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Great news! I rebuilt the column and installed the 3rd gen Camaro wiper switch into the 4th gen column. It all fits as it should and the wiring is different but thats perfect! The wipers now wipe and do things like they should! They don't have a delay (its a common failure mode for these pulse boards to go out and the wipers still work but they won't do any delay wiping. So I've got them hooked up and they wipe Low/High/Spray just fine, plus they park!!! I've had this car 22 years and I don't think the darn thing ever had wipers that parked correctly, I'd always just casually push the wipers under the cowl when I got to where I was going. This is so cool! I also found a condenser and its on the way. I'll build the little brackets, curse my mistake, hate that I may have to remove the radiator to remove the condenser, but it'll work in the end I think.
The dually needs some attention and the weather is finally not wet for a few days so I'll deal with it (so its not stuck behind the El Camino trapping it in the garage).
I'm really hoping the next update is something along the lines of a mail order tune has got the truck running good enough to leave the garage
Well after those little setbacks I've got things back on track. new condenser is installed, and I didn't even have to pull the radiator, I just had to remove a trans cooler line.
The Interior is all together finally, and I tuned the amps a little and this thing hits hard.
My friend who manages a local tire shop found me some front and rear tires (both discontinued and heavily discounted) I'm running a 245/45-R17 on the front, and so far it looks like its going to fit beautifully. I basically jumped up and down pushing on the fender with the wheels turned and it doesn't rub at all. Even though it looks tight I can still fit my hand between the rubber and the fender. The bigger brakes, pushed the wheels out about 1/2" and the modified S10 inner fenders give me tons of room without anything hitting.
The rears are not at his location, so they are about a week out, but they are a pair of 275/40-R17. They're almost the same height as the fronts, so they shouldn't look goofy, and hopefully they will fit and not rub on the frame. If they do I have some 1/2" spacers I can throw on for now until I get some different wheels. I can't wait to see how the 275s fit, because I always used to run 255s on 15s and those looked pretty beefy on the back.
The other thing that happened this week was me breaking down and paying for a mail order tune. Just from a quick startup to make sure it took the tune it runs better, not as rich, and it can actually hold an idle (not that I let it idle for more than a minute). It still needs some adjusting, but they cover that with the email tune. Now with the new tires on the way, I can go ahead and even drive this thing and send them a data log beyond just breaking the engine in and letting it run in the garage.
My friend at the tire shop came through! He found me a set of rear 275/40/17s that were discontinued and like $250 for the pair out the door. Who would have thought I'd have so much trouble finding a tire for the rear, or that it would be the one that didn't fit well.
Thats right, I have to run a 1/2" spacer so the tire doesn't rub on the frame. We kind of figured it might be the case, and I had the spacers from my old S10 so it'll work for now. These wheels are not its forever wheels, I think I'm going to get some 2 piece ones from American Racing or somewhere so I can have the backspacing I need in the rear to run a 275 or wider tire without issues. The tires aren't close to the fender, they are just close to the frame so at least we aren't completely out of room under the truck.
Not the fanciest of tires, but they were discontinued and super discounted A bit of a raked stance but its not too bad The largest tires I'd had up to this point were 255s on a 15" wheel and they were ballooned out a lot
The tune seems to be working, I sent a log back once and got an update and that made it so the car can idle and get up to temp, and I can check other systems.
I know the transmission works as well as the power steering, I drove the car front and back a few feet. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but this thing has been pushed, carried, pulled, and otherwise manhandled through the garage for over 7 years. Its the first time its moved under its own power, and all things considered it was mostly a success.
Although, I'm having brake issues The calipers seem to be working fine, the master seems to be good, and bled well. The hydroboost is even working like it should. The parts just aren't working together well, the pedal is super hard and is more like an on/off switch than a brake pedal. I did look and there are actually g-body specific hydroboost kits as well as remanned hydroboosters available now. When I went and put this system together I took it off an Astro at the junkyard, that must have been 10 years ago. I am thinking of switching out the booster for the one that has the proper firewall plate, it looks like it will level out the master better. That difference and the rod/plunger between the master and booster may be what is the issue. If that solves my problem I may be in the clear and it's basically ready to leave the garage for real. The master I am using is "the" corvette master eveyone seems to recommend for a disc/disc setup with inverted flares not bubble flares, and its for a '77 I think (definitely some sort of C3). I know people have used it on their vacuum boosted G-body cars without issues, so I'm going to leave that alone for the time being and tackle the hydrobooster first.
Hope everyone else has good progress on their projects too!
Jessica
Things are going well, the dually runs, and I just need to break it in and it'll be out of my hair and I can enjoy it this summer.
The El Camino is doing ok. I did swap out the master, and I'm just waiting on a friend to come over to bleed the brakes.
This long weekend might just be the time things get on the road again (if I can manage to stay away from work). swapped the vette master for this stocker. hopefully it'll work good enough to putt around and tune.
The new hydroboost has a lead time that puts it out till October, so I'm going to make something work in the mean time.
Jessica
What is the round canister in front of the master cylinder? P/S reservoir? If so, where did u get it? That looks really nice .
Yeah its the power steering reservoir. Its from Concept One, its a hydroboost setup kit they sell, and the guy I talked to at Hydratech actually said they helped Concept One develop the kit. Its really nice, comes with all the lines fittings and conversion fitting to the factory threads, it has baffling inside the reservoir, and no hose clamps in the system, and seems to be worth it compared to the ones that are cheap and tend to get bubbles and cavitate. Its been working good so far with trying to bleed and cycle the steering box and hydrobooster.
