jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

the 4.8/5.3 are pretty powerful at around 300 but parts to get it in and hop it up are expensive. you end up being at least the same money into one of those by the time you do a head swap and cam to get as much power as my setup has, and transmissions are cheaper. i got my second trans from a racing shop, manual/auto combo VB, custom converter, able to take 200 shot when i get there. for 1500. i dont think you can run that without a bunch of adapters on a ls block.

kmcn47

been awhile. took the camaro to a dealer to see what its worth in trade in for funsies. about a grand. dealer even carfaxed it for me and holy **** my car is a nightmare. aside from having no Vin plate its apparently also a flood car form Missouri with 2 accidents in its history and the odometer has been rolled back. I'm surprised as hell he'd even give me a grand for it lol. on the plus side i got some goodies today. edlebrock performer intake (2101) nothing fancy and its brand new and only cost me 100 dollars so thats a plus. next pay is headers and a few pays later I'm respraying the car. gonna do it white/silver again like stock and get new decals and badges. gonna do orange instead of the red the car had. also gonna be repainting my engine. chevy orange and i'll paint the heads aluminum to match the water pump and new intake. after that i don't see why a low miles z28 in very good shape like mine is can't fetch close to ten grand. i've seen more butchered examples for that on craigslist all day.

kmcn47

picture of the intake coming i swear the android app is broken as f uck i tried seven times to upload it and post and it keeps saying theres nothing in my post.

kmcn47

kmcn47

great its ****ing tiny. wonderful. this site is so broken

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

you going to put the factory quad/hei back on it?

kmcn47

yeah now that i finally found a good quality 7 pin HEI module mines factory. and the carb i'll probable check out to see if it actually has the well plug leak. if it does i'll fix that. but yeah for now thats what its gonna run. atleast until the 350 gets here

nothing special simple crate motor thats gonna get my stock l69 heads only ported (gasket matched) like the intake is.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

when you start getting into aftermarket stuff, headers, porting, all that increases the amount of fuel and timing it wants and the stock program might screw it up. dont know how much range it has before you have to get your chip tuned. when i had my 305 i didnt want to screw with the factory ugly tubes and wires everywhere. and they tend to be all or nothing sort of thing, if you get headers the emissions non sense is not going to be there and its not going to run right anyway. if you want something cheap you can get a factory quad for cheap and rebuild it. if you want something GOOD and cheapish find A 600 OR 650 holley 4150/4160 and rebuild it. and i think the hei will run if you have all the sensor inputs and wires to the pcm but, i got rid of that too, just seems easier not to have all that stuff fighting you. i got maybe 6 wires and two vacuum tubes running my engine/starter/everything.

kmcn47

a new carb is definitely in the future but right now i can't swing 2-300 bucks for one hell the intake was only 100 bucks brand new. lol. and let me make one thing perfectly clear. these "performance mods" are almost entirely for show. the headers are gonna go on to clean up the bay and add some shine. i got the cheapest stainless ones i could just because i wanted shiny headers that won't rust. with a y pipe so i can save the exense of someone making one. the intake carb and the engine paint that are all coming are also all for show. its not a racecar and never will be while i own it. hell man the stock hei should be fine. my 02 sensors have the wires cut (idk how it happened) and the thing runs exactly the same and the CEL isn't on. only time its ever been on is when the ECM fuse blew (never unhook your tps with the battery hooked up.


anyways onto tonight/today i am nearly finished with my gaslet match ported edlebrock performer. its on. the carbs on. the dizzy is back on. but i kinked my fuel line. and its ****ed. so tomorrow i need to go either get a new metal one bent at work (i work in a parts store and can but bend and flare a line however i want with the tools there) or would i be okay just running a regular fuel line from the pump to the carb? with some good clamps, and if i flared the ends i was putting the hose on.

pictures coming soon.

kmcn47

for sale GM z28 aluminum intake manifold with EGR make me an offer.




better picture of the performer because noones ever seen one before #sarcasm










almost had it until the new fuel line kinked while turning it in. fuel everywhere on startup. gonna just do rubber line.




my one of a kind lovely helper today (guys i have a hot girlfriend who helps me work on the car and loves it! #winning




pretty much how i left it only the fuel line was kinked.






i don't think anyone has ever mentioned it but damned if its not almost impossible to get a socket on intake bolts and a wrench takes forever.



