yes i like ngk, especially in anything newer and fi there laser iridium are good plugs, expensive but good

 

Here's a nifty little trick I discovered.

While taking the fuel line off of course I lost some gas (my fuel tank isn't venting very well either - got to fix that now). In my haste to plug the -6an line I picked up one of my spark plugs just to see if it would work.

Well won't you look at that.

 

LOL see AC Delco is good for something lol

 

Sounds Great, I shipped everything first thing Saturday morning United States Postal Service, and you should have it by Friday/Saturday the latest, I hope this can motivate you to get this thing up and running to your liking, just send a burnout pic for us and more progress pics!

 

Well I did a little bit of work over the past week and this is what happened:

I got the entire computer harness out!!! All that work of fixing wiring, braiding for nothing.....


Removing the harness was actually very easy. The only thing I cut was 2 AC wires (which could have been avoided). The relays and all related wires had already been disconnected/removed, and since I'm not going to be using a factory AC system, cutting was perfectly ok by me.

Look at all the room!!




It's a bit messy looking but I just got done removing an entire harness so things had to be temporarily relocated.

 

On to the distributor. N.J. Slick was very kind to GIVE me a distributor and Quadrajet but neither one survived the trip from New Jersey. I found a fellow Airman that had a distributor. After half an hour of cleaning and rebuilding I ended up with a great looking distributor.



I spent HOURS looking online and reading forums trying to decide what weights and springs to use. I had a $5 spring/weight set that had good springs but I don't trust the quality of the weights what so ever.

Due to my lack of understanding of what to go with I just used the factory weights that were in it and used a silver (medium) and black (light) spring. I studied MSD's graphs and this looked to be the most ideal in my head. I could be COMPLETELY wrong but what do I know /shrug

 

I'm still deciding on what carb to go with.
1. Quadrajet from SMI ~$400 I REALLY want this carb, but it's pricey
2. Edelbrock 1406 600 cfm ~ $200 after I buy the parts needed and rebuild
3. Holley 750 ~ $200 after parts/rebuild but I'm afraid that it will be too carb

I'm leaning more toward the Edelbrock for now due to some recent budget constraints. Any and all opinions are welcome.

I'm also going to be removing the charcoal canister (it's clogged) tonight.

 

how can you tell if the canister is clogged? sorry its a first for me hearing that!

 

i imagine shake it up and down and see if it makes noise?

 

There is a 'valve' next to the canister. Let me see if I can dig up a picture.

Well I can't find a picture but I found out how to test the valve and it is not working and if I move the charcoal filter there is a log of junk rattling around inside.

Also, I'm getting a TON of pressure in the gas tank even with a vented cap - which I'm starting to realize isn't vented....

My 89 RS's canister did not do this so my educated guess is that there is something faulty with the system.

Removing it will also clean up the engine bay a bit.

This is exactly what I'll be doing tonight with the filter I bought.

 

I just discovered Photobucket's App. Freaking amazing app!!!

Here's a picture of the valve.

 

thanks guys. you live and you learn haha

 

knowing is half the battle

 

is there supposed to be one direction that the vent needs to be? i noticed that today mine was different and sorry for the thread jack haha

 

Yes! It is designed to let the pressure out of the gas tank and into the canister once a certain pressure is reached (or so my understanding is). If it is facing the wrong way the it would be reading 'engine pressure' instead of the gas.

Just to clarify the port on top faces the rear of the car on mine.

 

ok ill just do some searching instead of blowing up your thread man, thanks for the help.

 

No worries. This is part of the reason why I made my man diary; to help others.

 

It's ALIVE! Holy crap the car runs BEAUTIFULLY!

I put on a Quadrajet that I picked here in Vegas, cleaned it, and after switching over a few things the engine fired immediately up!

After a few seconds the car idled right at 750 rpm and after 10 minutes of idling the car stayed right at 180 degrees!!! No more overheating (right now, at least).

And guess what?!?! The engine isn't leaking oil or radiator fluid anymore!!

Hell yeah!

 

Now that I got that out of my system:

Here's a picture of the new AN fittings that I bought.



