Page 3 of 7

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2016 4:29 pm
by monzacoupe
Got the exhaust system built today, from the headers back to a flowmaster! Very happy with the work done. Sounds good.

Rick

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2016 7:49 pm
by RedFiveKBS
Cool! How big is your pipe after you merge them?

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Thu Jun 16, 2016 8:56 pm
by monzacoupe
Pipe is 2.5" from headers(vintage Hooker 1603) all the way back.

Rick

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 4:33 pm
by monzacoupe
I'm enjoying the noise from the exhaust pipe , but not so much the exhaust noise still coming from the engine bay! The headers I've got came in three pieces to fit around the steering column, the joints haven't been welded for future removal/access. Should they be? Or at least some heat resistant tape applied to the joints to cut down the noise? Or...is the noise most likely coming from elsewhere?

Rick

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:36 pm
by RedFiveKBS
They shouldn't leak that bad. I had the old hookers in my Sunbird forever ago and they didn't. Wondering if they are just beat up? You said they were vintage.

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:48 pm
by monzacoupe
The headers where NOS never been installed, seems to have a snug seal at the joints. I am a bit ahead of myself though, haven't really looked in there while the engine is running. Will do that tomorrow and really see what's what and get back here if I can't figure it out.

Rick

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 12:46 pm
by monzacoupe
So my coupe has been running rough for awhile now so I'm looking into what's what and I've tried to get the timing light working, the light hasn't flashed onto the painted mark on the balancer even once. I tried the cloth over the spark plug hole trick while hand-cranking the motor, when my missus said the cloth popped out, the timing mark on the balancer is 90 degrees out! Could someone have misaligned the balancer that badly during an engine rebuild? Or is my car that badly out of tune?

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 12:52 pm
by monzacoupe
While I'm trying to tune up the coupe I noticed a couple of spark plugs wires swapped around! How has my motor been running?!?! I broke one of the connectors on the wire and I'm now replacing the set. I took off the distributor cap and noticed this! I salvaged the distributor off of the donor car I bought years ago and the cap looks good. Should I swap caps or swap out the existing distributor with the donor car's.

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2016 2:38 am
by Monza Harry
Rick I am wondering if you may have some miss matched parts. I was visiting a buddy at his work [like about ~1/2 a million years ago] when a guy came in with an '82(?) Riviera and it was experiencing issues like it was badly advanced (spark knock to mention 1 symptom) and acted like it was badly retarded (had no power and bogged like crazy). As the mechanics were debating the problem the customer was telling me that the problem started when "his Buddy and he" had swapped out the motor [a 3.8L] so I asked him and he said it was a '76 motor, so looking under-hood it had the newer even fire distributor cap so it was both advanced and retarted at the same time. So I wonder if the early balancer will fit and then be 90* out? Just a little story to amuse and maybe troubleshoot by. I am sure that many people swapped parts without even considering that they were different! :rolleyes: Harry

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Sat Aug 27, 2016 11:01 pm
by monzacoupe
So today I swapped distributor caps and have no spark as far as I can tell (spark plug out and grounded while Mrs Monzacoupe cranks the motor) no spark. To troubleshoot do I start with replacing the coil? The donor car's coil had a bit of corrosion on the connectors but looks clean otherwise.

Rick

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 7:55 pm
by monzacoupe
Got it figured out! Bought the right tool to hand crank the motor so I could see what the cylinder was doing at the same time, got everything lined up, hooked up and she fired up! Runs really smooth when the spark plug wires are going to the proper cylinder!!!

Rick

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 2:04 am
by Monza Harry
monzacoupe wrote:So today I swapped distributor caps and have no spark as far as I can tell (spark plug out and grounded while Mrs Monzacoupe cranks the motor) no spark. To troubleshoot do I start with replacing the coil? The donor car's coil had a bit of corrosion on the connectors but looks clean otherwise.

Rick

Thinking about this post Rick, if you really Loved your wife and wanted to make her laugh hard enough to " :censored: her pants" you should have held the spark plug wire. There is no better spark checker made! Unless you could get her to hold on, but that would have cost you for sure! :lol: Harry Ouch that SMARTS! The not so Happy :dance:

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 10:44 am
by monzacoupe
Monza Harry wrote:
monzacoupe wrote:So today I swapped distributor caps and have no spark as far as I can tell (spark plug out and grounded while Mrs Monzacoupe cranks the motor) no spark. To troubleshoot do I start with replacing the coil? The donor car's coil had a bit of corrosion on the connectors but looks clean otherwise.

Rick

Thinking about this post Rick, if you really Loved your wife and wanted to make her laugh hard enough to " :censored: her pants" you should have held the spark plug wire. There is no better spark checker made! Unless you could get her to hold on, but that would have cost you for sure! :lol: Harry Ouch that SMARTS! The not so Happy :dance:


I thought about doing that(for about a millisecond!) but decided it was enough for her to come out and crank it over! She's not much of a garage girl...her eyes glaze over when I talk about what little I know about the car!!

Rick

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:25 pm
by monzacoupe
Got my custom grill installed! I'm VERY happy with how it turned out! I like the look of my blacked out headlights as well, just need to get the proper paint to touch up the screws.

Re: Monzacoupe's Monza Coupe

PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:29 pm
by monzacoupe
I've been driving around a bit now that it's running smoother, at a stop light a few blocks from home, I noticed some blue smoke today. When I got home I popped the hood and noticed some oil weeping out of the valve cover top. I'm assuming this is far from normal, what it the typical cause and fix?