[njsteve]

Nice! Al's Auto is a great place. It's like a time warp: everyone just stops by and hangs out there on Saturdays, bench racing and lending a hand when needed, on whatever he is wrenching on at the moment. Al was a dealership mechanic back in the day in Newark, NJ and he's one tough dude - got some great stories from way back when.

[njsteve]

BTW, the Chevy truck in the left stall is a very rare 1960 Chevy 2500 4x4 long bed. 1960 was the first year that Chevrolet offered their own 4x4 and not a Napco conversion truck. He is getting some minor mechanical bugs out before it gets sold. (The owner passed away and the estate is selling it).

[njsteve]

My son and I drove the white car out to PA to the Performance Years show in Hatfield. It is about 40 miles but takes over an hour as it is in the middle of no-where. We had a bunch of fun. He has been looking for a 1998 to 2002 Trans Am and spent most of his time touring that area of the show. Nice to see that he is getting in to cars at a young age - gives us hope for the next generation of carguys!

Here's the white car on display in the field:

[njsteve]

And on our way home we stopped at the local cruise night in Flemington, NJ. Another eclectic bunch of cars showed up last night. What's the odds of parking next to a white Karman Ghia and a white L79 Chevy II?

[bird72]

Car looks great Steve. My car is now almost a MiniMe version of yours sans shaker (and SD), I put duals with Formula tips on to emulate you, haha..........

[The Boss]

Great seeing you again Steve and for letting me take so many pictures!

BTW, Dan who was there with me sold me the NOS Formula hood you got back in the late 80's. Small world.

[njsteve]

Enrico, the original owner alerted me today: the SD is supposedly in a photo on page 60 of the most recent Hemmings Motor News with the Musclepalooza coverage. If someone could scan the page and post it here, I'd really appreciate it.

[bossbirdta]

well, its not a scan but i did see a copy of it on the rack today at the store and took a picture.....

[njsteve]

Thanks!

[Pepi]

Steve, I was reading through this thread, and came across where you were looking for the vacuum routing, and a page from the TSB was posted. I noticed what looks like the way you have it hooked up is per the Manual transmission and not automatic. The manual trans has a vacuum line coming of the ported vacuum from the front of the carb where as the auto comes from the back and nothing off the front. Did you find something different that you went by to hook it up the way you did? Also, are you running the Spark Delay Valve from the solenoid to the Distributor? I don't have one, and am looking for a picture or P/N for the correct one for 73's. How is the running temp on yours?

[njsteve]

You will notice that if you run the TCS system as originally routed, your car will run like crap. This system was only created to provide a specific emissions result during emissions testing regardless of its deleterious effect on engine performance. It seriously effects the performance of the engine, so most people, myself included, route the system back into itself and run the vacuum line from the vacuum tee off the carb directly to the distributor. That way the car gets the real vacuum advance in all gears and not just in 4th and reverse or after the car is at 225 degrees.

(Also, that photo was taken when the car had the over-the-counter 17054910 replacement SD carb on, that the third owner installed when he mistakenly thought that the car had a bad carb. The proper diagnosis was that the TCS system was making the car run crappy. After that photo was taken I replaced that carb with the 7043270 carb that the car originally came with, which does not the manual trans vacuum port on the front.)

[Pepi]

Oh, okay. I agree that it will make it run like crap. I have been reading over the information about it this weekend since I was out of town and had no access to the internet, and that TSB still doesn't make sense. It almost double talks how the system is designed to work. I just didn't know if you had come up with anything. I am going to try what you did. Mine runs smooth, but runs hot, and I think I have it hooked up per the manual diagram for the most part.

[necdb3]

You can hook the entire system up the way it's supposed to be hooked up but unplug the electrical connection at the vac solenoid. When the solenoid is not energized, it gives vac advance.

[Pepi]

Originally Posted by necdb3

You can hook the entire system up the way it's supposed to be hooked up but unplug the electrical connection at the vac solenoid. When the solenoid is not energized, it gives vac advance.

Not on the 73 1/2's, they use the 4th gear to energize the solenoid to allow vacuum in 4th gear.

[necdb3]

Originally Posted by Pepi

Not on the 73 1/2's, they use the 4th gear to energize the solenoid to allow vacuum in 4th gear.

Not 100% sure about 73's but all earlier systems worked so the solenoid was turned OFF by the switch in the trans when you put the trans in 4th gear. That way, the solenoid was off under highway (4th gear ) driving. I can't amagine they changed the system just for 73.

If for what ever reason the solenoid is turned off, vacuum passes through to the vac advance in the distributor. If you unplug the switch at the trans, disconnect the solenoid, remove the fuse, etc, it will advance the timing.

[Pepi]

Originally Posted by necdb3

I can't amagine they changed the system just for 73.

Yes they changed it all up for at least 73's after March 15th. The solenoid activates for the first 20 seconds on startup, and then when switched into 4th gear. If I unplug it, it never energizes. I could always route the vacuum to the other side of the solenoid so it gets it. But I think I will do like njsteve suggested and hook it all up so it looks like it is correct, but sneak a line down to distributor to give it full vacuum.

[njsteve]

Had to actually work on the white car the other day. It was having a weird brake pedal - when you pressed the pedal it would initially be hard and then creep down to a certain point, about 2/3 of the way to the floor and then become solid again. I bled the system a couple times but it still persisted. No leaks anywhere. The back brakes were also running very hot. I was thinking maybe it was the combination valve internally leaking, or the original master cylinder that I had sleeved, internally leaking. I even swapped to a known, good master cylinder but the same issue was there.

I told my mechanic buddy Al and he said it was the rear wheel cylinders. Of course he was right. Turned out that they were sticking in the engaged position, thereby dragging on the drums. Since who knows how long it has been this way and how hot those springs got, for safety sake, I replaced all the return springs, along with a new set of shoes. (I photographed, labeled, and packaged all the original parts for posterity) and installed the new cylinders, and shoes. With the help of my son, we re-bled the system and now it works fine. Pedal is firm and doesn't budge.

[Formulabruce]

Organic shoes that look like relined ones? ( no rivets?)

[njsteve]

Yup. Bonded, not riveted. Though the originals have a weird inset groove down the center of the lining, from top to bottom that replacement linings don't have.

[njsteve]

Here's the original brake linings and the wheel cylinder. Note the weird, grooved section in the front shoe.