Having one of those days... (vent)

BlackMetal

Active Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2005
Gunna vent here before I pop a blood vessel. (by the way, you don't have to respond with tech advice here, I've already posted about these various problems.)

>> I'm at the point with my GN again where it's more of a chore than a joy. Ever since throwing on the $600 12" front brake kit, my pedal has felt like garbage. I've bled the brakes multiple times, multiple methods (vacuum, gravity, pump n' hold), still not happy with the brakes. I finally got SOME pedal feel back, but now it pulls to the right. Should have stuck with the stock brakes. I'd really like to get rid of the powermaster, but that'll probably be an even bigger headache. Still not even sure if I trust vacuum brakes on these cars, can't really afford any other conversion, maybe manual. It's really hard to enjoy a fast car when you're scared that you can't stop it.

>> Ordered new headliner material on eBay at the end of last month, tore the car apart the following day, then sat here for a over a week waiting for my damn material to arrive. I finally get the stuff and the FedEx label was printed on the 6th of this month, thanks for taking an entire week to even get my package to the shipper! The headliner is out in the garage while the glue dries, I waited so long for the material to get here I'm not even going to remember how the interior goes back together. Not to mention I was just stuck in bed for 2 days with an insane pain in my back, guess what, it took about 5 minutes of being hunched over the headliner bonding it together to aggravate my back again.

>> Pulled my car out of the garage so I wouldn't have to worry about spraying the glue next to my car, I look at my car from behind while it's on the driveway and my car is leaning to the left really bad. :rolleyes: Seems like everyone with the ATR sway bar has this problem. Looks like a freakin' joke sitting crooked like that.

>> Still need to figure out why I'm only getting like 13" of vacuum with stock internals. Vacuum is so weak, my blow-off valve doesn't even work anymore because there isn't enough force pulling on the diaphragm. I spent $5 on some rubber vacuum port caps so I can pull the lines off of the vacuum block at the throttle body one at a time, cap them off, and see if I can narrow the leak down to a certain vacuum line. With my luck, it won't be any of the lines, and I'll be looking at changing an intake gasket.

Anyways, it just sucks that I spent so much money on parts over winter, now it's June, and I've driven the car for about 20 minutes so far. I can also blame that on the weather being 40 degrees or cooler until like mid-May. It's finally warm out, wish I could drive it.

I know as soon as I get it back on the road and have some fun, it will all be worth it.
Right now I'm just annoyed and feel like avoiding the garage for a few days.

I think I'm pretty good at working on my own car, but at this point, I wish I could take the car somewhere for a day, and get it back with a solid brake pedal, and 16" of vacuum. :(
 
Just take it one problem at a time, brutha. I was down for three years while I build my 78 malibu drag car, and prior to purchasing the GN. That was three years of sitting on my thumb.
 
I love posts like this one...I know that I am not alone.:smile:

We have all felt like you at one time or another. How much money did I throw at a problem only to have it not work or mess things up even more.:mad:

Step away from your car for a few weeks. Cover it. Dont even look at it. Go to the movies. Spend some time with your kids. Get back in to it when its not a chore but a hobby you enjoy. Everytime I say to my wife that I am finally done with my car and I will just drive it she says "yeah right!" There will always be something to do on these cars or fix or tune or whatever.



Dont get discouraged...hang in there.
 
i feel your pain. i'm allways trying to find parts, waiting for them, etc... at times i think murphy is haunting me. but i can say 100%, be glad you have a title, i've been trying to get one from the state since feb. they just keep ]!@#!^& me around, i'm beginning to think i'm gonna have a car that i'll have to trailer everywhere. hang in there, this was a great thread- i feel better already.
 
Just take it one problem at a time, brutha.

Good advise.
My ATR clone swaybar causes my car to bind turning every so often. I hate the noise. A H&R bar is going in when I can afford one..

You might as well stick with the pm if you got only 13lbs of vacuum. Do you have someone that you can trust that knows brakes? Did the pedal feel good before you did any changes to the system? Got to get them fixed first.

Hope you get this stuff resolved so you can have some fun with it.
 
as long as vac is steady 13 i wouldnt sweat it, i was freaking for the longest that i wasnt getting 17 to 22, did reading on here, some said 15 is norm, some said 14, im getting about 15 steady at idle, test your vac ball?

i went through 5 compression tests finding readings from 115 to 130 untill i got a decent reading across the board, my IAC gave me constant fits, got tranny flares from 1st into 2nd...went away..hmmmmm
my 3 core rad flows great on the back two cores...the front core ...not so much..i got a 1200 mile ride in this beast in 10 days.

starts harder then i would like, and when it does im starting to get some oil puff on start up after sitting, cold start depending on weather i get condinsation from the tail pipes...holy crap i blew a head gasket!...um no mike its just condinsation.
so i crank the fuel pressure down and it starts easier, i thought it was 43 base vac line off...hmm ok i got it at 37 vac line off...maybe too much fuel was hard start issue but my comp test checks out ok...man was that an injector sticking? weird idle today and at 70mph im pulling fuel in my long term.

see what i mean?...your not alone man:redface:

oh and my head liner is held up by paint stir sticks
 
Vacume leak? Hahahaha. Let me know when you start pulling the heads off it to narrow down that vacume leak. That's where I'm at now. . ;)
 
I feel your pain. When I bought my GN, the guy didnt put the mileage on the back of the title, so I didnt really think too much into it. Go to title it in DE and they said I either had to drive back to the guy I got it from (2hrs. one way), and get him to fill it in, or have it say mileage disclosure not required. Guess which I got...:mad: :( So I guess there goes the cars value.

It was sitting on the bump stops when I bought. The headliner is held up with some pins I raided out of Mother's sewing kit...:eek: Its got 10psi oil pressure at hot idle (running Mobil-1 10w30, no oil cooler) in this heat, and it has been running at 180° here lately. It still leaks oil, after a new rear main, oil pan; and valve cover gaskets. Ive got a issue with my AutoMeter tach, and the rest of the gauges dont light up at night. Lots of little details with this car that bug me. What can I say, I guess Im OCD.

But when it ran an 11.98 on bald DRs with the stock turbo, I have never loved this car more.


Just walk away from it for a while. It gets better. I totalled my WH-1 December 27, 2004, and it took me untill June 25, 2007 to get another TR. The time in between sucked.
 
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