Linson

i was noticing that today too. that should be mounted down by the distributor if i'm not mistaken. i wonder why they did that. i'll look into it.

Linson

got everything from the powder coaters. went ahead and plugged some holes to insure compatability. i think i only needed to plug the IAC (triangular) hole in the front of the plenum, but i plugged some other stuff just to be doubly sure, plus my car has is running 0.0 emissions equipment, so i also plugged the EGR passages.





i radiused the top of the AS&M LTRs to match the gaskets and minimize turbulance since porting the plenum left the plenum ports larger than the runner ports.

Linson

piecin' it back together.


getting the valve covers back on was...PAINFUL. i put the runners on first in order minimize interference with torquing them down. the driver side was the worst - ****ing alternator, plus the wire harnesses (both sides) and spark plug wires (both sides) and the heater hoses (passenger side), and of course, the runners (both sides.)


engine is running in this pic. no signs of vacuum leaks, no SES light.
the car is seems to very much agree with this modification. from initial start up, something felt and sounded more "right," more crisp. once i got it on the road, it was a little bit nastier when you mash the gas pedal too, plus it seems to rev faster and to at least a couple hundred RPMs more than before. - so, all and all, good mod. i would, of course recommend doing it incidental to other work where the engine, or at least the top half is going to be apart. on a mostly stock car, i dont have enough information to say whether it would be worthwhile as a stand-alone mod, but with my existing combination of parts, it seems to have been worth doing. i've been wanting to re-powder coat the plenum and valve covers anyway.

now if only there were a relatively painless way to port out or replace my Edelbrock Vortec lower intake, that would be great.

*edit* the car sounds slightly different too. the exhaust note is a little tighter - hard to explain. and i can almost swear that i am detecting a slight air intake hiss now (in a good way, not like a leak or anything)

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

I gotta say, this is a awesome thread. I love how your TPI looks too.

Linson

Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator might be my next mod. seems like something i probably should have done a long time ago.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Its worth a few tenths at the track.

Linson

polished and waxed it today. later, i also started the rotor seasoning/pad bedding process on the Baer brakes. i stopped to take a few pics along the way.

TEDSgrad

iTrader: (4)

After 25 yrs, I still don't get tired of looking at them.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Same here. Is that still the original rear spoiler?

Joe Tag

iTrader: (4)

Great looking car Linson. Shame you have to muck up the front end with a plate in your state.

Linson

Nope. Hawks.

Linson

30 years or older in WA. The way i drive is illegal enough, so might as well not add to my delinquency.

jaygt

iTrader: (4)

Great looking formula

Why did you sue previous owner?

Linson

For fraud. The car was represented as being in mint condition, but upon delivery, the car was discovered to be pretty much the opposite of a "running car."

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

What kind of tires are on your formula? Do you have a good pic of the tread?

Linson

they're Cooper "Zeon"s. they're Z-rated and were the best looking ones i could find at the time. since the rear tires are entering their twilight, i've been considering going with the BFG 245/50/16 "sport comp" or whatever. they're not great looking IMO but options are limited. tire choice is whats going to force me off the factory wheels. i wouldnt be suprised if i'm running Ronals in a year's time. here's a slightly better pic of the tread, not the best angle though.


another option i'm considering is some kind of drag radial, the upside is that they come in a 265/45/16. the down side is non-matching front/rear tire combo, and presumably, a shorter life span for the drag radials vs. a Z-rated performance tire.

Linson

so, yesterday, i took the opportunity to ensure that all my header bolts were torqued down. i found two that were'nt - the last two on the driver side. the second to last one was not a problem to fix with an open end wrench. the last one is a problem.

so, a word of advise to anyone wanting to get Dyno Don headers: get round, allen key header bolts. and make sure that they are the 1 and 1/2 inch long ones, not the standard 1 inch onse. here's why: the primaries are so big that there is not room for a socket fo fit over the head of a hex-head bolt (all the bolt heads are practically touching the primary tubes). and also, the flanges on these headers are so damn thick (a sign of quality btw) that with the standard (1-inch?) header bolt, it leaves very little thread to actually screw into the cylinder head.

below are some pics i took to further clarify.

the last bolt on the driver side was the PITA. virtually impossible to tighten or loosen because a) no socket will fit over the bolt as it is too close to the primary tube, and b) no open-end wrench has any room to turn in any direction once placed on the bolt (from any direction). after a ridiculous amount of time spent loosening it (and engineering tools to do so) i took the bolt out and replaced it with a standard (1 inch, round, allen key header bolt, which can at least be tightened or removed.


another look at the general closeness of the bolt heads to the primary tubes and the thick flanges and excellent quality of Dyno Dons headers. compound this with a firewall and zero room to work and your in for a fun time.


some impromptu "inventions" that had to be engineered in order to remove that last bolt. the first one - the cut out socket enabled me to get the bolt about half-way off (not enough to turn it by hand) before the bolt got too stripped. the second one was a failure (because the bolt was already too stripped). finally the combination of the small, cut in half 7/16 wrench and the box end wrench enabled me to get the damn thing off.


and there's the culprit and its replacement.


i cleaned up some wiring (02 sensor) that was too close to the haeaders. all minor stuff, but at the end of the day, the car accellerates, runs, stops, looks, and sounds better than it did a couple of months ago.

