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Vigo
10-29-2009, 01:45 PM
Took pics so i figured id post em..

Decided that since i got the new yorker (http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34837&highlight=free+yorker) out of my driveway for a while, i should finish putting back together the spirit thats been sitting since.. spring i guess? Took all of 10 minutes get it running from where i left it many months ago :o and then a lot longer than that to get it to run right, but i finally got it going smooth.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06521Medium.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06524Medium.jpg
Messy. Got a drop-in late style rad/ic combo for $35 locally:thumb: so put that in. Then i got this idea that i could probly cobble together pipes for it from stuff i had lying around:D

I had.. a pile of mismatched terrible looking scraps of hose, some log t1 couplers, an old mazda mx-6 bov, some pieces of 2 1/4" exhaust pipe from 4 to 8" in length, and some 2" pvc angles.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06523Medium.jpg
Lower radiator hose from a 3.9l v6 looks like a good donor:nod:
After cobbling a bunch of pieces together i was only missing one short section, but i was out of junk to splice!!

Or so i thought.. just in case, i went all the way to the back of the back yard and checked the 2.6L executive sedan...
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06525Medium.jpg
Huzzah! Yes, i took an extra throttle body with me to test-fit :p

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06526Medium.jpg
Hooray! That clear hose is my Harbor Freight boost gauge mounted to the windshield wiper for now..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06527Medium.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06528Medium.jpg

It sorta works. I think the stupid mazda BOV starts leaking like crazy at ~8psi.:mad:


I did drive it around a bit. But unfortunately both it and the new yorker have slight knocking noises so looks like they'll be back together in the carport again sometime soon so we can check em out :p
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC06116Medium.jpg
Birds of a feather break together :love:

Vigo
11-02-2009, 02:13 PM
36 views and no comments.. isnt someone going to tear into my intercooler plumbing :confused2::p

Captain Chaos
11-02-2009, 02:42 PM
36 views and no comments.. isnt someone going to tear into my intercooler plumbing :confused2::p

I'd try but pics are blocked at work...:(

Captain Chaos
11-02-2009, 02:42 PM
Plus I should wait till I'm done picking your brain, lol.

Vigo
11-02-2009, 03:07 PM
hehe i wont get all moody and stop being helpful just for you calling it what it is :p

I shoulda taken a better pic of the lower hose.. oh man.

PBODY
11-02-2009, 03:46 PM
Love the swiss cheese wheels.

As for the IC, I'm sure I will give you a run for your money when I try and mount my WRX IC in the front of my Spirit.

Vigo
11-02-2009, 05:39 PM
cool we can have a crappy plumbing SHOWDOWN. >: D

Vigo
11-06-2009, 12:24 PM
Well it seems the 'knocking' noise was probably a leaking down lifter because i have noticed it is less severe now after idling the engine a few times and it seems to go away after a bit instead of getting worse.

I still have a massive oil leak from my lazy self leaving a bolt out of the valve cover and forgetting to find one that would work.

The BOV still leaks like a mofo.. i plan to fix this by attaching the stock t1 bov onto the end of the mazda one! lol. Just gotta find the darn thing. That oughta get me from 7 psi to 15 or so.

Ive got +20s and a +20 cal'd chip with moved cutout point that i need to put in so i should have more fuel than air with the mitsu turbo.

Got a desoldering gun.. now just gotta find me a socket and get to melting stuff on my compuut3r so i can plug in my ch1pz!

Just went out there and eyeballed it a bit ago and im gonna cut up my message center and turn it into 3 gauge spots.. Even though i only have 1 gauge right now. I will drill as i go. :p

Harbor freight discontinued their 16$ boost gauge so go buy one before the stores run out! :p

PBODY
11-06-2009, 01:27 PM
Just went out there and eyeballed it a bit ago and im gonna cut up my message center and turn it into 3 gauge spots.. Even though i only have 1 gauge right now. I will drill as i go. :p

Harbor freight discontinued their 16$ boost gauge so go buy one before the stores run out! :p

Dude, quite copying me. What's next, your going to put an aftermarket tach where the stock tach was? :D

Here is a screen shot of the gauge pod I made to replace the message center. The verticle slot was for my Dawes, but I installed it next to the tach instead.

http://i869.photobucket.com/albums/ab254/Lt_bullitt/gaugepod.jpg

Vigo
11-06-2009, 02:01 PM
Well, actually i saw a pic of something a vendor is now selling and was 'inspired' by that... but either way im a cheap, copying dude.. but in fairness im sure the first person to come up with this was probably in like 1993.

My stock tach needs to be resoldered, it barely works. Luckily i have a spare cluster so i can do it whenever. I think i may have odometer gear issues as well.

That gauge pod design looks nice.. i like the angle of the gauges.

flat and flush is not ideal, but its FREE and EASY so its what im doing :p

Vigo
11-09-2009, 09:36 PM
Well i picked up an 89 shadow es 2.5 tbi / 520 a bit over a month ago.

I had been considering swapping the 5spd to the 89 turbo voyager (the most recent one) i had, but passed that one on to my friend Mason:
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43834http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43834

So i went back to my original plan!

Take shadow apart and put stuff on spirit!

Parts to be swapped include:
89 k-frame, control arms, steering rack. (has the bobble strut bracket)
520 5spd and associated junk.
Entire rear axle with solid 10.5 discs.
Probably all springs, front struts complete, rear with or without shocks depending on which ones are better.

Im guessing, due to my being too lazy to put the shifter and pedals in (im predicting this in advance), suspension stuff will get done before the 5spd swap does.

Im thinking ill save the 5-spd swap itself until im ready to put a better clutch in it, and take the whole motor out too to reseal the bottom, clean it up, and go back from mitsu to garrett (for the second time).

Here's pics of the shadow when i brought it home. $125.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05361.jpg
Thanks to my fiancee for running the camera while i drag junk around with my dynasty. :love:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC05365.jpg

It also has other parts ill be using..

aftermarket 15x6.5s will be painted black and put on something.
front seats for aries
fuel tank for executive sedan (currently has an old carb tank)
exhaust hangers i will cut and add to the spirit to go back from bailing wire to factory hangers :lol:
foglights ill snag and put on.. something..
2.5 tbi motor ill save, maybe basis for future build for something else.

oh and its already donated both axles to project free new yorker which i got for free and then gave to my friend derrick for free:thumb:
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34837&highlight=free+yorker

And of course ill sell the cat and the body and make more than my $125 back just on that.

If i kill something, i try to use every part of the carcass:amen: im a responsible hunter.

All for the greater glory of the spirit (and others).

Vigo
11-22-2009, 01:10 AM
Update:

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC07612Medium.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC07615Medium.jpg
Tore down the shadow today, have everything off it but the pedals and cables.


Im thinking ill save the 5-spd swap itself until im ready to put a better clutch in it, and take the whole motor out too to reseal the bottom, clean it up, and go back from mitsu to garrett (for the second time).

Well, decided im going to be swapping to an 85 2.2L motor and giving up the 2.5L to go in the free new yorker. The motor is already built and clean w/garrett turbo! hooray! But i need a 6-bolt flywheel for it, and im going to put a 782 head with tbi roller cam on it (already have it sitting).

So, it's still currently assembled as a running 2.5L/413 car, but its coming apart again soon for a motor swap AND a 5spd swap.

Here's the parts list for the planned setup (what i already have for the car and some already on it):

85 2.2L Turbo bottom end (heavy rods, roughly t2 equivalent)
782 head w/ roller tbi cam (will raise compression some)
3.5:1 FD '89 a520
2pc intake manifold
+20% injectors
T2 rad/ic
Garrett turbo w/2.25" SV (t2 converted log turbo)
2.5" downpipe to 2.5" mandrel-bent full exhaust
ES springs all around
10.5" rear disc conversion
ES rear axle (bigger bar)
ES front swaybar
Swiss cheese wheels w/ brand new 205/55r15 Falken ZE-912s
Harbor Freight boost gauge :p


All in all not a super-awesome setup (basic modded 2.2 t2) but hopefully enough to be interesting and get me 30+ highway mpg.:eyebrows:

Vigo
12-02-2009, 12:28 AM
Well, found out i can get a NEW 6 bolt turbo flywheel for $59.99 so thats cheaper than me finding and pulling one at a yard at $20 plus a crapload of my time and energy.

Got the cables and pedal setup out of the shadow finally so that thing is 100% ready to go away. All the 5spd stuff besides the flywheel itself is sitting on the ground ready to go, including an 89 k-frame with the bobble bracket on it. Also got the complete ES springs/struts and ES rear axle with solid discs to go in the spirit, also sitting waiting.

Classes are FINALLY tapering down this semester so its back to the cars.. I will be dropping the drivetrain out of the spirit this weekend.

Also, was discussing with the fiancee, and I had been thinking that the only color that would look good on this thing is another shade of brown because of the interior, but now im vaguely considering a dark burnt orange.. anyone have thoughts on that? I will try and post up some interior pics so yall can see what i mean about the interior color.

Vigo
12-02-2009, 12:52 AM
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/AADSC07535.jpg

Here's my new motor sitting pretty in the back of a truck.

Also, the mazda wheels are getting some used AutoX slicks mounted on em for the aries, The 5spoke in the back came off the shadow and those are going on my 85 new yorker, and the tire the motor is leaning on is going on my 90 van. King Scavenger at work.

turbokid
12-02-2009, 01:04 AM
^what ever works man.
Keep up the good work.
Hell I should rent you for a weekend.
I have 1...2...3...4...5...6 Ya 6 td's that could use some motor/trans work lmao.
Q

Vigo
12-03-2009, 10:14 PM
hehe yeh im trying, TRYING to stop buying cars (shadow was $125 and i got soo much off it, its hard to kick this habit) and just focus on what i have. I have enough cars to do a lot of different things, and i have a lot of the parts to do it already, so i need to spend less time dragging home parts cars and projects and just work on whats already there.. which could take years!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC07698Medium.jpg
Shadow's gone, got $80 off the body out of $125 purchase price.. so all the ---- i got off it cost me $45 +gas and time. I like doing it this way better than piece by piece at the junkyard.

turbokid
12-03-2009, 10:48 PM
^probably cheaper and at your convenience.
Nice work on the shadow. parts are going to a good cause :thumb:

PBODY
12-03-2009, 11:08 PM
I am so jealous of all the rust free cars you guys get for dirt cheap while I'm stuck up north here trying to justify something with rusty floors.

Keep the updates coming.

Vigo
12-06-2009, 01:04 PM
Just thought you guys might be entertained to see the lower intercooler hose i pieced together out of junk.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC07825Medium.jpg
Ok here we go:
1.Log intake coupler
2.Piece of 3.9L radiator hose as adapter between log coupler and leaky mx-6 BOV
3. Piece of heater hose to attach t1 bov to mx-6 bov.
4. t1 bov
5. Cut 3.9L radiator hose from mx-6 bov to 2" pvc coupler. I think its a 15 or 30*.
6. Some kinda big angled rubber piece that i think came off a volvo or saab in between PVC angle and intercooler.

