Seeing threads like these remind me what I am fixing to look forward to when I start my builds. I have two jeeps I am trying to build. I am so close to having everything for both, but still have so many more parts I still need to get before I can start. I kinda feel overwhelmed sometimes.
79 Jeep Cherokee, AMC 401, T-18 manual trans, hydroboost, 16197427 MPFI system---the toy
93 Jeep YJ Wrangler, 4.0L, 5 speed, 8.8 rear, homebrew hub conversion and big brakes, hydroboost, 2.5in OME lift, 31x10.50's---the daily driver
99 Jeep WJ Grand Cherokee limited, 4.0L, auto, 2wd, leather and power everything, 99% stock---the long distance highway ride.
Am also an owner of a 240Z. Right now it is fairly bare. Fabbed part of a Roll Cage for it. Right now, trying to get a 16197427 PCM tuned for a 350 Vortec SBC with TunerPro to replace the oil burner in my pickup. This is getting to be a painful process of getting scraps thrown out as to tuning with TunerPro RT. It is like taking baby steps and summer coming soon in Arizona is VERY HOT! Would like to get this SOB tuned fairly soon so the engine swap can take place before it gets too DAMN HOT.Originally Posted by Six_Shooter
How does one go about accelerating the learning curve for tuning the 350 Vortec with TunerPro? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Going about it
Well, in looking at the cooling system and specifically the bypass that the gen1 used and the gen3 used and how very different they are, I started to formulate a plan to get something better then relying on the heater core as the bypass.
I had to go with my alternate routing because I couldn't find a fitting that I liked to do it my preferred method.
I started by welding up the hole in the back of the front cover that is present on the gen1 front covers. I then added a plate that I drilled and tapped for 3/8" NPT to the top side, where it will be accessible when the front cover is installed.
I followed the idea of the gen1 path for the coolant bypass.
90* fitting with a 3/8" NPT to 3/8" tube adapter.
I then pulled a plug in the block and put a 1/4" to 3/8" tube adapter in that hole.
I then formed a tube with proper tube nuts to connect the two.
Bypass installed
In the intake, where I really would have preferred to run the bypass to, I simply threaded the hole where the tube was for 3/8" NPT and plugged it.
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
Gimme Fuel, Gimme... Well... fuel...
Engines require three things, fuel air and spark, here, I get fuel to the engine.
In the past on my 660s I've used a stock fuel rail and regulator, well, I had tried an MSD regulator that I was not impressed with and replaced pretty quickly with a stock regulator that I modified to be adjustable. This time I have plans of really increasing available flow through the fuel system, so this is what I shall call "the get it running set-up".
On the previous engine I had a custom fuel rail made, since the stock fuel rail was fugly and wouldn't flow as well as I needed it to, and also limited me to barb style injectors. In that system I had an Aeromotove FPR, that worked well, so I wanted to retain that with the 660. To do this easily required some -6 AN fittings at the fuel rail. Now I know there are expensive adapters available to do this, but I am cheap, and I plan to modify the fuel rails even more in the future, so it made the most sense to weld on some AN fittings to the stock rail. I used a couple 3/8" NPT to -6 AN fittings, instead of the "weld on" type since these were cheaper, if I had to buy them, but I also had a pair of these already, so it made it easy, and cheaper for me.
Installed in the car. I attached the FPR to the strut tower, because I wasn't happy with anything I came up with for mounting it on the engine itself.
I've Got The Power
Next up was wiring. I retained the ECM and harness I was using on the previous engine, which is a 1227749, with a modified harness from a 1988 Cavalier. This is actually the third 660 this harness has been attached to, and third vehicle, if you include the donor car and engine. I used this same harness in my Jimmy years ago. This set-up has been running the L28 for the last 6 years, so all I had to do was modify for the LX9.
Funny enough I didn't have to modify each injector length, since they kinda fell into place, I just had to shorten some wires, and extend only the O2 sensor wires to get everything to fit how I wanted. I aldo had to add some wiring for the alternator, since I am using a Toyota alternator, instead of the GM alternator I was using on the L28.
In these pictures is where I pulled a couple wires out of the vehicle harness to be connected differently, or at different points then where they were originally.
