I'm nuts!

[Money pit Beretta]

Ok, just got the vac mod in. It shifts better, but almost to hard under 1/2 throttle(I'll play with it later). The thermostat is in also, that was a pain(very easy on the 3.1). How do you refill the radiator if there is no cap(I'm old school)? I put alot in the overflow tank, but the low coolant light is still on after I drove it for some time. I gave up on the window motor, it sounded like more work than I had time for. Oh, and the line that runs from the overflow to the neck is leaking a little. My PCV's 90 degree broke when I went to change it. The parts stores didn't have anything close. I just used an HEI boot that I had from a cut to fit wire set I never used.  Thanks man, I'll check into the water leak more next weekend.

[Money pit Beretta]

The CAI is now here, once again I'm not sure when I'll get it on(the Cav is getting GR2's, 940 bucks to get everthing done,ouch). If the CAI and the new exhaust don't give this 3100 any guts there will be a new engine on the way someday. My old 3.1 would waste this engine. Work is going too slow and the money is going to fast.

[1988GTU]

The cowl should be a one piece unit, I'd have to recheck that to be sure.  That is not the leaking culprit.  The leaks come from cracking seam sealant, missing sealant in the seams, around the heater box (That black banjo looking thing in engine bay) and right where all the body sheet metal meets in each corner right by the tie rods on each side.  It is sorta near the exiting hole in the fender for the tie rod.  
Then, check to make sure the windshield is sealed up good.  I have seen them leak up top in to the headliner area and run down by the ecm (passenger side) and fuse box (driver side) .

Real pain to get at and seal all the voided areas, but once done, NO MORE NIAGARA!!!

[Money pit Beretta]

Thanks for all the info 1988GTU, I'll look into it this weekend. I took it to a auto glass shop a few months back to have the windshield resealed and they said it was the cowl panel(that's why I thought that was it). I'm having trouble finding a good sealer for just that, I have some body sealer, but I'm not sure that will work. The 90 had a tray and I don't know why GM didn't put one in on the 95. I'll be sure to check everywhere, it's making me crazy.

[1988GTU]

The cowl piece (black plastic that sits under wipers) is a one piece part.
What I have used for sealing up the leaks was some GM body puddy (comes in a tube and you use the calk gun to squirt it) and I have used Lowes construction grade polyurethane.  So far both are holding up fine.  Only reason I went with the poly sealant was that I could no longer get the puddy for cheap.

[Money pit Beretta]

I didn't get any work done this weekend, the new home computer build took all my time. It's strange 1988GTU, all that I can find at the junkyard near me is a two piece cowl panel(checked four Beretta's, older and newer ones). This rain is killing my searching. All I could find for sealer is some 3M Windo-Weld Super Fast Urethane. It also goes in a calk gun, hope it will work for what I'm doing. Well, this may take a long time if I get rid of all the old sealer in the cowl area.

[1988GTU]

It is very important to scrape away the old nasty aged sealant.  If you don't, it's like spraying paint on an unprepared car.

[Money pit Beretta]

I'll do it for sure. Looks like it will rain, so I'll have to work inside with very little work space. Got my deruster from Eastwood, if I get the time it will be tested on the bumper support. The way that thing looks I'm not sure if GM ever put paint on it(was the same on the 90GT).

[Money pit Beretta]

Did get some work done this weekend! The bolts on the air inlet by the blower motor were very loose(that may have let the water in). The gasket was in good shape, but the was some seam sealer on the metal that made big dent in it. With little to no chance to get a new gasket I just put some of that Windo-Weld on it. The seam sealer on the drivers side is all but gone, so there is more work to be done.

[Money pit Beretta]

My work space and other pics.

[Money pit Beretta]

[6r8ph1X]

nice i can't decide what each pic is except for the first   but plz post more man and we'll help ya as much as we can.

[Money pit Beretta]

Just to be sure: pic #1 work space(there is about a foot more than that on the other side)#2 is the air inlet with the dent in the gasket #3 is drivers side seam sealer(cracked) #4 is where the air inlet goes and if you look close on the left side you can see the glob of sealer that made the dent in the gasket. I have bigger and better pics of all this in photobucket, but they were too big to use here.

[Money pit Beretta]

Went to work on the driver's side sealer, it's all gone now. Ran into some small rust spots in there and will take care of them, plus reseal this weekend. Looks like my Beretta has two parts to the cowl panel. The center was in such good shape that it looked like it was just one piece. The far end of the passenger side has warped 2 inches from the glass and will not be used again. I'll have to use the old junk one that's downstairs and keep looking for one in better shape.

[Money pit Beretta]

Well, I bought some Rust Converter from Eastwood to use in the cowl area. They say only to mix as much a you can use in 3 to 5 hours. The mixing cups I have are not set up for the small amount I need, so I cleaned all the shale rust off the rear spring area(less the stuff under the springs, will get that this weekend). The AC compresser is now close to locking up. When I'm done with this part of the derusting the car will go to a shop for the AC. I'll take some pics of the work just to show what I've done.