Well, A bud of mine had a few batteries lying about, so I took a Voltmeter with me and found one that was close to what it needed to be. I put it on charge all day, got it up to 13.5V . Took it home and dropped it into my basket case car, and hooked it up. Opened the door and put the key in, got the buzzer for the open door. Turned the key to run, got the voltmeter light and the check engine light, put the clutch on the floor turned the key to start, and prayed.

VROOOOOM

Holy ****, it started!

It backfired, stumbled and quit. I tried again, It started, ran for a couple of seconds, and then it backfired thru the carb.

Crap, looks like the timing is WAYYYY off. Guess I will have to work on it some more this weekend...

 

Sweet! Got any pics of the car?

 

Check firing order, my firing order was wrong and it would do the same thing. Just before you played with the timing i figured you should check that first.

 

No pics as of yet.... and if I did, you would just be sick. No hood, both fenders are mangled, missing a portion of the headlight bezel, a mangled door...

But yet, there is still a heart beat....

Luckily, most of the damage can be fixed by replacing body panels. I might have to take it and get the front end pulled straight.

It's not a lost cause...just some work.

I was thinking about starting a web page and document the Restomod as time goes by.

I will work on getting some pics uploaded so all can see....

 

Yup, I was going to check the firing order. I went and bought the Haynes and the Chilton's manual. I also have in the works the purchase of the Chevy shop manual for it....

I figure the guys who had it before me Munged the firing order. This test was just to determine if I had a junk engine or not..........

 

sounds like it needs alot of work but its always worth it ...

 

hey check this out, see my car kinda didnt run for about 1 year while i was saving money, and then fixing it, and then saving money and then fixing it again, primarily becasue we bought it from a guy who let it sit in his yard for about 9 months, and then, we didnt exactly know what was wrong with it, so we replaced most parts in the engine compartment short of anything big, like cams, cranks, etc. Anyways, so we get it running finally, and its having the same symptom as yours, backfiring while idling, and then stalling out. So, i figured the two things you figured, and guessed firing order, or timing.

So I invite this guys over, who worked as a GM mechanic for twenty years, but had gone over to IT as a career. Anyways, he still had this old trick.

1. remove number piston number 1 spark plug
2. remove the plug that foes from the distributor cap, to the plug right next to it, (so it doesnt actually start)
3. place thumb over spark plug hole
4 have a friend attempt to start the car in quick bursts that that theoretically the distributor only attempts to fire one plug at a time.
5. when the car gets to the number one's compression stroke, you should feel your thumb get blown off by some air (blown off meaining that it gets pushed off, not actually spereated form your body).
6. have your firend stop trying immediately (you should probably be telling him to try again after every try so that you do not go too far)
7. most likely your friend will not have the cat-like reflexes to stop it at exactly that point, so it may be necessary to look at the gear at the end of the engine facing the front of the car, there should be a groove in it, and on the plate that surrounds it, a v shaped groove. On my car, a 1987 Trans Am, we used a 16mm ratchet to rotate the crankshaft back so that these two lined up, it may be different for yours.
8. once the two are lined up, that should be the exact, or near, point that piston number 1 is at the firing point, or top of the compression stroke.
9. check all the wires from this reference point, refer to haynes and or chiltons for your firing order, from here, following wires, you should be able to determine, wihtout paying any money really, that your firing order is indeed correct. Also, while the crankshaft is in this position, the distributor should be exactly at the number 1 spark plug point on the distributor. (Good way to get an idea of just how far off you are, but doesntly really help you fix it.)


We it may look like a lengthy involved process but it really took us about an hour. THat worked for my V8, not sure on the V6, but it should work out. ANyways, just tryin to save you a little cash (i know how it is), and help out. Good luck.

 

The firing order is stamped on the intake manifold. As stated in the above post, find the spot where it pushes your finger off of cylinder one, take the dist. off and look which spot the rotor is facing towards. This would be number 1, so then figure out the firing order from there on out. I'm a little tipsy so if this doesn't make sense sorry
Good Luck Once again

 

Ok, I got the firing order all figured out, no more backfiring....Now I need to go and buy a snot load of vacumm hose to get all the lines rerun to where they need to go.

Found out today that there is a third gen languishing under a tarp about 4 houses down from me, I might go ask and see how much they want for it, if it is for sale...might be able to take 2 cars and make 1 good one.

Taking it one payday at a time...

 

glad you got it running. your like my uncle, he sees a thirdgen then wants to buy it most of the time. hope your car turns out nice. post some pics.

 

Good to see another early v6 guy in the area. I was feeling lonely parked next to all them shiny T/A's and IROCs with my 83 sport coupe

 

A thirdgen is a thirdgen...

 

i agree, i wanna get a bird when i am older.

 

Well, I talked to the guy down the street, I asked him if the Camaro that was parked in front of his garage doors was for sale. He replied that it might be, it wasn't doing anything for him. I checked it out, it is a 83 berlinetta that he dropped a rebuilt 3.1L V6 and refreshed tranny into it. The interior looks complete, I think that it has the digital dash. He bought it for his son, but his wife wants their son's first car to have an air bag. I told him that if he decides to sell it (which he really seems like he wants to) to give me a call. I might end up with another Camaro to park in the driveway.

Oh, the only reason he isn't driving it, it needs a electric fuel pump...

More to come...

 

I think the year would be different...

Berlinettas would have only had an in tank pump for 85 and 86 (the 2.8 first was fuel injected in 85)

Also the 84 thru 86 cars were the only years the digital dash was used. 83 just received the plain old standrd dash (maybe guages were standard but I'm not sure)

 

The guy (jeff) said that the 3.1L V-6 that he put in needs an electric fuel pump as opposed to a mechanical one.

He also took 2 cars and made 1 out of it..... I will go down and look at it again this weekend..

 

if the car doesnt have a pump in the tank right now dont put one in it if you get it...

buy an inline pump and install it .....lot easier than having to drop the tank to change it ...

but dont cut the car apart to install one from the inside please..LOL..do it right..

 

Yeah, I will just get an inline fuel pump and put that in. I hate in tank pumps. I had to replace one on my 99 GMC Safari van. What a B**ch of a job. Luckily, the tank was almost empty.

 

yeah they can be a P.I.T.A. sometimes lol

its always easier to just put an inline one in and be done so if it goes out later it wont be difficult to change....

 

Well, got 10 more minutes out of my life to go fool with the car. I twisted the distributor a little counterclockwise.... No more backfiring thru the carb! I almost wants to stay running. I need to go buy a timing light and see if I can set the timing, after I get all the vacumm hoses put back on. I am suprised, the engine sounds pretty good, no knocking, banging or misses. I need to see if I can get the engine ID number, it looks kinda big for a 2.8L V-6.....

 

Agreed. :hail: