May 2020 – lee-lawmaster.com

Dat Ass

I’m talking about the IROC. Part of diagnosing why the speedometer was reading incorrectly is knowing exactly what the gear ratio of the rear end is, and how many teeth the 2 gears in the transmission that drive the speedometer have.

Today, I did the easiest method for finding that with results that were not expected. Per the VIN and the RPO codes on the car, it should have a 2.77 gear ratio in the rear end, with a limited slip posi-traction differential.

For those of you that I just lost, that ratio means the driveshaft should turn 2.77 times for every time the rear wheels turn once. Limited slip is a form of posi-traction, which enables both wheels to spin at the same time. For this car, the other option was an open differential, where only 1 wheel actually provides the power.

I jacked the car off the ground, placed my camera under the driveshaft and rotated 1 wheel towards the front of the car.

As Described

The results? The driveshaft spun about 3.5 times. What? It should have only spun 2.77 times!

I knew “something” had happened while my dad and stepmother went on a trip, but didn’t know if it was the transmission or the rear end. I posted on Facebook about it where my stepmom and her brother, my uncle argued about the subject. I tend to trust him more about mechanical things like this, he did paint it after all.

My next steps are to remove the differential cover to inspect and verify the gear ratio. I also need to check the transmission gears. There is one located on the tail shaft, and one that is driven from that gear to turn the speedometer cable.

Unfortunately, I believe this is a Borg Warner 9 bolt rear end, made in Australia. I have done a lot of searching tonight and have only found used sets of the 2.77 ring and pinion gears for sale. Replacing these two parts is not a cheap venture, so it will be put on the back burner for now. I’m merely posting this for documentation and as my dad would infamously say to make a “historical document.”

My headliner material should be arriving on Friday, and I have been in the progress of removing the trim and parts to take the existing original headliner out. I hope to be successful in doing this, as it’s something I have no experience in. I will videotape and obviously post here about it.

I Can’t Drive 55

Here’s a setback I wasn’t expecting. I broke the needle on the speedometer of the Camaro. I’ve noticed that it’s been reading up to 10mph too high, sometimes as low as 3. I was trying to adjust it by using some advice that I sourced from the internet, and boom.

What good is an instrument if you can’t read its output?

The gauge cluster on this car is a relic of the past, sharing the same kind and style of components that vehicles 30+ years older than it have. Vehicles of today use digital instrumentation (even if you have physical gauges). Odometers are readouts on a screen, this one is a dial that shows up to 5 digits of miles.

I spent all last night researching and trying to find answers to the problem I’m facing. You would think there are replacement parts and people who are well versed in instrumentation woes who have said something on the internet right? Wrong. I’m coming up pretty empty on this one.

Camaros of this generation came with three, count em, 3 different speedometers. They came in 85, 115 and 145 MPH varieties. With this one having the 145 one, which is hard to find. From what I have found so far, each one had a different “spring” in it, which I can only assume helped it be accurate. Thankfully I have all of my parts.

Further complicating things, is the fact that many moons ago, there was an issue with the transmission. This makes me question whether the gears that drive the speedometer cable are the correct ones. My stepmother told me that my father chose to have a re-manufactured one installed at a dealership. My father never told me.

I just procured a 85 MPH speedometer on eBay, and am bidding on an entire instrument cluster. My next steps are to determine all of the gear identities so I’m not assuming things that may not be true. I need to find out what speedometer gears are in the transmission, and the actual gear ratio on the rear end, as well as the tire diameter.

With that information, I can make informed decisions on where to go from here. I will also continue to prepare to replace the headliner and recover the sail panels, possibly doing a transmission service as well. I figure it’ll be better to accomplish these tasks since the car is down right now.

I sure didn’t expect to have such a detour, but I might as well make the best of it that I can.

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Period. Normally used as punctuation to end a sentence. However, I’m writing about the other commonly used meaning of the word, menstruation in the female of our species.

I was told the other day over text by my ex wife that our daughter, “is no longer a little girl.”

I’ve missed her significantly, as I haven’t seen her in over 3 weeks now. It could be why I’ve been feeling so down lately.

With my oldest daughter, mum was the word on the subject of her growing up. I wasn’t to know anything. With my youngest, things are different. It’s okay for dad to know. She’ll always be my little girl, but she’s now onto adolescence.

