LD85

85 owners

ggrassmid

I have an 85 also. I love my car, its fun to drive. I've been getting into autocross lately too. I grew up in Coopersville, just West of GR. My family and parents are still around there, my dad ended buying an 86 car after I had to have my car at their house for a few months when I moved here to Cincinnati. Sounds like you're making good progress and enjoying your car!!

jonvo459

Status update:
I have replaced the rear trailing arm bushings with poly. After doing this I noticed the back end sits up a little higher than it used to, but I figure on dropping it back down when I get the wheels and tires on.
I have acquired front and rear pads, rotors, and calipers from a 2000 C5
I have dropped off my wheels at the body shop to get painted black
I have done a tune up (plugs, wires, cap and rotor)
I have a problem in the drivability area yet
I have this problem where when its cold, the car chugs like crazy, but as it warms up it runs better. It seems to be linked to where I have the throttle because I'll hit a certain point in the throttle and it just takes off. This leads me to believe there is something wrong with the TPS. I will be hooking up a scan tool to it probably tonight and see what I can figure out on it.



At least some people are looking at this thread!

ggrassmid

I had a similar problem, though it didnt do it when it was cold. I'd be driving down highway and try to slowly accelerate a bit and I'd hit this spot in the throttle travel where the car would then loose all power untill I get past that point. I put on a new TPS, reset everything, adjusted the voltage points on the TPS and it runs great now, no issues and more.

John A. Marker

You are doing well grasshopper......double check the TPS settings.

jonvo459

Thanks guys, I will try and get a scanner hooked up soon.

Stay tuned for further updates.

odecom5

Can't wait to see the finished wheels on the car. Thinking about doing the same thing to my white '85.

Also, I like the VW Baja I spy in the background

jonvo459

Thanks man! Unfortunately the VW has to go soon. It never does anything, it's just a big orange pile of money sitting there.

As for the Vette, I plugged in the scanner yesterday and I was getting an intermittent reading off the TPS thru the scanner. It would read the TPS sometimes but it usually wouldn't pick up the small pushes of the throttle and once I did a WOT snap and it didn't read that either; although it seems more random than anything.

So, I went over to my dad's '85 and stole the TPS for my car as a test. I Don't think it CURED the problem, I believe it has made a difference in how it runs somewhat.

It still only runs well when it's warmed up, still starts hard after it's warmed up, still stumbles on acceleration when it's cold, but the power seems to be delivered much smoother when its all warmed up.

I have come to believe the car has a 160* thermostat in it. I've read things that this can mess up the ECM as far as fuel delivery and stuff. Could this have anything to do with my issue?

jonvo459

I picked up my rims from the body shop yesterday, and they look pretty good. I'd post a pic of them but I'm having trouble with my photobucket account at the moment....

anyway, I had another question. After replacing my trailing arm bushings with the ones in the ES poly kit, the rear end sits up too high. Is there any way I can bring it back down easily?. I will have to first see how the new wheel/tire combo looks to see how far It needs to come down.

I should have it rolling on its new shoes by saturday afternoon, and hopefully by then my photobucket will be working!

norm's 81

hell yeah! just snapped the torq's bolt off trying to adjust my tps! now a quick adjustment turned into a night mare!

jonvo459

well that's no good, norm. did you snap the top or the bottom bolt?

anyway, I am still having issues with drivability. I will have to make a video and post it up, probably start a dedicated thread.

Wheels and tires tomorrow: stay tuned.

norm's 81

It was the top bolt so i should be good looking for a used one.

Tom400CFI

Yes.

First, you may want to loosen all the suspension points, and let the suspension "sag" to ride height...THEN tighten all the bolts.

Second (or if you already did the above), you'll notice that there are nuts at the ends of the spring leaf. Under the ends of the spring are nuts, attaching the spring-end to long bolts that tie the spring to the knuckle. If you loosen those nuts, that will lower the rear of the car. You MAY need to replace the bolts with longer ones ("Lowering bolts") if the threads left aren't long enough on the stock bolts to accomplish what you are after.




No. The car should run like a "raped-ape" at 160. I.e., the car should run perfectly fine there, whether you believe that is the BEST temp to operate at or not (huge debates on forums about this topic). Car should run fantastic stone cold, too. Have you tested the resistance of your Coolant Temp Sensor (or read it's readings on the scan tool) through it's range? From ambient temp up to "fan on" temps? That is what I'd check next.

jonvo459

Thanks for the suggestions. I've been driving it a lot more the past couple days because my DD is out of commission, and I've noticed that once it gets fully warmed up to around 200, it will run like a top. I'm definitely gonna have to look into the ECT.

As for appearance, well, here you go:



I have to get out the legit camera and get some decent pics of it instead of using my cell phone

odecom5

Looks great! Maybe some Armor All on the tires might do some good

Look forward to seeing more pics

jonvo459

Thanks! Yeah, I didn't have much of a chance to clean them up at all. a little of the tire lube was still on them. I'll get it cleaned up this week and snap some better pics for your viewing pleasure.

boutyme

Nice job so far, I just visited my 85 for the first time in a year and really want to start putting her back together, just not enough time or money at the moment. I am going to jack her up and take off her shoes and start acquiring a brake conversion kit.
Good job and nice wheels!!

jonvo459

Thanks for the kind words and good luck with your project!

you just have to find a rich C5 owner like I did who wanted to "upgrade" to z06 brakes and just swapped everything out so he could have his red calipers

norm's 81

WOW! love the rims! looks great! still waiting on my spacer/adapters and then ill take a pic.

jonvo459

Hey guys, I know its been slow in this thread but that's just because I'm out enjoying the 'Vette

Anyway, Here are a couple pics I snapped this morning after I got it all cleaned up ready to head out to the 28th St. Metro Cruise.