Caprice Disassembly
Re: Caprice Disassembly
The plan for tomorrow is to pull the engine, transmission, and harnesses and see how far I get removing other things. The fuel tank 3/4 tank indicated, so probably half a tank. Who wants some 3+ year old gas?
Re: Caprice Disassembly
In light of all this LS swap talk, it wouldn't be bad if we could all be there for that. But my parents are coming so I doubt I can make it.
Re: Caprice Disassembly
I'll be taking it apart tomorrow and Monday.
Re: Caprice Disassembly
Didn't quite get the engine and transmission out. We fought with MANY bolts. Turns out rusting outside for 3 years doesn't make things come apart any easier. It did, however, add more holes to the already terrible floor.
Fortunately the A/C system was discharged, so that saved some time. The A/C and cooling system have been removed for easier access to the rest of the engine.
The two lower bolts in the transmission bell housing are the last two fasteners holding the transmission in. Once that is out, its just engine mounts and the starter wires and the engine is ready too. We've already pulled the harness through the firewall and pulled back the rest of the body harness in the engine bay.
I've soaked most of the front suspension in PB Blaster, so that might help later. The exhaust will take a little work to get out, or I can just wait until the rear axle is removed. It is in good shape, though. It might be worth replacing the front flanges before reusing it as they are looking a bit rusty. The Roadmaster may need some exhaust soon, plus Amanda seems excited for it to sound like my Caprice used to (minus the addition of resonators and wagon tailpipes).
Good thing we got the car out from beside the house yesterday, as it is currently snowing fairly heavily up here. I forgot to grab the camera/memory card, so no pictures until tomorrow.
One thing to figure out is how to attach the engine lift to the front driver's side of the engine. There is a loop on the rear of the passenger side head, which will work well. If I can't figure anything out, I can use one of the exhaust manifold bolt holes on the driver's side for a second attachment point.
Fortunately the A/C system was discharged, so that saved some time. The A/C and cooling system have been removed for easier access to the rest of the engine.
The two lower bolts in the transmission bell housing are the last two fasteners holding the transmission in. Once that is out, its just engine mounts and the starter wires and the engine is ready too. We've already pulled the harness through the firewall and pulled back the rest of the body harness in the engine bay.
I've soaked most of the front suspension in PB Blaster, so that might help later. The exhaust will take a little work to get out, or I can just wait until the rear axle is removed. It is in good shape, though. It might be worth replacing the front flanges before reusing it as they are looking a bit rusty. The Roadmaster may need some exhaust soon, plus Amanda seems excited for it to sound like my Caprice used to (minus the addition of resonators and wagon tailpipes).
Good thing we got the car out from beside the house yesterday, as it is currently snowing fairly heavily up here. I forgot to grab the camera/memory card, so no pictures until tomorrow.
One thing to figure out is how to attach the engine lift to the front driver's side of the engine. There is a loop on the rear of the passenger side head, which will work well. If I can't figure anything out, I can use one of the exhaust manifold bolt holes on the driver's side for a second attachment point.
Re: Caprice Disassembly
Engine and trans are out.
Everything disconnected form the engine. Transmission coming down. Transmission out. Says "Dynoed 8-25-04". This is a junkyard trans that replaced the original one when it stopped shifting into 3rd and 4th gear. Engine leveler attached. We left the harness on the engine and pulled it all as one unit. The FSM recommends attaching it at the rear passenger's side of the intake to an intake manifold stud and to a boss on the front driver's side of the intake that is normally used for a harness bracket. Empty engine bay. Note all the rust holes in the inner fenders. On a stand after removing manifolds. The driver's side was left in the car. The passenger's side had an impossible to remove nut on one of the studs that the alternator bracket attaches to. We pulled the alternator while it was in the car for easier access to P/S and A/C lines. Also tried to remove the manifold in the car, but that wasn't happening.
