I monkeyed around with it some more today, got the belt off, no bound pulleys, had to remove the A/C compressor from its mount and move it out of the way, the hoses were in the way of the starter, cleaned starter connections, and positive battery connector. No Joy, volt meter looked a bit low, so I get out the multimeter and battery checked barely 12 volts, threw the charger on ( my dad always said a battery needs at least 13 volts or the car will never start, that advice has served me well ).
WHAT I PREVIOUSLY NEGLECTED TO MENTION:
Is that the Message Center, is Flashing, Red Battery light, Security, Low Coolant, Check Engine, Change Oil, Service Soon. While I was searching for starter removal procedure, I discover that these GM cars are notorious for going into Security lock out. It seems the system is far more likely to keep your car from starting than it ever was in preventing it from being stolen. So far none of the so called resets have worked, though with one I thought I heard it turn a little bit, when I first tried it, but no more after that. I do believe this has a good possibility of being my primary Issue. I have so much crap unplugged its bound to throw a lot of check engine codes. I also read that a stuck lifter ( which was already on my suspect list ) could cause a back fire, and could cause and engine not to crank. guess I need to get the other valve cover off to see if anything looks out of place there. I do believe though Jeff nailed it as many of the vacume hoses are brittle and or broken.

 

Probably already a thread on it somewhere, I'll keep looking. I have seen websites that offer modules to bypass the security issues, maybe thats what that "Stupid box" was, I'm gonna cut it out tomm, I was looking at it and I can't imagine why it would be connected in parallel with the sensor wires its connected to or how that would accomplish anything but cause problems.

Thanks in advance for future help and thanks for the help so far.

 

Replaced cratered windshield $220, not a bad deal for mobile repair service. Thank You Lee and Cates !!

Engine: I read on a forum somewhere that shrapnel could have blown down into the intake, so I removed both valve covers and the Lower intake manifold, I couldn't see any evidence of this. I dont have a wrench big enough to get on the balancer bolt , but I figured out I could use Vise grips and worked the engine lose little by each wrenching it ccw then hit the key, eventually I got it loosened up to where I could turn the pulley to where the small hole in the pulley would stop about 1 o'clock, and when I hit the key it would spin the small hole cw to about the 11 o'clock position. While doing this, I tried checking the valves, I seem to get on 2 or 3 of them some gap between the rocker and valve. I have resigned myself to having to do a top end, so removal of the heads are next, I dont want to remove any rockers untill I get the heads off and see whats going on.
Question: Whats the best stuff to use to clean manifolds and heads? kero? gas, carb cleaner? or a plastic bristle brush and dawn soap?
Due to the humid environment, I've been spraying exposed parts down with WD-40.

 

That "dumb box" as were calling it here.. Its nothing but a resistor that makes the car run rich. It stops some signal from which ever sensor you connect it to(maf/iat ect).. They used to be all over ebay as +1000whp +100mpg super chips..

I can even tell by those blue connectors that slice into the wire when you squeeze them.

If you open the box up, its gonna be filled with a black glue type crap and inside the glue is a tiny little resistor (hidden in the glue).

https://www.ebay.com/p/DVM-Performan....c100005.m1851

I just want to make sure you can rule out that thing being the cause of a security issue, thats all.

 

I got one of the heads off today, and obviously this car has not been run in quite some time! this is what the middle cylinder looked like.

 

I cleaned the cylinder wall up with some WD-40 and a cheapie scratch pad, I'm gonna try and see how some military CLP and a good scotch brite pad does, I think it will clean and shine up adequately.

 

My goal at the moment is not to totally rebuild the engine into something spectacular, thus the semi amateurish work like cleaning the cylinder wall. Its to get it to move around under its own power while I take care of the wheel wells, the interior, and various other small issues. Then I'll probably have the Trans rebuilt by a professional, and hopefully by that time, I'll be better situated and have a garage or shed I can pull the engine into and build it into something nice.

 

Wouldn't trust anything on that site. It says the leather is all-black, You know better.

 

Hi Skatulaki, looks like the engine needs a good rebuilding. Might be better off getting a used 3800 supercharged from a 2004-05, there is a guy in CT selling them for around $2000 with the comp and wiring harness and it's mostly a bolt in conversion, although the gauges are different on the supercharged ones since they have a boost gauge. Like you said the wheelwells are already modified so might as well make it run a little faster! although with the Supercharged you are better off getting the HD transmission as well.
Good luck,
Dave

 

It would seem that in order to graduate Automotive Engineering and work for the Big 3 as an Engineer, that you have to pass a class called "Repair Obstruction" ! it seems that it must be some sort of requirement to place parts you rarely have to mess with, or have no need to mess with at all, in the way of parts that you do have to remove or replace. The latest of which in my struggle is that sensor on the exhaust manifold on the rear head.

I had run into a standstill in attempting to get the rear head off, I couldn't make any further progress, because I couldn't seem to get a wrench on anything, or If I could, I couldn't apply enough force to crack any of it loose. Two trips to the Tool shop later, ( a 25" breaker bar, a 1/2" rachet with an extendable handle , a 3/8 2 way flex handle rachet , some 1/2" deep well metric sockets, and a set of extension adapters <-- which came in real handy, and a set of socket drive bits for my hammer drill ) and I finally started making some progress again, alas untill I discovered that last manifold bolt is behind that stupid sensor, and I dont have a wrench ( biggest is 19mm ) that fits on that sensor, let alone know how hard it is to remove. So I stopped there for today. Guess I need to go back to the tool store, dont look like I can get a crescent on that sensor.
I got the back 3 plugs out, 2 of them look a little rusty, so I'm guessing I got 2 more cylinders that have been exposed to Fla humidity from sitting around. I found a socket that fits my balancer bolt, hopefully I can get that back head off tomm, clean those cylinders out and rub some Marvel Mystery, or just some regular oil in the cylinder walls and spin that crank case some, get it lubed up, and clean all that carbon in there up, and prep for reassembly. This engine has a lot of carbon build up must have been running rich, probably from that "stupid box" as "wht02monte" has informed me.