Ken's Engine Project... Part IV - 2004

[rrubel]

Ken, I've got some speaker grills from an 86 or 7; not sure if they're front or rear (or both) but I do know they're missing the Bose emblems. If you're interested, you're welcome to them.

As for the passenger side ex-breadloaf, a nice piece of polished oak would do wonders...

[RICHR]

 

[Ken]

Thanks for the offer Rich, but I can get a set around here pretty easily I think; I just gotta get off my butt and do it! :L

Wood on my dash? No way! It was that way when I got it and I hated it.

 

[bossvette]

I'd match what you have on your instrument side, perhaps cut out the word Corvette and back it up with black panel.

 

[rrubel]

Ouch. OK, Ken, that's too MUCH wood! Bossvette is right - just match the driver's side. Maybe go slightly retro and make it look (externally) like the metal glove box door from the midyear... same shape, and IIRC they said "CORVETTE" on them.
[RICHR]

 

[WhalePirot]

Ken, i could have saved you some on this one. The starter blanket does a good job of keeping heat IN, I have found, as does the header wrap. the blanket sits on my bvench and I am scratching my head as to best flow cooling air through the engine compartment.

today, I finally got to drive it some. Thtires still break free with full throttle in first, even with the 3.54s, but it was blowing steam in the garage, as the fan was not switching on, it seems. I bumped the fan relay conector and it started right up.

How right on, the comment about these projects needing continual time and money, even after they are 'complete'.

BTW, I love the dark 'wood' on my dash. The interior is a classy as the car is fast.

 

[Ken]

Thanks Mike. I could always use the blanket/shield to block the heat to my surge tank instead. :cool

_ken

 

[Ken]

'Twas a nice day, so I took the roof off and ran some errands around the South Bay today. All seems well for the moment.

I do have a slight miss, but it responds immediately if hammered! I have a feeling that my wires, although relatively new, are just not up to snuff with the new electronics, so I'll probably be replacing them in the not-to-distant future. Gotta check it out further.

I wanted to try some other wiring arrangements anyhow, to see what I could come up with to tidy up the engine. I may even get some longer lengths of braided hose for the breather lines from the valve covers.

One thing I thought I'd dislike, but as it turns out, I actually do like, is setting off peoples alarms when driving by. Happens all the time now. :L

:J

 

[bossvette]

One thing I thought I'd dislike, but as it turns out, I actually do like, is setting off peoples alarms when driving by. Happens all the time now. :L

Its a blast ain't it specially those SUV's that have never seen mud.

just a quick note be sure not to run 5 and 7 near each other for any legnth it can cause crossfire.

 

[WhalePirot]

'setting off peoples alarms when driving by.'

Happens all the time, even if idling. :L

I know the misss, and found I am still arcing at #7. I sure would like to find some bakelite boots, like the ones I used on my LS-6. Maybe a VW shop.

Found my fan was not starting up (new issue), as the plug into the relay needed securing with a small plastic strap. The nubs on the connector are faulty. Now she stays well under 200.

 

[Ken]

Hey Mike, mine too - it stays under 200° so far, even when idling for long periods of time at some of those interminable red lights we have. I have more of a hard time with the thing loading-up at those red lights - it builds up rich in the pipes and then backfires when it lights off. :L

That's just still some of the fine tuning I gotta do yet.

The oil temperature is hovering right around 235-240° once it gets up to operating temperature too. I just hope it's the same when summer hits, but living at the beach ain't gonna hurt me there; it's when I gotta go inland that I'll need to be concerned. :cool

_ken

 

[Moonunit 451]

Sounds like things are pretty good for the time being Ken I wish I was running under 200, gotta get that aux fan switch installed one of these days, if the other demons will get off my back for a while :eyerole

 

[WhalePirot]

Yeah. Heat!

I am thinking a dash-mounted LED that shows power to the fan will be a good idea. Now, I watch the temp to see if it rises above 205 or so, as an indication if the fan's operation. The stock fan, triggered at the lower temperature, seems to cool just fine.

Now, I gotta find that thread that mentioned the new, improved relays.

 

[Ken]

Don't know what thread it is with the relay information Mike, sorry.

On a happier note... :L

I was sitting a the red light on PCH waiting to turn onto Pier Ave and take it back home today, when a couple of younger guys appeared in front of me walking in the crosswalk. One of them was eyeballing me, and shaking his finger in a :nono sort of fashion. Then, when he was on the driver side (my side) he gave me a "thumbs up" and a little grin.

Man, sure is a good feeling to get compliments like that. A couple of other guys were ogling it and complimenting me over at Will's shop just a little earlier today. :cool

And what a great way to relieve some tension!

 

[WhalePirot]

Boss: I have seen a remote solenoid on FoMoCo, but never on GM.
Tell me more, tell me more.........

Moon: can you not lower the fan trigger temperature? The '84 is controlled by a thermo switch, unlike yours, but at 195 or so, it is fine. The stock, single fan cools just fine thru the BeCool. I am thinking that the Z-51 radiator I sent back east would have been fine, too.

And what a great way to relieve some tension! << and, with BOTH hands!

 

[bossvette]

Boss: I have seen a remote solenoid on FoMoCo, but never on GM.
Tell me more, tell me more.........

Moon: can you not lower the fan trigger temperature? The '84 is controlled by a thermo switch, unlike yours, but at 195 or so, it is fine. The stock, single fan cools just fine thru the BeCool. I am thinking that the Z-51 radiator I sent back east would have been fine, too.

