whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Ordered my tuned PCM today! Hopefully it comes by this weekend so I can fire this thing up! Engine harness is basically completely installed except for a few connections like the tach, speedo, etc. I'll keep you all updated as to when I'm going to be ready for startup.

camaro1185

No sh**. I didnt know you had the harness. You might actually get to drive it this season?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Unfortunately, probably not. Still going to have to get it tuned and the entire frontend painted. But it will run in the next week or so at least! Then I'll have all the motivation in the world to have it on the road for next spring. I have no doubt it'll be done way before spring hits though so I am pretty excited to drive my baby after being off the road for 4 or so years!

camaro1185

Oh I know, when I said "drive" i meant it will be able to move under its own power.

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Good **** man! Hopefully I'll be there for the initial fire

19f0rmula88

hey man i had a few questions on the wiring harness. im ordering a similar harness and want to know what you did to wire up the trunk hatch, all the lights for breaks, and the defogger relay. would it be possible for you to take pictures of what you did or possible give me a description and part numbers to anything you needed to make this possible? thanks

camaro1185

Me too!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Ahhhh, ok lol. Then yes, it should be able to move under it's own power...probably in about a week!

I'll give ya a ring and we can celebrate with a few smokes! That is if it doesn't send a rod through the block..

I didn't need anything extra except for pieces of the stock harness. The harness will give you all the wires you need for the tail lights so you basically just hook them up where your factory tail light plug is. The trunk motor is easy since there is only one wire that needs power to make it all work. My painless harness had a power wire for a trunk light so I just used that to power my trunk motor. Very easy. The defroster...now that was a pain. Just try to keep as much of your factory defroster wiring as you can. You should be able to basically remove the entire circuit as a whole from your stock harness and just wire it in to a power source on the painless harness. I cut mine up so I had to wire it from scratch unfortunately, but it works great now. Make sure you get some high quality solder shrink butt connectors like I have pics of on the previous page. It's much easier to figure it all out once you actually have the new harness in front of you. Looking at it cleared a lot of things up for me and most chassis harness companies make it very easy to install them.

I'll let you know too. If your not busy, feel free to swing by with Arthur.

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

.... I'll still find a reason to smoke. LOL

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Sounds good!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Few more pics from today...

Heres where the harness runs into the cabin. I have to make a little plate to put the grommet into but thats about it.


And heres the completed engine bay. All wires are run and plugged in, and she's ready to go. So glad I decided to run the headlight wiring through the framerail because the only visible wiring is on top of the motor and it blends right in. Also need my downpipe back on, but thats it!

Roc89

Thats clean.. gotta say man, you've done a great job.. cant wait to hear it

What size down pipe do you have

camaro1185

Not related to your build, but I noticed you have the Tokico non adjustable shocks, how do you like them? Im working on specing out my suspension parts now.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Thanks man! And I had a 3" downpipe but I'm most likely going to redo it and make it in 3.5" before the tune.

Well, in the short time I drove the car with them, they seemed great. Havn't really had the chance to test them out on any twisties, but a ton of guys use them so I'd have to believe they are good.

nascarfan7

Excellent build. Thank you so much for taking the time to document it with pictures. I can imagine how much a pain in the *** that can be at times when your in the middle of something and reach for that camera lol.

You've opened a can of worms for yourself now. You'll never be done. Next summer when it's "done" you'll be fiddling with the tune constantly just because.

You'll have a long weekend and be yanking the engine wiring harness to better route and hide it. Then there's that stainless exhaust. The adjustable shocks. The bigger turbo. The dual turbo and on and on lol.

Soooo worth it though

Keep up the good work!

19f0rmula88

are you putting the other 4 gauges in before you start it up the first time? i been meaning to ask you that. i also had another question about the wiring, how did you run your wires to the trunk release switch on the dashboard? i think you said you used the trunk light wire for the trunk release mechanism. i just order my harness last night and i want to get as much cleared up as possible before i start wiring up my formula

19f0rmula88

oh yeah shouldnt the computer be coming in for the car? its been almost a week!!!

