Guess a Chevette is My Next Project!!!

can't be that hard to push into the garage. I pushed my lemans up my driveway by myself (stupid thing to do) which is pretty steep. best of luck getting the beast inside

-jrod

For a normal guy, yes. However, getting hit by a truck changes your perspective somewhat on what is possible.

never thought of it like that

can't be that hard to push into the garage. I pushed my lemans up my driveway by myself (stupid thing to do) which is pretty steep. best of luck getting the beast inside

-jrod

   When I built my garage, I placed three large removable rings in the floor. I can hook a come-a-long to one and hand winch an inoperable car or truck into the garage without having to wait for someone to help. They are also good for pad locking a chain to the vehicle so it can't be driven away. They are angled so if I run a cable up to the roof, they won't pull out of the floor.

I had the whole weekend off for a change. My brother from New Mexico was up and we got a few things done around the house, but it was way too cold to work on the Chevette. I don't think it broke 30 all weekend. I'm going to have to get it inside.

Well, it's been a while since I updated this project. I got the brakes done except for bleeding. I rebuilt the rear cylinders and put in rebuilt front calipers and a rebuilt master cylinder. All of the shoes and pads were new before they parked it. The rotors are pretty rusted up, but I'm just going to drive them clean. I'll get some pics when I'm bleeding 'em. I want to show you guys the suspension, too. It's not too complicated, but is a good design similar to the Mustang II.

The weather's getting more fall-like and actually heading toward winter. I'm going to have to put it in the garage to get it where I want it before it gets too cold to do anything. I need to rebuild the alternator and probably do some work to the starter while I can still get to it. I have to remove all of the front accessories to get to the distributor and fuel pump, so I'll have access to other stuff while I'm in there. I'll probably change the timing belt and water pump just on principle while I have things apart.

I got the radiator back from the shop. It's looking good. Swiss cheese had nothing on it before I took it down there. It only cost me about $60, and that's a good deal in my book. This guy's prices haven't gone up much in 30 years.

I finally got a chance to check the miles. This Chevette has some sort of indicator when it's time to change some emissions parts. It covers the odometer so we really didn't know what the acutal mileage was. I got it shoved back into the place it was supposed to be and the actual mileage is 50,688. Should last a while if I get all the deteriorated stuff replaced.

After a good look at the suspension it looks like the best way to lower it is to cut a coil or two out of the springs. There just isn't enough material or room to do anything else with the existing suspension. I suppose I could fabricate some new bits and pieces, but I'm not sure I want to ride on the results of my first bit of welding. The springs are cylindrical rather than conical, and the coils are evenly spaced so it should be pretty easy to cut 'em.

I doubt I'll get it much more than running and operable before winter. I want to be able to drive it, though, in case we need an extra.

Since you're going to be inside the engine, I'd suggest replacing or rebuilding the oil pump and checking all the expansion plugs. I've seen oil pumps on equipment sitting for years develop a microbial film that can turn to gooky stuff (<----fancy technical term) that can clog small passages in the engine causing premature bearing failure. Dropping the oil pan and cleaning it usually will clear any besides what's in the cogs on the oil pump.

The expansion plugs (freeze plugs) often rot from the inside out on older engines, even when they have antifreeze in them. The anti-freeze portion never goes away if you don't add water but the anti-corrosion elements fade after about 24 months. I've seen cars that were parked and kept like new have the plugs start to seep and then fail. When I drop a used engine into a car or truck, I replace the timing belt/chain, expansion plugs and oil pump. This beats having them fail while in service.

I'm not going inside the engine yet. I'm hoping I don't have to. I've had several cars that had more sitting time than this one that fired up and ran without going in. If I have to go in, I'll probably just go on to step two and put something else in. The timing belt is pretty much on the outside, but under a cover. I have to pull that cover to put on a water pump, though, so I might as well go ahead. I don't want to pull the oil pan. If I have to go that far, I'll be buying an engine lift and engine stand...

One thing that's going in the trash can is what's left of the AIR system. The pump was gone when I got the car and half of the pipes were gone, as well. I have to get a couple of pipe plugs to close off the holes in the exhaust manifold, though, and I'm getting rid of the brackets for it.