ZZ3Astro

[img][/img]


It's here... he doesn't even have the check yet! Surprisingly this car has reignited my interest in getting the Iroc running. There is no longer the pressure of having to finish it before I can enjoy some horsepower. Now it is just the want of experiencing it in the Iroc.


Talked to one shop last week he is about three weeks out. Talking to another tomorrow. If both are too far out I will likely get some progress on it later this week. Also Dustin is moving out of my rental and he said he definitely does not want the 4L80e and I can have it. Stock rebuild on it now. Tempting to get a converter and just put it in since my 700 is slipping. I already have the driveshaft and crossmember to bolt it right in not to mention the harness for the Holley.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Nice. Give us the specs on the new GTR in comparison with the stocker you had...

- Rob

ZZ3Astro

It's 2014 with Alpha 9 package, 4" Titanium Exhaust, Vorsteiner 20" wheels wrapped in Pilots, T1R E85 Flexfuel (autoscales between 93 and E85 based on detected Ethanol percentage), 2015 headlight and taillight upgrade and lots of carbon parts. Makes 700whp on 93 and about 70 more on E85 but with stock rods 700 is the recommended limit. Long term plan is a shortblock and a trans upgrade but I doubt I will do anything to make more power. Time will tell though... we all know when you make parts able to handle more it will get turned up more!


Love the Pilot tires... quiet and yet they hook very well. Got rid of a huge complaint I had with the previous car (noisy runflats that spun on launch, and then R888's that hated rain and felt spongy on handling.)

ZZ3Astro

Today I visited another shop that was on my short list for the Iroc work. I knew I was in the right place when I saw a complete dominator system on the shelf and when he told me he is in the middle of two dominator installs this week. Shop is super clean and they have a good reputation in the area for doing things the right way. I will bring the car over there in about two weeks.

zz17iroc

iTrader: (4)

Great to hear you didn't completely give up on the Iroc! But I know life happens too, good luck with all your projects man!

ZZ3Astro

I was showing someone the Iroc a couple of days ago and I was going through all of my yet to be installed parts. Some really nice pieces sitting there that will be durable as heck. I'm just too far in to walk away (yet) so we are going to see what it can do.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Did you end up selling the Megasquirt ? I was thinking about that the other day, I know you switched to Holley.

-- Joe

86Z

iTrader: (4)

i know exactly how you feel about having another "horsepower" car and tinker with the iroc

i could not bring myself to sell my camaro. she now has a 6.0 lq9 in her. fired her up the other day for the first time.. open headers

my brother in-law has a 16 or 17 gtr while it's nice i chose a vette mostly because of cost for what it is and it's just too clunky and loud inside. i drove it ***** out and was not impressed.

ZZ3Astro

Still have the Megasquirt. No current plans to re-use it.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

MS2? 3.57? Mods ?

-- Joe

ZZ3Astro

MS2 3.0 that's about all I remember about it.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

3.0? Hrmm. You assemble it or is it a diyautotune assembly?


-- Joe

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Why does it matter he aint using it lol

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Because I might be interested in it.

Obviously I'm not concerned about it's well being, or if it's lonely sitting in his garage.

It doesn't sound like he wants to use it for his other projects, and it kinda sounds like he's thrown in the towel with the MS stuff as a whole, so if it's a worthy ECU I'm asking what his intentions are with it (sell, keep, bring to the shooting range, etc).


-- Joe

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Very very nice Steve, congrats on the purchase!

Once I'm done with the GTA I think it's time to move onto something new myself...

- Rob

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

Why wait to be done with the GTA?

How many vehicles do you have ?

-- Joe

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Don’t encourage him. Let him finish the gta

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

I'm honestly over the multiple car thing, the next car would be just something to throw bolt ons to, while running pretty damn fast. Today's cars have plenty of options for just that. I don't want projects anymore. I had this GTA for a long time, and I need to finish it. The dyno and track runs are the easy part, the restoration in terms of interior, plastic, professional re-paint, and few other things, that is what will take the most time, but that's after the build. Getting it to the dyno and to the track is the easy part now, I'm just about ready for all of that. While it's NA I'd also like to run a few Fox Body's with similar modifications, because I was always a firm believer that the 305 would compete against the Ford 302 when built and tuned properly.

Have a few guys online that might be down for just that... :grin:

- Rob

ZZ3Astro

I wish I could prune myself down to say 3 cars. Trying to get rid of the jeep right now. This addiction is very costly indeed. About to drop 10k on a pole barn to cover more vehicles and possibly adding a two car carport on the house as well. I have sand driveways right now and it really sucks especially for newish cars.. so I'm working on concrete driveways and the carport decision needs to be made first.


