piece, so it was hard to tell. The valves in number 8 looked a little lean and clean though, so I suspect some coolant was in there.
So now I'll find a place to straighten up the heads and do a multi angle grind and just give them a once over.
The manifolds need welded up where the emissions tubes were, and since none of the emissions stuff is going back on... There's lots of clean up work to do too. We also need to order a bracket to replace the smog pump. I also plan to pull the front y pipe and make sure the two existing catalytic converters are gutted.
More to come...

-BP

Today I went over and took the Y-Pipe off the Vette. Like I figured, I had to peel back the pipe it was slid into so I could wiggle and twist and spray my way out of it. I plan to get a band clamp to go over it all, so it should be fine. I removed it so I could bring it home and gut the converters. This will require a cut and re-weld, and my welder is here. Plus I have to do the welding on the exhaust manifolds anyway, so I can do it all at once. I also need to order a new 02 sensor since I'm staring right at it and there's only one on this car.

More to come.

-BP

FWIW the pre-cats were gutted on mine with no evidence of welding. If you have not done so already be sure to put a coat hanger or something in there to confirm those cats are still in there

We'll do. With the main cat missing, that's a possibility. The pipe is relatively heavy though, so we'll see tomorrow.

-BP