I had intended on using an old hot rodder trick for the starter, where a Ford starter solenoid is used to give power to the starter, on both the heavy feed and the small signal wire. I have done this in the past without issue, but this time it held the starter on for a couple extra seconds, so I ended up changing to using the Ford starter solenoid as only feeding the higher current supply and triggering the starter more conventionally otherwise.
Here I have the loop that is now removed:
Ford starter solenoid, I may remove this and wire it a little differently now, because of how I actually have this connected, but it's working well as it is.
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
Getting To The Nitty Gritty
At about this point it's getting into the small details that just take time, like vacuum lines, plug wires, etc, etc. Not a lot of pictures of this stage, because, well, it's difficult to show these details in pictures. But I'll show what I do have.
For the PCV I kept the PCV that I used on the turbo L28, which is a Mitsubishi PCV IIRC, I've had it for 6 years, so I don't recall the actual application.
After finishing off the vacuum lines, and wiring, I was able to perform some testing, like the fuel system pressurization, in which I found 2 leaks. One was an O-ring that got pinched upon install, the other was much harder to locate. It turns out that one of the welds was either a bit porous, or not completely welded. After running the fuel pump for a few minutes that end of the rail and injector #1 would get wet with fuel. After a while I decided to just go ahead and touch up the weld on that fitting and see if that would do it. Well, it did.
Time For The Big Pay Off
It was almost 8 PM on Sunday, Zfest, an annual event held by the local Z car club was long over, which sucks, it was the first one I missed since I got my car, and the first one that the car was not running for. The first year I had my car I got it running on the fuel injection the day before the event, though I did start that project months before the event, but I digress.
Going through the check list, fluids (except coolant), wiring, mechanicals, yep, all there and in the right places.
I thought to myself "should I connect the laptop and make some changes or just see how it runs on the bin for the L28?"
I decided to just go for it and try to start it, it could only be better than starting from a "starter bin".
Turn the key on, the fuel pump primes, recheck for leaks, none, and hit the key...
"Vroom" is what I heard, and it was a glorious sound. The birth of a turbo LX9 powered 1973 Datsun 240Z. This made all the work worth it.
It sounded different than the old engine, as I would expect, but I wasn't sure if I liked or disliked the sound, I was undecided, but liked it just the same, because it meant the car was now running and that much closer to driveable. The engine ran for a few more seconds when I decided that I should shut it off, due to no coolant.
So at this point I haven't found a rad that I like, that has the inlets and outlets on the correct sides for the LX9, and has the right fit. So I use the old rad, and make some embarrassing rad hoses, just to get the car going. I will find or make a rad that is the way I want. I will likely need to make a rad. :/
Shift Me, Shift Me, Baby...
I also needed to finish off the shifter. I had built the base mechanism a long time ago, but not the actual shifter handle itself, since I wasn't sure exactly where the shifter mechanism would sit in the shifter opening. Now that it was the last detail it was time to get something that I can at least use for now.
I started with a stock 5-speed shifter which has a unique shape, this shape worked for me, when it came to cutting it apart and making a handle that would place the shifter where it needs to be. It worked out that the shifter came up through the stock trans tunnel, shifter boot, which was a bonus.
It actually works better than expected. I am still going to look into a different shifter, at this point I am going to look at finding a 2WD Pathfinder, or late '80's 300ZX that supposedly used the same trans, but had the shifter in a different location, which might work better in the end.
I did some drivetrain testing on the hoist. Checked that the clutch worked as it should, checked that the rear wheels would actually turn, etc. Did a little bit of AE tuning on the hoist.
While doing this I saw that the coolant temp was being reported as 60*, which was odd, it should have been much warmer than that. Unplugged the coolant sensor, same thing. I thought to myself that it could be a wiring issue, but didn't feel like pulling the upper intake manifold to check at the time, so I left it for the time being.
I was doing something else, near the throttle body, when I noticed that the TPS connector was disconnected, due to the blue wire, then looked at the TPS and realized that I had swapped the CTS and TPS connectors. *facepalm* connected them properly and now everything reads as it should.
It was too late to drive the car home, I didn't want to wake my boss (he lives in the house in front of the shop currently), and I wasn't sure how much tuning it would actually need to be driveable, so I left it on the hoist and drove home in my Yukon. :/
Just Like The First Time
Well, the next morning I go into work and put the car on the ground, and drove it out of the shop for the first time. It was great, the clutch engaged just as it should, no weird noises, no clunks, no bangs.
