1981 El Camino

[Maverick]

LOVE IT!! Wonder what my wife would say if I suggested we delay our trip for a day so I could do this.

Thanks, Dave.

[TireSmoker]

LOVE IT!! Wonder what my wife would say if I suggested we delay our trip for a day so I could do this.

Thanks, Dave.

I guess we know who won that one...

-Dave

[Maverick]

We went to Hilton Head Monday but returned on Tuesday (yesterday) because my wife wasn't feeling well. 6 hours down Monday and 5.5 hours back Tuesday. Drove thru TORRENTIAL rains on the way down. Some times I couldn't see the lane markers so then I followed a semi under the theory that he COULD see the lane markers and I can stop faster than he can. Not a fun drive.

Today friend Jim and I established the timer pointer IS pointing to "0" when #1 is at TDC. Used three methods to find TDC. First used the "proctoscope" camera in the spark plug hole but that was inconclusive. Couldn't see the piston clearly. Next, the vacuum/pressure gauge and that, while it wasn't precise, did put 0* on the balancer within a few degrees of TDC. Confirmed that result with the bolt in the spark plug hole. But, rather than looking for the spot where the bolt stopped the piston, Jim wiggled the bolt to know that it was not in contact with the piston while I bumped the crank in tiny movements till Jim felt contact with the piston. I couldn't reverse the crank with the balancer bolt -- it came loose, even with the plugs out, before the tight new engine would turn. Once contact was established, Jim backed the bolt out a little at a time and I bumped the crank forward till it made contact again. After backing the bolt out a bit at a time the piston cleared the bolt at 0* on the balancer. Pointer/balancer marks are correct.

With the pointer position confirmed we called Blueprint Engines to see what they had to say. "Level 1" wasn't much help but he opened a trouble report and got a technician, Ken, to call back an hour or so later. Learned several things from him.

1. They really don't care much about initial timing. They want total to be 32-34* and idle timing is what it is. Customer can, if interested, make a note of the idle timing so it can be reset if the distributor is disturbed.
2. He suggested capping off and not using the vacuum advance. It's there because some customers think they want it but, if its used, the distributor needs to be recurved or total advance will be too much.
3. The carb is "right out of the box". He also said the carb is tuned for their elevation (2000'+) but would be off in Denver or at sea level. Not sure if they dyno with the carb that is delivered or not. Seemed like conflicting statements.

The plugs are sooty and idle is crappy. Idling at about 1000 RPM, it will stall if put in gear and that's with the 2400 stall converter. I'm going to tune the carb from A to Z according to the Holley tuning book and using an AFR meter. May borrow WXO's meter again or my just spring for one and mount it permanently in the car.

Ken said he'd call back later to see how I'm doing. If he does, I'll appreciate that.

[Basement Paul]

I don't think the new carb has ever been on that motor. It would take too much to drain and clean it before shipment. I'm pretty sure they'll have a test mule carburetor that is tuned for the dyno.

Good luck!

-BP

[Maverick]

I don't think the new carb has ever been on that motor. It would take too much to drain and clean it before shipment. I'm pretty sure they'll have a test mule carburetor that is tuned for the dyno.

Good luck!

-BP

Sounds right. I suspect the distributor wasn't used for the dyno run either since the engine wouldn't start where it was timed.

[Maverick]

The needle for the speedometer broke when we were removing the gauge cluster. Yesterday I was going to attempt to Super Glue it back together but the broken-off piece broke again just handling it. Small plastic parts get really brittle after 36 years.

The original gauges have some problems. The volt meter is WAY low, temp gauge has just 3 numbers (100, 220, and 260), 85 MPH speedometer is way fast. Fuel gauge WAS way off but haven't tested it with the new sender. No tach. Dash lighting is poor. There's a solution to all of this ... the Dakota Digital direct fit clusters look REALLY nice but are REALLY expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/Dakota-Digital-A ... tal+gauges

One year guarantee with life-time tech support. Amazon only shows that part number fitting the Monte Carlo but it also fits the El Camino, Malibu and maybe some others.

Lots of great features as described in this StangTV article on the VHX cluster in a Mustang. It would provide a 140 MPH speedo (with needle) that can be calibrated, tach, shift light, and gauges that work.

http://www.stangtv.com/tech-stories/ele ... -fox-body/

Before I read that article, I didn't know that the little displays can be used for a shift light (and lots of other things).