For a total of.... 9 hose clamps on the lower ic hose:clap:

So i started to take the spirit motor out but didnt get all the way there. I stopped to help a semi-local TM member fix up his Shelby Charger.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC07831Medium.jpg

blk86trbo
12-06-2009, 02:18 PM
Just thought you guys might be entertained to see the lower intercooler hose i pieced together out of junk.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC07825Medium.jpg

Way to be resourceful, free is fun! :thumb:

turbokid
12-06-2009, 11:52 PM
''Resourceful'' Lmao.
Thats a ridiculous concoction but as long as it works.... ehhh screw if it works and its free then I see no problem LMAO

Vigo
12-11-2009, 10:32 PM
Well im reaching out to some members here to get my hands on some 6-bolt flywheels. Looks like with shipping time and all that i probably wont even get one before christmas. I'm looking for two just in case i decide to 523 my 85 new yorker:eyebrows: Here's a picture of that one:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC07855Medium.jpg

But thats ok, i need time to swap k-frame, struts, rear axle/brakes, put pedals in, run cables, mount shifter, modify console, mod boost gauge and mount it permanently, modify an old t1 garrett for the new motor, swap t2 compressor cover and wastegate onto old turbo, swap heads from G to Swirl, socket SMEC, buy chip burner..

And probably other stuff. I COULD be doing a lot of things. We'll see what gets done over the holidays.. :p

Vigo
12-12-2009, 10:49 PM
Finished taking the motor out today. Motivation is slipping for some reason but i think once i am past my finals and do a bit of paying work i'll be ready to bust out some real work on it.

turbokid
12-14-2009, 02:55 PM
^I hear ya.
Finals are kicking my ---.

Vigo
12-23-2009, 03:07 PM
Well got a 98 on my 90-page portfolio and got an A in both my classes. Thank god it's over for a few weeks.

I got my 6-bolt flywheels in the mail, thanks a bunch to Force Fed Mopar!

I still need to find the actual crank bolts to bolt it on. All i have are shorter flexplate bolts.

Also, i managed to score a t2 lower intercooler hose from the junkyard for $5, so no more of that crazy contraption i posted up! :p

Im looking at one of these setups http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110446472810&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
I've read a bit about that controller and im loving it, i might just buy another one for an a/f gague for my wideband so i can have a gauge in both the Aries and Spirit and move the sensor/controller back and forth with simple connections if i feel the need.


So once i find those crank bolts i should have all the pieces to bolt the thing together. It's gonna be a lot of mismatched and reused parts, but its gonna run and be my commuter just fine. 23mpg in the Dynasty is getting old. :p

I might convert an old log-motor FPR so an adjustable base regulator so i can ghetto-rig my +20s and 2.5 cal to run ok until i get my chip-burner and socketed SMEC going. I am a goof.

Vigo
12-29-2009, 07:21 PM
Managed to pick up an 88 2.2 t-2 smec so that gets me a bit closer. Little by little.

Vigo
01-07-2010, 01:31 PM
Finally got that busted old 88 shelby z out of my carport (good riddance) so i should be able to start working on this next week! working on / autocrossing the Aries this weekend or id be starting even sooner. :)

Vigo
01-11-2010, 05:41 PM
Well, i got some flywheel bolts and put the flywheel on the 85 motor. Tore it partially down, looked at the pistons and bores and they seemed great. The headbolts all came out well and seem very clean.. I think they were replaced and not run on for very long.

I decided i am going to convert the timing setup to round tooth gears from a tbi motor i have sitting around.

I still need to tear off both turbos, from the spirit's complete head (w/2piece, roller tbi cam, etc) and from the 85 head (good log-style garrett ill be converting and using). And have to take the t2 compressor cover off the leaky garrett that was on the spirit before. Lots of messing with turbos. Did i mention ill have to grind the turbine housing on the log turbo? Lots of turbo work.

I think i will be able to bolt the head onto the 85 motor very soon, though. And bolt the tranny to the motor for that matter. Does anyone know what the compression is with a 782 head on g-head pistons?

So, after a whole christmas break of absolutely nothing on the spirit, at least the ball is rolling slowly again.

BadAssPerformance
01-11-2010, 05:59 PM
Thread moved to P-log :thumb:

turbokid
01-12-2010, 10:54 PM
Sounds good dude. Keep up the good work.
Still envying your Texas weather.
Its in the high 20's here and thats warm compared to what it has been.
Q

Vigo
01-13-2010, 12:49 PM
I put the shelby front springs/struts in it yesterday. Of course i could have like.. been putting the motor together but i wanted those struts out of my carport!

Base model spirit struts/springs now going on my limo.

Just need some copper spray to put the 85 motor together... you heard me :)

Vigo
01-14-2010, 09:56 PM
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08487Large.jpg

Getting closer. The motor is most of the way together with converted turbo, 782 head, blah blah.

Still need to switch the cam gears to round tooth.. does anyone else LOVE pulling 5bolt crank gears? Grr.

Should be ready to go into the car on Saturday. Then gotta make the car ready for IT.

Vigo
01-16-2010, 09:16 PM
Ok, major progress report!

Got the motor/trans completely together.

I found out the stupid 6bolt motor has a smaller crank snout and CANT be converted to round tooth crank gear. Too bad i went to the annoyance of pulling 2 crank gears just to find this out. This leaves me in the position of not knowing if putting the square tooth cam gear (974?) on a 88 or 89 tbi roller cam changes cam timing from stock.. ?

So, dropped the k-frame, steering rack, auto tranny, and probly some other stuff.

Took out the console, swapped on the 520 shifter, drilled hole for cable, put back together.

Welded wideband bung onto my downpipe.

Hung motor/tranny in engine bay.

Got 5spd 89 k-frame and fast ratio steering rack ready to go in. Gonna need 2 people to get that stupid steering coupler together again. :p

So motor/trans is in, and once i get some help hanging the k-frame up and connecting the steering coupler, i should be able to get it running in a few hours :). Still need to swap in the pedals but the drivers seat is already out and ive been getting some practice lately so hopefully it wont take too long this time...

I have a handful of pics but ill have to post them later.

Vigo
01-17-2010, 12:28 AM
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08488Large.jpg
Crank gears are stubborn. Good thing i pulled two for no reason! Well, i guess i learned some 6 bolt crank trivia that i'll never use again.. :p

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08489Large.jpg
Pulling old auto trans. Then dropped k-frame and steering rack together. Then drilled holes for new shift cables.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08492Large.jpg
Then i put the new motor and trans in!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08490Large.jpg
This is my new H-pattern shift gate :p No pictures of the shifter mounted up but it was insanely easy, just take off the center console, swap the shifter with 4 existing bolts/studs, and drill one new hole in the floor for shift cables. I was surprised how easy it was. I'll take pics later when i paint this piece black and finish the interior part up.


Nobody seems to be noticing this thread lately :(

blk86trbo
01-17-2010, 01:51 AM
Thanks for the updates and pictures...great thread, lots of ingenuity :thumb:

BoostedDrummer
01-17-2010, 02:42 AM
Lol, your throwing together another beast when I'm still having trouble looking for a k member and control arms for the GLH haha. I know of 5 L-bodies in the JY I could get them off of but Im not too enthusiastic about welding a new tranny mount on there...grrr lol

burnt_toast
01-17-2010, 03:49 AM
looks badass dude! 2.2T2+5spd in Spirit ftw :clap:

and that is some CRAZY swappin going on in your sig :wow1:

Vigo
01-17-2010, 04:00 AM
but Im not too enthusiastic about welding a new tranny mount on there...grrr lol

If you buy the one from Johnny Spiva i'll weld it on for you. :)

Thanks guys!

turbokid
01-17-2010, 12:39 PM
Looking good dude.
You keep chugging away at these td's while us ppl up here are stuck looking at our td's in the driveway or in the garage waiting for spring LOL

blk86trbo
01-17-2010, 12:44 PM
Looking good dude.
You keep chugging away at these td's while us ppl up here are stuck looking at our td's in the driveway or in the garage waiting for spring LOL

Yeah no kidding, it totally bites! Hey...it may make it above freezing today, let's get outside under our cars LOL!

turbokid
01-17-2010, 07:36 PM
It was above freezing today and I washed the car and put an alternator belt on it.
Good stuff.
Im sure vigo bought another car, tore it apart, and put the motor in another car by the time I got my car charged up and running this afternoon LMAO

Ondonti
01-19-2010, 02:31 AM
seeing these cars again makes me wish you dumped the pos new yorker for the P body.

23mpg, is that while towing or not? 23 is about what I do when towing my P body with my AA body.

mr glenn
01-19-2010, 04:52 PM
+1 on the weather and no garage all I can do is look at my cars collect parts and wash the salt off and keep the oil changed

Vigo
01-20-2010, 12:29 PM
seeing these cars again makes me wish you dumped the pos new yorker for the P body.
Bah!! Ive parted and dumped 3 shadows so far, just dont like the body style or interior (other than 87csx exterior).

new yorker got da funk.. and i want the funk...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDxcFuQAMbg&feature=related


23mpg, is that while towing or not? 23 is about what I do when towing my P body with my AA body.

NOPE! Stupid dynasty gets 23 mpg ... HIGHWAY, EMPTY, CRUISING.. 23. Lame. It was fine when i first got it and gas was 1.25 and i drove around just for fun, but now it sucks for a daily driver.




LUCKILY.. i just got the spirit put together last night and drove it! W00000t!

My friend Derrick (who has a new yorker project.. hehe) came over to help me get the steering coupler back together, and by that time almost everything else was already done..

I did run into a problem running the 88 2.2 shelbyZ computer.. no spark! Did all the usual tests and didnt find a problem, so decided to try the stock 2.5 computer before giving up for the night, and it fired up! I dont know why the 2.2 computer didnt work, i suppose the pinouts may actually be different..


Anywho, the clutch and shifting are super smooth, and the motor feels totally different going through the rev range than the 2.5s i own. Much less peaky, but also much less dramatic.. On ~5psi it is a SLOW car. The aries on 5psi runs low 15s. Obviously the Aries has a lot going for it, though. The spirit is heavy, down on displacement, and the fueling is WAY off.

Here's the big problem... im running a 2.2 on a stock cal 2.5 computer with +20s... meaning its probably injecting almost 40% too much fuel. It pretty much wont run unless i pull full vacuum on the FPR with a vacuum pump.

So, i need a cal like crazy!!! But the car runs/drives, and nicely!

I have a handful of pics but i left the camera with the car. Ill put em up later.

Ondonti
01-21-2010, 11:53 AM
I have an 5 speed 3.0 ecu that won't ground the coil. Pisses me off. I think it got damaged during a shortage of the battery years ago. At one point I wished I could fix it but not really in these megasquirting days.

Maybe that ecu has a similar problem? no idea what actually failed on mine. Something in the board must be dead.

Vigo
01-21-2010, 04:51 PM
I think that was the case with this one, too. As far as i know the 88 and 89 pinouts are the same, so i dont see why it wouldnt have worked other than the computer itself being bad. Obviously my harness is fine, i checked resistance from the 60pin connector to the coil and it was fine, put in the 2.5 computer and got spark right away.

