Frank DuVal

Wet Opti Spark is a minor inconvenience to the wallet. And “good” exercise for the back. 😩. I did my 94 Caprice wagon once, around 100 K and still OK at 268K. 96 Buick wagon is currently off road at bout 120K, and water pump is showing a leak, already got AC Delco pump ready to install. Not a winter driver. I already formed the left rear quarter on the Chevy from fiberglass.....😉 it was a winter driver. And I have replaced every steel line with Cunifer. I bought it almost 20 years ago from a used car friend who said ”perfect for 😄you, needs a little bodywork” due to minor garage swipes. I drove it instead of fixing all the scrapes. Transmission had already been rebuilt when I bought it at 65K miles. GREAT CARS!👌

Driven every kind of rig that's ever been madeDriven the backroads so I wouldn't get weighed😁 Yes, Zoomer Radio on 740. I know, I typed Boomer in my earlier post. Yes, my Transoceanics will not live in the garage either. To get over the noise of tools, I use my Onkyo system from about 1979! 😉 I bought it from a neighbor when I needed a "new" system in the collision repair shop. I added a building and left the tube receiver in the older shop. New (to me, was about 70 year old building...) shop was 6000 sq ft, needed more power..... I had a city Policeman walk in about midnight with a noise complaint. Yes officer, I will turn it down.....😆 Oh the stories of running an inner city collision shop with residential neighbors..... And other city characters....😲

For those who might still have AM radio, especially in the car, music is scarce. Depending on location, at night try 740 out of Ontario, now called Boomer Radio, they play decades of music at night, then there is the Midnight Blue at 12. If into real country, WSM is still on 650. Eddie Stubs has retired, though. I started listening to him on WAMU in DC, his was a syndicated broadcast. Still is the Grand Ole Opry station. I have news radio playing in sheds. Squirrels finally got used to it, so up went the hardware cloth....😁

Me too, I like a station that plays many different genres. I listen to WTJU in the garage, I have no internet in there yet, so over the air it is. They are the student run station at UVa. Lots of different genres. At 60 miles from the antenna, it is amazing I can receive it well, as their output is 1.85 kW with a coverage of 25 miles....🤔 Otherwise it is CDs of Rockabilly, Blues, R & B, Spike Jones (Ha!😆), Mongrel American Music (folk/rock), etc. etc. Nothing mainstream..... or whatever is on my iPod (remember those?).

I have also soda blasted some carburetor bowls and tops that were particularly dirty after a soak in old fashioned bucket carb cleaner. They look and work great. I'm sure soda getting stuck in some passage might come back to haunt me if I keep doing this. Lucky it is water soluble. Let me tell you about the time I polished brass Rochester accelerator pumps with walnut shells in a vibratory tumbler. Took forever to get little pieces of walnut out of places I didn't even know had places! 🤬 But boy, did they ever shine!😁 Too bad they are inside the carburetor. At work some guys are using Simple Green in a large ultrasonic cleaner to clean carburetor parts and heads. Seems to work for them. Good to know Dawn works too.👍

Yep, Mario Kart. The button second from the right puts banana peels on the road to thwart other drivers.🤔 The Mario Kart Star button makes the driver invincible, and increases speed by 1/3. A very handy button I would say. Well, unless this Buick is doing Super Mario Kart, then the Star doubles speed. Better watch out for tickets.😲 Sounds like Melanie found an Easter Egg.😉

Right, Joe, Buick did not get an inline 6 in the 60s until the 1968 model year. Prior to that would have been the 1930 model year? 1968 model year is when Buick sold the tooling for the V-6 engine to AMC! Then Buick bought the tooling back from AMC for the 1975 model year, and bolted the equipment into the same holes in the floor in the Buick Engine plant.😲 Biggest difference in the 1967 V-6 and the 1975 V-6 was the increase of displacement to 231 cu in. ST 300 is the Super Turbine 300. Yep, not a Powerglide.😉 I find this site helpful for decoding body plates: https://www.tpocr.com/buickbp5.html

So what's the rant? Sounds like normal Bentley pricing to me. And you play in that group all the time. Did you even try a local locksmith? What key system does a Bentley use? And of course, why did you need two keys? "They" lost both at the same time, or theft recovery? Or kids don't want to share the same key, but will share the same car?🤔 Can't see that happening in this level of family.😆

The 94 ad 89 models listed are antique cars for this club!

