LS1 and 200-4r to L92 / T56 in 71 Chevelle convertible...now Gen V LT1 6L80e swapping
04-29-2011, 03:39 PM
#161
I haven't found a parts place that didn't have it when I went in looking for it.
Made some decent progress today, got the gauges wired up, a new set of relays put in to power the radio, gauges and whatever else directly from the battery instead of the old-*** dash wires, swapped the trans pressure gauge's plastic tubing for some braided line and got the a/c bracket adjusted almost right (it no longer walks the belt while idling at least). Speaking of idling, it more or less doesn't, at least not for longer than in the video below. The front of the car is elevated and the tank is pretty empty but the fuel pressure stays good so I don't know if maybe it just needs more gas in that spectra tank. Going to throw in 5 or 6 gallons in the morning and try again. All that's left now is wiring up the vss.
This thing from painless really simplified the wiring for me and it was pretty cheap on ebay. I hate messing with this stuff but this wasn't too bad.
Here is a quick walk-around of the first start up with everything basically in place. Just a cell phone vid but you get the idea. The trans temp gauge doesn't seem to work and I'm hoping it's because I put put teflon tape on the sender's threads (I've read it grounds there) and will work once I pull that stuff off. No looking forward to the mess so I'm going to try everything else first. Overall though I think with a few tweaks it is pretty much done until winter rolls around again.
I forgot how to embed videos.
Made some decent progress today, got the gauges wired up, a new set of relays put in to power the radio, gauges and whatever else directly from the battery instead of the old-*** dash wires, swapped the trans pressure gauge's plastic tubing for some braided line and got the a/c bracket adjusted almost right (it no longer walks the belt while idling at least). Speaking of idling, it more or less doesn't, at least not for longer than in the video below. The front of the car is elevated and the tank is pretty empty but the fuel pressure stays good so I don't know if maybe it just needs more gas in that spectra tank. Going to throw in 5 or 6 gallons in the morning and try again. All that's left now is wiring up the vss.
This thing from painless really simplified the wiring for me and it was pretty cheap on ebay. I hate messing with this stuff but this wasn't too bad.
Here is a quick walk-around of the first start up with everything basically in place. Just a cell phone vid but you get the idea. The trans temp gauge doesn't seem to work and I'm hoping it's because I put put teflon tape on the sender's threads (I've read it grounds there) and will work once I pull that stuff off. No looking forward to the mess so I'm going to try everything else first. Overall though I think with a few tweaks it is pretty much done until winter rolls around again.
I forgot how to embed videos.
05-02-2011, 03:17 AM
#162
Man, whoever did the wiring in this car before me really did something I don't understand. For those who don't know in Chevelles the headlights and interior lights are controlled by a **** on the dash, pull out for headlights and rotate for interior (or both for both). Which and how the various electrical things work is somehow tied into both this and the door open switch. Some parts of some things (light in a gauge for example) only come on if the **** is rotated but not when the door is open, or if the **** is pulled but the door is closed. The electric part of the gauge itself might work only when the opposite situation is present. I'm not convinced the acc and constant sources on my fuse box really are what they are supposed to be. Windshield wipers also only work when interior lights are on. Very odd patterns and combos at least on the surface, I'll try and get a comprehensive list of what does what and when.
Could a ground be doing this? I think I'm going to consolidate all grounds onto the firewall (most already are) and get any and all of them off the dash support. Has anyone had something like this happen? This was the case before I added the extra gauges, they just give me 7 more reasons to get it fixed.
On a slightly more positive note I put the guts of my first HID set into the new housings and kind of loosely test-wired everything up. Fired right up, nice clean cutoff lines and the high/ low works like it should. Only problem is trying to widen the hole in the car itself where the wires pass through. Wish I had a sawsall. If I can stay awake I'm going to try and finish that up and get my spoilersbyrandy front spoiler put on.
I know purists (who shouldn't be reading this thread anyway) will bash me but if anyone knows where to score a 70 GSX rear spoiler let me know.
Could a ground be doing this? I think I'm going to consolidate all grounds onto the firewall (most already are) and get any and all of them off the dash support. Has anyone had something like this happen? This was the case before I added the extra gauges, they just give me 7 more reasons to get it fixed.
