Another day at the shop.

[LHC30]

Hey Jim, thanks for posting all of your great work, is dream material and inspirational. I just shared this post with (among others) my daughter in law, Kaley. She lit up, showed me a bunch of photos and memories, and told me to tell you hello.
small world

 

[bonesfab]

Hey Jim, thanks for posting all of your great work, is dream material and inspirational. I just shared this post with (among others) my daughter in law, Kaley. She lit up, showed me a bunch of photos and memories, and told me to tell you hello.
small world

Kaley was an awesome shop girl. Hope she is doing well.

 

[Cdog]

View attachment 1306861

Sweet as fuck! But I really meant Carbon Fiber Fenders/Hood....front clip...

Now I'm even feeling more poor lol! Some sick stuff there, are you supposed to install your own frame connector rails or otherwise stiffen the unibody? I would think the 4 link rear would require a full frame/rollcage?

That’s exactly what I have. With billet lat D 1 inch drop uprights.

I tied in the front to the rear with weld in subframe connectors. You install yourself or hire a shop. This X55 ss350 69 Camaro had some Billy Bob hacked up frame rail on the passenger side so the AME frame made sense. We plasma torched the frame rails off. Grinded off the rest and stitch welded the frame to the car. Now it’s stout.

I’m an Art Morrison dealer if you’re interested.

Front fenders are 1 inch wider but stock appearing and have carbon fiber inners. Car has DSE mini tubs. I have somewhere around 15 inches of available wheel tub in the rear so 335 + and should have room for 305 in the front with no rubbing

 

[rrrr]

455 Firebird you say..... I had a neighbor with a TA 455 shaker hood manual.... I believe it was a '75 or '76 last year..... he gave me so much shit cause I had the '77 Smokey n Bandit dog. Now his could move.... mine was all show no go. There was just something about that 455.

I'm gonna go sit over here while you two talk real motor stuff.....

My TA was a '73.

 

[hman442]

I found out changing the sparkplug in my 455 Firebird that was under that monster almost required a surgically implanted second wrist.

Same on a 455 Olds

 

[poncho]

My TA was a '73.

We ran a 73 SD455 for many years until it became to valuable to take a chance on blowing up, motor had balls.
My Mom actually liked the boat better with that motor versus the 427BBC we replaced it with.
For you youngsters yes there was a time tall zoomies were considered cool.

 

[bonesfab]

Well another day at the house. Finally got the caddie cleaned up and back together. It needs to go to the shop where it is getting new exhaust and efi.

 

[Shlbyntro]

Well another day at the house. Finally got the caddie cleaned up and back together. It needs to go to the shop where it is getting new exhaust and efi. View attachment 1316381 View attachment 1316382 View attachment 1316383

bah humbug. leave the carburetor!

 

[4Waters]

bah humbug. leave the carburetor!

Get back to us in 30 years

 

[Shlbyntro]

Get back to us in 30 years

I've been known to take the fuel injection off and put carburetors back on. My tune won't change (pun intended)

KISS

 

[4Waters]

I've been known to take the fuel injection off and put carburetors back on. My tune won't change (pun intended)

KISS

I know and I was just like you and my tune changed (pun intended)

 

[92562]

Well another day at the house. Finally got the caddie cleaned up and back together. It needs to go to the shop where it is getting new exhaust and efi. View attachment 1316381 View attachment 1316382 View attachment 1316383

I almost spit wine out of my nose at the plate. When I bought my CTS-V, my Jewish friends called it the Goy Wagon!

 

[Shlbyntro]

I know and I was just like you and my tune changed (pun intended)

ya but I'm stubborn and hard and pig headed.

I've got a complete ecm-to-injector MAF fuel injection system for a sbf I'd let go of since you gave up it's just sitting in a box

 

[4Waters]

ya but I'm stubborn and hard and pig headed.

I've got a complete ecm-to-injector MAF fuel injection system for a sbf I'd let go of since you gave up it's just sitting in a box

Yup, sounds familiar . I didn't give up, I'll tune a carb all day at the track and enjoy every minute of it but when I want to drive my street car I no longer enjoy dealing with a carb, I just want to hit the key and enjoy, like I said, get back to us in 30 years. I've got all that stuff as well.

Edit: FYI, I may laugh a little but in 30 years I WON'T say "I told you so" because I was hard headed like you.

