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Those headers have really thin flanges which doesn't help. When you shop for new headers, get ones with 3/8" flanges. You don't have to use D-port headers either but you do need to ensure you get full coverage of the port by the header primary.
You may be running lean which is why you're blowing out gaskets so easily. Have you pulled the plugs to see how they look? It could be leaning out after it leaves the engine which is the same way the air pump works. It's worth a check of the plugs while they're easy to access. |
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That plug doesn't look bad to me.
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We're casually waiting for a nice starter car and yours is a great inspiration. Thanks
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Finally back with an update! I focused 100% on the car in the month or 2 leading up to the UMI autocross so I had some catching up to do once I got back home. As you'll read below I also broke my torque arm at the event so I've been waiting on some parts while I catch up on everything else.
Quick summary of the UMI autocross event: It was a great time! Despite all of my concerns and having maybe 20 test miles on the car, it did great. The car started and ran fine, despite still having some slow throttle response. I took it easy on the first couple of runs but slowly ramped it up from there. I had some rubbing issues in the back that I discovered once i started pushing the car a bit. I had brought some spare spacers I had lying around and some others were very generous to let me borrow some. I kept adding spacers every run and once I pieced together the right combination that I needed, I measured the stack and was able to order some nice aluminum spacers to work. Summit was actually on-site and I was able to order the spacers and get them delivered the next day right to the track. Nice! On the second day, I on one of my last runs in the morning session I heard a loud bang after a particular corner where you come off the banking and into the infield section of the course. I backed off and limped the car back to the pits and it was pretty obvious what the issue was, my torque arm was in 2 pieces! This pretty much ended my day, and luckily this was a UMI hosted event so I was able to have a couple of their engineers take a look at my car and recommend the pieces I needed to get her back up and running. Thanks Ramey! Overall, UMI puts on an awesome event and I would highly recommend it to anyone. They have created such a cool facility for autocrossing and their events are run top-notch and super smooth. Lots of runs throughout the day with minimal downtime. I'll be back next year for sure! UMI was pretty backed up with their orders and I just got all of my pieces last week so I'll be sure to document the installation and also show how my old torque arm broke (it was an older Spohn piece). For now here's a photo dump from the weekend: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c22060d1_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c94d8987_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1d68f7b3_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...916c4e7a_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...335965d1_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c263f796_z.jpg |
UMI is full of great peeps...and they put on top notch events as well.
Can't wait to see you back out on track with the updated parts. |
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Those wheels look great with the car/color combo :beavis: |
Cool car! There was a nice Iroc in my hometown back in the early 90's that I raced with my old Monte Carlo with a 327. I always liked them. I'll be looking for a father/son project in the not to distant future. Maybe I'll buy an Iroc.
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The value is going up on them, Todd. Check out Bringatrailer.com or speak with Marty. He's been keeping an eye on them, too.
Really glad to hear the car did well aside from the torque arm. It looks great hauling ass around the track. |
Alright finally back with another update.