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

The trunk release wiring for the dash button is very simple to run. As with the defroster, try to keep the old wiring for it. There is a ground wire for the button that I hooked to the E-brake wire. This way the trunk can only be popped with the E-brake on. If you go back through my pics, I have a picture of it. Then theres only one thick black wire that runs to the trunk motor for the popper. I highly reccomend getting a service manual for your car. They can be found on ebay for around $30 or so. It will have every single wiring diagram for every circuit in your car. Thats what I used and it made things VERY easy.

I was hoping it was going to come sat but it didn't. Guess I'll have to wait until monday now and hope it's hear! I hate waiting for things in the mail haha.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Today was a VERY great day in the history of project PITA. She fired up on the first crank! oil pressure is around 35-40 psi at idle once warmed up, no leaks, no smoke, and she purs like a kitten! Throttle is very responsive though I didn't want to rev it too much with the turbo being not fed into the intake. Anyways, heres a youtube vid of it running!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHXB_Z69Htc

camaro1185

VERY cool RJ! Congrats!

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

dctrouant1995

AWESOMEE GREAT JOB!!!

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Very special day for Project PITA indeed; sort of feels Holy as a matter of fact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4q6eaLn2mY

ternandes

iTrader: (7)

SSSCCCHHHHHWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTT!!!!

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

Nice - bet that feel pretty good!

eseibel67

Congrats. Major milestone in a project of this size. You'll sleep good tonight.

And kudos for thinking this through so thorougly. And documenting it so well.

This car is going to be very fast and very reliable.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Thanks everybody! Feels great knowing that all this work paid off. And to see it fire up on the first crank just made it that much better. Before I turned the key, I was almost doubting myself and thinking it probably wasn't going to start...and then BAM, just came to life and ran perfect right off the bat. I did find out after running it for a little while that my radiator has a small leak in the plastic end tank, but I guess I have an excuse to upgrade to an aluminum one lol. But thats a minor detail compared to everything that COULD have gone wrong. Next up I plan on getting the intercooler and buttoning up the cold side piping. Then maybe I can get it tuned to see what it's really got.

And eseibel67, I plan on sleeping like a ROCK tonight, lol.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Figured I'd post a few pics up of the autometer cobalts lit up. I even hooked them up so that they dim with the factory dimmer switch! I love when things work like factory.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

video of dimming feature?

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

LOL, I can take one if you really want to see it.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

heck yesssssssssss

camaro1185

Well, I think I found the gauges Im going to used when I build my autometer dash. THose cobalt gauges look awesome!

BigJon88

iTrader: (2)

Looks awesome glad you gotmit started man been following this for a while inspires me to work on my car

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I have my intercooler now on the way. Tracking number says Thursday next week. Damn California orders! Also found out my radiator did not leak. It was actually the lower radiator hose. I had put a clamp on it that was too big for the hose, so when I checked if it was tight, it felt tight. Upon a second look, I noticed the worm gear on the clamp ran out of threads and was eating into the metal, making it feel tight haha. Put a smaller clamp on and we are good to go.

I'll probably be able to order the cooling fans this coming week as well and once those go in, I'm taking her for a little test drive around the block!

84TransAmNY

what a build dude...looks very sharp. You did this car the right way from the looks of it..I am restifacting my 84 currently and already running into a few problems. Couldn't imagine working on a car for 4 yrs without driving it. It's been 3 months for me I am already dieing. I'm going to keep on your thread I like what you have done here.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

^^ Thanks man!!

And as an update...I got a little dose of very bad news today. I was considering taking the car around the block, so I went to go into reverse.....and nothing. Shut the car off, put in in reverse, started it back up, and when you let off the clutch, it sits there and idles. The pitch of the motor doesn't even change. It's like theres not even a reverse there. All the forward gears work which points me to the tranny itself having an issue. Needless to say I'm pretty pissed after paying $1000 for a supposedly "rebuilt" tranny. I plan on pulling it in the next week to have a buddy of mine pull the tailshaft and check out the reverse parts. I'm not a very happy camper at the moment, but hey I guess $hit happens, right? I just hope it's an easy and semi cheap fix.

BigJon88

iTrader: (2)

What about the reverse lock out??

eseibel67

The lockout prevents the shifter from even getting over far enough to the right gate so you can't engage reverse. If it clicked into 5th by accident due to lockout the engine would stall when engaging the clutch.
This is a dumb question, but I'm sure you had the shifter all the way up and clicked in to reverse, right? Just trying to prevent a tranny removal if possible.

ternandes

iTrader: (7)

Having rebuilt other transmissions, I am wondering if there isn't just an incorrectly aligned part in the trans, ie the internal reverse linkage did not mate properly when it was assembled? Or maybe a piece left out? I have no T56 experience, so I can't speculate any further.