So I let it sit outside and get up to temp before taking it for a tune drive.
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
Failure is always an option
I have had this failure that had stopped the car from being driven so far, well, driven very far anyway, shortly after getting the swap together. It would still run and move fine, but the coolant wasn't being circulated, nor was it charging. At first it seemed like it just spit the belt, which is one thing I was kinda expecting, because the idler pulley wasn't perfectly straight.
The failure? The alternator bracket broke. It seems there was just too much leverage on the bracket and it pulled the welds right out of the base plate. Which was another failure point I kinda expected, but expected it before getting the engine running.
Anyway, "carnage" pictures:
The repair...
I reinforced the alternator bracket with an internal support:
I then added a couple gussets:
Back up and running:
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
More Failure is still an option
The repaired alternator bracket also failed.
The New Mount
I started with a piece of 3/16" plate and made every part from it. I had to stack some pieces together to get the thickness I needed in certain areas.
Plug welded the main pieces together, along with edge welding
Test fitting in the car. I found that I had to add the extra portion on top like the old mount, so that the idler pulley would clear the water pump pulley with enough space that I was comfortable with.
Painted:
Installed:
And the brace I added. The bracket that I was using previously is still attached to the back of the alternator and the block, this one is just added to the front side, to take some of the leverage off the other mounts.
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
This is a video I took while I was shoveling the driveway back in January:
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
Looks like a head gasket replacement is in order:
It was pulling like a monster too when it happened. lol
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
CARNAGE!!!
So I pulled the head off today, and found this:
A little closer:
I should have seen this before I pulled the head... LMAO!!
This explains why I was smelling burning oil. Not sure why I was smelling coolant though. There does look to be some VERY small paths for coolant between the nearest steam holes and the break, that maybe allowed some coolant to get into the cylinder.
I have decided to put my other short block together, just so that I can open up the ring gaps a little and not have to worry about that.
I think I might frame this gasket.
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
I see blown head gaskets all the time working in the field of small engines. That one is a nice one! Any idea on the cause yet?
79 Jeep Cherokee, AMC 401, T-18 manual trans, hydroboost, 16197427 MPFI system---the toy
93 Jeep YJ Wrangler, 4.0L, 5 speed, 8.8 rear, homebrew hub conversion and big brakes, hydroboost, 2.5in OME lift, 31x10.50's---the daily driver
99 Jeep WJ Grand Cherokee limited, 4.0L, auto, 2wd, leather and power everything, 99% stock---the long distance highway ride.
Looks like extreme heat and pressure to me.
89 K1500 Scottsdale 5.7L 5spd 3:42 RamJet cam Dart iron TBI heads 427 PCM swap
95 C2500 Cheyenne 6.5L turbo diesel 4L80e 4:10 DB2-4911 Manual pump conversion 0411 PCM trans control 2Bar COS
05 Outback XT 2.5L turbo gas auto
A few things..
I was trying to things to see how far I could go, one of those things was low octane fuel, because I've had good success with low octane in the past on similar set-ups.
The ECM dropped into LHM briefly under full jam, and rattled the engine pretty badly.
I've had intermittent issues with detonation that seemed random, and couldn't pin point what was causing it, but I think I've narrowed that down to the ECM itself now. Just before this happened I started the car at a local coffee shop and while warming up it was dropping into and out of LHM sitting still. I started driving though and it went away, until I was under full power... :/
So, along with the engine refresh, I'm going to replace the ECM.
Yep, 10 PSIG boost, and probably close to 6000 RPM at the time. :DLooks like extreme heat and pressure to me.
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
So begins another chapter:
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
Well, I decided to bite the bullet and order up some ARP fasteners, at this stage. I know I'm gonna be BEATING on this engine pretty hard, and want to push it as far as I can. The ARP fasteners will just be good insurance to make sure it's not a fastener's limits I find. ;)
Main and head studs (head studs are used, but will still be good), and rod bolts.
The sad part is the price of the fasteners is more than the engine can be replaced for. lol
The man who says something is impossible, is usually interrupted by the man doing it.
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