I've had good luck using PB Blaster, my Grandpa recommended diesel.
I've had good luck using PB Blaster, my Grandpa recommended diesel.
In reply to GTXVette:
Thanks, I got it!
Day-12(1.5-hours):
With the engine problems on temporary hold, I finally was able to make a bit of progress again.
I discovered Harbor Freight has a longer T40 torx bit as part of a set, and I had another 20%-off coupon, so that worked out well.
With the right tool the top came off easily.
Here you can better see how cracked it is. I plan to glue it back together, then Plasti-dip the outside to(hopefully) make it water-tight.
With the top off it only took 10-minutes to remove the interior panels & unbolt the remaining panel from the original hatch, then bolt the new one into place. Finally I snapped on the lift struts, then cleaned the rest of the hatch area & the targa weatherstripping.
I doubt I'll have time to do anything tomorrow, we have SWMBO's Xmas party after work, but this weekend I'll get the hatch weatherstripping & targa-bar interior panels reinstalled, then work on the targa top its self.
In reply to petegossett: Dude, the Grandson is working in Jackson,When he goes back after Christmas I will send you Mine!!!!, I do not want it(yours freebe) Is that close to you, I will keep the Hinge but the glass is yours. O&F has my number and e-Mail If you want.
In reply to GTXVette:
That's awesome! Thank you!!! I need to head up to Jackson visit O&F sometime, so that will work out well. 
Lovin the love!
Plastidip is horrible at waterproofing. Use that flexi-seal stuff you see on TV first, and then put Plastidip on top of that.
In reply to Sky_Render:
Glad to hear that. I almost bought some Flex-seal at Lowe's this week, but the damn commercials are obnoxious so I didn't want to support their product. 
I will though, if that's what it takes to do the job.
Day-13(40-minutes):
Ok, so I got a few minutes in the garage after all...
I glued & strapped the targa top. I'll have to do the last chunk after the rest has dried.
Lastly I cleaned off the weatherstripping for the hatch, but I'm not 100% sure of its orientation, or how it's held down? It also seems like it needs stretched quite a bit.
I had the same issue with mine, i never did get it to stretch back out but once it is in place close the glass it seems to re stick itself. It didn't leak either. Mine was full of years of dirt and pine needles...
chandlerGTi wrote: I had the same issue with mine, i never did get it to stretch back out but once it is in place close the glass it seems to re stick itself. It didn't leak either. Mine was full of years of dirt and pine needles...
Strange, mine had the exact same issue
They all do it, the only real solution is new rubber. The worst part of any c4 is the seals.
patgizz wrote:chandlerGTi wrote: I had the same issue with mine, i never did get it to stretch back out but once it is in place close the glass it seems to re stick itself. It didn't leak either. Mine was full of years of dirt and pine needles...Strange, mine had the exact same issue
Fancy that! The whole car was full of pine needles, I never could figure it out. Lol
chandlerGTi wrote:patgizz wrote:Fancy that! The whole car was full of pine needles, I never could figure it out. LolchandlerGTi wrote: I had the same issue with mine, i never did get it to stretch back out but once it is in place close the glass it seems to re stick itself. It didn't leak either. Mine was full of years of dirt and pine needles...Strange, mine had the exact same issue
Mine too, but that was due to the limb that crashed through the original hatch.
Great progress man--keep at it
I did a quick search for used C4 tops.
OK... I can understand the desire to attempt a repair.
In reply to Ian F:
Eventually I plan to pick up a fiberglass top & paint it body color, but I'm a cheap SOB by nature, and as long as I'm within Challenge budget limits I might as well try to stay there.
Day-14(6-hours):
The interior is as clean as I care to make it, I'd reinstalled the interior targa-bar panels, and the seats were almost ready to go back in - which would be good to both get them out of the way and keep them relatively clean - but the driver's side power seat track was dead, so I decided to tackle it first.
I found several links online referencing a common wiring failure which causes both the power window and seat to fail, and since mine were all non-operational that seemed likely. However the main symptom of that cause is an extremely hot circuit breaker in the fuse box, which I didn't have. I ohmed out both breakers in the fuse box, and while they had continuity their resistance was jumping around a bit, possibly indicating burned or corroded contacts. Although these are rated for 30 amps, I had a pair of brand-new 25 amp breakers which I installed to help me isolate the problem.
