leesvet

There ARE several caps....different grades or quality...at least 4 that I know of...



all brass inside and the post is the top shelf model

Brass inside with aluminum post next

Then
alum inside with alum post....economy model.

There are gold post, and other exotic or gimmick caps that are available thru order. And the usual MSD and Accel and maybe a few other aftermarket caps.

powerpigz-51

Yes, but they all fit and work, though the aluminum ones are known to run like crap on occasion (in my experience). Until they pull codes and do fuel pressure checks, it is just a guessing game at this point. About the only part that has not been replaced is the ESC module. Not sure of how to check these. Maybe you should try pulling the MAF wires and see if it runs in open loop.

oldalaskaman

I was thinking the op's statement had to do with different outside dimensions , and not different makers materials inside the caps, maby I missed something.....let me re-read her statement....nope, didnt miss anything

MysticDreamer

Wow. Just got home and decided to stop in and read up. Thanks all who are replying. You all gave us lots to check on! Hubby is going to put off work again until tuesday...life interferes.

Let me clarify the cap thing. When we got the car. It ran rough. It didn't really stutter, but seemed to idle hard. When we did the tune up, the cap that we ordered from Auto Zone by part # from the original cap, was not the cap intended for the car . We did not realize that at first until we got a Corvette manual and spoke to a friend who runs another auto part store. He advised us to go back and look at the caps. I did just that with Hubby on cell phone and we realized that there were 4 caps. All 4 were different. We went with the one that clamps on and it fit perfect and the car steadied out. But the cap that was on it when we got it, was wrong. Not even intended for my car. Don't ask me how they got it to work.

As far as Auto Zone, that is the only part we got from them. Since my husband is a professional diesel mechanic, we have company contracts from an Auto part dealer, and we get most parts at manufacturer costs, so we save 60-95% on parts. so money has not been an issue, just kinds dumb when it is not broken.

Requests for pics granted. They are from right after the purchase. The previous owner had Big Wheels on it with show rims, and they didn't last 3 days. I scrapped them and got rims from a wrecked Vette. Oh how I do love this car. I have wanted a C4 or a C3 since I was about 4 years old. So Thank you all for allowing me to query here and vent a bit. I am frustrated. But I know with time and patience we will get it done. Plan is to 100% restore the poor thing!

oldalaskaman

if you have the 'L' clamp on cap on your distributor and not the screw down style, you have the wrong distributor in your car and that maybe the reason you cant get it to run right. its from an earlier year. that may be your entire problem...btw your new wheels are on wrong, hope this helps

Midnight 85

Thank you for getting rid of those wheels. You have a beautiful car there. I don't think it's possible to be able to put the L clamp style cap on the Corvette distributor so if there is any confusion as to caps I would make sure someone hasn't put a different distributor in the car. If that were the case it would possibly cause issues you are having. (Ooops, sorry oldalaskaman, you already mentioned the distributor being wrong)

oldalaskaman

its cool, real mechanics always have good info, respectfully, bob

Midnight 85

[QUOTE=MysticDreamer;1578729850]We went with the one that clamps on and it fit perfect and the car steadied out.QUOTE]

I went back and re-read your last post, I guess I shouldn't be sitting here at 3 a.m. trying to help. Anyway if the cap you installed is a clamp style then your distributor is definitely not the right one for your car and probably the root of your problems.

Midnight 85

Bob, what in he11 are we doing sitting at our computers at 3:50 a.m. giving advice???

navy_vette

Just something a little off......

Are the front rims on backwards? You might have to flip those around. If they are uni-directional tires, they would have to be re mounted and that's not always a good idea...

And oooohhhhh THANK YOU for tossing those rims out. I saw the first picture and almost closed my browser :P

Honestly, at this point I would just go for a whole new distributor. Forget trying to find a cap and worry about clamps and screws. Get the RIGHT distributor for YOUR car before you go any further. You might as well be 100% on this or your are going to be chasing gremlins.

87 vette 81 big girl

3am to 4 am is the most peaceful time of the day & night.

LOL

Kid gets me up every night so far in the last 1 year.

More often than not 3AM.

We sit around on CF reading & typing.

I read aloud to my boy Nicholas from CF.
Type back aloud too.

I crack jokes & he laughs back at me.............

BR

oldalaskaman

we need to either get a life or get to sleep, this nite owl issue needs work

1963SS

Although I've never owned "Sawblades" it looks like the front wheels are on right and the rears are wrong. Which way should they be installed?

You know me....just a former Marine trying to find something wrong with the Navy's response. Sorry Navy Vette. You could be correct, I just don't know.

leesvet

yep...the "blades go on as the fronts are....The sawblade IS a directional wheel....labeled inside Right side only or Left side only.

That rear wheel belongs on the driver side....Can;t see the tire direction...they might have to be dismounted and flipped so the tire AND wheel are turning the right direction. Directional tires are useless in rain or for traction if they are turned the wrong way. I've had more than one rookie tire guy install them wrong...seems none can read.

Also, make sure that they are all four 9.5" blades...there were different sizes for different yrs. I've seen someone buy salvage wheels out of 2 sets that had 8.5 and 9.5 mixed. That was more common with the sawtooth wheels.

The blades should turn so that they pull air OUT thru the wheel to draw air thru/past the brakes to cool them and to withdraw air and create low pressure under the body so at high speeds the car sticks to the ground better...like a real race car. How effective this is on a C4...don;t know. It certainly can't hurt with a car that will break 150 mph....

powerpigz-51

Pics of distributor please. We need to know screw or clamp type cap....you said clamp, must be sure.

oldalaskaman

actually , i'd like to see that vacum chamber sticking out the side of it

MysticDreamer

Yes the rims were on backwards. We took the car in and had them installed....big no no. We reversed them later that day. And I just learned that the 350 we have is not original to the car....will get back to you all on that.

powerpigz-51

Ahhh.....it is getting more interesting.

navy_vette

Not that unexpected. Do you have the LT setup or the L98?

The pics of the distributor would be helpful. If that is wrong, it could explain a lot. Even though I'm against throwing parts at a problem, an entire unit would be the easiest way to rule this out.

Just a little opinion here....

I've heard some good reviews about DUI
I don't own one, and I'm not trying to get you to buy one. I don't want to break any rules here.

MysticDreamer

Alright, I found some pics of the engine. This is the day of purchase before any major work was done. At this point I think the start of the tune up was done. We first took off the valve covers and scraped them. They had about 2 inches of build up on the outside. And then we washed the engine. There was a lot of dirt, and debris in the engine compartment and we wanted to be able to see things! I am sorry they are not better, but all I have at the moment.