Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, it's definitely the pits. If I'd had an inspection certification 3 months after I got out of school, I wouldn't be worried about anything right now. But, as it was, I went and got the card, went back there, and they told me they already hired someone . A few months later I almost had another job, but the manager called and said a guy that up and quit a couple months before wanted back in, so I was SOL, but he'd keep me in mind. That was 4 years ago now. Of course, the dealer I interned at was a Pontiac dealer that got shuttered when GM downsized, and they had just hired 2 guys who didn't know their behinds from a brake hose just before I got out of school.

So, right now, I am paying $330 a month, for the next 5 and a half years, for a glorified piece of paper. Can't even go for ASE certifications without 2 years "professional" experience. It's disappointing, to say the least, especially when you go and apply to a junkyard as a dismantler (which pretty much requires no experience), and the first thing the manager says is, "Okay, you have no time in a shop..." Needless to say, I didn't get that one, either.

So, by the time I'm done with the rebuild, I'll have put about $8500 into the car (I'm keeping track AND I'm up over $8K now), and $13K into my school loans. Hopefully, it will get me something more than what I have now.

Richboll

Good luck! You've got the credentials so its only a matter of time. Hang in there and the right job will happen.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Update:

Finally got warmer weather and started getting the fuel system together. I ended up turning the 3100 fuel rail around (so I wouldn't have to buy twice as many fittings) and screwing the AFPR to the bulkhead. I got the short return hose to the regulator from the rail and the pressure hose from the body line to the pressure fitting on the rail installed.

Went and unwrapped the fuel hose I bought a couple months ago and got a surprise. It wasn't 6AN hose. It was 1/2" teflon lined hose. So I sold it and bought replacement hose. Should be here soon enough.

My neighbor and I should be getting together this weekend to get the fuel pump bracket bent so I can install that and the undercar fuel hoses. I just need to ask when I can lug my welder and headers over there to get the EGR crud sorted out (weld up the hole in the pass side header where the EGR port used to be and put the EGR tube on the driver's side for the 3100 intake). Yes, I need the EGR stuff to pass visual. No, it's not going to be functional (no wiring to ECM, no ECM actuation, no exhaust flowing into transfer tube because I'm welding it to the OUTSIDE of the primary, plugged vacuum port, etc). Just don't tell the state, hm?

Oh, and I finally took care of the last suspension piece... The track bar brace has been wire brushed and painted. I wish I could have sandblasted and powdercoated it, but I suppose that will have to wait. Now I just need to find the bolts .

On a side note, does anyone happen to have a rear exhaust mount for the 2.5" pipe that was used on the L98? The pipe hanger (intermediate pipe) goes into the mount front-to-rear and the V6 one I have goes in driver's side-to-passenger's side. I don't think I can bend it, either, as I think it would be mounted wrong for that.

So I went ahead the other day and pulled the wiper arms and cowl screen, and chipped the crud I had used to "seal" the seams in the cowl up out. And followed that up with seam sealer. Good thing too, because it's POURING out right now (thunderstorm). I hope I won't go out tomorrow and find a HUGE puddle of water in the passenger's footwell! And also need to find out wtf is up with the clip that's supposed to be holding the engine harness pass-through against the shroud by the lower door hinge... It seems like it's in the groove but it won't seat all the way and the pass-through keeps popping out of the hole .

Also went ahead yesterday and ordered the remaining MSII adapter parts from Mouser. They're shipping them tomorrow due to an issue with my card (they won't take PayPal... ). I'm hoping they'll be here by the weekend so I can finally stuff the MSII in the old ECM case I've had kicking around for 4 years.

I still need to either buy a replacement or find a way to seal that defunct heater fitting.

I finished up the wiring and crud under the driver's side of the dash. I now have power windows operated by relays driven by 10 gauge wiring coming from an auxillary fuse panel which is fed straight off of the battery. Yes, they work. I have tested them. Anyways, I put the kick panel and both lower dash panels in. I also fixed the wire for the parking brake lever and got the console reinstalled.

I still need to make an ECM bracket for the passenger's side of the dash and get the recirculating air valve for the HVAC reinstalled (see cowl sealing above) before I can put in the glove box and underdash panel on that side, followed by the rest of the trim in the front and finally the seat.

I ended up removing the passenger's side sail trim panel and starting to cut the slots in it for the "speaker cover" panel (not going to be any speakers in there any more). Haven't finished yet and won't until I can get some cutting wheels for my rotary tool.

