Camino LS6

Oh, BTW, alot of those Camino-based phantoms have extensive rear quarter work.

In a perfect world, I would side with Samadei on basing an 80's GTO on the late 70's Lemans Coupe. The nose is even better than the 2+2 nose too. But finding one of those could be an issue. But, I do have to agree that GM would likely have used the GP instead.

Interesting little beastie.

I want to know about the Studebaker in the garage...

Never cared for these, and many of them were preserved because people thought that this would be the last convertible GM would ever build. Car is well-preserved, but the underhood is a bit nasty-looking for a car with so little use. At that price, I am forced to jeer quietly.

Hmmm, maybe something to do with freon?

Thanks for posting this update, Drew. I've been wondering how he's doing.

What can you say to this but "Damn!" Too bad we don't have that level of vitality in the country now.

I may take a break from this today - my hands are hamburger, and other duties call. The exhaust system should be waiting for me at Napa, and I'll need a new radiator hose, and a new gasket kit for the timing chain cover (yes, I'm going back in there). I think I'll do a fresh batch of oil and another filter now that I've had it running. As cruddy as things were in there, I think it would be a prudent thing to do. That, and to flush out any foreign matter that might have found its way in during the process. This is starting to feel like cleaning up loose ends - and that's a very good thing.

Yup, know that trick. But doing that on anything with so much stuff around the valve covers isn't a pleasant alternative. I hope to never adjust valves that way again.

Beyond pristine. And, dead-simple under the hood. I could have done dozens of these in the time I've put in on my Tahoe doing the same repairs.

I guess that I should also explain why I had to go through the valve adjustment again. The problem is that lifters as old as these tend to leak down which throws the adjustment way off. To compensate, I first loosened the rockers as much as I dared, then removed the plugs and spun the engine with the starter to build up enough oil pressure to keep the lifters full. I then rushed to loosen any tight rockers, and proceded to do the adjustment as quickly as possible. The alternative would have been to adjust them "hot" which is always a messy, unhappy way to do that. In the case of this engine, in this vehicle, it would also be nearly impossible - too much stuff hanging over , and next to, the rockers. This was all a big gamble, and I'm very happy that it worked.

I really don't like that I had to advance the timing so much. I'm starting to think that, in spite of the fact that I checked and re-checked, I might have gotten the timing chain a tooth off. Not a great feeling, but it still beats a toasted cam and lifters. I'll think about it tomorrow.

Well, it's running. Not as well as it needs to, but that's good enough for me for today. I'm spent. Went through the whole valve/lifter pre-load adjustment process (which requires a bunch of disassembly) again, cleaned the soaked spark plugs (fuel), and advanced the timing dramatically. It finally came to life. Good oil pressure, and getting smoother as it ran, but the lower radiator hose sprung a small leak so I just called it good for the day.

No effect. It is, of course, entirely possible that the cam/lifters are simply toast. This is why I hated the idea of diving so deeply into such an old, high-mileage, engine. I guess I'll start at zero and go through the whole valve/lifter pre-load procedure again and give it one more shot.

Hmmm, the old HEI distributers with the coil in the cap... The main outer body if those coils was grounded, wasn't it? I may have an idea.

Funny guy, you are... OK folks, need some help here. Can anyone think of a cause for a weak spark other than the coil? The weak spark is the only thing I have found that doesn't seem right. I'm currently stumped.

This stuff is tough to do solo - could really use another set of hands so I can watch the engine while it's cranking. Oh well, off to fight another round. I'll update when I find something.

2001 Silverado 2500HD (gas) 2002 Firehawk 2004 GTO 2005 Silverado 2500HD (Duramax) Pre- C&G: 1987 El Camino SS 1990 K3500

Yup. And I've already tested the old 180 degree out thing with the distributer (had it right from the start) I'm fairly convinced it is all valve adjustment. If that's not it, I'll have to re-think.

No joy yet - spins beautifully, but refuses to start. Been through all of the preliminaries, and am all but certain that the old lifters have made the valve adjustment moot. Working from that premise now.

Total guess: B

What a time for emoticons to not work, that's hilarious!

Now why didn't I think of this one? Great phantom idea!

It's all back together! I don't yet know if it will run for me as the battery was just too dead from sitting, and I'm too tired to wait for it to charge. I expect to have to fiddle with the timing, and maybe take the computer out of the loop while I'm doing it. Tomorrow's another day. Here are the pics from tonight: