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Tech / General EngineIs your car making a strange sound or won't start? Thinking of adding power with a new combination? Need other technical information or engine specific advice? Don't see another board for your problem? Post it here!
Just took a break from working on her. Replacing the cooling fan switch and pigtail, which was cooked by the headers and appeared to be damaged.
Trying to get her back together after parking her(IRENE =1987 IROC-Z with a mildly modified 355 TPI SBC) last year. I pulled her into the garage to change the water pump, then found all kinds of wiring issues that needed to be redone. In addition, the centrifugal supercharger she runs was locked up and in need of a rebuild. The head unit is an old school Paxton (S2000 from the 90's) so many of the parts were not readily available.
Hoping to fire her up tonight or tomorrow - if I can stay motivated ...ugh
Just got my new aerowing spoiler from Hawks today! As well all my primer paint needs from Eastwood, new seals t-top, doors etc. from 1Aautomotive, and and tools as well. Great day for my Formula!
Then I replaced the worn out rear sway bar links and bushings with new ones from Energy Suspension. Went for a drive and I can feel a noticeable improvement when cornering hard.
No complaints.
Rear Konis, springs, and track bar bushings are next.
I got the Koni shocks and Moog 5665 springs installed in the rear yesterday. Wow, what an improvement! I have the Koni's set to full soft and there's a huge improvement over the worn out Delco's that were back there.
I may end up bumping the shocks up one setting to firm up the rear end a little more, but I think I need to get the front squared away first and see how the car behaves after that is done. I did notice that the rear of the car sits about an inch higher now. I thought I would hate that, but it actually looks pretty good.
I looked closely at the track bar while I was underneath and saw that it's freaking bent! So much for the nice polyurethane bushings I was going to install - looks like I'll need a whole new bar. Any suggestions? I'm not really looking to make a major upgrade, just a stock bar or something one step up.
I need to install my Energy Suspension torque arm bushing next. Then poly control arm bushings (and the track bar of course), and the rear of the car will be pretty well squared away.
I got the Koni shocks and Moog 5665 springs installed in the rear yesterday. Wow, what an improvement! I have the Koni's set to full soft and there's a huge improvement over the worn out Delco's that were back there.
I may end up bumping the shocks up one setting to firm up the rear end a little more, but I think I need to get the front squared away first and see how the car behaves after that is done. I did notice that the rear of the car sits about an inch higher now. I thought I would hate that, but it actually looks pretty good.
I looked closely at the track bar while I was underneath and saw that it's freaking bent! So much for the nice polyurethane bushings I was going to install - looks like I'll need a whole new bar. Any suggestions? I'm not really looking to make a major upgrade, just a stock bar or something one step up.
I need to install my Energy Suspension torque arm bushing next. Then poly control arm bushings (and the track bar of course), and the rear of the car will be pretty well squared away.
Founders Performance makes a nice stock replacement for cheap, IMO anyway. and it comes with the urethane bushings.
Founders Performance makes a nice stock replacement for cheap, IMO anyway. and it comes with the urethane bushings.
Just what I was looking for, thanks. I placed an order for the track bar/RLCA kit. I was going to replace the bushings on the stock RLCA's, but at $50 for the Energy Suspension kit plus $35 for the stock track bar from Rock Auto, I might as well spend 25 bucks more and get the Founders Performance parts. Better performance, and I don't have to fool around with pressing the new bushings in and out of the control arms. Sounds like a winner to me.
Just what I was looking for, thanks. I placed an order for the track bar/RLCA kit. I was going to replace the bushings on the stock RLCA's, but at $50 for the Energy Suspension kit plus $35 for the stock track bar from Rock Auto, I might as well spend 25 bucks more and get the Founders Performance parts. Better performance, and I don't have to fool around with pressing the new bushings in and out of the control arms. Sounds like a winner to me.
I installed founders performance trailing arms and panhard bar about 2 weeks ago. they are great. you will like them.
Fitted a new diff cover with the bearing cap helpers. Should stiffen things a little.
Diff cover
Also fitted a new aftermarket 82 shifter to my 83 Trans Am.
New K.O.E. 82 shifter ****.
With a blanking cap instead of the Pontiac symbol. I know everything else needs attention but this was just a test fit. Also comes with a Knight symbol but its a little ostentatious for my tastes.
82 shifter with knight symbol
Shameless plug I know, but more are available.
Last edited by Doppelganger; 06-13-2019 at 05:11 PM.
