g9m3c

Brakes are fixed! Turns out, the master cylinder was fine, it just needed some fluid and a little bleeding. Now it'll make the seat belts catch if you stomp it hard enough. I got my other two new tires mounted, as well as the battery hold-down repaired, painted, and installed. I also got my fuel pump wired in. It's officially a running, driving car now. I drove it probably 3-4 miles today with not one problem. I tell ya, with just a 99% stock L26 with flat tops, this thing gets up and goes pretty well. It'd keep up with my truck, for sure, if not pass it. I didn't change the rear diff. or trans. fluid yet though. I checked them both and they were full and the fluid looked pretty good and clean in both, so it was fine for a couple of test drives. I'm definitely gonna change em out before it goes to Tuscaloosa though. If Christmas wasn't this week, it would be going down there this weekend. My insurance office is closed Friday though, and I assume the tag office is as well. Whenever I can get my mom and dad to come with me, it'll be there. I'll have to drive the Z, my dad will drive my truck, and my mom will drive her car. That way I'll have my truck in case the Z messes up.......not that I don't trust my work, but it HAS been sitting up for 3 years.

http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/g9m3c/Videos/?action=view&current=MOV00002-2.flv EDIT: Here's a better sound clip. http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/g9m3c/Videos/?action=view&current=MOV00008.flv

Well guys, I feel like a complete idiot. I got to work on the car yesterday and today for the first time in a while. Yesterday, I got two of my new tires mounted and started on my exhaust. I didn't work on it very much at all though, because it was about 30*F out, and I like my fingers to have feeling in them. So today, I finished up the exhuast and decided to try blue72's suggestion of the carb cleaner on my engine problem. I finally got the car to idle and I started spraying around the front carb. Turns out, everywhere I sprayed it around the front carb, it would idle up. Then.....I found it. My damn front carburetor wasn't tightened down! I had a few friends over the day I put them back on, and I guess I was side tracked at the time. The nuts were just run up loosely by hand on the studs and I could even see a gap between the carb and the spacer. I hurriedly tightened those down........and BAM. Instant perfection. This thing purrs like a kitten now. I drove it about a mile or so, and I am THRILLED. I'm sure I would have found this sooner or later, but the carb cleaner sure did speed up the diagnosis. Thanks blue72! BTW, the exhuast quietened it down A LOT, and it doesn't sound half bad if I do say so myself. Pics to come later today.

Not sure on that. There is probably a part number on the chip itself inside the ecm. Your best bet is to get that number and call them about it. I was going to tell you that another good forum for the LT1 is LS1LT1.com. Lots of knowledgable guys there and tons of well organized (stickied) info.

I'll check into that tomorrow. The car idles better with both the idle speed and idle mixture adjusting screws run all the way down (closed). Does that ring any bells?

Alright, here's a cold (27F) start video to show how awfully it runs until it's warm. For the first 2-3 minutes, it won't idle unless you keep messing with the throttle. The first crank up, it will only crank with your foot on the floor. http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/g9m3c/?action=view&current=MOV000020.flv Yea.....and here is after it's warmed up. When it's warm, it cranks perfectly. It will also rev up great. However, if you try and hold it steady at say, 2,000 rpm, it will stay there for a couple seconds, then die off until you play with the throttle again. You can see that in this vid. http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/g9m3c/?action=view&current=MOV000021.flv At the end of that video, you can see it running about 1,000 rpm. That's with me giving it probably 20% pedal. It just stutters around 1,000 rpm and won't gain any unless you "play" with the pedal. You can also see in that video where it revs to 2,500 or more, then sputters down to idle, then back up....then down, etc. That's with my foot firmly in the same position.

Just drove it around the block. I didn't let it warm up enough first though, so it bucked and jerked the first half. Oh well. I had to use the hand brake too because I haven't done the brakes yet. It was an interesting trip........but it made it.