hopefully clean this mess up quite a bit for a much cleaner look






razorblade scraping the head. so much fun.




when you're good like me basic hand tools are all you need lol




the coolant mixing with oil happened when i popped the old intake off.

kmcn47

and because i never did post an exhaust vid. heres a vid i found of an iroc vert with the same kit. sounds just like my car does.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

just because the light is not on doesnt mean its running right, its like the early tbi's you hardly ever get the light. but it goes mad rich and goes to a safe timing map to get it to run when it doesnt get the proper sensor signals. thats why i went with a regular carb and hei, they cant adjust themselves out of where you set it.

as far as the rubber hose it will be fine to get you going but with the underhood heat it will break down quickly.

kmcn47

bad news everyone. had a small fire today at work. i clocked out and went to start the car and BOOM flames from underhood. still no idea what caused it but its in the garage now awaiting my lazy *** fixing the wiring and cleaning it all up real well and a new proper fuel line and carb rebuild before i even attempt to start it again.

kmcn47

also does anyone know what and where the black hard plastic vacuum line from the back of the carb goes?

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

you have the drawing under the hood? all i have is the chiltons and thats going to be the same as that. i can go take a pic if you dont

kmcn47

i do. all i see is that it goes back, under the dizzy and then disappears in the mess of looms back there. it was a tiny hard plastic vacuum line and unfortunately it melted as well as the connectors for my tps mcs and 02 sensor on the driver side. honestly pretty bummed. i'm having what i think are fuel pressure issues with my 99 silverado right now too so i don't even have a real running vehicle.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

doesnt really matter were it goes i guess, find someplace past the melted areas cut it, and put a new vacuum line from there to the carb or manifold. dont need all that sensor stuff if you go to a non computer setup.

whats wrong with the truck.

kmcn47

truck needs a fuel pump, supposed to be 60-62 psi at idle and remain constant under load. i'm at 50psi idle and it drops below 45 under load. babying it around with a weak pump until i can afford a new one on payday. changing that will be fun i'm sure

as for the camaro. i'm waiting on a big rockauto order and now that i actually have a garage (and a truck to drive while i work on the camaro i'm gonna get alot more done to it. 305 is coming out. mild 350 going in. its out of a 79 camaro from what i've been told. its gonna get my heads from my l69 slightly ported. a street cam. my new intake. a holley. and of course a fresh coat of chevy orange and some nice headers. as for all the computer sensors and crap. well it doesn't really need any of that now to run right lol

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

if you want your heater to work, have to find out if that was the line for that. for the truck i wouldnt mess with the straps, you could take the bed bolts out and jack it up a couple ft so you can get to the top of the tank. shoot the quick connect with some wd40, push it in first , sometimes you can save the oring. but its been 50/50 for me they will leak once you touch them

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Wish you were more local bro, would have had that L69 singing for you. A mild 350 is a good choice though, will be following along to see where it takes you, and yes your girl is a cutie...

naf

iTrader: (7)

Hard plastic vac line from rear of carb, into ecm loom and to vac sensor.

kmcn47

ohwell, i work at a parts place i can get fuel line repair kits cheap

i know! its not getting scrapped its gonna sit in the other garage with my 5.3 that 3.4 i rebuilt for no reason and some DZ302 parts we have. and yeah she is! smart too! in a joint program right now for a law degree and a Phd. idk what she sees in me

is it part of the heater control like jwfirebird said? if its important i'll get a small piece of line and slip it over the plastic and the end on the carb. i need a heater in ohio

thanks for the kind words everyone. engine is on the stand right now. needs cleaned and painted before it goes in. probably new motor mounts too.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

i think the vacuum sensor was the one hanging from the firewall. you arent going to need any of that crap. when i went to the mechanical everything, i pulled everything out, pcm, the whole harness on the pass side, everything. the lights and stuff go through the bulkhead on the driver side on late 80s and earlier vehicles. there is just a few things you need to hook up. there was a big pink i think i hooked to a big post from the alt and battery +. seems like i had an issue with the start too and that was a purple or yellow that goes through the neutral safety, that goes to the little post on the starter after the safety. if you have the auto, have to hook up a lockup switch. and you can just run a vacuum line to the heater control, vacuum advance, and brakes, and thats all you need.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

which trans do you have?

naf

iTrader: (7)

Carefully remove the ECM harness out through the pass fenderwell and store it.