86TA355SR

iTrader: (1)

Car looks b!tchin'

Really enjoyed reading about all your work. I remember in another post about the fraud deal. Some people...

Joe Tag

iTrader: (4)

Brake line is rubbing the steering shaft (bad) And real close to your header (worse). Why don't you reroute them to the other side of the shaft? Brake fluid will boil and you will mash the pedal and have nothing one day.

Linson

the brake lines are the factory set up and they dont rub anything. i know it looks that way in the picture, but the brake lines aren't actually touching the steering shaft - i know because i've been all up in there today. i did notice that the brake lines and headers are a bit close for comfort though. i'll try to look into it.

Joe Tag

iTrader: (4)

Looks like the one to the rear is rubbing. There is a line where the rust is rubbed off on the shaft. But the reroute will fix both issues.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

looks like you had 3/4 long bolts with the big 7/16s head. Those will back out.
I use a 1" long bolt with a smaller 3/8s head with a dab of anti-seize on them.
Those allens are nice until the head gets rusty inside and strip out!!

BlackTopKing

iTrader: (1)

Love the formy and awesome engine bay. Like the TPI in black. Very clean looking

Linson

Joe Tag was 100% right about that brake line rubbing on the steering column. thats embarassing since i had just spent the better part of a day with my head and shoulders all up in that area. i must've dismissed out of hand the idea of it rubbing because as far as i know, those brake lines are still in the factory configuration.

anyhoo, i gently pried the brake line away from the column to get about a good quarter inch of clearance. i'll have to do some research on the re-routing of brake lines.

thanks for noticing that.

Scorpner

iTrader: (4)

FWIW, be careful of that brake line moving back to where it was. I've seen it happen in the past.

Joe Tag

iTrader: (4)

I'm not used to that. If you listen to my wife, I'm 100% wrong 100% of the time. I wouldn't have thought much of it except that line on the shaft caught my eye.
My headers weren't near that close and it made me uneasy. Reroute was pretty simple. Just took the shaft off and coaxed the lines over, careful not to kink them. No bleeding or anything.

Linson

so, right now, unfortunately, this is going on. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tpi/...ml#post5809515

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

How are things going with this car, Linson?

83Z28/L69

That is a beautiful car! I love all the little personal touches and time you've put into it. Its kinda funny, you've wanted a a Black Formy and own a blue one, I wanted the blue and owned 3 black ones. LOL.

Linson

thanks for asking.
its a sad situation, really.
I did everything I can do with no results.
I took it to a shop - no results.
installed a Holley adjustable fuel pressure regulator - no results
I took it to another shop, where its been for over a week now, still no results, and this particular mechanic (who is quite good and well versed with TPI) is about at his wits end.

so, if this mechanic can't unlock this mystery, i'll have to take the car back, and I'm not sure what else there is to do.

I might replace the O2 sensor...which checks out as working.
swap out the new MAF (which checks out as working) with the old unit - see what happens
replace the new ECM with another new ECM.

other than that, I'm thinking maybe a bullet through the engine block... bury her in the yard...

frustrating and sad.

Linson

thanks for the compliments. I'll be so glad when I get her running again. prolly the weather here will by shyte by then.

Linson

okay, back on the road. it is hard to say exactly what the issue was, but whats most important is that the car is running again. according to the Rich, the owner/operator of the shop the fuel trims were out of range (long term @ 105). every other individual system seemed to be working in its own right, however, in relation to each other, the IAC and TPS were outta whack, or at least it would seem. he also reset the base idle and the ignition timing. aaand he lowered the fuel pressure to 37 PSI (to combat a rich fuel condition). I may bump that back up once I put some more miles on the car - she was running really rich for a while, so I want to give it some burn time before I mess with the fuel.

the guy had my car at his shop for a month and a half. but he only charged me two hours of labor, so all told, the car appears to be fixed, and it cost me less than $200. the best part is that Rich was able to eliminate the off-idle stumble which had been an issue since I first got the car on the road back in 2011.

he said that the long term fuel trim was still dropping, but he hadn't road tested it - so it may have just needed to re-learn its fuel/idle/running parameters. car is running great, but we are now in November where it rains quite a bit here in western Washington until around July, so I probably wont be doing much with it until then.



back home from the shop after a wash and a full tank of Chevron 92 Octane.

Linson

when i was filling up, an older guy at the pump in front of me asked what year my car was. i told him it was an '89. he said that it looked strikingly similar to the Corvettes of the same year/era. i agreed. he said that he was the owner of an '89 Vette, but that he thought my car might be even "prettier" than a Corvette. i agreed, sighting that while very similar in appearance, the body lines on the Vettes are almost too clean. plus the Formula hood is just tough to beat.

TEDSgrad

iTrader: (4)

Amen.
Here's a friend with our '89's together.

Linson

^ yep. case in point.

Linson

before and after pics of AFPR instal from a couple months ago.