I still didn't get any motion, but I happened to notice that whenever I'd actuate any of the switches the "check engine" light would dim slightly. Hmm... So it seemed something was putting a load on the battery, and I expected the motors might be bound. To test that theory I unplugged the seat rail harness & tried the switches again - the CEL remained consistently lit this time. Ok, I'm on the right track!
Of course not being able to move the seat rails makes removing the mounting bolts a bit tricky, but fortunately this was the only one that was much work.
There are 3-motors mounted to one rail, one each for front-height, rear-height, and fore-aft movement. Interestingly, the motors don't engage the rail they're mounted to, rather they're each connected to a gearbox on the opposite rail through 3-flexible shafts(you can see one of them above), with the individual outputs from the gearbox going to the height & slider gears, which are then each connected back to the original seat rail by ridged shafts.
Here's the gearbox.
And here's the motor casing on the opposite side.
To get the motors out required separating the inner rails from the outer rails, which required removing this clock-spring the provides lift assist for the rear of the seat. This was a bit tricky, but it finally came apart without any drama.
After all that I could finally unbolt the motors - which were the first non-metric fasteners I've found on this car - and...oh, that might be the problem.
It looks like there must have been at least 3" of water in the floors at some point. That would also explain why the seat hinges were so rusted & the rails were stuck. Still, it surprises me how little mold the car had & that there's no musty/mildew smell.
I did pull the motors apart. I'm not sure they can be saved, or if I really want to try - if I can find some cheap manual rails I'd prefer that anyway.
Next, I got the passenger seat, which was originally on the driver's side, put back together and installed. I also weighed it - 20lbs. Not bad for having power-tilt & lumbar functions.
I set in the seat for a few minutes too. It's pretty comfy.
Then although it's minor I installed the lift struts for the hood.
Lastly, I went around breaking the wheel lugs free. All except for one, which has a keyed lug nut - the key tool wouldn't thread onto the outside of the lug square & I could never get it to engage fully, so I'll have to keep fighting with it.
If you can get the armatures out and cleaned up without breaking or dislocating the magnets the motor should be ok.
In reply to BrokenYugo:
I got them out, but there's definitely some damage to the magnets. I can't yet tell if the magnet material has transferred & adhered to the armatures, or if the armatures themselves are damaged. I'll see if I can get detailed pics of both.
Edit: Here you go - I'd tried giving the one on the left a quick cleaning.
This was after a pretty thorough cleaning.
Day-15(3-hours):
I finally was able to remove the stuck keyed lug nut. Whoever invented these damn things is not a friend of mine...
I got the rear hatch weatherstripping glued back into place. There's still a gap at the corners from shrinkage, but it should keep the glass from rattling and keep out most of the rain. I also glued the last 2 broken pieces of the targa top back into place, or as close as they would go given that apparently it too has shrunk over the years.
Then I got the car up on jack stands so I could pull the wheels off, knock off more mud wasp nests, and see what I was dealing with down there. First of all, given the design of the car there really isn't a great place to either lift the car, or place the stands. Based on suggestions I'd found, I chose to jack each side from approximately under the door mirrors, right along the unibody/fiberglass seam, using a hockey puck for a bit of give. Then I placed stands under the pinch-welds just behind the front wheels, and ahead of the rear wheels, being mindful of all the lines run alongside them.
One thing I noticed is not surprisingly the bushings are shot. Fortunately the kit is cheap for the car, though I'm sure it'll still be a sucky, smelly, time-consuming PITA to replace them.
Lastly, I pulled the front-left caliper off just to check it out. It came off easy enough, with only a dribble of brake fluid(the master cylinder is dry). The plan is to pull all-4 calipers apart & rebuild them if they're serviceable, then replace all the hoses, and determine whether I need to rebuild or replace the MC.
They're a single-piston design, but the cooling fins are nice feature, and I'm sure they're more than adequate for autox. They're light weight too.
Man good luck with that. I hate working on brake systems.
I think I may have spare calipers from my 88 z51 up in storage if you need them.
I'm pretty sure this setup is based on the D52 pads GM put on errything. Performance compounds are dirt cheap.
That caliper looks like it's going 100 miles per hour sitting still!
Wait...
You know what I mean
But in case you don't, I mean...that's a cool looking caliper.
Dusterbd13 wrote: I think I may have spare calipers from my 88 z51 up in storage if you need them.
Thanks! I'll see if these will be useable & if not I'll let you know.
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