Awesome!

 

its back

 

system off the car for final welding..




Also fabbed up new mounting brackets for the PS pump and alternator. Both are tucked in on the drivers side of the engine now. New pics of that soon.

 

Looking great so far! Good to see it's running and driving well.

 

 

Exhaust is all done finally, vids soon. Sounds damn good though.

Accessory drive is all wrapped up as well, here are before and after pics..

Before, the 3.4 cast aluminum brackets worked great but they cluttered up the front of the engine and i wasn't happy with the ICM location.. It is an OLD pic from before i loomed the harness and flipped the fuel rail around backwards. Best i could find though.




After; PS pump mounted with custom brackets, alternator relocated with a BCC alternator bracket and a 6" turnbuckle setup for a tensioner. Also put in a new water pump, 3.4 timing cover (has smaller lower hose outlet that matches the hose i'm using) and cleaned up the wiring. ICM/Coils moved to firewall and a ton of other small stuff. This should be more reliable (and IMO looks much better)




Filter box will go back on before i drive the car, need to finish re-painting it though.


hoping to have it on the road this weekend, if everything holds up i'll be DD'ing it all summer.

 

looks badass, funny how one of the nicest cars on the board is a built v6

 

I have to agree on the ICM and coils, Idk wth they mounted to those to the PS pump like that, I'll probably move mine to the firewall eventually too.

 

In for sound video!

 

Ummm...pure sex on wheels.

 

looks much better. what did you do with your PCV? I noticed it's different. maybe your coils/ ICM will last longer now that it's a little further from the engine heat. not that its a pressing issue but couldn't hurt.

 

Wow man, nice Very Very Nice!!!

 

Looks like its got an EVAC setup on it...

 

Yep, slashcuts in the exhaust. This engine pulls such little vacuum that the PCV was pretty worthless.

I'd have posted an exhaust video this weekend but i had a small belt tracking issue that turned out to be a pain to fix. PS pump was deflecting and making the belt track a little too far outward. Pretty funny to see one edge of a belt smoke.

Had to make a whole new bracket for the PS pump and then shim it back straight. So far it's working good, If the weather cooperates tomorrow i'll see about taking it out for a spin.


Thanks for the compliments.

 

am i thinking of the wrong thread or did this car used to be red, and also have its motor blown at the track before?

 

Not this car.

 

That was Mars

 

yes mars, anyone have a link to it, im for some reason unsubscribed and cant find it

also damn nice car my friend

 

I really need to burn the rest of this crap gas out of the tank.. but here is a video of the new setup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7iXW...ature=youtu.be

 

that thing sounds pretty wicked with true duals

 

Ummm...SEXY.

 

Wow very nice

 

trying to drive it as much as possible but the vac assist on the brakes is terrible this year. The only thing i changed is the exhaust, idle vacuum is a few inches lower than it was last year. It's down to 5-6" at idle, 6-8 while cruising in 3rd at 45. Runs great otherwise.


Time to install a vacuum pump since the booster and check valve tested good.


I'll post up pictures of the install this weekend after i raid the caddys at the junk yard.

 

wouldnt it be cheaper to just swap to a hydraboost setup or go full maunal brakes?

 

used vacuum pumps are like $40 at the junk yard and fairly easy to remove.

 

with ur setup when u said vacum pump i aussumed u would be buying a morroso or other racing brand pump, not converting a smog pump lol

 

WAY different kind of vacuum pump, Dave is talking about one that attaches between the intake manifold and brake booster, that is electric.

A friend of mine likes the 2000s GM trucks/SUV version in his vehicles.

 

i was just going to say the same thing lol

 

more info on said pumps please?

 

Like Six said, a lot of modern GM's use them. My '06 Trailblazer has one. It's just a small vacuum pump that runs until there is 20" or so of vacuum on the booster. They have a cutoff switch and just wire into an ignition circuit.


I can hear the one in my trailblazer run every time i start it for a few seconds. I don't think my '03 Avalanche has one though.. i need to look.



They can be used to pull a vacuum on the crank case but you need to run a catch can and they won't last long either way running that much.


Lots of 80's/90's Caddys, and 04+ GM trucks/SUV's have them. Probably quite a bit of other cars as well.

 

I read a nice story on GM Hi-Tech about swapping out a hydro-boost into a GN and getting rid of the Powermaster setup they came with. I used it as my first power point presentation to the class in my military training class hahaah.

I sure hope someone does it before I do it, but if you don't, I guess I'll do it. I keep hearing people say that the Astro van booster is the one to use, and all that, but I have yet to see one actually running on a 3rd gen.

Still, don't you think the hydroboost would be better than a vacuum pump?

 

Nope, hydroboost requires the engine to be running, vacuum pump only requires battery power, and even if it doesn't hav power a vacuum booster will still have enough vacuum for at least one good shot at the brakes.

 

Hydraulic power assisted brakes via the PS pump are far superior to a vacuum based system in terms of brake effort. Its a little extra strain on the motor, but your brake feel would be much better.

 

I haven't noticed any appreciable difference in pedal feel between the two systems.