Brian is helping me out with a chip for this bad boy. I just need to buy a socket and socket my board before it gets here :D

Vigo
01-22-2010, 07:01 PM
Here's some pics:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08489Large-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08492Large-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08490Large-1.jpg
My new H-pattern shifter gate :clap:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08568Large.jpg
Hooray 5spd swap.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08582Large.jpg
Yep thats a stock t1 bov. Its held up to cutout in the past so i figure its good enough for now.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08579Large.jpg
Done!

blk86trbo
01-22-2010, 07:10 PM
Looks really nice, love the rims...do you always hold the door open with a crank pulley :thumb:

Vigo
01-22-2010, 07:42 PM
Only when the front end is jacked up and the thing wont stay open while im on my back cursing at pedals under the dashboard... :p

turbokid
01-23-2010, 02:22 AM
Liking the swiss cheese wheels.

mr glenn
01-23-2010, 05:34 AM
looks cool that sunshine looks awesome whats the temp

Vigo
01-23-2010, 11:17 PM
70-80F during the day, 40s at night lately. Getting another front later next week so it might be down into 20s next weekend, so ill be home studying instead of working on the spirit. Which is probably for the best.

Vigo
01-26-2010, 01:23 AM
Well, a decision has been made to go with a stock 2.2 t2 cal and a converted log-motor FPR (converted to adjustable base) to get this thing driveable.

The upside of this is that i have most of what i need to do this.. other than some jb weld and a 28pin socket, which may run me all of $10 total!

MAYBE i can force myself to do both this saturday!

Vigo
01-26-2010, 07:05 PM
Well, i surprised myself and built the AFPR today out of an old log-motor FPR. In fact, i counted and i have at least 3 more of these things sitting around if i feel like repeating this.

Step 1: Cut hole in top.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08596Large.jpg
Why does the hole look like crap? Because its hard to use hole saws that weren't designed for metal when you also dont have a vice. Yep.... I also cut the little vacuum barb piece off.
Harbor Freight holesaw put to good use..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08597Large.jpg
Then i build this complicated contraption which is a shock absorber bushing washer, a nut welded to that, and smaller nut welded to that nut, with a bolt through it.
Harbor Freight welder getting some good use..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08598Large.jpg
This is the whole thing compressed back together with a Harbor Freight $2 clamp in preparation for welding. What i didnt take pictures of, is that i welded one of those nuts with the washer built on to the end of the bolt on the inside as a spring seat. I also trimmed the spring by a relatively small amount.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08599Large.jpg
Here i added the 2nd Harbor Freight $2 welding clamparoo and the ground..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08600Large.jpg
Then i did welding! Yeah, i skipped some steps with the pics but here it is after some welding and grinding, and with the hole i drilled for the relocated pressure reference barb.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08601Large.jpg
Then i welded that, and voila!!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08602Large.jpg
Here's a pic of it installed and working.. because this was my first attempt i guess i was playing it safe by not trimming the spring by very much, so the lowest it will go with vacuum applied is 35psi. Luckily, i figure thats right in the ballpark of what i need! It definitely made the car run better, but its still got funky driveability issues that im thinking the 2.2 cal will fix.

I grabbed that and threw it in the trunk of my dynasty so hopefully i can get around to starting on that this week sometime. :)

blk86trbo
01-26-2010, 07:13 PM
Ah man, that's perfect...junkyard tech at it's finest :thumb:

Great job!

Aries_Turbo
01-26-2010, 09:40 PM
were you careful with keeping it cool after each tack? you can ruin the diaphragm inside if it gets too hot? you might want to give it a skim coat of JB weld to seal any potential leaks.

35 psi? the return line might be too restrictive?

looks good though. :)

brian

Vigo
01-26-2010, 10:10 PM
were you careful with keeping it cool after each tack

Yeh i think it took me about 20 minutes just to weld the washer part to the body. My longest single weld on that part was probably less than 1 cm.

I checked the whole thing with my vacuum bleeder and the only place it leaks a little bit is through the threads of the bolt/nut. I didnt document it in pics but what i did was do tack welds all the way around and then grind the welds back down flush with the body to find all the little holes and tack them over and over til it was ground smooth continuous metal all the way around.

As far as the 35 psi, i didnt take very much length off the spring at all, so it doesnt go much lower than stock.. next time i will grind more off the spring so i have a wider range of adjustment.

If im getting a +20s 2.2 cal, ill just reuse this FPR on my 3.0 swap so i can put t2 injectors in it :)

RoadWarrior222
01-29-2010, 02:22 PM
If im getting a +20s 2.2 cal, ill just reuse this FPR on my 3.0 swap so i can put t2 injectors in it :)

According to Phatfoto I think it was, he had 27lb in a 3.0 and it coped so you might not really need it.

I might be inspired to mod an FPR for my escort though. I think I've got a 180HP potential motor running on 120HP worth of fuel.

Vigo
01-29-2010, 02:42 PM
Well, it may cope once it goes into closed loop but since i doubt the 3.0 will be boosted right away, ill probably lower the pressure at first to get as close as i can to stock driveability.

Also, im not sure if, for example you ran 27s on stock everything, that it wouldnt still way overfuel on throttle tip-in enrichment, which is KILLING the driveability of the spirit as it sits.. Like i said, i dont know, but id love to have someone tell me if thats true :)

And Ed Kelly dyno'd his turbo 3.0 on 26s and was maxing em out (100% duty cycle, 65+psi BASE pressure) at less than 250whp. I dunno what im really looking for out of an m90 3.0, probably less than that, but i dont have a good reason NOT to put 32s in, especially if it lets me run a lower base pressure and keep a stock turbo pump (save me a little $$ that way).

RoadWarrior222
01-29-2010, 03:18 PM
Well, it may cope once it goes into closed loop but since i doubt the 3.0 will be boosted right away, ill probably lower the pressure at first to get as close as i can to stock driveability.

You do also have to remember that the stock fuel pressure was upped after the first year ('87) on the 3.0 due to issues with fuel boiling in the rails, nice and snug between the banks as they are. So going more than a little lower might not help driveability overall.

Aries_Turbo
01-29-2010, 04:30 PM
i noticed a few posts back that you mentioned JB weld while talking about socketing a SMEC. i dont recommend JB. i dont know if there is metal dust in it or if its conductive. silicone is a better choice imho.

Brian

Vigo
01-29-2010, 04:59 PM
Oh no, i meant jb weld for the FPR i was mentioning in the same sentence. heheh. Turns out i was just real thorough with the welding and didnt use silicone or jbweld on the FPR at all. I guess the "1" setting on my welder is low enough to do welds on little items like vacuum barbs without melting em if im REAL careful. :)

RoadWarrior222
01-29-2010, 06:05 PM
i noticed a few posts back that you mentioned JB weld while talking about socketing a SMEC. i dont recommend JB. i dont know if there is metal dust in it or if its conductive. silicone is a better choice imho.

I suspect there would be a metal powder filler in it to give it thermal stability by increasing it's thermal conductivity. Most high temperature epoxy glues are like that.

Vigo
01-31-2010, 03:19 PM
Ordered some sockets, and a chip is in the mail.

I also fixed a MASSIVE fuel line leak, and determined that i need to build a FUNCTIONAL pcv setup.

Im gonna do the tube into the downpipe (after the wideband bung, fyi) thing and see how that goes. If i dont like it, then i wont do it on my aries :p

Vigo
02-01-2010, 10:17 PM
Got something in the mail today...
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08726Medium.jpg

Still waiting for sockets but it shouldnt be later than wednesday before i get them.

Then i have to agonize over whether to socket the spirit SMEC or whether to change the steering rack on the Aries for the autocross this weekend! Decisions decisions...

Vigo
02-02-2010, 08:34 PM
And now SOCKETSES!!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC08746Medium.jpg

RoadWarrior222
02-02-2010, 09:00 PM
Surprised you had to wait on the sockets thought this place wasn't too far away...
http://www.intertexelectronics.com/category211_360.html

I usually won't order anything I can pick up within a half hour drive.

Vigo
02-03-2010, 04:20 PM
Well, i live in San Marcos and do my car work in San Antonio. So if im not already in San Antonio, to go there is a 2hr/120 mile round trip. Paying $7 to get something shipped is cheaper than my round trip gas. I usually only go to San Antonio on weekends.

Vigo
02-08-2010, 01:12 AM
Well, i was waiting for my friend to show up early this morning so we could work on the aries, and i decided to start pulling my SMEC apart, and when he arrived with his badass Hakko desoldering gun i decided to keep my momentum up and finish the whole thing, so i socketed and reinstalled my computer with Brian's chip! I wasnt expecting to get it done today so i kinda surprised myself! Car seems to run better but i didnt have time to really drive it as i spent most of the day fixing up the Aries for a race next weekend..

Will inform when i get more time in it and see how different it is! :)

Aries_Turbo
02-08-2010, 02:11 PM
cool. :)

Brian

Vigo
02-09-2010, 07:45 PM
Well, i replaced the passenger motor mount, adjusted the front motor mount, tightened the loose throttle cable bracket, and cleaned the engine bay of oily residue.

I still need to work on the mounts. I am going to do some kinda DIY bobble strut mod probably including stacking poly bushings on the shaft.

I did get to drive it a bit, though, and the driveability seems perfect. I stole a manual boost controller off the aries and inched it up from 4 to around 10 psi, and everything seemed fine.

But, after a while of driving it started to do an odd bucking intermittently in boost that feels too strong to be a misfire, so since i was out of time, i parked it. I will go back to wastegate boost and figure out the bucking issue, and then work on getting my gauges in place so i can really beat on this thing.

Things left to do:
Fix above issue,
Install welded shelby rear axle w/ solid disc setup and Shelby rear springs
Install factory 1 1/4 front swaybar with PB bushings
Install radio (its in the trunk)
Weld up exhaust hangers, probably get 2nd muffler.
Tint the windows.
Hook up a/c compressor and make a/c work.
Install EGT and Wideband o2

After that, it should just be a bunch of tuning away from being a fun and fast commuter :nod:

Vigo
02-16-2010, 09:51 PM
I put 20 minutes into the spirit today.

I put the shims back under the passenger motor mount;

I installed a radar detector. I got one for free with no power cable, bought a power jack from Radio Shack for $2, and mounted it right under the map lights and above the rear view mirror. The power wire is hardwired into the maplight wiring.

Tried to take pics of it but the camera battery was dead :p

turbokid
02-18-2010, 12:08 AM
Did you finish off your list?
Q

Vigo
02-18-2010, 09:06 PM
Heh sure didnt finish it but im ticking things off slowly.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09476Medium.jpg
Here's a pic of the radar detector.


Other than that, i did little stuff today.

I put in the overflow bottle (with RED hose :p).

As i mentioned before, the downpipe was hitting the rack because of the mounts and the fact that the exhaust wasnt hung up correctly. I impatiently slapped it on when i first got it, but never made it 'right'. So today i decided to make it 'right'.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09477Medium.jpg
I started by cutting the stock hangers off the chunk of parts-shadow exhaust that i saved for this reason :p. Then i put them on.. didnt take pictures of that. Rest assured it is ugly.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09479Medium.jpg
I had clamped this before (and NOT a nice band clamp) so i couldnt get it to rotate, plus i felt it needed a bit of length out and a different angle, so i spent time trimming and getting the right angle right here before spending half my life trying to weld it back up. That is a SHITTY spot to weld in (the top part near the tank).

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09481Medium.jpg
Finished it out with an Autozone 2.5" turndown (dynasty also has autozone 3" turndown) and another improvised mount.

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/?action=view&current=Movie-7.flv

Then i took this vid for no raisin.
Hear that nasty noise coming from the motor? That's why i then loosened my timing belt tension...:p

Also, it starts hard because the fuel pressure drops to 0 immediately after shut-off. Havent looked into it yet but its not cal/tune related.