Pertronix Igniter says to leave the ballast resistor in the circuit. Pertronix Igniter II says to remove the ballast resistor. The Crane/Allison/Fast/Fireball XR-700 requires the ballast resistor. The XR-300 version wants the ballast resistor removed. Then there is coil resistance. Then there is the crazy maximum voltage of the Hot Spark instructions. Of course one can not measure the voltage on the + terminal of the coil unless the car is running (because the ballast resistor can only accomplish voltage drop when current is flowing through it), and if the voltage is too high, you may already have damaged the unit.🤔 As always, a prospective buyer needs to do research before buying. 👍

Hey Joe, you don't own a newer car! Nothing in that list is OBDII.🤣 I know, "newer" is a relative term. Newer than a carburetor? Well, you have one fuel injected I see.

I've never seen a GM car with both resistors (wire and ceramic). But I haven't seen everything....😉 At least up through the Aspen/Volare series. They still used the known to fail resistor with the electronic ignition module system. It acted as a fuse sort of for the the module. 🤔 I'm not anti electronic ignition as one might get from my comments. I am just PRO troubleshooting the problem. If the troubleshooting shows the issue is worn distributor bushing or worn pivot pin on the points plate, then Pertronix, etc. could be a solution to fix the running without fixing the real problem. I just choose to fix the real problem. I can change the distributor bushing (or put two in) and have a repair method for the points plate that is simple. A bad resistor wire can be replaced by buying a ~$120 new engine wiring harness. While this is running moneywise neck and neck with a module to run on full 12V, it has the benefit of looking better and helping cure the #10 red wire corroded terminals. Everything is a decision you can make to meet your needs. Just opinions, no right or wrong. Or if one is planning to drive 200K miles in 30 years, the Pertronix, etc. can be cost effective compared to replacing points at the old recommended interval of every 12K miles! And if the right Pertronix, Crane XR-700, etc. module is purchased for a Corvair, the ballast resistor does not need to be taken out of circuit. I know of several early Pertronix modules that are still working after 30+ years. I have a Pertronix running in a Corvair I own that was installed by a previous owner. Well over 20 years ago. I see no need to remove it.😄 And just like if still running points, one should have a set of points and condenser (can be the old ones, as they were road tested!😉) in the glove box, people with electronic ignition should carry the above already mounted on the points plate with the small wire to the coil in the glove box. That way you will motor on without ever needing them!😁

Yes, that's the dotted yellow wire in Mike's posted diagram. That diagram is for the Corvair year model where the resistance wire connects to the terminal of the engine harness/body harness connector (like the firewall connector in those front engine Chevrolets), travels halfway or so in the engine harness, then makes a U-turn and comes back out the engine harness to connect to the two terminal starter solenoid harness connector. The same terminal has a yellow wire crimped along with the resistance wire, and the yellow wire continues back through the engine harness to the + of the ignition coil. This two terminal connector is where the magic connection to the R terminal happens. Some other Corvair years have the resistance wire go from the engine harness/body harness connector all the way to the + ignition coil, where also crimped to that lug is a yellow wire than travels back through the engine harness to the two terminal starter solenoid harness connector. This is what you see more often on front engine GM products.👍 Clear as mud?🤔 I wonder why things changed from year to year/ What problem were they trying to fix? Same with the 62/3 turbo models had a ceramic resistor because "they" thought the Spyder needed more high tension voltage, but using the same ignition coil, and then all models got the same harness starting in 1964. Lots of little changes every year in vehicle production.

Hmm, the engineers need to rethink their product. Right there in those words Mike shows "if the charging system voltage measured at the coil + is greater than 14 volts at any RPM level, the voltage regulator likely needs replacing." Then: "A maximum charging system voltage of 13.0 volts or so is plenty." I guess the designers do not fully understand lead acid battery technology! If your charging system put out a maximum of 13 volts at any RPM level, the battery would be undercharged. The system has to produce above 12.6 volts to get current to flow into the battery. A whopping 0.4 volts will not drive very much current into the lead acid battery. 13.5 volts is typically the lowest desired charging voltage for a 12 volt battery charging system.