I can tell you that when I rebuild a trans, I always verify engagement into all gears and rotate the input shaft to be sure that all has gone back together right. Whoever did yours should have done that also.

scooter

iTrader: (11)

This may be a possibility. I can get my T56 "into" reverse but not have the gears engaged. I then have to stop and then push it a little further up to get the gears engaged

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Shifter was all the way up unfortunately. I have a hurst shifter with the adjustable stops and when in reverse, it was butted up against the stop...and this shifter came out of a running car so I know the stops are adjusted correctly. Just for kicks, I loosened the shifter stop just to see if I could push it up any more, and nothing. As far as the lockout, I know it's in reverse because you can feel the lockout solenoid being pushed out of the way. I went 1st through 5th on the tranny and then pushed it over one more into reverse just to make completely sure I was in reverse.

In all honesty, this is exactly what I'm thinking. The guy who I bought it from said "a buddy of his" tore it apart and checked it out before he shipped it to me. I guess his buddy replaced a few parts inside and I am assuming he screwed up on reassembling reverse and forgot something. I just found out a freind of mine has rebuilt a few T56's so I am going to have him take a look once I get it pulled.

camaro1185

Thats weird a weird problem. To me it sounds like something is not lined up. Almost like when selecting reverse there is no reverse gear there to engage, similar to neutral. Or seems almost like the reverse fork is missing and no reverse gear is getting moved. I know both of these probably arent likely but im just thnking out loud here.

This is the reason im sending my T56 to Tick performance. I rebuilt the T5 but dont want to mess with the t56.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Apparently T56's are pretty easy to rebuild from what I've been told by people that have rebuilt thier own. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it myself though. A buddy of mine thinks either the shift fork or the syncro for reverse was put in backwards, so your guess may not be too far off lol. Either way I'll know soon enough since the tranny is coming out in the next day or so.

camaro1185

I MIGHT attempt to build mine, but have been told it gets really harry if you have to replace the bearings and re shim it. Thats what worries me or there would be no question I would build it.

Yeah, my guess is something with the shift fork, let me know when you figure it out.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Just took her for her maiden voyage around the block, and I have to say, the car drives BEAUTIFULLY! Engine runs smooth and from even right off idle it feels like it has plenty of power accelerating. I was nervous because some guys say when you drop the compression on a 5.3 to 8.5:1, it is a dog down low. But even compared to a stock 305 TPI, it feels like it has plenty more power even without the turbo hooked up, so I'm happy. Ran very smooth and shifted great through the forward gears. You sure can tell you are driving a car with a newer engine just because of how smooth and responsive it is. My intercooler should be here thursday and I can't wait to get the piping all plumbed and drive her with the turbo hooked up! Just can't give it much gas till it's tuned.

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

Got my intercooler in the mail today and fabbed up a mounting bracket for it. Fit's perfect in the area in front of the radiator. Now I just need to hope the car still cools nicely with dual pusher fans since there won't be a whole lot of airflow through the intercooler. I'm considering making a scoop in my front bumper with ducting to the intercooler and radiator but am not sure yet. Anyways, heres a few pics.



Heres the bracket I made up which will be welded to the front subframe where the crash bar meets it. Just need to paint it then it can be welded on.


Heres where the piping comes out of the intercooler, Just under the subframe. From here it will run up through the battery tray and into the throttle body.

hotrodln

looks great! any room for ac in there?

82tarecaro

iTrader: (4)

It looks like he has a non AC heater box in there.

musclecar70sfan

iTrader: (1)

Won't be much longer till you can REALLY let her rip on a neighborhood joyride...

whitedevilTA

iTrader: (8)

I wish I could have fit AC, but between the turbo downpipe being tight by the AC box area, and the intercooler and dual front mounted fan setup theres just no way. Oh well, given the option, I'll take HP over being cool haha.

Oh man I can't wait! I sent an e-mail to a local turbo shop today to try to get all the silicone couplers and piping that I need in one shot. Waiting to hear back from him now, so hopefully the piping is done in a few days.