Installing my torque arm turned into a bit more of a project than I thought it would... as most things do! First, the failure analysis. My old torque arm was a 2-piece design with one end attaching to the rear axle and the other end bolted the transmission crossmember. The 2 pieces slid into eachother so the arm could shorten and lengthen as the suspension cycled. My torque arm broke right at this joint between the 2 parts of the torque arm when a collar broke off. This torque arm was old, so my guess is it was on it's last legs anyway, and the stress of autocrossing and high RPM shifting was the straw that broke its back. I'm just happy it happened on a closed course and not on the highway where I would have been stranded. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...35b061e1_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d46367b2_z.jpg I ordered my new torque arm from UMI. They have 2 options, a longer one that attaches near the transmission and a shorter one that attaches to a dedicated crossmember you can weld in. I chose to go with the longer one that attaches to the transmission crossmember. The issue for me, however, was that my old crossmember used a bolted joint where my new torque arm uses a bushing. So, I started the search for a new crossmember! There were only 2 options I came across that would accommodate my T56 transmission and a bushing mounted torque arm: One from BMR and the new Hooker LS-swap crossmember made by Holley. I ordered both to give them a try. I tried the BMR crossmember first since it showed up first. Everything bolted up pretty well, but man does it hang low! It was by far the lowest thing hanging below the car, including the exhaust and subframe connectors. This might be ok for a car with stock springs, but for my car that's lowered 2+ inches I could just see this thing scraping on every driveway and speedbump: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...11aaba88_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5b11fa00_z.jpg The Hooker crossmember showed up a week later and I noticed right away that it would be far from a bolt on job. This crossmember is made for LS-swapped cars using Hooker's matching engine mounts that move the engine out of the stock position for better space under the hood. My car still has a small block, so the engine is in the stock location. It was clear this thing was going to require some "tweaking" to fit. The good news was that it sat WAY higher up in the chassis and if I could get it to fit the ground clearance would be awesome. So, I had a decision to make. Keep the BMR crossmember which is an easy installation but hangs down low, or dive into modifying the Hooker one and have great ground clearance if I could get it to work. I chose the hard path! There were 3 big modification I had to make to fit the Hooker crossmember in my car. The frame holes all lined up great, but I had to modify the mounting holes for the transmission bushing: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9678a7b6_z.jpg Next, the mounting bracket for the torque arm bushing sits really close to the transmission tunnel, so I had to trim back my heat shielding to make space: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a14859fa_z.jpg Finally, that same bracket for the bushing was hitting against a threaded boss on the tailshaft of the transmission, so I had to trim that back a bit: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...909a6d2c_z.jpg After all that, I was able to get it all bolted up in place and am really happy with it. Super sturdy piece and tons of ground clearance: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...03306fd5_z.jpg Torque arm bolted up and pinion angle set: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f7df8aae_z.jpg Big difference from the old piece! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a1c65b0a_z.jpg While I was at it, I also ordered some lower control arms from UMI and their relocation brackets. I had been running some old, non-adjustable Hotchkis ones that came with the car. Without the relocation kit, they were at the incorrect angle with my car sitting at ride height (angling up towards the rear) so I was looking forward to making this upgrade to help with some forward bite. I ordered the control arms with UMI's roto-joints, which are Delrin bushings that provide a super tight feel (zero deflection) without the squeaking you'd just with a rod end. Super easy install compared to the transmission crossmember! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cb569486_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...40dce247_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0e87fa9a_z.jpg Finally, I got around the installing my racing seat as well. I had bought this seat before the UMI autocross in July but just ran out of time before I could get it installed. The seat is a Cobra Imola and it's FIA certified, which was important to me for safety reasons. I'm using brackets from a company called Planted combined with the side mount brackets from Cobra. The seat is sitting super high right now, so I'll need to do some tweaking in the future. It feels AWESOME though once you're out driving... huge upgrade in driving confidence! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b1c68f32_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...15e07201_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...947cab7b_z.jpg That's all for tonight! |
Nice upgrade on the TA, that piece should work and last a lot better than the old design.
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Having worked on PowerHop for the 2nd gen CTSV and and creating a couple patents for the solution, this is the only torque arm I have seen that correctly addresses the reaction loads for both acceleration and braking for torque arm rear suspensions.
https://www.unbalancedengineering.com/Camaro/TA/ It did not make it into production, but also developed a torque arm for independent rear suspension vehicles as well - combined with asymmetric 1/2 shafts eliminated all PowerHop under all conditions (high / low mu). https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNu...%3DIN%2Fmikels https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNu...%3DIN%2Fmikels Dave |
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Been putting some miles on the car since I last posted about a month ago. My goal has been to see what's working and what's not and the things I need to address over the winter.
