That is nice. Filing that one away in the old think-tank!

https://photos.smugmug.com/1985-Mont..._152954-XL.jpg

Lance, which wire loom product are you using on the wires?

Looks like a good clean install. Light it up! :popcorn2:

Thanks!

Techflex 3/8" Split F6 Braided... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRLJ93K...p_mob_ap_share


It's pretty nice to work with, expandable and tough.Way better than the old plastic loom stuff...

I'm not going to sugar coat it...had a couple of pretty frustrating days in the shop.

I finished up putting the hose ends on the lines Friday and actually got pretty good at it by the end.

https://photos.smugmug.com/1985-Mont...3/58951-X3.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/1985-Mont...3/58945-X3.jpg

This "third hand" I picked up really helped with the process

https://photos.smugmug.com/1985-Mont...3/58949-X3.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/1985-Mont..._153855-XL.jpg


Wish putting the tank in went as smooth. My guess is the new replacement tank is a smidge larger than the OEM tank and I struggled getting the old straps around the tank and installed. What should have taken about 15 minutes took a couple hours. Then I had to run the fuel line and my desire to make it as fit and finish as OEM led to more frustration. Between being larger diameter and stiff...I had a fight on my hands, but I got it done. I quit for the day and decided to wait until I was fresh Sunday morning to fire up the pump and test for leaks. Good thing I did...

Had the wife in the car to turn the key while I had the throttle body end of the line pointed toward a container so I could rinse the lines out before connecting to the throttle body. I had blown the lines and filter out but didn't want any trash from the pump getting into the injectors. She turned the key...nothing...

Sent her on her way and I started to chase down why. I'll save you from the horrid details but just know it wasn't until the fuel pump was back out on the bench (yes I had to drop the tank again to get it out), had jumper cables on the pins and a battery charger set at 20 amps powering them...that it finally decided to come to life. I then slowly reinstalled everything while testing the pump operation each step of the way. Once pump was back in the tank and tank raised up to installed location and all connections made, I hot wired the pump at the relay and I had fuel coming out the throttle body end of the line...and out from under the car... Seems I should have put a wrench on the inline filter housing itself to make sure the end cap of it was snugged down. Once that mess was cleaned up and line connected to throttle body again, I tested it again and NONE of my hose ends leaked... Woo Hoo! I cleaned up, aired the shop out and went in the house for a shower and a rest while the battery charged back up.

I just now returned in from the shop where I sat down in the driver seat and configured the handheld with my engine specs and uploaded the file to the ECU. I then did the TPS autoset and verified that all sensors are operational. The final screen said we are now ready to start the engine!!!

Well, kinda... I still have to fill cooling system and tighten the belts... THEN we'll be ready to fire it off.

I guess if it was easy, everyone would be doing it right? :D

The day still didn't go exactly as planned...but it made heat!

Congrats Lance. Sometimes it's not how you get there, just as long as you get there.

Thanks Chris...

This past week has tested me but today it firing on the first turn of the key made up for a lot of it.

After working out what I thought were all of the demons Sat and Sun, I got everything ready today and nervously hit the key to see what happens...and NOTHING happened... :bang:

Back up in the air... Apparently at some point I knocked the switch wire off the starter tab. Wrestled my hands back in behind the header and got it reattached...then put car back down on ground again.

That's pretty much how my whole week went...

So I've had some time to play with it a bit now. Still not drivable as a lot of things still loose or off car but it starts, idles, timing is pretty close, low and high speed fans kick on and off like they are supposed too and all gauges seem to work properly. I am amazed at how easily it started the very first time and continues to start at the first hit of the key.

I need to get my laptop configured to hook to ECU to change some things to really dial the timing in but I figure it would be better to just spend the day buttoning up the rest of the car. Nothing new, unknown or untested left, just putting old parts back on the car.

Pretty happy to be at this stage now, there were times last week I wondered if it really was going to work.

So our friend and fellow board member Andrew spent about 2 hours today dialed into my laptop hooked to the car from his house and really got the idle tune dialed in perfect. It was fun to watch and learn...and see the results from the changes in real time. I'm not sure if it's the cam, the worked over Fastburn heads, or just the whole complete package...but this combo really seems like a great match for the ECU and throttle body. It seemed pretty simple for Andrew to dial it in initially.

We did kind of struggle to get the idle down (which I always fought with the Q-jet as well). Even with throttle blades completely closed and IAC at 0, it still idled around 800 rpm. We even capped off the 3 vacuum lines I had hooked to TBI to see if there was a leak on one of them with little effect. I finally put a wrench on the 4 bolts holding it to manifold and tightened them 1/8-1/4 turn each and that bumped the IAC up to about 4. Backing the idle timing down to 12 degrees and a few other small changes got it to idle about 760 or so with IAC around 4 and we left it there. I need to get the air cleaner back on to see how that affects it if any. The heater hose valve was in the way of it and it was too freaking hot to mess with today.

Speaking of heat, it idled in a 100 degree garage for over an hour and never got over 190 degrees. The low and high speed fans work perfectly exactly how they are programmed in the ECU. No leaks, runs, drips or errors that I can see either.

Time to get the wheels back on, gas tank bolted in, fenders back on and tidy up the loose ends so I can test drive it on the street. I think Andrew was disappointed when we were done with idle tune and he asked me if it was ready to drive on the street. :D

Excellent! Now get that thing on the road and enjoy the fruits of your labor. :)