It took me about an hour, but I got the nylon guides trimmed for the hatch motor and got that and the tail panel reinstalled (I think I need to fix the light back there). I also went and got some 3M permanent mounting tape and used that to attach the carpet pieces to the remaining naked trim panels (except for the hatch compartment door which I haven't gotten to yet due to weather). Now I can't put any more trim back in until I get the fender back on followed by the GFX .

:edit: Almost forgot... Also took a piece of aluminum that used to be a placard on the side of a truck and cut and formed it to form the backbone of the cover that will be going where the broken passenger's side air bag cover was on the dash. I need to find out what I'm going to use for padding and what kind of vinyl to cover it with before I go any further. I also need to find a hinge to put on the back of it so it can open and I can get in there (my aftermarket security module is in there and I plan on putting a couple other things in there in the future).

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

I swear I'm going to go with that water leak in the cowl... I have so much sealer in there now that not even Niagara Falls should be able to get into the passenger's compartment, and it is still oozing. At least it's not streams now, but I have a ways to go, it seems.

Anyways... Fuel pump bracket plan has been rescheduled for Monday (I hope). Also planning on getting the headers taken care of (the hole in the pass side closed and the EGR tube welded to the driver's side) at the same time.

I got the hose I needed. Along with the last intake coupler. And got lots of rain, so nothing got done.

Well, almost nothing... I still need to cut the notch in the upper cover for the DB9 serial port and then I'm closing it up and getting it ready for the brackets, which should get done this week since I have 3 days off. And never mind the neon green hot glue holding the crystal down... It was left in the gun and we don't have any clear sticks (craft gun). Yes, the board is bolted to the far support... Had to modify the heat sink bar and the board itself, but it's firmly attached. The white nylon screw is holding up the other corner, and the foam is insulation to keep things from shorting out.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Well, things have been progressing.

1. Headers have been welded, but I need to touch up a couple pinholes on the passenger's side where the EGR fitting USED to be and hit them with some high-temp paint before I can put them in.
2. Engine compartment fueling is done, just need to make sure the fittings are tight. We went today and got the fuel pump bracket all bent. I should have that finished tomorrow and installed shortly, once I get an appropriate drill bit for the screws that will be going into the frame rail. My remaining fuel line fittings came yesterday and the fuel system should be done by this weekend. I still need to cut the plate that will be covering the fuel pump assembly and get that installed.
3. Air intake is pretty much done. I had to obtain a clamp that went AWOL somewhere along the line and the rest will just fall into place. I still need to get the connector for the Ford MAF.
4. Found out my ignition assembly is DOA. I have power to the module, crank signal to the module, and good connection to the ECM, but I have no spark, no tach signal, and no reference pulses to the ECM. Guess I'll try to pick one up when I go to fetch the Ford MAF connector from the J/Y.

I will make the ECM dash bracket after I get done with the fuel pump cover. After that, I'll get the cowl taken care of and get the interior air recirculating valve back into place so that I can close up the dash (finally). Followed by getting a power steering pulley on the pump, the PS lines reinstalled, and the system bled, before I measure for the new belt and get that all done. With any luck, the 88 should be running by the end of the month.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

I need to get some more pics...

I cleaned out the interior the other day, getting most of the wiring trash and excess out. After that, I put most of the trim back in. I won't be putting in the pillar trims and the rear trim above the hatch until I find a headliner worth installing.

I've been working on the wiring under the passenger's side of the dash... Trying to get it mated up with the engine harness half and make sure all of the stuff that needs to go from the instrument cluster to the ECM is where it's supposed to be, is a real pain. So far, I don't have a SHIFT light, but the ECM is capable, and I do have the SES light (so the guys in the shops won't know the difference), but it's pretty dim.

I found the reason for the no spark today. Apparently, I didn't realize I needed to actually wire up a relay to cut the signal to the ignition module from the ECM on the EST line. I wired up the MSII relay on the start circuit, and now everything is sparky. I still don't know if I have reference pulses to the MSII or not since I didn't have my other laptop handy at the time.

The fuel pump and bracket were installed today. I think I have the entire fuel system finished now, but I need to wait a couple days (or longer) to go and get some REAL gas for pressure testing. And I still can't start the engine until I get the passenger's side header installed along with the crossover pipe, O2S, catalyst, and muffler. I did, however, get the intermediate pipe hung over the axle.

