quote Originally posted by tvelarde: How did you modify the header to allow the clearance? I have gone through all my spare headers and many cast exhaust manifolds trying to gain sufficient clearance to get by my sppedometer housing, which looks identical to yours. Thanks for all the work you have done and for the boost to those of us not quite as intuitive as you are.

I took a standard SBC hugger header and cut the tubes at a 30 degree angle about an inch from the flange.
Then I had the muffler shop flip the flange over and reweld the tubes.
When you are done the angle that normally went towards the block now goes at the same angle away from the block (kind of like a mirror image).

Here's the progress today - my son Andrew convinced me to chop the top and paint the new roadster model for him - he also wants to swap motors with a Corvette model he has





Looks like I'd better get pros to paint my car
At least he says it "looks awesome"

Fiero2m8

[This message has been edited by Fiero2m8 (edited 09-24-2006).]

Well I went for a long test drive to get the ECM to learn some of its new programming.
Haven't changed the plugs yet which may be partly fouled, but the car is definitely idling better with the new chip.
I think I'm getting there with the tuning, but I still have to deal with high MAP (low vacuum) at idle and high IAC counts. The best news is the rich condition at idle is finally gone and the long term fuel trim stays near 128.

I plan to change the oil and plugs and then take some new readings with the scanner and try my new Datamaster Software with the laptop to log some data.

The bad news of the day is my Powermaster 9000 starter solenoid crapped out when I got home and I had to push it into the garage (first push since the rebuild)

This is the crap starter that I have killed two solenoids with:



Not sure how many teeth the Fiero auto flexplate has - that info would help for ordering purposes or does anyone know how many teeth the Powermaster 9000 is designed for?

On second thought, this was my second Powermaster 9000 in 2 years so I refuse to buy another!!!

What are my options?
I did a search and the PMR-9004 seems like an upgrade with better gearing, but I was worried it may be larger, not to mention it's still a Powermaster
Space is a premium with Archie auto setups. What do you SBC V8 guys using Archie's kit like the best?
I'm sure that relocating the new battery to the front compartment didn't help any either...
My LT1 is build with 10-10.5:1 compression and it complained while cranking with anything less than a full battery charge - matters got worse during hot starts!

------------------

1986 Fiero2m8 (LT1 NX / 4T60 Roadster Build)
http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/071642.html

Thanks Andy, plus for you (4T60 swap) - the funny thing is most of the questions are coming from me
PFF is great and I wish I knew about it before I registered earlier this year.

I looked back a few posts and realized I should provide some updates:
First to get the car on jack stands - I used 6 this time since the motor / trans are heavy and I didn't want to get squished




Since the fuel drip was so minor, it took a while to pinpoint the leak.
Eventually I cleaned this area up enough to create a pinhole so I knew what area to repair.
It was in one of the recessed areas, not under the strap as I previously had guessed.




This is the product I used for the repair as recommended by the muffler shop.
It is amazing stuff that dries quickly and allows you to build layers up on itself.
The best part is that since it is designed to fix holes in lawnmower gas tanks etc. it is not affected by gasoline!
Case in point - when I sanded and cleaned the area to be repaired, a tiny stream of fuel was peeing out and a small dab on my finger stopped the leak within a second. After 10 minutes I filled in the recess area with Seal - All temporarily held in with a piece of duct tape. I've seen this stuff used on seams too. I've also used cold weld in the past, but it only works when the tank is empty. Try it on a minor leak - it's like $5 and our tanks are getting old without an easy source for replacements...




My Knock Sensor project didn't go exactly as planned.
The 1994 iron head LT1 uses 2 sensors 1 almost touches the 4T60 tailshaft making plugging it in tricky and the other side burnt during my running rich problem after the rebuild.
My idea was to 90 it out of the way with pipe threads but I didn't have clearance to install this without removing the header
Since it didn't melt before the rich problem, I elected to replace it as before, but I wrapped the plug with some header tape as an extra precaution shown here:



The new sensor has sealant already on the threads, but make sure you're ready for a quick swap or you'll be wearing coolant at engine temp

I'm also a member on CamaroZ28.com and often research their LT1/LT4 tech and Nitrous pages for good info.
One of the problems I had lately with the idle was a very high IAC reading around 80 when 20-40 would be ideal.
With my new cam, it is looking for more intake air at idle, so I followed this procedure to correct it:

1. With the engine idling and the scanner on, I adjusted the throttle stop screw out (opening butterfly valves) until my IAC count was around 30 (my IAC learned # was 32)

2. Next I had to remove the TPS sensor as it was now at .9 volts and 5% open on the scanner. To correct it back to the middle of its 0.2 - 0.9 volt idle range, I drilled the holes into slots to allow rotational adjustment:


3. Then I reinstalled the sensor and set it at 0.58 volts with throttle position at 0% per scanner reading from ECM.

4. After everything was reconnected, I performed an IAC reset. For details check out this link thanks to "shoebox" -
http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#iac_reset

5. Verified with scanner and immediately noticed less eratic idle and starts much better without throttle depressed

Fiero2m8

[This message has been edited by Fiero2m8 (edited 09-28-2006).]