From the fuel line I have:
1. 6an male to 6an male adapter
2. 6an curved fuel line
3. 6an fuel pressure gauge adapter with Russel gauge
4. 6an to 3/8 npt adapter to the carb.

I didn't take a picture of that gauge installed but I found out later that I have to move the gauge down more to clear the dual snorkel housing.

After about 10 minutes of running I had to shut down the engine because I found a very tiny fuel leak at one of the adapters. Engine was too warm to work on since I will be loosing fuel so we called it an evening. I'll fix that and adjust the fuel pressure gauge and take it for a spin tomorrow

I'm working on getting a video up.

 

The 'uh oh' at the end is me seeing a tiny drop or 2 of the leaking fuel.

 

still kickass you got it running, you can get back to the best part of a z28 DRIVING it

 

Coming along nicely, this is'nt complete without burnout videos & pictures!

 

I did a bit of work over the weekend with the limited time I had.

I fixed the leaking gas problem and moved the fuel psi gauge so the air cleaner fits now. Whoo Hoo!

The engine is running beautifully but I'm still working on the timing. I have it set at 12* but total timing is about 28* at 2500 rpm. Looks like I need to change the springs a bit. I had a friend help me with this (granted he knows nothing about cars) so I'm going to recheck before I do anything.

Another concern I have is that I'm only getting 8-9 inches of vacuum. I was really hoping for a bit more for brake reasons. I've checked for vacuum leaks and can't find any so I think my 1st plan of attack is to pump the timing up a bit (16*) and see if that changes anything. I also think the low vacuum is causing the car to run a bit rich with the Quadrajet.

More to come.

 

You might need to run a vacuum reserve canister

 

I got around to doing a few things this weekend:

I ended up buying a piston stop tool. Oh my wow wonderful of a thing that is. No more pulling the valve cover to help find TDC!!!! I bought it because, as we all know, you learn as you go. Well I learned that timing tabs and marked dampners don't mix.

This is what I was seeing as I was trying to time the engine the other week. I couldn't see a damn thing to get the timing exact.


To fix that I bought an adjustable JEGs timing pointer (fantastic product btw).


I installed the piston stop and marked everything correctly so I could adjust the pointer. Turns our I didn't have to adjust anything - everything was perfect for my setup right out of the box


That pretty much sums up any recent updates. We are looking at 12 hour shifts for the next 2 weeks (including possible weekends) so it will be a minute before I can get the timing reset and carb adjusted.

 

A buddy and I were able to spend some time on the Camaro.

I set initial timing at 15 degrees but at about 2600 rpm my max timing is 24 or so degrees which is no where near enough in my opinion. I'm going to swap some springs around tomorrow and see what I can get done.

I also fixed my vacuum problem somehow. The needle no longer bounces around like crazy but is now fixed right at 10" of Hg. I think the main problem was that I was using a ported vacuum source for my readings. This time I plugged it right into the power brake port.

The car was running pretty damn good at 800 rpm but sure enough I ended up finding a little bit of fuel dripping out of the line every 4-5 seconds. So apparently I didn't get that problem fixed.....

With a fire extinguisher in hand we decided to drive down the road to the Shoppette to get some well deserved beer and I noticed a "whoom whoom whoom" sound coming from the engine. We got out and looked and the noise is coming from the front accessories. A pulley is either loose or the belts are too tight - both of which I don't believe but it's the only explanation.

Good news though! The tranny and torque converter are working perfectly fine. The speed limit on base is only 25 mph so I never had an opportunity to romp on it but the engine will quickly flash to 3000 rpm and go. Initially I'm a tad disappointed in the lack of torque but I think that is mostly due to the timing not being correct and that the engine was built higher end power instead of low end torque. Oh well, time will tell.

Another thing that I'm EXTREMELY happy about is the throttle response and the 0.5 seconds it takes to start the car with the Quadrajet. I see now why people call the the Quadrajet the fuel injection of carburetors :-)

 

mine starts right up every time all original equipment

 

Another weekend update with pictures to follow:

I finally took the Camaro off base! The car itself was running great on the way to the exhaust shop. When I parked the car I saw some radiator fluid coming out of the sensor port on the radiator that I don't use. It sucks because it is coming out of the 'threads' that can't be corrected. Great!!! Looks like I'll be draining the radiator and welding that stupid thing shut.