On a slightly more positive note I put the guts of my first HID set into the new housings and kind of loosely test-wired everything up. Fired right up, nice clean cutoff lines and the high/ low works like it should. Only problem is trying to widen the hole in the car itself where the wires pass through. Wish I had a sawsall. If I can stay awake I'm going to try and finish that up and get my spoilersbyrandy front spoiler put on.
I know purists (who shouldn't be reading this thread anyway) will bash me but if anyone knows where to score a 70 GSX rear spoiler let me know.
05-02-2011, 04:23 AM
#163
Maybe the pictures don't do the spoiler justice, didn't see any negative comments on them but not sure I like em much. Are you gonna try to make it to lsfest I would like to see this car in person.
05-02-2011, 04:51 AM
#164
I can see the spoiler being an aquired taste, but I've always liked how they look on the old Buicks.
Can't say I recall hearing of lsfest, but I'd like to come and see what everyone else has managed to do (and then copy their good ideas). At this point I'd be happy making it out of the garage though. If it's near Nashville it might be a good road trip. I am for sure going to be at Chevellabration here in town for at least part of a day. Car will not be on display but it'll be in the parking lot while I hit the swap meet.
Do you have a build thread? How far along are you on yours?
Edit- It's in Bowling Green. I can do that easy.
Can't say I recall hearing of lsfest, but I'd like to come and see what everyone else has managed to do (and then copy their good ideas). At this point I'd be happy making it out of the garage though. If it's near Nashville it might be a good road trip. I am for sure going to be at Chevellabration here in town for at least part of a day. Car will not be on display but it'll be in the parking lot while I hit the swap meet.
Do you have a build thread? How far along are you on yours?
Edit- It's in Bowling Green. I can do that easy.
05-02-2011, 06:43 AM
#165
I would like to do both lsfest and the chevellabration but living in kcmo and havin a new baby on the way I will prolly only make one. I didn't do a build thread, kinda wish I had now though, but I think I'm gonna put together a post build thread. I got mine runnin a few weeks ago been.kinda working out the little bugs. I took it out for a couple little drives but I don't have any of the front end on and had the battery and corresupport held down with ratchet straps. So now I'm just gonna button down that stuff and drive it for awhile. The car is in pretty rough shape so I'm prolly gonna just drive it for a year or two while I piece together what I hope will be a pretty decent suspension setup. Then I'm gonna pull the body off and completely redo it. Here's a pic of the car now.
05-02-2011, 06:58 AM
#166
Cool cars to both of you.
Chuck... I don't understand your running issue, it's almost like you are running out of fuel or the MAF isn't working. Did you change cams or something? Do you get any codes?
If you changed cams and didn't update the PCM, I can see your running issue being a difference between measured airflow (via MAF and MAP) and expected airflow coded in the PCM. A good tuner can fix this.
Last edited by gofastwclass; 05-02-2011 at 07:07 AM.
05-02-2011, 07:18 AM
#167
I think we have similar plans, get it running for now and then take it all apart in a few years. Once I figure out what I'm going to do work/ location wise I'd like to go the air ride route with it and rewire the whole things during the downtime.
The computer was originally tuned for a stock 6.0. What I have now is an LS1 with a tr224 cam, headers and 243 heads. I think James made a couple changes to the tune, but considering the thing wasn't really in running condition at the time there wasn't much to be done with it. I'm sure he can get it going though, it's just a matter of us both finding the time at the same time.
Just as a precaution I bought a can of MAF cleaner and gave it a good blast the other day. Hopefully one less source of sensor error.
I have an obd II port under the dash, wonder if the scan tool autozone and the like loan out would show me anything. Not that I know how to use it.
The computer was originally tuned for a stock 6.0. What I have now is an LS1 with a tr224 cam, headers and 243 heads. I think James made a couple changes to the tune, but considering the thing wasn't really in running condition at the time there wasn't much to be done with it. I'm sure he can get it going though, it's just a matter of us both finding the time at the same time.
Just as a precaution I bought a can of MAF cleaner and gave it a good blast the other day. Hopefully one less source of sensor error.
I have an obd II port under the dash, wonder if the scan tool autozone and the like loan out would show me anything. Not that I know how to use it.
05-02-2011, 02:01 PM
#168
05-02-2011, 02:13 PM
#170
Will it idle at all? Yeah I did my own the engine side is all done still gotta do the the body side though (dlc, power/grounds, tach, etc). I did it standalone and kept the vss and the fuel pump controls.
