Tabres Posted January 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 Man everything looks great. Super nice work. You happen to have a wiring diagram you're following or one written up? I'd love to rewire mine when I take it to track events after all the bugs are worked out. This seems like a great layoutSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yep, here is the diagram I'm working off of. It even has a shutoff switch shown on it but I'm not running one on my car unless someone at a track throws a fit about it. Not too eager to drill holes in the bodywork for one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 So, I got the car started yesterday after work. Anyone want to play guess what happened next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Uhhhhh well the .0000 spark plug gap makes me believe it was dropped. But you don't seem like the type that just drops spark plugs. The washer looking things are throwing me for a loop, especially that real deformed looking thing. I'm gonna go with your motor decided it only needed 7 spark plugs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanter Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Motor spit a plug out... say it isn't so. If it's true I am still confused by the washer's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Basically a washer got invited to a party in cylinder 8. One of the annoying things about the b-upper to c-lower adapter plate is that it fastens with studs, washers and bolts. When I took it apart the first time this winter I misplaced a single washer. I didn't even know it was gone until I went to put everything back together the first time. I searched for ever for it, never found it and I eventually managed to convince myself that is must be in one of the saw cuts in the floor and I just couldn't see it. Wrong. I got the car started yesterday afternoon and immediately heard a hell of racket. Which as a side note, I'm not getting signal to the starter relay in the factory fuse box for some reason so I was at the back of the car jumping the remote solenoid to start it. So I run around to the driver's side and shut the key off as fast as I can. After I collect my nerves knowing that something is seriously fucked up, I start taking apart the intake. Upper comes off, looks good, lower comes off, nothing in it, can't see any marks in it, nothing. I peek down into the into the intake runners, no marks in them anywhere, no marks on any of the valves... So at this point I'm thinking, "well... wtf?" So I start pulling spark plugs, beginning on the driver's side bank. Cylinder 5, perfect. Cylinder 6, perfect. Cylinder 7, perfect. Cylinder 8, plug comes out and the gap is completely closed up. Bingo. The interesting thing is that while the gap is closed, the top of the ground electrode looks totally fine. You can barely see a mark on it. So at this point I grab a magnet and stick it down in the cylinder to see if I can fish anything out and I'm rewarded with my missing washer. What you see in the middle is the missing washer, the washer on the right is what it should look like. So I grab a light and peer into the cylinder and the piston look fine. You can't see a single mark on it. I bought a new plug, put everything back together, engine starts instantly, runs perfect, idles smooth as silk. So it appears with no one winning the powerball, I was the luckiest mother fucker in the entire USA last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanter Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 What a scare, glad all seems ok!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 I think I really got lucky because of how small and soft the washer is. I can almost bend them between two of my fingers. In other news, two things I've found so far that aren't operating correctly. As I said, I've had to hotwire the car with the remote solenoid in the trunk. After digging around, it appears I'm not getting signal to the starter relay in the factory fuse box. I've tested the relay itself and switched out relays to no change. Power is present, ground is present, I can jumper the positions in the fuse box and car will start. I had the ignition switch out last night and it appears to be good, I put an ohm meter across the starter wire leading from the ignition switch to the fuse box and that's good... kind of at a loss right now. Didn't have this problem at all before the wire tuck. Also have an issue with the headlights. No headlights at all. The side markers work, fog lights, hazzards, turn signals, yadda yadda all work. I threw in another bulb I had and no change. I've got power at the plug but it appears no signal to the plug for both high and low beam. Again, confused. Didn't have this before, and I modified nothing in that harness, just rewrapped it and threw it back in. The 50amp fuse for the headlights tests as good with a meter, but I may replace it just to see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 That was my initial reaction, also. However, the grounds are actually all common on the engine fuse box, so if I missed a ground I would think nothing should work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Man I bet your relieved nothing was damaged, my luck it would have thrown a rod out the side of the block.