Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Update your progress on your various car projects.

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TireSmoker
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Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

I thought about continuing the 2019 thread, but well, it's 2020.

So in 2019, I changed from 3.55 --> 3.73 gears after 3.55 ring gear failed after 28 years of abuse.
I also upgraded to MS3X, gaining Full Sequential injection / COP ignition

in 2020, so far I will be upgrading to LS6 beehive valve springs and cleaning/painting my intake. (in progress).

Changing the valve springs seems pretty easy. Bring piston up to TDC, feed some nylon rope into the spark plug hole, then screw the tool onto the rocker stud. Sometimes it's a little tricky getting the keepers in there. But 1 cylinder done, 7 to go. Didn't make any progress today.

The intake on top is the one that was one the car after I cleaned it. The bottom one is another one I have that was noticeably cleaner than the one on the car had been. I was originally going to just clean it and then clear-coat it. But the dirty marks in the middle won't come out -- tried kerosene, mag wheel cleaner, brake parts cleaner... so I think I'm going to use some aluminum color paint with a matte clear on top. I experimented on one of the plenums (not pictured) and it looks good.

After that, I'll be installing my new Pypes kit.
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-Dave
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MostMint
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by MostMint »

Have you considered getting that thing bead blasted - or maybe with some other material other than sand - to clean that up?
[quote="Basement Paul"]Is that a mint rocketship on the hood?? :shock:
-BP[/quote]
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

I remembered having an intake "glass beaded" (i think) when i was a lot younger and being kinda disappointed with how it looked. Im not even sure where I could get that done now.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by GMJohnny »

The rope trick is pretty interesting. I've had to do a bunch of valve spring work on
my many Oldsmobile's in the past. I always used air pressure to hold the valves
closed.

GM
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

I bought the fitting to use air, but my headers were making that look like more hassle than it'd be worth. I already had the rope, too.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by MostMint »

I was thinking the rope trick was due to the headers making it difficult to use air.

"Give da people air Cohagen"
[quote="Basement Paul"]Is that a mint rocketship on the hood?? :shock:
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

Valve spring swap complete. I got the intake base re-installed too. I'll finish getting it all put back together this week. I will replace the distributor with the cam sensor distributor.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

It's been a while since I updated, but I finally have some news.. I got everything back together and it was working great. Engine sounded good and ran good. Until it got to 5100ish RPM, and then it was like hitting a rev-limiter. I've read all kinds of threads over the years where guys have weird issues with this kind of stuff and was a little bummed, because I thought I had done all my homework on it. I'll cut to the chase, it was a simple software setting where you define whether you're reading the tooth on the crank wheel on the Rising Edge or the Falling Edge. (after recording/submitting datalogs on the forum)

I ran into another issue during all the re-wiring.. I ran all the new MS3/3X wiring through the same hole in the firewall that I had run the WBO2 sensor through. After adding the new wiring, I couldn't get the sensor out without cutting the wires.. doh!! That was my old Innovate LC-1 which uses the older style Bosch 4.2 sensor, which requires periodic re-calibration. I bought a new Spartan2 wide-band controller from a company called 14point7.com. They're pretty much designed for Megasquirt, and it uses the new Bosch 4.9 sensor, which doesnt require that periodic re-calibration. And it's cheap, $75 w/o sensor. I'm using a Bosch 17025 that I had in inventory. I also mounted it in the engine bay. No need to run the sensor wire through the firewall. Captain Tupolev won't make the same mistake twice.

And now, it runs AWESOME. I dunno, part of it is I haven't driven it for months, new valve springs, new ignition, it's a near-perfect day for horsepower (45*/clear).. whatever, it really pulls good everywhere, even on the top now. I'm ready to join u bitches in the 11s!! (i hope) Just the little bit of test driving I've done today has given me a lot of payback/validation for the work I did over the winter.

HOWEVER... while running it around this morning, I'm starting to see smoke out the back. uggghh.. my first thought is maybe I messed up some valve seals when I changed the valve springs. But when I pulled it into the garage, I was smelling trans fluid. Whatever, I'll look at it later. I wasn't about to ruin an otherwise successful test drive. I'm thrilled with how good it ran!!

Next up will be the Pypes 3in x-pipe exhaust. I'm want to get some quick GoPro footage from inside and out before I do it, so I can compare.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

So the smoke out the back is definitely transmission fluid. It is leaking quite profusely out of one of the cooler line fittings by the trans. It seemed to get worse at I tried tightening it a little (not sure I got 1/16 of a turn). As the headers and the exhaust hinder access, it's time for them to come off!

It turns out this is a clamp-together kit with traditional style clamps, not band clamps. Everything slid together pretty easily except for one connection where I can see a small ding in the pipe. Installation looks pretty straight forward, although it looks like I'll need to get some adapters for my headers, as they use a ball/socket setup, instead of the usual flat mating surface w/gasket.

I did get some GoPro footage of me taking a roundabout trip to Guidos a couple weeks ago, so I'll have a little something to compare the new sound against.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

Trans line has been repaired, but not verified.