The vac accessories are connected to the vac fitting on the intake manifold behind the carb. That line goes to the vac reservoir under the left batt tray, provides vac for the cruise and HVAC. The reservoir maintains a vac source during WOT so that the HVAC doesn't lose vac and default to the defrost vents.

When you pull out the ECM harness it will include the hard plastic line that goes to the vac sensor. Neither the harness nor the sensor will be needed.

You will have to provide an alternate means of locking your torque converter. Without lockup it will run hotter, which is 'bad'.

kmcn47

i have a 4L60, non electronic. idk if i'm completely ditching the HEI to go for a vacuum advance just yet. i mean right now it works. if it didn't work i would think about it.

naf

iTrader: (7)

There are three types of HEI (High Energy Ignition-a GM thing): Vac/mech advance coil-in-cap, computer controlled coil-in-cap and computer controlled small cap/divorced coil. If the ECM is gone you do not want to run either computer controlled dist. There is sometimes a large gap between right and works. This is one of those.

When you remove the ECM harness you will pull a four prong connector from your trans. This connector provides the fourth gear signal to the ECM (don't need) and engages the converter lock up (DO need). Piecing together a lock up controller without the ECM can be inexpensive OR there are a few aftermarket options.

kmcn47

who said i was ditching the ecm and harness?

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

its like he said and i said before, just because it runs doesnt mean it runs right. when you dont have EVERY input right and working properly, its only RUNNING, its not ideal its some safe map the engineers put in to get it to start and limp to the service station without causing it to get damaged. you can get a one wire hei for 5-20 bucks from the yard and then get the summit/msd/mallory upgrade kit that comes with the ign module, cap, rotor, it will probably run good with just that. if you are putting a cam in it you NEED something you can adjust the timing in. i got a mallory race one, they are way easier to adjust. mine runs best at like 20 initial, you have to take total advance out to run that. its alot easier to tweek on the aftermarket ones, the factory one wire ones you have to take all apart to get at the weights and springs. i seriously doubt whatever your stock 305 safe map is at will even run on a 350 with a cam.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

and its a 700r4 if its the original OD, unless it has had one from the 90s retrofit, but none of those are non electronic. i think you had issues with the throttle cable before, the 700 throttle cable placement is critical and has to have the right bracket to go with the carb.

i didnt bother with the vacuum res, never had any trouble with my brakes or any of that.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

mine was just a race car for a long time, so i got rid of everything, heater, ducts, everything. all about weight reduction. a couple years ago after i could classic insurance and no emissions inspection i put it back on the road, which for me was putting the interior back in, mufflers, and radio.

naf

iTrader: (7)

I'm confused, and I don't think you even know what you're doing...

kmcn47

i hadn't planned on ditching the ecm/wiring harness. atleast not the parts that control the dist. all the sensors for the q jet got melted but the q jet is going back on it atleast until i can source a better carb.

currently. words haven't been invented to express how angry i am right now

every bed bolt on the truck broke free and now they just spin. looks like i'm dropping the tank tomorrow after all.

its a 79 350 with gasket matched heads, headers and a eddy performer intake. how much power over the stock 165 do you guys think its really gonna make? 350 is only going in to make it more sellable i said alot of times now. its not a racecar

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

you said you were putting your heads and a cam in it. people put the 305 heads on because it increases the CR from like 8 or less. 350 with decent compression, cam, intake, headers should make 250-300 which is double what the 305 made. that is if you dont miss masch crap that cant be adjusted to make it run right. i seriously doubt it will even start anymore with what you want to do.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

the research i did said if you have the 416 heads, the compression is 9.5 with 58cc's on a normal 70s 350. that and the perf intake is a pretty hot low rpm street setup, low 14s. thats got to be around 300hp if you dont mess it up by cheaping out on the carb and dist. the holley dp 4150 650 is a good street manners setup. you can tune it to get good mileage. you can "cheap out" on the ign if you get an adjustable one wire hei and do the fairly cheap upgrades from summit. you will have to do some adjustments to the springs and stuff though to get it to run right. the initial timing of a cammed engine likes to be in the high teens your stock 305 is like 10. doubt the 350 will even start there. at 20 you can run a big shot on the squirters and it will fry the tires and take off like a shot, but you have to adjust the total so it doesnt go too high at wot. 34-35 on a low rpm setup like that. the computer controls cant do any of this without a tune

