1987 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Coupe Landau

Nice car man! Glad to see another one being saved and shown some love.

Osborn F. Enready wrote:Nice car man!  Glad to see another one being saved and shown some love.

Thanks much good Sir! I feel total boss cruising down the road, love the nods and straight up looks I get. Pulling into the gas station is fun too and taking up all three pumps, some looking weird at the gas fill behind the license plate! Haha!

Some More New Business:

I had a chance to drive the car around town for about an hour the other day.  The car did great, until about 1 mile from home.  So the whole drive I have been looking at the left side, making sure the CEL doesn't light, hasn't yet and all stops have been perfect since the TPS and TCC Solenoid was replaced.  I look down, and the Choke Heater and Battery Indicator lights are on! The Volt Gauge indicates approximately 11-11.5 amps.  I cruise with the parking lights on, and had the stereo on, cranking it pretty loud to test out those nice speakers and the SiriusXM radio for the 80's on 8 channel! Haha! I turn off the parking lights and radio and the Volt Gauge didn't budge much.

So I get home and check out my Electrical Supplement Manual and go directly to the Choke Heater circuitry. I look to see how it is all connected as I was confused as to why both indicators would light.  I was thinking am I looing at two separate issues or one?!

I look at the wiring diagram and I see the the Brown wire from the Alternator splits after the Diode.  One goes to the Choke Heater Relay and the other to the Charge Indicator Light.  I begin from the Top where it begins with

Troubleshooting Hints:

2. If the Choke Indicator stays on with the engine running:
-Check C/H Fuse.
-Check that the Charge Indicator goes out after engine is started.  Refer to Charging circuit if the indicator does not go out.

Charging Circuit:

Charge Indicator Stays on when the engine is running:

1. Disconnect Generator Connector. Correct Result = Charge indicator does not light when Switch is RUN. My result was Charge Indicator does not light = Correct.

If the result is correct, go to table 2:

Charge Indicator Stays on when the engine is running:

1. Disconnect Generator Connector. Measure voltage between A (RED) and Ground.  Correct Voltage should be battery voltage = 12.38v = Correct.

If voltage is correct, go to Symtom C; Battery is Over or Under Charged.

1. Measure voltage between Battery and Ground; Fast idle, all accessories off; Correct = 13 - 16v.  My result was 12.80v.

Perform Generator Load Test.

1. Remove Generator for repair.

I did my own quick load type test.

The was still pretty much in fast idle:

Test 1: Car on, no accessories, increase RPM, volt meter increases to 13-13.5v. Let off gas, goes back to what the battery indicates at about 12.38v.

Test 2: Car on, radio on, headlights on, hazard lights on, Volt Gauge indicates approximately 10.5-11v.  I can't get that to increase when increasing RPM.

I think it is pretty safe to say the voltage regulator/ alternator is slowly dying.  Being the voltage regulator is internal to the alternator, I guess it would be safe to remove and replace the Alternator.

The battery is only 6 months old and is a pretty robust Interstate model.

It all threw me a loop when the Choke Indicator was also lit!

New alternator installed and all is well, no more CHOKE HEATER and BATTERY indicators.  The Volt Gauge is responding like it should.

Using the trusty volt meter, cold start, fast idle I am getting the 14.4v I am supposed to be getting.  With the engine kicked down, head lights and radio on, I am at 14.2v, not bad.

So while installing the new alternator, the existing bolt ripped the threads right out of the upper bolt hole on the alternator as I was tightening the belt! Damn re-man made in Mexico! Anyway, I decided to head over to the local hardware store and for $1.68 I picked up a new bolt, flat washer, lock washer and a nut, all in Stainless Steel, that did the trick!  I am wondering if that is how it was supposed to be. So for $75, including the hardware, I have a new alternator.  No more seeing the gauge drop down well below 13.2v at stop lights when the Brake Lights are on. Use to drop down to about 10-10.5v before when applying the brakes.

I did have to loosen the A.I.R. Pump brackets in order to slide the A.I.R. Pump Diverter Valve Bracket between the head and the lower alternator mounting bracket. Those bolts loosened up surprisingly easy.

Almost time to take it out of storage! Got an e-mail indicating the NYS Inspection is due this month, and got me all giddy. Haha! Started it up once while in storage, smoked out where I have it stored, oops! Stock 305 LG4, with 170K miles had a good run, but I am gearing up to change that. I'll start a dedicated build thread, or maybe just put that stuff in this one, but not ready to make such thread yet...!

This past Winter I located some NOS parts, with the biggest being the rear trunk key flip emblem, wasn't cheap, but was a great find on eBay. Need to be at the right place at the right time for stuff on there for these cars.