Having a problem resisting this one ...

[Fred32v]

OK, here is my two cents. You have the gauge cluster in hand.
It looks like there is plenty of room in the top and bottom
of that piece of dash for a set of custom gauges.
I would suggest you buy the individual gauges you want and build your own dash cluster.
Judging by what I've seen you do before,
this is certainly in your skill set and would be a lot less than $750.

I know, why don't I mind my own business, grins!

[Maverick]

I appreciate your comments. I'm really on the edge about this. Guess I should do a spread sheet of the options and their costs/benefits.

I'm using BP's (Edit: OOPS, Dave's, not BP's) find on zip tie wire separators.

Notice 5 plug wires?? One is the speedo cable which is holding the plug wires up and away from the headers.

[TireSmoker]

Those ziptie seperators came out pretty good!

-Dave

[Maverick]

Got the instrument cluster (sorta) back together. Probably have 1/3 of the fasteners missing due to broken plastic. I think the cluster connector is now making all the contacts. (Zip tied it.) Clock still runs intermittently but its going to be replaced with a tach so no biggie. Voltmeter reads very low. Should check the grounds. Oil pressure gauge works. Not sure yet about the fuel gauge. Another 5 gallons will go in the tank before the trip to the exhaust shop so that should tell me something. I'll go on to other things and see how annoying the gauge situation is.

I spent 2-3 hours yesterday looking online for aftermarket gauges that will fit the stock bezel. Need 3 1/8" tach and speedometer and 1.5" fuel level, oil pressure, temp, and volt gauges. Tach and speedometer are available but CANNOT find 1.5" fuel level gauge that matches them. Assuming it works, I could leave the current fuel gauge in there. Dakota Digital complete, matching set would sure be nice.

One thing that's really neat is the adjustment for the gear selection pointer. Its adjusted by moving a clip on the end of the cable that moves the pointer. Clip is on the steering column shift collar under the dash. Easy to do without disassembling anything.

Those pointers are so often off a little and not so easy to access the adjustment for lots of them. GM guys probably have seen this before but I thought it was very clever.

The wires on the passenger side of the engine compartment are pretty messy. The computer is still in behind the kick panel with lots of wires but I'm not sure its doing anything now. No connections to distributor or carburetor. If it can be eliminated, I think the wires under the hood could be cleaned up. Might pull the computer out and redo the wiring. Any advice for what's involved?

[Maverick]

Found this thread http://www.elcaminocentral.com/showthre ... remove+ccc on Elcaminocentral.com giving guidance on removing the computer and its harnesses. Start by removing the passenger inner fender. Should have done this BEFORE I messed with starter, headers and #8 spark plug. Those things would have been easier.

[Maverick]

Removed the passenger side inner fender and found that header is leaking worse than I thought.

The flange is leaking by every one of the tubes as evidenced by the black on all four corners. Bolts are tight. Checked the driver's side and noticed just one leak there. I don't know why it would blow out on the corners like that. Those copper gaskets get many endorsements but that one didn't do it. May try some thicker gaskets or may use hi temp RTV.

WXO brought his AFR meter over today. Gotta get those headers sealed up before the AFR meter can be used.

[Basement Paul]

A lot of guys don't agree with me on this, but I haven't used a header gasket in a VERY long time. Nothing but hi-temp RTV for me. Never had a leak with it.

-BP

[Maverick]

BP,

Right. I've seen that from you and others. Couldn't do that on the Lincoln because there wasn't there just wasn't enough room to apply the RTV. Think I can use the RTV on the EC. Could be the right answer on these 1/4" flanges.

[Maverick]

Removed the headers and discovered the reason for the leaks. The 1.5" round header tubes didn't reach the corners of the square exhaust ports and gaskets.

The copper gaskets were replaced with some Mr Gasket #7402G "reusable" gaskets I had on hand. I'm hoping the 1 5/8 dia, 1/8" thick soft aluminum gaskets will seal on the square ports.

I remember checking the copper gaskets against the ports (good fit). I did call Blueprint to get their recommendation on gaskets and was advised that the 1 1/2" tubes should be fine.

I was going to leave the passenger inner fender out till all this is sorted but the battery mounts on the inner fender. I will put jumpers to the battery, start the engine and check for header leaks before the inner fender goes in. Hope I don't have to replace the headers with some with square flanges.