Everything disconnected form the engine. Transmission coming down. Transmission out. Says "Dynoed 8-25-04". This is a junkyard trans that replaced the original one when it stopped shifting into 3rd and 4th gear. Engine leveler attached. We left the harness on the engine and pulled it all as one unit. The FSM recommends attaching it at the rear passenger's side of the intake to an intake manifold stud and to a boss on the front driver's side of the intake that is normally used for a harness bracket. Empty engine bay. Note all the rust holes in the inner fenders. On a stand after removing manifolds. The driver's side was left in the car. The passenger's side had an impossible to remove nut on one of the studs that the alternator bracket attaches to. We pulled the alternator while it was in the car for easier access to P/S and A/C lines. Also tried to remove the manifold in the car, but that wasn't happening.
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Re: Caprice Disassembly
What's next on the car:
- Remove the fuel tank and lines.
- Remove he ABS unit and harness.
- Remove the front suspension.
- Remove the rear axle/suspension.
- Remove the exhaust.
- Remove all remaining salvage items from the interior.
I plan to get some quality Harbor Freight 1000 lb dollies to put the car on once the suspension is out. The small ones are 18x12.25. 4 should be more than enough to enable moving the car around. Getting it onto the trailer to go to the scrap yard will be...interesting.
The front fenders are in pretty good shape. They are definitely not original. They would fit the Roadmaster and Kevin's Caprice, so I may stash those away if we can find enough storage space.
I plan to do some maintenance items on the engine while it is out since it does have 171k on it.
- Knock sensors. They are pretty rusty.
- Plugs (were replaced right after I got the car and are probably fine, but they are starting to rust).
- Wires - probably original. Not a fun job in the car, but cheap enough to do when the engine is out.
- Valve cover gaskets.
- EGR valve. I pulled the tube off the intake and it looks pretty clean in there, but the valve looks original.
- Starter. The rear of the solenoid turns freely.
- Alternator. I may put this off initially. I have 2 that have various amounts of bearing squeak.
- Fuel injector service. I can use the Caprice ones as a swing set to get cleaned then swap into the Fleetwood and the Roadmaster (and whatever LT1 car Kevin buys).
- Oil cooler lines.
- Oil filter adapter seal (OEM, not terrible aftermarket parts).
- Fix the VSS harness. It got pulled apart when removing the engine. Turns out the harness was repaired earlier in the car's life for some reason.
- O2. Never did these. Might be original. Cats definitely are too.
- Cats. I had to cut the passenger side apart to pull the engine, as the manifold wasn't coming off with the engine in the car. The studs/nuts that hold it to the manifold on both sides will need some persuasion to come apart if I am to reuse the manifolds, see later post.
- Water pump. I never changed it. It leaked a little.
- Timing cover seals.
- Rear main seal. Doesn't really appear to be leaking, but the engine is out.
- Oil pan gasket. Also oil pan. Funny story.
- VSS. Seal is leaking. Also, I have one.
- Trans output shaft seal. A little weepy. Should probably also do the input shaft seal.
Things I should probably do:
- Opti. Not free.
- Valve stem seals. Cheap. Can be done w/o pulling the heads. From looking into the exhaust ports, at least one seems to be leaking a little.
- Intake manifold gasket? Probably is fine, but the engine is out...
- Remove the fuel tank and lines.
- Remove he ABS unit and harness.
- Remove the front suspension.
- Remove the rear axle/suspension.
- Remove the exhaust.
- Remove all remaining salvage items from the interior.
I plan to get some quality Harbor Freight 1000 lb dollies to put the car on once the suspension is out. The small ones are 18x12.25. 4 should be more than enough to enable moving the car around. Getting it onto the trailer to go to the scrap yard will be...interesting.
The front fenders are in pretty good shape. They are definitely not original. They would fit the Roadmaster and Kevin's Caprice, so I may stash those away if we can find enough storage space.
I plan to do some maintenance items on the engine while it is out since it does have 171k on it.
- Knock sensors. They are pretty rusty.
- Plugs (were replaced right after I got the car and are probably fine, but they are starting to rust).
- Wires - probably original. Not a fun job in the car, but cheap enough to do when the engine is out.
- Valve cover gaskets.
