Project Drivabeater

Looks like an alero V6 intake tube, not one I would have thought of, nice find. Glad to see some progress!

ill take your word for it. wanna find another one and make it a little different next time. my breather tube whistles at high RPM.
michael

gotta watch running the ve and spark from the fwd.  they run alot more timing and fuel for the aluminum heads.  you need to pull alot of the fuel and a decent amount of timing out.  what spoftware are you using to tune with?  tunerpro rt works nice.  what $mask are you using?  the $88 works pretty good but the $A1 is setup to run dis so that might be your best bet.  i could send you my decent $88 files and you could copy the ve and spark into the files your using and see how that works for you.

It hadn't even clicked that he was using a FWD ECU, good catch!

well its not so much the ecu is that its the programming.  he says he had a guy burn him some chips i was just curious as to what program he was running.  i have a 7730 i'm running and i think hes running a 7727 which is the same thing only an all weather version of it.  my programing should work for him provided the mask is the same or he copy's all he needs into the one he's running.

im running an $A1 based off a 3.1 5 speed Jbody. moved all the tables from a 3.1 iron head running batch fire MPFI into it. spark and fuel.

right now, i cant get my burn2 to work anymore, my ALDL to register, or my truck finished tuned. im starting to get pissed. spent te last two days dicking around with computer issues.

i have a decent tune using the $88 but for some reason when i transpose them into the $A1 it gets screwy.  i'm missing something when im importing it.  driving me nut.

well, I've got my laptop issues on the way to being solved. had a bad chip burner, and the radio shack usb converter wouldn't accept the baud rate of my ALDL from the 7727.
 
the hypertech adapter that i score for free was also giving me some trouble. bad solder joints around where the prom goes in. so i wound up re-soldering it.
 
my first tune didn't go so well. would run when you let the clutch out. so i started over again from scratch. used a .bin from a 92 J-body 5 speed. changed the EGR settings to disable the EGR entirely. removed the speed limiter. set the fans to come on when i wanted them to, not a 220F.
 
put about 150 miles on it in the last few days. it runs pretty good. not as strong as it did with the automatic lumina bin, but more consistently and smoother. kind of surges at light throttle highway cruise. also cut out on me on the way home tonight.
i found a couple of issues that need to be addressed soon.

1. no AC, black truck, and 96 degree day.
2. My battery tray broke, and is only held in by one leg now. need to make a new one. dad had enough scrap that i can start fabbing it.
3. the aforementioned drivability issues.
i also finished getting the  oil pressure gauge and speedometer functional again. tucked up the interior wiring, finished fixing some of the dash stuff as well. nothing picture worthy.
 
i do have to say that overall I'm pretty pleased with the swap. good power, good throttle response, and seems like decent fuel economy.
she'll actually lay you back in the seat now. feels like you actually have enough power to pass somebody.
 
so, I'm going to keep tuning. and see if i can get my damn laptop to communicate with the ALDL stream. as well as find somebody local that can make me my AC hoses. its getting too hot down here.
 
michael

told you, you would be happy with the power improvements with the 3.4.  If you want i can send you the bin files from the $88 i'm running.  i put it into permenate highway fuel mode and i got over 30mpg on the highway.  droped off when i filled it up on 89.  but even hauling a motor and tranny and some other stuff from stl over the weekend i was still pulling in around 26.  still has great power too.  might be a better starting for you then the fwd stuff.

youre running a dist, correct? is there a cyl offset table in 88 that i can set up for the DIS?

right now im pretty happy with it. i may keep messing with it, but probably only after i put headers on it. OBX is making stainless longtubes and y-pipe for 234 shipped.

now that i look, no there is no offset table.  for whatever the reason with it set at a highway fuel stoich of 15.4 it actually has more pick up and power.  perhaps cause im still have that fat of a ve going that it likes it better for the curve i have or something.  but i'm happy with it and will prob leave it that way for a while.  i want to get the vss hooked up to the ecm and do a few other little things to it before i go messing with the tune alot more.

