ClemSparks wrote: Thanks for sharing your idea on the radiator mounts! I needed some inspiration because I need to do something with the radiator mounts on my Suburban project.
You're welcome! One of the conversion companies makes something similar, but it would not have fit exactly with my setup, so it seemed like a good idea to improvise with the square stock.
Back from a work trip, and have started looking at the engine harnesses. I am now starting to understand why so many people switch over to carbs. I really do not like wiring. What weirds me out is there seem to be far more connectors on the V8 harness, but there are actually fewer pinouts on it than for the S10. And of course, they don't physically match up.
I'm half tempted to see if I can pull off what we did in our $2005 Challenge car. We decided it was easier to just move an entire donor Integra harness into the CRX, rather than mess with blending the two together. I can't do that entirely in the S10, but I do still have the dash harness, so it might be able to work on the most critical parts.
Oh yeah, some mandrel bent exhaust tubing is on its way, too. I'm going with 2" off each exhaust manifold, then 2.5" when they merge. The 2" is the same as stock, but was crush bent, so this should flow a bit better. I've got some extra used 2.5" piping and a muffler in the garage that have been there for at least 12 years. Will have to figure out an FMV for them, once I find out how much I'm using.
Any engine wiring geniuses (or hacks) want to come and take a look at these messy bundles of wiring and see if you can figure out how to get the V8 wiring merged with the truck? Tried to tackle some more labeling over my lunch break, and am realizing more and more how much I hat to do wiring.
This week is pretty rough for me but next week should be cleared up a bit.
wae wrote: This week is pretty rough for me but next week should be cleared up a bit.
Cool. I will be trying to track down diagrams online and printing them out over the next several days. If all goes well, I'll have the exhaust welded up by then, too. That's kind of daunting, too, but it's something I understand better than 25-26 year old wiring harnesses.
wae stopped by and started interpreting the engine wiring harnesses, so some progress is being made!
I'm also hoping the better weather predicted for the weekend actually shows up. If it does, I'll try to get the y-pipe worked on.
I've also printed out some VATS diagrams, and they are simple enough I think I can figure them out, but just in case, I'll ask wae to look over my handiwork before I start cutting wires.
Over the weekend, I finally got a start on the y-pipe. It is mostly tacked together, except for the piece that will merge the driver's side pipe into the passenger side. Once I do a very rough cut, I expect this will involve a lot of test fitting and grinding, until the fit is good, then it'll be marked up under the car so I can remove the passenger side pipe and cut a hole at the merge point. I am trying to make it gradual, instead of the 90 degree connection that the fireturd had.
In other news, I think I've figured out the VATS wiring. It's simplified a bit, as there is no starter interrupt in the S10, and I don't have to wire it to the dash for the security light. Might still wire up a light bulb as a diagnostic tool, though. The plan right now is to mount the ignition switch from the fireturd to the bottom of the dashboard, and use the resistor in the key, instead of replacing it with a stand alone resistor. That way, VATS will still work when the key is removed. I still intend to use the S10 key for everything else, so the fireturd switch will only need two wires hooked up to it.
Long delay in any work due to me getting really sick (haven't fully recovered yet), and an out of town trip for a funeral.
I did manage to start work on the final piece of the y-pipe today. The curved connecter between the crossover pipe from the drivers side to the passenger side pipe. After a rough cut, it became a case of grind, crawl under the truck, test fit, crawl out from under the truck, repeat until motivation is gone. I swear it was a lot easier to do this job on my $2011 Challenge car.
I've gotten a few leads on 14" tires for the autocross, but nothing solid yet.
Considering the possibility this will not be ready for the challenge, and trying to figure out what the backup plan could be.
A little progress over the last week. The Y-pipe is tacked together, and temporarily installed. I'll need to add some material where the driver's side pipe intersects with the rest of the pipe, but I'm hoping that shouldn't be too bad. I tore up an old exhaust system that's been in my garage for over a decade in order to get some 2.5" exhaust parts (cheap muffler and a couple of parts). Guess I'll need to figure out a FMV for them. I was going to try to get the exhaust finished today, but it started raining way earlier than I thought it would, so I had to stick with what could be done inside the garage. I mocked up the exhaust, and think I have a good plan for how to set up the exhaust hangers. The tailpipe will exit just past the cab on the passenger side. I'll have to fab up the front hanger, probably with some 3/4" wide steel sheet metal, and a hose clamp. I should be able to use a generic clamp for the rear, and just mount the top of the clamp to the floorboard of the cab.