A couple of big things that have been standing out to me are that the car has a pretty big oil leak, and I need some new seat mounts! I have narrowed down the oil leak to either the back of the intake or the rear main seal. I'm planning on taking the intake manifold off this winter anyway (more on that below) so I will check that first before I pull the transmission. I put a new rear main seal in while I had the engine and transmission out, but it's definitely possible I damaged it while trying to stab the input shaft into the back for the crank. I'm tired of having a puddle on my garage floor every time I park it! For the seat, I need to find a way to lower it and to get it on adjustable rails. It's just too hard to get out of the car right now which really hinders the car's every day useability. Once I'm in, the seat feels great and fits me well but I just dread the circus act it takes to get out of the car so I'll definitely have to address that. The big decision I'm working on right now is what to do with the engine computer. The car right now runs well, but there are big "holes" in the rev range where the car will fall on it's face and then pick back up and take off. Again, not a big deal on the track where most of the time the engine is at 4000 rpm+, but it affects how the car feels around town. I really like crisp throttle response and I want the car to take off when I punch it at 2500 rpm. I've gone from a huge 58mm throttle body down to a stock one which helped throttle response a bit but still nowhere near where I'd like it. Right now, I have a stock ECU with a stock chip in the car. The small block in the car has a ton of upgrades including big aluminum heads, a cam, intake, headers... you name it. I don't think the stock ECU can keep up. My 2 options are to dig into burning a new chip for my current ECU or to completely upgrade the engine electronics to something I can tune on the fly. I think I am leaning towards upgrading the whole ECU to something like a Terminator X from Holley. I'm sure I could get the stock ECU to work with a new chip and some tuning, but at the end of the day I will still have an ECU with 30+ year old technology. Yes I will need to re-wire the whole engine bay again with the Holley system, but I think it will be worth it to have a modern ECU I can tune with a laptop. Back to my intake... if I decide to go with the Holley Terminator X system I think I am also going to swap out my Super Ram intake for a Holley Stealth Ram. Couple of reasons for this, but the main ones are the simplicity of the Stealth Ram over the Super Ram and the other is budget. With the value of Super Rams right now, I am hoping to be able to sell and then pick up a second hand Stealth Ram and a new Terminator X ECU and be about even. That seems like a good trade to me! I think it will also be easier to troubleshoot any tuning issues I have with Holley if I am using both their ECU and their intake. If anyone has any inputs I'm all ears before I pull the trigger soon! |
If your ECU isn't tuned now for the engine, you should start there before ripping it all out. Sure, it's old but that doesn't mean it doesn't work just fine. There's no inherent reason it wouldn't provide great performance for your combination.
You need to verify your combination will work the way you want. Do not chase a peak power number. No amount of changing ECU's will change the way a combination works. You should do this before you change intakes as well to ensure you're moving in the correct direction. I'm not a fan of the old school TPI intakes including the Super Ram. They are not bad but there is definitely better and easier to deal with options. I think the dealing with it part is what would make me swap it out. Don't limit yourself to the Stealth Ram. Look at your combination and decide what you want out of the car and build towards that. You may need to go with a "simple" dual plane intake to achieve your performance goals. You may find you have the wrong cam. Good luck. |
I wouldn't be so fast to ditch the Super Ram. All intakes are compromises of some kind. The Super Ram is quite good at what it was designed to do, which was to move the torque curve higher in the RPM range than the standard TPI, but still in the more usable range. It was John Lingefelter's favorite intake back when he was making packages for the EFI small blocks, because it had a major advantage in torque in the 3000-5000 RPM range compared to the LT1 intake of the day (which made a little more power at peak).