And while i was back there i put the shelby rear springs in.

Thats it for today! Fixing/racing the aries this weekend and next week is school crunch-time so probly nothing else for ~2weeks. :(

RoadWarrior222
02-18-2010, 09:27 PM
Also, it starts hard because the fuel pressure drops to 0 immediately after shut-off. Havent looked into it yet but its not cal/tune related.

Unless there are leaks, which should be somewhat obvious, I'd figure that would have to be sticking injectors or a pump problem.

Vigo
02-18-2010, 09:38 PM
Im almost entirely certain its the pump, because it drops to 0 FAST. Even a stuck open injector wouldnt do that, plus id have driveability issues. Its fine when running so its not something im going to worry about for now.

StraX22
02-18-2010, 09:53 PM
soundin' sweet!

turbokid
02-18-2010, 10:17 PM
Looks like you are making progress. Lookin' good. I need to get going on my projects come some warmer weather

Aries_Turbo
02-18-2010, 10:24 PM
put a fuel pressure gauge on it during a run.

nice exhaust work. :)

you wanna see ugly exhaust? take a look at my k car stick welded exhaust. :)

Brian

Ondonti
02-18-2010, 11:05 PM
your regulator is not seating properly. Prime the fuel pump and then hit the starter. Anyways your regulator is probably warped somewhere.
My BEGI (cartech) regulator has a combined base regulator and if you drop the fuel pressure too low it won't seat properly so it does not hold fuel pressure when the car turns off. You could watch it drop to zero almost immediately.

Hope the drivability of your computer gets worked out. You didnt come back to that issue.

As far as low fuel pressure in 3.0's goes, Ive never had a hot engine bay and ran 30-32psi even n/a and never had problems. Even ran 31mpg once on a 900 mile trip.
Car always had 1" plenum spacers but others have not, and I think the easiest fix for vaporlock would just be a 180 deg thermostat and go from there.

Aries_Turbo
02-18-2010, 11:19 PM
yeah it could be the regulator.

if the fuel pressure isnt rising in boost, it will pop and fart and lean miss.

it shouldnt be the ecu.

Brian

Vigo
02-19-2010, 12:38 AM
Ive had a gauge on it almost the whole time its been running. Never took it off until recently. I know the pressure and pressure rise is correct.

I am still considering the possibility that its the AFPR i put on there. I did raise the pressure back to stock after putting the chip in. I bought some more fuel injection hose to go back to only the stock one today but didnt get around to installing it. Ill let you all know if the problem stops after i take the AFPR out and go back to just the stock one. Right now the AFPR is T'd into the supply and return lines. I dont have extra rail-mount regulators to cut up so this is how i had to do it.

Anyway im pulling it out now that i have a cal and ill see if the problem goes away. It doesnt really bother me at all, its just long starts, but if i can fix it just by pulling the AFPR i'll be happy. If its in the pump, im not fixing it.

turbokid
02-19-2010, 02:35 PM
Lol no fixing it till you have to anyways LOL

PBODY
02-19-2010, 03:16 PM
My brother in law's 89 T1 Spirit has an extended crank. We checked fuel pressure by jumping +12v to the + side of the coil. It came up to the correct pressure but after turning off the pump it went to 0. If we pinched the return line, it held. I think he has a bad FPR.

blk86trbo
02-19-2010, 05:46 PM
My brother in law's 89 T1 Spirit has an extended crank. We checked fuel pressure by jumping +12v to the + side of the coil. It came up to the correct pressure but after turning off the pump it went to 0. If we pinched the return line, it held. I think he has a bad FPR.

Makes total sense, it's gonna take a moment for the fuel pump to fill the lines and rail again.

Vigo
02-19-2010, 08:07 PM
Even if it turns out to be the regulator on the rail, i have no intentions of fixing it. I dont have a spare, and i wouldnt go out of my way to get one just to prevent this problem. All it costs me is 2 extra seconds when im starting the car, which i dont care about.

The only reason i brought it up was so that noone would have to ask! :p

I never put the title in my name so ill have to get my paperwork rolling and get this thing legal before i can really put any miles on it.

Aries_Turbo
02-19-2010, 08:09 PM
yeah but if its bleeding back fast now, it could be reducing the fuel pressure into boost since you first tested it.

Brian

turbokid
02-19-2010, 08:15 PM
^thats what I would be concerned about!

Vigo
02-19-2010, 11:06 PM
ok fine all you party-poopers, i will test it again! :p

turbokid
02-20-2010, 12:06 AM
Lol just looking out for you buddy

WickedShelby88
02-20-2010, 12:54 AM
Yeah its all fun and games till a piston becomes an ashtray;)

Ondonti
02-20-2010, 10:02 AM
my experience with regulators is that the fuel pump can easily make up for he small leak. The small leak just makes fuel pressure disapear quickly. There is a huge difference between pump on and pump off.

Vigo
02-25-2010, 01:32 PM
Well, the dynasty's brakes were gone yesterday morning, so i hopped in the Spirit and got a temp registration tag and inspection and proceeded to drive it over 200 miles throughout the day. And it did fine!

I am happy to say this is now my daily driver!

Nobody wanted to race, though :p All i did was make a TT 300zx laugh. I rolled next to a late 90s civic si for miles and miles but he seemed more curious than interested in racing. Oh well, another day. Still ~10psi, no hiccups or problems to speak of. Maybe i should get a BOV that people can actually hear. And now that i know that 3rd goes to 85, ill be hitting third from highway rolls.

Vigo
02-25-2010, 07:21 PM
I knew it couldnt be that easy! Went out to drive it a few hours ago and its got a completely dead o2, running so lean it bucks and bogs.. So i unplugged it and turned around, and now it sits til the weekend. :p

turbokid
02-25-2010, 07:46 PM
Lol failure.

Vigo
02-28-2010, 01:58 AM
Weekend update:

Installed another used o2 i had sitting around.. same problem. Installed NEW o2, problem SOLVED! :p

I removed the AFPR but did not retest the pressure yet. Long cranking seems to be improved, though, so context clues inconclusively tell me i fixed it :p

I wired up a shitty old stereo that had been kicking around in the trunk. Upon installing it, i found that the right rear speaker didnt work. I knew about this last time i had a radio in the car but never looked into it. I expected it to be a simple problem near the speaker, but i ended up chasing and probing for a good while until i finally had to pull 2 new wires through the B-pillar / door jamb area to bypass broken wires in inaccessible places. GRR!!:mad:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09574Medium.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09573Medium.jpg

The car came from the previous owner with modern aftermarket speakers scrounged from the junkyard at all corners, so that part is ok. The radio itself is literally the worst radio ive seen in years and years. I snagged it out of a totalled g20 i bought and parted last year. It doesnt even have PRESETS!! Everything about the AM/FM tuner/interface is total garbage, BUT, it does have an aux input, cost 0$, and i already had the adapter plate and harnesses from another junk stereo kicking around in the trunk.:lol:

I like to think of it is a $0 1/8" input jack with a built-in amp and a voume knob. Phase Linear... FTW?
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09575Medium.jpg

I finished out the work day by dressing up my temp tags with these snazzy license plate frames!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09578Medium.jpg
:nod:

I did my first vague, inaccurate mileage check on the way home today and came up with 27 mpg. The engine is running too cold from a stuck-open thermostat, i dont know my tire pressures, there is no charge air temp sensor wired up, and i did some WOT and traffic creeping during the test period.. so, i think its a good start!

I think i can get it to touch 30 mph hwy with no engine management tuning, and then once i get my wideband and EGT in there, the fun begins! 14 second quarter mile and 40hwy mpg on the cheap? I'll sure try. :)

turbokid
02-28-2010, 09:12 PM
Looks like some good progress. I would said eff it on that speaker and ran another line then prob the stock one LMAO!
Time to change the thermostat!

Vigo
03-02-2010, 01:40 AM
Bought the thermostat and some wiper blades today. Woopee. I love the school week. Except multiply that by -1.

Vigo
03-03-2010, 12:16 AM
You know, this thing is getting to me a little bit. I never liked the car all that much as an auto, but the 5spd makes me SO much more interested in the car. Its slower than a stock t2 car right now but in general i really like driving it.

Ive hopped in it a few times just to drive for pretty much no reason, and i havent felt the urge to do that in a long time now.

I also forgot to mention i cruised right up to 125 and pegged the speedo the other day. No drama. :)

Vigo
03-11-2010, 12:11 AM
Well, after enjoying my new Magnum for a few days it's back to fixing k-cars.

I put in the 180 thermo today. There was no thermo in there at all. One less thing for me to throw away!

I added the charge temp sensor and associated wiring. My limp-wristed drilling technique managed to take out an adjacent wire at the SMEC connector, so i made a little work for myself but i have lots of junk harnesses to scrounge and fixed it up i no time.

So between those two, i have gained a working heater and lost a check engine light! Yay! And also something about more accurate fuel controlBLAH BLAH BLAH:confused2:

I also got some a/c gaskets and 8 ozs of oil for $8 and decided to get my a/c working as well. I went to walmart and bought two cans of propane for $4.66. Why you ask? Beats me, its illegal to put this stuff in car a/c so i dont know why im mentioning the two together.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09610Medium.jpg
I did make an adapter thingy a while ago 'just to see if it could be done'.

But even if i HAD put propane in the system it wouldnt have mattered because i had a massive leak at the high side service port and it would have leaked out in 10 minutes IF IT HAD EVER HAPPENED. In that case i would theoretically have been out $4.66.

Luckily i had some extra a/c lines laying in a pile (3 full sets, actually) and i managed to salvage another schrader valve. I dont have a schrader valve tool but i do have these and i made it work:
http://s4.hubimg.com/u/417319_f260.jpg

So having fixed the leak, i spent an additional $6 at Walmart and put r134 back in it. Sigh. Working AC though!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC09608Medium.jpg
Just in case you were wondering, the big red hose is me 'vacuuming' the a/c system with engine vacuum :lol:


Next on the list: Motor mounts FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY. :yuck::yuck:

Ondonti
03-11-2010, 12:18 AM
Need more specifics on your job there Adam. Can't do cool cheap repairs and cheap out on the keyboard typing.

raccoon
03-11-2010, 12:31 AM
door jamb area to bypass broken wires in inaccessible places. GRR!!:mad:


its not inaccessible, you just have to take it apart a tad (http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/883/sighc.jpg)more.

Vigo
03-11-2010, 11:34 AM
Lol the b-pillar trim isnt even off in that pic!!:lol:

What does that say about how much of a PITA it is?

My thing is this interior is still in REALLY nice shape and that b-pillar piece takes a lot of flexing to get off which stands a good chance of making it not nice anymore. I wanted to avoid messing with this interior as much as possible.

Vigo
04-25-2010, 09:29 PM
Oh wow well i guess i havent been keeping up with this...

The car was doing well, got the a/c running kinda half---- and was driving it all over the place. The mounts were ALL FUGGED UP so i replaced the passenger side one and filled the bobble strut with grease which sure stiffened it up, then took it to the track and broke it!!

