Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Update your progress on your various car projects.

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TireSmoker
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

After the last bleeding attempt failed miserably, I did what any good mechanic would do -- just replace all the parts! The line going to RF has had a splice (compression fitting) for decades and the internet tells me im doomed to have such a thing. The calipers are now 20+ yrs old. So I replaced the RF line, replaced the rubber flex lines with Russell stainless braided, and purchased new calipers from Napa. Pads and rotors still look good, but I'm tempted to call up Mike @ Carbotech for some new pads.

Unfortunately, by the time I got everything done last night, my helper had already gone to bed. I sent my Dad a txt this morning, maybe he can stop by and help me bleed them. If they work, I think I could take it to the track tonight.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

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It feels like constant 1 step forward, 2 steps back. I think I finally have the brakes resolved, (yay!) but the engine isn't running right.. argh. It seems the #5 injector may not be providing fuel. #5 exhaust tube is colder than the others with my infrared heat gun. When I pull the injector connector off, it doesn't seem to run any different. I pulled the spark plug, and its not fouled. Unfortunately, I have no good way to test an injector on the bench. to be continued..

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

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So I swapped injectors last night, replacing the 36's with 30's. When I first fired it up, it was still no better on #5. I took one of the 36lb injectors, plugged it in and started the car (injector just sitting on intake) and I could feel it clicking, so the wiring is good.

Then I swapped the coils + plug wire from #3 <--> #5 , to see if the cold pipe would move to #3, but when I moved it, everything is working now? It's all rainy, so I'm hesitating to take a test drive, but I'll prob bite the bullet at some point.

-Dave
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Basement Paul
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by Basement Paul »

Bad ground on the coil now remedied?

-BP
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

Nope, still bad. I tried driving to your place yesterday and didnt get but a couple miles down Wilson Mills before turning around. New coils on order.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

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I picked up a single coil at Napa for $50. It seems to have resolved the issue. I'll switch the injectors back and I should be good to go for Wednesday!!

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

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So, while it was fun to make it to the track, the 105 MPH was a big let down. Since I've made a bunch of changes, I called TI Dyno and made an appointment. He has a slot open this Saturday, which was super-tempting, but I made a deal with my dad to fix the power top on his Z4, so I had to settle for Sat Aug 29. In the mean time, it runs really nice on the street, so I'm gonna cruise the heck out of this thing for the next few weeks.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

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So I went over all of my trigger wheel stuff today, trying to eliminate that dropout I'm getting near 6000. I want to make sure everything is tip-top for my dyno session next week. Long story short, it's still not quite right. I'm starting to wonder if my sensor bracket is vibrating or something, ie-- maybe it's not quite sturdy enough? I brought the RPMs up in the garage, car in park, slowly raised revs to 6100. Seemed good. But when I do WOT down the road, I'm experiencing the problem.

Since it is running really nice everywhere else, I took a nice looonnnngg cruise tonight, prob 2 hrs worth. Went up to Annabelles, drove past, circled around Mentor, went back to Annabelles and slow-cruised the parking lot, drove out to downtown Willoughby, ran out to 20&91, south down 91 to Wilson Mills, eventually made my way out just past King Kone in Chardon and turned around to go back home. It ran great, sounded great and drove great. It was some quality payback.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by TireSmoker »

So I have a few more adventures to add..

So on Sunday, the night after my last drive, Gwen was still recovering in the hospital, I took a little time to try and address my crank trigger issue again. I had found an old post in Megasquirt forums from a guy using my same sensor and he was running a very tight sensor gap, .025", and that he had a couple setup like that with long-term success. The manual calls for .75-1.0mm .025 = .635mm I went out, adjusted it to the tighter gap, and went for a test drive. I didn't get far down Wilson Mills before I noticed it wasn't right, even at lower RPMs. I turned around to come home and decided to stab it -- bad idea. The wheel ended up hitting/damaging the sensor. I was only able to coast the car into Summers Dr, the next street over from mine.

Laptop showed 0 rpm when I cranked it, and opening the hood I could see the sensor was damaged. But I have a spare at home! I jog home, grab the spare, some tools + flashlight, and walk back to my car. It's dark now, and humid, so I'm just pouring sweat trying to change this sensor on the side of the road. I was ultimately successful and the car started right up and I drove home to the garage. After getting home, I set the sensor gap to .85mm right in the middle of the recommended range. I started the car but never took it for a test drive.