Unfortunately nobody makes a comparable intake in the aftermarket these days. The Stealth Ram is a shorter runner intake, with a power curve more like a 4 barrel single plane. For autocross and road course work, the extra mid range torque is the better tradeoff, IMO. To say nothing of street driving. I would not run a dual plane in a port injected application. Dual planes have more runner to runner variation through the RPM range, which translates directly to cylinder/cylinder air/fuel variation in a PFI application (it's not really a problem with a carb since the air and fuel are already mixed). It's hard to get optimal injector angle in those runners as well. If it were my car, I wouldn't give a moment's thought to keeping the stock ECU. You can get it to work, although it usually takes a couple iterations of burning chips, logging on a chassis dyno with wideband, then re-burning to get something close to optimal. These days, a wide band closed loop system like the Holley is so much better in so many ways - if you can swing the price, it's the way to go. Either way, I wouldn't run it too much more on a stock tune, there are likely massive lean spots in the fuel curve. |
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Regarding the intakes, I agree there are a lot of options. See below for why I am leaning towards the Stealth Ram (easy to work on, similar power curve to a Super Ram). I also do not know what cam I have... which definitely could be hampering driveability. Quote:
For full credit, the youtube video is by Richer Holdener and the link is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Je1MLTphs&t=731s The baseline is a 383 with a stock TPI intake (the BLUE line). The first chart is the Super Ram: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...68cd5b68_z.jpg And the second chart is the Stealth Ram: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...206d01fd_z.jpg To me, not a HUGE difference between the 2 but definitely a bit of mid-range torque loss in the 3000 - 4500rpm range. The big question is... is that 20-30 lb-ft loss worth it for the aggravation of installing the Super Ram, and am I a good enough driver to tell the difference? (My guess is not right now :goofy:) |
Nice find, real data! I didn't even bother to do a search on Holdener, figured that he wouldn't have bothered with some of the more obscure old school stuff like the Super Ram. Should have known better, he's a testing maniac. Pretty soon he'll be testing ported Model T cylinder heads :)
Yeah, that torque loss isn't too bad, in fact on a road course shifting at 6000 with a T56 the Stealth would actually be better. So I retract my advice above, you know what you're doing. Still wouldn't mess around with that old ECU, though :) |
Talking with real world experience here...someone that has raced with and street driven a CCC carb setup, then a manual carb setup, and finally a Holley EFI setup all on a similar SBC setup in a similar vehicle as yours...
Once someone with your ability does the install correctly and begins to learn the Holley EFI software, you'll wonder why you didn't make the change years ago. The amount of real time data you can collect and use to fine tune the software is mind blowing and the results from collecting and using said data to make the engine run better are worth the pain of install. The main question I would be working on is how best to design the fuel delivery system...retro fitting a fuel module to not only feed the beast but to do it without regular pump failures or fuel starvation issues means going a step above most regular installs. Being able to salvage your old intake to finance the new parts makes it an even easier question to answer at least in my humble opinion. Good luck with your call. |
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OK I'm getting into a pretty bad habit of going several months in between updates! That doesn't mean work isn't getting done though!
I pulled the trigger on a Holley Terminator X ECU to replace the stock computer. It's a pricey and involved upgrade, but to me the upgrade in reliability, driveability and tuneability makes its all worth it. Along with the ECU, I am also going to be upgrading my distributor to their Dual Sync distributor which will be controlled with one of the MSD boxes made specifically for the Holley EFI system. This ignition setup is a bit overkill for my engine, but I am a big advocate for keeping everything together from the same manufacturer. It may cost a bit more at the beginning, but having everything work together and only have one company to call when there is an issue is worth it to me! I also grabbed a set of the analog gauges to replace the stock ones. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5609afa4_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8ca20667_z.jpg I currently have my stock (well, slightly modified) TPI harness out of the car and the intake off. I had spent so much time last winter tucking and trimming my harness to hide it... it sure made it hard to get out! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...04f61f34_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9bf0de83_z.jpg I also was able to find a used Holley Stealth Ram intake on Ebay and picked it up along with the fuel rails and adjustable fuel pressure regulator. I'll get into a bit more detail in the future as to why I'm replacing my Super Ram with this, but it basically came down to price and ease of installation. The intake is currently off being powder coated black to match the theme under the hood. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4b97dbd7_z.jpg My current project is getting my gauges installed. The Holley gauges are super easy to install, with just one wire that daisy chains the gauges together. They run of a CAN signal from the ECU, which is a digital signal and allows them all to run off of the one wire. Each gauge looks for it's unique "code" in the digital signal pulls the data it needs. Pretty cool. I ordered a sheet of ABS plastic off of Amazon that matches the factory grain pretty well. Love the look of these things and can't wait to see them lit up! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3aa0f3a4_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...df4efac8_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cf1b0a80_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...28190ca7_z.jpg I'll be better at posting some more regular updates! Spring is coming so gotta get going on this thing! |
That turned out great!
