This past weekend I had to change the water pump on my Formula. I headed on down to the Murray's in Mexicantown to pick up a new one. None of that remanufactured shit for me, I don't care if it comes with a lifetime warranty. Most lifetime warranty auto parts come with that warranty for a reason, since it's not as durable as a new part, they figure they should offer a lifetime warranty to help sell the product. I'm sure they realize that many people would eventually forget all about that warranty after a few years and get suckered into buying another reman part, to save money. Well, to my surprise, they were out of both new and reman water pumps. Yeah, that's right, the most plentiful engine in existence and my closest auto parts store didn't have one in stock. So off I was to the Autozone further up the road. I walked out with a brand new heavy duty water pump with roller bearings.
I have to say, the water pump change was pretty straight forward and way easier than I expected. At first glance I assumed I'd have to remove some of the other accessories to gain access. To my surprise, removal of the air intake hose was all that was needed. It took longer to get the bolts loose from the pulley than it did to actually remove it.
After the water pump was changed, I then decided to inspect why the hell the thing was running rough once again. Didn't take much inspection to find a few plug wires had found a quaint little resting space atop the manifolds and cooked themselves. I had a set of Taylor high performance 8 mm wires lying around that were in like new condition, so I cleaned them up and installed them. Problem fixed, as the miss was now gone.
I have some other maintenance I've been putting off on that car for awhile now. For one, the headlight motor on one side burned out months ago. I'm simply reluctant to drop $200 or so for a new one. I figure I'll first see whether or not it can be rebuilt first. I've also developed an exhaust leak where the intermediate pipe meets up to the y-pipe behind the cats. That will be a quick and easy fix....once I find the correct gasket and clamp. I think I'd be better off heading on up to the muffler garage a block or two away once the parts are off, as the auto parts stores would likely send me off with the wrong thing. While loud ass exhaust is the norm in my hood, I don't wanna be "that" neighbor quite yet, so I'll hold off on removing the exhaust and traveling to the parts store with open headers. Who am I kidding, I think I've already been labeled "that" guy.
As for the Camaro, well I haven't made a whole ton of progress, but I have removed the front brakes and steering. I have decided that the next big purchase will be a bolt-in rack and pinion setup for it. This will both lighten the front end as well as make the car handle better, not that it was bad by any means. The car is slammed to the ground, 1.5 inches of clearance to the oil pan, (yeah, that is somewhat of concern, especially when all sides are no ground off the drain plug from scraping) so the center of gravity is right on the money. I will address both the oil pan and ride height when the time comes. First off, there is no reason I should be running an oil pan that hangs below my crossmember. I'm lucky I haven't ripped the thing open on a pot hole by now. Secondly, the ride height is where it is because I bought the 2 inch drop springs, most you could get, for a small block chevy. Well once I switched over to a big block chevy, the added weight made it more like a 4.5-5 inch drop. In all honesty, it looks badass sitting that low, but for at the drag strip you obviously are hurting your launch. I suppose some adjustable drag shocks and springs are on the list as well. While I'd like some tubular a-arms, I simply can not justify dropping $800 on them. I'll have enough (like $2,000 or so) in the steering and braking.
I got my welder a few weeks ago, went with the Lincoln 140a unit. I still need to get a tank and cart, then that will be good to go. I'm not envisioning a whole lot of project this summer, simply because the house projects are going to have to take precedence. However, once fall rolls around this year, I will be more than set. Hopefully have the garage insulated and a heater or furnace installed by then. Tv is on the list as well as one of the last major items to finish the garage off.
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