 

I noticed a BIG difference between the two in GM Pickups from the 80's and 90's and as a result, I put one on every pickup I drive. I didn't have to on my current truck, an 03 HD 2500, since it already has it.

I first started using them in the 90's in some diesel powered cars that I had from the 70's and 80's. It has a different feel to it than the vacuum system, and it seemed to clamp harder with less pedal effort on the cars I drove, mainly G-bodies and B-bodies. Also, if we were towing with a rope or a strap, it was easier to brake than a vacuum type with no engine running.

To the OP, have you driven many hydro-boost cars? I'm just curious, that's all. I'm also curious to see where the vacuum pump thing goes and how well it works.

 

I've driven a few but only in their stock form and never testing the performance...mostly just hauling around equipment.


I believe a few people have done the swap in the 2nd gen Jbodies, one is a good friend of mine and has made the suggestion a few times. With a looming track date in a few weeks the $40 solution seems the most logical though.


As the car evolves into a daily driver i may change over.. we'll see.

 

I grabbed a vac assist pump off of a '04 Silverado at the yard, problem was that it would only pull 7" of vacuum (and that's apparently normal). I took it apart and made a slight adjustment to the pressure switch and now it pulls 16".


It's all wired in/hooked up. from 0 vacuum it takes 20 sec to pull 16", i haven't tested it in a driving situation yet. If the weather is better tomorrow i'll find out for sure how it does.


There were several hydroboost setups at the yard, few in Astro vans and one in a full size truck. I took a look at the system and it doesn't look too bad to install. If this vac assist pump doesn't work out i may just go hydraulic. I also found an electro-hydraulic setup in an old Caddy, it looked interesting but pretty crusty so i didn't feel like pulling it out.


Pics/results soon...

 

from what i remember reading the astro van setup is the setup to use for an f-body

i was going to do this swap in my iroc but i plan on ditiching the ps for a manual box out of an s10, so if i did the hydroboost id have to keep my ps which i really want to toss

 

I'm too old and beat up to ditch the power steering hahaah.

I'll be doing a thread in a month or so on a hydroboost install in my 88 in case no one else does it.

 

its not to bad unless ur running 255/xx/xx+ tires upfron,if u ever lost the belt on the power steering pump u know how hard it is to turn at a dead stop, but manual sterring is easier then that,

manual sterring is much easier the ps with the belt off the pump

and my whole thing is i ant to get riod of the power steering pump to swap to a electric water pump and low mount my alt on the driverside

 

Ha, I'll be adding power steering to my Datsun, with 225s on the front, it gets a bit hard to turn at low speeds. lol

 

road test today confirmed.. I have brakes again!


they saved my a$$ too.. pavement was a little too wet to be having fun, 1-2 shift at 6K and it went sideways.

 

vids?

 

lol, no.


Just sorting out some other issues now, i put on a brand new alternator and 2 new idler pulleys to try and sort out an annoying squealing that i was getting. None of them fixed the problem of course... It seems like my PS pump is the cause. It's a chirp at idle (sounds just like a bad bearing in a idler pulley) and at a higher RPM is really loud.

Seems like just another excuse to go manual steering although it would be easier just to grab a new stock pump. Been tossing around the idea of using a modern FWD pump as well but i have just a few weeks left to get it ready for the track.

 

so 16" of vacuum is good for running the booster? Did you have a gauge to read what was being pulled while you worked the brakes?

 

I had a gauge hooked to a T in the line, the vac would drop pretty fast once i hit the brakes but with the engine vacuum and the pump running it recovered in a few sec.

 

My next issue to tackle was the power steering. I went back and forth and was completely settled on using a type 2 pump with a remote reservoir. I have a new '87 Sunbird pump, Gen 4 steel pulley, remote reservoir from an Astro van and fabbed up a set of brackets. It's all ready to go in.. but I also found a manual box at the yard this morning, lower miles '89 2.5 S10. Picked up the box for a good price and swapped it in this afternoon to see if i liked it.


What everyone says is true, it takes some getting used to but once you're rolling it's not too bad. I will go back to power steering eventually with the type 2 setup but for now the car is running/driving and ready for the MFBA track rental next Sunday.


Current engine shot... you can also see the vac booster right in front of the brake master.





I did weigh both the PS box and the manual box, 29.5 lbs VS 22 lbs. Figure in a few lbs for the pump, bracket lines and fluid and I bet i shaved between 10 and 15 lbs total.

 

Nice man, glad to see it's mobile again. I'm curious what kind of difference those stacks made vs GM's manifold. Better up top and less down low?

 

it feels about the same below about 3K RPM, from there up to 7K it's like unleashing hell. The throttle is pretty touchy but i did have a single 75mm TB on the old plenum so i'm pretty used to that.


I datalogged some WOT pulls on my way to work this morning, burnt almost 1/4 tank of gas in 5 minutes.


Other than being loud it's actually pretty streetable, gets a little warm in the afternoon sun but it's also got no air dam.. need to order a new one from the thirdgen ranch.

 

Man, I need to swap in a V6...

I miss the sound of a 660.

One day I will see your car in person, I've always loved ITBs.