TeamSwift

So my biggest pet peeve my mk1 n/a that a so proudly paid $100 for has started to drip. Nothing makes me more upset than an oil leak besides maybe a Honda cutting me off then slowing down first inspection: the tranny is caked and the oil pan is caked. Because it's a $100 car I put half a bottle of stop leak in the crank case(also hoping it quiets my valve ticking until my cork valve cover gasket comes in on Tuesday). Everything is so caked until it's up off the ground I've got no idea what all is leaking. I've got about 3 gasket sets and baggies full of cam crank and Main seals. I'm preparing to wage war on this three banger.

BATTLE FACE. Last time I did a leak repair on a mk1 it was the cam seal and oil pan gasket.

Wild guess this time is the oil pressure sensor is leaking and the rear main.

Anyone want to shoot in the dark and give a guess? (Winner gets bragging rights )

Hint: it's not the oil pan bung as I just replaced the seal with the last oil change with a nice copper washer from a fuel pressure test kit. Also I used a random oil filter from my grandpas shop he used to do fleet maintenance for a company who used metros as their delivery cars(seal matched and the treads were the same).

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When I get that look in my eye its best not to ask questions 0.o
1978 Chevy monza 2+2, 74 step side Chevy, firebird,firebird,fake 91 firehawk in the making,trans am(dd),other trans am, n/a mk1 sprint, and my baby 1987 Chevy sprint turbo in red. How many run right now? Just the n/a sprint. It's not a collection it's my retirement plan.

Mark me down for distributor

I stand corrected. Worse than an oil leak is the mcs taking a Duce in the middle of a Portland rain storm. . I thought my trans am had a flooding issue holy heck there's fuel coming out of my air horn . I knew it was going out but needed it to just last me 1-2 more weeks before I could tear down the carb and get to a drill press. This doesn't mean game over it just means ya'll have more time to get your guesses in I remember about a month or two ago someone had put one of these up in the for sale section before I had a n/a car damn captain hindsight why are you so cruel. Will WOT upon start up put this thing in clear flood mode and cut the injector?

Edit: who said throwing a wrench and swearing to the car gods never fixed anything ? I got it started after bouncing a crescent off the air cleaner getting in the car and stomping on the gas pedal repeatedly while cranking for a minute she sputtered then fired right up . It's home now we'll see if it starts tomorrow. Some day I'll give her the respect she deserves but for now I think the car has learned its lesson.

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When I get that look in my eye its best not to ask questions 0.o
1978 Chevy monza 2+2, 74 step side Chevy, firebird,firebird,fake 91 firehawk in the making,trans am(dd),other trans am, n/a mk1 sprint, and my baby 1987 Chevy sprint turbo in red. How many run right now? Just the n/a sprint. It's not a collection it's my retirement plan.

Im with Top check the distributors gasket and the fuel pump gasket just please please remove the fuel pump rod and inspepect it for ware replace if necessary and lube it up.. of course follow all of the installation procedures.
I skipped the part about remove and inspect and now have a bent rod.

I installed a electric inline pump. After my test drive- my drive way look like an oil refinery.. my distributor bolts were loose .. but my main problem was that my fuel pump gasket was missing a chunk from the bottom.
Temporary fix RTV ... not one leak 300 miles and going.

Post some pics if you can. Good luck.

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88 Chevy Sprint Base NA 5 speed 3 door.
97 Chevy Tahoe 350 4l60E 4x4 3 door.

If you're poor and you do something stupid, you're nuts. If you're rich and do something stupid, you're eccentric.......

Oil at dist and fuel pump is old nothing fresh both are covered to all hell in rtv.

https://flickr.com/photos/146386930@N04 ... 2957585716

Next?

_________________
When I get that look in my eye its best not to ask questions 0.o
1978 Chevy monza 2+2, 74 step side Chevy, firebird,firebird,fake 91 firehawk in the making,trans am(dd),other trans am, n/a mk1 sprint, and my baby 1987 Chevy sprint turbo in red. How many run right now? Just the n/a sprint. It's not a collection it's my retirement plan.

