Frankenstein T-5 Waggin' Chronicle (vast doesnt do it)

[Freshmeat]

I gotta get it to stop overheating long enough to do a video.

[Paul_]

It's good to hear that it is running though.

[Freshmeat]

I agree. There's a lot more motivation involved when I can fix something and test drive it to see if things are better, as opposed to installing more and more random shit and not knowing when it'll be done.

I came home from Waffle House earlier and almost flipped out- the wagon wasn't in the driveway. I seriously came close to jumping in front of an 18-wheeler. Then, I remembered I parked it in the yard so the coolant can pour out and not get all over the driveway when I do the water pump.

My bad.

[N A]

Never, never forget where you park the car. It always sends your brain into PANIC mode.

[Freshmeat]

Especially when you can't find it less than a week after starting it for the first time in five months!

[moneypit]

I live in a pretty bad neighborhood where several friends have had their cars stolen, so my mind ALWAYS goes into panic when I forget where I parked.

[Freshmeat]

Still having cooling problems. Pressure in the system less than 30 seconds after a cold start. I thought I had a reverse rotation pump accidentally, but it checks out as standard. I just finished a compression test... 140psi across the board. Went ahead and did that while I had teh pump off so that if I needed to swap head gaskets or have the heads worked on, I wouldn't have to break down the accessories, again.

I'm gonna put it all back together and pull the thermostat to see if that helps.

[Mercmarquis]

If the timing is set too retarded it will over heat, also that may be the reason you are popping and stumbling when you shift. When I had my carb swap done, I was running real retarded and it kept overheating and it would pop and back fire when I floored it form a stop or slow roll. Just something to try.

[Freshmeat]

I'll check the timing, but I'm almost positive I'm on 10*. I've already melted four plug wires. Gonna need 90* boots.

[Freshmeat]

I checked the timing. Yeah...
Stock, I believe, is 8* BTDC. I was on roughly 8* ATDC (I knew it was idling pretty high, but I forgot how badly the idle can throw off timing the motor). That explains a lot as to why it was running so hot, even with the stat out. It also explains the extreme sluggishness and the intermittent popping if I shifted at too low of an RPM.
It sounds and idles SO much better, now. I didn't get a chance to let it idle at temp because of time restraints, but I'll take care of that ASAP and keep ya'll posted.

[DuceAnAHalf]

I checked the timing. Yeah...
Stock, I believe, is 8* BTDC. I was on roughly 8* ATDC (I knew it was idling pretty high, but I forgot how badly the idle can throw off timing the motor). That explains a lot as to why it was running so hot, even with the stat out. It also explains the extreme sluggishness and the intermittent popping if I shifted at too low of an RPM.
It sounds and idles SO much better, now. I didn't get a chance to let it idle at temp because of time restraints, but I'll take care of that ASAP and keep ya'll posted.

That will happen. why are you melting plug boots? is it the 40P's headers doing it?

[Freshmeat]

Yeah. Well, that and the timing being so far off had the headers so hot it was ridiculous. I bought some 90* plug boots today. $20 for house brand wires for a 1990 Chevrolet 1500 with a 350. If they work out, I'll consider getting better ones, but stock 8mm should hold me up just fine for a long while. Just got the cheap ones so if I need to figure out something else to do, I can learn on $20 wires instead of another set of $45 ones.

[grandpaslincoln]

Sweet, glad you are getting the bugs out

[phayzer5]

That will happen.

That will happen.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

ahh I just read your story and it is soo similar to mine its uncanny. When I first had mine going it was overheating also, then i found out it was a gallon low on coolant, problem solved. Second problem was the shop that fixed my ignition set the timing with spout connected so i was backfiring and had really hot exhaust and it was fouling plugs like crazy, so i set the timing myself correctly, problem solved. Then finally it was running but reall rough and skipping, thats when i found out my injectors had gone bad, replaced the bad ones, and now im here today with a perfect running HO towncar!