bikemikey

Hi, This is my first time on this Chevy, GMC truck forum, but I'm usually on the Buick Reatta forum. I had to pull off my Reatta to start work on my 81 Chevy Siverado short bed, since I really need the use of my truck. I had a leak from the grill below the windshield which caused some rust on the inside and outside of the firewall. I went ahead and pulled the heater box to take care of the rust. I used some ospho, then I used some por 15 followed by some spray on truck bed liner. My question is should I replace the insulation that I had taken out. Is it really necessary since I used some bed liner. Appreciate any opinions. Thanks, Mike

For what it's worth, when I installed a new fuel tank on my 89 Reatta, I started using a product called Sta-bil 360 at every fill up. It is suppose to give off a vapor and protect the part of the tank void of fuel from corrosion. It also tames the ethanol. It's been about a year now and the idle is perfect so far . The product is fairly new so I guess time will tell. Just a thought.

Make sure your battery cables are in good shape with no corrosion. I had to change out the cables on one of my cars, I was having the same symptoms, new cables fixed it.

About a week ago, I was going to ask this same question, but got busy and forgot about it. I have never seen a Reatta at those auctions and I have been watching them for a long time. In fact I am watching the Barrett Jackson auction as I am writing this email. I don't know how the Reatta would do at a BJ auction, but it would be nice to see one cross the line.

Ronnie, What do you think about "Bar's Leak" for that problem ? They make a product just for that , maybe just temporary to see if that's the problem.

Update. I finally got an alignment on my 89 Reatta, after doing a bunch of suspension work and using some rear wheel hub shims to get the rear wheels as close as possible. Before starting , I explained to the tech all the work I had done to the car. I wanted to show him but he would not let me near the car, company policy. He started to put air in the tires, but I told him I had already checked the tires that morning. He told me we go by the computer here, it's company policy. He also told me that if the car was too complicated, he could not do the work. I figured I had hit a nerve and it was time to go to the waiting room and hope for the best. About fifteen minutes later he came and got me, he says you know more about this car than I do. So after showing him the work I had done (company policy out the window) he told me what he was going to do. I told him that sounds fine to me. So about forty minutes later he comes through the door with a thumbs up and tells me I am going to love driving my car. He was right, he got everything within specs and did a great job, we were both happy! Mike

Cal, Look up to the upper right corner. If you are signed in , it should be just below the message envelope. It is a shaded area in the blue toolbar, hope that helps.

Sometimes wrong spark plug gap and also a dirty Throttle Body, TBI can cause hesitation problems.

Will do. I forgot to mention the tabs on the shim are made for cutting off if needed. It depends on which way you use the shim, whether negative or positive. You just don't want to cut off the tabs that are for the caliber bolt holes. But I'll make sure about that when I installed the next ones. Parts are on order so it will be a while. Thank You

Sorry for no pictures. Yes I bought them from Rockauto and it is the one you show illustrated . I realize now I goofed up by cutting the tabs off that go to the bolt holes for the caliber. I see what is happening now, it is putting the caliber in a bind. Hope this helps someone in the future not to make the same mistake. I'm waiting for some 3/4 shims which I think will be close enough. I'll send pictures in the future. Appreciate your help. Thank You

Okay, I think I know where I went wrong after thinking about it. The shims I bought had four extension tabs with holes on them. Thinking I did not need them I cut them off, probably a mistake. I think what they are for is to square up the caliber angle with the rotor angle so they are both the same. If that is the case, even though I ruined a shim, I think a one degree shim was a little too much, a 3/4 shim should be just right. I'll know for sure tomorrow.

I put a level on the wheel with a full tank of gas, I also used a camber degree bubble level just for that purpose, It had negative camber before I started out. I'll check it out tomorrow, I might have to take out the shim and see what it looks like with the new bearing. Thanks

I installed a 1 degree shim on my driver 's rear hub wheel side and I will do the other side as well, it's an 89 Reatta. I think now that 3/4 degree will work a little better, but here is the problem . I went for a test drive and heard this bad scary noise. It ended up being the rotor was cutting into the caliber body, I guess the angle was too much. Is it okay to shim the caliber body away from the rotor, if so, should I shim both caliber bolts or just the top one since the top of the rotor is hitting the caliber body, positive camber. I have real bad negative camber, trying to get more positive camber. Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks

Thank You for that info. I curious to see what the camber is after filling up the tank. As far as rust goes, I consider myself to be very fortunate. My 89 started out in Oklahoma, then spent the rest of it's life in Fort Worth, Tx. When the second owner passed away his son- in- law brought the car to Austin, Tx. which is where I bought it. There is no rust at all on this car, I lucked out buying this one. Mike

I'm almost done with my rear shocks. I'll filled up the gas tank and see what happens with the camber. I assume when you put more weight on the rear of the car you get more positive camber or does it stay the same?

Will do, nice photos. Thanks

Okay, I think I'll buy those shims and try them out, I'm thinking about changing out the wheel bearings anyway. I'll also fill that tank up with gas then see what happens. I'm trying to get it as close as I can before alignment. Thanks for that info.

I've been doing some suspension work on my 89 Reatta. Before changing out the rear struts, I noticed both rear wheels have negative camber. The manual says there is no camber adjustment on the rear wheels, but that is not quite true. The Moog company sells wheel bearing shims which are good up to one degree. My trunk is empty and there is about a half tank of gas. So far I've changed out the driver side strut but it is still the same. I know the front wheels are critical, but how critical are the rear wheels. Thanks

That's them, I'll check out that company. I'll get back to the forum and tell what information I found out. Thank You

I'm changing out my rear struts on my 89 Reatta. I noticed that the rear sway bar bushings that bolt to the strut are bad. From what I understand they are hard to find. Does anyone know where I can buy them or should I get creative and make my own. Thanks

I just thought I'd mention that when applying the new material to the core, use the palm of your hand to smooth out the material. Don't press down with your finger tips, I found this out the hard way. The core I was using was real soft and left indentations. When I was done it looked like the craters on the moon.

Okay, I'll try again. Thanks

The ones I bought were from a local Autozone store. They are new and Duralast Gold and probably the same ones you have posted. They look the same. I have a question for you. I'm trying to get the driver's side cv axle out, I've been prying from the back side but with no luck. I assumed this is what you are suppose to do? I noticed there are four bolts sticking through the side of the transmission case with nuts on them around the back side of the CV axle were I am prying against the CV axle . I assume these have nothing to do with getting the CV axle out, am I right? I also have a tool, I forget what it is called, but it is two split wedge halves with bolts that go through them. I'll see if that will work. Appreciate any info. Thanks

Okay, that clears it up for me. Appreciate it. Thanks

I'm about to change out my cv axles on my 89 Reatta. I bought the axles from Autozone, the brochure on the driver's side talks about a stub shaft. I'm curious, what can i expect, will the stub shaft come out with the old cv axle or does it stay inside the transmission? Anyone experienced this before? Thanks