Minor progress

Earlier today, I picked up some relays, an overflow hose and a coil at LKQ today. I’m not sure I’ll have time to wire up the relays and a switch, but one fan is mounted. I also picked up some threaded rod, stand-offs and nuts from AAA for the bottom radiator mount.

I mounted the radiator and the other fan. The wiring still needs to be done and I'll get some wire before next Wed so we can finish that.

I tried to start the car and was semi-successful. At first, it wouldn’t start. Then it caught and ran like it was starved for fuel. I checked the fuel filter and it was full. I was able to get it started 3 times this way, but that was it. The charger/booster is on the battery. I checked the coil and it is within spec. The wires are all correct on the HEI module. Ground it there and good. I’m not sure what keeps happening. 

More starting problems...

I went out to start the car some time last week and it was not working again. The first thing we tackled on Wed was the spark problem. All connections were correct. We swapped HEI modules, but no luck. I tested the coil and it was not within parameters, so we replaced it. That resolved the problem. It started up and ran much better than last time. It bogged down while accelerating up the driveway, but I had no more problems with it.We drove it around the block a few times to see how it was doing and it was much improved. There's still no power, but it is a 30 year old car. The car had 110 hp new. I'm guessing we're at 60-75 hp. Luckily, we have a spare engine that we plan on rebuilding and swapping for more power/reliability, but that's all time and money dependent.

We also swapped in the aluminum junk yard radiator. We ran the car without fans. It didn't overheat when moving, but the temp would climb while sitting.

Today, I hauled the old Datsun 620 truck to the scrap yard. It was loaded down with all the spare metal I could find just to make it worth their while and to clean up the garage. It's kinda sad seeing it go, but it wasn't doing me any good just sitting there. I kept some stuff to sell. If it doesn't sell in the next month, I'll just junk it too. Before I dropped it off the dolly, I pulled the 4 headlights. They are all halogen. I've installed them on the Celi for a free light upgrade.

I returned the wheels we bought 2 weeks ago. They wouldn't take my steelies for a core return, so the aluminum wheels went back. That's $210 saved. I'll check CL and see if I can find a set of 15" wheels for less.

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but there's still a bunch to do. One thing at a time and it will get done.

It's Alive Again!

Wednesday's work session started out like normal. I cleaned up all the grounds in the hope that would fix the spark issue, but to no avail. Ed and Dom showed up, so we pulled the rear shocks and put the Frenchy ones from the Camaro on. It helps some, but the springs are just shot and they need to be replaced. It is an improvement though.

About that time Ken showed up. We started troubleshooting the spark issue and his eagle eyes noticed a difference in the mounting holes in the HEI module. One hole had more metal around it and it went into the module. This, apparently, is the actual ground. Once we moved the ground connection to it, the engine fired up. So to review, there are 2 mounting holes on the HEI module. One is ground, the other is not.

After getting the car running, I drove it around the block. It was bogging down under acceleration. We sprayed carb cleaner around the carb base to check for leaks and there were a few. We pulled the carb and put gasket sealer on. Another quick trip around the block shows are still having problems with bogging on acceleration. We'll tackle that some time after the holidays.

I'm happy the car is running again. We have better shocks and the cage is almost all done.

I'll be in Charlotte on Monday and will stop by the pull a part. I'll see if I can pick up some rims, an aluminum radiator with electric fans and a 3rd brake light for mounting on the roof.

Junk Yard Visit

The crew met at the local self service JY this morning. Ken came along to supervise and offer wheel advise. We were looking for 4 things: coil with ignition control module, rear shocks from a Camaro, a radiator and 15" wheels. We did not find the coil and ignition module.

We found 2 sets of shocks. The first was hydraulic and had no return. It was stiff on the compression though. The second set we found were gas and had good compression and return. They look fancy, but really, they were from a Camaro!

Even better, they were made in France!

We did pull an aluminum radiator with 2 fans out of a Nissan.

We also found some descent 15x6 wheels from another completely unrelated Nissan. They are aluminum wheels with crappy, dry rotted tires. They made me purchase the tires as I had no way to pull them off.

They do rub the shock tower, so we'll need spacers.

And we'll need longer studs, you know, so the lug nuts don't fall off and let the wheel have it's freedom.

The spacers will also help with keeping the wheel away from the rest of the car during heavy loads. This is fully turned in while on the ground. There is just barely enough space to put my littlest finger between them.

And for Ed, just because. These are from a Saab 900 turbo. The offset it too large and would require longer studs but no spacers. They are 15" wheels and the tires are skinny enough that they don't rub the shocks.

Since there is plenty of space in the wheel wells, I'm going to investigate 16" wheels. This will allow us even more tires choices. Hopefully it won't cause an issue with rubbing, but we'll figure that out if it does. 

Cold, but not Rochester Cold

First, A big welcome to our new team member, Dom. He's joined us while on the lam from the Upstate NY weather.

We worked on the spark problem and it seems like the ignitor module is dead. Everything else checks, but we're just not getting any spark. I probably fried it when I was messing with the HEI module install.

We did get the front shocks replaced. The old ones were just dead. No return or resistance. The car was relying on the springs for suspension. The new ones were more like a modern shock absorber cylinder that slides into the strut case. It's a good replacement for the built in set. The seals were shot on the existing shocks. While it may have been fun to repair/replace the seals in the old ones, I prefer the direct replacement of the modern shock. We did not cut the springs. I'm going to get some 15" wheels and see how they fit, then decide on lowering the car.

Dom tacked in another drivers side door bar. One more on that side and we'll be done. I still need to get the driver's side bars bent and they will be ready to go.

I read on the Lemons forums that CMP would be full course. Wow, oh wow, that would be a great course to drive. The short course looks fun, but the 2 back straights would be awesome. I haven't driven them, but I did walk them.