Slight issue with the GTR... clutch is slipping on the middle power map. The dealer is working with me to keep me happy, but it's going to be money out of my pocket because I want to upgrade it if it's going on the lift. Now I'm also considering getting a forged shortblock put in it while it's there and I can make it an even 1000hp.


Waiting on the shop to return my call for the Iroc transport. It's looking like the GTR will be down most of May possibly into June for the upgrade(s) but the Iroc will likely be done by then if they ever tell me to bring it. If they don't call me back soon I'm going to start working on some things myself. Just been busy with the business lately and time is limited.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

What is it? I have a 2017 Wrangler.

I'm kinda on the fence about stuff lately too. Drove the Vette to work today. Thinking about the thirdgen, and what I want to do with it. part of me wants to make it more of a track car, but it's really the wrong platform for that.

-- Joe

ZZ3Astro

Bought a 04 Rubicon to tow behind the motorhome. After a transmission going bad on the first drive, clock spring and fuel pump failure in four months, plus having just put new wheels & tires on it, I've lost faith/interest in it. Also it sucks the gas down and I think I'm just getting too old to enjoy climbing in and out of it. Replaced with a 2010 CRV that can be flat towed.

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

aand we're off! lol

ZZ3Astro

Happy to report, after a very trying trailer loading effort of a non-running car, the Iroc is ready to roll out tomorrow to the shop to have the wiring finished for the Holley system. I am also going to have him make new hardlines for the front brakes as I just reused the stock hardlines on the tubular K-member to get it running. I suspect he will be on this project quickly and it could be running within a couple of weeks. Hopefully not too fast because I need the bay for my tractor until the new pole barn goes up in a few weeks in place of that ugly mobile home.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Sorry for your loss Steve, it's very hard to deal with... I know. Very handsome cat. RIP.

- Rob

ZZ3Astro

Thank you Rob... we miss him. Been a rough patch around here in the past month. Having some big time problems with my new roof I got last year among other things. First world problems though I suppose. At least the Iroc is getting worked on. It's situations like these that kept pushing that car back. Now it's actually getting finished (I hope!). I will see it Saturday when they are having an open house dyno day thing and update you guys on the progress.

ZZ3Astro

Stopped by the shop yesterday for a dyno day.. Not much progress yet but they told me they have gone over the car and have a game plan for hitting it this week, Shop is very clean and organized.. nearly every car there is a turbo car. Mostly LS.
Even the Mustang had a turbo LS in it. We'll see how they do but I'm hoping for a good result. If so I have plenty more for them to do, starting with figuring out how to squeeze this all aluminum radiator in. I told them no hurry since I'm down a parking spot while I tear the roof off the trailer garage, in preparation for the trailer to be moved and a new pole barn to get installed.

ZZ3Astro

Shop called me yesterday asking me to come by to answer a few questions about how I want things done. I was very pleased to find the entire front of my car covered in moving blankets and fender protectors. A full size fold up table had been placed next to it and all of the Holley system components neatly organized on it with no tools or clutter mixed in. I have a feeling I'm going to pay for this level of service when the bill arrives, but I feel like the car is in good hands so far. They already have the main harness installed and need to extend the IAT sensor wire but wanted to confirm that was ok first. I'm guessing end of next week it will be wired up and ready to fire.

ZZ3Astro

Progress on the Iroc... coils are fully wired in. ECM is mounted. Main harness and fan harness done. They are now working on the main power connections and fuel pump wiring. Won't be long now!

ZZ3Astro

The Iroc is close to starting up. I'm impressed with the wiring job... it looks milspec. I don't want to see the bill but it sure looks clean. He said it may be ready to fire up tomorrow, but I still have some other work for them including the front brake hardlines and wrapping some of the turbo piping.

Drac0nic

They do any work on the fuel system?

ZZ3Astro

I think fuel is ok for now.. I'm only having them rewire the fuel pump relay circuits for now. Round two will be the transmission and 9 inch install and probably a new fuel line setup depending on what fuel pressure logging reveals.


Stopped by today and the car cranks over! He only has the alternator charge wire and the main power feed to the Holley system and it will fire up. After that I'm having them wrap the new crossover tube, new wrap on the downpipe and build new hardlines for the front brakes that follows the shape of the tubular K-Member.