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Figured out the issues. The harness connection for the engine bay fuse box where it leads into the body, the big connector, wasn't 100% tight. Lights work, key works to start the car through the ignition switch, everything. Wish I had checked that first yesterday instead of staying up until midnight chasing all sorts of different things... I love cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 my stomach dropped when i saw that pic. hopefully nothing comes up later down the road related to that cylinder now. and nice catch on the wiring harness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted January 8, 2016 Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Whew that's a big relief that washer didn't cause serious damage! It would be a shame for such a stupid thing to cause you major engine work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2016 Getting a bit back to normality, just a two quick photos of the ground setup. Main ground cable built for the battery The ground cable runs through the trunk floor and attaches to where the quad shock mount used to be. This bolt is a M12 x 1.75 if anyone is looking for the size in the future (I used a cap head bolt because I <3 them). Placement of the cable worked great. The car started just as quickly and charged as well as it did when the battery setup was 100% factory. More to come. I'll take some photos of how I ran the power cable in the trunk and along to the starter (just follows my fuel lines essentially). I want to get the trunk lining all finished up and cut around the battery box and then start working on the AN power steering conversion. Going to take a break on it for a bit, though. Kind of burnt out on working on the car after the past 2 days, and I promised my wife I'd paint our master bedroom first before I messed around with the car anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
410sn95 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 My Bat. relocation grounds to the same spot. It's nice and convenient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Spent a few hours in the garage today. Most of that time was spent removing the factory power steering lines from the car. It is a tedious job to do when trying not to make a big mess. Got that all squared away and put on my freshly powdercoated Moroso power steering bottle. And finally from there I took a few minutes to test fit the driver's side rivet-in Scott Rod fender panel. It's not too bad of a fit, but will need a little trimming. I'm going to set those aside for now though and work on building lines and finishing the AN power steering conversion next. Sorry for the poor picture of today's progress. The sun was coming through the window in the garage just right to be a real pain taking a photo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTTRacing91PGT Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Beautiful. I love this build. Keep up the great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venmous28 Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Can't wait to see the AN lines for the brakes! Looks great, wish I had the time to tackle something like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttocs Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Gotta love freshly powdered parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 About an hour after work this afternoon rewarded me with the final pieces of the stock power steering lines coming off of the vehicle, the hard tubes connected to a booster. They were a bit of a pain to remove. Like 1/8 turn on the bolt at a time type of pain... Then went on to test fit the conversion fittings in the booster and I was quite pleased to find they're all correct. It was honestly questionable whether they would work because as I mentioned in the past the fittings on the 96-98 boosters are different than the fittings on the later model boosters and thats the diagram that you see posted all over online. I just need to purchase and install the proper o-rings and get some sealent on the threads and final install the fittings... I also final installed the fittings in the steering rack. Went in super easy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 I hope you will do a full write up on the steering line conversion! PLEASE!!????!!??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Psychorugby Posted January 19, 2016 Moderators Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 This is one of the things that I'm not sure can be done on 94-95's. I haven't looked at the lines lately but may have to. Plus we're stuck with the bottle attached to our pumps. This message courtesy of crapatalk!Wrong! Dan did a write up on here laying out how to convert to AN fittings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 I picked up some seals and got the conversion fittings completely installed in the booster and the pump. The low pressure port on the booster uses just a regular rubber o-ring on the fitting, but I also added some thread sealant designed for hydraulic systems to the threads. The other two fittings on the booster and the fitting on the pump I chose to use a combination of an aluminum drain plug washer and thread sealant. I found others that were using this combination to seal their conversions with good results. The washers crushed in real nice so I'm confident I shouldn't have any problems with leaks. Now I just have to take my time laying out the routing for the hoses and build them and the project will be finished up. The other night I also completed the very last bit of wiring that was left. I had been waiting on getting my power steering bracket back from powder coat before I could finalize the routing and shorten up the lead on the