Oddball Update

<shuffles papers> I’ve just been handed this official report regarding the state of the Formula, and the repairs it’s going to need. I’ll now read you the contents of that report, because I’m a dork.

Brakes are toast!
The entire braking system on the car has basically been shot to hell and back, and then shot to hell a second time. The front calipers are blue from heat. The left front caliper is frozen. The rotors and lines need to be replaced and the fluid has been boiled, no doubt, so a complete system flush will be necessary. We’re looking at about $1,000 to repair. “Seriously, we don’t know how you made it here,” quoth the mechanic.

Main cooling fan isn’t running!
KITT’s illustrious previous owner jury-rigged the main radiator cooling fan such that you could turn it on/off via a switch underneath the dashboard. Not a bad idea, except it’s a pretty ghetto installation. Well, that switch stopped working a while ago. Turns out the relay blew, and apparently the fan isn’t working anymore as a result of it. Stupid crap! Rather than do any expensive, invasive rewiring to return the car to stock conditions, I’m just gonna have ‘em replace the relay to get it back in working order.

Fuel tank is cracked!
Hmm…so that’s why the car gets 7 MPG and reeks of fuel! To say nothing of the propensity to blow sky-high like a cheap Fiero 4-banger, this needs to get fixed el pronto. It’ll be about 2-3 hours of work and requires that the exhaust system be removed. The shop is going to scour local salvage yards in an attempt to find me a used tank, which will save me some dough.

Exhaust system is teh suck!
Not like I didn’t already know that, but I’m sure the mechanic had a good time saying, “Uhhh, did you know that every time you’re driving down the road, the entire exhaust system is slamming against the back of the car?” Yeah, pal, I think I noticed that! Since swapping the fuel tank is going to require the shitty old exhaust system to be removed, I figure I might as well have them just toss it out and replace it with the new Banks Stinger system that’s been sitting in the garage since spring. There’s just one problem though, because:

Catalytic converters are MIA!
I knew that the previous owner cut off the cats and ran straight pipe instead (“Shucks, sounds just like a tractor! I likes that rumble!”), but the shop won’t work on the exhaust unless I replace the cats. Problem? They’re expensive. I’m probably gonna just make it easy and get the Catco direct fit system for dual-cat third gen F-bodies. If I pay for cheaper universal cats, I’m just gonna end up paying the rest of the money to the shop for custom fabrication, so why bother. So, I’ve got to spend about $300 for the new converters from Summit Racing.

That’s the extent of the stuff that I’m gonna have done to the car right now. There were also some other problems noted by the mechanics during their inspection, which include a leaky tailshaft seal on the tranny (not too bad) and a slight oil leak from the rear differential cover (barely noticeable). Curiously absent, however, was anything which could explain why the car stalls as soon as you start it and seems to bog at low RPMs. I had thought it was overfueling, but the mechanics don’t think so. They checked out the injectors, and they’re fine—although they weren’t pleased to see Bosch-brand injectors, they were performing as they should. The computer is not seeing enough extra fuel to compensate for, so it can’t be bad enough to cause a drivability problem. But the consensus for now is that the problem is livable, so I’ll deal with it—after all, I can’t even drive the car again if I don’t get the brakes done, so that’s gonna be the priority.

Additionally, I had thought that the torque converter clutch was no longer locking up. I’d swear that the tranny was behaving differently than it once was. Apparently I was wrong, as the shop found it in good working order. Perhaps I have imagined a malfunction there—I forgot, after all, that the previous owner installed a mild aftermarket stall converter, so that’s likely the reason why the engine seems to run at somewhat elevated revs when you start climbing toward freeway speed. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t the torque converter, because driving around with that thing not working is like murder on the gearbox.

So I’ll get the brakes fixed, the gas tank replaced, and my new exhaust system installed. That’ll be a great start. As for the funny drivability problem which I thought was an injector problem…it might be an injector problem, but not in the way I previously thought. The shop thinks that the Bosch injectors are to blame. Using Bosch equipment in a GM car like this isn’t a great idea, they said. (Which is weird, because I was advised to buy Bosch injectors by a guy who claims to have been a former GM worker and has thirty years experience professionally repairing GM cars.) Anyway, they advised that AC Delco injectors might cure those ills. I suppose it’s possible. There’s also no doubt that they’d just love for me to pay them to get me some Delco injectors and put ‘em in, so obviously they’d suggest that. Since that isn’t money I have to spend right now, maybe I’ll take the car to another shop in the interim (after all this other crap is fixed, of course) and see what they think.

That’s it dudes…the initial report. Now, all of the prices on this stuff was just the guy’s ballpark estimate; he’s going to actually write up a formal estimate next, but regardless, I gotta get the brakes done fo’ sho’. I’m going to take the exhaust kit up to them on Monday so they can figure out what it’ll cost to throw that on while they’re putting the fuel tank back in.

Hopefully, though, when all this is over, KITT will be more fun to drive!

Categorized as Cars/Knight Project