The drama I've been dealing with in the past three or four weeks... it's a dang good thing the car is at a shop. It would not have been touched once in that time span if it was waiting on me. Showing no signs of letting up either, so they will likely be getting more work. I'm also subbing out my 49 front suspension install. Just don't have the time or energy to do it myself for now.

ZZ3Astro

And it runs! Sorta... battery is toast so I brought a new one by this morning. They were working on the front brake lines and that is the very last thing for this visit. It should be home by early next week (I can't pick it up tomorrow due to other obligations). It only has a base default tune in it so it didn't really idle good but it will get itself on the trailer and that is all I wanted them to do. Now to get it home and learn the Holley EFI system!

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

Sweet. Bet you missed the ole girl didn't you...

- Rob

ZZ3Astro

The time really went by in a flash. Work and life in general have been running at 200% this past month. In the past I would have been chomping at the bit to get the Iroc back by now but in this case I keep telling them to take their time. I'm not ready for it yet, not until the new pole barn is up in 2 weeks. Yes I'd like to tune on it and drive it some but I'll have to stack cars in the shop if it comes back before I have the barn done. Also once it's back I'll have to pull out the check book for the rest of the parts I need, starting with tires and ending with bigger exhaust and a 4L80

no new tires

I told yal O.P wasn't gonna sell the IROC. He just likes to keep ppl "tuned in".

Say O.P, where's my shout out?

ZZ3Astro

No New Tires, I wouldn't write that check just yet LOL... it still has to start behaving or it could find itself on the chopping block. I will say though that if this particular shop works out and I can reliably use them then it will be much more likely that I will keep the Iroc around. It has been a very frustration free process so far. As long as I can fix any problems that come up by throwing cash at it and get no resulting frustration, I can finally get that car where I've always wanted it to be.


Waiting on some shed movers today and hoping they show up and finish early so I can swing by and start up the Iroc.

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

does that shop have access to a dyno/tuner? might be worthwhile to have them do some dyno tuning. this way, they could probably identify any oddities that may cause headaches. hard to beat someone that tunes pretty much every day.

after that, you could do your street tuning and tweaking. just a thought.

ZZ3Astro

They do have a dyno but not going to have them do any tuning. I won't get into all of the reasons but a big one is I do my own tuning on this car. I'm not going to be at the track with a problem I can't figure out because someone else did the tune. Another problem is the trans slips in third now in high power so I'd be wasting good money after bad if I paid some to tune. Now renting some dyno time and doing my own tuning is a possibility after I get the trans situated.

Drac0nic

I'll be curious to see how pricing and any lessons you have work out. I've thought about doing this after the 383 goes in.

ZZ3Astro

Iroc is back home. Overall I'm happy with where the car is but there are a couple of issues, one is a big problem. The Holley analog gauges, only the small ones, are jumping around like they are on crack. The larger rpm and speedo gauge are stable. They are all on the same bus adapter with a common ground and power. It drives me nuts that I spend $1k on gauges for the first time in my life (I've always used factory) and they don't work right. Hopefully something simple.


Also I forgot to tell them to hook up the fuel level sensor to the ecm and they forgot to hook up the launch control button. And my exhaust cutout isn't working so most likely the power wire is not hot. No big deal except the fuel level which is easy enough to add in.


Car runs, I drove it on and off the trailer. It is stalling out and AFR is swinging as would be expected with nothing but a baseline tune. Rain started the minute I pulled out of their driveway with it on the trailer, so no tuning this afternoon. Throttle response seems better even with no real tune.


As for the gauges, I hope it isn't anything to do with my long plug wires. The laptop gauges show rock solid so I don't think ignition noise is a factor. I will call Holley tech support and see what they suggest.


Steve

ZZ3Astro

Well I figured out one problem... they wired the coil harness as if it were going on a normal LS. I specifically told them the order of the coils might be flipped and to please confirm each cylinder. Well they couldn't get it to run with the Gen1 firing order and they turned it over to me with the LS firing order. This means the injector sequence is wrong, as I confirmed the injector harness is installed correctly. I traced the wiring and #1 is firing #7, so the order of the coils is opposite of what it would be on the 5.3 (since I ran wires to remote mounted coils with the lowest cylinder's wire going to the inside coil). It's somewhat of an easy fix as I should be able to just flip the coil harness over and plug them in the other way... I'm just very surprised this wasn't caught and disappointed that they have the firing order as LS. Waiting for the rain to let up so I can go reverse the order and see if it runs better.