Getting bored one day last week, I finally remade the flare for the front-to-rear brake line at the combination valve. Only to bleed the system and find out I needed to bleed the air out of that part of the M/C. I managed to get help with that a couple days ago (it's not easy turning a wrench on the fitting while trying to push on the pedal from the other side of the firewall!), and now I have good solid brakes.

I'm trying to locate exhaust hangers... The ones I need are both pieces for the catalytic converter to a T-5 trans and the one by the rear wheels. I need to get a universal for the driver's side and drill out 2 broken bolts before I can mount it. I'm hoping to be able to go out Thursday and get the exhaust parts (adapter for the muffler, elbow for tailpipe, clamps) after I rent a power steering pulley tool kit and go to the junkyard to get the PS pulley I need.

I still need to find the materials to finish the cover plate for the dash, and get a piece of sheet to make the ECM bracket. I'll probably also need to get some connectors and a connector shell to make a serial port extender for the MSII. I'd like to extend the port out to the front of the dash behind the glove compartment door (similar to the hatch release button) so I don't have to fish around under the dash if I need to plug in the laptop for any issues.

And I still need to rewire the hatch release... I currently have to have the ignition on to pop the hatch. Guess I'll fix that when I go under the dash to find out what happened that I lost power to my door lock switches .

I went back into the doors and got everything all nice and lubed up. The power door locks actually work now.

And I also removed the wiper motor and got that opened up. I cleaned up the commutator and brushes and now it's a little faster. That commutator was nasty. I also finally killed that blasted water leak in the cowl.

Now all I need are the following parts:
1. Power steering pulley
2. Serpentine belt (if mine won't fit)
3. Exhaust flange bolts
4. Exhaust hangers
5. Exhaust clamps, adapter for muffler, and elbow for tailpipe
6. Sheet of aluminum for ECM bracket
7. Vinyl and padding for dash cover
8. Shift boot ring for 98-02 F-body shift plate
9. Some sort of shift grip... I'm not using a standard grip (for B&M shifter), no way.
10. And silver Z28 emblems.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Wow, was this thread comatose or what?

1. Ignition system: Issue was NOT with the wiring. Issue was NOT with MegaSquirt. Issue was NOT with the crank position sensor (in a way). The issue ended up being a badly machined torsional damper that I bought with the CKP bracket from TCE. The timing notches were machined wrong. 2 dampers later, it's got pretty nice spark now. I got my money back for the kit and bought a new battery.
2. Exhaust: Mounted all pipes, catalytic converter, headers, muffler, and finally got the rear hanger (but not the cat-to-trans hangers!). Found out that the passenger's side subframe connector (bolt on) was being hit by the exhaust pipe. Lowered exhaust, notched the SFC, reinstalled exhaust.
3. Electrical: Found a couple gremlins. First, I had rewired the fuel pump and fan relays in the engine compartment. Found out that was wrong and had to switch a couple of wires. I kept wondering why I was blowing fuses. Anyways, I also ended up completely pulling the dash out and doing some surgery on the harness to correct the problems with the accessory power. Turns out that the 4th gen harness has WAY too many orange wires, which can be either constant hot after the fuse panel OR ignition hot. I ended up cutting a couple bad connections and splicing them somewhere else. Also, I ran my old 8 gauge amp power wire from the battery to a second accessory fuse panel under the dash. This powers the window relays and the hatch motor. The windows are on 20A breakers and the hatch on a fuse, like stock.
Also bought a second VATS bypass resistor and made another key, which will disable the starter upon removal. Power windows work, faster than I've ever seen them. Power locks work great. Hatch motor works great, along with the release. Bought a specialty tool and got the fuel pump hooked up as well.
4. ECM: I bought an endcap for a home HVAC plenum, which is cheap thin steel. I cut the outer edges off of the steel (as they were shaped to be crimped to the end of the plenum duct) and made the piece flat. Since I had already made a template, I taped it to the steel and cut it with tin snips before folding it in the proper directions. It's one tight fit under there, especially concerning the serial connector and cable, but the MSII isn't flopping around. Also found out that I had my wire running for the SES light in the wrong location on the MSII board. I fixed that and another small issue and got the SES working "like it should" (if I had a factory ECM ).
5. Dash panel: It's not the greatest, and it's not finished (I still need to paint it black), but I made a panel to cover the air bag hole on the passenger's side. It's not installed yet, either, as it still needs work, but it's sitting there right now. The lower hush panels have been installed. Along with the passenger's seat (finally!). I have the cardboard to make the template for the filler panel between the dash and the windshield, but for some reason, I can't do anything with it. Somewhere along the line, my factory, damaged, dash pad has gone AWOL, so I don't have an outline of the windshield.
6. Brakes: I adjusted the driver's side brake adjuster. And also ended up redoing the flare at the rear brake hose on the body before bleeding the master cylinder again. I thought everything was fine until I went and opened the reservoir one day and found the rear brake section EMPTY... Now it's not.
7. Power Steering: Found out I had a leak in the pressure line where the fitting is that goes into the gearbox. Replaced it with my V8 one (the one on the car when I bought it) and it's not leaking any more. Unfortunately, all I had at the time was brake fluid and now I need to bust out the paint again... Anyways, I dug out my old power steering pulley, straightened the lip on the rear edge, painted it silver, and installed it on the pump.