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x2. That's a good looking layout.
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The lower gauges are pretty low and tough to see now that I've test fit them and took a look from the driver's seat. I moved the important ones (oil pressure and coolant temp) to the outside so they are a bit easier to see. The warning lights will help as well. I'm going to try this out for a summer... it's easy enough to cut out a different layout if I need to. |
OK starting to make some steady progress now...
While I was under the dash installing my new gauges and had my interior half apart, I decided to change out my stereo headunit as well. The previous owner had installed a big touch screen but it was showing its age... it had an early navigation system in it that didn't work and no Bluetooth. The plastic trim was also cut up around the screen to make it all fit. I just bought a really simple new headunit that has all the modern Bluetooth features while not being too flashy in the looks department. A quick re-wire and it's ready to go: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...877bfd28_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...34f33c8a_z.jpg To mount my new ECU in the interior, I was able to make it fit in the stock location up under the dash on the passenger side. I took the beige plastic mounting bracket and removed the stock ECU, then drilled out 4 mounting holes to attach the Holley ECU using some short button head screws with some rubber washers for isolation from vibration. When I permanently install it in the car, I will also use some velcro on the back side to give it some further isolation from vibrations and bumps: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...73efe8a2_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...47509f07_z.jpg With all that wrapped up, my interior is pretty much buttoned up for now. I just have a few trim pieces to put back but I want to get everything up and running first just in case I need to re-check a few wires. Next focus is on getting my new intake manifold installed. I've mentioned it before, but I am moving from my current Super Ram setup to a Holley Stealth Ram. With the Stealth Ram, I am focusing on figuring out all the plugs, adapters, fuel lines and sensors I need to install to make it all work together. The first step was getting the intake powdercoated. With my Super Ram, I had painted it black using Duplicolor engine paint and it turned out great but kept getting chipped every time I whacked it with a wrench by accident. So, I bit the bullet on the extra expense and am trying out powdercoating this time. I think it turned out awesome! This is matte black with a satin clear coat on top: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...de53cd6e_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3fc9dff2_z.jpg The trickiest part I am working through now is the driver's side rear corner. This is where all the vacuum ports will be on the intake, plus the big adjustable fuel pressure regulator I want to run, the oil pressure sensor, spark plug wires and the fuel line coming off of the regulator. I think I have a layout that's going to work but I need to order a few more little adapters for it all to fit. I may also move the oil pressure sender to the port right above the oil filter. This takes a bit of time but it's much easier working through this stuff on the bench rather than up against the firewall. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...143ed2d9_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a4bef1d1_z.jpg Set the intake on the engine just to get a sneak peak of what it's going to look like: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8e85bc77_z.jpg |
Nice!
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Looks awesome man!
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Good choice on the powder coat. I think it looks great. You'll enjoy dealing with this intake more than the Super Ram.
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I love it!
Here is something cool (maybe) - My Dad was a GM brass hat back in the day. He also handled press cars for the media (1984-1986) in the N.E. Florida area. He also got a new car every 5,000 miles or so from GM AND he bought one once a year on a special program. In 1985...we had the very first IROC-Z off the trailer in Florida (production model). It was special order and purchase through his program for my Mom...AND, he also got a bright yellow one for his company car. We had a pair of IROC-Zs in the driveway for a few months in 1985. Hers was black with red interior. One day while I was riding in the back, my dad thumped the throttle in traffic and ripped the tires...and leaned over and said... "the muscle car is back...." That made my day! I got my driver permit and drove home at 15 years old...in that black Iroc-Z. I drove it a million miles in the garage listening to the radio and dreaming of being on the open road...when I was 15. LOVE these cars....wish I had room and time for another. As much as I love the LS for many reasons...so glad to see the basic TPI (even with the ram you are installing) and L98 type V8 rocking between the strut towers. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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It seems like my updates are starting be on a monthly basis which is better than nothing.