 

[Shlbyntro]

Yup, sounds familiar . I didn't give up, I'll tune a carb all day at the track and enjoy every minute of it but when I want to drive my street car I no longer enjoy dealing with a carb, I just want to hit the key and enjoy, like I said, get back to us in 30 years. I've got all that stuff as well.

Edit: FYI, I may laugh a little but in 30 years I WON'T say "I told you so" because I was hard headed like you.

I don't know what kind of carburetors you've been messing with but when I set one up, it's set it and forget it . The only thing I might have to do is adjust the idle speed a 1/4 turn at the first heat up/cool down of the year.

 

[Eliminator21vdrive]

I don't know what kind of carburetors you've been messing with but when I set one up, it's set it and forget it . The only thing I might have to do is adjust the idle speed a 1/4 turn at the first heat up/cool down of the year.

The problem I have is the fuel in CA sucks! It will evaporate out in 3-4 days and leave behind some nasty shit.

 

[Shlbyntro]

The problem I have is the fuel in CA sucks! It will evaporate out in 3-4 days and leave behind some nasty shit.

drive it more Heir Newscum will appreciate it!

 

[Eliminator21vdrive]

drive it more Heir Newscum will appreciate it!

Well it is getting a bigger engine as we speak! Oh and a bigger carb as well

 

[pixrthis]

Well another day at the house. Finally got the caddie cleaned up and back together. It needs to go to the shop where it is getting new exhaust and efi. View attachment 1316381 View attachment 1316382 View attachment 1316383

Did the Caddie come from a guy named Jeff in Saugus?

 

[bonesfab]

Did the Caddie come from a guy named Jeff in Saugus?

His Name was Jeff but he was here in Camarillo. Used to be a engine builder turned major drunk and died in jail.

 

[4Waters]

I don't know what kind of carburetors you've been messing with but when I set one up, it's set it and forget it . The only thing I might have to do is adjust the idle speed a 1/4 turn at the first heat up/cool down of the year.

See, there's this issue with the gas and the carbs, they don't like each other so you end up having to rebuild them and tuning them. I had to rebuild the carb on my in-laws boat every 2-3 years, that gets old and dangerous when it comes to fires. I know drive it more but that doesn't matter you will still end up with a bad seal because of the fuel. The other thing is it get hard to drive these all the time when you have kids that are into sports. Seriously I've been in your shoes but you haven't been in mine yet, you still have a few years to go

 

[Shlbyntro]

See, there's this issue with the gas and the carbs, they don't like each other so you end up having to rebuild them and tuning them. I had to rebuild the carb on my in-laws boat every 2-3 years, that gets old and dangerous when it comes to fires. I know drive it more but that doesn't matter you will still end up with a bad seal because of the fuel. The other thing is it get hard to drive these all the time when you have kids that are into sports. Seriously I've been in your shoes but you haven't been in mine yet, you still have a few years to go

New carburetor gasket/seal kits are ethanol resistant these days. You dont have to worry about those like you would have 15 years ago. really the only issue is the deposits left in the carb when sitting for extended periods. Although it can't be completely cut out, it can generally be mostly mitigated by using a fuel stabilizer which should makes those problems you're referring to non existent for at least 6mo-1yr. If you're not burning a full tank of gas in that time frame, well both fuel systems are susceptible to failures at that point. With the main difference being a carburetor will just make you rebuild it and the engine will run terrible, an mpi fuel system could potentially grenade your engine if one of the fuel injectors has a failure. The worst part of this failure is an untrained ear won't notice there's a problem until it's too late. Even a trained ear won't be able to catch it most times and it can only be caught with a spark plug read/bench flowing the injectors. TBI injection, well it's probably safest but there are a lot of horror stories out there on those too mainly from bad tunes and heat soak issues. I believe bonez is a pro with those at this point and knows how to mostly cut those issues out however I still say the Caddy should keep its carburetor!

 

[4Waters]

New carburetor gasket/seal kits are ethanol resistant these days. You dont have to worry about those like you would have 15 years ago. really the only issue is the deposits left in the carb when sitting for extended periods. Although it can't be completely cut out, it can generally be mostly mitigated by using a fuel stabilizer which should makes those problems you're referring to non existent for at least 6mo-1yr. If you're not burning a full tank of gas in that time frame, well both fuel systems are susceptible to failures at that point. With the main difference being a carburetor will just make you rebuild it and the engine will run terrible, an mpi fuel system could potentially grenade your engine if one of the fuel injectors has a failure. The worst part of this failure is an untrained ear won't notice there's a problem until it's too late. Even a trained ear won't be able to catch it most times and it can only be caught with a spark plug read/bench flowing the injectors. TBI injection, well it's probably safest but there are a lot of horror stories out there on those too mainly from bad tunes and heat soak issues. I believe bonez is a pro with those at this point and knows how to mostly cut those issues out however I still say the Caddy should keep its carburetor!