And what a great way to relieve some tension! << and, with BOTH hands!

its an old hot rodders trick you use a ford solenoid on the firewall and basically "hot wire" the GM starter,bypassing the solenoid, Summit,taylor and others sell a "hot start" kit with everything you need. I have been doing it for years and it does work.
I would recommend a hot start kit to anyone running headers on a modified engine. Another plus is you can tap into a direct source for 12 volts from the battery for a msd or other hot ignition box. if you look closely at this pic (mid upper left)you can see the ford solenoid with the red wire running to the starter

 

[Ken]

Here's a poser (for me at least)...

I noticed at one point yesterday, just before I got home, that the oil temperature reading was around 250° while the coolant temperature was right around 190°. So today before I took it out, and before I even started it, I checked the oil and topped it off just to be sure I had a full pan of oil, which by rights would keep the temperature lower, simply due to the fact that there is more volume. I wasn't that low in the first place, and the only reason it's low to begin with is the thing leaves its mark, just like a Harley. Drip, drip...

At any rate, I was coming over the hill from Toy4Hal's place in Palos Verdes and running around 3500-4000 rpm in fourth gear, uphill, just flowing with traffic and listening to how sweet the thing sounds, when I happened to notice my oil temperature gauge reading around 270°! :eek

The coolant temperature was right around 190° and the day itself wasn't hot at all (it was around 65-70° today). The temperature started to come down right away, and I'm running synthetic, so there really isn't a problem, yet. I'm just wondering what in the hell could be the cause of this latest conundrum.

Around town, the coolant temperature stays around 190° while the oil temperature usually runs around 240° when fully warmed up.

I realize that the engine, making horsepower, is gonna get a little warmer than usual, but why just the oil? I'm running the TPiS (Earl's) oil cooler too, right out there in front of the radiator:

ENGINE OIL COOLER

Even though radiator coolant is used to heat and cool the engine oil, there is a need for additional oil cooling. TPI Specialties has developed a thermostatically controlled accessory oil cooler kit. This kit allows oil to circulate through the engine until 180° is reached, at which point the oil is routed through the TPI Cooler Kit. Our kit lowered the oil temperature 35° during testing. This is a must for the serious enthusiast.

Kit available ready to install. Universal kit available upon request.

Comes complete with oil cooler, fittings, hose, adapter and instructions.

Now, I guess the thermostat may be sticking, but...

Any suggestions? :confused

 

[bossvette]

I have run the pancake cooler system but have never had a gage on it so I can't help you there, I think oil temp generally runs hotter then water though.
One thing you might try especially if you can tune with a laptop is to take a little advance out of your timing and see if it runs cooler. I am running a (realitivly)conservative ignition curve on mine and the temp stays right where the thermostat is (180). Too many people throw a lot of advance at it and let the knock sensor control timing, the knock sensor is designed to be used to compensate for poor gas not as a timing device. Of course I am more interested in keeping an old engine alive then horse-power, but for the dyno-run I may play with it

ps make sure your timing is where it is supposed to be, if the computer thinks its reference point is 10 but it really is 12 or 14 you will most likely run hot and be hard to start hot.

 

[widebody]

Hey Ken,
Glad to hear you've got the beast rolling. I had the same problem with oil temps on my car as well. I actually have a 19 row extrawide Earls cooler mounted like yours. Nothing I did lowered the oil temp until I ditched the oil thermostat/oil filter sandwich adapter. Seems the adapter puts the filter in close proximity to the header tubes. I have LPEs so I'm not sure if your TPIS pipes run the same way. But with just an adapter and a remote mount oil filter my temps dropped from 260-270 down to 220-230. These temps are when I had been leaning on the motor hard. The remote mount keeps the oil from being heated by the headers prematurely, probably good for the engine and oil breakdown. By the way Thanks for the seats again!

 

[Ken]

Glad you are putting them to good use Terry. :cool

I have my lines wrapped with Earl's Flameguard™ from the front crossmember to where they enter the cooler adapter. I didn't think the adapter was that close to the headers, and even so, it doesn't seem that it would heat the oil that much.

I think Craig's suggestion is more on the mark. I still don't have it entirely dialed-in, and the timing may be the culprit here. Makes sense when you think of it. I was supposed to hook-up with my TEC3 rep so he could give me an upgrade on the firmware because I'm still having sporadic gremlins appear that prevent the computer from getting a signal to start. However, I never heard from him.

Remember Al Capp's Dogpatch comics, where there was the guy who always had a black cloud over his head, following him around?

JOE BTFSPLK

Joe Btfsplk is very simply the world's biggest jinx. He walks around with a perpetually dark rain cloud a foot over his head. Once he appears on any scene, dreadfully bad luck befalls anyone in his vicinity.

Though well-meaning and gentle, his reputation inevitably precedes him, so Joe is a very lonely and feared little man.

He is also a character with an apparently unpronounceable name, but creator Al Capp pronounced Btfsplk with a "raspberries" sound, also known as a "Bronx cheer."

That's me!

 

[bossvette]

you do have more then your share of bad luck, but you are not alone, I always say if it wasn't for bad luck I would have no luck at all.
BTW to check your static timing open your current file on your laptop and set the timing to a flat 10 and save it as "timing" then load it and set your initial with a timing light. this assumes your mark is correct.