Update: July 6, 2016

I had a chance to get the '87 out and exercise it on July 4, 2016 and ran pretty good for its age.  I still haven't fixed the heater blower and it does run a little hot, so in 90 degree weather, I don't like to take it far.  As some of you know, I have been looking for good sheet metal for the '87, as it does have its problems with some rust, considering living in Maine all its daily driving life.  I was able to locate an '85 Coupe (non-Landau option) body shell that is in really good condition, thanks Randy!  I plan on stripping the remainder of the interior, engine and transmission and basically having a rolling chassis.  I'm not really sure how much of the '85 shell I'll be utilizing as the stampings on the quarters, roof and trunk were the same through all the years.  I know for sure I will be utilizing the roof, my Landau vinyl top took its toll on the '87's roof.  Since the beginning I have always wanted to do a frame off, but thought it would be years away, but I just got a bit closer with the find of the good sheet metal.

Ideally I would like to re-open the drive-under garage in our home, then I can at least store both indoors and be able to actually work on them and keep them dry.  The '87 is in paid storage, but I think I can have a full complete car and one that is just body only from the firewall back tucked in on the other side of the basement.  In the short term, I will probably end up purchasing a vinyl 7.5' x 17' garage parking mat to park the '85 to keep it off the ground.

I have, well, what is essentially a second car, and since the frames are identical, I have the opportunity to build a frame and suspension independently as I have an extra to reduce 'down time' between the body and frame restoration.  I have options.

Stay tuned for some photos of the '85 Coupe's shell and dismantling process, but for now, here is a single sneak peek photo of the 'donor car' (not really sure why only the one fender has rot and the rest of the car doesn't ):

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Tonight I had the chance to remove the seats and carpeting from the donor. The floor looks pretty decent, reaching under I can feel the undercoating/ paint is coming off with some rust, so I am sure there is pitting. I shot a couple photos with my cell phone, I had to turn the brightness up as the sun was beginning to set. I charged my DSLR, so future photos should be much better quality.

Wow, the floor DOES look very nice!

New door skins, etc. I'm pretty much convinced the car was restored at some point in it's life. That passenger fender throws me off though.

With the metal work you have ahead of you on the blue car, I'm wondering if it would make sense to use the green body instead?

I'm working on getting more room at the house and hopefully re-installing a garage door at the rear of the home where the previous owner removed in the near future. Then I can bring the '87 over and strip it down too and really compare the two bodies.

I always hear everyone mentioning how easy it is to disassemble an 80's GM B-Body, and was always like yeah right, but it really is simple. I looked at the bolts the was to remove the dash and steering column and there weren't many to remove. Should be really easy to catalog on my '87 too so I know how it goes back together.

Oh, yeah, these cars are easy to take apart. 9/32, 10mm, and 13mm sockets will be your friends.



Lots of pics help tremendously when putting everything back together.

Notes of the order parts come off and if something has to be turned a certain way to remove it will come in handy. It's east to forget things like that and they can make the re-install frustrating.

*** When you remove the steering column in your 87, don't forget to remove the thin little cable that attaches to the it from the speedo. It operates the PRND21 needle on the speedo. You'll see where it attaches. ***

Thanks for the tip on the gear selector pin/ cable!

Side note, I did find a small rust through hole on the '85 floor pan, driver side rear, up by the inner wheel house. The roof looks awesome and so does the inner structure of the quarters.

Xtreme Thunder wrote:

New Business:

1. The HVAC fan control only use to work on high setting, and on the way to taking it to the shop the other night, it stopped working, even on the high setting.  I have the supplemental electrical book (a MUST purchase!!) and there is a list of problems and troubleshooting steps.  Either the resistors, blower motor, switch, relay or fuse. At first I would have replaced the resistors as that was a symptom of only high speed operation, but now it stopped working all together.  I mean, to replace all the parts I listed are under $100 and all easily accessible except for the switch, I'd have to pull the radio/ HVAC back out, which now that I have done it will be a breeze.

Hey all,

Figured I'd do a quick update on my HVAC blower controls.

I tested the blower motor by hooking directly to the battery, didn't budge. The donor car came in handy, and that Blower Motor worked perfectly, installed that one and, again, only High setting worked on the Blower speed, which I didn't expect to change, for obvious reasons.

Randy hooked me up with a few Blower Motor Relay and Blower Motor Relay Connectors. The Blower Motor Relay Connector was cracked and it appeared a couple of the pins weren't making contact. I de-pinned my stock wires from the Blower Motor Relay Connector HVAC harness, de-pinned the donor connector and re-pinned the non-broken connector I purchased for a clean install using the stock wires/ pins. I am not sure if it was the Blower Motor Relay, the Blower Motor Relay Connector, or both being I changed both at the same time, but all Blower speeds work!

It's the small things!

Excellent! I'm glad you were able to get it working correctly again.

My 87 was having trouble keeping up with the load demands so I went to AutoZone and bought a reman 120 amp for a 85 model I believe for $67 and change plus core, I kept my old one it still worked good for a 78 amp or so. The new one did the trick, the body is slightly larger but it fit, i loosened up the top bracket till i could get the bolt in the top of it for the tension adjustment, then tightened the bracket, the spacer sleeve on the bottom will not bolt to the rear of the alt so i just made it look like it did and snugged up the bottom bolt. I'm a happy camper with it.