Do you have to do tailpipe emissions check? Does it pass? If it passes, leave the cat itself alone.

The leak at the inlet might actually be helping the oxidation section of the cat. But I would use exhaust/high temp sealer to pack the open space between the pipes, cut the pipe on both sides so a clamp will tighten it against the Y-pipe. A leak that close to the pasenger compartment can be an issue.

 

No tailpipe test here. I think for a '95 it's just a visual inspection.

I'm sorry to be obtuse on the cutting directions, but I want to make sure I understand what you mean. Are you suggesting that I cut a slit at the top of the cat inlet and also on the bottom so that the clamp can be more effective?

 

Yes. You want the cat inlet pipe to have the flexibility for the clamp to pull the pieces down tight against the Y-pipe. If the gap is really big, fill the gap first with something like "Permatex Muffler & Tailpipe Sealer" While its still wet, tighten the clamp.

 

I understand now about the inlet and clamp. Thank you.

I got the radiator out today. It doesn't really look that great and I think I will just replace it. It looks bent or somehow out of shape toward the top. It reminds me of what the heater core looked like when I pulled that. Obviously the expansion that occurred from freezing stretched and pushed things.

I removed the expansion tank and flushed that out. There was a lot of sediment at the bottom of it. The area under where the battery sits is corroded, so removing the tank has the added benefit of allowing me to discover that so I can arrest it before it becomes rotted.

I flushed water through the heater core both ways until it ran clear. It was very dirty.

Looking inside where the upper hose connects to the t-stat housing is scary. There is so much rust scale visible. Makes me think I should pull the pump to inspect it.

The radiator was a hassle to remove because of the AC lines that rest in the plastic brackets on the passenger side, and the way the condensor (if that's what it's called) rests in brackets on the front of the radiator. I ended up removing the condenser. Is there a way for me to assess whether it is functional and can be re-used? I would like to have functioning AC in the car eventually.

Someone smeared a whole bunch of some kind of sealant around the bottom portion of the timing cover. Is this leak likely something that involves part of the oil pan gasket? I'm wondering if I can fix it by removing the timing cover and replacing whatever gasket is there. I'm not really interested in trying to remove the oil pan, though.

The project has now reached a point where it has grown quite a bit. Taking more parts off always increases the danger of getting bogged down and taking months where you thought something would take days or weeks. If you feel like being charitable and sticking around this thread to offer the occasional comment, it will help me to feel able to see this through to the end. It looks like you're the only person looking at this friend, Injuneer. I appreciate your help.

 

Others are watching and following - keep after it!

 

Thank you! I appreciate that.

Also, I mean to type "thread" and not "friend" in my last post before this one, where I said: "It looks like you're the only person looking at this friend."

 

The problem is this site is on its last legs. 100,000+ members, but there's no more than a 1/2-dozen that help others with any regularity. And the majority are LT1 oriented. The site Administrator hasn’t signed in for more than 2-1/2 years. There is one other moderator that pops in regularly. I'm apparently the only one that checks the site multiple times daily. I've tried for years to get the site restructured to attract 5th and 6th Gen owners, but no one seems to care.

Whenever this issue comes up, the most frequent explanations offered are that sites like this have been replaced by Facebook pages.

 

Injuneer, are there other sites that are more active for the LT1 folks? I guess I'm a dinosaur. I like the LT1 cars, though I know that the LS models are more capable. I honestly didn't even know we were up to 6th gen. Are you thinking that you will be active here even after your car has sold?

I finished unbolting the headers today, then removed the plugs. I am very lucky in that the header bolts weren't frozen at all. In fact, one or two were loose. I have not found a way to actually get them out of the car. The paths both up and down seem too tight.

The plugs are concerning to me because I'm not sure what I am seeing. Someone mentioned that coolant leaking into the cylinders would show itself through very clean spark plugs. None of these plugs are totally clean, as they all have black on them. However, four have one part of the insulator that is black and the other side is clean and white. Do you know what this means?

I am eager to remove the wires to show you what they look like, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I can see that at least one wire was run in such a way that it was rubbing against one or two pulleys on the front of the engine.

I'm contending with an urge to keep taking stuff off the engine to clean and assess. I told my oldest daughter that this can be her first car. This helps to motivate me to work on it because it's not just me playing with old junk for myself. Maybe this is the time to clean everything up a bit and take care of any issues. It's a risky path.

 

There's a site with a group that does fairly heavy LT1 builds, transplants into other cars, etc., mostly self-performed.

ltxtech.com

I hang out there too, mostly answering the same kind of tech stuff that gets covered here. Also on FirebirdNation.com, focusing on 4th Gens. That's about it.

ls1tech.com probably has more active LT1 owners than we have there. Some regulars can be abrasive. Kept me away. I've looked at other sites with LT1 in the name, and a lot of the tech is unbelievably incorrect.

I'm retired, a (very) senior citizen, and I actually enjoy helping people solve problems. Sometimes I get trashed by newbies who don’t feel I'm actually helping them - makes me want to cut back. But so far I'm committed to keeping this site alive as long as I can. It’s embarrassing when somebody with a 1st or 2nd Gen comes here, and best I can do is give them limited help, if any, and have to explain there are few, if any members here to help them.

