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Thread: '89 LS Rebuild

  1. #21
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Well well. It's been a while, but holidays and life took up most my free time.

    However, Jango is back on the road! The lady and I took him out for his maiden voyage, put about 100 miles on the engine to break it in!

    So far so good. I'm starting to wonder if I should have had my PS rack rebuilt while I had the engine out 😬 but hey, at least for now everything is working lol. I've added a photo and quick video from the trip to my Google album. Thanks all for your interest in this project!

  2. #22
    turbo addict Pat's Avatar
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Just caught up on the project. The car looks great! Nice work.

  3. #23
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Thanks, Pat! That's high praise coming from you 😁

  4. #24
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Thought I'd check in and give a little update. After getting old Jango back on the road I decided to go through the fuel system and make sure everything was ship-shape there. Went through complete fuel pressure test diagnostics, and it all seems just fine aside from my static pressure reading at 60psi. Can't confirm if that's truly where it sits, or if it was the AutoZone rented gauge reading inaccurately.

    Either way, after the fuel system checked out I sent my injectors off to Mr. Injector. He let me know that they cleaned up perfectly, and I was pleased to see that they all flow exactly even now. Flow chart added to the Google album linked below.

    While the injectors were out I decided to try sealing up my spoilers. For the last several years water would just barely seep past where the spoilers mount, but more recently it became worse. I was never able to fine any OEM seals/gaskets so I decided to make my own out of 1/8" neoprene rubber (images in album as always).

    I added a touch of silicone around the mounting points to further weatherproof it.

    The original material was a bit firmer I think than the neoprene, originally. But it's essentially turned to stone at this point. I'll keep an eye on how the neoprene does, as I had to 'snug' it tightly, instead of really torque the nuts on there due to the rubber's compression.

    For the top spoiler, I decided that 1/8" was going to be too thick/tall compared to the original seals, so I ordered a bit of neoprene in 1/16" for those and should get that done next weekend.

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/gGdRGz9kbrTastqr9

    Hopefully I'll have Jango on the road for good this time, and just work through quality of life issues here and there...such as why my heater only blows cold now 🙄 lol.

    -Zach

  5. #25
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Found myself with some free time tonight, so I grabbed my fuel rail from the shop and took it home..

    I would post the pictures here but I don't have the attach option for some reason (yes I know Go Advanced for attaching images). So as usual you can catch up by opening the Google album linked throughout this thread.

    Anyway, after much tedious cleaning with only household supplies available, I then moved onto hand polishing the aluminum. This was definitely a labor of love, but I don't have a polish wheel and I find these kinds of projects both relaxing and rewarding. Turned out pretty good I think!

  6. #26

    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    How did I miss this project thread. Nice car and beautiful work! I always love the turbo Lancers; I bought one new in 86, first trip with the family to Phoenix, wasn't in town for 30 min. and got broadsided by a semi and folded around a concrete street lite pole. Good thing I had just dropped the wife and kids off or they would have been killed.
    Anyway I'm happy to see your restoration, great job!
    best 1/8 ET-6.16 sec. best 1/8 speed-119.70 Best 1/4 MPH 145.5, Best 1/4 ET 9.65 sec. 8 valve NO NITROUS!!

  7. #27
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Oh my gosh I'm so sorry to hear about what happened, but I'm relieved your family was safe. Hopefully you didn't sustain any serious injury from the event.

    I've always loved this car, and it's the only TD I've ever owned. Really anxious to get it back on the road!

  8. #28
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Finished assembling my fuel rail/injectors/harness today. I gotta say I'm pleased with it, especially considering I've never done anything like it before. The only thing is that the wiring is so stiff, it seems like I'm stressing it trying to position the harness to fit where the first clip goes. No matter, I doubt it'll cause any issues, we'll see when I fit it to the engine.

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/gGdRGz9kbrTastqr9

  9. #29
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    So yesterday I took Jango (the car) out for a joyride - it was a gorgeous day here in southern Oregon.