Sometime back in the past year, I saw a craigslist ad for the exact same headers I have, Hedman 65101, 1 3/4" primary, ball/socket connection at the flange. New at Summt they are $275. I got them for $50. When I bought them, I had zero need, but I couldnt pass up the price. Now that I'm doing a new exhaust, I retrieved them from The Basement and dropped them off @ Advanced Auto Clinic (old Ricks Garage location) for a couple O2 bungholes. They did a real nice job.

After my Corvette tires, I decided to spend the other part of my Kung Flu stimulus money on getting these headers Jet-Hot coated. Ceramic coated, lifetime guarantee. I got them boxed up, and with BP's sweet UPS discount, on their way.

I purchased a new set of rear tires last fall, but never got them installed on my rims. Mobile Tire Service took care of that, so now I have fresh rear rubber!

Going back to July 2019, I've done all the following:

new 3.73 + posi
tubular rear suspension w/ rear sway bar
4 new shocks
2 rear tires
steering box swap
new PS pump (in progress)
upgrade from MS3 to MS3X, complete new engine harness, clean up legacy wiring
crank trigger / cam sensor install
add'l sensors: fuel pressure, 2nd map sensor
LS coil install
Spartan WBO2
New LS6 beehive springs/retainers/keepers
New headers + Jet-Hot (in progress)
Pypes 3" Stainless X-pipe (in progress)
New sun visor
New headlights

I guess I've been busy. I'm gonna be good 'n ready to cruise and race when we can finally get there!

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

So the ZZ383 has been in the car for 5 years now and has logged over 10k miles. While the headers are out, I figured it was a good time to do a compression test, with super-easy access to the plugs.

(1) 175 (2) 172
(3) 175 (4) 175
(5) 180 (6) 170
(7) 170 (8) 170

I guess those are decent numbers? At least they're consistent.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

The exhaust is almost done! My headers came back a couple weeks ago from Jet-Hot and they look GREAT! Unfortunately, I had a clearance issue with the steering shaft, so I did have to dent them, but I was careful about it and I think it looks ok with clearance now.
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I got that done before we left for Florida and before the unfortunate Corvette mangling.

I got the rest of the new Pypes exhaust hung this week. I still have a small gap to contend with, but I think I just need to adjust the pipes a bit here and there. I have some 3" SS-style cowbell tips on the way from Summit. I'll need to trim the tailpipes back a few inches, but it should look really sweet when its done.
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-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

Well, just over a month since the last update..

I completed the power steering conversion! This ended up being way more involved than it should've been, but the end result seems looks good and seems to work as expected. So because of where I mounted my crank sensor, most of the power steering brackets wouldn't work. I *do* have a factory bracket that would've worked, but I couldn't find the appropriate pump that would bolt up. So, after that I ordered this aftermarket setup from KRC. The way it mounts to the head was the selling point for me. You can buy just their bracket, but then you need a matching Type II pump with either an attached or remote reservoir, the right pulley, blah blah, so I just got a complete kit from them. Pricey, but it works. The next challenge was putting together a custom high-pressure hose. I ended using Aeroquip Teflon lined -06 hose and TFE fittings. Finally, I needed a 41.5" v-belt, Duralast #15415

In hindsight, I should've made a new crank sensor bracket that goes on the passenger side of the block. That would've been the really smart thing to do. Anyway, the upgrade to the faster-ratio steering box is complete.

Just as I was finishing up the power steering upgrade, the master cylinder started failing. I bought this new 'universal GM' master cylinder from Master Power Brakes. It's super light, maybe 1-2 lbs. The old one was ugly and 10+ lbs. Of course, nothing is easy. New master has outlets on passenger side, old one has them on drivers side, so I had to make up a couple new lines from the master to the proportioning valve. I also had to remove the pushrod from the pedal and shorten it up. I replaced the jam nut with one half as thick and have it screwed together as short as it will go. (shortening the rod about 1/2 inch) I might still need to grind the other end a bit. And I just need to do a final bleed on the brakes before I test drive it.

Despite the failing master, I was able to do some test drives around town and the exhaust sounds killer! I still need to get the Cowbell tips installed.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

After taking the pics, I discovered I have a bad leak at the port labeled F in my pic (driver's side, 2nd line back). Pours right out despite fitting being tight. I'm using 3/16" NiCopp, same roll as Blazer and Chevelle rear brake lines that I cut and flared. Same flaring tool. After the first leaked, I made a 2nd line. It leaks just as bad. Not sure what's going on yet.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

Well, after what felt like an eternity, I got my new combination valve (proportioning valve) from Master Power Brakes, mpbrakes.com So we are on new Master Cylinder and new Combination Valve. Everything is sealed up, not leaking -- but can't get a good pedal from it. I did a bench-bleed of it on the car, with temp lines routed back into the reservoir, pumped the pedal (Gwen) while I watched for air bubbles to stop. I then hooked up the regular lines and proceeded to bleed the car.

RR, LR -- pedal improving

RF -- after first bleed, pedal goes to shit, ton of air came out. Tried several times with no improvement. This is basic stuff, not sure what's going on. Sent an email to Master Power. I'll see what they say.

-Dave
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