I put the boat away and I know when it's coming back out, I don't for sure know that when I park my car, you know wife and kids so stabilizers are kinda difficult to determine. My HVAC guy has a sand car with a carbed LS in it because he says fuck FI. Well he went to get the car ready and the carb needs rebuild again, he's over it, it's getting FI and he uses ethanol free fuel. He's my age. While it won't be more than a couple months it doesn't matter, my lawn mower ran a tank a week and I had to replace the carb every 18-24 months, ethanol is brutal on carbs.

 

[monkeyswrench]

New carburetor gasket/seal kits are ethanol resistant these days. You dont have to worry about those like you would have 15 years ago. really the only issue is the deposits left in the carb when sitting for extended periods. Although it can't be completely cut out, it can generally be mostly mitigated by using a fuel stabilizer which should makes those problems you're referring to non existent for at least 6mo-1yr. If you're not burning a full tank of gas in that time frame, well both fuel systems are susceptible to failures at that point. With the main difference being a carburetor will just make you rebuild it and the engine will run terrible, an mpi fuel system could potentially grenade your engine if one of the fuel injectors has a failure. The worst part of this failure is an untrained ear won't notice there's a problem until it's too late. Even a trained ear won't be able to catch it most times and it can only be caught with a spark plug read/bench flowing the injectors. TBI injection, well it's probably safest but there are a lot of horror stories out there on those too mainly from bad tunes and heat soak issues. I believe bonez is a pro with those at this point and knows how to mostly cut those issues out however I still say the Caddy should keep its carburetor!

In 1996 my daily driver was a 1950 Ford, 5.0 and EFI. At that point, it wasn't about "driveability" concerns, it was about compromise. I was 18 and wanted a V8. I was making roughly 6$ an hour, and could only afford fuel and insurance for one car.

That shitbox got 18mpg, and ran a blazing 13.1 in the 1/4. Not great, but it got me to work as well. Bones I think has the opposite problem...too many cars to keep in the rotation. In his case, the ability to let it sit for weeks, bump the key and have it start, is probably more important than much else. It's a battleship, not a hotrod.

 

[Cdog]

@bonesfab What do you think of the Holley Sniper system? Looking at the Sniper 2 for my k5.

Also looking at aluminum radiators. Cold case or Griffin?

 

[Bigbore500r]

I put the boat away and I know when it's coming back out, I don't for sure know that when I park my car, you know wife and kids so stabilizers are kinda difficult to determine. My HVAC guy has a sand car with a carbed LS in it because he says fuck FI. Well he went to get the car ready and the carb needs rebuild again, he's over it, it's getting FI and he uses ethanol free fuel. He's my age. While it won't be more than a couple months it doesn't matter, my lawn mower ran a tank a week and I had to replace the carb every 18-24 months, ethanol is brutal on carbs.

View attachment 1316535

Small motor carbs are most succeptible to the ethanol fuel issues. The small jet passages, especialy pilot jet, don't stand a chance and get glazed over immediately when they sit. Seems like you can't let them sit for even 2 months these days. Stabil and fuel stabilizers don't seem to help the issue with pilot jets getting clogged, I used a shit ton of Stabil before putting stuff away last desert season, and the carbs on the small stuff were fucked anyways. If I don't start my smaller generator, my daughters CRF70 and My son's TTR every 45 days, it is garaunteed they are gonna run like shit at a minimum, or be completely fucked if we're past the 2 month mark.