The main focus the last few weeks has been dealing with a stubborn oil leak I was chasing all last year. I had oil dripping out of my bellhousing after a hard drive, and even some smoke coming up through the shifter hole after going full throttle from light to light. The starter was also coated in some oil. I am 90% sure the leak was coming from the back of the intake or a bad valve cover gasket but could never pinpoint it to a specific spot. I am changing my intake and will pay close attention to the seal on the rear china wall, but my OCD had me worrying about the rear main seal and if something was leaking there. I had put a fresh rear main seal on the engine last year, but maybe I had damaged it when trying to stab the input shaft into the pilot bearing? Anyway... out came the transmission just to be sure! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...174a1a8c_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6159f371_z.jpg Everything looked ok when I got everything apart, and even the back of the flywheel was relatively dry. The only thing I noticed was the small gasket behind the seal carrier was a bit wet... which could have been contributing to the leak: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...59109756_z.jpg I replaced that seal along with a new rear main seal while I was in there. I hate oil leaks (and all leaks in general!) so hopefully now everything stays nice and dry: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d8d55def_z.jpg So, onward with my Holley Terminator X install! I had sent my "universal" harness out to a member of the 3rd gen Camaro forum to modify it to integrate with the 3rd gen Camaro body harness. He typically does harnesses for people doing LS swaps, so we had to work through a few details to make the ECU work for my small block but I think we got all the details worked out. We went back and forth quite a bit on where I would be installing sensors, what inputs I wanted to use, where I wanted to mount the ECU and ignition box and he built the harness to my specs. I would highly recommend working with him for your harness needs, he was patient with all my questions and suggested a lot of good upgrades! I just got the harness back last week and it looks great. Everything looks like it will plug in where it needs to go. To get my old harness out, I had removed a ton of stuff under the hood since I worked so hard to hide everything. Getting the new harness was the last piece of the puzzle I needed to start putting things back together as I again want to hide it as much as possible. What I had been doing in the meantime is mocking everything up on my workbench, ordering the parts I need for the intake install and generally trying to get ahead as much as I can. Sometimes this can be frustrating as it seems like I'm not getting anywhere, but it should pay off this weekend when I have a few hours to work on the car and parts can start flying on! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...771660e8_z.jpg Hopefully I'll have some good progress to report at my next update... I should have all the parts I need to get it running again! |
All of the tedious & repetitive stuff can be frustrating but your outlook on the big picture is evident.
I think the hatred of oil/fluid leaks is pretty universal for the gearhead. They flat out suck when it requires removing 60% of underhood items to 'hopefully' fix the issue. If not, refer to the initial statement above.... The extra effort on the wiring should make things easier on the install/service end of the work. |
Good luck with the new parts installation... You are going to love that EFI setup once you get it dialed in. Hope you stopped the leak as well...
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Time for another update! I've been making some slow and steady progress since my last post.
The quick update - the car starts and runs! However, that revealed a few issues that I am now dealing with. The biggest issue is my hood doesn't fit with the new Holley Stealth Ram intake... more on that coming soon. Working hard to try and get some test miles on the car soon. Yet again one of my "winter" projects is now slipping into July. :doh: Gotta do it right though! I spent a lot of time getting the new Holley wiring harness laid out where I wanted it, wrapped and hidden. Scooter did a great job walking me through the install and getting everything where it needed to go, I just needed to re-organize a couple of things to get it right where I wanted it. Perfection takes a lot of time! One new skillset I've been picking up through this process is using nice, factory-looking Weatherpak electrical connectors in my harness. For less than $100, I was able to grab a bunch of connectors and terminals off Amazon along with a decent set of crimpers. I definitely screwed up a few crimps, but I'm getting the hang of it. Super happy with the results, it looks really professional. I didn't do a great job of taking pics so here is just a few highlights: MSD coil mounted on the driver's fender well: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1cabb8c8_z.jpg Adding a connector for the ignition box: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3f48d366_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...037b1f86_z.jpg New custom made battery cables: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...dd106cb1_z.jpg Added an oil temp sensor to the harness: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2d71fb5c_z.jpg Fuel and oil pressure sensors mounted behind the intake so they're as hidden as possible: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f84ceaf1_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8caba5ca_z.jpg For the fuel lines, I had 2 options. The stock third gen Camaro TPI fuel rails have the fuel enter and exit at the front of the intake. For the Stealth Ram, it's at the back. I could either reuse the stock hard lines and run an adapter the a flexible line all the way to the back of the intake, or cut the hard lines and run new flexible lines to the back of the intake. I chose to go the harder (and better looking) route of making new fuel lines. Again, I did not do a great job of taking pics, but I cut the stock hard lines underneath the driver's door and used adapters and new flexible fuel hose from RedHorse performance. You can see the lines in the pictures above of the fuel and oil pressure sensors. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a975ff59_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0b68dfd2_z.jpg Lastly for today I also upgraded the fuel pump wiring while I was at it. The stock third gen wiring harness has a small 10ga (I think?) wire providing power to the pump so my new harness has a nice big 6ga wire going back there so there shouldn't be any drop in voltage. I just had to wire up a small jumper harness to make it work: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...52a51577_z.jpg That's all for now, lots more updates coming! |
As I got ready to fire it up for the first time with the new Holley ECU, I plugged in my laptop and starting going through the setup procedure. It's a pretty straightforward process of answering some questions about your engine (size, firing order, injector type, etc). I ran into an issue on the step where you set your throttle position sensor. This needs to be completed succesfully before you can start the car. I kept getting an error:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...32316191_z.jpg I started digging a bit deeper into the issue and noticed my TPS sensor was not getting the required 5V... not good! This set off a 2-week debugging session trying to figure out why I wasn't getting 5 volts to sensor. Here's the quick version of how I figured out the issue: 1. I started at the ECU and back-probed the terminals that supply power and ground to the sensor to verify I had 5V there. All looked good: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6440b9eb_z.jpg 2. Next, I pulled the wrap off the harness and found the junction where the power wire splits to supply 5V to all of the sensors on the engine. (The orange wire in the picture below.) Again, I could probe this and get 5 volts. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6ea5e21e_z.jpg 3. At this point I had all of the sensors unplugged from some other checks I had been doing. What I did next was start plugging in each sensor that gets power from this junction 1 by 1 and monitoring the voltage. With the just the TPS plugged in I was getting 5V now... hmmm. I then plugged in the fuel pressure sensor and the voltage dropped by 1.5V. Plugging the oil pressure sensor dropped it by another 1.5V! 4. Looking a little bit closer at the harness, it turned out that the power and ground and those 2 sensors was reversed, causing the big voltage drop on the whole sensor 5V circuit. Popping the terminals out of the connectors and putting them back in the proper place got me the right voltage to the TPS and let me calibrate it correctly: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1939abef_z.jpg Once the TPS is set, you can cycle the key and the fuel pump comes on to get the engine ready to start. I found a big fuel leak from the fuel rail and was able to trace it down to a damaged o-ring on one of my injectors. Other than having to take apart the whole fuel system that one was an easy fix! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e8da192b_z.jpg FINALLY after all that I was able to try and start the car for real. And as luck would have it, it fired right up on the first try! The engine ran smooth and sounded good! I was pumped to hit this big milestone!! I didn't let it run too far, because I noticed it was idling high and the IAC was reading at 100% (meaning it was fully closed and trying to reduce the idle speed.) No problem, I just need to turn down the idle screw on the throttle body and then let the system learn from there. Well, that turned out to not be so easy as the idle adjustment screw on the throttle body has seized and snapped in half when I went to turn it! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a8491df4_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d5fc3961_z.jpg I am now trying to repair this screw, and I luckily have a backup throttle body I can try. My other big issue is my hood won't close! This one is totally my fault... I should have checked this earlier in the process so I could have made some adjustments before getting the car running and then having to take it all apart again. I did research on installing a Stealth Ram into 3rd gen Camaros and some fit great, while others needed some work to fit. I tried trimming back the inner hood structure, but it didn't quite get me the clearance I needed. So, my options were: 1. Lower the motor - I have brand new poly engine mounts which tend to raise the engine a bit over stock (especially if your old mounts are rubber and sagging). I considered going to rubber mounts, or even solid ones if they dropped the engine a bit, but decided to try a simpler solution below first rather than tearing the whole front end apart. 2. Space the k-member down from the body using some spacers - With my focus on handling with this car, I decided to stay away from this one, even though it was relatively simple. With the strut front suspension on these cars, any spacing of the k-member will affect alignment and that's not something I wanted to get into. 3. Modify the intake - This is the option I am pursuing right now. Yes, it sucks to have to take apart a nice running engine right after you finally got it together but in the long run I think this is the easiest solution. The Stealth Ram fortunately has some areas where material can be removed and I'm hoping there's enough there to solve my problem. My next update will hopefully be a success story with a hood that closes and perhaps a test drive! Here's a quick teaser pic: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...eb9d9662_z.jpg |
We got a closing hood! Took quite a bit of work and it's a very tight fit but I'm happy with the end result.
