Dueller

Greg....sent you a PM.

JIM

Dueller

Waiting on brake ad suspension bits...starting on body work.

Shaving door mirrors

Dueller

Roughing IN left rear quarter damage

Madhatr

As a fellow GRMer, and someone having two sets of C4 suspension hanging around... I am watching closely

Dueller

Continued lightning efforts..built lightweight door cars. Some body work progress...

Finishing up simplified braking system this weekend

Dueller

Well I've been scarce due to work getting in way and then coming down with apparently a summer cold that was more akin to the flu. But our homebuilt non-ABS brake system was finally sorted and the all new pads, calipers, MC, PROPORTIONING VALVE, rotors, ETC give us some seriously potent brakes. We have taken some 250 lbs out of the car with a bit more to go and it seems to have wakened the car. Maybe my imagination but it feels much more responsive.

Thanks to all advice and suggestions thus far from the forum.

mrc24x

Cool project!


Did you remove the a/c yet? I might have the complete A/C delete setup laying around somewhere. (water pump/belt/mounting rod).


Yours for $1 and free shipping.

Dueller

WOW! That would be unbelievable. That is on our to do list before heading to Gainesville for the event. But I would insist on paying for it.

This forum is so great. Everyone has been so helpful with advice, parts, guidance, etc.

Dueller

Hey, MH. I REALLY ENJOYED the GRM coverage of your rallycross C3. If you haven't Put it together this is the Bolus & SnopeS team from GRM forum...but keep it under your (Mad)Hat. LOL.

mrc24x

I have the parts. Shoot me a PM with your address and I'll get them out Friday.

Here's a pic of the routing (water pump, adj. mounting rod, belt, and securing rod).

You will need to come up with new hoses for the pump but it cleans up the engine bay quite a bit.


http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d99/mrc24x/engine002.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

Dueller

First of all....MILLION THANK YOUS TO ALL THE FOLKS HELPING ME WADE THOUGH THIS PROJECT.


As I stated in my original posts I was a little leery about coming to a corvette forum for advice on this type of project for fear "purists" would take offense at me hacking up a C4...even an old one with 200,000 miles showing on the clock that had been tossed around in a tornado, every window busted out except passenger side, that had sat outside under a tarp for two years while litigation among insurance companies argued about who covered the extensive damages and was, judging by the interior smell, a haven/shelter for feral cats or raccoons.


But I couldn't have been more wrong. To everyone who offered advice, sold me performance parts, gave encouragement, and even those who bought parts to aid in budget calculations for the GRM challenge....THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! YOU ARE A GREAT GROUP OF ENTHUSIASTS.


A FEW UPDATES...


Conversion to simple non-ABS brake system done. And they stop like the hand of GOD!


Sold the saw blades and used funds to go to C5 wagon wheels which look pretty good and are a tad lighter I think. I know many people don't care for WW but I kinda like them. Spokes are gonna be Plasti-dipped so we'll see


Have removed roughly 250 lbs out of car....heater core, ac, air pump, carpet/sound deadening, radio, gutted doors. ABS module, front fan etc. IOW no creature comforts....a minimalist C4 Trying to take weight off front end rather than rear to maintain handling balance.


Gonna try to finish up fiberglass repair over next few days. On disassembly more extensive than we originally thought...body work cracked into hatch area.


Working on tuning now and a problem arose...blew out a spark plug. Appears some ham fisted shade tree mechanic buggered up threads on no 2 cylinder. Got it back in and its holding for now but probably gonna have to fix it.


Update pic

jaa1992

Actually I like the wagon wheels on a C4. Have a set in the rotation for my 92

On the spark plug - can you pull the head and replace the gaskets in your budget?
If so pull that head and repair the spark plug hole correctly.

Remind me - this is an L98 car right?

Dueller

Yup....L98. Definitely gonna pull head to repair. Have some wiggle room in budget. Yesterday worked on rear suspenion, shocks, poly bushings, etc. Today doing some lightweight interior stuff, door cards, cheap analog gauges, etc.

jaa1992

While you have the heads off you could de-carbon them and the tops of the pistons

BrianCunningham

Port match to the gaskets

mr.beachcomber

It's not uncommon that the #2 and #4 spark plug holes get butchered in the '89 and earlier TPI Vettes. To properly remove these two plugs, you have to remove the exhaust manifold brace to the AC compressor as well as the plastic inner fender liner that holds the weatherstrip sealing the wheel well. Because of all the AC lines going to the and from the evaporator, you need a "wobble" extension on the spark plug socket just to get the plugs out. Replacement spark plugs should be hand-threaded until they seat. Use a ratchet and "wobble" extension to turn the plugs an additional 1/8 of turn after fully seated and you're done.

While you got the passenger side off, go ahead and remove the other cylinder head also (especially if the passenger side still has the original orange painted, mild steel gasket from the factory). These orange gaskets of death (O-GOD as they were called) are prone to rusting out and allowing coolant seepage into the combustion chamber. (#7 cylinder seemed to be the first to go.) Another telltale sign is a green tinge on the side electrode on #7 spark plug.

Aside from cleaning up the carbon, you should also replace the factory style oil seals on the valves with new ones to prevent oil from contaminating the cleaned out combustion chamber. I believe that your '89 has around 200K miles so they probably need replacement.

If funds are available, a valve job on the intakes wouldn't be a bad idea. I'd keep the original valve springs if money is tight. After all, with the 700R4 and 3.07 rear end ratio you'll probably be turning only 4000 RPM in the autocross and maybe 4700 RPM in the drag race. However, if the original springs check out at less than 100 lbs seat pressure at original installed height (with or without shims), I would buy new, single valve springs w/ flat wound dampers to be safe.

Hope this helps!

Dueller

Mrbeach, jaa, Brian and mrc24....

Thanks for your advice, help and parts. We may have dodged bullet on spark plug situation. Appears only first few threads are boogered on head and thread chased may take care of it. Plus appears wrong plugs were used. Based on part nos seems a shorter plug intended for iron heads was used. Correct plugs are longer so may reach unaffected thread. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks to mrc24 gonna convert to conventional water pump and eliminate a.c. compressor and air pump. Also going toheaders and adding 02 bung, Question...what can I eliminate from the fuel injection system wiring to keep it running correct? Keep in mind I'm an old geezer who only know carbs. I don't care if it throws codes so long as I'm not running rich with a cofused computer ecm..

As usual thanks in advance.

Jim

BrianCunningham

People here will have a hissy fit
but why don't you sell off the TPI and switch to a carb?

jaa1992

That L98 with headers and a carb will breathe a whole lot better.

Madhatr

I just caught up on your GRM thread.... rofl!

I am glad to see you are making progress. However I am a little surprised that you didn't cut the body off and go all Roadkill VetteCart on it. But that could just be my 'want' talking.

Don't know if you would be interested or want the weight penalty, but I have an 84 rear hatch that you could have... just not sure how to get it to you

I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out and how you do. We are planning for the 2017 challenge.... but don't worry, we won't be much competition