New Year = Emission Testing

The Chevelle has been running great! The only major problem at the moment is that it is leaking oil out of the valve covers. Because the valve covers get so hot it burns the oil and makes the engine smoke and smell pretty bad lol.

Emissions:
Hydrocarbons 197/450 PASS; Idle 247/450 PASS
Carbon Monoxide 2.49/3.75 PASS; Idle 2.56/5.00PASS

(scroll down a few posts to compare this years results with last years)

The readings are very similar to last years except for the idle because we tuned it up just a little bit because of the winter months.

Bondo & Primer

Sanded the bondo and primed it all up. Just need to wet sand and give it a coat of paint.

More Work

Well the carburetor has been leaking fuel like crazy out of one of the many bolts in it. We put some lock tight around the bolt which stopped the leak. As we were looking at the puddles of gas sitting on the engine, we noticed that my right upper control was very loose. We could just move it side to side which is not good. One my bushings fell out. So this got us started in a project we really didnt want to do lol.

After going to auto zone quite a few times and as well as pep boys, Sun Devil Auto, and Napa, We were able to install the ball joint and had the new bushing put into place. We put the ball joint in and start filling it with grease and of course the seal starts leaking like the rest of my 39 year old joints! So we had to pry it out again and get a new one. It was a pain in the butt project but was so worth it! The car is driving smooth but does pull some to the right now.

Wednesday is the first day of school so I am trying to get some body work done before then. I will be sanding, bondoing, hammering and painting probably all day today. I will most definitely take some pics!

Car is running great!

title says it all! of course there are interior an exterior problems but hey it runs well!

Fuel Gauge....Driver Window

pulling off fuel tank

fixing driver window

It has been awhile since we last worked on the car cuz we have been so busy. The car still runs great! Need a new battery though. The driver window finally gave up. The tracks and stuff were breaking, along with the wheels. We took everything off of the window and replaced it with new parts. We also took off the fuel tank to try to find out why the fuel gauge in the car isn't working. Unsuccessful there. Last night me and my dad disassemble the dash to try to see if the gauge was stuck but t wasn't... The car probably has some electrical issues. Hopefully that will be solved.

Now we are still needing a paint job along with lots of body work, and the interior (roof and floor) need to be replaced with new material. The main priority now is to fix that fuel gauge.

Emissions

On Saturday we took the car to the emissions testing place to see if we would pass since the Chevelle has been running really good lately.

Here are the results for our previousEmissions Test on 4-01-05:

Hydrocarbons-

Loaded reading: 269 - passing is 450: Pass

Idle reading: 608 - passing is 450: FAIL

Carbon Monoxide

Loaded reading: 6.72 -passing is 3.75: FAIL

Idle reading: 11.41 - passing is 5.0: FAIL

Saturday's Results:

Hydrocarbons-
Loaded reading: 240 - passing is 450: Pass
Idle reading: 228 - passing is 450: Pass

Carbon Monoxide
Loaded reading: 2.64-passing is 3.75: Pass
Idle reading: .19- passing is 5.0: Pass

WE PASSED!!!!!!! I was so nervous when we took it in! I cant believe how much lower our results were from our last test.

Our next project will be to replace the brake shoes since we are hearing some squeaks and feeling some vibrations that arent normal. I LOVE the chevelle!! haha.

The car is still running very smooth and sounds great.

Insurance!

For my dads birthday my mom got him insurance for the chevelle (i new this for a few days and it was so hard not to tell him haha). Then my dad bought himself a 30day pemit! So whenever we go somewhere with out the entire family we are always taking the chevelle. WEewent to auto zone last night and bought 2 mirrors, since we dont have any side mirrors, and some wing nuts to keep that air filter from falling off. The car is still running great and it is also not blowing the black or white smoke our of the tail pipe which is very good and it also doesnt stink as bad as it used too!

Our next project will be finding the time to go and get the car emissioned test.