JetMech442

iTrader: (1)

Running out of funds, our first baby just showed up last week. The box is already a "fast ratio" out of a 70 GTO. I think I might reduce the pressure to it once I get it running to help improve feel.

I went to start it up two nights ago-got a loud clunk when I powered the solenoid wire. After an hour of making sure the wiring was correct, I pulled/replaced the starter.-found some damage to it from shipping that I must have missed.
Tried starting again-after about 10 minutes of trying I listened real carefully and thought I heard bubbles from the fuel pump. Pulled the hoses, turned the pump the other direction and was good to go. FYI, fuel flows in the direction towards the electrical connectors for the 255 LPH Walbro pump.(a cast-in arrow would be nice). It fired for a few seconds but died out since I didn't have the MAF or 02's plugged in.

I got a 4'' silcon elbow to mount the maf to and hope to fire it up tommorow.

JetMech442

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I got the pulley relocation bracket made. not the prettiest of welds, we'll see how long it holds. I ended up getting a 78'' belt at autozone. that put it right at the center of the tensioner travel. -this is only the correct length for my engine due to the pulley relocation, yours may be different-

I also got a coolant hose adapter to adapt the vette WP to the be cool radiator. It also has a sight glass/petcock to bleed air from the coolant. And it also has the vent line on the bottom that feed directly from the cylinder heads.

JetMech442

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I went to pull it out of the garage the other day and it just ground 1st. I'm going to power bleed the clutch with one I borrowed from my buddy.

Also a side note:the ECM must be grounded. I had it mounted to the frame which worked fine, but when I put some vibration isolators between it, I needed to add a grounding strap to get the car to start again.

CamaroSS27

iTrader: (6)

Looking good, I have a 1972 442 w-29 I am about to start once funds become more available! GL

JetMech442

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Bleeding the clutch was breeze, I borrowed my buddies power bleeder with the "european" adapter. His volvo's brake master cylinder is the same as our clutch master.


Unfortunately, that didn't solve the first gear grinding problem. After a while I realized that the clutch arm is contacting the master clyinder. So I ground it down to china and ended up with nice weight reduced clutch pedal. Now it slips into 1st with a confident click.

The brake pedal is still soft after multiple power bleedings. The brand new brake master cylinder makes a "horn" type noise when you push the pedal in. Not sure if it's air, or if I rolled an oring or what is going on, but it's starting to get real expensive bleeding all this DOT 3 down the drain. I'm more than open to anyone with an opinion on this.

JetMech442

iTrader: (1)

Also wanted to post pics of the fuel pump setup and PN's I used. It's a Walbro 255LPH pump with Corvette regulator(GF822) from Napa. Fuel flows in the direction going towards the electrical connectors.

Caution!!! Dont use that Russel adapter! further downt he thread a guy warned me about it, and before I could switch it out the updated one, it slipped off while cruising and drenched the intake with fuel before I smelled it and shut it off.

This one threads into itself so it can't just slip off. Russell 644123.

oldgoat69

Before you go much further, have you bench bled the master? Make sure that you have no trapped air in the cylinder. An old trick is to gravity bleed the entire system. To do that you simply open all of the bleeder screws just a touch. I add a short piece of hose to the bleeders and drain into a small can or bottle. Make sure that all of the bleeders are pointing up. The bleeder needs to be at the highest point on the caliper or wheel cylinder. It may also be necessary to gently tap a caliper to dislodge air bubbles.

lizeec

iTrader: (57)

Just a heads up on your Russell quick disconnects, there have been quite a few people that have had those old style Russell quick disconnects with the plastic retaining lock come loose and spray gasoline. Russell has a new updated part the 5/16 is part #644110 and the 3/8 part # is 644120 for the blue ones and they also come in black and they have a much better threaded locking retainer. I included a link below that shows the new style of fittings.

http://russellperformance.com/mc/ada...fuel-efi.shtml

JetMech442

iTrader: (1)

Thanks-I bench bled the master first, then when I was bleeding the passenger tire, I sucked it dry. I figured that if I pressure bled, it would do the same thing as bench bleeding but maybe not. I'm going to rebleed this weekend and also try tapping with a hammer like you suggested. Thanks.

JetMech442

iTrader: (1)

SERIOUSLY!!!! Why are they still selling them then? I jsut got these things like 3 months ago. Well, thanks for the heads up anyways, I'll keep a fire extinguisher and a roll of duct tape in the trunk.