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

as far as not being a race car, thats not the point. you need to be able to adjust the fuel and timing or you will burn up the engine. to lean (carb set for a 150 hp 305) and you will end up burning holes in you pistons. to rich and you get fuel wash out and dilutes the oil and your bearing will go after some time not to mention the power lost.

kmcn47

i'll light all these firecrackers when i come to them. right now i need to get some longer bolts for my trucks fuel tank straps. because thats the only thing keeping it from being driveable. after that i can finally have a reliable DD while i work on the camaro.

but can i just say i have some tips for anyone who has to replace a fuel pump on a 99 z71 silverado
1. no matter what, get the pump for the robust fuel system
2. wire the connector before you switch the pump out
3. just take the bed off, i broke a bed bolt and now mine will never come off unless i cut it so be CAREFUL
4. if you do have to drop the tank, drain it first I DIDN'T 26 gallons of gas is heavy
5. don't even bother with the old straps and bolts. go get new straps and bolts about an inch longer than the factory ones. makes a world of difference.
6. don't sink the money for a whole new fuel system into a truck with half a million miles on it. its just not worth it

anyways. i'm still sneezing and coughing rust some........4-5? days after i started this project. and i'm not even done yet.

kmcn47

i'm so more than happy the camaro has the all too common oil leaks. the underside of it may be oily dirty and greasy, but for **** sake atleast its not rusted to hell, of course the camaro was undercoated and the truck was not

kmcn47

good news! the truck now has a brand new fuel pump! and it runs again!


BAD NEWS!
its still ****ing doing it. its gotta be transmission related :/ **** me guys. idk wtf to try next. i guess a filter and flush. goddamn truck.

kmcn47

okay. news on the truck
today i ran a code scanner on it. i go the following codes
random multiple misfire
misfire cylinder 3
misfire cylinder 7
brake stoplight switch malfunction circuit
maf/ mass air circuit low input (i unplugged it awhile ago to see how the truck ran without it. the same
egr valve circuit low input (same as above)
i cleared the codes and by god the truck ran like brand new. for about five minutes
back to the same old jerking stuttering.
ran the scanner on it again. only code coming back is the random multiple misfire.
but i switched to reading live sensor data. and this is what bothers me
long term fuel trim bank one 0.0
long term fuel trim bank two -8.6
short term fuel trim bank 1 (varied from -.05 to -4.9_
short term fuel trim bank 2 was the same as bank one.
i have no idea what this really means but it seems to me like bank one isn't firing all the injectors. or maybe they aren't opening all the way. either way now i'm off at 6 pm to go tear my fuel rail off and check all my plugs.

kmcn47

well now the truck won't even run. it dies everytime you touch the gas. my brother thinks its an 02 sensor. i'm still convinced its my plugs. they looked burnt. not black. but grey and ashy and the gap is way off from the .040 it should be. and the electrodes look melted.

kmcn47

see what i mean. they look ashy. and idk what the gap should be. i've heard .040 and .060 for older low comp 5.3s. this is a first gen 99 5.3 i guess i'm gonna throw some ngk tr-55s in it at .060

#4 plug




#3 plug

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

recheck the fuel pressure, if its low could need a filter or FPR. delco or delphi ONLY (fuel stuff runs like **** on these if you dont use those brands).

i would clean the battery terminals. it will run without O2s and 2 or 3 bad plugs so if it doesnt start its probably not those. they also have a pretty frequent issue with carbon build up on the back of the butterfly and with no IAC it has to be real clean to run right especialy at or near idle.

as far as the bed they really like the locktight for some reason, its not like they would ever come off after a year its rusted on anyway. sometimes if you beat it on the end and around whatever its fastened into it starts unlocking the lock tight. sometimes i will turn it in a hair before going out. it definately easier if the bolts come out to not touch the straps, and you dont have to bathe in gas and rust when you are banging on stuff

firecrackers and cars go together as good as firecrackers and alcohol

kmcn47

i tried new plugs and wires today. helped marginally. tried unhooking all the 02s (only three of them on it) tried unhooking alot of sensors. no real difference. hooked the scanner back up, nothing but a p0300 still. checked sensor data. all within parameters. although the timing is completely ****ed. its retarded about 19* and the crank sensor is probably original. trying that tomorrow. had to work all day today. last night this thing shutdown so hard i couldn't move it into a parking lot on flat ground. it'd idle but not much else. barely ran i mean just barely. stalled about 4 times. had my brother tow me home with his tahoe. funny enough dads 2500HD (built 408) that he planned to tow me home with went into limp mode (goddamn drive by wire gas pedals) fixed that. his tahoe (sway bar endlinks) and moms camaro (needed the cooling system burped) all today before i had to work at 4. tomorrow i'm off and the truck is getting some much needed TLC