Now for the good news:
I currently have the only running 3.1/3100, hybrid, high-compression, 3rd gen on the board. Tuning is interesting, to say the least. I've got most of the under-3000 RPM table tuned (at least I think I do). I've extrapolated the data for the high end of the table, but I'll have to wait and see what happens.

And the bad:
1. I either have spark knock or a mechanical knock. The noise is NOT in the bottom end, as I have already removed the oil pan (after draining the crap oil) and checked the rods. The noise increases in both volume and frequency with RPM. I have noticed that my rocker arms, which are basically stock except having roller tips, are loose on my pivot *****. There is no play in the arm between the pushrod and the valve, but there is lateral play in the arms. I've placed them up for sale, $40. I've only used half of the set. I need to get rid of them and replace them with stock 3x00 (post-96) rocker assemblies. Either way, the "noise" is bad enough I have between 5 and 18 degrees of spark retard thanks to my knock sensor.
2. Alternator bracket bolt broke off in the cylinder head, and the alt threw the belt off the last time I started the engine. Luckily there wasn't much of it and the hole is now clear. Except now I need to replace the alternator AND bracket because they're not working with my setup. Anyone needing an almost-freshly rebuilt alternator, 105A (stock) LMK. I rebuilt it within a few months of taking the 87 off of the road and it works fine, it's just that the mounting of the alternator on the 3.4 bracket I'm going to install (when it gets here) is completely different from the one I have.
3. My family found out last month that my father's cancer is terminal. Which means that I need to get this going ASAP so I can find a second job, as when he goes, the house is going to have to be sold. And, as such, every single extra part I have (windshield and 5 side windows) either needs to be sold or thrown out.

Sorry, no new pics as of yet. Still working on things.

jay_d

would be cheaper to buy a 1000 dollar roller. i would charge about $750 to cut that one off and weld a new one on. its not like your dealing with a numbers matching yenko or something.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

I guess you haven't read the last 2 pages... That car has been razor blades for a year now, and I bought my roller for $900 .

And I cut the quarter off myself at a cost of $10, for the weld cutters... $110 for the replacement, and $80 for the 3M body panel adhesive.

jay_d

yup...sorry, had it in my head after the first page this thread was a bunch of arguing about cutting or replacing. ill just go back to lurking. lol

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

It's been a while since this was updated...

Since my last post, the car has been plated and insured. It's got a grand total of a whopping 10 miles on it in the last month.

The knocking issue is gone... Apparently some of the roller tip rockers were moving around on the pivot ***** and making a racket. I have a full set of 3x00 roller fulcrum rockers but I haven't installed them yet. Maybe on a crappy day.

I also solved the vacuum leak issue by basically replacing all of the gaskets above the cylinder heads and rethreading all of the valve cover bolt holes.

Also replaced the alternator and bracket with parts from a 93-95 3.4 F-body so no more thrown belts. Except that I need to get a belt about half an inch shorter than the one that's on there now because it's squealing like a banshee occasionally...