Edit: this was a dumb plan. It did come off about a year later. luckily I shut it down before it caught fire on the headers. The new one is now installed. 9/17

lizeec

iTrader: (57)

Probably they have a gazillion of them still left from their order that they placed to get them made in China for about .35 cents each. I think they refuse to admit they had a problem with them, alot of people swear by them but an equal amount of people have had them come loose and spray gasoline. There are quite a few threads on here about the old style fittings, and actually the new style have only been available for about 2-3 months. Looks like you have my type of luck, you think you are spending the good money on the good parts only to find out there is a better or cheaper alternative available by the time you have already installed your parts.

oldgoat69

Which calipers are you using? If they are 4 piston units, make sure to bleed both halves. I had a similar problem with H/A calipers on my drag car. I also found that the pistons were stuck in the bores. I was able to get them to move freely and the problem vanished. It took me about 3 hours to get all of the air out of my Baer calipers using the gravity and tap method. All works fantastic now.

JetMech442

iTrader: (1)

I ditched the 76 camaro calipers for a set of dual piston wilwoods because I was done trying put pull the caliper off, rotate and bleed it, then put it back on. The Wilwoods have bleeders on both ends and look great. FYI, you don't get any more clamping force on the pad( it's actually just the slightest bit less, but there IS an argument for even pad force distribution.

Either way, the 15'' cragars just barely contacted the rotor(by about 1mm), so I needed new rims. I got a set of C6 Z06 rims and mounted Nitto NT05's on them. The Rears are 18x9.5 with 295/45R18 and the fronts are 18x9.5 with 285/35R18. I want ed to go with 275''s up front, but they were on national back order, so the 285's can be had with about the same overall height.

For future wrenchers-the rim is 9.5'' on the insides of the lip and 10 3/8'' on the outside. The overall diameter of the rim is 19 9/16 and weighs 24.2lbs. The tires are 11.25'' MAX width for the 295's and 11.125 for the 285's. When compared to the 275/60R15 555R's that were on, you can see that there is drastically less bulge and more contact area. BTW, the 555R's were 11 7/8 MAx width even though they were a 275.

JetMech442

iTrader: (1)

Also wanted to point out that if you switch to the D52 wilwood calipers, the stock pads will most likely not work. The stock pads interfere with the caliepr and prevent it from releasing-guess how I know.

The EBC "Redstuff" pads I bought have the interfering area eliminated.

JetMech442

iTrader: (1)

Got the Nitto's mounted. I'm going to remeasure the spacing required for the wheel adapters now that I know exactly how wide the tire is when mounted on the rim.

I'm going to try and get the front tires as far out as possible, but I don't know if camber is going to cause the tire to hit the fender when I turn. Any thoughts?

OldCobraGuy

iTrader: (2)

I about fainted...is that an original Hurst Olds or W-30 car??? The red inner fenders only came on those cars...

99Ls1fever

iTrader: (3)

Looks good man, I have always been a huge 442 ethusaist, whats up with the spolier? I would **** can that IMO its not a W-30 car...

OldCobraGuy

iTrader: (2)

It is according to those inner fenders...

Although I believe Hurst Olds came with them as well. Not sure on that though. But all W-30's...and ONLY W-30's...had red inner fenders. (and maybe h/o)

JetMech442

iTrader: (1)

It is a real 442, and as far as I can tell it was a w-30 car before I got to it. The red fenders were actually spray painted black when I got it, and I accidentally oversprayed carb cleaner on it and it melted away to the red underneath. Then I checked the sway bar, posi unit and those matched. It did not have a spoiler, but it did have the correct springs for a spoiler. the VIN shows 442 status, lansing michigan blah blah blah. By the time I got to it, the original motor/trans/goodies were stripped off of it and it had a rocket 350/th350 that ran 16.8's in the quarter-I used to get beat by the squadron duty van(chevy Astro). I built the 455 and put at least 13k in it by the third rebuild(all by professional shops) but it kept breaking-hence the LS motor.

I'm planning on changing the spoiler/scoop/stripe to a silver or dark grey color, I think it would help bring the color scheme together.

OldCobraGuy

iTrader: (2)

The 69 W-30 cars had the ram air option the same as a 68 if I recall correctly...they had scoops under the bumper. All W-30's had ram air. The scoops on your car were only offered as a Hurst Olds option. All W-30's had red inner fenders. All 1969 W-30's had 400 cid engines...same as all 1968 and 1969 442's. The difference was camshafts, intakes, and heads. All 1969 Hurst Olds got the 455. The earlier 400 cid engines (up to 1967) had shorter stroke 400's. The 1967 W-30's (500 made) had red inner fenders, and the ram air scoops were located between the head lights. Hope this all helps.