oxygen sensor harness. Obviously I needed some way to secure the harness and keep it out of the serpentine belt so I made two simple brackets to zip-tie it to. The brackets are just 1/8" aluminum that I bent up and drilled a few holes in and then painted gloss black. Cheap and easy to do and they look good and fasten to existing studs on the timing cover. They're certainly a lot lighter and more discrete than the brackets that were originally on the factory harness. I hope you will do a full write up on the steering line conversion! PLEASE!!????!!??? I definitely will be. I just want to get the conversion done first and make sure everything works properly before I go putting out the information I've got. Nothing disappears online and the last thing I want is someone to come here in the future and be lead astray because of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 cant wait to see what that all looks like once its buttoned up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanter Posted January 19, 2016 Report Share Posted January 19, 2016 Everything's looking great. I bet the AN power steering lines will really look great! Not sure I've seen a 4v car with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 cant wait to see what that all looks like once its buttoned up! Shouldn't be too long now! Everything's looking great. I bet the AN power steering lines will really look great! Not sure I've seen a 4v car with them. Thanks! And hopefully you won't see them! They're going to be routed through the fender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted January 20, 2016 Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 Thanks! And hopefully you won't see them! They're going to be routed through the fender Most Excellent!! Any plans for the ABS lines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2016 Most Excellent!! Any plans for the ABS lines? Nope. Not touching the ABS or any of the brake lines at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 It was "one of those days" at work yesterday and my wife wasn't going to be home from work until well after 8:00pm so I just dinked around in the garage with stuff most of my night last night. I started by working on the power steering lines. I got my AN fitting vice jaw inserts in the mail on Wednesday and while they're not a must have tool, they sure are nice to have. They helped me get the first fitting on, start to finish in about 30 seconds. I unfortunately didn't get to finish the hoses because, while I could have made it work with the fittings I had, I found myself wanting some different angles of fittings in some spots. So, I'm returning a few fittings and have placed an order for a handful of new ones. Those should be here on Monday. I also had a -6 AN straight completely snap in two on me when tightening it together. I called Summit and explained the situation and how I already had the hose cut to approximate length and they no questions asked offered to replace it and upgrade it free of charge to a different degree bend of fitting to accommodate the issue I have with the hose length now. It was nice to have a very easy, positive customer service experience. The high pressure hose to the pump got built, and the low pressure hose from the t-fitting between the rack and reservoir got built, along with the low pressure hose between the t-fitting and the reservoir. Would have had the low pressure side finished up but the hose from the rack to the t-fitting is the one that had the fitting snap. I have the hoses loose in the fender for now. Once I get the other high pressure hose built from the booster to the rack I'll fasten everything up neatly so that the fender liner fits back in. Right now I have the hoses entering the fender through the sway bar mount. It's a good location where they're not going to rub anything else and the wheel and tire won't get into them. After I finished that up I had run out of stuff to do with the power steering setup and it wasn't that late so I decided to hop back on fitting the Scott Rod panels more properly. It didn't take a whole lot of work. I just had to trim one tiny piece by the headlight panel and had to flatten down the back side of a few rivets so the panel would sit more flush with the factory fender panels. I also had to drill one hole for the push pin that holds the brake lines to the frame rail. After that, it honestly fits really pretty nice. I'm satisfied with it, anyway. I may work on fitting the passenger side panel after I get off of work today. I expect that side to be a little more involved because I'll have to loosen the abs pump and deal with that, and create a hole in it for my intake tube but all in all shouldn't be too bad. So I suppose I should think about getting some crystal white spray paint and some clear ordered. I have some left over from another project I had done a few years ago but I don't think it'll be enough to do all of the areas in the bay that I'm wanting to freshen up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 how are you going to attach the lines to the bottom of the p/s reservoir? just hose clamp up the lines or are you going to tap those and use AN fittings and lines there too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 The line from the pump uses the stock rubber hose. The other line from the rack, I slid the AN line over the nipple (no simple feat itself) and used a hose clamp. It looks uniform and you can't see the clamp from a normal viewing height. For the cost I didn't see the need to tap it and use