Clever Idiot

Thanks - might have to end up going that way. I haven't found a good video showing this particular step yet, but only a couple descriptions that make it sound like they did it by hand.

Hey all! So the boot was cracked (no surprise there). Ordered new boot and retainer clip. Got the old one off, had the pin pressed out, new boot put on the shaft, and pin pressed back in. Got the little squares and clips back on, put on the bell housing, and greased it up. Then couldn't get the top part of the boot to go into the bellhousing to save my life. Rubber mallet got it most of the way there but then I ripped it trying to get it down far enough for the spring clip. Any tips for this? Heating up the bellhousing is the only thing I can think of, but I don't want to compromise the new rubber.

Ah! Beautiful. Thank you! They look metal - are they? I'm sure stock was plastic; I'm just curious.

I have the steel Chevelle inner fenders mounted, and there's a bit of a gap on the back side near the firewall. Are there extensions that are supposed to go here that I'm forgetting? It's been probably 15 years since I took off the front stuff. Pics for reference. Passenger side Driver side

Awesome, I love when I can contribute! I'll answer what I can. How much do they weigh? I haven't weighed them at all, my setup is going more cruiser/pro-touring. So the best I have is an estimate based off lifting them in and out of the car multiple times 😆 - I'd guess they're in the neighborhood of 40lbs? According to this link, they're 55lbs each, which I could believe. They're awkward AF to lift in and out of the car without scratching something, that's for sure. Airbags Yep, they have bolster airbags. However, my understanding is that they are only armed if the airbag itself is powered up and connected to a shock sensor. At one point I had the pinout for the power connector because they're power adjustable, and I recall the airbags were a separate connection to just straight power. I haven't verified that by tracing the wires out, however. I'm not sure how one would go about removing them, other than tearing the seat down completely. Recaros/similar Yeah, the tuner look is one reason I leaned away from them, but that's 100% personal preference. Plus I wanted something that easily folded forward to get in the back seat so I could maintain daily driver functionality. For the aesthetic I'm going for they just stuck out too much. My aim is to have the Monte look factory-ish, with subtle differences that aren't noticed without knowing the car, or at least not glaring. Like my steering wheel is obviously not stock and even a glance at the gauges would tell someone they're not stock, but other stuff I'm hoping to have blend as much as possible. Like shaving the lower rocker chrome, or the sail panel name badge, or the rearview mirror upgrade, or giant brakes - things not noticed right away.

Update! Good and bad news. Then pictures. Good news: the new upper plate fits the pads perfectly, and I welded on the extension plate on the bottom - it also fits the pad perfectly. Bad news: the radiator I bought isn't wide enough to fit the core support. I got the Griffin 8-70010-LS from Summit. It's listed as fitting the 1970 MC and Chevelle, with dimensions of 31.25" x 16.62" x 3". It's juuuuuust shy of what it needs to be. It either has the top plate half-covering the filler neck, or it doesn't reach the driver side isolator pad. Either in my haste of not measuring the core support or in my trusting of the application list, I goofed. What I should have gotten was the 8-70008-LS, which has listed dimensions of 33.25" x 19" x 3". And since I ordered the radiator back in December 2017, that's too far to stretch the exchange/return policy (which I expected and I'm not mad about). So next up is selling the Griffin on eBay or something to recoup some of the money and getting the proper one. Or maybe a different one, but unless I'm wrong Griffin has a good reputation and I sure don't want to spend a little less money now just to have to replace the whole thing later. Here's a video I found installing the 70008 radiator into a Chevelle. It shows the mods necessary to get it to drop in properly, although he fabs his own extensions rather than getting the parts. But the important part is it shows all the stuff needed to drop in a "DiReCt FiT" radiator 🙄😆 Now, for the pics of my below-average welding!

One way to find out! 😆 Great lookin' car! Love that color on it. Welcome!

"ah-ha" wasn't even close to what I said when I saw that 😂

DERP!!! So I went back, took out the new one. Compared the bushings old vs new by setting them on top of each other edge to edge to compare diameters. Perfect match. Aligned the pivot barrels of old vs new and looked down them from both directions. No so much as a millimeter difference. Carefully maneuvered the old rusty pedal by all my new shiny stuff, got the pivot pin in, and it was still shaking. So I decided to memory dump and look at it all over again to see exactly where it was moving where it shouldn’t be moving. And then it dawned on me. The package of pivot bushings came with 4. I assumed it was one pair for a brake pedal and one pair for a clutch pedal. What I saw with new eyes was that there was a whole lot of motion on the ends of the pivot pin where it passed through the bracket (I had put one pair of bushings inside the barrel of the pedal pivot). The other pair was supposed to go in the bracket holes. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I pulled the old pedal, put in the new one with all four bushings aaaaaand https://i.imgur.com/TNSmk6n.mp4

That’s kinda what I was thinking but I didn’t mic the inner diameters; just eyeballed it. I still have the original. Original bushings too, actually. I’ll take it all apart and put the original back in, with old bushings and then new just for giggles, see if that does any better. If it is then I’ll see if I can dip and paint the original pedal.