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

sounds like my luck, one time i was called home out of high school, both my parents cars were broke, one had a hole in the rad and the other wouldn't start or something. before i had the firebird i was driving this pos 86 escort 4spd, and on the way home the linkage for the shifter broke. it broke in 3rd, basically had to slip the clutch forever to get that 50hp or whatever i had left in that thing going to get home and get parts for my parents cars so they could get to work

on the truck, dont think its a crank sensor, most times it wont start. you will get codes for cam sensor. or maf or most other sensors. i would start with the fuel pressure, they are pretty sensitive about having the correct pressure.

kmcn47

it was not the cam sensor. and because i know everyone at my local autozone i tried every sensor until i realized it wasn't a sensor. or a coil. or the plugs. or the wires. or anything really that makes sense. the mechanic next door (great location for an auto shop right next to a parts store) listened to me explain it all. figures its clogged cats. i smacked em with a hammer. they rattle quite a bit but they feel solid too. odd. i put my hand over the tailpipe and i can hear an exhaust leak just before the muffler. still an exhaust leak wouldn't do this. I'm hoping it is just bad cats. fuel psi is fine. probably was all along. the gauge i checked it with i guess is broken. same readings as before but everything yes EVERYTHING is new. pump. clean tank. new gas. new lines. filter regulator. seafoamed the injectors. it is NOT a fuel issue i even tried a new cts because i thought maybe it was bad and causing a permanent closed loop and loading the fuel up or starving it. none of that helped at all. it still doesn't make sense to me i can rev the **** out of this truck in park. and AS SOON as its in gear it wants to die. except reverse, reverse is okay. i'm stumped as all hell if its not the cats

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

you said you had like 40s, that is NOT good, there is the filter, FPR, leaks, vaccuum leaks, fuel leaks, injector leaks. those are in order of probability. so i hope you learned parts shotgunning is wasted time and effort, i said everything else gives you codes. cam, cats, cts, all that will give you codes.

kmcn47

THE ENTIRE FUEL SYSTEM IS NEW save for the rail and injectors. and my fuel trims are nearly perfect the only code i get is a p0300 random multiple misfire. and apparently if anything else was bad i wouldn't get a code because i haven't had any codes. if its not the cat being clogged then idk what else it could be because i've checked, re checked. and damn near replaced EVERYTHING that could cause a misfire.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

most every chevy i have ever heard of had cat efficiency codes for clogged cat with the 300 codes.

if your fuel pressure is 40s that IS YOUR PROBLEM. there are a bunch of other things i listed besides the things you replaced already. see post 497.

replacing stuff is no way to work on a vehicle its just expensive. there are also alot of things that can leak vacuum on a ls with aton of miles, the intake is frequent as well as the throttle body gasket and low vacuum causes low fuel pressure because the fpr references vacuum, thats how it knows. have to look for carbon build up on the back of the butterfly too. that will cause 300 with nothing else.

kmcn47

my TB is clean. my fpr is new and my truck is running absolutely fine again now that i cut open the cats and gutted them. its running goddamn loud. but its running great again. neighbors hate me but hey none of them are stepping up to help me fix it.

i know experiences YOU have had can make YOU believe that you will always get a code for whats wrong but the truth is you won't all i had was a po300 random misfire which i could pretty clearly tell it was doing already. and now that i gutted my cats. my CEL has gone out and has not come back on. even with an open exhaust and 3 unplugged 02 sensors (are there only 3? i couldn't find a 4th anywhere on my 99) and its running if anything better than it ever has. its oddly staying alot cooler than when it had cats on it. i hardly break 195 now and i'd often run at or slightly over 210-215 before. especially on hot days like today (90s. lots of humidity)