Mikey's new four-door

[gadget73]

Looks pretty much like my tailpipes. Impala parts with the extensions and turndowns, or do my eyes completely deceive me and those actually go under the axle?

[1987cp]

Nope, those are the regular Dynomax Impala/Caprice tailpipes. I don't remember seeing pics of yours for some reason ... I assume you have some posted somewhere?

[gadget73]

Somewhere, I'm not so big on pics. what I have is here, might be in a RR thread somewhere as well. http://lunar.gadget73.com/images/gal...aust_steering/

[1987cp]

Ah, very nice. Yours seems to tuck up a bit farther than mine, but in the one pic it looks like it may actually be lower with respect to the framerail. Do the Lincoln quarters come down a touch farther or something?

I'll eventually have to replace the old, presumably original, hangers under this car. Making nice ones is frequently a challenge ... looks like you just started with one of these guys?

[gadget73]

yeah, swinger hangers. Its a bit lower in the middle than it should be. It needs to be re-tweaked. Thats probably why the tails are sitting a little high. I imagine they'll move once I get around to jacking the middle up.

[1987cp]

Current annoyance: engine likes to cut out during braking and cornering. I've had this trouble with this engine before, but it doesn't seem to care what carb is on it nor (obviously) what vehicle it's in. The only relevant constant I can think of is the fuel line I bent up out of 5/16" brake line. Can't imagine it could be that much of a restriction, especially since it runs OK at high RPM, but I guess it's pretty easy to swap it out for the rubber hose off the 351, which I don't recall having this type of issue.

Trying to think of other possibilities that are independent of what carb I'm using and what car it's in ..... especially since I failed to find a vacuum leak ... possibly I should try the propane method, though.

[1987cp]

Finally took a few minutes and went out and put in the Prothane 6-1605 transmission mount I'd ordered back before the engine switch-over. I like easy jobs, the hardest parts were jacking the car, finding my breaker bar, and discovering how to jack the tailhousing up with the X-pipe still in place. And yes, as 351-lincoln found, it does indeed bolt directly in without having to modify any mounting holes, which is handy. I didn't fuss much over his claim that it was somewhat shorter than the stocker, though .... what symptoms should I watch for that would indicate that his stacks of washers really were required?

[1987cp]

TV corrector and space for fuel filter/regulator

For the first time on the Internet, actual pictures of a TV corrector actually installed on a car! (okay, maybe not, but I've had a hard time finding one) This particular one is the TCI 376710, which so far as I can tell, appears to be basically identical to the more popular Sonnax AS3-03k except for being available through Summit Racing, which the Sonnax is not. Oddly, my TCI kit did omit the nut for the smaller of the bolts that go through both levers at the bottom (shown in this picture), but I happened to have a small metric bolt handy that works fine.

Second pair of pics is illustrating the space in which I intend to mount my Holley fuel pressure regulator and Fram HPG1 canister-style fuel filter. You probably don't care, but I took these pics more for myself so I can look at them and go "Hm". The related plumbing promises to create a few headaches in connecting to the carb inlet itself, as most dedicated supply-line kits for this carb (the big L-shaped ones like this one) seem to utilize the "down and forward" geometry, which would force me to either a) try to mount a pair of bulky components between the carb and distributor or possibly out over a valvecover, or else have extra gangley rubber hoses running from the pump to the fenderwell and back, b) buy a fancy part just to cut it up and modify it, or c) run loops of supply line around to the back of the carb to mount the filter and regulator on the back of the manifold anyway. My best guess is that the more typical lines are intended for either applications without a regulator or where the filter and regulator are mounted remotely using expensive braided AN hose (as if I don't already have enough junk running from the engine to the fenderwells), or else are intended for Chevy applications where there's lots of room in front of the carb because the distributor is in the back, and it's likely I'll end up getting by with a short length of rubber hose until I figure out a solution I actually like.

Finally, of course, is the first exterior picture of the car I think I've posted since the engine swap. Looks pretty much the same, just looks like it's sitting just a teeny bit higher in the front (I think it calculates to about a quarter-inch, but it looks like a little more so my math may be off).

[torquelover]

The Sonnax bracket is exactly what the Total Performance/SVO kit came with, only the one it came with needed to be welded on, as opposed to the bolt-on Sonnax. Nice.

So, when are you going to quit goofing around and put on some 15" steelies and dog dishes?

[1987cp]

You know, I think I may just leave the 16s. They look nice, they handle nice, and best of all, as of right now, they're free. I am somewhat annoyed that one of them developed some surface rust while riding around in the wagon last winter as a spare, though. May have to sand and touch up that wheel somewhat - hopefully black RustOleum matches OK!