Next day for good weather is supposed to be Tuesday, so I'll be trying to get as much as possible done then.
Tailpipe/muffler is welded up, and I've marked where to drill holes for the exhaust hangers in the floorboard. The interior will have to come out first, though. I wanted to drop the y-pipe and do the finish welding on it, but the sun was getting low and the lawn still needed to be mowed. Perhaps next time.
It won't win any beauty contests, but the y-pipe is welded up. Next time the humidity goes down to a reasonable level, it'll be cleaned up and hit with some high temp paint.
My father-in-law came by yesterday, and we were able to get a bit of work done. Bashed in the firewall some more on the passenger side to get a bit more clearance for the exhaust, set the engine back a little bit more to improve oil pan clearance and give a bit more room up front for a fan. Pulled the bench seat and carpet, drilled holes in the floorpan, and made brackets to hang exhaust clamps from.
I had wanted to clean up and paint the y-pipe, but the heat and humidity pretty much prevented that. Weather will be better later this week, so I'll try to do it then.
I need to make sure the shifter arm will still work fine with the engine setback - if not, I may need to pull it and bend it a bit, or switch to using the fireturd's floor shifter (which might be better for manually shifting during the drags)
Still a ton to do in the next two months, so I am now more seriously looking for a backup car. Since I've wanted one for a while, a Miata is the prime candidate, but as the challenge gets closer, I'll probably get less selective.
Painted the y-pipe with some leftover bbq grill paint yesterday evening, and it actually looks pretty nice. Found one possible bad weld (of course), but I think I'll just JB weld it now, since it shouldn't be visible from outside the car.
Spent the lunch break scrubbing and pressure washing 25 years of dirt, sand, hepatitis, and lizard poop out of the carpet. It's drying off on the back deck, and looks a ton better than it did, but I may hit it again, as I'm pretty positive I can wash another beach worth of sand out of it.
Might just make it to the challenge yet.
I painted my engine in my Sierra with BBQ paint and it seems to be holding up really well (probably 6k miles over 3 months so far).
Keep up the good work and if you're really bored fix those photobucket pictures that don't show anymore :)
Yeah, I need to get set up with another photo hosting site.
Acquired a backup car today. Still hoping to bring the S10, though. And also hoping I don't need a backup to the backup.
Back up car? Oh do tell more . . . .
I'm still pulling for you to get the S10 to the challenge
The exhaust is now installed on the truck. The muffler runs a little closer to the parking brake cable than I like, but that can be fixed later, shouldn't affect it at the challenge.
I also removed the instrument cluster, and loosened the dashboard in the hopes that it'll make it easier to work on any wiring back there.
I also think we adjusted the engine back a bit too far. The transmission cannot be shifted to first anymore. Either the engine will need to be moved up a smidge (may not be a bad idea, it looked like we are a little low on driveshaft clearance right now), the linkage will need to be bent, or we'll need to swap to the floor shifter from the fireturd.
Getting close to a decision point here. If it's not actually running at the end of next weekend, it may be time to pull the plug and concentrate on the ratty Miata. If that happens, I'm not sure if I'll keep it. I really would like to have a V8 S10, but I just don't seem to have the time, space, skill, and motivation to get this thing going in a timely manner. I thought I'd have it running in late Spring so we could spend all summer dialing it in and getting it ready for concours. So much for that.
On the last several days, I got the cooling system mostly together, minus the radiator fan. wae did a bunch on the wiring, and last night we attempted to start it up. It cranked over, but the fuel pump did not fire up. It was getting late and the mosquitos were in full force in the garage, so I called it a night. Will try to do some diagnosis this evening. Hopefully nothing that is too complicated.
My money is that the ecm isn't getting power.
wae said:My money is that the ecm isn't getting power.