I found out literally 5 mins before heading to the track that my small can wastegate actuator would only hold 11 psi, but it was too late to do anything and the car felt pretty good anyway. Once i got there, i ran 2 or 3 passes with horrible launches and landed a 16.2@86 on my stock boost+ bad launches, then i misshifted it into 1st and spun it up purty goooddddd...... picked up some HORRIBLE NOISES. But, i figured out its just that my flywheel came loose. I couldnt find the stock 6 bolt flywheel crank bolts so i bought some from a bolt store that weren't 12.9 rated.. im guessing they stretched or bent or something. Im just glad the flywheel didnt actually come off at 9k rpm!!

So i need to pull the tranny and fix that. Then make boost go higher! Maybe learn to launch it someday, too...

turbokid
04-26-2010, 12:11 AM
sounds good. keep up the good work!
Q

Vigo
05-03-2010, 07:43 PM
Found a picture of the Spirit from the night it was bought.. My friend Yan was buying it and i drove with him up to Austin to pick it up from a car lot. I think he paid $420 for it with a blown headgasket. Under all that dust it really wasnt too bad.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02523.jpg
I guess you could say its come a long way, in spite of the fact that it's undriveable again! :p

I threw some KYB gas-a-justs in the trunk today to throw on their later. Im thinking ill get the flywheel thing fixed in the next 2 weeks.

Vigo
06-04-2010, 01:00 PM
I guess a month isnt too much worse than 2 weeks..

Got oem 6-bolt flywheel bolts in the mail thanks to Force Fed Mopar. :D

Should be up and running again soon..

Vigo
07-18-2010, 10:40 PM
Well i went ahead and r&r'd the tranny this weekend to get to the flywheel. All but one bolt had worked loose enough that i could turn it with my fingers. Comparing the bolts i put in there to the oem bolts, i can see why it happened. I dont really regret the whole thing (since nothing was hurt, including me, luckily) but it sure was a tedious learning process trying to put together a 6-bolt/5spd car out of bits and pieces.

Anyway, i put it most of the way back together but it still needs a few pieces that i had gradually stolen off of it for my minivan (map, distributor, tps, throttle bracket), so im gonna wait until i can make a junkyard run and grab all that before it runs again. Ive been giving away all my spares so i actually have to make a junkyard run! It almost seems strange..

Pics from the process will be up in a few days.

turbokid
07-19-2010, 02:32 AM
Keep up the progress forsure

Vigo
07-20-2010, 11:57 PM
A few pics from the tranny R&R.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/CIMG0597Large.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/CIMG0615Large.jpg
^ Using those super convenient bolt holes that perfectly balance the motor and tranny on the hoist.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/CIMG0611Large.jpg

Vigo
07-25-2010, 10:17 PM
Man, i am so spoiled by the aries 2.5L and 2400 lbs...

I got the spirit put back together and running today. Got it up to 17 lbs, too..:eyebrows:

The cal Brian did for me hits overboost at just over 17 on my Harbor Freight boost gauge, so ive got it backed off to a steady 15.

It feels the fastest its been since ive owned it.. but it needs more. On the upside, it has a very nice interior :thumb:


Now that the van and the spirit are both running, turbo, 5spd, i need to race them against each other. :evil:

But, i have to get another boost controller first.. i only have one:rolleyes:

turbokid
07-25-2010, 10:39 PM
LOL thats funny. Glad you got it back up and running.

Aries_Turbo
07-25-2010, 11:22 PM
hmmmm i thought i disabled overboost.

i now have a much better 89 table file so im going to take a look at what i did and maybe make some changes.

do you have a burner yet? i cant remember.

Brian

Aries_Turbo
07-25-2010, 11:28 PM
guess what... overboost is still on with that cal. oops.

Brian

Vigo
07-26-2010, 12:22 AM
Yeh, but its on at 17-18psi, not too big a deal just yet! Need real monitoring before i get any more ambitious..

And yes, i do have a burner and have successfully burned chips.. just havent modified any cal files yet other than checking and unchecking the checkboxes. :p

BoostedDrummer
07-26-2010, 01:11 PM
Now that the van and the spirit are both running, turbo, 5spd, i need to race them against each other. :evil:



I will volunteer some of my time to help out with this dilemma:p

Aries_Turbo
07-26-2010, 07:22 PM
Yeh, but its on at 17-18psi, not too big a deal just yet! Need real monitoring before i get any more ambitious..

And yes, i do have a burner and have successfully burned chips.. just havent modified any cal files yet other than checking and unchecking the checkboxes. :p

its not set at 17-18psi... its just that you are hitting that before the overboost timer runs out.

Brian

Vigo
07-26-2010, 07:55 PM
In that case i probably will have to change that when i start driving it. Right now, it still needs registration, insurance, and for me to find the key to it... i only drove it because the ignition wasnt clicked all the way back to off. :p

Vigo
07-30-2010, 06:13 PM
So, still have parts sitting around for this..

Stuff i have and need to install:

ShelbyZ rear axle which i welded a plate onto and boxed in.
Shelby rear springs
10.5" later-style solid rear disc setup.
1.25" front swaybar
used Gas-A-Just rear shocks off my dynasty.

Vigo
08-22-2010, 12:47 AM
Well, good news. I decided to skip the middleman and upgrade to the 11" brakes! Strax22 is parting a VNT daytona and i ended up the recipient of the big vented brakes.

I swapped over the fronts today.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02048Medium.jpg
Take these..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02049Medium.jpg
And put them here..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02055Medium.jpg
I knew there was a catch!! I had to buy a caliper for like $27. Luckily rampage (<username here) drove in from Houston and bought the old 5lug spindles/brakes off me for $30, so it worked out. He also got the solid rear discs i had been planning to put on the spirit until i got these vented rears.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02054Medium.jpg
rampage is 5-lug swapping this sweet turbo trucklet. I like to think my spirit helped.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02051Medium.jpg
He also got hooked up with some motors and stuff. That's how we roll over here.. come with a truck bed and leave with a bunch of parts!

Upgrading stuff and spreading stuff around between friends, that's how its done! Everybody ends up with cooler cars and less stuff gets thrown away.:thumb::clap:

Vigo
08-25-2010, 09:38 PM
Installed a 1.25" front swaybar today.. scratch that off the to-do list.

Vigo
09-21-2010, 03:52 AM
ShelbyZ rear axle which i welded a plate onto and boxed in.
Shelby rear springs
10.5" later-style solid rear disc setup.
1.25" front swaybar
used Gas-A-Just rear shocks off my dynasty.

Well, as of today everything off that list is done or done better..

I sold the 10.5" disc setup to Andy for the white rampage, but i DID install the vented 11" setup, on the welded shelby daytona axle. I also put in shelby springs and the KYB gas-a-justs at the same time.

So now the spirit officially has all the same suspension pieces (or equivalent) as an 89-90 daytona shelby, plus the welded rear axle and reinforced track bar on top of that.

Since i have had a lot of parts cars coming through here lately ive had extra track bars and since the track bar is one of the biggest if not THE biggest things keeping the suspension from working on these things i figured id just weld two of them together. I did this same thing a while back for my Dynasty but didnt take any pics. This time i took some pics.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02365Large.jpg
2 track bars.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02366Large.jpg
Cut the ends off of one.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02368Large.jpg
Run an angle grinder over em real quick or otherwise clean up the mating surfaces.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02370Large.jpg
Clamp em together good and tight.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02371Large.jpg
Weld it up.

I always need more excuses to cut and weld since im still not great at it, so this was a good excuse.

Also, here's two random pictures from the brakes swap.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02363Large.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02364Large.jpg

135sohc
09-21-2010, 12:11 PM
Any thought into reinforcing the vertical bracket that the track bar bolts to ? I know the diagonal brace is very beefy but that bracket is tin foil in comparison, especially once you start stiffening up everything else.

Aries_Turbo
09-21-2010, 12:21 PM
mount a camera under there in a lexan/plexi box and see if it flexes in hard cornering. i need to make a good camera mount for under cars/in engine bays to diagnose wierd problems. :)

Pat
09-21-2010, 12:30 PM
Any thought into reinforcing the vertical bracket that the track bar bolts to ? I know the diagonal brace is very beefy but that bracket is tin foil in comparison, especially once you start stiffening up everything else.

I thought about that at one point, but that bracket is triangulated into the body with that reinforcement bar that runs up. I can't imagine too much, if any, movement happening there. Bushings would probably be the next on the list.

How does the car sit on the Daytona Shelby springs?

Vigo
09-21-2010, 01:38 PM
It looks stock to me. My idea of low is usually 3" or so lower than what shelby springs do. Luckily im running some 205/55r15 which are shorter than stock so that helps bring the car down a little bit without looking too tiny in the wheelwell.

But, i am planning to cut these springs and bring it down more. I'm just waiting to do it until i get some new front struts since i will probably only cut the fronts once, and then cut the rear to level it.. i feel that's much easier than doing the backs first. Once you cut the rear springs they are not flat on the bottom any more, and at that point you have SOME height adjustment just by rotating the spring to dial the rear ride height in.. :thumb:

Vigo
09-21-2010, 11:27 PM
Here's a pic from today just for you, Pat. :p

Like i said.. looks stock. Stock +bashed fender and non matching corner light, anyway... this pic is kinda depressing actually:o

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02372Large.jpg

This one drove through a house and it still looks better..
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02319Large.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC02318Large.jpg

Aries_Turbo
09-21-2010, 11:47 PM
frank barone rules!!!! :)

2.216VTurbo
09-22-2010, 11:35 AM
I missed a couple weeks worth of updates, is that white Rampage a 2.5 Turbo that used to be Shannon's (from Redline Gauges) ex gas company truck? It has a familiar look and I don't know where it ended up when he sold it last year or so. Next time any turbo Rampage comes to visit, get out the camera:whip:

Vigo
09-22-2010, 02:17 PM
It belongs to user 'rampage" here, and i THINK he said he bought it from somewhere inside Texas..

But its a 2.2 turbo that was swapped by FWDP so i think it is not the one you are thinking of.

I have a few more pictures but instead of me posting his pictures we should just bug him to start a thread on it :D

Vigo
11-16-2010, 02:31 AM
The power steering pump died a while back. Also, the tensioner nut on it fell off twice! So, between that and the fact that ive NEVER had the old style pump either fail or come loose.. i decided to swap to the older pump setup.

All i needed was the pump, bracket, and high pressure line, which i had a bunch of laying around since ive been planning this for a while. Made for a pretty easy swap. I even got the new pump in from the top without having to remove anything. The old stuff came out the bottom.

Unfortunately i have to pull the stupid trans because the clutch is intermittently dragging (mostly but not FULLY releasing). Oh well. Good thing im good at it, i guess.:o

Also, i just cut and installed some shelby springs on a 90 dynasty i have, and it came out perfect, so i know just how much to cut on the spirit to get it right on the first try. :eyebrows:

Vigo
02-22-2011, 12:50 AM
Also, i just cut and installed some shelby springs on a 90 dynasty i have, and it came out perfect, so i know just how much to cut on the spirit to get it right on the first try.

Man this pisses me off so much.

I looked at the springs on the dynasty (same shelby springs) and cut half a coil LESS on the spirit. And guess what?! Its ----ing slammed on the bumpstops on one side, and 2" higher on the other side!?!? WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

So, after looking at it, and sorta getting over the massive annoyance, i think ive decided that with these short tires (205/55/15) the only way to make it look right and still have travel is to put some neon struts (or some other non-stock struts) on it. Ill probably grab some 2g neon units from the junkyard. Their spring rates are already just as stiff as the shelby springs, and i know for a fact the height/travel thing works great on my 93 dynasty. This time i'll probably cut the strut towers for neon strut tops instead of modding the strut shafts for k-car strut tops. Now i need a big holesaw..