Serviced my trans today in the Oreileys parking lot found one of my drips was the drain plug for the transaxle. But the final leak that I'm most concerned about is at the front right corner(passenger side) where I park every day I purchased a drip pan and I'm getting about 5-6 drops of oil in the same spot overnight. Stop leak did nothing which tells me it has to be some mating surface where there's either a fitting or rtv instead of a gasket. That's the final clue I know I'm wrong with my guess as the stop leak should have made the seals swell and the leak decrease.

On a side note I swear half of a c clip came out of my transaxle with a boat load of metal shavings when I pulled the plug. With some fresh valvoline synchromesh the trans is quieter that I'd if ever thought possible only noise I hear now is a dry throughout bearing. Shifts smooth and I'm not going to linger too long on what inside my trans is missing half a c clip

Y'all can guess twice I keep my oil topped off so I'm dragging my feet on this one.

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When I get that look in my eye its best not to ask questions 0.o
1978 Chevy monza 2+2, 74 step side Chevy, firebird,firebird,fake 91 firehawk in the making,trans am(dd),other trans am, n/a mk1 sprint, and my baby 1987 Chevy sprint turbo in red. How many run right now? Just the n/a sprint. It's not a collection it's my retirement plan.

Leak solved last chance for guesses. Hint it took about 15 minutes to fix.

_________________
When I get that look in my eye its best not to ask questions 0.o
1978 Chevy monza 2+2, 74 step side Chevy, firebird,firebird,fake 91 firehawk in the making,trans am(dd),other trans am, n/a mk1 sprint, and my baby 1987 Chevy sprint turbo in red. How many run right now? Just the n/a sprint. It's not a collection it's my retirement plan.

What was it ??????????

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Dale

1985 Chevy Sprint Mk1 G10 5 Speed Sky Blue

Well the engine leak was the oil pan the old silicone had swelled and started to leak. The trans which sadly is still leaking a bit appears to be coming from where the shift linkage goes into the trans. Found a coolant leak last week going from the tb to the coolant pipe. After that was fixed I started smelling gas because I'm not the smartest while inspecting for leaks I never had the engine running while under the hood one of my fuel lines was leaking which was obvious once I had it running and the hood open. With the coolant leak and fuel leak addressed my car is running cooler than ever and my last trip over the Santiam pass at WOT nearly the entire time I averaged a whopping 47.8 mpg's this little 3 banger is slowly getting the love it deserves. Next project is going to be replacing the body sitting in the woods in the Washington side of the gorge did this poor feller in. Pretty sure the rack is ready to break free from the car and the drivers side floor pan can barely hold my fat butt off the pavement.

Anyone know what all secures the AC compressor to the block? This is my first and only sprint with AC and after redoing all the electrical components of the AC I went to put my belt on and found my compressor is flopping around. Also that Oreileys sold me the wrong v belt. I've got the AC supliment but I really like asking dumb questions here I was astounded to find that after all these years The AC system is still holding pressure and is still charged.

_________________
When I get that look in my eye its best not to ask questions 0.o
1978 Chevy monza 2+2, 74 step side Chevy, firebird,firebird,fake 91 firehawk in the making,trans am(dd),other trans am, n/a mk1 sprint, and my baby 1987 Chevy sprint turbo in red. How many run right now? Just the n/a sprint. It's not a collection it's my retirement plan.

This weekend my dad and I tore down the engine and caught a few things right before the engine would have been critical. Scuffing In all bores heavily carbon caked Pistons two of which had begun to create hot spots. Rod bearings were toast as was the crank. Valve both intake and exaust were caked. Head gasket had failed in three spots. Vacuum leaks ect. She got a fresh crank rod bearings rings 3 angle valve grind. Cleaned up the scuffing and gave her a nice cross hatch. New headlight rebuilt the outer CV on the drivers side new fuel pump valve seals all in car. Sadly I ran out of time last night and had to leave the project to my dad and drive back over the pass at 2AM in the family's 93 tracker. All that was left was to adjust the valves and get the pulleys on but I had work today and have been wanting to drive the tracker around with the top off. Almost had it done start to finish starting Saturday afternoon and throwing in the towel Sunday at midnight. Sadly I don't think I'll see my little n/a till I get back from Mexico in July.

