That's great news Charlie - finally!

 

Here's what I was talking about. This is the original ECM. That stuff is the consistency of a waxy grease.

 

I don't think that is a conformal coating. The coating is that red tint you see on the rest of the board and circuits. Not sure why that's there.

 

Anyone ever seen that on an ECM before?

 

While you guys are putting your heads together on what the eff that stuff is on my old ECM....


I've been driving the car every day this week. I want to make sure it works before I send my cores back.

Lemme see, what have I done since I got the car back from Jeremy? Replaced the 195* t-stat with a 180*, replaced the MAP sensor, (which was probably still good), replaced about a half dozen or so vacuum lines, replaced the cap/rotor/coil, which were date coded October 1982, (I should put those suckers on ebay as "vintage parts" ), replaced the front injector, and replaced the ECM. Anything else? I think that's it.

So, how's it drive, you might ask? Pretty nice actually. I can lug it around in 5th at 1200 RPM with no issue. Revs much more eagerly and all that. The idle is still about 250 RPM too high. Maybe I've missed a vacuum leak somewhere? Beats me.

Oh, gas mileage. Remember that first T5 gas tank when I got 12 MPG? Well I just calculated 14.4 MPG, or 20% better than before. Now some of you may sneeze at that, but this is combined city and highway, with the AC blasting on the 90 plus degree days we've had around here lately. I'm glad to have it. I'm sure steady highway would now deliver somewhere in the mid 20's.

 

Since it's running again, I did a little clean up on the old beater..

 

I don't care what anyone says -- that's a sweet ride Charlie. Long live the Crossfires!

 

Thanks Randy. Looking forward to seeing your Crossfire come back to life.

 

Yeah -- me too!

 

Well, I've been driving it exclusively since Sunday. Knock wood, so far, so good. This is really a different car than it was a week ago. Certainly, FAR different than it was before the swap and that awful 700R4. It's like this car just wants to go fast now. It's become the automotive equivalent of a juvenile delinquent. It's got a loud, throaty, intimidating SLP exhaust, it's always screaching, burning or chirping it's tires, the hood flaps snap open at every upshift. Lots of action.

Today, on the way home from work, I was working my way through traffic and I came up to a new Mustang V6 convertible. FYI, the new Mustang V6s are quick. The performance package, six speed coupes can do the 1/4 mile in 13.9 seconds. This one was not a coupe, nor a six speed, nor a performance package - but you get the idea.

So anyway, I'm minding my own business, going through traffic in 4th gear, and somehow this Mustang driver found some offense in that, and accelerated to try and outpace me. We quickly hit 90+ mph, and the Mustang guy decided to lift.
He simply could not pull away from my lowly Crossfire. Pleasantly shocking.

Obviously, this is not a 16 second car anymore.

 

very pretty car, wish my white paint looked that good

 

Hey thanks. Lots of clay bars sacrificed themselves on it since I found it on a dusty Wisconsin farm. In fact, in was sort of a light beige, rather that Arctic White when I got it.

 

Hey, that's great news. It took a while but finally you got to the bottom of the problem.

Manual transmission is much more fun to drive, except in stop & go traffic. Hopefully you don't run into too much of that on your commute.

 

mines a light beige now, i might just try some clay bars now, thanks

 

Start off by washing it with Dawn dishwashing soap - that'll give it a good degreasing.

In fact, during one claying session, I used a half bucket of warm water and Dawn suds as my lube for my clay bar. Kind of the way you'd use a bucket for wet sanding. Holy smokes, the embedded dirt that came out of the paint then! I could see it getting whiter from panel to panel.

 

Hey thanks. That's probably what I'm gonna have to do. There's definetly a lot of dirt in the paint. My clearcoat is long gone. So naturallly winter has been taking its toll on the finish. My white turned beighe. I had pretty much what would be blackheads but for my car haha. I washed it lately and a lot of that came off but some of it is still beige and fairly dirty. Looks like ill be picking up some clay bars haha

 

If your paint is factory, it doesn't have a clear coat. Not until '86.

 

that would explain it then lol, learn something new about these cars everyday

 

You can bring back or at least improve remarkably, single stage paint. It's the kind of thing which brings me great satisfaction. Just make sure you don't buff through the paint.

My '85 IROC's paint was a very pale, chalky yellow when I got it - eventhough, the previous owner had it buffed. It just needed some love to bring it back.

