So I've started going over my car after the MSR Cresson race. I've found the following issues:

• Fuel Pressure erratic and low
• Motor running lean
• Driver side trailing arm bent
• Passenger side alignment hole/bolt stripped
• Oil cooler puking oil under pressure
• Cooling Fan cut the lower radiator hose

I've had a chance to look at these. Here are my fixes:

Fuel Pressure erratic and low

Unplugged the FPR and the fuel pressure would jump to 39 PSI. Plug it back in and the pressure would hold at 28 PSI. Under throttle, fuel pressure was low and all over the place.

The fix was going through the vacuum system. Simplifying it and reconnecting everything seemed to fix the problem.

Motor running lean

This was easy: Let the motor warm up, unplug the O2 sensor, and adjust the screw on the AFM until my A/F gauge was on the rich side of normal. When I started the process, the car was running so lean that it wasn't registering a reading on the gauge.


Driver side trailing arm bent

I'm too lazy to replace it right now. I was able to get the alignment dialed back in, so I'm leaving it alone for now.


Passenger side alignment hole/bolt stripped
Set the alignment and tack welded the eccentric into place. The alignment will hold this time!


Oil cooler puking oil under pressure

Still working on this one. May need to get a new cooler or weld this one back together.


Cooling Fan cut the lower radiator hose

I repaired the hose at the track, but had to unplug the fan to keep it from cutting the hose again. My resolution was to cut the passenger side fan completely out. This leaves on fan on the hot side of the radiator and the left side completely open for good air flow.




Weight Reduction

Started pulling out weight today. I was 70 lbs over weight with a near empty gas tank. Pulled the head lights today. Stripped the system down to just the covers (attaching with straps). Removed 50% of the vacuum system: A/C control valve, gas tank vapor reclaim valve, vacuum reservoir, and venturi valve. Also removed the window washer fluid tank,1 fan, and replaced the big battery with a ATV battery.

These items totaled an amazing 47 lbs! I'm over half way to my weight goal and I still have the power windows and a heater core. Looks like ballast maybe in my future.

-bj

BJ, for the lower rad hose issue, try trimming a bit off the end of the hose where it attaches to the water pump. This should get the top bend of the hose further away from the fan. I had the same issue with a replacement hose, doing this solved it.

Glad to hear you got most of your problems nailed down. I just found the big-ass crack in my block, so I doubt I'll have a car ready for TWS.

...unless you have a spare engine lying around.


Ryan

B1BFlyer wrote:


Ryan...sorry to hear that...I was concerned something like that may show its ugly head based on that cracked oil cooler adapter.
I picked up a block from texas performance in Alvarado (they do V8 swaps).
I can check and see if they have another if you want. They were pretty nice guys and I picked my motor up from them for $125

Thanks Craig, I've got a donor 84 long block that I found in Dallas. I'm going to go check it tomorrow to see if there are any exterior cracks on the block but i don't know what was wrong with it. The real problem is always time. I don't have the time and in this case the skill to rebuild the engine in time for TWS. My anger towards the previous owner is starting to rise significantly.

Ryan

B1BFlyer wrote:


If you need me to have a look at it, let me know. I have an extra starter, jump box, trigger switch, and a compression tester, so I could even do a compression check on the motor for you.

-bj