1 my friend has a 1985 corvette with the 4+3 manual transmission. Recently had the engine and transmission fully rebuilt. The engine has an oil cooler. We are confused as all heck because I haven't had my 87 for about a year and i did 2 motor swaps so my memory is a little low. Long story short there is a line sticking up off the passenger frame rail. its right below the air conditioning pump about 8~9 inches down. its small like ( ) like that size. I traced it from the oil cooler. I have the bottom line out of the heater core going to the water pump. and the top goes to the bottom connection on the throttle body. Anyone have pictures of this? or a diagram of the cooling system? Haynes didn't help junk!. i have no connection to the top connection on the throttle body and also have the connection on the valve cover missing.. again anyone with pictures of this area? Then on the front of the throttle body i have one U shaped hose going from the throttle body to the intake, i know this one is correct.


2 Also another thing i have is by the starter there is this (black looking) 4 gauge wire. The guy grounded it to the starter and connected the batter and the battery literally popped and spewed smoke. Took that heavy gauge wire off the starter and touched the battery cables to the battery. nothing.. maybe a power wire? need a little help/ advice...



3 Another problem. is MSD wires. Do you cut them to fit? i have never done them before.

 

"The engine has an oil cooler".

If it is mounted down in front of the X member it is the cooler for the power steering
Gearbox cooler is in radiator.
Oil cooler if fitted is mounted between oil filter and block; has hose/ alum tube running under engine from water pump

"i have no connection to the top connection on the throttle body and also have the connection on the valve cover missing."

Missing lines are for the PCV valve
Line goes from TB to pass rocker cover
from PCV valve in drv rocker cover to manifold

"by the starter there is this " wire."
Should be a power wire that goes on starter terminal along with cable from battery.

 

Yes it is an oil cooler it is mounted above the oil filter, directly above. the line runs from there to the front below the a/c compressor sitting straight up in the air.


the missing connection is from the passenger side valve cover. the elbow comes out of the valve cover and not sure where that goes. . the driver side is where the pcv is hooked up and thats taken care of.

l@@K at picture!

 

ttt...

nothing guys?

 

That "metal tube" from the rear of the pass side valve cover should connect to the tube from the throttle body that you dont know what it does.

That heavy pipe that you ask if it runs the cats comes from the AIR pump and pumps air either into the manifolds or to the cat depending on what the ECM tells it to do.

I have no idea about the oil cooler line... you've got some bubba work done there.

EDIT:::
Something that will help: http://www.helminc.com , the website for the company that you can buy the Factory Service Manual for an '85.

 

is the oil cooler factory option?

 

The oil cooler lines are 5/8" hose, way bigger than what you described, it's above the oil filter and is a factory option.

One end goes into the drivers side of the engine block, way down low, the other end tees into the lower heater hose line, between the heater core and water pump.

The only small lines I can think of below the a/c compressor are the fuel lines (grey painted steel + rubber hose), a/c line (aluminum), overdrive cooler lines (black painted steel), and cat air tube (bare steel).


The top connection of the throttle body is a PCV line. It connects to a black metal tube that runs across the top of the passenger side valve cover (hidden by the black plastic piece), the other end connects to the valve cover with some rubber elbows.

That heavy guage black wire at the starter is your POSITIVE battery cable. It goes to the brass screw terminal on the starter motor. The battery is probably toast from shorting it, as you said it was hot enough to start smoking.

If the wires are cut-to-fit then they won't be assembled fully. The standard issue small block chevy plug wire kits don't fit that well, so you're better off buying a universal plug wire set and a good set of crimpers.


Click on "My Corvette Photos" under my username, there's some engine pics of my 85. The only thing I have different from stock is I rerouted the upper heater hose line.

Also more pics here: http://www.cardomain.com/id/centralcoaster

 

thank you for your post! Now this weekend she'll be runnin! i'll let you know how it goes! Thanks again!