- EGR valve. I pulled the tube off the intake and it looks pretty clean in there, but the valve looks original.
- Starter. The rear of the solenoid turns freely.
- Alternator. I may put this off initially. I have 2 that have various amounts of bearing squeak.
- Fuel injector service. I can use the Caprice ones as a swing set to get cleaned then swap into the Fleetwood and the Roadmaster (and whatever LT1 car Kevin buys).
- Oil cooler lines.
- Oil filter adapter seal (OEM, not terrible aftermarket parts).
- Fix the VSS harness. It got pulled apart when removing the engine. Turns out the harness was repaired earlier in the car's life for some reason.
- O2. Never did these. Might be original. Cats definitely are too.
- Cats. I had to cut the passenger side apart to pull the engine, as the manifold wasn't coming off with the engine in the car. The studs/nuts that hold it to the manifold on both sides will need some persuasion to come apart if I am to reuse the manifolds, see later post.
- Water pump. I never changed it. It leaked a little.
- Timing cover seals.
- Rear main seal. Doesn't really appear to be leaking, but the engine is out.
- Oil pan gasket. Also oil pan. Funny story.
- VSS. Seal is leaking. Also, I have one.
- Trans output shaft seal. A little weepy. Should probably also do the input shaft seal.
Things I should probably do:
- Opti. Not free.
- Valve stem seals. Cheap. Can be done w/o pulling the heads. From looking into the exhaust ports, at least one seems to be leaking a little.
- Intake manifold gasket? Probably is fine, but the engine is out...
Re: Caprice Disassembly
Pulled the fuel system today. Everything was very rusty in the back. We ended up ripping/cutting the straps and mounting points to get the tank out. Not as easy to drain as it sounds due to the shape of the tank. I has a hand-operated transfer pump, but it is terrible and failed, so I still need to drain the tank. The sending unit lines are in rough shape, so I probably won't be keeping that.
The real reason for pulling the tank was the fuel lines and the wiring harness. Those are out too. The lines will probably need to be shortened when put in the Monte.
Pulled the taillights while I was back there. They still have the flasher elements in them!
No pics today, I forgot to bring the camera with me.
The real reason for pulling the tank was the fuel lines and the wiring harness. Those are out too. The lines will probably need to be shortened when put in the Monte.
Pulled the taillights while I was back there. They still have the flasher elements in them!
No pics today, I forgot to bring the camera with me.
Re: Caprice Disassembly
I finished removing all the wiring the weekend before this past one. Eventually I will upload pictures. I was only going to take what I needed, but I wanted enough of both parts of the dash harness that I ended up taking the whole thing. From that point, pulling the rest of the body harness wasn't much more work.
Plan for the coming long weekend:
- ABS pump
- Brake master/booster/proportioning valve
- Steering column
- Front suspension
- Rear suspension/axle
- Window motors (if Ed gets around to it). I already removed the door panels and the harness, so this shouldn't be much additional work.
- All lock cylinders. Single-key Monte Carlo?
- Various latches if I am feeling extra productive.
I need to get to Harbor Freight and pick up some dollies so I can move it around after pulling the suspension.
In related news, the headliner is in great shape. Too bad it doesn't fit in anything any of us own.
Plan for the coming long weekend:
- ABS pump
- Brake master/booster/proportioning valve
- Steering column
- Front suspension
- Rear suspension/axle
- Window motors (if Ed gets around to it). I already removed the door panels and the harness, so this shouldn't be much additional work.
- All lock cylinders. Single-key Monte Carlo?
- Various latches if I am feeling extra productive.
I need to get to Harbor Freight and pick up some dollies so I can move it around after pulling the suspension.
In related news, the headliner is in great shape. Too bad it doesn't fit in anything any of us own.
Re: Caprice Disassembly
At least GM fixed one problem from the 80s.
Also, that would fit my Caprice. It's just the wrong color.
Also, that would fit my Caprice. It's just the wrong color.
Re: Caprice Disassembly
Do you want it? I'm not going to bother to pull it out if no one is going to use it.