Hi.

At number of years ago, I removed the tired old 305 automatic in my 1986 bird, and replaced it with a 350 and T5. The motor was a decent buildup - vortec heads, shorty headers, comp cams extreme marine cam, had the Q-jet rebuilt by Jet (I think, don't remember exactly anymore), Pete Jackson gear drive. Everything in the motor was new: crank, rods, pistons. We did a nice job setting up the block. It measured static 10:0 compression. The cam got dialed in. Anyway, it ran, but never great. Turns out one of the lifters scrubbed itself and the cam lobe to a nub. I lost interest in the car for a long time so the car has sat long enough that it really does look like godzilla's playpen. I'm getting the bug to dig back into it but discouraged everytime I open the hood.

By the way - has anyone else run into the problem of changing spark plugs on vortec heads? It's impossible with the headers in place - ugh!

When I built up the motor, it was still required to meet EPA tail-pipe sniff test - that's why the I chose the cam and why the mostly stock QJet got kept. Now that the car is over 25 years old, no longer need to do that - so there are options available to me. At the same time, I don't want to build a polluter so want a nice clean running car.

After looking over the complicated mess of an engine bay, maybe simplifying the whole thing is a good idea. I really do need a starting point and am not quite sure where I want to start - looking for some guidance from the community.

First, that air-pump. Can it be safely removed? that would make life a little bit simpler.

Second, just pulled 2 of the spark plugs out and they are filthy dirty - very rich running. At this point, the Q-Jet seems to be leaking and probably is not doing the right thing anymore - maybe never did? The QJ works under ECM control but I don't really know if things are working correctly there - maybe some pointers where to start?

Third, I'd like to get the wiring diagram for this car and the vacuum diagram. where to locate these?

I'd like to ultimately swap in a TPI setup. Maybe a pipe dream at the moment, but I like the concept. For now, this car needs to get running again. Simplifying the configuration is one possible way to get there but I realize the computer is going to make the job a little bit harder for me. Does the ECM care if it's from an automatic, but now running standard?

I still need to pull the cam out, and get something in there that isn't flat, but really need to have it running better before making the swap.

so it seems my plan should be:
1) simplify
2) get running well enough to allow a cam swap

Any help from the crowd would be greatly appreciated!

thanks

 

Welcome to the forums! You're asking a whole bunch of questions there, most of which have been answered and discussed before. Try using the search function, there are endless hours of expertise and experience to read thru on this site.

I'll get the ball rolling for you with the electric and vac diagrams:

http://92b4crs.tripod.com/86wiring/86wiringindex.html

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...iagrams-i.html

If you've rolled a lobe right down to the base circle, you'll have a lot of metal in the engine that will need to be removed before it eats your bearings etc. Assessing that damage would be the most pressing concern, I would think.

 

That would be what I would be most concerned about - I wouldn't keep trying to get it "running well enough" as you could be doing more damage than good and causing a lot more headaches than you're going to be comfortable with - especially since you had to walk away from it once before...

Here's what I'd do:
1) pull the engine, pull the pan and clean out the trash, pull the cam and replace it with something performance oriented that will work with your goals (and if TPI is really a possibilty then pick one that will work with whatever system you choose). Check the bearings and oil pump to make sure they aren't damaged with cam shavings being run through them. Clean everything out and button the engine up. Make sure you're using a good molly/zinc lube on a flat tappet cam as well as good zinc rich oil to keep a new cam from going flat.

2) Since it sounds like things aren't going good with the computer controlled stuff, you don't need to pass emissions checks, and you don't have a lot to patience to troubleshoot and tune things (and trust me I know where you're coming from) - put a non-computer controlled carb and distributor on the engine - this will be the easiest to get running "right" - either put a holley carb and matching intake or get a spread-bore carb that bolts on to where the CCC was. For vacuum - all you need to hook up is the brake booster, the PCV, and the distributor vacuum advance - everything else can be eliminated.

3) leave the air pump off and cap the ports on the exhust side - since you're going to be running a non-computer control then this can be just removed and not worry about any of it.

3) Tune it and go out and drive the heck out of it and have fun with it for a while until you get over the fact that it got the better of you the last time - have fun with it for at least a year before deciding to dive in and do something more complex like converting to TPI, etc.

 

Yeah, I realized a lot of questions in there Maybe I am looking for some motivation too - because, man - the car is a mess. I spent the time to strip it down and repaint, but that was maybe 1999. Then tore into the engine bay, as I already said. Sadly, the car sits outside - and blocks a chevelle that I keep in the garage. It would be nice to get it running enough that I can move it around.

okay - nuff of that.

Thanks for the links!

Regarding the engine pull - not bad idea. But I'd really like to get rid of the unused stuff like air pump and extra vacuum crap and not put it back in.

One thing that worries me is the stink generated by non-pollution controlled cars. I like the clean cat, non-rich exhaust. Nothing worse than smelling like gas after a ride in the car.

 

Ditch the AIR pump and extra vacuum and simplify things. The car doesn't have to run overly rich if it's tuned properly and has a working catalytic converter - remember that they ran converters for years before EFI came about and they clean up exhaust just as well on a non-computer controlled engine as they do on computer controlled stuff.

I'd just run a high-flow catalytic converter in the exhaust - and if you're going to use a wideband - I prefer to use a pre-cat O2 sensor location when doing any tuning... Get your cruise AFR to be lean and set the idle to as lean as possible while maintaining good idle characteristics and you shouldn't smell fuel.