Drove my GTA for about 45 minutes, felt something odd in the way it was handling not too far from home (fortunately), and had a a little smoke coming from the wheel well and a very hot tire and wheel when I got out. Likely a frozen brake caliper.
Was getting annoyed with the idle surging that was being difficult on the 3rd gen a couple weeks ago, so I switched to fiddling with the Quadrajet on my 2nd gen. Just about have that dialed in. Adding a wideband o2 gauge was a huge help in confirming which direction and how far to go with the metering rods/jets/idle mixture/APT.
Started driving the 3rd gen again and messing with the tune. Still surging, but only when there's a load change and it recovers pretty quickly at least. I also removed the reverse lockout control box thing I had for the T56 and have the EBL P4 controlling it now. I've noticed that both the computer and speedometer never really register anything under 5 MPH and I'm starting to question the Dakota Digital SGI5E setup, but I tried a couple different modes and the current one is the only one that can calibrate it. Might try switching the ECM to the 8K output and see if it works better.
I installed founders performance trailing arms and panhard bar about 2 weeks ago. they are great. you will like them.
I installed them tonight. I think I'm feeling some improvement when cornering hard, but there's a definite improvement in the way the car launches. I'm happy so far.
Was getting annoyed with the idle surging that was being difficult on the 3rd gen a couple weeks ago, so I switched to fiddling with the Quadrajet on my 2nd gen. Just about have that dialed in. Adding a wideband o2 gauge was a huge help in confirming which direction and how far to go with the metering rods/jets/idle mixture/APT.
Started driving the 3rd gen again and messing with the tune. Still surging, but only when there's a load change and it recovers pretty quickly at least. I also removed the reverse lockout control box thing I had for the T56 and have the EBL P4 controlling it now. I've noticed that both the computer and speedometer never really register anything under 5 MPH and I'm starting to question the Dakota Digital SGI5E setup, but I tried a couple different modes and the current one is the only one that can calibrate it. Might try switching the ECM to the 8K output and see if it works better.
You get a LIKE for using a Quadrajet with a wideband A/F gauge. Let us know how that works out.
Finally got around to pulling the center console to cut and weld the shifter stick and fiddle with the centering springs in the shifter. The T56 with an SLP shifter and stock style stick put the **** a bit too far to the left and rear. Might have tilted it a bit too far forward, but I probably just have to get used to it. I think a straight stick with no offset and a touch of forward bend or tilt would be ideal. Might try making one, I want to get more comfortable with metal cutting/welding anyways.
Made some more progress with the EBL P4 and the tune. I realized I haven't checked the timing with the EST disconnected in a long time and I think it's actually at 9-10 degrees instead of 6. Hard to tell because it surges a bit and the timing goes up and down with the surging. Hopefully that explains some of the knock counts at seemingly reasonable ignition timing, but it also picks up knock counts for things like shifting sometimes. Slowly calming down the surging more and more, but I haven't quite figured out how to interpret the logs and data to know where and what direction to change the VE table to make it happy. It happens in both open and closed loop so it's not the prop gains.
Haven't changed much on the Quadrajet on the other car yet, but I did finally take it apart to write down what all is in it (because I forgot) so I can figure out what to change. I found some primary jets that are 1 size smaller (73 instead of 74) in another Quadrajet I had laying around, but I haven't driven it since swapping. The last tank of gas showed that it got just over 14 MPG, which seems a little optimistic considering it's a low compression, peanut port 454 with a little Edelbrock Performer Plus cam, highway gears, and probably too high of a stall converter in a TH350.
lowered the front(cut a coil and a half) and put on my adjustable umi panhard bar,also a wash and vacuum.so much work to do,too damned hot and when i get home i like air conditioning.
I finally got the ignition tune up done. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and coil.
Also got the rear brakes done - Raybestos rotors and Power Stop ceramic pads.
Got the rear diff drained, cleaned up, and resealed. Will fill with gear oil and posi additive tomorrow morning.
Next is all 3 rear brake hoses and a complete brake fluid flush.
The rear of the car is just about done. New brakes, Energy Suspension sway bar links and bushings, Koni Yellow shocks, Founders Performance Panhard bar and LCAs, and Moog 5665 springs.
I finally got the ignition tune up done. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and coil.
Also got the rear brakes done - Raybestos rotors and Power Stop ceramic pads.
Got the rear diff drained, cleaned up, and resealed. Will fill with gear oil and posi additive tomorrow morning.
Next is all 3 rear brake hoses and a complete brake fluid flush.