 

[Bigbore500r]

New carburetor gasket/seal kits are ethanol resistant these days. You dont have to worry about those like you would have 15 years ago. really the only issue is the deposits left in the carb when sitting for extended periods. Although it can't be completely cut out, it can generally be mostly mitigated by using a fuel stabilizer which should makes those problems you're referring to non existent for at least 6mo-1yr. If you're not burning a full tank of gas in that time frame, well both fuel systems are susceptible to failures at that point. With the main difference being a carburetor will just make you rebuild it and the engine will run terrible, an mpi fuel system could potentially grenade your engine if one of the fuel injectors has a failure. The worst part of this failure is an untrained ear won't notice there's a problem until it's too late. Even a trained ear won't be able to catch it most times and it can only be caught with a spark plug read/bench flowing the injectors. TBI injection, well it's probably safest but there are a lot of horror stories out there on those too mainly from bad tunes and heat soak issues. I believe bonez is a pro with those at this point and knows how to mostly cut those issues out however I still say the Caddy should keep its carburetor!

This is all true, but MPI stuff generally is general OK as long as it doesn't sit more than 6 months. I've had my boat sit every season from October to April for the past 14 years, and it hasn't had issues with the injectors clogging. Some years I have ran Stabil, some years not, but I always run the tanks low before I put it away, and then fill them full with fresh 91 and some octane boost on the first trip out, to make sure the older gas is diluted and octane is safe. It's not a blower motor or anything, so I risk it for the biscuit

 

[Shlbyntro]

@bonesfab What do you think of the Holley Sniper system? Looking at the Sniper 2 for my k5.

Also looking at aluminum radiators. Cold case or Griffin?

Cold Case is in my Fairlane and also going in the Cobra. go ahead all and give me shit for not using factory steel/copper radiators I did go way out of my way to keep the factory belt driven fan while fighting persistent overheating issues in the Fairlane though (also the same time I ripped all the FI off) and the Cold Case was already in my Fox with that motor.

 

[4Waters]

Small motor carbs are most succeptible to the ethanol fuel issues. The small jet passages, especialy pilot jet, don't stand a chance and get glazed over immediately when they sit. Seems like you can't let them sit for even 2 months these days. Stabil and fuel stabilizers don't seem to help the issue with pilot jets getting clogged, I used a shit ton of Stabil before putting stuff away last desert season, and the carbs on the small stuff were fucked anyways. If I don't start my smaller generator, my daughters CRF70 and My son's TTR every 45 days, it is garaunteed they are gonna run like shit at a minimum, or be completely fucked if we're past the 2 month mark.

Agreed but I was running my lawnmower every week, when I switched to tru-fuel the problem went away. Ethanol free is the only answer but it's too expensive in large quantities. Resistant gaskets are just that, resistant. Modern FI systems are better designed for modern fuels.

 

[Cdog]

cold case in my Fairlane and also going in the Cobra. go ahead all and give me shit for not using factory steel/copper radiators I did go way out of my way to keep the factory belt driven fan while fighting persistent overheating issues in the Fairlane tho

Once you weld aluminum you realize how superior it is for a radiator. I’m doing a dual fan set up & pre gaming a LS/LT conversion

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Small motor carbs are most succeptible to the ethanol fuel issues. The small jet passages, especialy pilot jet, don't stand a chance and get glazed over immediately when they sit. Seems like you can't let them sit for even 2 months these days. Stabil and fuel stabilizers don't seem to help the issue with pilot jets getting clogged, I used a shit ton of Stabil before putting stuff away last desert season, and the carbs on the small stuff were fucked anyways. If I don't start my smaller generator, my daughters CRF70 and My son's TTR every 45 days, it is garaunteed they are gonna run like shit at a minimum, or be completely fucked if we're past the 2 month mark.

Just more time to enjoy that beautiful weather while you are performing carb cleanings!

 

[Shlbyntro]

Agreed but I was running my lawnmower every week, when I switched to tru-fuel the problem went away. Ethanol free is the only answer but it's too expensive in large quantities. Resistant gaskets are just that, resistant. Modern FI systems are better designed for modern fuels.

Ethanol free is $3.69/gal at my local Randall's

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Once you weld aluminum you realize how superior it is for a radiator. I’m doing a dual fan set up & pre gaming a LS/LT conversion

Howe told me dual pass aluminum radiator is the way to go for LS/LT swaps. It’s what I have in my car, it’s been flawless.

 

[Cdog]

Howe told me dual pass aluminum radiator is the way to go for LS/LT swaps. It’s what I have in my car, it’s been flawless.

That’s exactly what I’m getting. Cold case is a little cheaper than the griffin. The fans look nicer on the griffin

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

That’s exactly what I’m getting. Cold case is a little cheaper than the griffin. The fans look nicer on the griffin

You’ll be dialed.