I've read this thread a couple times over on s10f.  Great build/swap.
Do you know what kind of of numbers the 3.4 makes?  and that's a great price on lt/ss headers.

swapping power steering pumps with this swap sucks.


that is all.

why would you need to swap pumps?  i ploped my 2.8 pump on with no problems.  used the same pulley and everything.

and so did i. until my pump from my parts truck decided to go to hell. so i had to grab the one off the 2.8 thats sitting on the stand. and put it in. with no time. and bunged threads on my pulley puller. it sucked. especially the coil packs.

so now that the insanity of summer is over, ive been ding a little work.



in all honesty, im just a couple of steps shy of calling this build complete for the time being.



what has been don since the last update:

installed new fuel pump sending unit assembly. 75

the orevious one blew the o-ring out. things got a little scary.



teh fuel gauge now works accurately, and there is no more fuel smell from the back of the truck.





installed headers.



see thread here: http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f106/headers-and-exhaust-444239/

headers:232

bolts: 40

clamps: 18

02 bung: 6

exhaust shop: 85



also got the AC system put back together. a friend of mine had a friend of his make me some hoses, and they were free. the drier and orifice tube cost 41, and 7 in o-rings. still have to have it charged, though.





on to the pics:









total: 3336.53

so, budget first. i dont know if anyone is keeping track but me, but im trying to be thorough and honest abou how much is invested in the truck as it sits in any govin stage. hence the reason that some things that were subtracted come back later. like the 1 inch coils (30). im not keeping a running talley of how much total ive spent on the project, cause then id cry.
 
anyway
brand new BFG G-Force TA tires. still had the nippies on them. guy said he drove about 10 miles before selling the car. 200 off craigslist. size 245/50/16
DJM 2 inch drop spindles. paid 40 bucks and my stock spindles and control arms. had 20 in my spares, so total of 60.
new brake prop valve: 7 at pull a part
 
new total: 2143.87
 
anyway, since the last update ive had another track day. i had swapped out the leaking prop valve before the event, along with fresh valvoline synpower brake fluid. no brake fade time out. vey firm and confidence inspiring pedal throughout the day. iyt was a great day. i was able to keep up with a C6 Z51 for about 3 laps. by keep up, i mean i caught him in the braking zones and turns, and he smoked me on the straights. i also lapped a BMW M6. at the end of the day, my instructor wanted to solo me and move me up to DE2, but i was not ready for it. nest time out, i probably will.
 
the only issue with the day is an odd injection problem im having. the truck lays down after really hard turns. theres a thread on here about it, so i wont go into detail. makes my lap times really suck. i also had another off track, and was reminded about my less than adaquate seatbelts.
 
after the event, i decided my christams present to my sister in law is going to be to go pick up some family heirloom furniture from richmond, VA. with the previous suspension, this would have been 6 hours of hell, as it was bottoming out over almost any road irregularity due to my cut coils. driving to work was painful, and i couldnt imagine going 6 hours. so i decided to take my saturday and swap some parts. i had scored a set of DJM drop spindles a while back, and still had my belltech 1 inch coils on the shelf. should have made for a roughly 3 inch drop, where i was at roughly 4 with my cut coils.
 
i finished up putting it together a little whiloe ago. its at a roughly 3 1/2 drop, without having moved and settled. so im happy. and there is a heck of a lot more travel up front now. the tires slam into the inner fenders before the LCA's contact the frame.
 
on to some pics:
DE sticker

 
Old uspension vs new:

 
installed, removed the splash shield for brake cooling

 
new tires

 
new prop valve

 
back on thr ground, and i got me brevada grille back from the painter and on
 


 
lsatly, i started yanking the interior tonight for some cleaning, painting, and fab work. the goal is to put my APC seats back in properly and where i fit well in the truck. also going to build a harness bar so i can run some 5 or 6 points. i pulled the carpets to make my life easierm and really like the look of the floor pans. now im thinking about putting bedliner down and calling it a day. leave all the rest of the plastics in after theyve been modified to look right. kind of a street/track hybrid look.

 
thanks for looking. and if anyone wants this truck, ill trade it for a fairly rust free, fairly complete 64-66 elcamino. i have a new bad idea for a street/track/daily musclecar in a shoestring budget.
 
Michael

thanks for the info it helped..

You're welcome.
Truck was sold long ago,  but i still remember a lot of stuff i think. And i know this suspension package went to the challenge twice and did well twice.