cam383

iTrader: (4)

Hello everyone,

I'm new to these boards and wanted to introduce myself. After 6 years I got the itch and bought an 89 RS Roller. I previously owned a 90 RS T-top almost Identical to the 89 and against my better judgment (dads urging lol) I sold the car. Think I got a pretty good deal for $500 on the 89 and Already have a 350 TBI and 700R4 for it all for under $400. Have 4th Gen seats(mint) and all the interior minus sun visors, speaker sail panels and a few misc replacement trim parts to get rid of the red dash. Plans are to get it running asap for this summer and then Fall of 08 I'm gutting the car and rebuilding from the ground up. And if i get over ambitious this winter I'll swap in a TPI.

vic_V8

where do you live at?

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

looks like quite the project good luck.

MillerTime21

Congrats! and good luck on the project. keep us updated with some pics.

cam383

iTrader: (4)

I'm in Northern Illinois about 45 minutes west of Chicago Area.

Yes it will be quite the project but its going well so far. Interior has been gutted and is in the process of being cleaned up for sale or re-use. My serpentine setup should be in today for the motor so I am hoping that this weekend It will be running and driving.

Oh yeah and the Ugly red dash is almost Gone!! yay! lol

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Update time. Well it's been full of sweat and a few close "i give up"s but I'm still at the project and making some progress. The interior is 98% finished (will need a good detailing also) and I cleaned up and painted the rims as well as picked up a set of used tires that at least hold air lol (yay it rolls now). Went through the engine bay to assess what I'm gonna need for the swap. Have the 350, Got the TPI & computer tonight (ok so I got over ambitious earlier than winter lol), getting the harness in the next week or so, 700R4, and all the other lil stuff. I think I'm going to be cutting the old harness out, whoever owned it previously seems to have done some odd splicing and the harness doesn't seem to be really worth salvaging.

The only things left to pick up are:
Cooling fans
Driveshaft
Exhaust of some type
possibly some sensors

oh and coil springs. Car is sagging pretty bad on drivers rear with a pretty nasty clunk when you bounce the rear so I'm pretty sure its busted.

Now all I need are the final parts, rent a hoist for a day or two, promise 2 or 3 buddies free beer after the engine/trans are in and hopefully it will be alive.

Heres some pics...

ssean92

iTrader: (10)

nice progess................

The Project

iTrader: (6)

Congrats on the purchase...............keep it up

VERTIGO Z28

iTrader: (1)

I like the speed on this redo. Also like the seats. Have you thought of dying them black? I did a set for my 90 and they turned out pitch BLACK. Look at the Eastwood catalog. It's been a couple of years but I remember it being less than a bill.
Kevin

Bullydawg

iTrader: (7)

Keep up the good work! Looking good.

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the comments and encouragement everyone.

Vertigo I actually did think about dying them black but to tell the truth the color is growing on me lol. What I originally started looking for was a rare color 4th gen seat. My brother had them in his 95, black outter with deep red inner on the seat. Have only seen that color in his and one other 4th Gen but i got an offer I couldn't refuse on the ones I put in it lol

Oh yeah and Update. we got a Huge storm through northern IL yesterday and even though I tested the t-tops with a pressure washer to test the leaks (barely leaked) it seems that torential downpours blow straight through the seals. Drivers and passenger seats were absolutly sopping wet when I got home from work. Blue tarp car cover here i come until I get the new seals ordered and shipped in Guess that detail job is gonna happen tonight when I get home.

Pontiackid

iTrader: (3)

hey looking great,i have them same seats. probably the best upgrade i have made. was thinking about dying mine, how do you go about that and how much does it cost?

vic_V8

hey man, I'm 100 miles west of chicago on rt. 30, so you are probably only 40 or so miles away.

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Pontiackid - I'm not sure how much it would cost to Dye the seats, never actually looked into getting the stuff (want the car running first) but Vertigo z28 said to check the Eastwood Catalog.

Vic_v8 - I'm just down the road from you in DeKalb Might hit up the hooters cruise night in rockford if I ever get this thing running. I'll let you know if your interested in heading up there.

Ok...Another update...

Patience is a virtue...Patience is a VIRTUE...PATIENCE IS A GRRRR... lol

Ok so I got really really over ambitious and decided "hey, The Tpi is off the car and needs to be put together anyway sooo... why not polish the Plenum and runners and get the intake painted or powder coated lmao.