 

It's s beautiful clear, cool day today. About 60* out. My Crossfire loves, loves, loves, these temps. I think it's more than seat of the pants anectdotal feel. The nature of it's wet crossram intake makes fuel distribution less efficient when it's really hot out. Or that's what I've heard, anyway.

Since this combo of engine, exhaust, trans, etc., was never available from the factory, I was asked what it would feel like, if I were to compare it to a factory set up. That's an interesting question - especially, since I've driven almost all of the 3rd gen combos over the years. It certainly surpasses any LG4/L03 manual trans combo. The combination of 9.3 to 1 compression ratio and L83/LM1 cam are key, I think. Plus the L69/3"/SLP exhaust play a large role. Compared to an L69, it has more (much more) low end grunt, but perhaps not quite as "revvy" as the L69.
I think it falls somewhere in between a peanut cam LB9 and an L98 cammed LB9, probably closer the the big cammed version if anything.

So, I'm thinking about a front 1LE brake swap for my beater. The 1LEs will clear my stock 15x7 wheels, which I'd like to keep. Moving forward with the 1LEs will assure a financial loss, should I ever want to sell the old girl.

 

Way ahead of you Charlie. I have been upside down in my bad investment for years.

 

If you want to save some money and try out an experiment here is what i did. I went onto ebay and picked up a set of Hawk HPS pads for the stock front calipers. I threw those in and did a good bleed of the entire system. Ive had people ask if i had the LS1 swap or the 1LE after having taken a ride in my car. No it does not stop as good as those but its def better than factory and for the 50 dollars i have invested in what i did its fine for me for now.

It also helps that i have the PBR calipers in the rear. That makes a big difference as well.

 

Actually, I was thinking about that as well. Either the Hawk or Stillen pads.

 

So, no one knows what that schmutz in my old ECM is?

 

Just a quick question:
I recently picked up an 83 Daytona 500 edition trans am for like 400 bucks, I'm pretty stoked on it but have a ton of work to do to get it running. The crossfire injection has been a pain in my *** for the past 2 weeks now, i was wondering if i would be able to do a straight swap with a tuned port system without a tremendous amount of further *** pains. Anyone have any advice? From what i understand the CFI was not the best anyways so if i could trade it for a tuned port or any other injection system i would be VERY VERY happy!
Also what heads could i swap the LU5 heads for that'll give me some decent results that aren't crazy aftermarket? Vortec? TPI? Etc..
Thanks guys! hope to hear something before i lose all my hair from stress!
-Ino

 

crossfire generally easy to get running good as long as the engine under it is in good running order.Some of the typical problems that cause a bad running crossfire include:
-vacume leaks-check the lid gasket and lid bolts
-low fuel pressure
-wrong timing-base timing must be set with EST in "bypass"
crossfire is actually extremely reliable and performs very well with a few modifications
Injectors can stick if unused for years,but usually free up once exposed to fresh gas. Congrats on getting the DT 500 BTW

 

Ill run through everything again, i got it in pretty rough shape but i wasn't going to let dude haul it off to the scrap yard when i had the 400 bones! fuel pressure seems to be alright and the injectors are spraying, i can't get it to stay running, it'll run for like 10 seconds and backfire and die if i not constantly on the gas. I'm going to check all the fuel filters again( the previous owner cut and spliced at least 13 fram fuel filters into the fuel lines). they also cut the Cat out and welded a chain link fence post in, i just gotta get it running so it'll pass smog so the registration doesn't get any further behind.. Check engine light has been on as well its pretty crazy it only has 23,000 original miles on it according to odo and paperwork and its having this much trouble running...

total upgrade from my 91 v6!

 

That was my car. It's a 1989 GTA convertible 350/auto soon to be a 5 SPD. It's flame red metallic and now has red 87 only GTA interior. DD9 paddle mirrors. The guy I bought it from drove it 10yrs in chicago...snow rain and anything else. The quarters are rusty but Iv'e already cut the whole back end off a wrecked TA. I have doors fenders hood and front and rear bumper. Car was mistreated for a long time...not anymore. I also have Recaros from a 83 TA DT500 in it.

I also own Bill Speeds 89 Formula 350 convertible too. I have a 89 TA convt BLU/SILV 350/auto also
and a 83 Daytona pace car auto/ crossfire

 

That was you?
Wow, that post was from 2 years ago!