I took it out for a test-drive tonight and it ran PERFECT!! Took it to 6000+ several times with 0 issues. Rev limiter is set for 6400. I was on an extended test drive, and I even called Paul to tell him how goooood it was running, maybe I could hit TRP with it tomorrow, etc. I was on Sherman and heading toward Shell at 306 & 322 as we continued BS'ing. All of sudden it started losing power badly...fuuuddddggeeeeee... what now!! I was low on gas, but I knew I had enough to get a few miles, the gauge was still above E..

I got up to Sherman and 306 and couldn't go any further. BIG puddle of gas under the car near the gas tank. WTF??? I know there are several connections back there from the tank <--> fuel filter <--> hardline going to front + return line connections. I push the car away from the intersection and call Speece to see if he can rescue me (Gwen cant drive yet). He makes his way out with a tow strap, and he pulls me back to Tiresmoke Central. Fortunately that part was uneventful.

I put the car up in the air, and the problem was immediately obvious. The connection at the outlet of the filter came apart, so it just pumped gas out on the ground. Thank God I didnt end up with a fire.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tnk-ff-10-kit -- the black adapter pieces goes from the OEM style connection to AN. The plastic lock clip (blue in Summit photo) apparently failed for some reason. (OEM design! i think this was common on many cars in the 90s.. the Saturn uses them?) For $37, I just ordered a whole new kit. New filter, new adapters, everything. Could I have just replaced the plastic bit at Autozone? Maybe, but what if it came apart again... This is an easy fix. Better now than at the track or on the dyno on the 12th.

Good grief, 2 outings, 2 times on the side of the road. 0 calls to Fade. :-)

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

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Went to Autozone after work and bought an assortment of the plastic retainer clips and installed one. No leaks.

Took another lengthy test drive, tonight with zero problems! No signal dropouts. No fuel system failures! I left AND returned under my own power!! I also finally got my GPS connected so that my datalogs now show GPS speed. It's 10hz GPS, so speed is always very accurate. I also ran a couple logs through the analyzer.

It still won't shift 1-2 at WOT, but aside from that, I think I'm ready for a holiday weekend with plenty of cruising potential and a dyno day next Saturday

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

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I guess I never updated.. Dyno day came and went. 316rwhp @ 5500, 322rwtq @ 4800. BP came out to watch and took this video of one of the pulls. They said there really wasn't much to be had, as I was already hitting the timing and AFR that they would've been targeting. The major gain actually, was in figuring my throttle cable was hooked to the wrong post on the throttle body. After changing that, which required changing a fuel rail fitting for clearance, the pedal is waaay easier to module off idle. I've been pulling on the post that is for cruise, control, apparently? The following Wedneday, 9/16, I went 12.54/12.59 @ 106+ mph.

The HP gain that was noticed on the 2nd run was from the engine being cooler, (while throttle cable changed) so I'm going to switch to a 160 thermostat. I'm also going to switch to a colder R42 plug. GM calls for the R44LTS for street, R42LTS for racing. Rockauto.com has plugs for 1.40/ea, that seems way cheaper than anything local.

They felt that there may be some gains to be had in the torque converter. I called up Andre @ Edge Racing Converters on Friday and we talked about what I wanted. He was happy I had both cam specs and rear wheel dyno numbers. He thinks he can make a measurable improvement for me, so a new Street Edge is on the way. I currently have a 10" from Summit, which replaced the original B&M converter that came with the trans from Mostmint years ago.



I've driven the wheels off this thing since Labor Day weekend and it continues to run great!! Just a joy to drive. We went to dinner in Rootstown tonight. On the way home, we detoured to King Kone in Chardon, and then finally made it back to Chesterland. Not a single glitch, hiccup, weirdness, anything. My odometer turned 70k on this trip. ZZ383 went in at 57k.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

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Well, October came and went (almost) without getting to the dragstrip, but still managed to drive it even more. I love it.

But, on Saturday I embarked on a most noble journey to Parsons Hi-Performance in Dayton, OH after a couple phone calls with Bruce Parsons. This is the guy that put Tony's 383 together. I took my Edelbrock E-Tec 200 heads and other misc parts down to Bruce and put down a deposit to put together an all-forged, roller, 406 housed in a Dart SHP block. I took him a couple of my EFI intakes, and he will actually dyno it on EFI when it's together. Delivery is not expected until some time in the spring, so more details will be in the 2021 thread, but it should be pretty strong!!

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by Basement Paul »

I'm doomed!

-BP
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Re: Chevelle Upgrades, 2020

Post by wxo »

Basement Paul wrote:I'm doomed! -BP
LOL!! :lol:
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