Well I have some before and during pictures of the plenum (quit for the night) and I can already see easily 5-6 hours getting the plenum done right. Oh well it will be worth it in the end when I get asked "Who polished that for you?" and I can grin and reply ..."Me" Oh yeah and a guy I work with has a discount at Jegs and said give him a list and the money and he'll order up my parts...YAY! So I'll have headers on their way (which means I gotta figure out how to delete the AIR stuff properly) and my new shiny Edelbrock "Rip off cause of center bolt heads" Elite Valve covers. http://www.jegs.com/images/photos/300/350/350-4246.jpg
Gonna look nice with the plenum and runners polished with black highlights. (which reminds me I gotta pick up an aluminum Distributer cover)

Sadly due to not enough time and a lack of tools (good set got stolen) I'm going to throw in the towel and my dream of shoe-horning the engine and trans in myself is gone. I have a couple people willing to do it for a few hundred and by the time I add up all the tool rentals and beer for friends help I won't be spending all that much more, but I lose the satisfaction of dropping it in meself But I still get to wire it meself lol

So all in all I'm aiming for 1 week from Sunday to turn the key and hope the engine fires up.

Heres the latest pics...

2tonedmaro89

interior looks MUCH better...motor looks like its coming along. keep up with the updates, should be on the road in no time

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Well its about time for an update again.

It's been a long unproductive two weeks but I think it's the calm before the storm. I've done nothing more than shampoo the carpets and seats and run the wiring for my power seat (it works YAY) Oh and tear out the old wiring harness.

Well I guess I can't say its been completely unproductive, I did pickup some of the final parts aside from the driveshaft, Chip, distributor, starter and headers which I have headers coming from jegs this week and may be getting a few of the other parts from someone. (If anyone has these lmk I don't have anything locked in yet)

So the date is set for Saturday to drop in the engine and tranny. I decided that I HAVE to put this thing together myself or else I'll always regret it. So I held off until my friends garage opened up and he's in town. The rest of Saturday and all day Sunday is going to be spent getting the Wiring harness put in and ready to go. with any luck I'm picking up the last of the parts tomorrow and will have everything to start trying to fire it up.

Then next week will be road testing it back and forth to work and if all goes well I'm gonna long haul drive it to Minnesota and back next weekend. (I have triple A so nobody worry about me too much) After all of that if its still running decent....we're going to Great Lakes Drag Strip to get a benchmark lol

I'm hoping to be somewhere in mid to low 15s but we'll see. and at the beginning of Sept I'm getting a little extra cash and I'll be starting performance and body upgrades. 12s here I come....or at least I'll be trying haha

so until this weekend wish me luck and if anyone is bored and feels like helping drop in an engine let me know

The Project

iTrader: (6)

Keep the faith. Things take time............

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Ok well today has been a challenge to say the least. First off we ran into alot of problems getting the hoist and getting all the parts to my friends place where we were putting in the motor and everything else.

Anyhow we got the engine and tranny cleaned up and ready to go and after messing with the torque converter for about an hour and a half I realized the guy gave me the wrong one and I couldn't get ahold of him so I had to go buy one from another guy in town with 3rd Gen parts.
After getting the right one it snap together like it should and we shoehorned the motor and tranny in one smooth shot only to realize the motor mount bolts I picked up were about an inch short lol.

But after all of that...the engine is IN THE CAR!!!! Tomorrow i'm going to hit the hardware store bright and eary and get the engine bolted down and start putting on the accessories and the intake. then comes the fun part of wiring in the new harness

Then at long last

I'll post some pic tomorrow...

Viprklr

iTrader: (5)

I thought you could use a little boost.
Congrats on the progress to date.

cam383

iTrader: (4)

You know, thats just what I needed.

Engine is bolted down, tranny x-member is bolted in and the TPI is going on this afternoon...then comes wiring. Should be almost startable by the end of today.


IF anyone has a Distrubutor, starter, and Prom for and 89 350 TPI for sale Please let me know. These are the last things I need and I'm trying to get the car driveable for next weekend. Any help would be greatly appreciated and remember I'm on a tight budget. I'm not saying cheap just don't need a $150 Distrubutor yet.



Also have a tech question...will ask in engine as well but maybe some of you may know. There is a large brass fitting at the back of the block that sticks up and has a hex head on it, looks like some kind of valve but I don't think I need it. Do I remove and block it off or is it supposed to be there? Will try to get a picture of it tonight.

Thanks

Viprklr

iTrader: (5)

How's the progress?

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Not too bad actually was going to post this weekend. Pretty much everything is ready to go. Mainly waiting on my tpi swap book to get in (decided I could use a hand with wiring lol)

Had a setback this week, management of my Apartment thought my car was the neighbors who moved out and that they had abandoned the car. So they felt free to go into my car and take every last tool that I had in there. I was just a wee bit ticked and worst of all it took them 4 days to get it all back to me.