Did you read the instructions? Particularly the troubleshooting pages? https://www.hot-spark.com/Troubleshooting.pdf 13.7 volts Maximum! That Delco alternator can exceed that easily under lots of conditions. The shop manual test for a good charging system is output 13.5 to 15.2 volts is normal. Sounds like you still need a resistor in the circuit. You see, I am not picking on you, I am actually trying to help fix problems. Just the old curmudgeonly way!😄 215, 250, close enough. Remember in Mr. Mom the 220, 221, whatever it takes.....😆

That's it. I would just remove the terminal from the engine side connector and solder the new wire to it rather than cutting the body harness. Those Packard 56 terminals are easy to remove and solder to. Good time to clean all the terminals in that connector. Especially the #10 red wire's terminals. They cause lots of issues. You never answered what model points replacement equipment you bought. I can find no Pertronix that sells for $250.

Yes, very blurry, but follow that yellow dotted line upwards from the coil + terminal, it goes to the starter solenoid two terminal connector, located at the left front of the engine bay, and right there in very blurry words : red-black-resistance-wire. That resistor wire is between the +12 volts switched ignition terminal of the engine harness/body harness connector and the two terminal starter solenoid connector. The purpose of this cross connection is the "bypass" where the starter solenoid provides +12 directly to the ignition coil when the starter is engaged from the battery directly without going through the ignition switch or resistance wire. A bad connection in the wiring harness resistor wire is very rare, but it has happened. Usually at the end connections, not in the middle of the run.

You guys should read what I write.... Separate ballast resistor mounted on rear frame rail was 1962/63 turbo models ONLY. Edit: was dropped in favor of the resistance wire for 1964 Spyder and 1965/66 Corsa models. OK, so I did not list the particular terminal in the connector, but there is where the +12 volt on with ignition switch on comes into the engine bay to operate the ignition system. A quick look in the wiring diagram will show the terminal.

Installing a Pertronix because you want to eliminate points is OK decision to make. We can disagree on if it is a good decision. Personal choice. But know the facts. Like the known issue of Corvair Powerglide cars not running well with certain Pertronix models. Installing Pertronix to FIX a problem just adds another layer to problems to FIX. Unless the points themselves was the problem, installing the Pertronix at best would be a Band-Aid covering up the real problem, which will show up again. Now you have a car that still runs bad after adding a modification. Is it the wrong model of Pertronix? Is it the coil? Is it a bad connection to the factory resistor wire? Lesson to learn is troubleshoot first!😉

It's a Corvair. All the power you need is already in the engine compartment. Except for the very early turbo models, the ballast resistors are resistor wire in the engine wiring harness, like most every GM car of the period.

Adjust the points, sell the car. I can make any Corvair run very well on points. The new owner can modify if he/she wishes. Did you try to fix the problem before you threw money at it? Worst case would be simple rebuilding of the points plate if the pivot was worn. Otherwise it is just put in new points. Rock Auto has lots to choose from. But, what Pertronix cost $250?🤔 $250 buys a lifetime supply of points, and no rewiring/modification of the car needed. Remember the instructions, carry the old point plate and points/condenser in the glove box for when the electronic module fails on the road....😆 Powerglide or manual transmission? There is discussion on corvaircenter.com/phorum about which Pertronix is better with Powerglide, as one of the models does NOT idle well with the low speed of the Powerglide. I think this is also the one that requires full 12 volts to run. You have to add a bypass wire from the engine wiring harness/body wiring harness connector to the + of the ignition coil. Do NOT wrap this modification with electrical tape, use proper harness tape, or be forever getting sticky crap on everything.

I'm just amazed you P.O. money order people have time to waste at the Post Office. If I went to my local post office to buy or cash a MO I might pack a lunch. It could be way over an hour of my time. I have heard some people live closer to a post office than a bank, so it is easier for them. Now with take a picture of the check to deposit it no need to go to the bank or post office (no, I have not yet done that, too easy to stop at the bank around here). In buying cars the wire transfer works great. Do you remember back 30 years ago when printing your Social Security and telephone number on checks was normal? People today can't understand why that was typical back then.

Why not just not buy stuff from a Chinese address? Or was the item not listed as shipping from China?

Your results are great, never had that result around here! 😆 Beat it in the rotating direction, then beat the end of the screw, repeat, repeat, let sit a day with pressure on it, repeat..... I have acquired another one like it so I can put all five legs on the lugs. More even pulling than three legs. YES!!!! Drums have been known to hurt hammer holders when they finally let go! 😲 The force needed to slide the drum off can fling the drum several feet away with ease.

Still $500. I have had people tell me they have car insurance through the state! 😲 No, you do not. You are allowed to drive, but still have to pay out of pocket for problems you create driving.