Hey all! Help? This doesn't look right to me, but I don't think I'm missing anything. https://i.imgur.com/iCSwAU5.mp4 It's the original bracket (dipped in Metal Rescue and painted), the original pivot pin. New bushings, new pivon retainer clip, new brake pedal. Pedal is connected to the master cylinder rod with a new clevice. All the motion seems to be coming from the upper pivot point. Holding the original pedal next to the new one I saw no differences in pivot width or diameters. The only things I haven't put on yet (that I know of) are the bumper, the stop light switch, and the tab that hits the switch. There's no way this amount of movement is normal, right? Second question: looking through the assembly manual it's not clear to me if the pedal should have a return spring or not. I found the diagrams for the brake/clutch and it showed a spring but maybe that was for the clutch? Or maybe it was 1:30am and I was a little cross-eyed... 😵

Hey look what I found! lol - old thread but I get endlessly frustrated by finding threads with my problem and no solution, so this is for anyone stumbling across this thread. In another thread here someone said that one option was a 4-core radiator, but it wasn't common? Regardless, GM welded tabs to fit the larger tank of the 4-core. So, I think this will work, because from what I can tell it's extending the support and top plate exactly where I need it to for the Griffin. I'll update once I have verification. https://www.thepartsplaceinc.com/product/chevrolet-monte-carlo-radiator-top-plate-4-bolt-style-black-oem-style-with-welded-tab-for-heavy-duty-cooling/60030 https://www.thepartsplaceinc.com/product/chevrolet-chevelle-malibu-radiator-core-support-extension-bracket-used-with-4-core-radiators/49881

OH! I am in desperate need of a factory VIN tag to replace my old one. Where/how were you able to get it? PM is fine if you'd rather that.

Camera assembly arrived today and I did more digging online while I waited. Y'all it's super simple. The mirror is auto-dimming, and only requires power and camera signal. Everything else is handled in the mirror factory programming. Gen5DIY sold me a power pigtail with the mirror connector on it. Switched 12VDC+ goes to pin 2, Common goes to pin 5. If you hook up the reverse lights 12VDC+ to pin 1, the auto-dim is disabled in reverse. I didn't ask for that wire because I didn't fully understand what did what, at the time. Gen5DIY listed the part number as #900000 on the invoice but that could just be a generic number, I don't know. I can't verify it on their website; they send me an invoice via the email thread where I was asking all my questions. The also sold me the camera cable - that cable is on their website. Part #220609 for a 9' cable (I got that one) or part #220621 for a 21' cable. The two cables are for a Silverado upgrade (3rd brake light to mirror), and a Camaro upgrade (rear spoiler to mirror). There are other pins used on the Silverados with auto-dimming side mirrors - the dimming of the side mirrors gets signal from the rearview mirror (pins 8 & 9), but that doesn't apply here. There is a great thread on gm-trucks.com that walks through the addition of an auto-dimming mirror on a Silverado. It doesn't cover the camera either, just auto-dimming. So it doesn't all apply but he lists part numbers for making your own connectors and crimps and goes into great detail with wiring diagrams that still apply to the mirror requirements. I also found this pdf that has the wiring schematic, if you're curious to verify. Jump to sheet 68. I also saved the PDF so if they stop hosting it or change something, let me know and I'll put it up on my Drive public. From what I could tell in videos showing this installed on Silverados, the mirror is fused at 15A. The wiring schematic looks like it's 10A. I bench tested it with my power supply set to 12.5VDC and 2A, and it worked fine. My LCD ended up being partially non-functional, but that's a different issue. I did buy it off eBay, after all. So, the hardest part is mounting the camera and routing the cables. Probably have to pull the headliner. Mine's currently gutted so it's not an issue for me. But it's a hurdle for drivers. To summarize: Mirror from 2019 generation Silverado/Sierra. Should look like what I have pictured above, with a connector for camera (small round coax, looks like) and a connector for power, etc (square connector) 3rd brake light assembly for camera - GM #84487008 Camera signal cable - Gen5DIY #220609 or #220621 Mirror power connector to splice to your wiring harness - Gen5DIY will make/sell the power pigtail Provide switched 12VDC fused at 10A (or maybe 15A) to the mirror connector Provide reverse lights 12VDC+ to mirror connector Duct tape the camera to the rear window or something, I don't know. Make sure you match orientation that was in the brake light assembly so it looks right in the screen. If no assembly, bench test it before hand to determine proper orientation. Run camera cable from camera to mirror Wave magic wand and put all the interior back together Reference video of a Silverado upgrade. Gives an idea of what the connectors and pieces look like. ------------------------------------- In case embeds break or something: GM-trucks thread: https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/192050-how-to-a10-inside-rearview-auto-dimming-mirror-conversion-dd8/ PDF with schematic: https://www.gmupfitter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/19_Silverado_1500_Body_Builder_2019.pdf Installation video: https://youtu.be/FedbYeRalrs

Update for some side-by-side comparisons. Here's a Gen1 mirror vs a Gen2 mirror. And here's the Gen2 mirror I got, compared to the original Monte mirror