05-02-2011, 07:15 PM
#171
The computer was originally tuned for a stock 6.0. What I have now is an LS1 with a tr224 cam, headers and 243 heads. I think James made a couple changes to the tune, but considering the thing wasn't really in running condition at the time there wasn't much to be done with it. I'm sure he can get it going though, it's just a matter of us both finding the time at the same time.
05-06-2011, 06:22 AM
#173
James came by yesterday for what we both thought was going to be a quick trip, but as usual something was up. The car now idles (but rough and high), but stumbles when you give it gas. Stays lean no matter what. Tried swapping in different injectors then noticed there was nothing coming from my tps, so I'm going to replace that in a couple hours and see what happens. Hopefully that will get me going well enough to make it drivable and put me in position to drive it over to his place to finish off.
Also, I've been reading conflicting info about them but does anyone know what stock E85 injectors from a 5.3 run in terms of pressure rating?
Thanks
Also, I've been reading conflicting info about them but does anyone know what stock E85 injectors from a 5.3 run in terms of pressure rating?
Thanks
05-06-2011, 01:38 PM
#174
Good to here that its runnin now. Any idea of what was keeping it from runnin before.
I would think the that fuel pressure would be the same. (is the fpr electronically adjustable on those) And the difference would be in the pulse rate once the computer decided it was runnin e85 instead of regular fuel. But those are just thoughts.
I would think the that fuel pressure would be the same. (is the fpr electronically adjustable on those) And the difference would be in the pulse rate once the computer decided it was runnin e85 instead of regular fuel. But those are just thoughts.
05-07-2011, 04:38 AM
#175
I wouldn't so so far as to say it's running. I had some injectors off an 8.1 on it, but we swapped it out for some stock 6.0s just to see what would happen. There are some E85 ones in the garage I was thinking about switching to eventually, but I'm not using them yet.
After putting on a new tps nothing changed, and today James said there were no tps drivers in the ecm. My ecm is from a dbw truck and my tb is dbc, not sure if that matters. It stays lean and idles rough. I've emailed the guy who made the harness and did the initial tune to see what ideas he might have.
After putting on a new tps nothing changed, and today James said there were no tps drivers in the ecm. My ecm is from a dbw truck and my tb is dbc, not sure if that matters. It stays lean and idles rough. I've emailed the guy who made the harness and did the initial tune to see what ideas he might have.
05-07-2011, 07:36 AM
#176
On The Tree
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 104
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Your issue with the electrical is ground related. It sounds like the wire that grounds your wiper switch and dash lights is not connected/ or has a corroded connection to the dash housing and your dome light ground is backfeeding at the headlight switch .
The wipers have a constant 12volts at the motor with the ign. switch on. The wiper switch controls ground inputs to the motor. The wiper switch is grounded to the dash housing.
The dash lights have 12 volts with the headlight switch pulled out. The brighting/dimming of the dash/gauge lights that occurs when turning the headlight **** is based on a rheostat built into the headlight switch. (this rheostat can go bad and the lights will only work at the brightest level...**** rotated left just prior to the dome lamp coming. The ground to the headlight switch is also attached to the same dash housing (actually tied into a common circuit that is attached to the dash housing).
The Dome Light has a constant 12 volts at the bulb and the on/off is done by the door switches (grounded when door open)or the head light switch...the door switch wire and the headlight switch dome wire tie together. (When turning the dome light on at the headlight switch, the head light switch grounds the same wire that the door switch grounds).
The dome light ground wire is white(at the headlight switch and at the door switch).
The wiper switch ground and the dash/gauge light(s) ground is black.
The grounds coming off the wiper switch supplying the wiper motor are light blue, dark blue and black. (the combination of different ground outputs from the switch determines if the wiper motor runs in low, high, or the washer pump is activated.
Looking at the wiring schematic, the headlight switch ground, the wiper switch ground, radio ground, fuel gauge ground, and glovebox light ground are all connected together, then a single wire connects to the dash housing. So, if you don't have the one circuit grounded correctly, your are going to affect alot of different things.
I can scan and email the wiring schematics for you, if you'd like.
Bottom line, make sure your dash housing is bolted in securely to the car and look for a single, black ground wire which should be connected to the metal part of the dash housing somewhere to the left of the steering column. (I completely rewired my car during my LS2 swap with a universal harness from American Autowire, but I used the original harness and wiring schematic to help guide me.)