I had my intake machined at a local machine shop and was able to take about a 1/2" height out of it my removing material from the base and also removing the ribs on the top of the air box. Any more than that, and I would have started having issues with the throttle body hitting the fuel rails and water neck. I'll have to get the air box re-powercoated in the future but for now I just need to get some test miles on this thing! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f49ec025_z.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4d0051b7_z.jpg With the intake modified, I still need to remove some of the inner structure from my hood to make everything fit. So I was cutting, and cutting some more, and cutting some more... and it ended up being a lot more than I thought! At some point in the future, my plan was to install some functional hood vents on the car and since I already had the cut off wheel out, I bit the bullet and ordered a set from Trackspec Motorsports. The install was relatively straightforward with the templates they provide, it just took quite a bit of time to fine tune everything with the grinder and flap disk to get ill the cut edges nice and smooth to look like a pro install. I also had to trim back some of the fins to clear the intake and also the throttle linkage... don't want that getting caught up! First take the old louver off: [url=hthttps://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2520e606_z.jpg Tape down the template after measuring and checking a few times: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6b342468_z.jpg Then cut it up! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...20cc2c5e_z.jpg Here you can see just how close everything is: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...771aa7dc_z.jpg Once I was happy with the fit and all the cut edges were deburred and smoothed up, I painted the underside of the hood so it would all match up: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...32530a51_z.jpg Final install... I love the look and should really help with underhood cooling: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0abfb8aa_z.jpg Here's all the metal I had to remove... a good weight reduction up high on the front end! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f14025cb_z.jpg Once that was settled I could finally go on a test drive. The first start of the car was uneventful and it fired right up! Everything looked good in terms of the gauges and vitals, and no fuel, oil or coolant was leaking. You can also lock out the timing and verify it with a timing light to make sure everything is where it should be. Fuel pressure is also easy to set using the sensor. Everything checked out so I ventured out on my first test drive. Obligatory gas station pic: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c67ca52a_z.jpg Everything felt pretty good on the test drive except for a couple of small things: the throttle was hanging up a bit (revs wouldn't drop immediately and I put the clutch in) and the idle was high. I had a high idle with my old ECU, but trying to fix it was a guessing game. With the Holley ECU, it's awesome to be able to plug in your laptop to see what's going on and actually fix the problem. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d4d62340_z.jpg Turned out I had a big vacuum leak coming from my intake manifold. Turning the idle adjustment screw on the throttle body all the way closed and having it still idle at 900+ rpm turned out to be the giveaway. I found the leak between the intake base and the air box... I must have damaged it when I was shifting things during the installation. Next time I may use a gasket adhesive here: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1ec5354e_z.jpg Unfortunately it's taking a few days for the gaskets arrive so I can't get back to test driving but they should be here soon. In the meantime, I'm working on getting my interior back together and cleaning up this mess: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...83d9a19b_z.jpg Pumped to be so close to having a running and driving car again! First autocross is next weekend! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b8200d16_z.jpg |
This build keeps getting better. As it does, I like it more & more (and I already had a thing for these Black & Red versions).
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Your car is looking great! I dig the stance with those wheels.
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I absolutely love this car
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