Yea, the valves are a little noisy. I haven't checked warm clearances yet, but I'll do that in the next day or two. It also has to warm up excessiviely like you mentioned. It won't run worth a crap for a couple minutes after it's cranked. As long as it's warm though, it'll start up and run just fine.

You can also have the rear o2's deleted out of the computer too. They only monitor the efficiency of the cats, and your fronts are where your air/fuel readings come from. Like said above, the car will not start unless you have bypassed the VATS either through programming or with the appropriate resistors. This site will become your new best friend. http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech1.html

YES! It runs, and quite well at that. I think it was a combination of things that needed fixed or adjusted. I put that cover back on, we tuned on the carbs some, and set the timing. Here's the end result: http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/g9m3c/?action=view&current=MOV00003-2.flv I'm probably gonna drive it around the block tomorrow. EDIT: Here's a much better vid. http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/g9m3c/?action=view&current=MOV00006.flv

Duuuuuude, would having the little plate on the front of the head off cause that as well? I had it off checking out my fuel pump and didn't put it back on for the minute or two that I ran it.

It runs! http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/g9m3c/?action=view&current=MOV00005.flv One thing I can't figure out though is the way it runs. It's idling really rough as you can tell in that video. That may just need some fine tuning though, as I haven't messed with the idle adjusting screws or even gotten my ignition timing in the ballpark yet. But ever once in a while, randomly, it will rev up to 4,000 rpm or so on its on for a second or two, then come back down to idle. It's crazy. Any ideas? It's definitely got a strong vaccum, even at idle. Maybe the vaccum opener control valve is spazzing out? I don't even know what that thing does.

That's gonna be one nice place to wrench! Can't wait for more progress on the shop and Z!

Got any more pics of this car?

If you end up building one, PLEASE make it look better than that one. That one looks like a piece of chit. I always thought that car looked GREAT, but that's because I've only seen side shots of it. Don't abuse your car like that.

Might as well jack it, I don't really have any major updates. I got it back together and found a hole in my fuel line right before I had to come back to Tuscaloosa, so I didn't have time to get it goin.

I dunno, that's where it was when I got the car. I'm wondering where this fuel filter you speak of is. Isn't the only fuel filter back by the electric pump at the tank?

Got a pretty good day in today as well. PROPERLY timed camshaft.

Who knows.

Yea, that's the plan. Got quite a bit done tonight thanks to my dad's help. I got the balancer pulled off and the front cover taken off. We ended up taking all 12 valves out and lapping them to ensure they all seal perfectly. We also replaced all the valve stem seals while we were at it. This picture speaks for itself. All assembled with 3 new valves and ready to go. Oh, and here's a pic of my new tires I got as a birthday present. Re-assembly starts tomorrow.

Here's today's progress. I took out the radiator, a/c condensor, evaporator, and a/c lines, as well as the distributor and water pump. It had the "dealer installed" a/c system in it that was disconnected when I got the car. I'm not interested in spending the money on it that it would take to get the a/c working again. The windows roll down just fine. I ordered a new water pump because the bearing in the old one feels a little stiff. I couldn't finish taking the front cover off because I was waiting on my dad to bring his puller home from work. I'll get to that later on tonight. I also plugged all the air pump injection inlets in the exhaust manifold so I could take all that junk off. Head cleaned up and ready for 3 new intake valves. ....and the new valves. I hope to get the front cover off tonight, and get the new valves in the head. I should be able to finish cleaning everything up and start putting it back together tomorrow. My goal is to drive it around the block before I go back to Tuscaloosa on Friday.

This is a temporary motor. If it runs, I'll be satisfied.

I'm just reusing the old ones. This motor won't be in the car for long. As far as I know, these aren't TTY bolts, so I should be fine. The bolts were new when the engine was assembled 3-4 years ago, and I don't think it's been run more than a couple hours since then. It's probably not even broke in yet.

Oh ok, so there's nothing "special" about installing the replacement seals for an L26?