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Great thread Linson and very nice Formula!
Gotta ask....what WAS the problem with the off idle stumble? My 88 has done it for 26 years!

Linson

Bob, I will get with Rich and get as close as I can to a precise verbage on what he thinks the issue was, versus an "all of the above" type situation.

Linson

sorry, Bob. i still havnt had a chance to talk to Rich about that off idle stumble. obviously, i asked him the very thing that you are wanting to know, and it was a very long answer, filled with a lot of uncertainty. but the guy's gen I EFI IQ is very high. knowing how busy he is, i feel self conscious about drawing him into that conversation yet again, especially considering how well i was treated when it came to the final bill. but i will talk to him about it again. but IIRC, a good place to start might be to reset base idle, then make sure that all other idle effecting systems (TPS and IAC) are set based off of the reset base idle.

Linson

if it aint one thing its another. so, i've been drove the Formula to work a couple this past week, as here in my neck of western Washington, we've had a week or so of very cold, but dry, sunny weather. had to use the headlights this last time because it gets dark here by 5:00 PM. and when i pulled into my garage, the pop-up headlights wouldnt go down.

the motors didnt spin to no effect like when the nylon washer deals turn to cookie crumbs. they just didnt respond. back on, then off - nothing. back on, then off - they go half way down, then back on - all the way up. then back off - nothing. after several tries, they went down. then i turned them back on and they popped up with no problem. but then they wouldnt budge on going back down, not even a little after several tries. so i just left the car parked with the lights in the up position.

then yesterday when i went to put pull the BRAND NEW/REFURBISHED motors to take them back to O'Reilly's (aka Schucks or Checker depending on where youre from) i found that, overnite, the lights had found their way into the down position. so i turned them on and they popped up. turned them off and they went down, no problem.

thoughts?

Linson

the motors were purchased in 2012 and have probably only been actually used three times. i avoid putting wear on the pop ups, and i rarely drive that car at night, as in the summer time it stays light out past 10 PM, and i dont do much winter/rainy season driving. plus i dont put many miles on the car in general.

the motors do have a lifetime warranty from O'Reilly's, so that takes some of the sting out if the part is kaput after so little use.

tunatrky

You sure take amazing care of that Formula. Just to let you know, a lot of your porting pictures are down Around thread #50 I believe. And yes, the cold snap and getting dark at 5PM here has been horrific. I've been trying to work in it myself. Any way we can get some more interior pictures? Dash, seats, etc. ? This is one of my favorite years!

Linson

as far as fresh interior pics, there is a strong possibility that i can make something happen within the next week or so.

on the pics being down, i noticed that today as well. i'm not sure why its doing that or how to fix it. i'm sure the source material (pics on Facebook or my User CP Garage are all still intact, so i'm really not sure whats going on with that.

thanks for checking out my thread. sorry about the pictures being down.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

Sounds like a small electrical glitch in the switch or the relay box.
Not using something is just as bad as over using/abusing something.

Linson

True dat.

I drove the car to work this morning, used headlights because it was still dark. as I was pulling into work, I turned them off - lights went out but the hide aways stayed up. on again, then off - and they went down.

I think they've always been a little bit glitchy like that since I installed them, and I kinda figured that, since they were new, it was a bug that would work itself out. don't know why I figured that. maybe I should replace those motors.

just more of a hassle than anything else.

Linson

Or as you said look into the switch or relay. Yeah, i'll definitely look into that first. Thanks.

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Hows the module on the firewall? Could be intermittent. With it getting cold, could be a possibility>

Linson,And thanks for the reply on the issue of the stumbling... take your time, no problem. It ain't going anywhere.

Also, I did pick up a TTA as you may have already noticed. WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE CAR!

Linson

yep, I did see that. looks like a clean one. how many miles on that thing? what sequence number is it? is there a thread on that car with detailed pics and information?

I will try to get a comprehensive answer on that off idle stumble.

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Liinson, no thread on it, Working on it

#464, 2nd owner, 29400 miles, full docs from day one. It's immaculate in and out, with the standard cracks, (3) on the spoiler. no big deal though. I'll post a few pics in a few.

Linson

Bob, (and anyone else suffering from Persistant Off-idle Stumble Syndrome), i did talk to my mechanic, Rich, the other day and sought clarification on what went into correcting that off idle stumble. basically he concured with what i had said before: reset base idle (with the throttle body idle position stop screw) and set all idle contributing systems (basically the TPS [i think the IAC sets itself]) based off of the reset throttle body idle position (base idle). in other words, what happens all too often is someone will eroneously **** with the base idle trying to remedy a problem, then later, someone will mess with the TPS to remedy the problems caused by a mis-adjusted base idle. anyway a good place to start would be to reset base idle because if it is too far open or too far closed, the engine will get too much or too little air at idle, causing the off-idle stumble. using my gorilla logic, that seems like it could also cause excessive fuel consumption.

i hope that proves useful.


other than that, i havnt messed with the headlight issue though they have worked fine the last couple times i drove it.

and somebody was asking about some interior pics wich i have thus far failed to do, but i will see to that. its just so damn cold in my garage these days, i dont spend much time over there.