Hope this helps.
The wipers have a constant 12volts at the motor with the ign. switch on. The wiper switch controls ground inputs to the motor. The wiper switch is grounded to the dash housing.
The dash lights have 12 volts with the headlight switch pulled out. The brighting/dimming of the dash/gauge lights that occurs when turning the headlight **** is based on a rheostat built into the headlight switch. (this rheostat can go bad and the lights will only work at the brightest level...**** rotated left just prior to the dome lamp coming. The ground to the headlight switch is also attached to the same dash housing (actually tied into a common circuit that is attached to the dash housing).
The Dome Light has a constant 12 volts at the bulb and the on/off is done by the door switches (grounded when door open)or the head light switch...the door switch wire and the headlight switch dome wire tie together. (When turning the dome light on at the headlight switch, the head light switch grounds the same wire that the door switch grounds).
The dome light ground wire is white(at the headlight switch and at the door switch).
The wiper switch ground and the dash/gauge light(s) ground is black.
The grounds coming off the wiper switch supplying the wiper motor are light blue, dark blue and black. (the combination of different ground outputs from the switch determines if the wiper motor runs in low, high, or the washer pump is activated.
Looking at the wiring schematic, the headlight switch ground, the wiper switch ground, radio ground, fuel gauge ground, and glovebox light ground are all connected together, then a single wire connects to the dash housing. So, if you don't have the one circuit grounded correctly, your are going to affect alot of different things.
I can scan and email the wiring schematics for you, if you'd like.
Bottom line, make sure your dash housing is bolted in securely to the car and look for a single, black ground wire which should be connected to the metal part of the dash housing somewhere to the left of the steering column. (I completely rewired my car during my LS2 swap with a universal harness from American Autowire, but I used the original harness and wiring schematic to help guide me.)
Hope this helps.
Last edited by usc2001gc; 05-07-2011 at 08:57 AM.
05-07-2011, 09:57 AM
#177
Thanks for the info, I think I'll print that out and take it with me next time I go out there. I haven't dug too far into it but I do recall seeing door and dome (I don't have a dome light, but there is a light in the back of the console) coming together, but whoever was in here before really butchered it. I've also had problems with my fuel gauge working, so this all makes sense. Guess I'll go through and try to identify exactly where everything is coming from and going. I appreciate the help.
05-16-2011, 01:52 AM
#179
No, haven't made it anywhere yet. Steeplechase was this weekend and I spent most of my free time during the week getting things in order for that. I did get the spoiler put on the front and figure out most of how I'm going to get the headlights in, but I didn't have time to find that elusive bad ground.
The computer went out to the guy who made the harness and he checked it out and is sending it back, so hopefully that will be here soon. While I don't know much about it here is what the issue was as he saw it, in case it helps others with a similar dbc/ tps issue:
"What I found was a table that is marked "installed options matrix vs platform type". Under platform "7" for the type of engine, the column for ETC was set as "1" instead of "0"". For the sake of clarity, it seems it should be a zero for dbc setups.
He refunded my shipping and says it should work without issue now. Assuming it does I'm pretty satisfied with the customer service and his website, so I'd still recommend considering this guy if you need a harness made. Minor dash and electrical issues aside if the computer works the car should be drivable this week, but I'm thinking I might wait to get the top fixed until I go on vacation for two weeks in July. We'll see how things go I guess.
The computer went out to the guy who made the harness and he checked it out and is sending it back, so hopefully that will be here soon. While I don't know much about it here is what the issue was as he saw it, in case it helps others with a similar dbc/ tps issue:
"What I found was a table that is marked "installed options matrix vs platform type". Under platform "7" for the type of engine, the column for ETC was set as "1" instead of "0"". For the sake of clarity, it seems it should be a zero for dbc setups.
He refunded my shipping and says it should work without issue now. Assuming it does I'm pretty satisfied with the customer service and his website, so I'd still recommend considering this guy if you need a harness made. Minor dash and electrical issues aside if the computer works the car should be drivable this week, but I'm thinking I might wait to get the top fixed until I go on vacation for two weeks in July. We'll see how things go I guess.
Last edited by chuckd71; 05-16-2011 at 11:26 PM.