The rear of the car is just about done. New brakes, Energy Suspension sway bar links and bushings, Koni Yellow shocks, Founders Performance Panhard bar and LCAs, and Moog 5665 springs.
I got the diff service done and replaced the 3 rear brake hoses today. I used a little hand pump to pull the nasty, black brake fluid out of the master cylinder and refilled with Prestone DOT 3. I flushed the rear lines until there was nice fresh fluid at both calipers and no more air bubbles.
At this point, I'm considering the rear of the car complete, and I'll move on to the front. I still need to replace the torque arm bushing. Maybe tomorrow (actually today, haha).
I want to lower mine a bit but it already just barely scrapes stuff, mainly because of the T56 and the Hooker 2055 setup hanging kind of low.
I think I have all the spark knock eliminated after discovering the base timing being off and that different ignition modules can add or remove timing. Still get some knock counts but they only happen sometimes when I shift or try to rev-match a downshift. Just need to keep working at fixing the idle surge.
My buddy and I did some heavy straightening of the fender bolt pinch welds on both sides. We went to work with vice grips and hammers it was pretty bad down there. No pics (sorry) but there is damage all along the bottom of both doors from improper jacking.
Tomorrow when there's better light we'll keep trying to make them perfectly straight. The PS is ok but the DS will need more "convincing".
months ago when I installed my radiator I dropped a screwdriver, against all odds and laws of physics that tiny scr4ewdriver made its way through all of the hoses, wires, and all the other crap shoved into a thirdgen engine compartment and hit my a/c hard line and punctured it. I watched helpless as its life's blood and my hopes for cold air leaked out. ive been driving without a/c since then. well its hot now. today is 99 degrees with 95% humidity. basically you want to die as soon as you open the door to leave the house. it was about 110 degrees in the car today. I emailed American Camaro and firebird. its a huge salvage that's about a mile from my house. im hoping to get a used hardline from them. a new one is $75. Ive spen way more than that on parts before but its a 1 ft tube. paying $75 for a 1ft tube is more than I want to do. ive been working on the deathrattle (1953 chevy truck) lately. Im finishing the install of a vintage air system. I should be ready to charge it this coming weekend. im hoping to charge them both at the same time.
months ago when I installed my radiator I dropped a screwdriver, against all odds and laws of physics that tiny scr4ewdriver made its way through all of the hoses, wires, and all the other crap shoved into a thirdgen engine compartment and hit my a/c hard line and punctured it. I watched helpless as its life's blood and my hopes for cold air leaked out.
my brother and I call it sutterluck. our last name is Sutterfield. you play with old cars you deal with these things., ive been thinking about a motor for a while. I think im going to go period corvette. get me a good tpi 350 with a cam and heads.
that's a sweet car,color looks great,i would love to get mine painted at some point but ive got too many mechanical things i want done first like my L31 vortec motor swap,frame connectors,new dual exhaust,umi torque arm,my new bbs lm rims and rubber,all new bushings etc etc etc
I got the used a/c hardline. saved me almost $50. I also found a coolant leak. I knew I was losing coolant. I assumed I had another freeze plug going on me. however it turns out its the heater control valve. at least I hope its ONLY the heater control valve. I will put that on the list.
My friend has the original exhaust his L69 car (hasn't even been cut/welded anywhere!) and I've started to like the sound. So out of curiosity, I picked up a 20" case length 3" in/out Walker turbo muffler and swapped it out with the Aerochamber I was running. It's really quiet and I actually kind of like it, but I wouldn't mind if it gets a touch louder after it breaks in some. It's nice being able to rev it without making a bunch of noise and drawing attention. Was only $30. Would be nice to try a Dynomax Super Turbo since they flow better (and are probably louder) than the Walker OE style, but they're $100 and I haven't decided if I'm sold on the Turbo muffler sound yet. Pretty sure I like it though.
Made more progress with tuning the EBL P4 again; don't have to worry too much about it dying in parking lot maneuver style driving compared to a week ago. I'm really starting to wonder about getting another set of injectors because I can't find official Bosch specs/offsets for them, just a thread about a couple of sponsors arguing about whether they're 24 or 27lb injectors (they're really more like 24lb at 1 bar) and a 3rd party data sheet. Almost seems like they aren't flowing the way the ECM is expecting and it's making it difficult, producing strange ripples in the VE table at < 2000 RPM, and making for inconsistent BLMs which end up surging at low RPM before it settles in some situations.
