Just something to pass the time... I'm curious what's the worst hack job anyone has run into while working on a second hand f-body...

Here's my story...Just bought a 97 Z28 M6 that needed some motor work (cam bearings were shot). Anyways, I'm deep into the motor so I figure I'll do all the bolt-ons (and a fun cam)...Anyways, while pulling the stock exhaust manifolds off I find that someone removed them before and used long bolts that required spacers to put them back in. The brainiac that did this welded the spacers to the head of the bolt making it all but IMPOSSIBLE to get the bolt out. Long story short, I now have the heads off just to remove the manifolds...

Done venting! Whats your story???

 

why didnt you just cut the bolt?

 

Not sure how you would do that? Not much room for tools...

 

Went to finish up a cam swap for a friend years ago on a second gen,cam was installed way off not even 180 out, loose head bolts, intake bolts... On and on. ****** crackhead mechanics

 

You know how the stock manifolds use the closer bolts on the outer two primaries and aftermarket headers use the outer bolts? Every single outer hole had a bolt broken, flush with the head. I had to drill new holes in each header flange to use the inner holes...

 

my first lt1 I bought had an electric water pump, the power wire was just wrapped around a fuse in the power box

 

Where do I start? Wheels rusted to the rear hubs. Three exhaust manifold bolts broken off inside the head on the driver side, and one crossthreaded and hanging out halfway. Put red RTV around the manifold to seal the leaks. Blazer foglights install with the hot leg coming off the junction box, the wires weren't even hooked up to the switch, the wires were just wrapped up in a knot at the end. The wires were run up the side of the fender well and between the door and the fender. I'm sure there's more I can't remember.

 

8 feet of electrical conduit as an exhaust, clamped on and hung by wire

 

we bought one for one of my kids and when we started cleaning it up, it had no trunk floor, they replaced the fuel pump and put no metal back over the hole they cut!! They also put on headers and it looked like they welded up the y-pipe with a torch and coat hangers (seen that when I was buying though). Had removed the AC, and cut the condenser lines with a hacksaw, left the condenser. Its a good thing this car was only a grand.

 

Luckily The moron I got mine from wasnt mechanically inclined enough to touch the engine. But he did like to mess with wires! Going down a curvy back road with blind turns the car dies on me. Pull off as much as I can, no shoulder on the road. Car wont start, and im in an awesome valley with no cell service! Dumbass decieded to wire the rad fans up to the ign fuse, with 18gauge wire. If it wasnt 18gauge it was 22gauge. Blew the fuse and melted part of the fuse panel, plus half the wire insulation was melted away. Every now and then if you shut the door hard enough it wont start next time due to the fuse wiggling loose. The day of trade the rear brake was making noise, he said it was the caliper, I never heard a caliper sound like that. After a 30 mile ride home I found all the lug nuts spinning freely. To top the cake the car was wrecked which he didnt disclose which is part of the reason I always tell people to look under the car at the pinch weld and frame even when traded and no lift is available. Turns out the car has 2 rocker panels on it, just crudely welded over another.

Some of these things were 100% my fault for overlooking , but you know how you get when you get a new vehicle, you focus on certain parts and not others, then when youve had it for a week you start to find EVERYTHING wrong. And people who dont disclose information they know about a car, they arent worth a cup of my spit to keep them alive after being in the desert for 2 days with no water. ESPECIALLY when its a person to person trade, and your giving your ride which is perfect. People should be hung for **** like that.

I sent him an email telling him to never touch a car again on his own. And if he took it to someone for work/body work, to stop using them because they also have no idea what they are doing.

 

I helped a guy in a similar situation...wait was that you?


picked up my heads today..hmmm to port or not to port? Maybe they'll do a 2-faaa deal!!!!

 

About six hundred years ago before tuning software was made available for the OBDI/II PCM, one of the more popular ways to tune was to run DFI and piggyback off the PCM. A friend of mine had this done and the system was spliced into the existing harness. Not sure if anyone is familiar with Bob Norwood, but he made an infamous name for himself by hacking the **** out of exotic cars. A few of them being cars owned by John Carmack. One was featured in a C&D article, which when reported, they could not get any reliable data from because the car never ran right if at all. He did the piggyback system for my friend's car. When he was ready to do away with DFI and go back to the stock PCM it was discovered Norwood had cut all wires used down to 1/4 to 1/8" nubs. Made it interesting trying to reconnect all wires to say the least.
Ah that Norwood. I had the pleasure of watching him blow up a high dollar Porsche on the dyno and watch him try to explain to the owner what happened.

 

I hate nubs and electrical tape!! If u cant do it right DONT TOUCH IT!!!! Especially in the car stereo area!!! I can't count how many hack jobs i have seen in connecting head units and amps. DAMN do it right people!
And on a side note, my 93 had those spacers on the manifolds from the factory. I reused them on my MAC headers. Figured they might give more even clamping force when tightening them down, but mine were not welded on. Just a thought.

 

When I got my 95 camaro Z28 the previous owner did not tighten the bolts all the way on the alternator and AC bracket. So one day when I started my car soon after I see the check engine light come on and when I looked under the hood I see the belt had come off. I had to replace the bracket because the screw holes got chewed up while the bracket had worked it way loose.

 

A friend of mine used brown lamp wire for speakers (same stuff as the cheap extension cords).

 

Did you friend at least over a little before relying on engineering?