I'd like to think this is causing the gauges to flip out but I know better. Car is undriveable with the gauges going wacko - especially now that I programmed the limit warning lights. This car is an uphill battle no matter what!!

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

This is what i was getting at when i said to have them put a baseline tune in it on the dyno. they would have had to find and fix these issues as opposed to simply getting it to start and pull itself on the trailer.

ZZ3Astro

I ended up having to re-pin the coil harness, fix the firing order, reset the cam sync distributor position and reconfig the tune to get it running right. This harness was pinned for normal LS but my cylinders are not hooked up to the same coils in the same order. The effective firing order was 72184365 but the actual firing order in the config was LS. While the coils ultimately fired in the correct sequence, the injectors were not.

Still have the gauge issues but at least it is running right now. Biggest revelation is my oil pressure is insanely low, like 14 at idle. I've seen it below 20 on the stock gauge but only when it's 220 degrees+. On revving the highest I'm logging is 45psi. I assume it has been this way but the only way to know for sure would be to put in the old sensor and gauge.

Just send it I guess.

Drac0nic

I will say I'd probably change the oil. It's probably got a buncha gas in it. You may find it's a lot thinner than you think.

ZZ3Astro

So far not a good day... I did drive it around a bit and like the Holley's closed loop learning features. Drove fine got back and sat in the shop with it running about 5 mins and it suddenly went off. Diagnosed it down to no fuel pressure. Relays are 30/40 amp and fuel pump needs 15 and neither pump relay was hot. I programmed the second pump to come on and the pressure went right up to 42. After cooling down the primary pump works for a bit and then stops pumping again but you can still hear it running. Out of options there I just temporarily programmed #2 to come on if the fuel pressure drops below 30 while the engine is running. I don't think it is the pressure sensor as the engine leans out and dies as the pressure shows dropping. Now the regulator is scorching hot at the time this happened but with the second pump coming on and restoring pressure, it must be the pump.

Giving up on the first gremlin I focused on the horrible gauge glitching issue. I bypassed all gauges and tried a single gauge and then a different single gauge. Still glitches if car is running. Next I ran a power wire from a jump box.. Still glitching. Then I cut every single zip tie I paid to have installed and completely removed the CAN wiring back to the ECM and kept it at least 12 inches away from anything else. STILL GLITCHING. I'm down to one last thing I can do, which is cut the CAN adapter power wire and run it directly back to the battery. I guess I could also disconnect the alternator belt FWIW.

Honestly with a dead fuel pump and glitching gauges after the $9k I just dropped on this system and labor, I'm going to be done if the gauge issue doesn't go away. I cannot find a single reference to a similar issue anywhere on the Internet. Only me, as usual! SMH

ZZ3Astro

To follow up.. I removed the alternator charge wire with no improvement. Running the CAN adapter directly off the jump box also did not resolve the issue. Finally I took an old transistor radio, on the advice of Holley tech support, and listened for interference. Well the CAN adapter makes so much interference its nearly impossible to hear anything else, but I do hear the ignition system... a real shocker, huh? I mean it sounds like any spark plug equipped car I've ever put a radio like that near in AM mode. There is no random loud spark, just a perfect, steady, even, consistent buzz you would expect to hear near any running ignition system.


Yellow flies invaded the shop and I was forced to cancel further efforts, although I have zero options left other than replacing the Dominator ECM. Other than that I could put an LS in there with short plug wires. The long plug wires are an absolute necessity on this car. They run low and to the front of the car so I personally think there is probably less ignition noise than an LS with valve cover mounted coils.


The endless battle with this car is sickening.

Drac0nic

You paid enough for the system, and honestly an aspect of the system you paid for is support. It's not a $300 MS2 that has "community" support.

I have HPT here and am frustrated with the MS myself. Chances are after I can figure out how to get the right sensors on for it there's going to be a stock box back on my stuff.

ZZ3Astro

I've now completely eliminated everything except the ECM.. ignition noise is about the same as my stock HEI 350 in the 49. Not saying a different Dominator will work any better, but my ignition noise is not out of control. Now the GTR is substantially lower than the other two, but that is COP.

ZZ3Astro

I guess someone closed the hood on something and it bent the very back edge of the hood outward (where the hood turns down beside the fender)... and didn't bother bending it back straight. When I closed the hood today that edge was out far enough it caught the top of the fender and held the entire back of the hood up while putting all of that pressure on the top of the fender. I can see where it's happened a few times recently. SMH at this whole experience.

Street Lethal

iTrader: (16)

It's vapor lock Steve. I just watched the video as well...

- Rob