I have noticed the overflow tank level slowly drops and I have to top it off every week or two. I don't smell coolant at any point while driving and I already replaced the heater core last year or so after it let go. I don't know if this started after adding the Champion aluminum radiator or after changing the water pump for the serpentine conversion... gonna be fun figuring that out.
My friend has the original exhaust his L69 car (hasn't even been cut/welded anywhere!) and I've started to like the sound. So out of curiosity, I picked up a 20" case length 3" in/out Walker turbo muffler and swapped it out with the Aerochamber I was running. It's really quiet and I actually kind of like it, but I wouldn't mind if it gets a touch louder after it breaks in some. It's nice being able to rev it without making a bunch of noise and drawing attention. Was only $30. Would be nice to try a Dynomax Super Turbo since they flow better (and are probably louder) than the Walker OE style, but they're $100 and I haven't decided if I'm sold on the Turbo muffler sound yet. Pretty sure I like it though.
I'm actually in the opposite situation right now.
The PO of my car installed a Dynomax Super Turbo 3" catback system, and I'm looking for something more aggressive. The Dynomax has a bit of low rumble at idle, and sounds a little better than stock at WOT, but to me it's just missing that aggressive muscle car sound.
From what I can tell, the Aerochamber has the exhaust tone I've been looking for.
My friend has the original exhaust his L69 car (hasn't even been cut/welded anywhere!) and I've started to like the sound. So out of curiosity, I picked up a 20" case length 3" in/out Walker turbo muffler and swapped it out with the Aerochamber I was running. It's really quiet and I actually kind of like it, but I wouldn't mind if it gets a touch louder after it breaks in some. It's nice being able to rev it without making a bunch of noise and drawing attention. Was only $30. Would be nice to try a Dynomax Super Turbo since they flow better (and are probably louder) than the Walker OE style, but they're $100 and I haven't decided if I'm sold on the Turbo muffler sound yet. Pretty sure I like it though.
Made more progress with tuning the EBL P4 again; don't have to worry too much about it dying in parking lot maneuver style driving compared to a week ago. I'm really starting to wonder about getting another set of injectors because I can't find official Bosch specs/offsets for them, just a thread about a couple of sponsors arguing about whether they're 24 or 27lb injectors (they're really more like 24lb at 1 bar) and a 3rd party data sheet. Almost seems like they aren't flowing the way the ECM is expecting and it's making it difficult, producing strange ripples in the VE table at < 2000 RPM, and making for inconsistent BLMs which end up surging at low RPM before it settles in some situations.
I have noticed the overflow tank level slowly drops and I have to top it off every week or two. I don't smell coolant at any point while driving and I already replaced the heater core last year or so after it let go. I don't know if this started after adding the Champion aluminum radiator or after changing the water pump for the serpentine conversion... gonna be fun figuring that out.
The L69 manifolds have a larger outlet which will make for a louder, throatier sound. So you may not be able to get the same sound if you have the LO manifolds. What did you not like about the Aerochamber? Is it louder than a Flowmaster? I have heard it sounds the same with less drone.
The PO of my car installed a Dynomax Super Turbo 3" catback system, and I'm looking for something more aggressive. The Dynomax has a bit of low rumble at idle, and sounds a little better than stock at WOT, but to me it's just missing that aggressive muscle car sound.
From what I can tell, the Aerochamber has the exhaust tone I've been looking for.
Today I will be cleaning up the car to head to Cars and Coffee tomorrow. It is the Xmas in July show and they are expecting about 1k cars. Next month our car club has the honor of being "under the overhang" They usually park all the high dollar machines there as it is front and center!
The PO of my car installed a Dynomax Super Turbo 3" catback system, and I'm looking for something more aggressive. The Dynomax has a bit of low rumble at idle, and sounds a little better than stock at WOT, but to me it's just missing that aggressive muscle car sound.
From what I can tell, the Aerochamber has the exhaust tone I've been looking for.
Originally Posted by vinny R
The L69 manifolds have a larger outlet which will make for a louder, throatier sound. So you may not be able to get the same sound if you have the LO manifolds. What did you not like about the Aerochamber? Is it louder than a Flowmaster? I have heard it sounds the same with less drone.
I have Hooker 2055 headers so it's definitely not that. His L69 is bone stock from 1984. It also has the original cat still so you'd think it'd be really quiet.
