Trinten's SBC/F23 build - The work has begun! (Page 35/76)
cyrus88 MAR 16, 07:59 PM

quote
Originally posted by fieroguru:


Over the years there have been many methods used to connect the Fiero hard line to a HTOB, but they all have all either involved some type of modification to the Fiero hard line, or had the wrong flare... What I am proposing is a single piece that threads to the stock hard line with the proper flare fitting and have the right quick disconnect on the other end to just plug into the F23 or F40... no modification and a simple bolt in installation.




That's a good aim, but I wanted to change the steel braided line because it wasn't looking so good after 20+ years.
Trinten MAR 16, 08:07 PM
I take full responsibility for the horrible job with putting those quick-disconnect terminals on for the battery. It's a stellar example of why I don't usually do work myself. lol

Thank you very much for the update!
fieroguru MAR 19, 06:09 PM
On Monday I powered up the ecm and was able to copy the stock calibration into HP tuners. Then spent the next couple evenings working on a base tune to get the engine started. Changes were:

Turn off VATS, EGR, AIR, and Torque Management
Edit all injector tables for the Bosch 36# injectors.
Convert the LS7 MAF table from my car (E67) to the LS1 resolution and load it up.
Reduce the VE table by 15% in the idle corner of the table. Also reduced the entire Cranking VE by 15% as well.
Did a crude tweak to the IAT table (it was reading 80 degrees when it was 55-60 degrees - IAT sensor was swapped as it is part of the LS7 MAF)

With those tweaks I was able to do this:


Now that I know it will run, I can finish all the odds and ends to get it to the point of idling in the driveway.

I had to give it a little throttle to get it to start and it won't idle on its own yet, so the tune as a long way to go but it... RUNS!
Trinten MAR 19, 08:47 PM
Awesome!! This really made my day, thank you so much!

I also see I need to buy a replacement LED.
Chug MAR 20, 12:46 PM
Hope to see it in May at the NCFC meet!!!
Doober MAR 21, 06:28 PM
That sounds beastly
fieroguru MAR 22, 04:13 PM
Working on a bunch of odds and ends...

Installed the rear carpet, side interior panels and the seats:


Installed the water pump and connected the AN fittings:


Made this coolant pipe that goes between the passenger side coolant tube and the water pump. It has a nipple for the heater hose to dump into the line before the water pump:


Source the coolant hoses for the heater core and the driver side. Driver side hose:






Heater core hose:





Then tacked together the rest of the exhaust:



Filled the engine and burped the coolant system with 50/50 antifreeze mix.

Sunday I will finish weld the exhaust, put the rear suspension back together and try to get the car sitting on its wheels again.
Trinten MAR 22, 04:35 PM
Awesome! That coolant setup looks so much nicer and cleaner than the jammed together pipes I had in there before!

I think those tips look pretty good, it's definitely a different look. Thank you for the update!
fieroguru MAR 23, 05:05 PM
The exhaust has been fully welded and reinstalled:


Next, I got started on the rear suspension. The coilovers didn't have upper spring locators and was still using the old upper spring perch for the studs, so I fixed both of those. This is what came out:


The bushing plate doesn't have studs, so I welded some stainless steel metric bolts to it for studs. Then took some 4" exhaust pipe, cut a slit into it so I could use a hose clamp and reduce the diameter to be within 1/8" of the spring OD. Then I cut the excess off, welded the seam closed, and welded the tube to the strut bushing plate:




The lower a-arms had poly bushings in them already, so I removed the sleeves and coated everything with anti-seize:



The rear suspension is now back together and the brake calipers are installed. I ordered another camber bolt for the rear struts and will align the rear before I put wheels on it, but that will be Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. I still need to install the rear sway bar and the parking brake cables and bleed the brakes.




Since I changed the firing order with the ECM, I want to make sure every cylinder is firing when it should. I added this large (more visible) white line on the outer edge of the balancer inline with the TDC mark on the backside. I can use my timing light on each spark plug wire and note where the white mark is when it flashes.
Cylinders 1 & 6 should be about 3 o'clock
Cylinders 8 & 5 should be about 6 o'clock
Cylinders 4 & 7 should be about 9 o'clock
Cylinders 3 & 2 should be about 12 o'clock


Here is the engine bay with the struts in place:

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 03-23-2014).]

Trinten MAR 23, 05:15 PM
Wow... that all looks amazing. Thank you for improving my coil over setup!!