The exhaust shop fixed my rattle (thank you, 6651 Customs). The tips hang a bit lower but I'm just being picky. They still look great though!

And when I was trying to leave the car wouldn't start. No click or anything. Well we cowered over the car and we realized that positive terminal on my Optima is stripped. Well F a duck!?! I just can't win with this car. I did some research online. It looks like my 2 options are:
1) drill and tap for a larger bolt
2) add a top mount post. Ugh

Well before all of this I fixed my fuel leak and got the car running like a champ.

Initial timing - 16 degrees
Total Advance - 30 degrees in at 2800 rpm ish.

I think this is the best I can do with a factory distributor. I'm using a heavy and middle weight weight instead of a middle/light weight. I'm getting a bit more timing and a slightly higher rpm so I'm going to call that good for now.

Things to fix now:
1) battery problem
2) leaking radiator fluid
3) MASSIVE exhaust leaks

 

yeah your having camaro luck with it, is the optima under warranty?

 

I'm not sure but I should have the receipt in my pile somewhere.

 

well if it is and you bought it say at autozone or advanced or napa, you can probably present a solid enough case that (being a month away from a manager "greyshirt") would give you either a new one or a refund if we didn't have any. you also might try and see if you cloud just get a slightly larger "terminal" you know the actual little metal peice that screws in and see if that'd fit i'd try and chase the threads out a little bit first an appropriate sized bolt with some grease on it (or the terminal) would clean any shavings you had stuck in the battery

 

just checked warranties are 36 months on red and yellow top batteries, this should be covered as a manufactures defect if its all of a sudden just stripped out

 

Here's a few pictures from the past few posts:

When I put the distributor in I used a light and medium spring but this ended up being to light and caused little timing advance to soon


And after I used a medium and heavy spring my timing was much better. It's still not perfect but better.


Since my hood is no longer acceptable (in my opinion) I decided to see if I could remove the bracing to make room. The bracing took a lot of work to get out but once the pop welds are busted it's easy.


The Bracing


And this is why the stock hood will NOT fit with a stock air cleaner with an RPM intake. Notice how high everything sits?

 

The hood is now going to be called garage decoration :-)

 

I made it out of the garage tonight to see what I could do about these leaks.

First leak was from the intake. The plugs are a cheap Spectre brand from Autozone. I'm going to order some nicer ones from Summit.


Next leak was from the plug on top here. I took it out and put some sealant on it and tightened it up a bit more. Please disregard the transmission line and its silly plug.


Finally this ridiculous coolant level sensor. This sensor is damn near the bottom of the radiator. By the time the coolant got this low your engine would already be fried, making this thing stupid.


I'm still debating what to do about plugging this thing up. I have RTV and that metal making filler stuff but I'm afraid I won't get a very good seal but just stuffing it in there. My next option is to put the sensor back in with a lot of RTV (and making it look good, of course) so I think that's what I'm going to do.

 

I was a PM or as you called it (Grey Shirt) at the Zone for 3 years which isn't anything that special.. It depends on how it stripped out or broken. Neglect doesn't qualify for free replacement. You know if it was purchased at Auto-Zone or advance it will be in the warranty history. No receipt is necessary.

 

i know it'd be in our computer but i dont know where he got it, you cant go looking for a battery that isn't in there right? so depending on where he got it, which the receipt would tell he can atleast see about a return

 

I love that timing pointer. I went ahead and borrowed my girlfriend's fingernail polish and highlighted the important degree marks on my balancer with neon green, blue, and orange and also marked the 0 on the timing tab.

Your way looks much more professional.

 

Well today was a big today for me. I was informed by my Commander that I was selected to be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force! I will be a Combat Systems Officer (Navigator). Looks like here soon the car will have to be put on hold for a while.

But until then....!