The Aerochamber has a nice sound for sure. I never experienced any unpleasant drone from it, but it made enough noise to tell it was there while cruising at 2000 RPM. I would say it's somewhere around the sound level of a crossflow Flowmaster, but a much more refined sound and maybe a little quieter. I actually expected it to be louder than it was when I got it. Keep in mind I have a 3" in and single 3" out setup, so I don't know if the dual outlet crossflow version of the Aerochamber sounds different. I have the tip set up like the factory tips, where it's fairly hidden and turns down slightly. I used to have the tip pointed straight back under the bumper like most aftermarket setups and I felt it was too quiet from the driver seat; could only hear the fun part of the exhaust if you were next to a wall or something. The tip change made me like the Aerochamber more compared to when I first installed it.
As for why I changed it, I don't know. I just felt like I wanted it to be quieter for now. It's clamped in with band clamps so it's easy to swap the muffler out when I get bored with it. Already thinking about what to try next or if I'll go back to the Aerochamber once I get bored with the cheapo Walker.
Yeah, it really did. I'm pretty tickled with it, especially considering what I paid. I was getting estimates of $4K to $7K to have it painted and the last guy I talked to told me $2500 cash. I was skeptical but talked to some other people that have used the body shop and everybody was pleased with the work. Owner told me we could sit a $7K paint job beside his $2500 job and there'd be no difference.
They totally dismantled the car . . hood, fenders, doors, front nose/bumper, hatch, rear bumper. Stripped 90% of the paint to metal, fit everything up and got all body lines straightened back out, dismantled everything again, painted everything separately, then put it all back together. Also, I had them install new carpet and door panels while they had it, they had a new windshield installed, installed a new (used) back glass from donor car (defroster lines on old one were trash after removing tint with razor blade), swapped out doors from a donor car (old ones were rusted through on bottom of door). Charged me an additional $500 for all of that, so total was $3K. Gave him $500 tip for doing a great job.
Couldn't be happier. Car hasn't looked this good since I last had it sprayed circa 1994.
Basically restored! Wish I lived near there. That's a freakin' steal for it being disassembled, stripped, and repainted. Probably pay $7k for a scuff and re-spray that cracks in 6 months out here.
spent about 5 hours today on the a/c system. it broke my spirits. I installed the part and vacuumed the system and it leaked. over an hour I lost 2hg. I cant figure out why I cant seal 2 O-rings. I gave up for today. im not sure what the issue is. its so hot!! it was 97 in my garage.
Last edited by Evilokc; 08-04-2019 at 09:42 PM.
Reason: spelling
Isn't that always the way?
Like the tool that is missing but you don't find out until exactly when you need it.
Funny how it works like that. Drives me nuts.
have a battery cable that's been a pain in my *** for a few weeks. tighten it up and a few miles later its loose again and your dead at a stop light. replaced it today.
was back at the a/c today. with temps hovering at 100 degrees everyday and the forecast saying we have 3 days this week over 100 degrees. I removed the leaking hardline and cleaned the o ring surface and the threads,. I lubed it well. I cleaned the condenser side with acetone and lubed the threads. made sure that the condenser side ( the side that was leaking) went on first and was completely seated. other side went on fine. installed it and put a vacuum on it. I let that sit for 15 minutes to see of it was going to leak. it didn't. its now back on the vacuum getting a full 1 hour evacuation and then I will charge it. if all goes well I will be blowing 45 degrees.. fingers crossed guys. I also need to replace my heater control valve. its leaking.
tI put the uv light on it today and its not leaking. that made me feel good. it was cooling today but not great. I knew it wouldn't as I hadn't filled the Freon all the way. I wanted to get some uv dye in there. I put im a small amount. it got 64 last night but sitting in the 100 degree heat all day ( interior was 114 when I got in) I only blew 72 degrees. it was so much better though. I added some more tonight. again I didn't fill it. the psi chart called for 45-55 but I stopped at 40psi and 49 degrees. I will run it tomorrow and finish it off after work. got some thirdgen love in the parking lot. people love a thirgen.
I put the small amount of Freon I had remaining in the system. its still nowhere near capacity. in the 99 degree heat it cooled to 51 degrees. that's really not to shabby for a near 30 year old system. it warms up as you sit in traffic and that's no good. the only way to avoid that Is by adding a condenser fan. I may do that at another time. I do wish the blower had a little more power. im going to see what my options for upgrade. im pretty pleased with the outcome so far. a/c is a beautiful thing.
06-05-2019, 04:34 PM
So much for the nice polyurethane bushings I was going to install - looks like I'll need a whole new bar. Any suggestions? I'm not really looking to make a major upgrade, just a stock bar or something one step up.