    We were traveling the back roads, continuing to massage the engine through those RPM ranges as I continue to break it in.

    However, after coming back into town and idling at a stop light, my stock oil gauge fell down to the bottom of of the "normal" range and the "check gauges" light turned on. A small blip of the throttle would remedy this until the RPM's settled at idle for a few seconds.

    My aftermarket gauge is an inexpensive Equus electric oil pressure unit, and it read right between the first hash (in the middle, not the hash for 'zero') and the 100kpa mark, which should put me somewhere around 12psi.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    I'm not sure which to trust, the cheap stock sensor, or the cheap aftermarket one lol.

    I needed a few odds and ends from rock auto such as sparkplug set, extra light bulbs, etc., So I ordered a Standard brand oil sensor as well. Hoping that when I pop that sucker in there the stock gauge won't be tying scare me so much.

    Other than that, it's running strong! This car has always had a strange trait where at total neutral load/cruise/part throttle, whatever you want to call it, it misfires occasionally. Just kind of gives a slight burble and picks right back up. You can feel the slight hesitation, but it's very gentle. It also has a "burble" or miss on idle, but not major.

    Accelerating, however, never misses a beat. Strong ignition under any real load. I was hoping that the rebuild and attention to fuel system would smooth this out (already has fairly new cap/rotor/wires). But, I think it must just be characteristic of these engine platforms.

    A/F has been looking good, I'm starting to understand how much throttle is needed for the ECU to mix it down to about 13 under part-throttle boost. Too little, and it just leans out to 15ish.

    Full throttle is still very rich and tends to go from 10 - 10.6 or so. I'm up to 9psi right now, but running a FWD Stage III cal. It's designed for 15psi. I'm hoping that once I'm running at the Cal's target boost levels, the WOT fuel tables will better match the extra air and achieve an A/F of roughly 11.5. I've heard that FWD cals run rich though, so we'll see.

    Figure at this point I'll just update the thread as I see fit to follow the progress after finishing the rebuild. Thanks for coming to my ted talk lol.

    -Zach

  10. #30
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Was a gorgeous day here with a high of 69°F. So, I decided to make new gaskets for the top wing of the lancer. The originals were reduced to paper thin, brittle, squashed little things. I used 1/16" neoprene rubber for my new gasket material, ordered a roll of it from Amazon.

    It's nothing fancy, but they look like they'll seal up great. Time will tell. I gotta have a glass shop reseal my windshield next and it'll be water worthy again. The windshield is leaking pretty bad around the top of the driver A-pillar.

    Photos added to the album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gGdRGz9kbrTastqr9

  11. #31
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Update: the Lancer is once again weatherproof! Just picked him up from the glass shop today - who not only showed a new windshield in their system, but actually found a full set of windshield moldings too! I'm pretty shocked, cause I looked high and low and couldn't find any. Just look at that shiny new glass 😎
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  12. #32
    Rhymes with tortoise. Turbo Mopar Staff cordes's Avatar
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Congrats. Glad there is still the trim out there.

  13. #33
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Thanks! I'm really not sure how much still exists, but I suppose you have a chance looking through glass shop warehouse databases lol

  14. #34
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    Re: '89 LS Rebuild

    Got a couple more things done on the Lancer.

    1: I found why my heater didn't work..



    Yup. An acorn. Turns out critters dropped it into the water return hose for the water pump. No flow whatsoever going through the heater system.

    As a bonus, after resolving this issue my cooling system actually performs better now. It needs that heater circuit to flow, especially when the T-stat is closed. Now it tends to float between 200-°212° according to my gauge.

    2: Got some goodies from Marty, and spruced up the cluster. Forgot to take a true 'before' photo of course 🙄









    Every gauge was swapped out - the speedo I just did earlier cause it was from a prior order. The cluster has honestly never looked so sharp in the 15 years I've had old Jango. Feels like I've been blasted back to the 80's glancing at the gauges lol

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