Here's a picture of a spark plug I pulled out after my trip to the exhaust shop. It looks pretty damn good for no tuning. If anything I'll add a smidgen of cruisin' gas to it.





And a few pictures of my now fixed exhaust.

 

I also pulled the differential cover. I'm pretty sure, just like the brakes, the fluid was all original, haha.

I prepped, painted, and baked the cover and it turned out pretty damn good.

 

And finally.....

I removed my charcoal canister. The damn thing weighed 10 pounds!!! I removed it and all of the lines running back to, well, the back.





When I removed the line in I found some REALLY REALLY old gas in the line from the pressure being too high. Oh well - fixed now :-)

 

Congrats to you on your Promotion, I'm sure you deserve it Bro, and the car is coming along nicely, keep up the good work on BOTH fronts!

 

Once again I go the car running great! No more leaks.

But then of course there is always something..... I knew before I started this indeavor that my alternator was starting to go (choke light would come on intermittently). I now have a constant choke light and my choke doesn't open 100%.

Also, I got a brand new Optima Battery (under warranty, thanks all!) and when I started the car I had a solid 13 amps on my voltmeter and as the minutes went on the gauge started to slowly dip until it got into the red. About that time while I was driving around base the car slowly started to get warm.

I drove it home and couldn't see anything bad so we parked it for the night and then it hit me! The reason I've been slowly overheating isn't because of my cooling system!! The battery hasn't been getting a recharge so eventually the fans slow WAY down and the car overheats. AMAZING!

Problem now is that I'm all out of $$$ so the car is back to sit there and look not-so-pretty status.

I've been doing some research and I think I'm going to convert to the CS130 alternators.

That's the end for me tonight. I start Honor Guard tomorrow (for those of you who know what that is) so my free time is being down again.

Take care!

 

Oh Goodness! That post was number 666. New post to rid that number!!!!

 

Subscribed. Great thread!

 

First of all, thank you for your service to our Country.
I just finished reading all the pages, and congratulate you on your perseverance and attention to detail.

 

thank you for your service! really! this build was awesome reading, read every single post! Good work! hard to believe that you've never done this before. You've had the camaro Experience.. thats forsure! Good luck on whatever comes next for you!

 

Subscribed, just read this from start to finish...been a long road for you but I can relate! I need a filter for mine as well as I removed the canister, do you recall what filter you used?

 

Thanks for the kind words! I'm in the middle of a PCS with Officers Training School in the middle so no updates as of late.

I've converted to a CS-144 alternator (easy enough so no pictures really needed) and I've been fiddling with the Carb. I'm still only pulling about 11 inches of mercury and I can't find a vacuum leak ANYWHERE so I think this is what I have to live with.

The Camaro is staying at my parent's house for the next 2 years while I'm at Navigator training in Pensacola. I won't have much time to dedicate to the car so it was best not to move in across the entire country, only half.....

While it's in Texas I'll have my dad take the car to a professional tuner here in DFW to get a once over and any carb/valve adjustments done once I get a new carb from SMI.

Ed1LE - the filter is a cheapy that I picked up at Autozone. I had to use a piece of vacuum tubing as an adapter between the filter and fuel line. So far it's working perfectly. The tank can finally breathe correctly.

 

Long long overdue update:

I've ordered a quadrajet rebuild from SMI. In 5-6 weeks (ouch) it should be back. Also ordered a Lokar oil dipstick and R&M wire looms to replace the easily broken Moroso loom that are on there now.

I also placed an order for a T/C lockup from Bowtie Overdrives.

If all goes well the carb rebuild will fix my vacuum leak and leaking float bowel. Once that is done the car is taking a field trip to SpeekTek in Ft. Worth for a proper tuning of the ignition weights/springs, valve lash, and carb setup. Also getting some custom-cut MSD wires for asthetic purposes.

So long as the Mrs doesn't find out how much I'm spending on the car she loaths I can spring for a new hood.

I'm still debating on a Goodmark vs Cervini. Cervini looks better and is lighter but with a Goodmark I can make a true, functional cowl hood with a setup from a 67-69 Camaro. Opinions?