I'm having issues with the MSII adding fuel between starts when hot. In the order of 10% each start. This problem has become a royal pain and from what I can tell, there is absolutely no reason for it. If the engine were cold right now, I could run to the gas station just fine. Heck, I'd bet that, if I had a full tank, I could drive to Ohio or somewhere without any issues. However, after getting gas (or otherwise shutting the engine off), the engine would start and run like absolute garbage on the way back. Without changing ANYTHING in the tuning program. Which is why the car only has 10 miles on it and has YET to be inspected (other than the fact I need to get the left front tire and valve stem replaced and I just haven't yet even though I already have the tire). Anyways, I have a post up on the MSEfi forum but haven't gotten my latest post (with today's datalog) OKd by the moderators for viewing yet. I think that this issue has been plaguing me from the beginning and that's why the tuning was so difficult. I still am not 100% sure if I have the hot cranking PW right or not since the blasted MSII keeps changing the fueling on me...

Yes, I know I need to get some new pics. If the weather would improve, I'd be happy to.

Good news is that I got a job at the local Chevy dealer and I start Monday.

Bad news is that things are going to get a little dicey around here since the doctors say that my father only has a matter of weeks to live.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

New pics...

Keep in mind a couple of things:

1. THE CAR ISN'T FINISHED YET. The primary goal was to GET IT RUNNING, not make it pretty. It will be painted at some point because it needs it BAD, I don't currently have a headliner (which is why the pillar trims are in the back of the car... anyone want to help?), and I know the carpet doesn't match (thanks to someone on here).
2. The engine compartment needs to be sprayed and cleaned up BAD, I know.
3. The car overall is dirty thanks to the storm that passed through a few hours ago.
4. I don't have a stereo. Without any speakers, installing one is pointless. And I need to find a way to mount the right side of it anyways since the mounting point is apparently broken on the dash shell.
5. In the dash pic, no, there isn't any overspray on it. That's the reflection of the red door. I know that the panel that I had set in place to fill the hole left behind by the pass side air bag door fell out... It's on the floor. And I haven't sprayed the console yet to match the dash OR the glove compartment latch .
6. The gray seats will be disappearing as soon as I can find a Charcoal cloth set out of a 93-95 or other 4th gen and the door panels will be redone at some point (they've needed it for 10+years and I haven't had the money but at least most of the brackets are mounted now).
7. Not sure what happened to the wheels while they were in the garage... They didn't clean up as good as they usually do. I'm not installing the center caps until I retorque the lug nuts (and after replacing the bad tire).
8. Yes, it's idling ridiculously high. I need to reset the IAC after I find out WTF is going on with the MSII that it keeps changing my fuel mixture.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

More pics...

steve87ta

iTrader: (4)

Congrats on getting a job and at least the car is running. Some things come slower than we like but moving forward is the important part. To me anyways...

I am sorry to here about your father, we only get one of those.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Bump...

Found one of the issues with the MS was that the terminals were loose in the factory ECM connectors. I had the MS box sitting on the floor while driving one day and pulled back on it when I was in the driveway. The engine started running like poop. Pushed the MS back towards the firewall and it started running better. So I went through, one terminal at a time, over 2 hours, and tightened each and every single terminal in both ECM connectors. Now the engine runs more consistently, but I need to replace the fuel pump at the moment. Apparently, most of the gauges in the instrument cluster read high, and I've run the fuel tank dry a couple of times, which killed the pump. It's been making funny noises and I've noticed that now it's to the point that the engine speed fluctuates with the noisy pump. I have a pump on the way but it's coming from China and is supposed to be here at some point next week.

Other than that, I ended up completely resetting the IAC, minimum air rate, and the entire fueling table. It's idling somewhat decent but acceleration is pretty crappy due to crappy fuel flow. I won't be able to do anything more until I get the new fuel pump.

I'm still trying to find a headliner. Finding a decent one around here is proving to be a pain (due to the fact that most cars around here older than OBDII have been sent to the scrap heap) and shipping is really terrible due to the size. And finding a pass side air bag cover is proving to be a PITA as well. Even from those parting cars WITH BLOWN BAGS that all they have to do is to cut the plastic webbing that's approximately 3" long in the middle of the cover at the back. I personally don't see what the big deal is since most people tend to at least carry a pocketknife when they go to the junkyard, right?

Sinfulrelations

ok im not sure if i missed it or not but how did you go about installing the 4th gen dash? sub'd btw car is looking good

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Well, I went to a different J/Y looking for parts and found a decent 93 with a smashed up front end, which is what happened to the passenger's side air bag door. The bag blew and opened the door, and since the windshield was toast due to the collision, the sun and weather got to it and made it worse.