Not that panther7t9's '89-up dog dishes didn't have me thinking .... visually, though, my biggest curiosity (other than rust repair) is to get a full spare set of window trim and paint it black - so long, that is, as I still have a complete unpainted set to toss back on if I find the car starts attracting too much attention. (People here take only slightly more notice of this than the Cavalier, and I can't say I mind!)

Interesting that the Total Performance people were apparently smarter than the Lokar people, who say to connect the TV cable directly to the throttle lever and don't even offer an adapter in their lineup. I'm still thinking about changing out that annoying Allen-head setscrew on the adjustor, though ... maybe I can find a wingbolt with enough leverage to adequately secure it by hand?

Oh, and yes, the 306 is still providing adequate motivation, though I'm kind of missing the nice kick from the 5.8L.

[1987cp]

Well, this is interesting. When I was running the 306 Explorer-headed motor in the wagon with the 500cfm EDL-1403 (AFB) caruretor, I distinctly recall finding that I needed to go at least two stages rich in all the calibration. However, after doing some reading (some of which is mentioned in my thread "What I've learned about Holley carburetors), I'm now attempting to do some more methodical tuning, and here is what I'm finding so far.

First, I put the 1403's calibration entirely back to stock. 5" Hg stepup spring, .098 secondary jets, .086 main jets with 6552 rods, middle position on the accelerator pump lever. I had previously followed the advice in one of the Holley books to disable the secondaries temporarily and attempt to tune the primary barrels as a 2-barrel carb, so at this point the secondaries are inactive. I also set the spark timing to 8 degrees just so I'd know it was conservative, and left the vacuum advance hooked to manifold vacuum.

I figured the engine would buck and pop all over the place with what I had thought would be a relatively lean calibration, but lo and behold, it drove smoothly under all conditions (backing off from WOT before the vacuum level went back above 5" Hg, of coruse, because if power mode metering were deactived at WOT and highish RPM, it could cause bad things to happen), with no bogging or popping during throttle transitions or at certain RPMs.

However, I thought it had at least a little more to give, so I came back home and substituted the 6755 rods for position "6" on the tuning chart (one stage leaner on both power and part-throttle metering) and took it for another drive. It responded very favorably to this change as well, again driving satisfactorily under all throttle conditions I tried.

That's all I've done so far as of this posting, but I'm pretty interested in seeing how lean I can go. I've got the .083 jets and 6552 rods set aside now to try position 11 on the tuning chart (2 stages lean on both power and part-throttle metering modes) and see if it will tolerate it and/or if I can go leaner still. I'm very much liking the idea of recovering not only more satisfactory throttle response but acceptable fuel economy as well!



Oh, yes - unrelated to carb tuning, the ignition switch finally died (wouldn't stay engergized in Run), so I swapped it out for a spare. This one is functioning OK but looking a little loose where the plastic meets the metal, so I'm thinking I should buy at least one new one before I have to start yanking stuff from the other cars.

[1987cp]

Hm.... now I've gone as lean as I can go with the 1486 calibration kit (position 11, I think?), still using the stock pump shot and stepup springs, and still no noticable popping or hesitating. Odd, but I'm not complaining!

[1987cp]

Update: I noticed a hesitation at low speed at very light throttle openings, probably still in the transition slots. I'm going to experiment with a slightly richer idle mixture before I go richer again in the primary calibration, as it seems to drive okay once the throttle is open. Also going to consult my little spreadsheet I made up with every theoretically possible primary calibration available between the 1486 and 1487 tuning kits.

[packman]

I miss carbs. Glad you're having fun with yours. Remember that part in the first Transformers movie when Sam started up Bumblebee to go to meet Megan Fox? While I was messing with the idle mixture screws, I had my old Malibu start up like that to the ennjoyment of my neighbors. Killed many a mosquito that day.

What will become of your 5.8L?



Packman

[1987cp]

Yep, easy tuning is nice. Though, once the correct parts are in place, I like the idea of computer-tuning SEFI as well. May have to try that sometime just because.

The 5.8L is still in the garage, haven't done anything with it yet. I want to give the bottom end a quick once-over once I have space again ... oh, and the time. Still looking out from time to time for a deal on a good set of heads and running occasional DD simulations for what they're worth. For now, my old wagon motor will just have to do. :p

Come to think of it, if I could get rid of the 255, that would do a bit to help clear up some room .... I just hate to toss it straight into the scrap heap, worthless as it is compared to a real engine.