RoadWarrior222
02-22-2011, 10:14 AM
I'd figure you didn't get a matching pair or something. Try swapping sides? in case it really is 300lb heavier on one side than the other and does the same.

---------- Post added at 09:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 AM ----------


mount a camera under there in a lexan/plexi box and see if it flexes in hard cornering. i need to make a good camera mount for under cars/in engine bays to diagnose wierd problems. :)
I might think of getting some of those insanely strong neodymium magnets and making a mount that goes on with those... then you can stick it anywhere.

Vigo
03-16-2011, 02:30 AM
I remembered i had a complete pt cruiser strut assembly in the trunk of one of my other cars. I'll get another from the junkyard and use those. It'll give me my travel back while keeping the drop. Of course my roll center and ground clearance will still be fugged but oh well. I need to buy a holesaw big enough to cut the strut towers for neon strut tops.

Also, ive been experimenting with stacking a bunch of bushings on the bobble strut because its completely blown and i have all these random bushings in my toolbox to use. Ive tried it 2 different ways now, still not 100% happy. I need to be 100% happy because the trans case is broke at the front bottom and since my front mount isnt able to be bolted there, it doesnt do a whole lot.

In fact, if i get the bobble strut thing jiggered right i might just pull out the front mount and toss it, see what happens. i know one of our members with a 10sec car has no front mount, but i forget who that is.

Aries_Turbo
03-16-2011, 05:15 PM
bruce bender has no front mount.

Vigo
03-16-2011, 07:46 PM
Thanks! Is that one a 10 sec car? I might be mixing up my vague memories here...

Aries_Turbo
03-16-2011, 09:16 PM
yup, 10 sec white omni.

he came off the lower rear of the trans and straight to the k frame. diff housing area i think.

brian

RoadWarrior222
03-16-2011, 10:53 PM
Could try modding an early 3.0 front moutn, saw off one leg and grab a bolt further under or higher... will move a lot on only one, but at least you get the feeling it's still "tied" to the car.

Vigo
03-21-2011, 12:12 AM
Snapped a pic today. This is where the front struts bottom out. Doesn't even look low, does it? PITA to lower a k-car by more than 2", lemme tell ya.. but ive done it to the aries and the dynasty so i know its just a matter of determination. lol.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03670Large.jpg

Vigo
04-04-2011, 01:04 AM
Well i put ONE pt cruiser strut on the car today. My friend Derrick got it off a car he was working on a long while ago and its been sitting in the trunk of my Dynasty for probably a year.

On my dynasty i modded the strut shaft to use a k-car top because i didnt want to mod the strut tower. This time i modded the strut tower. Of the two... OMG modding the strut tower is the FAR superior solution. Downside being i had to buy a $30 holesaw. :p

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03696Large.jpg
I started with a drill, but then it died.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03698Large.jpg
So i had to finish them off with the good old IR Titanium.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03699Large.jpg
Luckily this 3/8 drill isnt totally dead yet so it spun my harbor freight stepper bit just fine. Im glad that pattern worked on the first try.. :p
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk124/Vigo327/DSC03701Large.jpg
Of course it raised it back up some but now i can lower it again without losing all my travel. Need another strut for the other side. Need to get some more of Johnny's sweet poly bumpstops too. :)

Dave
04-04-2011, 07:18 AM
Looks good! Did not know we could make those struts work.

Vigo
04-04-2011, 02:58 PM
Ive used both 1g and 2g neon struts on k-cars. The pt cruiser is basically a 2g neon/srt4 strut. I THINK (almost sure) that the only physical difference between a 2g neon and a pt/srt4 strut is the lower spring perch is higher to make room for larger tire diameters. I THINK that the pt cruiser and srt-4 struts are the same physical design with the raised lower perch(probably not same internal valving).

On this car with short tires i think 2g neon struts would work fine, but they would probably give you the same tire diameter limitations that exist on non-srt 2g neons (i have no exact figures, but its discussed on their forums). I used the pt because it is what i had. IIRC the SRT4 ACR used the normal 2g strut design with the lower spring perch while using the same srt4 spring to achieve a factory drop, and those cars had shorter tires than the stock srt-4s. So anyone considering using 2g or pt/srt4 struts could probably research those tire size issues on the SRT forums.

StraX22
04-04-2011, 10:36 PM
I'm really glad your idea proved right. Nice precision pattern BTW :p

Vigo
04-18-2011, 02:29 AM
I bought another strut for it. Standard 2g neon this time, so its slightly different from the other one. I guess ill have to cut the springs by different amounts, but whatever.

RoadWarrior222
04-18-2011, 11:52 AM
If it rides lopsided or pulls left, say you built it for NASCAR.

Aries_Turbo
04-18-2011, 08:58 PM
so an easy performance swap could be 2g neon or stock cut struts with SRT Koni inserts and 2g neon strut mounts?

i wonder if a SRT rear strut insert could be used in the rear as a shock mounted like you mounted the DSM KYB AGX in the rear. bolt an adapter onto the bottom to go into the rear axle, and the drill into the body and use some bushings for the top.

Brian

Vigo
04-18-2011, 09:07 PM
so an easy performance swap could be 2g neon or stock cut struts with SRT Koni inserts and 2g neon strut mounts?

Yes. On L-bodies it's practically a drop in, but on k-cars you need to drill the strut tower.

Aries_Turbo
04-18-2011, 10:17 PM
drilling the strut tower doesnt scare me any. :)

that said, my k car has old school konis and eibachs. im thinking future.

Vigo
05-21-2011, 12:45 AM
Got the other strut on it.. rides great. Also handles surprisingly well! It's more neutral than i would have guessed at from the parts that are on it.

Because its actually fun to turn now, i was going to autoX it this weekend.. but i needed to fix up a pcv system first because it would dump smoke like crazy under boost. So.. i built one, but it cant keep up. It just blew the dipstick and cam seal out instead.

I intend to redesign the pcv system with larger lines, but i think this motor just has too much blowby to ever NOT smoke from SOMEWHERE. Im not making the Autox this weekend in the spirit, but i am attempting to drag the aries out of hibernation and take that instead.

If this motor turns out to be too far gone to keep oil in it, i will have to make a decision between re-ringing it, or just swapping in the 2.5 thats coming out of my van. I think i would re-ring it but the temptation of a one-day swap to a torquier, known-good motor is highly tempting. I just dont want to do it because i havent really DD'd the 2.2 for more than 1 month and i want more time with it.

burnt_toast
09-13-2011, 11:52 PM
needs moar updates!

just went thru whole thread, sweet find on that original pic when I bought her, good stuff

Vigo
09-15-2011, 12:16 AM
Well the only news is that im reringing it for sure as opposed to going back to 2.5.. the motor thats in my van has a cracked block and im going to try and blow it up at the track (and by blow it up i mean just run some 14s and if it blows up, i dont care) since im going to swap to 3.0 on that one anyway.


So i need about.. $120 of parts and a day or two of working on it before it can be DD'd again.. but im looking forward to it because of the suspension. Im having fun with my 3.0/5spd dynasty as a DD right now, but the suspension on that thing is total dog ---- so the spirit would be a major improvement.. :)

Vigo
02-13-2012, 12:35 AM
So about that $120 of parts.. I bought them..

At some point i did a compression check and i think i got a 90 and a 30. Im assuming i broke a piston but i havent pulled it apart yet. I was debating putting another stock 85 piston in it and re-ringing the whole thing, but 86SeeS posted up some old-school high compression flat top pistons that mopar performance sold for carb motors, and it got me thinking.. Mostly thinking about how if i blow up stock pistons ill DEFINITELY blow up high CR pistons.. So i bought them. lol.

I DO want to build a high-cr motor for the spirit. The pistons i got from Wes are +1mm so i'll need to bore the block. It wont take me long to pull the motor but it'll take me way too long to put it back together so im swapping in the 2.2 motor i was putting together for my vnt instead. It's an 86 t1 motor. Good enough.

I also got a freebie starion intercooler, which is good because this thing definitely needed a better IC (has a VNT cooler on it now) and i was thinking of going to a front mount anyway. I'm going to cut the elbows off the tanks and put some 2.25" (i think) elbows on it and run the piping similar to how i did in my aries.

So it just needs a motor r&r. As soon as i finish the 360 swap on my dad's truck, the spirit is next. Maybe THEN i will drive it for more than a month for the first time. : /

Aries_Turbo
02-13-2012, 06:44 PM
e85 will be your friend. better do a proper cal too rather than the cobble job 2 bar i did last time. :)

Vigo
02-13-2012, 09:31 PM
A 2bar cal is proper for a 2bar map sensor..

And it worked great before i exceeded 2 bar. Heheheh

But yeah my plan for next go round is to move my lc1 from the aries to the spirit (go with mtx there) and run an auber display, and get an auber EGT setup. Strax22 has the egt setup and 2 of the displays and i really like those things.

Aries_Turbo
02-14-2012, 07:43 AM
i tried to jack the last few points up before the system went "blind" so you had a little more fuel and a little less advance as you went into the 2+ bar realm. i guess you exceeded the effectiveness of those values lol.

Brian

Vigo
02-14-2012, 11:27 PM
Well i did get a little stupid. Did some runs to 100mph at 18psi.. Didnt seem to have any negative effect at the time. I turned it down and then at some point later the blowby got worse quickly, to the point of not being able to drive it (popping out the cam seal). Im just guessing i broke the piston. I will know sometime RELATIVELY soon.

I need to finish the 360 swap, and i want to take the minivan to the track (im taking prudent precautions on that one, 16psi on a tbi motor so far and no breakage). Motor replacement in spirit is right after that.

RoadWarrior222
02-15-2012, 09:17 AM
Meh, excuses, run with the oil cap off :D

Vigo
12-04-2012, 01:02 AM
So i guess december is relatively close to february in my world.

I put another 85 bottom end from my parted 85 new yorker in the spirit (it had 55k on it) so the setup is exactly the same. Put 20 miles on it tonight with NO issues (!!) and im driving it to work tomorrow. Turbo DD again! hooray!

Still planning to do the lc1 and egt with auber displays. I drilled the exhaust manifold for the egt bung and plugged it before i installed the motor. I put a WB02 bung in the downpipe a long time ago.

Interesting note: I hate front motor mounts on these cars and the one on this car was useless anyway due to a crack in the bellhousing near the bottom bolt. So, im finally trying something ive wanted to try for a while: solid bobble strut and NO front mount. My 20 miles of driving on wastegate boost tonight suggest it is A-OK but the real test will be when im making some torque!

StraX22
12-04-2012, 09:49 AM
Good to hear!
Did you at least put the hood back on? ;)

Vigo
12-04-2012, 09:19 PM
Yes, i put the hood back on by myself at about 1030 last night. That was fun. It would have been easier if i could have used my head as a third arm but the hood blanket was still soaked in oil from when the last motor shot out the dipstick so i couldnt use my skull for hood-propping purposes. :p

Vigo
12-05-2012, 10:32 PM
This thing sure does turn in good for a k-car. I think the thing really holding it back is old, skinny tires (205/55/15 falken 912) and no camber. The 2g neon struts im using arent slotted, but they can be. I should probably get around to that because this thing seems pretty close to what id call GREAT handling for a k-car. Makes me want to get a set of wheels with decent width so i can run real 'turning tires' but 95% of me thinks i should just drive it and save wheel and tire money for my 3000gt or Magnum anyway.

