Cursed 92 Camaro is back...

[InfernalVortex]

They're just parts store remanufactured ones. All the wiring is correct. The only thing Im unsure about is my signal wire from the ignition switch... and it seems to work perfectly with my old starter, and it works with the other ones too, for a while.

[Spectre]

You know, I wonder what voltage you're getting at the starter solenoid. Not the one that's a direct feed from the battery, but the other one going to it, the (ostensibly) purple one that comes from the clutch safety switch. Some of the old starters would trigger (and slam out the Bendix) with lower voltages than the gear reduction starters (mostly because they had to, what with the pathetic-by-modern-standards charging systems they had), whereas if you don't have enough power on the trigger wire for a gear reduction starter, you can fail the Bendix as you describe.

That said, what condition is your starter cable (from the battery) in - new? clean and shiny? Same question for the trigger wire - what condition is that in?

[InfernalVortex]

As far as I can tell they both look fine. Is there anythign I should check with a DMM to verify things? The purple wire I get 12v on when I probe it and short it to ground. All those wires from the battery and alternator are fine, I already checked each one the other day.

I'm just not sure whether that 12v I get from shorting the trigger wire to ground SHOULd be reading 12v, me and a friend were thinking that was the problem before we put the old starter back in and it was working fine. We were thinking the ignition switch was hung or something.

And the trigger wire IS purple... so I know exactly which one you're talking about. It looks fine.

[Spectre]

Well, don't just short it to ground or you can cause issues with the ignition switch. Disconnect the wire from the starter, clip the positive lead of the DMM to it, set the DMM to read volts, and clip the other lead to a ground or battery negative.

With the car in off or on/run, you should not have 12V going to that wire. The only time you should have 12V at that wire is when the ignition switch is turned to the start position. If you're getting more than a few millivolts to that wire in off or run, you've got a short somewhere or a bad ignition switch.

Per the wiring diagram for your car, it looks like you should have 12V going to it, or within 1V of what your battery voltage is, at the starter solenoid purple wire with the key in Start (and the purple wire disconnected from the starter, that is).

[InfernalVortex]

Originally Posted by Spectre

Well, don't just short it to ground or you can cause issues with the ignition switch. Disconnect the wire from the starter, clip the positive lead of the DMM to it, set the DMM to read volts, and clip the other lead to a ground or battery negative.

That's exactly what I did... only I didnt disconnect it from the starter. Just probed the wire and the other end on the neg battery cable.

With the car in off or on/run, you should not have 12V going to that wire. The only time you should have 12V at that wire is when the ignition switch is turned to the start position. If you're getting more than a few millivolts to that wire in off or run, you've got a short somewhere or a bad ignition switch.

Using my above method, there is 12v going through that wire regardless of whether the key is. But what confuses me, is that if that's the case, then how come my old starter isn't always tryign to turn over?

Per the wiring diagram for your car, it looks like you should have 12V going to it, or within 1V of what your battery voltage is, at the starter solenoid purple wire with the key in Start (and the purple wire disconnected from the starter, that is).

Or are my tests null and void since Id idnt disconnect taht wire from the starter?

[InfernalVortex]

Starter is still working fine so whatever. I wrapped it in some insulating wrap and it doesnt seem to be as affected by the heat soak issue either.

But here is the real reason I posted:








Sounds a lot deeper and meaner, and a lot less obnoxious. Not nearly as loud at idle or at cruise, but insane when you open it up. But at idle you can definitely hear the cam in there...

+ YouTube Video

[JipJopJones]

Sounds nice!

Does it drone at all? I thought I heard a bit around 1000rpm or so. Droning is such a pain in the ass (well, ears actually)

[SoxXpupPeT]

that exhaust is tucked up nicely man congrats on it. ill be making a new exhaust on my car too. quieting it down with an e-cutout i wish i could hear it tho your link is broken

[InfernalVortex]

Originally Posted by JipJopJones

Sounds nice!

Does it drone at all? I thought I heard a bit around 1000rpm or so. Droning is such a pain in the ass (well, ears actually)

The old system had a crazy drone around 1800 RPMs. You could actually hear it in my driving videos. Almost sounds like a whine than a drone, and the old exhaust was SO loud. Even when it wasnt droning, it droned.

THis system, probably because the muffler is on the passenger side and aimed out sideways, is much, much quieter in the car. I can actually hear my cd player now... although for some reason it stops working when I get over about 3000 RPMs... Doesn't matter, above 3k RPMs I'm definitely listening to the motor, not the music.

Also, my clutch doesnt seem to be slipping anymore. I pulled it through the first 3 gears all the way to 5500 RPMs and then got scared around 5000 RPM in 3rd gear... but no slippage. I'm gonna have to try again later to get it to slip, but I think maybe the flywheel just had to break in to the clutch.

I just checked to see where 5k RPM's is in 3rd gear... 90 mph... damn! I need to get it to a track! Looks like I'll be hitting the traps in 4th gear.

