The Blue Turd(le)

[68scott385]

The purpose of this car was to be a family hauler. I can get in my wife's borrowed econobox but it isn't comfortable. I can only fit three in my truck and with the kids at 7 & 8 at the time of purchase it seemed to be a relatively sweet deal. So the body is a little rough. The only rust through I could find was the spare tire well. Good place to learn body welding right? I knew I could fix the mechanicals if anything went wrong. Not looking for fast, just dependable. Okay, so GM in all it's "wisdom" thought putting small Olds motors in big cars was good for fuel economy. "I can fix that if the need arises" was my thought pattern when make the decision to buy. It was the week of Thanksgiving 2011 and you know how hard it can be to Christmas shop for some people, I must be one of those people. When my parents got word of what I was doing and why, they pitched in on the purchase price of the car, so my outlay for the car itself was only $200 and it came with a full tank of gas. In retrospect I think the guy knew I was about to get bent over but didn't know it yet. Here are a few pictures of the way it came home.









After 18+/- months I have named it (something I DO NOT make a habit of) The Blue Turd(le). As I add to this you will see that I have chased the next weak link for the entire time I've had it. It's got (had) a 307 small block Oldsmobile engine backed by a 200-4r transmission and 3.23 8.5" 10-bolt rear, it IS slow.

Chit + slow = Turd(le)

[68scott385]

Some more pictures of it right after purchase.

[68scott385]

I had a couple of the Astro wheels laying around. I got four more from a friend that was scrapping his Astro. The tires are Kuhmo 245/60/15 & 275/60/15, left over from my Astrotastrophe. All four Kuhmos are on the Turd(le) now but at for a while the fronts were a different brand but the same size.

The guy I bought this from bought a set of tires & wheels from Craigslist. You can see them in the back of the car in some of the pictures. The wheels are small pattern 15x8 chrome directionals** with 245/60/15 tires with plenty of tread. The tires on the car at purchase were scary old, dry rotted, and while they were the same size, no two was from the same manufacturer or had the same amount of wear. I got the tires & wheels from him for $150. To use the Kuhmos on the wagon I needed two 245/60/15s to put on the Rally wheels on the front of my '75 Monte Carlo. So now I have two 245/60/15 spares instead of none and a set of small pattern directionals that would make good trailer wheels. I'm not much for directionals, steel or aluminum. These are starting to rust too.

The factory wheels are 15x7 w/4.25"ish back spacing. I don't remember exactly right now but it is too much to get the 275 Kuhmos under without rubbing, pictures to follow. The Astro wheels are also 15x7 but only have 3.75" back spacing, perfect for stuffing the wide tires in the fenderwells of the wagon. The 275s were already on the two Astro wheels so it's not like I spent a lot of time test fitting.

And if I haven't mentioned it, the wagon uses the big 5x5 bolt pattern, not the small 4.75" car pattern. This information will come in handy later.

**The guy bought the tires & wheels to put on the wagon but did not know the small & large pattern difference Chevy uses on intermediate and large cars/trucks, respectively. He was telling me how he bought them only to find out the hard way that they did not fit. His wife found out about it the same time I did. She was not happy.

If this reads choppy I'm sorry. It may be early for some of you but I haven't been to bed yet.

[68scott385]

I guess this should get thrown in about now. The engine compartment as purchased.



Thought I'd do a little tune up...



Maybe replace those leaky valve cover gaskets. The oil was running onto the exhaust manifolds and smoking. It had been doing that so long that they (exhaust manifolds) were caked with heated oil. While replacing the valve cover gaskets I noticed the plethora of vacuum lines was in about as good shape as the tires...or maybe worse as some of the vacuum lines had eroded apart on their own.



Thirty-two vacuum hoses later...

How many are laughing?

Do you see a pattern emerging?

[Blazerteam]

I like these wagons..and about your wheels..If you could get hold of a set of 80ies Van G20 wheels,or Truck C10 wheels..they would fit fine.Same bolt pattern and all.Only 7 inches wide then.And you have these Summit wheels too..cheap,and cool.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/brand/summit-racing/product-line/summit-racing-84-black-d-series-wheels/wheel-bolt-pattern/5-x-5-in

[68scott385]

A couple of pics to show the oil slick under the hovering confusion called emissions control and at least one self-dissected vacuum line.





Then the lovely feeling one gets in their stomach when they see the evidence of long-term neglect...





...but wait, there's a glimmer of hope that the pesky "Check Engine" light can be turned off with some small repairs and maintenance.

[68scott385]

I like these wagons..and about your wheels..If you could get hold of a set of 80ies Van G20 wheels,or Truck C10 wheels..they would fit fine.Same bolt pattern and all.Only 7 inches wide then.And you have these Summit wheels too..cheap,and cool.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/b...ttern/5-x-5-in

Thank you. I like your G3. Mine is peaking in some of the pics, nowhere near as nice as yours though.

The Astro wheels are 15x7. I've looked at wheels but everything else has put itself first in line.



This story is just starting to unfold.

[Beagle]

Gabriel SkyJackers! I wake up about the time you went to sleep. It's pretty easy to tell when it's the other way around, my typist is usually drunk if I've been up that long.