 

I have an account on ltxtech and remember the guys there being friendly, but I don't remember there being much traffic the last time I was on it. ls1tech always felt huge but not LT-centered. Have you ever been to garagejournal.com? It's a great place to talk about garage builds, tools, fabrication and projects and so forth. Very active.

I am considering removing the heads. Wouldn't this show me conclusively whether I had any head gasket leak? I don't see how I could since my pressure test of the cooling system did not reveal abnormal pressurizing of the system. Looking online, I found a few people who also had these half black, half white plug insulators. Folks suggested that it could be an issue with things like the way the fuel was being sprayed onto the plug. I should see if the chewed up plug wires are in the same cylinders as these "zebra" plugs. I'll check that after dinner.

I got the water pump off and the plug wires off. The mice must have been pretty desperate. I can say for sure that cylinder #8 was not firing at all because that wire is chewed clean through. Would the other cylinders have been firing with the insulation as chewed up as the pics show?

A previous owner used some kind of blue putty to hold the plug wires together and secure them to a broken plastic retainer on the driver's side. I will want to make sure the wires are run perfectly so they aren't rubbing against anything or touching anything too hot. Any tips for plug routing and retention on the LT1s?

 

I am looking at radiators on RockAuto. Is anything other than Delco going to be a mistake? The ACDelco they have listed says it works for both the auto and stick versions of this car. Won't the automatic version have extra fittings for a trans fluid cooler that I don't need?

Also, for the Edelbrock headers, do I need a special header-specific gasket or will any exhaust manifold gasket work?

 

Auto radiator has a trans cooler, some manual models/years have an engine oil cooler. I got a Griffin radiator for a manual trans. When we swapped in the TH400, we had add a fan assisted auto trans fluid cooler.

Maybe Delco makes a “universal” model with both sets of connections. The key to the LT1 radiator is the connection on the end tank, below the fill neck for the return line from the steam pipe on the back of the heads. That connection supposedly has a “liquid/vapor separator” internally.

 

This is the line that people sometimes confuse with another one, creating a problem with the overflow tank, well, overflowing?

I sanded the rusty area under the battery/above the overflow tank tonight during a short window of garage time. I used the hose to wash off the sanding dust and thought I'd get some higher pressure water into the block. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have already run the hose through the empty t-stat housing until what came out of the two block drains (knock sensor on PS and actual plug on DS) came out clear.

Well, I blasted water in through the top and bottom holes on the DS of the block behind where the water pump usually sits for just a few seconds and then checked what had drained out. It's more NASTY brown crap. You can see all the sediment visible on the shallow edge of the container as I am tipping it. There is plenty more sediment in there, I just couldn't get it all to settle in one spot for the photo. I also see a large dead spider in the water. It was already dead when I looked at the water, immediately after I turned off the hose, so I don't think he was in the container before I began. I think he was in the engine. It did sit for a long time with two 1-5/8 holes in the block where the core plugs had popped out. I think creatures tried to make a home inside. I'll keep doing this until it runs clear on both sides again.

 

Anymore it seems all replacement radiators are for automatics and the fittings are just capped for a manual car.

 

I have been pecking away at this while also tending to other stuff around the house. I picked up a bunch of parts at the parts store last week. My favorite store does not have AC Delco radiators, so what I got is a Spectre. I've spent time cleaning hardware that I am going to reuse on a wire wheel and I ordered a bunch of stainless hardware from Boltdepot.com where I wanted new. Do you guys know about this company? Their website is really easy to navigate and I think their prices are great. They have a massive selection. Look at my nice new battery hold down bolt compared to the old one. A tiny detail. but it makes me feel good to attend to it.

Super-basic question: in one of the attached images, you can see that the bracket for the oil dipstick tube does not line up with the hole in the block for the retaining bolt. It has actually just been loose in the car since I purchased it. I found a correct bolt and want to fasten it appropriately. My guess is that when the PO installed the headers, they needed to move the dipstick and it was a hassle for them to access the bolt. Should I just be trying to bend the tube to make the bracket fit? Once the headers are back in, I am sure I will need to fiddle with the tube so that it clears everything. Are there adjustable aftermarket tubes that are able to be mounted easily in these circumstances?

Another question: what does the "327" stamping on this block mean?

I dropped the starter to clean it up and make it easier to get the headers into place. I have now removed that expandable freeze lug in the picture and will install a pressed in brass plug. I reached my finger into the hole, and my God, there is so much grit that has collected in the back of the block that could not get flushed out of the drains. I'm going to try not to stress about it and just hope that it doesn't plug up my new radiator.

I used a red Scotch Brite pad and a wire wheel to clean up my headers, just to get the rust and flaking coating off as well as I could. I the applied some Ospho to convert and neutralize the rust. Then, I applied some high temp Rustoleum silver Bar-B-Q paint. I have no illusions that this is a long-term solution. I just wanted the headers to look better and I wanted to slow down the rust.

I've got my new plug wires installed and partially routed. I think I need to get the headers in place before I know exactly how to finish routing them to avoid them getting burned. I got some high-temp braided insulating sleeves from Amazon to install on them to help protect them.