Anyways, the dash was pulled in a little over an hour and brought home, where it was fully disassembled down to the shell, harness, and parts. The first thing that was done was the air bag harness was separated from the rest of the harness and the harness and module were discarded (actually, I used some of the wires in the harness for wires in the main harness). The physical mounting of the dash literally took 20 minutes and required drilling one hole (since I had already cut the Camaro dash brackets down for my Bird dash all I had to do was to bend them a little bit).

Over the next 3 weeks, I bought a spare dash harness and cut it up for the primary connectors, the C100, the C207 and C208, and gathered the required wiring diagrams that were used to attach the 4th gen harness to the 3rd gen body and engine harnesses. It took a lot of time and headaches due to having to disconnect wiring from factory 4th gen connectors and put them in 3rd gen connectors, with a good number of wiring having to be completely moved from one end of the harness to the other, and other wiring had to be added for things like the wipers, VSS, the blue ignition switch connector (in a separate harness in the 4th gen) and a Bird headlight module (future conversion?). I had a couple glitches at first with the wiring being a bit on the short side (it always happens that way ), but it's fully functional. The only really significant change I had to make was to add a secondary fuse panel for the hatch pulldown and the power windows (each individual window motor is being fed by a 20A breaker straight from the battery through relays). The hatch release works, the VATS works (or worked at this point), and everything seems to be okay except for missing parts. Oh, and there are a LOT of orange wires in the harness, and it's hard to not confuse constant hot wiring with ignition on wiring...

Once that was all set, I had to go and buy a 4th gen heater module, core, and vacuum harness. Actually, that swap was easy once the holes were cut in the bulkhead for the heater core pipes... There is only one wire needing to be connected between the 4th gen dash harness and the 3rd gen HVAC harness, for which I use an inline bullet connector. However, instead of following the guide for the 4th gen HVAC module installation, where it says to cut the bulkhead and cowl to install the box, I modified the box, attached it to a 1" thick wood spacer, and installed it. The problem I have with the HVAC is that the vacuum system isn't quite right (the module didn't come with the harness attached and I had to guess and guessed wrong) and there is a significant space between the pass side vent by the door and the duct feeding it (I need to put something behind it to push it into the vent duct).

Right now, the only real issue I have with the dash is I think I had a power surge somewhere along the line and possibly fried the VATS module... The SECURITY light is on all of the time.

lmidden

finally read this thread in the first time in a while sucks that you had to get rid of the firebird but at least you got something to replace it i hit the same point with my camaro as you did with the firebird. at least your camaro looks good

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

I can't believe I haven't updated this in almost 5 months...

Been working on a number of issues.
1. Had to replace the fuel pump shortly after my last post. Cheap Chinese junk. Not very sure the one I got to replace it is much better, but at least it's working now. Also had to go a couple of weeks ago and fix the return line coming from the tank sending unit by cutting an inch off of the end and putting the fittings back on to cure a fuel leak. Followed by getting a replacement 90* female/female 6AN fitting to go between the fuel pump and the filter (again, cheap Chinese junk that got overtightened). No more fuel leaks.
2. Also had to replace the AFPR shortly after the fuel pump. Diaphragm went to crap. Got a Summit now. Cheap Chinese junk again .
3. Replaced the fuel injectors with 22# out of a F0rd. Didn't work for crap with my system, so they were yanked after 2 weeks. Anyone want a set of 8 yellow F0rd injectors?
4. Found most of my electrical gremlins.
A. Tightened the terminals at the ECM again.
B. Had to remove and rework the terminals in the C207 dash connector. Fixed my bogging and stalling issues related to movement and also the electrical problems going to the fuel pump.
5. Removed and did some work to the center console. Also removed the underdash panels and the glove compartment latch that hadn't been spraybombed yet and painted them to match the rest of the interior. Got the temporary pass side air bag cover in place and it's staying so far. Also got the last piece of Carmine carpet attached to the rear glove box door.
6. Got rid of the gray Bird seats back in February and have a black set from a 95. Anyone looking for a new-looking back seat? I couldn't get the fronts separate and I'm not going to use them. Also installed the black carpet I bought months ago to replace the Russet one I received with the rear carpet (because the seller couldn't tell the difference between BROWN and DARK GRAY).
7. Passed state inspection the first week of January. I wanted to wait until January in case someone said something about the lack of emissions parts (NYS law says any car that is in a model year that is 26 calendar years old or more is emissions EXEMPT!).
8. Replaced front brake hoses, banjo bolts, and the master cylinder. No more brake leaks. Guess I should have kept the master out of the 87 (which I know for a fact didn't leak like the one I had mounted on the 88).
9. Bought a replacement HVAC control head. Because I needed the vacuum control switch on the back of the selector switch, which I couldn't find separate. The air delivery seems a little weak, and the heat is still weak due to having the radiator fan set to turn on at 195* (to keep the lower radiator hose from blowing off again), but the HVAC air delivery is working now.
10. Bought a stock 93 radio for the clock and to plug the hole in the dash. That's about all it's good for (tape deck is apparently broken although nobody ever uses those nowadays). Can't even use the radio at the moment because a, I don't have any speakers or speaker wiring in the car, and b, I need to either locate mine or buy a new M6x1 die to clean up the threads on the antenna base because the old nut screwed it up and the new nut won't go on much less the antenna itself...
11. Bought an Innovate LC-1 wideband O2S. Haven't installed it yet due to crappy weather and that I'd like to get rid of the exhaust header leaks before I put it in to keep from throwing the readings off. I'm going to hope I can put it in later this week after I get paid and get some metal repair done on the header flanges and the #1 primary where the EGR transfer tube used to be.

