battmann

iTrader: (9)

What’s in OH next month? I just took my other TA to the Goodguys show in Columbus a couple weeks ago cause this car wasn’t far enough along. I still have to get the whole interior done. This week will be 5 months since I dropped off just my seats for reupholstery & I don’t think the guy has done anything besides ordering the leather 😡

Buddy

Trans Am Nationals in Dayton my friend. THE 'Bird show of the year, every year.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Hmmm - my family is out of town that weekend so I’m actually free.
I see they have a Work-in-Progress class.

Buddy

516 'Birds registered last year. All great cars with great owners. Amazing time. Once you go, you'll want to go back every year. Every day is nice. Friday evening has a cruise in to the Fairborn mall with cars of every make. Saturday has Tipp City, Sunday show at the hotel. They get guest speakers in every year that is amazing. Just a perfect weekend.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

battmann

iTrader: (9)

This car has been kicking my butt lately. Trying to align the headlight assemblies with the body panels and it’s a huge PITA! I’ve been working on this for DAYS! I messed with the DS all day yesterday and finally got it lined up pretty good.





PS is another story. I just can’t seem to get that side aligned properly. The headlight bucket overlaps the bumper by like 1/4” and the cover isn’t 100% aligned with the top of the fender - it’s slightly higher in the front.



I hate spending tons of time on something and not be able to figure it out. This is super frustrating. I wish I never disassembled these things!!

soloc4

I know exactly what you mean. It astounds me how everything that fits great before disassembly will not even bolt on when it comes time to reassemble the car. My fenders, hood, and rear glass fought me in every way. Even the interior proved difficult, I swore at the time that the car just did not want to live. In the end it came out great and yours will too. Keep up the good work on your amazing build and you will soon be cruising around with a huge smile on your face.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Went to another local cars & coffee this morning. This one was bigger than the one I went to last week. I kind of like these morning events - get my car fix and then still have the rest of the day for other stuff. Every time I go to one of these I have another part installed on the car.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Another day and another problem. Put the PS regulator and new window motor back in and it’s making a horrible sound when I press UP on the switch. Doesn’t do it when I press DN. I posted a video in my help request thread HERE.
Anyone wanna come finish this car for me! Everything I do lately just isn’t working and I’m not having any fun.

soloc4

Look at your door handles, specifically the bracket that the latch rod attaches to. It has 2 flanges that you can attach the rod, but you only need the aft one. The fwd one will hit the glass where it sticks out. Cut off the tab just enough to eliminate the hole in the bracket (you don’t have to cut the entire tab off). I found this on mine and you have the same handles. I hope this solves your problem.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

After tons of troubleshooting and swapping / testing out parts I figured out the new window motor was faulty. I bought the motor years ago so sucks I can’t return it for a refund. Luckily I had a spare new-in-the-box Dorman window motor that came with a previous parts car I bought. That one worked great. Happy I got all this sorted out.
On to the next problem! LOL

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

Man, this brings back memories. I have also spent so much time with this alignment and even modified the triangle bracket that carries the bumper nose's upper end, just so I could get it slightly up or down.
These flexible body components just deform over so many years and there's not much you can do about it, except for JB welding something to the underside to get that lights area level again.
But man, it is SO rewarding when everything finally lines up!

battmann

iTrader: (9)

<——— I’m a Supreme Member now! Sweet

Not much to report as I haven’t had much free time lately. I did swap out my Intellitronix temp sensor since the previous one stopped working. It always said the temp was 18 degrees.
I also installed the center section of my air dam. I bought a NOS GTA 3-piece air dam years ago to replace the flimsy one piece early Firebird design. There’s really no room between the air dam and intercooler though. Could be problematic. I’ll either have to create a gap here or I’m thinking of making an air scoop below my front ground effect to divert air up into the intercooler / radiator. I’ll take and post some pics later.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Started working on the turn signals in my side mirrors again.
I bought some smoked lens LED side markers for my car on eBay. I also ordered a second front pair so I could take them apart and use the lenses for my side mirrors so they all match.
These are the ones I got:



it was pretty easy to separate the lens from the housing with a utility knife



I made the openings in the mirror housings 3/8” wide so I cut a 3/8” strip out of the middle section of the lens with a Dremel cutoff wheel. Then I had to shape the lens strip using a heat gun. Looks really good







The lenses are shaped to have a snug fit in the opening but I need to figure out how to securely fasten / glue them into place. After that I can paint these up and then put them on the car. Can’t wait till these are done. Should look pretty cool!

