Dashmaster

Unfortunately some of foil like backing stayed stuck to the center cap when removed, as you can see from the picture. So I plan to remove all of the silver backing on the emblem which appears to be silver paint, touch up the black that is missing in few spots and spay the back again with chrome type paint to see if I can fix it. The backing does seam like foil where it was stuck to the glue, but on rest of the emblem where it did not pull off looks and feels like paint. Since I do not have any extra caps or emblems I will have to try to make them look good again. I will post picture after I re-work this one.

Here are some pictures of the one cap I removed the emblem from. Looks like mine have been re-glued or are different. The backside of my emblem does not look like yours is Ronnie. Thank You all for your input on this subject.

Not sure which way I will go. Its cold here and have to wash the wheels good and inspect the painted inserts. Just removed on of the emblems from center cap, half of the finsh came off so I will have to redo these. Really don't have a place to do stripping easily. So my plan at this point is to clean them and evaluate. Thinking of removing the tires that are on them so I am working with just the wheels.

In my wheel refinishing thread I had said I found a good deal on Tires for the Factory wheels. Now that I have gotten them I want to pass on what I found. Tire Rack, General Altimax RT 215/65/15 UTOG: 600 A A These are on closeout due to newer model Price for 4 Tires= $184 plus shipping. The ones I got all had Date Code of 1414 So if your car need some tires this is a good deal for a good tire. The 16 inch is also on closeout but not as good a deal. Also I am not affiliated with Tire Rack in any manner, just a customer.

Thanks Ronnie, Lots of work for sure. I have heard of some people removing the clear coat using oven cleaner. But nothing replaces a good controlled approach like sanding.

Did a search and did not find much information on stripping the factory finish off and re-polishing the factory wheels? My wheels are in Ok shape, 2 are dull like some of the clear is gone, the other 2 a little better. Center caps would need some work also 2 dull others better. Just was wonder what products any of you have used for stripping the clear off and what you might have used to polish it back up. Any how to suggestions welcome. I was going to just put new wheels and tires on in spring, but just found great price on replacing the 14 year old tires its sitting on so I will use the Factory wheels for now. Thanks in Advance Happy New Year to you All !!!

I agree with KDirk about the joining and judging parts. I am planning to do lots of shows and club meets this year and just having fun in mine. I am not a club member yet waiting till after the first of the year to join. My Car would never be a BCA 400 point car because of the changes made just to get it back on the road safely and things that would need to be done would not be original to the car such as paint. But my car will sport new wheels and tires this spring and will eventually have a killer sound system in it interfaced with the CRT system. It will stay mostly stock looking. Right now its has clear coat off the hood and part of left fender and tops of headlight covers but I will show it as it is, a work in process.

I need to replace the 14 year old tires on my Reatta. I am just thinking of putting on winter tires on it. But when searching stock tire size 215/65/15 not to many tires show up. but if I change tire size to 215/70/15 many more choices popup for winter and regular tires in this size. Has anyone used 215/70/15 on their cars? I did a search and did not find anything about using 215/70/15 tires, also did some comparisons on these 2 sizes. The 215/70/15 sidewall is .4 inches larger radius is also .4 inch larger rev per mile is 751 verses 776 for stock size. What do you guys think ? The 215/70/15 tries are also a little cheaper.

All of my Transmission/Engine swaps on FWD cars have been Saturn SL cars. I have not done a Reatta yet but the process would be the same. All have been pulled out of the top, engine with trans. Engine Hoist is need with lots of other tools. On my first R&R, I went slowly and took 1 day for removal and another for the reinstall. now that I have done this 6 times, I can do an R&R in a day. Things I can think of you would not need to loosen or remove by pulling it out of the top would be the Engine Cradle bolts and the strut on the left side where you would have to pull the trans out of that area if pulling the trans only out the bottom.

Now after fixing the engine cradle bushing I finally got back to look at this again. I had wiped down the area shown in pictures to remove any mess so I could pinpoint the leak. Took car for test drive after the bushings install. Found it was comming from the axle seal, replaced axle seal on rt side of transmission case and leak is solved.

6 Dorman Kits ordered through Amazon $125 6 GM Replacement Bolts ordered through GM Parts Direct $26 Nut's for Bushing compression/seating about a dollar. PB blaster $4-6 dollars. Depending where you get it. I noticed today not all my pictures uploaded. I have some showing new bolt and original and the part number for the new bolts.

All mounts installed and torqued to spec. This project for me is now closed. See top of this thread for new install instructions and pictures. Ronnie you can now create a tutorial. Also give Daniel the research credit for this work around.

I will measure the new ones and the one good one I have so far. Yes lower price would be good for sure. I did look at one local place but could not find anything there so instead of driving around and wasting Diesel Fuel I just went with these.