It made it out of the garage!! I had my sister help bleed the brakes the other day. First time the body has been out in over 7 years (the frame left to be sand blasted in the side yard). I got that far and then it wouldn't run and kept dying. I got it back in the garage, because that seemed like the best course of action. Then I decided to check the codes (my tuner left an evap code that keeps throwing and now the light just stays on). Come to find out there is a cam sensor code, so I have a new sensor and I checked all the wires for continuity when I installed the harness, it kind of felt like I had the plug on loose so I plugged it back in and tried it again. It ran great, but then a neighbor stopped by to ask about the car he's always seen in the garage and didn't think ran and didn't think I was working on.
Test drives coming this weekend if everything keeps going well.
Jessica
A cam sensor malfunction would only cause hard starting.
It would spin once, the ECM gets its mind right, then it fires up next time.
Cam sensor just tells which stroke #1 cylinder is on. That's it.
A cam sensor malfunction would only cause hard starting.
It would spin once, the ECM gets its mind right, then it fires up next time.
Cam sensor just tells which stroke #1 cylinder is on. That's it.
thats exactly what it did, couldn't get it to start plus the tach wasn't working on hptuners. It seems to be ok now
Jessica
Fixed the cam sensor signal issue, was a super dumb mistake (I had the knock sensor plug that isn't being used kind of sitting in the cam sensor). It being on the back of the engine, and my engine having a kind of large autometer sending unit for oil pressure back there I must have accidently mixed things up. Anyways its running better and I actually drove it around the block. It has brakes, the steering is still kind of bleeding and burping itself I think, because its a little inconsistent. Overall it was pretty good and it only died like 3 or 4 times and it always restarted well. I think that should be enough to send the tuner, and the next drive should be longer. It was totally wild to drive it again after too many years working on it in the garage. It was my first and only car for 10 years, and although it doesn't really feel the same, or look the same when sitting in it, it was like being in old reliable!
I couldn't help but take a couple more pics of the two projects in the driveway. I also found out it can spin and chirp the 275 Coopers on the back like they're nothing. So thats cool!
Jessica
Well can confirm it has lots of power. Drove it further this week, still needs tuning done, but it broke the tires loose at will no problem even while driving. It's still hard to believe
What gears and trans are in this again? Braking the tires loose is a good feeling . Simple things in life make you smile
I believe they're a 3.70 in the rear (Its a Ford housing so not a 3.73 like I'm used to saying) and a 4L80e, tires are 275/40-R17. It also has a 3400 stall converter
Its definitely been putting a smile on my face whenever I get to work on it or drive it lately.
Jessica
Sounds good. What brand converter and do you like it?
thanks,
jimbo
Its an itty bitty thing from Florida Torque Converters. I was told it started out as a converter for a Nissan Xtera; its listed as their Stage 2 10"
So far I like it, its rated at 600hp so its right at the limit for my setup and everything else I put together had a rating of 700+ so I hope it holds up ok.
It was very reasonably priced, so that helped me make the decision.
I figured after I get the car on the road I may want to up the rpm or lower it or do something different with the gears; so spending a grand or more on a converter wasn't the right choice at the time.
Jessica
So I had a bit of a bump in the road recently. The power steering pump has been acting weird since I got the car running. First the power steering would kind of go in and out while turning the wheel. I thought it was just a matter of bleeding the system, so I did that a couple more times and really went after it. That all kind of helped but the brakes and steering always seemed weird. Last week it just plain stopped working while I was backing out of the garage. Of course it stopped while I was just in the street and had to get it back in the driveway without power steering and the engine kind of not idling.
I reached out to Kwik performance after a bit of searching for an answer on my own. I had bought this kit and front accessory drive from them in 2020 (which I absolutely can't say enough nice things about). They were super nice and super understanding about the problem. Turns out its rare but sometimes it has happened that a new pump can be bad. So they are helping me out with a new pump and I should be all set. Its nice to know there are still really cool companies out there with amazing customer service!
Its also really nice how this car is so serviceable and easy to work on. I also used their adapter brackets to put a vortec sbc serpentine setup on my big block and those are awesome as well!
Anyways things are moving forward, and I think I'm really close with the tuning, its running really well and starts without any input from me. Up until now its taken a lot of cranking and pumping the throttle.
Jessica
I'm still dealing with power steering issues. I got the new pump. Put it in and never got power steering and it smoked. So I'm stuck till I figure out what is going on, but work is crazy busy and by the time I get home I don't want to spend the night in a stupid hot garage working on a car that is basically just making me mad. Taking a much needed break from the project, hopefully it won't be too long.
Jessica
05-20-2022, 11:07 AM
The calipers seem to be working fine, the master seems to be good, and bled well. The hydroboost is even working like it should. The parts just aren't working together well, the pedal is super hard and is more like an on/off switch than a brake pedal. I did look and there are actually g-body specific hydroboost kits as well as remanned hydroboosters available now. When I went and put this system together I took it off an Astro at the junkyard, that must have been 10 years ago. I am thinking of switching out the booster for the one that has the proper firewall plate, it looks like it will level out the master better. That difference and the rod/plunger between the master and booster may be what is the issue. If that solves my problem I may be in the clear and it's basically ready to leave the garage for real. The master I am using is "the" corvette master eveyone seems to recommend for a disc/disc setup with inverted flares not bubble flares, and its for a '77 I think (definitely some sort of C3). I know people have used it on their vacuum boosted G-body cars without issues, so I'm going to leave that alone for the time being and tackle the hydrobooster first.