[SoxXpupPeT]

Originally Posted by InfernalVortex

I just checked to see where 5k RPM's is in 3rd gear... 90 mph... damn! I need to get it to a track! Looks like I'll be hitting the traps in 4th gear.

haha at the top of 3rd im @ 110 @ 6700 rpm i need 4.11's youll be trapping right in 4th. hopefully at the top

[InfernalVortex]

Originally Posted by SoxXpupPeT

haha at the top of 3rd im @ 110 @ 6700 rpm i need 4.11's youll be trapping right in 4th. hopefully at the top

I'll have to be trapping 126 to hit 5500 in 4th gear, I doubt I'm making anywhere near that kinda power... but I think 100-110 is a bit more realistic and tahts 4000-5000... right in the middle of my power band, so I think it'll work out well. Hopefully I can hit 110, but I'm thinking 105 is about right. That's just under 300 to the wheels by those old "rule of thumb" calcs.

That said, I didnt build it to be a drag car. If I can hit 13.5 I'll be happy.

[SoxXpupPeT]

Originally Posted by InfernalVortex

I'll have to be trapping 126 to hit 5500 in 4th gear, I doubt I'm making anywhere near that kinda power... but I think 100-110 is a bit more realistic and tahts 4000-5000... right in the middle of my power band, so I think it'll work out well. Hopefully I can hit 110, but I'm thinking 105 is about right. That's just under 300 to the wheels by those old "rule of thumb" calcs.

That said, I didnt build it to be a drag car. If I can hit 13.5 I'll be happy.

mid 13's is plenty fast to beat up on cars all over the place! im probably in the low 13's and im loving it. i wouldnt question your trap speed at 105. it sounds very reasonable and doable. should certainly be a fun car. now do work on your suspension and youll be good! i just installed UMI subframe connectors and i highly suggest a set for you. along with anti sway bars. you wont believe how much they help

[InfernalVortex]

Originally Posted by SoxXpupPeT

mid 13's is plenty fast to beat up on cars all over the place! im probably in the low 13's and im loving it. i wouldnt question your trap speed at 105. it sounds very reasonable and doable. should certainly be a fun car. now do work on your suspension and youll be good! i just installed UMI subframe connectors and i highly suggest a set for you. along with anti sway bars. you wont believe how much they help

I've already got Koni Yellows (Sport Adjustables), a GTA rear sway bar, tubular lower control arms, Spohn sfc's, and a wonderbar (I dont think fourth gens need those, though).

I have a feeling I'll need a smaller sway bar in the rear and a bigger one in the front, though.





And you can see my slightly rusted sfc's here:



Passenger side one is a bit hard to see, but hte driver's side is fairly obvious. So as far as chassis/suspension work goes, it's definitely not stock. I tried to take care of all that stuff before the new engine went in the car. I tried to do it "right", but I had to end up doing 2 different engine builds before I got to this one. And it's still doing some funky stuff. Eventually I'd like a tubular panhard rod and a nice aftermarket torque arm, but the torque arm will wait. The panhard bar is next on the list.

my fuel is boiling in the carburetor for some reason, but I'm not sure why. There are a few reasons and suspicions, I just dont know which. I see a cowl hood in my future unfortunately. could be because my fuel line was resting on the valve cover, could be the exhaust is too close to them, or it could be that the carb is soaking up heat from the engine and itself getting way too hot that way. That would mean a special spacer and I don't have the hood clearance for that.

[JipJopJones]

If you have to go cowl. Try to keep it small. Nothing is worse than a massive 4" cowl. They are soo ugly.

[Spectre]

Step one would be to insulate your fuel lines.

[InfernalVortex]

Originally Posted by Spectre

Step one would be to insulate your fuel lines.

They are insulated in some key areas...

Not sure if it's helping or not, though. I havent had enough time to really check. They seem to be, but the carb and fuel lines themselves are still very hot to the touch.

[InfernalVortex]

Took it to the strip tonight...

Didnt really go well. I had an issue with... I THINK... the floats getting stuck. I'm gonna tear apart my carb and clean it out and put it back together... hopefully that will help. But I had fuel spewing out the top of my carburetor straight up in the air a few times when I switched my fuel pump on... caused all kinds of havoc. My air cleaner got drenched in gasoline... motor was half flooded ... car died halfway down the track twice. Soon as I got out of it a little for the 2-3 shift it'd stall and die on me. Frustrating.

But my first run went off without a hitch, but this was befroe my floats ever got stuck. My friends are thinking the air cleaner got so soaked in fuel it was starving for air. Makes sense.

My first run in this car, driving a stick, EVER ON A TRACK... first time ever staging for a 1/4 mile blast. I ran a 14.5 and trapped at 101.8. According to the online calculators, with my car weighing 3320 and 3520 with me in it, I'm putting 291 hp to the wheels. That's with a 2.3 60 foot time. There's plenty of room for improvement there, and it's just up to me to learn to drive it. But that's a pretty good trap speed, so I'm pretty pleased with things. Was hoping for a little more... but I think a little more can be had.

I just need to get my carburetor issues worked out.

[Spectre]

Uh.... you *did* swap out the stock fuel pump for something else, right?????

[InfernalVortex]

Originally Posted by Spectre

Uh.... you *did* swap out the stock fuel pump for something else, right?????

People run stock fuel pumps all the time with carb setups. It's regulated down to 5 PSI. The only problem i would have is the regulator failing or fuel starvation after prolonged runs... but this isnt fuel starvation.

[Spectre]

Yes, but too high a line pressure at the carb can literally blow the float valve open and flood the carb. Did you check the pressure at the carb?