Anyhow I now have my tools back and will hopefully be trying for the first start up tomorrow afternoon sometime. Will try to post some pics tonight

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

why isn't your car locked?

cam383

iTrader: (4)

The drivers door doesn't lock yet. theres something wrong with either the rod or the actuator. Was going to pull the door apart on Sunday to fix and thats when the tools were gone I live in a tucked away parking lot never had any problems with theft because noone really knows we're back there so I didn't make the door a priority yet. But after this instance its getting fixed right away.


Also I'd like to open up guesses as to just how long it takes me to get pulled over for the open headers and also if anyone has any great excuses for me to tell the fine men and women of law enforcement as to why I am running open headers on the road.

Viprklr

iTrader: (5)

You're on your way to the exhaust shop.
It got ripped off when you drove over that Rustang.
You forgot to put it on.
It fell off.
Feign deafness.
Harley's are louder.

Post pics when you get a chance.

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Here are the most recent pics I have. Not going to be able to get the car going this weekend due to rain and no garage But on the bright side I did find a 91 Z28 with a lot of parts that I'm going to strip lol

I'm having one Hulluva time trying to get the wiring harness figured out. I have the TPI swappers guide and all the sensors are hooked up right but I don't have any clue still as to how I need to wire up the harness at the firewall. If anyone has any swap knowledge and could help me it would be greatly appreciated

86irocu

iTrader: (3)

I believe I saw this car on the side of the road one day heading out to Monmouth. Where did you find it?

89N10GTA

iTrader: (1)

man keep up good the work. i'm happy the see some of my parts go to good use.

cam383

iTrader: (4)

It was just north of DeKalb, Il. by a few minutes


Believe it or not...The drivetrain is done. All thats left is to rewire the fuel pump, Test and maybe replace the starter then add gas and start it after setting the timing.

Should be all done by next week

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Well I guess I could toss out another update.

Haven't been doing a whole lot on the car lately but it is ready to go. I needs some final wiring and the timing set then I should hopefully be done with the drivetrain for the year.

I did have a bit of luck at the junkyard though. Found a 91 z-28 pretty well untouched except for the engine and trans. No idea how it got to the bone yard, the body is in really clean shape. Anyhow I stripped the front bumper cover from that and am going back for the ground effects and the wing next week. Barely any tabs are broken and everything except the passenger side door ground effect is in decent shape.

so when the car is running I'll be able to have that stuff in the paint shop.

Pics of the Bumper Cover

cam383

iTrader: (4)

IT"S ALIIIVE!!!!!

At long last we got the first start and idle out of it today so tomorrow morning I'm cleaning up the wiring tacking up the exhaust and tightening down a few last bolts then we shall have another Third gen pounding the pavement. Can't wait to see how much smoke we can get going from the rear wheels hehehe

Will post pics and vids in the next few days

Bullydawg

iTrader: (7)

You mean the rear WHEEL ( singular) In your sig it says open diff....LOL, jp, That was a quick project and have fun pounding the street! If a cop says anything about open headers, tell him you were at the track and someone stole it when you were dragging...then tell him you are going to the Exhaust shop.

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Welllll if you power slide or E-brake the turns you can get both of em smoking lol.

Yeah I'm gonna drive it like I stole it for about a year and then its getting a ground up resto on it. Will prolly get the SFCs on this winter so I don't twist the hell out of the uni come spring

But a few friends and I are gonna try and head to either Great Lakes or Byron so we can get a Baseline on the car. Kind of a this is where it started and this is where it is now kinda thing.

Viprklr

iTrader: (5)

I should finally be running in about 2 weeks. Maybe i'll head over to the track with you guys.

cam383

iTrader: (4)

IT'S DEAD AGAIN!!!

Ok went back to the car the very next day and it won't even try to start now. It turns over but thats it. Still have spark and fuel so I'm lost. I have no friggin idea what happened over night but i've pulled the distributor and redone the timing like 3 times and absolutely no luck. So I broke down and have a GM certified mechanic coming over to look at it tonight. Everyone pray to the thirdgen Gods for me that I can have it on the road this weekend.

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Well I have no injector pulse. was able to borrow a noid tester and I have no pulse. So I'm guessing it's either a bad distributor or my ecm is fried. Going to get a new ecm this week and try it out then I'll have to go from there I guess
So much for driving it this weekend

Cat59

Keep the faith. You'll be there behind the wheel smiling ear to ear before you know it.

zacharyhorn

iTrader: (1)

Any progress?

cam383

iTrader: (4)

Yes and no. The vats is giving me serious problems, so I bought a moates chip adapter but it didn't come with any chips. So now I need to get a chip and get it burned.

I'm also trying another fix which is to build a signal generator and I'm missing one little piece for it. Radio shack doesn't have it and I've tried all the other electronics stores in my area and none have it.

Soon as I get either the chip or the piece to finish the signal generator I'll know for sure if its going to run.