Tuning is still proving to be a headache. Mostly because of the oxygen sensor and the exhaust leaks throwing the O2S output off. Autotune keeps richening the AFR even if the engine is literally choking on fuel. Can't tune it any other way because I can't find someone to either work the computer while I drive or drive while I work the computer.

I'm still looking to sell my spare parts. Also still looking for BLACK headliner and GTA/Deluxe door panels. With summer coming up, this is becoming imperative because the headliner acts as a bit of an insulator against the searing heat of the roof...

Also looking for a replacement dash shell because the damage is a little worse than I thought. Can't seem to get responses from CraigsList sellers other than "yeah, I'll sell it. I'll get back to you in a couple weeks." And then nothing... Only been waiting on 2 guys since March...

Rookie3rdgen17

i got hit by a 18 wheeler and it messed up ,y back driver side fender how do i go about fixing that? insurance company is gona do it im just wondering. would i cut off the damage ?

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Depends on how deep the damage is and where exactly it is on the panel. There are a good number of panels that all come together in that area even though the quarter panel itself is mostly empty air. Tweaking one could (and usually does) tweak the rest. Maybe you could start a thread and post pics?

Rookie3rdgen17

I'll try last thread I posted never got a response but I just made an account and still trying to figure things out.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Bringing this back...

1. Getting outside tuning help. I've been getting pretty close with the MS2 but having issues with parts of the fuel and spark tables and my accel enrichment is proving to be a royal PITA. Paying for it. Guess I'll be using MS2Extra even though I REALLY don't want it (going to transfer the numbers over when done I guess because I really don't see the point of the extra BS in it).
2. Still have exhaust leaks. Going nuts. That is all.
3. Ended up completely rewiring half of the fuel pump circuit. Ground was weak and power headed to the pump was only 10.6 volts getting lost somewhere in the engine harness between the factory relay and the C208. Put in a second relay powered off of my auxillary fuse panel and the factory relay and now my fuel pump isn't screaming as loud. Going to replace the power wire from the fuel tank body connector to the pump as soon as I can locate terminals.
4. Still looking for those black GTA door panels and a replacement 93-96 dash shell. I have a line on a dash on eBay but it seems ridiculous to pay the $100 for just the bare shell when I paid that at the yard for the complete dash I have now... But I guess I should factor in the huge shipping cost, so...
5. As for the rest of the interior... Today I finally found a decent factory hardtop headliner. It's even in the 88's factory Carmine Red. So now the interior is about 99% finished now. Just needs a touch up on the paint on the driver's side sail-to-tail panel, a passenger's side seat belt trim loop for the headliner, the plate going between the dash and the windshield, and a replacement dash shell.
6. Ran the wiring for the speakers. Don't know why I bothered with the fronts since I don't have the door pods yet, but I did. Completely forgot I scrapped the plates for the rear 6x9s so I am looking for a set.
7. Started preliminary drawings on the rear sub/speaker/storage box and amp rack. Need to trace a couple things and make cardboard templates before I finalize the drawings. Going to have to figure out a way to haul a 4x8 sheet of material home.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Update...