Just out of curiosity, I ran out to the garage and checked the fuses. ECM 1 (10A) and ECM B (15A) are good. However, there is a wire labeled S10 ECM B that is coming out of the driver's side bulkhead connector that it not attached to anything. I'll see if I can interpret the diagrams a bit tonight and if it needs to go somewhere. I'll also see about finding the power lead to the ECM and checking to see if it gets 12V when the ignition is on.
wae wins the prize for being correct! I pulled the ECM connectors, and started testing. The two connections that should have power when the battery is connected were fine, getting 12 volts no problem. The pink/black wire (pin A6) than should have power when the ignition switch is turned on had nothing. Since pink/black wires run all over the harness, I found a splice and tested it there. 12 volts. Went to the bulkhead connector, and noticed there had been 2 of those wires coming out from the interior of the truck, but one had not been hooked up to anything. Of course, it may not be needed, as both should just be a source of power when the ignition is hot. Went back to the ECM connectors, and traced the pink/black wire back through the harness. It went back to the ignition control module, and nowhere else. I'm guessing that is incorrect. Not sure what needs to be done to rectify the situation, as I'm not the best at reading electrical diagrams, but I'm hoping I can convince wae to stop by and figure this one out. I'm wondering if there are two pink/black wires, one in order to provide a "clean" signal to the ECM, and the other to power various sensors?
Another issue, I have no idea if it is a problem or not. There is a very quiet hum coming from the alternator when the ignition switch is turned on. Is this normal? I'm using the alternator from the donor, and it looked like it was not that old.
Good news/bad news situation with the truck:
Jumping the pink/black wires appears to have made the ECM wake up. On Saturday, I gave a shot at starting it, and ended up with gas shooting out of the throttle body, but no start. Figuring I may have a leaky injector, I decided to do some other work first.
Replaced the throttle cable with one from the junkyard, the original one was incompatible with the throttle body from the fireturd. While searching at the junkyard, I noticed that even among the square body S10s, there were multiple configurations, even for the same engine. Found one that worked, though. Also, checked the vacuum diagram setup, and got everything either hooked up or capped off for now. And I realized a big mistake I'd had. The engine seemed like it was having a hard time trying to turn over, even though the battery was fully charged. I thought back to when I set up the spark plug wires. To get the distributor to fit right, it needs to be rotated 45 degrees, then the wire moved back over one position to put them in the right place relative to the rotor. I had removed the spark plug wires, so in a fit of idiocy, I placed them offset from there normal location based on a diagram, not realizing they really just need to be sitting exactly like they are in the diagram.
Once I figured out the spark plug wire issue, I gave it another shot. Didn't seem to be getting fuel, but the car would run on starting fluid. The fuel pump is running fine. So, I think the issue is either the fuel injectors are plugged with varnished gas (I put a couple gallons fresh fuel in the tank, but I have no idea what was in there before), or the injectors are not firing. I had pulled the ignition key with the resistor for a quick test, and it's possible I pulled a wire loose, and the computer is not seeing the correct VATS signal. Tomorrow, I'm going to dig out my noid light set and see if the injectors are getting any signal. If they are, then it'll be time for me to figure out how to cheaply clean TBI injectors, because I don't have the budget to have them professionally rebuilt. If its a VATS issue, I'm hoping the computer is fine, and its just a problem with a wire or with the resistor. I'll likely order a proper resistor just in case, time is getting short.
Do you have access to a ultrasonic cleaner? If so, I'd give that a try, using an appropriate solvent (carb cleaner maybe?) as the fluid in the beaker. Just a thought ...
einy said:Do you have access to a ultrasonic cleaner? If so, I'd give that a try, using an appropriate solvent (carb cleaner maybe?) as the fluid in the beaker. Just a thought ...
May not be a bad idea. I don't have an ultrasonic cleaner, but I think HF sells one, so I can get it quick. I also have two spare clogged injectors to test with. If it's not a wiring issue, I think I'll post on the main forum asking for ideas, too.
I was just looking into this myself to see about cleaning the Rampage's injectors while waiting for parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rk0tKtiVic
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