Vigo
12-07-2012, 01:02 AM
I really want to move the powerband up on this thing. It feels like it tapers off and pretty much flatlines from ~5400-6200. I mean, it's not bad to run it through those rpms but it doesnt encourage you to do it. Id like to shift at 6200-6500 and have that feel right. I imagine ill probably retard the cam a small amount but im also giving serious thought to varying boost by rpm to accentuate the powerband to make it feel like i want it to.

To be perfectly honest im fairly happy with the midrange the way it is, and will be happier when it's up to 12-14psi, but i think in the end id be happier going from 12 to ~18 as rpm goes up and shifting higher, than i would be with 18 all the time and just having a stronger version of my low-rpm powerband.

Can factory ecu computer-controlled boost on these things be modified to do the boost by rpm thing well? It sure would be cheaper (although maybe not easier) than getting a fancy electronic boost controller.

StraX22
12-07-2012, 01:57 PM
I think so, but getting the wastegate solenoid tables right is a PITA (fom what I heard) especially for non-stock actuators / turbo setups.
Back in the old days it was a lot of trial and error. Mabey it's easier now, what with all of the new fangled tuning software and such.

Aries_Turbo
12-07-2012, 11:34 PM
the boost target tables are easy. set it and forget it.

DCWOT is tougher.

that needs to be tuned if anything has changed with the actuator, vac lines, solenoid, actuator spring tension etc.

so set your target low for all of the tables and set it to a single value.

see if the computer overshoots or has to slowly creep up to the intended boost target.

adjust the DCWOT corresponding pulsewidth value until this boost setting becomes fairly stable. doesnt overshoot, doesnt undershoot.

then set the targets to a higher value and repeat the process.

you should probably use some kind of restrictor setup in the vac line like stock so that small amounts of duty cycle in the solenoid dont lead to huge boost fluctuations.

Brian

Vigo
12-08-2012, 01:15 AM
Awesome. Thanks for the feedback!


So this bobble-strut-only thing seems to be getting worse over time. I rocked the car back and forth in gear while looking down at the bobble from under the hood and the play that's developed seems to be at the bottom. I also thought i saw the bracket flexing but it was hard to tell from where i was. I'll have to put the car up and get underneath it to check this out. But preliminary educated guesswork suggests the eyelet bushing on the solid bobble is getting pounded out or just has a lot more play than the two upper bushings.

Vigo
12-11-2012, 10:12 PM
I knew the first week of seeming reliability was some kind of trick...

Sunday the car very quickly developed a wheel bearing problem. Just before leaving a friends house at close to 10pm i decided to jack it up and have a look at that and a mysterious rattle that sure sounded like it was coming from the crank pulley..

Well, inner and outer tie rods on both sides need to be replaced (knew that), the LF caliper has a small leak from the copper washers (didnt know that), the LF wheel bearing was borderline unsafe to drive on already, the crank pulley had half the bolts missing and the rest about to go (we figured i probably ran them up with my cordless impact but forgot to hand tighten) and oh yeah the clutch cable seems to have started failing as soon as i left. I drove home clutchless and havent diagnosed that due to unfavorable weather (tomorrow will be 60 so i will do it then).

So ill be doing some work this week! But i still love the thing and its almost free to fix all that. I have everything but outer tie rods which are very cheap. Its just a matter of putting the time in.

RoadWarrior222
12-12-2012, 09:50 AM
Sounds a bit like yer brake juice got into the bearing, the way you tell it...

I had one, started to complain slightly, I forced WD-40 through it around both sides of the seal, then followed that with high pressure moly grease through an inflator needle forced onto a turkey baster. Then I did the other side too... ran on that for 20,000+ with no issues, but then I parted/scrapped a TBI van and used a lot of the front end off that, so those knuckles went on, and got the same treatment first... Also smeared a lot of grease round the outside, so grit/moisture gets hung up in that, which I wipe off and reapply whenever I'm into the brakes or whatever.

Vigo
12-12-2012, 10:06 PM
So it turns out i dont need a clutch cable.. I need a TRANS CASE. The case is broken most of the way around the bellhousing. My case already had a crack around the bottom bolt for the front mount. Im theorizing that this crack became a lot worse when i bottomed out the diff area of the trans on a manhole cover on sunday night. I had pretty much no clutch action by the time i got home sunday night but i DID drive it home like that!

Anyway ive got 2 520 cores i can use to do a case swap but i guess ill have to read up on shimming the diff and input shaft. Probly replace a few bearings too. : /

Vigo
12-21-2012, 12:39 AM
Dropped my trans tonight and also disassembled the 555 im using as a case donor. If my 520 from the spirit turns out to be a compatible year (havent checked yet) i may just build a 3.5FD 555 hybrid w/ obx (which i have sitting around) for the Aries and then just put the 520 from the aries in the spirit. We'll see if that idea pans out. If not ill just case-swap the 520 and save the 555 guts for the tall-gear build later down the road.

Also did a bunch of little stuff over the past few days. Replaced inner tie rods, swapped the speedo head in my cluster for the original with the correct mileage, messed with my fuel sender (still not fixed), cleaned some interior stuff, probably some other trivial thing im forgetting.

Vigo
01-07-2013, 10:54 PM
I put the 520 from my Aries into the Spirit. I also reinstalled a front mount since this case isnt broken..

Finally fixed my fuel sender. Just took it apart and polished contacts.

My clutch cable broke on the way home from work today. I had my wonderful lady bring me all my spares and fixed it in a parking lot. I also kept the 3 spares i have left in my trunk. This isnt my first clutch cable rodeo.. i should have known to keep one handy in the first place.

Tried to race a modded/slammed is300 but he wouldnt go from us being lined up. I gave him the flashers and then he did a flyby from way back. I didnt notice it early enough to stay ahead of him, and then he exited. Seemed like it would have been close from what i saw trying to catch up with his flyby. Booo. No good races in this thing yet. Still dont know my boost level either. Whatever wastegate boost on my shimmed small can is.. feels like 9-11? Not inclined to find out until im ready to change it, and i dont have any gauges for this car yet.

RoadWarrior222
01-07-2013, 11:17 PM
If I'd done that a couple of times, I'd be looking at alternatives, like G6 rear parking brake cables or something. (Just what sprung first to mind, not saying they're particularly close)

Vigo
01-08-2013, 08:30 PM
My clutch cables usually fail because the ball cast onto the trans end of the cable crumbles. When it broke on my minivan, i couldnt find a replacement that fit so i crushed a small nut onto the end of the cable in a vise (when i say a vise i actually mean a bottle jack inside a steel wheel, because i didnt have a vise..). Its been holding for years.

RoadWarrior222
01-08-2013, 09:20 PM
Heh, I might have gone all fancy with a grub screw in a small bushing.

Ondonti
01-13-2013, 02:15 AM
Time to get some guages.

Vigo
01-13-2013, 11:48 AM
Yeah.. Trying to buy parts for too many different cars at once leads to procrastination in some areas. Ive been buying up parts for my neon and still have a bit more to spend there before i will stop.

If my old innovate from my aries still works i will only need to spend ~150 to get working wideband and EGT into the spirit. I have several boost gauges to choose from but havent found a spot i would actually LIKE to put one in this car.

RoadWarrior222
01-13-2013, 12:54 PM
Superstealth, rig them all electronic with a bluetooth transponder inside the dash, then send data to a digital dash on a 7" android tablet built into the sunvisor, modded with superbright backlight and screen covered with a mirror tint... so when it's off... it's just a mirror... :D

RoadWarrior222
01-13-2013, 01:08 PM
Actually, there's often a debug serial port on android devices, and they're often 5V, so it are theoretically possible to hack into that connect it to the SMEC/SBEC and get a digital dash/datalogger like that....

Vigo
01-15-2013, 10:01 PM
Forgot to mention but the other day i beat some debadged e46 coupe on the highway. Dont know if it was 328 or 330. Ill assume 328 because i think 330s are faster than that. It was definitely faster than a 325 unless it was fairly modded out.

I also did a short blast with a 4.6 mach1 from ~60-85 when i was in 3rd and he was in 4th, and i stayed ahead. Not a real win, but ill take it!

I found out my boost has been ~7. I turned it up to 12 and now i have 2nd gear rolling burnout but my powerband still sucks. I think id like to keep the midrange setting around 12-13 and go up with rpms, hopefully ending up in low 20s whenever i get to the point that i can tune for it and ive upgraded my intercooler sufficiently.

Right now, though, im actually hearing some clattering sometimes at peak torque and ~12psi. Thats pretty weird to me as i run 93 and stock base timing (although im temtped to check it again, now..). SO i have to figure that out before i do anything else with the boost.

RoadWarrior222
01-15-2013, 10:39 PM
Might be tensioners.

Vigo
01-18-2013, 10:05 PM
Messed around with an SN95 cobra today. Never really lined up per se but did a couple WOT blasts from different speeds on access road and then highway, as space allowed. Seemed even at top of 2nd gear, super short run, and then i changed lanes in front of him and floored it from 75 or 80 in 4th and pulled a little bit. I couldnt hear his car but i think he was probably a gear high, as usual when i race mustangs. That car should stomp this one, so who knows what all was up, but it's fun.

Vigo
01-19-2013, 07:31 PM
Finally got to race a Fox-body 5.0. Twas a really nice looking LX coupe driven by an older guy. It had some mods apparent.. small hood scoop, some kind of exhaust, different but period-correct 16" mustang wheels. I saw him two cars behind me going up an on-ramp acting impatient, so when we got on the highway i stayed slow in the right lane so he'd have to go around me, and gave it teh boost in 3rd as he went past to get his attention. Then we had to wait a mile or so for room to play (missing my exit in the process but i wanted this race), so i got behind him and waited for him to go. We took off from about 60-65 (me in 3rd) and he got an extra car on top of normal following space while my boost came up. By about midway through 4th i was back on his bumper and he let off. I dont think he was happy, but i was! Always wanted to race a nice old 5.0, even if it wasnt very modded.

Vigo
01-20-2013, 01:56 AM
Well herp a derp. Apparently i broke a piston at 12 psi. Coulda should woulda, whatever. I knew better than to assume it wouldnt break on stock boost with no monitoring at all, but i did it anyway.

Since it's an 85 block i kinda want to tap it for the larger bolt size and run studs next time around. Ive got a few 85 pistons so i guess that's covered. So much for a 55k mile motor with no discernible blowby. I was running a completely open valve cover hole and my intake wasnt even getting moist. Oh well.

RoadWarrior222
01-20-2013, 10:15 AM
Bummer, well check #1 injector for flow. Are '85 blocks not as well cooled at #1? If not you might wanna give it more ring gap. Just thinking there should be a reason... ... ...

Vigo
01-20-2013, 03:52 PM
Yeah, there has to be some extenuating circumstance somewhere. The first clue should be which piston broke, and go from there. I might not tear into it until im ready to put it back together. Usually when stuff breaks on me it goes into time out for a while while i mess with something else. I have a header, throttle body, exhaust, swaybar, and springs to put on my neon, and my lebaron is getting 5-lug swapped and slammed, so i have stuff to do/drive until i feel more curious than annoyed about the spirit situation.