1. Paying for the tuning got me absolutely NOWHERE. The guy completely screwed up the spark table (seriously? 33* advance from one side of the table to the other at 100 kPa? What are you, nuts?), wasn't getting anywhere fast with the fueling table, and it was just CRAP. Went back to MS2 v.2.92 firmware and am sort of getting somewhere but I'm having difficulties getting the AFRs to cooperate...
2. Think I need to replace the pass side parking brake cable. Sounds like it's not releasing fully until I start forward and adjusting the parking brake isn't getting the results I want.
3. Rewired fuel pump again from aux relay to pump. Using heavy gauge wire good to like 40A or something (household type wire gotten from the shop when an electrician was installing the new tire machines and had extra wire... He said the wire would definitely work for me). Kind of got stuck doing this again after I almost had a fire due to the C208 under the dash overheating and fuel pump wiring came apart while going home for lunch one day. Not happening now as I have a very positive connection between the relay wire and the body wire and the wiring is heavier gauge.
5. Found another dash shell on eBay a couple weeks after the headliner. Luckily the guy was only an hour from here and we agreed to meet and I got it for $40. Finally no more big gaping hole in the dash from the missing air bag door and no more cracks or breaks in mounts and internal structure! Thought I had a pic on this pc, guess not...
6. Finally had to get rid of the stainless steel radiator hoses completely. Installed the upper hose I had kept in the package since last December and it blew apart within a couple days at the radiator connection, spewing my 70/30 mix of coolant all over the place and almost killing my engine. Luckily I was only a couple miles from home. Within a couple days I got rid of both and reinstalled the rubber hoses. Unfortunately, I had to delete the Wonderbar since it interferes with my lower radiator hose... DOH!!!
7. Still fighting exhaust leaks. I have some gaskets I want to put in between the heads and headers and the pass side header and the crossover pipe, but I need to have the headers' flanges fixed first. Exhaust is rattling bad due to misalignment, probably the long pipe hitting one of the seat belt bolts like before...
8. Don't know if I posted it up or not, but the Thrush muffler has been replaced with a Walker Super Turbo Installer 17615 muffler. Much quieter now. Only drawback is that this muffler is 6" shorter than stock or the Thrush and I need a longer/custom tail pipe. Tail is currently dumping underneath the trunk well right now...

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Bringing this back from the dead...

Car has been down since January. I put new parking brake cables, both sides, in it, along with a brand new starter (NEW new, not reman), and a week later I went home from work and the car just wouldn't run any more after I shut it off. Some sort of issue with the wiring harness, I guess, or the ECM.

Found out my alternator bracket somehow came loose and was a good 1/8" off of the cylinder head. Removed it, helicoiled the bolt holes, put it back. This seemed to have also been the reason for the no-start since my 7x CKP was grinding itself into my crank damper.

Engine started smoking out the oil fill plug late last year. Come to find out the PCV valve was clogged to crap because of the sealing tape I wrapped around it because the valve cover grommet was worn out and hard. Also come to find out GM no longer offers said PCV valve (for whatever idiot reason) but I did get a GM grommet and a Purolator PCV valve. Anyways, the clogged PCV also blew out my china wall seals front and back. So right now I have my intake off of the engine waiting to be put back in.

Called SouthBay Fuel Injectors and got a set of Ford injectors. Hoping that a reman set will work better than the POS used set I got on eBay last year that ran like absolute crap.

Removed wiring harness and cleaned up the junk wire loom. Replaced body to engine ground cable.

Removed PaceSetter headers from engine. Finding a way to get ports fixed. May need to find a replacement crossover pipe as well since it's getting pretty crusty for whatever reason down there. Bought exhaust gasket material and have rough cut actual real gaskets for the headers. Will finish cutting ports and pass side flange when headers have been welded.

Bought Cragar rear window louvers from battmann here a month ago. They're mounted but need work because they're pretty loose right now. Car is definitely a LOT cooler inside with the louvers even when it's almost 90 and muggy as heck here...

I bought a 2002 Sunfire 2200 stick in February. After replacing a bunch of lines under the car and the entire front brake system (except the rotors), I've been DD'ing that since April. It's not going to last long... The metal cancer is terminal.

MintWS6FORMULA

My advice for anyone buying a used car - take along one of those thin square refrigerator magnets and go over the whole car. If it won't stick, then you're either shopping for a Vette, a Fiero, or there's bondo under the paint.