The 307 was a real powerhouse compared to the 305 SBC .... 5x5 wheels are great. Just about every car trailer you see is a spare! I think it means it's got the big brakes too. Bonus.

As huge as they look, those cars aren't all that heavy. I'd not be surprised if you could balance it with a new Camaro on a teeter totter.

[SuperBuickGuy]

hmmmm... I'm confused - are you replacing the vacuum lines? why?

still, neat car bonus now you have some selfies for the Christmas card picture

[68scott385]

hmmmm... I'm confused - are you replacing the vacuum lines? why?

still, neat car bonus now you have some selfies for the Christmas card picture

They were dry-rotted, cracked, broken, deteriorated, etc. It was all for not, but I have an abundance of spare vacuum line.

You'd be surprised how many times I've caught myself in reflection with this camera.

[68scott385]

This car was equipped with air shocks as part of a towing package. There is a sticker on the door jam, like it was installed as a dealer add-on or some place besides a previous owners driveway. They both were totally blown when I got the car. That was the first parts group to get replaced. I put regular shocks on the rear. It always looked like the rear was sagging, like the springs were weak so I decided to put overload springs on it. It raised the rear some but not excessive, IMO. This is the difference in static height between the factory springs and the Moog cargo springs.

[68scott385]

I don't know about anyone else but when I get a new-to-me vehicle I go through things to check their serviceability and state of maintenance. It was obvious this vehicle had not been maintained well so a basic fluids change and tune-up was high on my priority list. That's when I spent several hours on New Years Eve on my back trying to drill out the differential housing fill plug. It all started out innocently as a drain/inspect/fill routine. And this was the delight I was greeted with once the rear cover was off.

[DanStokes]

When you go to the salvage yard to pick up the new gear set grab a new cover and forget drilling out the old plug. That plug IS in the cover, isn't it?

Dan

[68scott385]

The radiator cap was toast but the rest of the system held pressure. I had a suitable cap on hand, bought for another vehicle in probably '94 or '95. After six months or so the radiator sprung a leak. It was a small task to find a metal one as most suppliers are using the plastic tank on aluminum core model these days. I prefer all metal as I've replaced several plastic/aluminum radiators over the years because they leaked at the o-ring(s).

I hadn't yet decided what engine would replace the 307 so the replacement radiator was the same size as the stock unit. At the same time I replaced the thermostat, both radiator hoses and the three v-belts.

Later in the year (2012) I thought it would be cool if I could find a big block Olds to replace the 307, since bbo & sbo aren't as obviously different as Chevy motors, and keep the stockish appearance under the hood. That quest can be found here>>http://www.bangshift.com/forum/showt...n-block-wanted

Then the battery died.

And an exhaust donut gasket that had disappeared.

And the right front turn signal socket that wouldn't stay grounded.

And the ignition lock & tumbler set that was worn well past its usefulness.

And the tailgate needed some attention to function both as a door and as a tailgate.

And the loose u-joints.

And when the we went to replace the ring & pinion, the axles were heavily worn in the bearing area. Moser "street axles" are competitively priced with replacement axles for normal street cars. I wanted to keep the same gear ratio because this is/was to be a family driver, I can live with slower acceleration to get/keep fuel mileage on this one. So now it has Richmond 3.23 gears and Moser street axles.

Remember when I said the bolt pattern information would come in handy? This is it. The rear end in this car has the larger axle bearings like my '97 C1500 and the smaller 28 spline drive end like my '75 Monte Carlo. I have read the procedure to set up rear gears but have never done it or have all the quickie tools to do so. I paid a trusted mechanic to do the work. http://www.bilbreyracing.com/ This guy and his staff have taken care of the big things I cannot. I have dome business with these guys since 2007 and am satisfied with their work. Anyway, the axles had to be special ordered to get them right. The first set sent weren't right, and the first set of gear delivered had to be returned as well. For some reason the axles came with metric studs instead of the 1/2"x20s like the old axles, to match the front. With a little research and some measuring I drilled the stud holes out to fit the factory studs and installed the factory studs in the Moser axles. Yes, I completely voided any warranty that may have existed.

Then on the way home the brake line that follows the frame to the rear end sprung a leak and left a nice spot at the end of my driveway. After replacing about four feet of brake line I had a hell of a time getting the brakes bled. Once the brakes were bled and felt good the transmission started leaking.

And leaking, and leaking. I replaced all the seal one can with the trans in the car. Then it was determined that the input seal was leaking too so the trans came out. The torque converter needed to be replaced due to wear in the seal area. The front pump is worn but serviceable for the time being. After being sealed up and reinstalled the trans still leaked. The exhaust had a small leak in a metal tube that connected to the catalytic converter that directed exhaust gas at the trans and caused an o-ring to harden on one side and leak. That was fixed but the trans still leaks.

[68scott385]

When you go to the salvage yard to pick up the new gear set grab a new cover and forget drilling out the old plug. That plug IS in the cover, isn't it?

Dan

No, it's in the housing. It's done, that was NYE 2011. Gears replaced 9/12ish.