 

[4Waters]

Ethanol free is $3.69/gal at my local Randall's

Wasn't something mentioned yesterday about California fuels I would have to order it from VP or something at $6+ a gallon. If I could pull up to a pump and get ethanol free fuel I would probably leave a carb on my car.

 

[Shlbyntro]

Wasn't something mentioned yesterday about California fuels I would have to order it from VP or something at $6+ a gallon. If I could pull up to a pump and get ethanol free fuel I would probably leave a carb on my car.

yes haha. I still run standard gas (E10 in TX) in most my vehicles and haven't had issue. I've actually only made the switch to Efree on the Mustang and the SeaRay.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Wasn't something mentioned yesterday about California fuels I would have to order it from VP or something at $6+ a gallon. If I could pull up to a pump and get ethanol free fuel I would probably leave a carb on my car.

You can get it at the VP stations. I dont think there any around us though. There is one in Paso that has ethanol free 99 octane I believe, but was (even 6 years ago) $9.99 a gallon. I really wanted to run it in my boat, but for 3x the money (at that time), it wasn't worth it at all.

 

[HubbaHubbaLife]

Well another day at the house. Finally got the caddie cleaned up and back together. It needs to go to the shop where it is getting new exhaust and efi. View attachment 1316381 View attachment 1316382 View attachment 1316383

Now lets see, if memory serves correct thats a '68? I seem to recall my dad had his first Caddy as a '67 and that grill came straight across while the next years had that curve.... At 8 years old I loved washing that beast but I had to crawl up on hood & trunk to reach the centers... and I loved being able to drive it a bit forward to scrub those rear tires and whitewalls properly! Best part was nobody seemed to notice I might take it off down the street a little just to air dry things.

 

[bonesfab]

@bonesfab What do you think of the Holley Sniper system? Looking at the Sniper 2 for my k5.

Also looking at aluminum radiators. Cold case or Griffin?

Don't waste your money on a sniper. Get a terminator and it will do a throttle body efi or power an ls swap. I have had some issues with the griffins lately. Cold cases seem to be ok.

 

[bonesfab]

Now lets see, if memory serves correct thats a '68? I seem to recall my dad had his first Caddy as a '67 and that grill came straight across while the next years had that curve.... At 8 years old I loved washing that beast but I had to crawl up on hood & trunk to reach the centers... and I loved being able to drive it a bit forward to scrub those rear tires and whitewalls properly! Best part was nobody seemed to notice I might take it off down the street a little just to air dry things.

It is a 68. Just wiped it down probably the first time in a year and a half.

 

[bonesfab]

That’s exactly what I’m getting. Cold case is a little cheaper than the griffin. The fans look nicer on the griffin

Throw the chinese fans away and get a couple of spal's and forget about it.

 

[HubbaHubbaLife]

It is a 68. Just wiped it down probably the first time in a year and a half.

Amazing thing the mind.... weird shit I remember from what is now what 55 years. And then I get off a couch and can't remember what I got up for.... course that weed pipe over there isn't helpful.

 

[Cdog]

Don't waste your money on a sniper. Get a terminator and it will do a throttle body efi or power an ls swap. I have had some issues with the griffins lately. Cold cases seem to be ok.

That’s what I’ve heard too. Thx!

 

[SBMech]

Throw the chinese fans away and get a couple of spal's and forget about it.

I've only installed Spal's in my fan deleted vehicles. They are superb.

 

[rivrrts429]

Well another day at the house. Finally got the caddie cleaned up and back together. It needs to go to the shop where it is getting new exhaust and efi. View attachment 1316381 View attachment 1316382 View attachment 1316383

Stunning car. Love that it’s a vert.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

I've only installed Spal's in my fan deleted vehicles. They are superb.

Dual Spals here as well.

 

[bonesfab]

Stunning car. Love that it’s a vert.

Not quite as nice as yours but thank you. It is a 10-15 footer. But I can drive it and not worry about it.

 

[bonesfab]

I've only installed Spal's in my fan deleted vehicles. They are superb.

In 20 plus years I have only had one spal fan fail. And I use a shit ton of them. I probably have 15-20 in stock of various sizes.

 

[bonesfab]

Shop girls car showed up last night. She is a sweet peach she is. And the needle I made to show her what I am trying to accomplish. It came with a new roof, one quarter and a new floor pan as part of the package