an AN fitting in that location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttocs Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 I got a smaller but similar AN fitting took called a Kool tool IIRC. You can say they are not necessary right up till you push one on with out them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 I got a smaller but similar AN fitting took called a Kool tool IIRC. You can say they are not necessary right up till you push one on with out them... Super envious. I've wanted a Kool Tool for a long time but they're too expensive for as few pushlock fittings as I assemble anymore. If i was building a fuel system from scratch or changing things up often though I'd definitely have one. I spent time after I got off of work this afternoon fitting the passenger side Scott Rod panel. It took a lot more time than I expected - tons of trimming. I messed with it for about 2.5 hours before it was happy with it, and I still need to cut in the hole for the intake tube. And when i say "happy with it," it's more like, "This is about as good as it's going to get..." It fits good, but not perfect. It should look nice when painted, though. After all, my car is far from a concourse style beauty queen... The panels aren't riveted in this photo, that's why they look a little loose and you see some gaps Those will close up once they're secured in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanter Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Those panels look good! Super envious of how your bay is going to look when you're done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 The panels look good in there, should really clean up the look. I assume you're going crystal white on them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 The panels look good in there, should really clean up the look. I assume you're going crystal white on them? Yep, I'm finishing them in crystal white. My plan is to throw a drop cloth over the engine and mask off as much as I can, and then prep the bay as well as I can. Obviously there are some places my big ass hands just won't be able to get to. I'll paint the panels off of the vehicle, then drop them in place and finish up the bay and clear everything. I think I'll probably end up pulling out the front coil-overs and removing the caster-camber plates to get a nice finish on the strut towers. The lower plates on the caster-camber plates have a few spots on each plate where the powder coat is peeling so I'll probably have those re-coated anyway. If I do some careful measuring with my micrometer I'll be able to re-install the caster-camber plates without having to get an alignment, too. So that's a plus. All in all I think it should look ok. It definitely won't have that super smooth look, but it'll do for now. For $50 for the rivet-in panels, I can't complain. I think next winter I'm going to be pulling the engine out to replace the oil pan gasket that has a tiny, tiny leak so I'll clean up the bay better then when I have more access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 thought about doing this too....just a wire tuck, battery relocate and fuse box relocate....then shave sides of bay with motor in. nice to see it is possible and i'm sure it will still come out awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 thought about doing this too....just a wire tuck, battery relocate and fuse box relocate....then shave sides of bay with motor in. nice to see it is possible and i'm sure it will still come out awesome! I'm actually pretty envious of the 2v guys. On the PI cars you can use an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake and they allow you to make those engines super well tucked because of the way the runners are separated. It's like the equivalent of a 4V car having a Sullivan lower intake on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted January 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 I finished up the AN power steering lines this afternoon. Everything came out pretty clean. It took a tiny bit of trimming to get the fender liner back in but nothing significant. Planning to get the wheels back on the car and on the ground this weekend so I can fill the power steering system and check for leaks. I'm confident it'll all be good but fingers crossed none the less. Once I verify there are no leaks I'll do a write up on what components I used. Had to wiggle around the lines where they come into the fender from how it is shown here so I could get the fender liner back in. But, in general the lines are just zip tied up along the frame and then they enter the bay through the sway bar mount This is all you see of the lines in the bay. I may cover the lines in black TechFlex to make them more subtle, going to wait to see how much they stick out once I get the car back on the ground. Fender line back in and you can see where I trimmed a small amount out of it. Once I get the fender panels finished up I've got a few other very small odds and ends I'm going to do and then I've got a TON of cleaning to do. This car has gotten so filthy over the past few months that I've been wrenching on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanter Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 That is so bad ass!! Awesome job man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted January 28, 2016 Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 Looks AWESOME! Now I want to do mine if I ever get to that point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