_________________
When I get that look in my eye its best not to ask questions 0.o
1978 Chevy monza 2+2, 74 step side Chevy, firebird,firebird,fake 91 firehawk in the making,trans am(dd),other trans am, n/a mk1 sprint, and my baby 1987 Chevy sprint turbo in red. How many run right now? Just the n/a sprint. It's not a collection it's my retirement plan.

Well this car is to sell the beginning of next week. It's come quite a ways since I picked it up as a parts car. Rebuilt the engine in car and the front seal on the crank is leaking a tad oh well. Got the AC operational after a day the clutch went capoot. Ordered a new compressor which will have her blowing cold again. Maybe having a Spair compressor laying around I'll put a new clutch on and install AC into the next car I'm planning to sell which has had all hvac components removed. I'm planning on reducing my count to a single turbo sprint instead of 1 n/a and three turbo cars. Not that many will read this but incase anyone is needing goodies I'm going to take my stash to the Redmond swap meet in September along with a few truck loads of firebird junk. Yup this car was a fun ride but I can do displacement or turbocharged which this one is severely lacking in. Now that the roomie is gone I have room to button up loose ends on my original project once we stop having this heat wave. Man this weather is killer.

_________________
When I get that look in my eye its best not to ask questions 0.o
1978 Chevy monza 2+2, 74 step side Chevy, firebird,firebird,fake 91 firehawk in the making,trans am(dd),other trans am, n/a mk1 sprint, and my baby 1987 Chevy sprint turbo in red. How many run right now? Just the n/a sprint. It's not a collection it's my retirement plan.

Well I've still got this beauty two days before the sale my firebird threw a rod and so I was back to driving my n/a 87'. I'm pretty grateful for this little trooper after the engine rebuild I drove for about 10,000 miles and got tail ended sitting still luckily the other car was a lowered little mazda convertable going about 15mph so he went under me and spun me 180 and the damage to my car was corrected with 30 minutes on a lift my big pry bar and a handy little sletge hammer thought it would be a good chance to go through the brakes since the car came with all new suspension components. The fronts upon inspection were at 70% and the rotors showed minimal wear but I was getting pretty violent shaking when I would brake hard.

I started with the rears I had an old set of drums off my turbo project laying around so I turned them on a lathe and installed new bearings the spacer so the job would go quickly. Well quickly it did not go, one bearing had seized to the spindle came free from the drum. Oh well it didn't actually hurt the spindle so I installed the drums new shoes new drum hardware and only reused the lug studs which I knocked out with a hammer and then drove back in with a steel drift.

Unfortunately I had 3/4 wheel bearing failing and in the process wore out the hub sleeves that ride on the inside of the front wheel bearings. In the process it behave to shave down the spacer and as a result the front hubs were held on my only the cotter pin and castle nut. Upon removal of the castle nut(all of finger tight) the hubs fell out(service manuals describe needing to use a hub puller). To correct this on a budget with advice of a wise shop foreman I first measured the spacer with a caliper and found differential shims that fit over the sleeve without contacting the inside of the steering Knuckles that would provide the clearance that had been lost. I then took the hub and staked the surface which each bearing sits using a center punch at 8 points. Then used emery cloth to polish it up. Drove in the new bearings to the knuckles with the spacer and shims one side took .007 the other .025. I put extreme heat lock tight on the side face of each bearing then installed the hubs to the knuckles. Drove to work and back and noticed an insane change for the better from rattleing to heavy braking.

My little car is back on the road and you'd never be able to tell of the collision if the tip of my muffler didn't have green paint on it. Now it's time for me to take a snowy road trip and come back with a bag of goodies before Christmas for all the folks who have been waiting on me.

These cars are stout for what they are and can take allot of neglect and abuse I'm always being impressed with this and the reliability.

_________________
When I get that look in my eye its best not to ask questions 0.o
1978 Chevy monza 2+2, 74 step side Chevy, firebird,firebird,fake 91 firehawk in the making,trans am(dd),other trans am, n/a mk1 sprint, and my baby 1987 Chevy sprint turbo in red. How many run right now? Just the n/a sprint. It's not a collection it's my retirement plan.