Post some pics of your GTA when you get a chance.

 

When I get a chance...Installing a WC 5 SPD from a 87 TA in my GTA right now, burning chip and getting converter from cable to digital for gauges

 

you haven't seen bad investment until you've put an IRS setup in the back of an 86 IROC, talk about chandelier in a haunted house..

I'm sure better pads will stop it better, but I like the identity the car has taken on now as the car the factory should have built. Hence the C4 calipers on 12" rotors (1LE) are the direction I'd go....along with the blue Lear Seigler interior, aluminum driveshaft and then a CrossFire 350 swap

 

You do nice work, Charlie .......... this Iroc looks fantastic.

 

This has been the winter from freaking hell. It feels like I haven't driven it in years. New pads, but I think there is still some air in the system.

 

Thanks Bob, appreciate it.

 

What town do you live in? I'd imagine you're pretty close to me.

 

The Yellow is just enough to make the car pop a bit .... contrasts great with the hood louvers , etc. and it's not too loud at all.... just right.

 

Chazman how's the crossfire doing?

 

Hibernating.

 

After 6 years of ownership, the hood black outs go back on. The previous owner must have loved the '82 Pace Car, since he had some faux graphics put on the hood in blue. I removed those literally the minute I got home. Shortly thereafter, I ordered some hood black outs from a company who's name I can't remember, but they were low quality and high gloss instead of matte black. When I called about the gloss finish, the owner said if I wanted matte I should have specified - even though he provided no way to specify. That was a waste. So the hood has gone "un-blacked out" for 6 years.

So last week I ordered the '82-'84 hood black outs from Phoenix Graphics. Perfect finish, high quality and easy to install. Really completes the look of the car.

 

I've taken it out a few times this spring. Knock wood, it's running great. I still must have a vacuum leak somewhere, since it still idles high. I've replaced every vacuum line, etc., so I'm suspicious of the cruise control transducer. It doesn't effect the way it runs, it's just one of those things that's not perfect and that bugs me slightly.

I've got a tiny leak coming from the tail of the T5. I've looked that over with the car jacked up, and I can't seem to figure it out. I need to look it over on someone's lift.

Love, love, the sound of the SLP 2OTL. And Jeremy did an A-1 job installing it. Car is great fun to drive.

A big compliment came from my son, who works part time at a BMW dealer. He drives awesome cars all day long and as such, I guess his opinion on what's "fun" is tainted. The other day he took my Crossfire for a spin. When he returned he proclaimed that this car is fun to drive. Maybe not fast, but fun. Big deal coming from him.

 

Third Gens have such a personality to them! Beyond the fantastic looks, they are non-compromised great handling musclecars without all the electronic tech stuff of today's cars. They feel more raw and connected compared. Except for maybe the new Z28 lol.

Stripes look good.

 

They do have a great personality to them, in the way they drive. Very direct and connected. And you can drive at highway speeds with the windows down. Try that with a newer car and see if you don't blow out an eardrum or sinus or something from the shock/sound waves.

 

You should be getting much better gas mileage then what you posted. My 82 vette always got very high teens as a average and around 25 on trips. My t5 crossfire conversion did about the same.

Vac test brake booster and vacumn reservoir. That could be where your leak is. On both my cross fires I always noticed they responded better to higher coolant temps. Perhaps that helps with fuel puddling in the intake and help atomize the fuel better but it always made throttle response crispier.

 

Thanks. Worth taking a look at. Generally speaking, mine feels crisper at cooler temps. Ah, who knows.

I do admit to driving it with a heavier foot. I blame the hoodflaps though. Call me juvenial or whatever, but I get some sort of satisfaction when they crack open. And that requires around 3/4 throttle.

 

LMAO, if only we all could have such a "beater" the 3rd gen stigma would be non-existent. Beautiful car.

 

The hood blackouts look great. I went with Phoenix Graphix for my IROC-Z decals and couldnt be happier.

 

Thanks Joe. Out of the three, this is the highest miles, has door dings , etc., but I get more stares and thumbs ups with this one, that the other two.

 

...

 

Thanks! The decals went on so nicely, I think I'm going to order their stripe kit for the yellow '85.

 

I'm gonna try that on the CC. Good idea.

On the T5, I think it looks like it's leaking from the speedo output, but I've tightened everything around there. There's also fluid on the speedo cable for about a foot which makes feel like it's coming from there as well.