I’m nervous and scared at the same time. I just hope she knows that she doesn’t have to hide this part of her life with her old man.

Cruise Your Worries Away

This “new normal” has really been getting to me lately. My mind went through a period of depression as it normally does when it comes to change, but I am finding my escapes from it now. Those being my vehicles and my home. I have a laundry list of things I want to accomplish and that gives my soul energy.

Friday I was working as normal, then lunch time came around. So I ate something, watched a little TV and decided to take the rest of the day off. But what do I do? The day started out raining and gloomy but the clouds parted and it became beautiful outside. I know, take that Camaro out for a cruise!

So I did. I stopped to see several people who are important to me and this car. Namely my stepmother, my girlfriends parents and my car bro, Ira. He has a 87 IROC.

This is the first real drive I’ve ever taken the car out on, and I’ve got to say it was wildly different than the last time. The vibrations from braking are now gone. Due to my modifications to the proportioning valve, braking is balanced and effective.

While on the highway I did notice something that bugged me however. I was going the speed limit according to the speedometer, but was being passed like crazy. It seems the speedometer is off by about 10mph. This car has a mechanical speedometer. It involves a counterweight attached to the meter, and I think it is out of sync. It will take some tricky work to get this where it should be – but that’s one thing I have to get resolved as soon as possible! It’s going to drive me insane.

Yours truly, photo courtesy of my girlfriend’s dad

While at Ira’s he noticed something I hadn’t. The door moldings were gone on my car. I can only assume my uncle removed them when he painted the car. When I get the orange peel removed and the paint is where I finally want it, I will have to get these installed. I’ll probably have a body shop do it, to match the paint color and ensure proper installation.

While on the way back, I picked up my girlfriend on the side of the road and said “I normally don’t do this sort of thing, but your beautiful. Want to take a ride with me?” I think she loved it, and I did too.

With that cruise, a lot of the pressure I felt to get the car to a certain point before I did any driving suddenly removed itself. I still need to get the new struts installed but I’m going to take every opportunity I have to get out and drive at this point. I’ve had this car long enough to not enjoy it.

Car Therapy

I’ve been in a real funk lately. My mental status has been very low. Everything seems to be like Mount Everest at this point. It’s been beating me up, seriously.

So today, I decided to do something that generally cheers me up I worked on the Camaro. I had a laundry list of things to get done and most generally speaking, I accomplished them!

Over the winter, I spent over $1000 on parts to put on the car, with plans to do all of the work over the winter. Boy was I wrong. The inner bear who just wants to hibernate comes out in me in the winter.

I can proudly state the rear end work on the car is done at this point however. Now I just have to do the front, which includes the brakes, struts and strut mounts. Plus any rubber bushings or hoses that need to be replaced.

When I replaced the rear shocks, I had to pull the rear carpet section out of where it was to access the shock mounts. Placing it back was quite the struggle. I had to remove the back seat and remove a couple of screws on the plastic interior pieces in order to put the carpet back.

I then made a discovery that has really boggled my mind. The front seat belt holders were broken, and so I ordered some re-manufactured ones from Hawks. I was quite surprised to discover that the fabric used on the drivers side was maroon instead of grey. The passengers side is grey. I also found it interesting that the drivers side is longer than the passengers side by about 2 inches. I think the car was made on a Monday or Friday. Someone wasn’t paying attention. That’s for sure.

Old on Left, New in Middle, Seat Belt on Right

It’s been a while since I’ve made any real progress on the car. I haven’t posted anything new to YouTube, but I have shot some video. I just need to edit it. It feels good for a change.

I finished it off by installing the spare seat a Camaro buddy let me borrow since mine is still in Oklahoma, and due to stay at home orders/pandemic I haven’t went to get it. I will as soon as I can.

Then it was just a matter of putting the rear wheels back on and I now it’s finally a driveable car again. I’m still figuring out how to get a license plate, as our BMV offices have been giving some conflicting information on accessibility.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had this view

Tomorrow I’m going to clean up a few things in the rear of the car, get the old stereo out of it, and be done for a while. I want to actually enjoy this car this year – while I can.

I’m currently trying to make a schedule and figure out when I will do all of the front end work that I know will make the car about 100 times more fun to drive.