So the Camaro rolled off the truck into my garage in non-running condition. I bought it intending to have to swap a V8 in and maybe an auto transmission. But curiosity is a strong impulse for me, and I had never really had a chance to look an inline six over before. So I started fiddling with it.
A new battery and tray was needed, and the negative battery cable was frayed and needed replacing. There was no signal to the starter and I looked under the dash and found someone had knocked the clutch interlock connection off which kept it from starting.
I found there was no filter in the carb and added that. The carb was not getting fuel, so I replaced the fuel pump just in case and added an inline filter before the pump. I noticed had bad the hose was and replaced the fuel hose. Still no fuel so I looked at the tank and found more rotted fuel hose and replaced it. The fuel then proceeded to get sucked out of the tank and drain onto the floor through the rotted fuel hose I didn't realize was under the passenger side connecting the fuel lines between subframe and rear. After cleaning that mess up and replacing the lines, I had success starting it.
The THERMAC vacuum hose and EVAP hose were incorrectly switched too, according to the assembly diagrams. THERMAC and advance hoses come off the full manifold vacuum on the throttle body, while EVAP is off the timed port on top. I also found the vent line between the gas tank and the EVAP was disconnected, which cleared up the gasoline smell in the garage.
Pretty rough at that point, but at least it ran. I discovered in the diagrams from the assembly line manual that the 3rd and 4th spark plug wires were reversed....so it was a four cylinder at that point. Then getting really sporadic ignition advance, I removed the HEI to disassemble and lube up with fresh oil and wheel bearing lube.
The accessories were noisy, the water pump leaked, and the battery was having trouble charging. So a new alternator and water pump later it sounded more like a real car.
I also replaced all the hoses, belts, and put in new bottles for the coolant and window washer pump. I also extended the the heater hoses so instead of running right next to the distributor, they route onto the wheel well and ordered a bracket that the Nova used for this placement of the hoses.
Now that I could drive it, I took it took my local old gas station mechanic to have him check the brakes and make sure it was all sound.....it wasn't. A new master cylinder, rear brake lines, wheel cylinders, and a new set of pads and shoes later; all four corners were stopping. I also had a leaky power steering hose that he fixed. I wasn't confident on those two essential systems at that time, so I let them take care of them.
The parking brake still didn't work, nor did the speedometer, and the driver seat track was rusted in place. But those things could wait until later.
http://unitedf-body.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?topic=12419.0https://imgur.com/96UpHda
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