92BLKL98

Nice build, I need to get back on my "92 Z28.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Sooooooo… I already have a project I’m hoping to complete this winter.



Bought this Terminator X Max system since it was about $200 off as part of Holley’s Fall Harvest sale. It’s going to replace my current FITech Ultimate LS system. I found the FITech setup not exactly user friendly based on lack of customer / community support. Everything I read online raves about the Terminator system’s options and expandability along with Holley’s customer and community support. Figured I better make the switch now before I get any further with my build and it becomes more difficult to rework all the wiring.
Can’t believe I’m taking steps backwards on my project again. I HATE WIRING!!

soloc4

Everybody hates wiring, and the ones that say they love it are lying. Keep up the great work and I hope to see you driving your car next summer.

17RamGTA

I installed the Terminator X on my 89 GTA, it wasn't bad, but I also wasn't thrilled with Holley's harness. I would rather have gone with a custom harness to get the lengths that I need/want. Depending on which forum you are on regarding Holley, their customer support sucks and is non existent and some people have had issues with bricking the ECU.
I like being able to set the I/Os of the terminator, but if I was to do it again, I might have moved to the MAX or dominator.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Spent the past few days installing an electric heater and ceiling insulation in my garage. Still have to swap out my existing sub panel with one that has more breaker spots. Trying to make the garage more comfortable to work in during the winter. Don’t know how much it will help as I have uninsulated block walls and very old metal panel overhead doors. I’m hoping this will allow me to maintain like 45-50 degrees while I’m out there working. That’s warm enough to just wear a sweatshirt and not a bulky winter coat.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

The upholstery shop sent me a couple pics of my seats yesterday. Today marks 10 months since I dropped them off. At least I know he’s finally working on them. Only have pics of the rear seat bottoms so far. I’m liking how they’re turning out. He’s doing a great job interpreting my original design sketches.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

IT HAS BEGUN!



Had some free time tonight and garage was over 50 degrees (not normal for December in WNY) so started working on my engine management system swap. Removed a bunch of stuff in the engine bay to access all the FITech wiring. Next step will be to pull everything through the firewall and remove the wiring / ECU from behind the dash to install the Holley Terminator X Max setup. I’m getting pretty good taking the top of the engine apart. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
While I was working on the car I noticed a large puddle under the front end. I feared it was an oil leak but turned out to be power steering fluid. The pump is almost empty. Seems like it’s coming from the pump as there’s some fluid on top of the alternator. Will need to jack up the car and see where it’s coming from.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Amazing update! 10 months for seat covers. Custom work pains.

I actually got some sample swatches for a ready made set. Not perfect but it will do for my build. Happy to see you making progress. Finally installing a garage heater this winter so progress can pick back up!

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Finally got my seats back from the shop. Only took 11 months! Waiting sucked but happy with how they turned out. I’m having the shop work on the interior hatch panels next. They’ll be wrapped in the same brown leather as the seats.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Good looking work!