I used the information for the bolts from Machiner55 post in my broken bolt thread. I have ordered some but have not gotten them yet. If they come this week I will finish bolting up right side and start working on the left. Hopefully no more broken bolts. I will use one of the kit bolts to use in the inner rear location since I had to remove the factory nut/plate. Picture of my old mounts and nut/plate are in that thread. I have to get proper nut and make new plate for this location. I still have to find the Torque Spec for the center bolt so I can make sure they are set properly. Bolt: PN #11517635------$2.29 ea. The Insulator and Bolt are currently still available from GM Parts Direct

Want to thank everyone on this forum for all the Help, Thoughtfulness, Technical Information and Creative Thinking. Best People and forum anywhere !!! Special Thanks to D-a-n-i-e-l ( Daniel ) For all the research and work you did awhile back on the engine cradle bushings. I used your information to purchase the 924-005 Kits. They do work Fine for the Reatta in all mounting locations. Thank You Ronnie for the awesome documentation, tutorials and great pricing on parts available to us all. You may use any information and pictures to create a tutorial on your website. Thank You Machiner 55 ( John F. ) For you documentation and knowledge. It is valuable and appreciated. And again to everyone that has documented anything related to keeping these cars on the road. My car would be a parts car without this forum and its members. Installation of the 924-005 Mount Kits Parts Needed: 6 Dorman 924-005 mounts 6 GM bolts part # 11517635 ( Gm Parts Direct, may be able to sorce them else where, the GM bolt is metric with larger bolt head 18mm and slightly thicker on the shaft near bold head. Bolts are 4 inches long from underside of head to tip, 4.5 inches long overall, and fit Dorman mounts perfectly. 1 or 2 nuts that fit new center bolts ( 1 nut needed for use in compressing and seating mounts in frame, extra nut is spare. NAPA part number 81477 ) One Washer used for compressing and seating bushings ( used one of the good factory top washers from the factory mounts, you will likely get a good one from one of the front mounts. They drop into the top of the dorman washer and are perfect for the seating/compressing of the bushings explained later in this document. Tools Needed for Removal and Install 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 inch ratchets 10mm, 13mm, 15mm, 18mm sockets PB Blaster Impact wrench (Air and or Electric ) 4 Jack Stands Floor Jack 1/2 drive Torque Wrench. 19mm wrench to hold nut for mount seating/compression Cutting, Grinding Tools ( Only needed if you break off center bolt during removal and to remove any broken off 10 mm studs from factory mounts ) Supporting Car for mount removal/ install: I jacked and supported the car on the right side, completed the install on that side then jacked and did the left side. You could probably jack both sides and support car/cradle and should work fine. Using floor jack, Jack Car enought to remove tires, remove tires, Place one jack stand between rear mounts on engine cradle and one in the front on each side. Car should now be supported by 4 jack stands connected to engine cradle. Removing Factory Mounts: Soak Mounts with PB Blaster before trying to remove them, Use air or electric impact wrench to remove 15mm center bolts. Remove center 15mm bolts( You just need the bolt to release from the body, Due to rust the bolt may not come completely out of the mounts and drop out. ) Once all bolts are released from the side you are working on, jack body using floor jack, jacking from the factory front jack pad. Jack body up to create a bigger gap so its easier to remove the 3, 10mm nuts on each mount. Once they are removed the mount should drop out. Remove all mounts on the side your are doing, remove and install only one side of the car at a time. Install of Dorman 924-005 Mounts: With car already supported on jack stands, mark inner washer locations on strut tops, loosen the 3, 13mm top nuts holding strut at top but dont remove them just back them off to the top of the studs. Remove AC line holding clamp that is located on the left side inner front engine cradle, about 6 inches back from front mount location. This is to remove any stress on the line when doing left side. Jack body using floor jack to create a 4 inch or larger gap needed to install new mounts. Mount install: Top mounting parts are the Large Metal washer with protruding metal D shape, and round bushing fits inside this washer, Bottom parts are are the large D shaped bushing with large contoured bottom washer. Push bottom D shaped bushing into cradle from the bottom, push part way in, about 1/2 inch through frame ( this bushing is a snug fit into D space on frame , Take top washer with bushing and position it on top side of frame and align the D shaped parts. Compress and seat bushing. YOU MUST Seat/ Compress bushings or you will not be able to get bolts to reach and thread into car side body nuts. Seating/Compressing Bushings. With the parts already placed , Slide washer onto the top of the Dorman washer, place nut on top, use bottom washer and bolt, feed bolt up through mount assembly and get it to thread onto nut, hold nut with wrench and use ratchet to tighten, this will draw lower busing up into fame and top washer bushing down into lower bushing seating/compressing them onto frame. Once compressed, remove bolt with lower washer and top nut and washer. When removed assembly should stay compressed enough for you to bolt up to car. I installed and compressed all the mounts on one side, Lower floor jack to bring the car body down to the top of the mounts, Install bottom washer and bolt using 3/8th ratchet, tighten each mount but not really tight yet, Do the other side the same as this side. After all mounts are installed and bolted up, remove support from floor jack, car resting on jack stands. Torque bolts to 76lbs in this order: Inner rear left then inner rear right ( position 2 in 89 FSM), then Front left then right ( position 1 in 89 FSM). then the last two rear outer mounts can be done in any order ( Position 3 in 89 FSM). You have now completed the mount install. Remember to re-attach AC clamp ( Left Side ), tighten all the top studs nuts on struts and anything else you may have removed. In my opinion, these mounts are better than the original, Heavier parts and better design, rust can only start and accumulate where the metal D part of the top washer and bolt are, there are drain holes here and in bottom washer, unlike factory mounts that can rust together all the way through from top washer through mount.