Although, i can say that right now my thoughts for fixing the spirit include modifying a mitsu turbine housing for separate wastegate flow and running the upgraded mitsu i got that FWD sells. Im also vaguely thinking about going from 2.5" to 3" exhaust, and i want to combine my two VNT ic's to run a double-thick IC in the factory location, and probably mount a bov on the bottom tank of the IC. I also want to tap the block for the 11mm bolt size and run studs. So that's my current thoughts for what to do to the spirit on top of repairs. My first step to running that upgraded mitsu is to have someone chop the discharge flange off a turbine housing with a bandsaw, so ill have to find a place to farm that out.

RoadWarrior222
01-20-2013, 05:14 PM
Usually when stuff breaks on me it goes into time out for a while

Bad car! Go to the corner of the shop! :D

Pat
01-20-2013, 07:42 PM
Was this the motor with the tbi pistons?

Vigo
01-20-2013, 11:10 PM
Actually, no! That motor i had up to 16psi without breaking. Go figure!

And as for me having plenty of other stuff to entertain me, i dropped the 3.3 out of my newest dynasty and got the 3.8 hung on the mounts. Drove my neon to the shop to work on that one. Took my lebaron convertible to lunch. Still loving my junk collection even when stock stuff breaks. lol

Vigo
01-24-2013, 08:35 PM
So due to me using a Scion keychain with a goofy design (dont ask..) i lost my only spirit key. So now i get to add pulling the lock cylinder and having some keys made to my list. WEEEE

Vigo
05-28-2013, 08:32 PM
I pulled that lock cylinder, gonna get keys made soon. Ive moved the car around the yard with pliers a few times. :p

So i always planned to cut up the message center area of the spirit dash and put two Auber Instruments rectangular displays up there for wideband and EGT.

However, i just stumbled across this thing and it seems like a pretty reasonable price to get 3 gauges in one. Boost, EGT, and Fuel Pressure in my case.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71MtxPcyC9L._SL1000_.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Boost-Digital-Pyrometer-Pressure/dp/B007EEFZQ4/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A3Q5L29ROA0I31

It comes with the senders for everything. Only thing is it's a little bigger than a 2 1/16" gauge which i never found a good place for on the spirit dash so id either be moulding a pod onto the steering column or flush mounting it onto the cover for the cubbyhole in front of the shifter. Also, i kinda dont like the 60psi range (it's marketed for diesel trucks) but i can live with that.. or modify the last 30psi on the gauge face to be funny pictures. :p It would really be awesome if they made a 30/30 (vac/boost) version of this gauge..

Anyway, just thought it was a neat option that some people might like.

Vigo
02-24-2016, 11:55 AM
Necro-Update!

I realized I hadn't updated any of my own project car threads in about two solid years and felt weird about it. Here's a basic list of what's happened with this car:

After I broke the last engine, I took the stock 2.2 t1 from my 88 Lancer Shelby and dropped it into the spirit with a couple of new gaskets. One gasket I didn't replace was the headgasket, because it was totally fine the last time the engine was run. For some reason, as soon as I started it up in the spirit, it was 100% obviously leaking, so I got to do a headgasket on it before I even drove it. After I did that i had a crapload of fuel delivery problems and ended up swapping in a cleaner tank, a new Rockauto in-tank pump, and a new Amazon external inline pump. I was lending it to a friend who was in town for work and we were turning it up until we started hitting cutout. For some reason, we had an insane amount of difficulty getting diodes and bleeds to work to defeat cutout 100% consistently, so I got fed up and installed a 3-bar map sensor and burned a 'custom' cal even though the engine was a totally stock t1. Turns out the mitsu wouldn't make more than 16psi anyway. Drove it at 16psi for a bit and the engine started making a noise. I didn't want to diagnose it in the car because I had a rebuilt 'TII' engine with 2-pc/+20/Garrett sitting on the ground in my garage that I had put together for my long-dormant Aries, so I just swapped that in. For some reason, knock detection stopped working so I only got it back up to 12psi until I fixed knock detection, but due to a goofy accident I drove it for about 5 miles with no coolant whatsoever and blew the headgasket.

I also bought a tbi/auto spirit for parts for $175, took a bunch of stuff off it for this car, and sold it for $80 the next day. :p

So now it's sitting with good tags and a nice fuel system and stereo install and a bunch of stuff off the parts car sitting around with it needing another headgasket. I'm fast at it but I've been focusing on getting my TBI-engine Caravan into the 13s (only a few tenths to go ;) ) before getting back to the Spirit. Typical Vigo.

86Shelby
02-24-2016, 02:20 PM
On a side note, the decals that Glow SHIFT sends with their gauges are really easy to modify. Using a razor blade, remove the F and when installing slide the T over and you end up with a conversation piece on the garage wall or toolbox....

Vigo
02-24-2016, 06:53 PM
Yeah, i looked back at that once i dug up this thread because i had forgotten all about it, and i don't know if the price went up or what but it doesn't seem all that cool now. I would definitely like a 30psi/EGT/fuel pressure all in one gauge, but for that amount of money ive since figured out other ways to do similar things in similar space and that particular gauge no longer appeals to me.

INVUJerry
02-25-2016, 07:02 PM
I could have sworn the mitsu was making 17 PSI, but maybe it was me just being super hopeful starting at the boost gauge outside the windshield.

Vigo
02-25-2016, 08:40 PM
Well the viewing angle makes it hard to read right when its jammed into one of the windshield wiper frames.

Vigo
03-29-2016, 08:04 PM
I'm waiting on a new all-metal radiator from the group buy thread to start replacing the headgasket.

http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/showthread.php?79494-TIII-All-Metal-Radiators&highlight=

Should be here pretty soon!

Vigo
04-25-2016, 12:43 AM
I replaced the HG today. Did not have a chance to let it warm up or drive it as i ran out of time before a social engagement. I also installed the reproduction radiator from the group buy. It was not a correct fit and required modifications (mostly to the intercooler brackets) and a lot of compromising my expectations to be usable at all. I should have reinstalled a full width radiator and a front mount intercooler. Oh well.

A few months ago i saw a TBI spirit with a blown HG on craigslist for $500 or so. It eventually went down to something like $250 before i called on it. The main draw was the working r134 AC system with the later-style ac compressor, and that it had the RF fender and trim pieces that i'd want if i ever cared to try and make this spirit look good. I bought it for $175, drove it home, snagged all my parts, and sold it for $80 the next day. Assuming the HG repair works out and the car doesn't have any surprises for me right now, i'll be installing the compressor and getting the AC going in a week or two. Luckily i already put the newer-style compressor bracket on this engine for some reason. :p

5802358024

Vigo
04-12-2017, 10:35 PM
getting the AC going in a week or two

How bout a YEAR or two? Whoops..

I can't even remember what all happened since the last update, but i finally installed the AC components. Had hell trying to get the drier connections to seal up (which has happened to me before, seems like a shitty design) and now that it's sealed up and charged i'm still having other issues. One is a weird control-side issue where the SMEC sees the AC button engage, kicks up the idle, but won't engage the cooling fan relay. The AC clutch relay gets power for its coil from the output of the fan relay so the compressor clutch won't engage until the fan comes on. The computer WILL run the fan when the coolant temp gets high enough. Go figure. Also, since my all-metal repop radiator doesn't fit properly i have a huge air gap to my condenser which seems to be making my cooling fan pretty ineffectual for the condenser. My high side pressures are too high for my liking. So, since i've foolishly forgone a FMIC install for all these years i decided to double down on that silliness and put a couple of 7" pusher fans on the front of the condenser where a smart man's intercooler would go. $32 Amazon prime for a pair with mounting kits, so we'll see how that goes next week (or next year..).

I also did a lifter mod. Not exactly a PT lifter mod. I had INVUjerry mail me a 20-year-old set of used DOHC neon lifters and installed them with with some washers i found at Home Depot after a few minutes scientifically measuring thicknesses of washers that were still inside their packaging. They're working amazing and don't make a lick of noise even after long 6000+rpm pulls. It's not making power there yet but i've had it hitting the limiter (6600?) a few times with no ill effects. Time to retard that cam..

I've also been into every door fixing window and lock problems. One window motor i had to take apart and clean the brushes/commutator. Two others i had to take the gearbox apart and replace the failed plastic pucks with metal pucks i made out of bolt shanks. Also lubricated tracks and door latches as my lock actuators weren't getting the locks all the way up and down in one try.

Tach was being flaky so took out the instrument cluster and reflowed the solder i had previously added to the crimped stud terminals and scuffed up the terminals for the 'tach circuit board thingy' that seems to drive the tach motor. Works great again. No speedo/odo function so i did a paper clip jumper wire dance to simulate some VSS pulses and verified through scantool datastream that the pcm can see MPH. Disassembled the two of the three connectors from VSS to SMEC and cleaned/tightened terminals to no avail. Swapped another used VSS in out of laziness, didn't fix it. I'll keep digging but now i'm looking at the speedo itself. I have a spare instrument cluster i could raid for a speedo but I can't find it. Blah.

Car runs good on low boost. I stole the wideband (which was never permanently mounted) that was in it for the TBI Turbo van so now i need to order another wideband and do a legit gauge install. I have a bunch of innovate LC1s with good sensors and broken controllers and i want to run a very specific gauge. I'd really like to find just a controller and only buy the part i need if possible. I'll look around..

Vigo
04-14-2017, 07:47 PM
Ordered this: https://www.wide-band.com/product-p/apsx_d1g1.htm

And this: http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5_21&products_id=357

For now it'll be boost (triggered off my 3-bar map) and wideband AFR. Ultimately i plan to buy two and have EGT and fuel pressure display as well. The exhaust manifold on the car is already tapped for 1/4npt so adding the thermocouple should be pretty easy. My Spirit has green backlighting so i chose the green/green display option.

wheming
04-15-2017, 06:58 AM
Ordered this: https://www.wide-band.com/product-p/apsx_d1g1.htm

And this: http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5_21&products_id=357

For now it'll be boost (triggered off my 3-bar map) and wideband AFR. Ultimately i plan to buy two and have EGT and fuel pressure display as well. The exhaust manifold on the car is already tapped for 1/4npt so adding the thermocouple should be pretty easy. My Spirit has green backlighting so i chose the green/green display option.

You know, very soon you will have the ability to display and log analog inputs with your mpscandroid2 enabled phone via bluetooth through mpscilink.

I will have a working prototype to showcase at SDAC27 for those that would like to check out.
The mpscilink will have a touchscreen display of its own that you can use to monitor gauge data, and other functions to log to a removable SD card, flash bin, bin edit, and bin read.

Vigo
04-18-2017, 05:09 PM
I am pretty excited about that stuff in general, but for this spirit I really want to have a permanent gauge install that has a sort of old-school look. Plus, i like the configurable alarm output s because it gives me the possibility of hooking a bunch of alarms up in series so that, for example, i can cut spark if my AFR is above 12.5 while my Boost is above 5psi etc etc. It's something i've been wanting to play with ever since i first discovered these Auber gauges and a local friend bought one for his turbo 95 Caravan.

wheming
04-18-2017, 06:14 PM
Maybe a future mpscilink device could have some digital outputs of its own...
Would have to bounce that off Miles and Morris.
Wouldn't think powering a couple relays would be out of the question. Although it would need a different board than the one currently.
I think we would have to get through the current one first, since it is close.