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Determined my power steering pump let go and leaked all the fluid out into the alternator, down the k-member and made a puddle under the middle of the car. That’s why I originally thought it was an oil leak. Got a new steering pump and have the alternator upside down on rags trying to get the fluid out.
Since the top of the engine was off, I bought new 80lbs Deka injectors to replace the FITech 55lbs ones. Almost all of the engine bay Terminator wiring is installed - just have to run the alternator pigtail. I was able to route the harnesses behind the dash to the factory ECU location. The Terminator ECU is mounted to the factory ECU bracket. Now I need to route / connect all the powers, grounds, ignition source, etc



I also designed a speaker mounting plate to fit 5.25” speakers in the factory 4x6 dash locations. My buddy 3D printed them with high temp plastic. I had to remove the door glass defrost ducts for the speakers to fit but that’s OK since this car will never be driven in poor weather. I may need to modify the upper corner of the instrument cluster housing to allow more room. That won’t be an issue since I have Intellitronix digital gauges. I need to enlarge the dash pad holes to fit the speakers and then I’m going to try and make custom dash grilles… eventually.

t/aws61985

iTrader: (2)

Any chance you could get me a set of those speaker mounts? I did the same with my 86 running 5.25in kickers in the dash and doors. I used MDF. These look alot better.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Had Panorama restore the dash buttons for both my cars. Couldn’t be happier with how they turned out. He even worked with me to create a custom fuel door release using an extra hatch release button I had. Here’s a link to Panorama’s thread:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...dashboard.html

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Those turned out nice.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Terminator X install finally complete! did a test drive around the neighborhood and seems to be running well. i still need to get the speedometer working. it's hooked up but just reading zero. i'll try to recalibrate it first but it might be a signal issue. it seems the Holley system outputs a PWM- signal for the speedo and Intellitronix said the gauge needs to see a square wave signal. i might need to either install a resistor between the speedo signal wire and a +12V accessory power source or purchase a Dakota Digital speedometer sending unit. i need to call Holley for guidance.

also trying to fix the alignment of my hotside crossover pipe. the DS v-band flanges are off by almost 1/4". with some trial and error i made a partial cut in the pipe and got the flanges properly aligned. trying to find a local shop to work with that can TIG this for me. i need them to tack the pipe while installed so it stays aligned and then it can be removed and fully welded. i ground off the Jet Hot ceramic coating to prepare for welding. what a PITA - took almost an hour and a half! i'll have to get the pipe recoated but i'll worry about that later.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

PWM will not work to drive the speedometer unless you have the transmission I/O as well, specifically a valid transmission speed signal at J4-18 (input #39). If you don't have J3/J4 connectors on your ECM then you don't have that capability.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Guess I’ll have to try and figure out how to do that. I have the X Max system so I do have three connectors from the ECU on my 4L80E tranny: main plug, VSS and TSS.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

Never done it myself, but I think the trick is in how you pin map and assign the PWM as a speedometer output. That tells the software to not treat this like a normal PWM but to look at the speedometer signal on J4-18 and output a 4000 PPM square wave for speedometer.

And have you looked at channels to know that you have a valid MPH reading from transmission? If that's not set up right then downstream things like speedometer won't work either.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

I spent some time on the phone with Holley today. It seems like everything is set up correctly in the software and wired properly but the speedometer just reads zero. The Holley handheld shows MPH so the ECU is definitely receiving information from the tranny. I’m going to check the wiring again from the ECU to the speedometer. Hope there’s a bad connection somewhere.

Today I installed some defrost block-off plates. I removed the door defrost ducts on top of the dash that went to the edges of the dash pad so I could install larger 5.25” speakers. I didn’t want to just leave the duct openings blowing air into the dash so I modeled these block-off plates and had them 3D printed. I was going to glue these in place but decided to install a screw to hold them on in case I ever want to remove these and put the ducts back in.



Here’s a picture of the dash with the defrost ducts removed. You can see the openings behind each windshield defroster



Picture with block off plates installed

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Overcame a small hurdle today. I needed to install a video splitter for the LCD screens I installed at each end of the dash. My plan was to mount the splitter somewhere in the middle console but have a double DIN radio isn’t leaving me any extra room. My other ‘84 TA gave me an idea. That car has the UQ7 option and the amp is mounted in a bracket that attaches to the dash. I used the factory bracket and made a custom one to hold the video splitter. This worked really well.
This picture shows the factory bracket on the right. Custom one on the left



Video splitter installed up in the dash. Just have to run the wires to it.