I tried to cut some angles into what was left of the bolt, could not get good enough grip to break it free. Then I tried to see if I could push it up out of the cover metal retainer, this did not do much. Then tried to see it I could pry the metal retainer and this worked some. So in the the end I had to cut the metal retainer using several tools ( cutting disks, grinder bits, air saw) to get nut assembly loose to try and remove it out thru the hole. Once loose I could turn it to get the corners to extend out of the hole so I could cut them making the plate small enough to come out. Here is whats left of the nut/plate. The plate is 1/4 inch steel and shaped to fit the mount and was likely placed into the mount before mount being welded to the body. I did not cut the mount at all. Now have to get or make a new plate and get washer for the new nut I will have to use with new bolt. Here are some more picture of all of the mounts ( right side ), whats left, and the nut/plate. It took about 15 hours to get the nut and plate out. I will so confirm the the Dorman 924-005 Kits do fit in all locations on right side, I will start a new post on that subject tomorrow. Right side done, now for left, Hope I don't break off another bolt, but my inner rear mount shown in the mounts picture is in the middle. Mounts are in this order in the picture, outer rear, inner rear, front.

All of my mounts on my 88 are the same with 10 mm bolt in's like show in pictures here. I have test fitted the top busing in the right rear outer position and I saw no problems with bolting it up as shown in my picture. The inner rear looks the same as the outer. The only one I have not looked closely at is the front. Going to be working on this more this weekend. I will document the install. I ordered these mounts based on what I read on the old thread on mounts I hope they work. Looks like they will so far.

Here are pictures of the Dorman 924-005 parts Picture 1 Top washer with Bottom Bushing facing up Picture 2 Bottom washer and Top bushing facing up

The Dorman 924-005 Kits does have large supporting washing that holds up the supplied lower busing in the kit. All I can say is all of these parts are much more beefier than the factory set, as far as bushing size and thickness and top and bottom metal parts are also thicker and larger. You will see when I post some pictures tomorrow.

What washers bushings are you referring to? The Dorman kit has 5 Parts, One large heavy top washer that has an internal metal channel D shaped that goes thru the top bushing which is also D shaped where it goes thru the frame, the channel also keeps bolt alignment, then bottom bushing and large metal washer, and the supplied bolt. I will be able to take picture tomorrow of the Dorman Kit.

I agree only re-use the bolts if they come out clean. Out of the 3 on the right side, outer rear bolt is stuck in the bushing sleeve, inner rear snapped off, and front unbolted and came out clean. I am going to order 6 bolts to make sure I have all I need even thought I do have one good one so far.

My 88 has 6 mounts and thought all of them did, 2 behind the wheel area to frame and one up front on each side, The front ones on mine are covered by abs plastic cover so they don't really stand out when just looking underneath. I ordered all 6 for mine from Amazon. If they had decided to put a cover over the inboard rear mounts like the front, I don't think the rust problems would be as bad for those mounts. Since I have not had a chance to install mine yet, hope to this weekend all I can confirm is that they fit the D opening well and look like they should bolt up fine. You will need to re-use the bolts because the ones in the Dorman kit are different thread and size. I will post a picture of Dorman part in my thread so everyone can see what they look like before installing them. I am planning to do a write up with picture on my install.

If you are leaking around the pump it could just be a bad O ring causing the leak. If you remove the pump system you can remove the pump from the housing and check the O ring. I had a bad pump system on my 88, and it was far cheaper to replace it with known good part then to retro fit another. Got my part from Jim Flinn and was about 100 for pump with motor.

Like Daniel had posted in the older engine cradle bushing thread. I have test fitted the Dorman in the right side outside rear mount so far and they are D shaped and fit in nice and snug. I will take a picture of the Dorman part before install so you all can see the parts before I start installing them. I have not looked at the left side of the car yet so I hope it will go better. I will document everything I can and take lots of pictures. I have been taking picture in low resolution 640x480 size for posting here, I can go higher if you want larger photos.

I am using the Dorman 924-005 to replace all mounts in all positions and only re-using good bolts. Just as a reference note all the mounts in my 88 have the 10mm bolt in mounts from the factory. Not sure about any Factory replacement parts for the washer and insulator. I will be posting pictures of the install of the Dorman Parts once I get the remainder of the bolt out of this one mount. I got most of my info about engine cradle mounts from an older thread from searching the forum using engine cradle as the search term.