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So my wife and I were looking for a project to work on together and since my '65 bug body off resto wasn't exactly her cup of tea (she's a muscle car fan) we ended up buying this blue on blue 79 from a very nice guy in Michigan. Story goes it received a bunch of love in 2008, crate engine, lots of repairs here and there, full paint in original color etc. He drove it about 2000 miles over the next 12 years or so then sold it to the guy I bought it from. I've put it up on the lift and the suspension looks original and shot, all the rubber has degraded to nothing. Steering is scary. Interior is prob 7.5 out of 10, outside 8 out of 10 so pretty much leaving that alone, just going to be a driver. The engine appears to be a 2008 crate "Fast Burn 385" with aluminum heads, long tube headers and I think the stock slush box three speed auto. Also looks like a aluminum radiator, tranny or engine cooler (haven't traced the lines yet) and twin electric fans.
So questions,
- Why would the crank fan be left on the engine with two electric fans?? Seems weird. I attached a pic of the sheet that came with the car describing the crate engine.
- Anything look out of the ordinary in the engine pics? Anything interesting? Sorry but I'm a car guy but never GM cars.
- I plan on gutting the suspension, new control arm bushings, ball joints, shocks, springs. Love the single spring on the back lol. The car sits high in the front, could that be from the lighter heads/radiator? Low in the back but that spring pack is original and shot. Any suggestions for preferred vendors/manufactures for the suspension parts?
- Borgeson steering box seems like a good reasonably affordable route, any concerns?
Thanks in advance all, really appreciate any help you can provide!
Attaching a few additional pics, yeah the wiring in general is a bit wonky. They did use proper crimp connections but not much heat shrink. That red wire is plugged into nothing and crimps to a light green wire going into a loom... In that area was a vacuum hose connected to nothing running back into the car through the firewall. fans mystery wire one of many nice... vacuum line to nowhere
In my opinion the fans are redundant. I don't see how the stock fan can pull any air through the radiator. I would consider eliminating the stock fan or eliminating the electric fans as you don't need both. The red wire could possibly for an electric choke. The vacuum hose to nowhere could be for the heater control valve. Is that a double pumper, if so I think it's a bad choice for an automatic equipped car? The spark plugs wires appear to be very close to the headers and I would consider shielding them.
In my opinion the fans are redundant. I don't see how the stock fan can pull any air through the radiator. I would consider eliminating the stock fan or eliminating the electric fans as you don't need both. The red wire could possibly for an electric choke. The vacuum hose to nowhere could be for the heater control valve. Is that a double pumper, if so I think it's a bad choice for an automatic equipped car? The spark plugs wires appear to be very close to the headers and I would consider shielding them.
Thanks. I'll pull the crank fan and shroud and see how things go. There is a wire going to the choke and it works so I'll have to investigate more. Carb I'm not sure of. I see its a dual feed and doesn't look like what came in the "fast burn package". It's sluggish for sure but not sure how much of that is the tranny. Thanks for the feedback on the plug wires, I'll get some socks for them.
Can you pull the air cleaner? IMHO. double pumpers and automatic transmissions don't plat well together on the street, the secondaries come in too quickly.
It's a good looking car. Doesn't look like PO's messed with the motor much. Most of the wiring looks correct but probably original. Your plans sound good to me, but I shouldn't have to tell you to check the bird cage. Good luck.
Why would the crank fan be left on the engine with two electric fans?? Seems weird.
I saw the same thing at one of our local get-togethers. 69 with a 383... had two electric fans, aluminum radiator, AND stock mechanical fan. I asked him about it, and he said he originally removed the stock fan. But, he found that because of the downward angle of the electric fans, it was pushing all the air under the car, and the top of the engine compartment was getting way too hot. So he re-installed the stock fan. It does nothing to cool the radiator, but it DOES move air across the top of the engine compartment, and out the side vents. When I changed over to aluminum radiator & electric fans on my 71.... I did the same thing.
Can you pull the air cleaner? IMHO. double pumpers and automatic transmissions don't plat well together on the street, the secondaries come in too quickly.
It's a good looking car. Doesn't look like PO's messed with the motor much. Most of the wiring looks correct but probably original. Your plans sound good to me, but I shouldn't have to tell you to check the bird cage. Good luck.
rust wise seems pretty good. I put it on the lift and some surface rust underneath nothing bad. The suspension is a hot mess though and wouldn't surprise me if it was original. White knuckle driver for sure.
My factory original 82 has a mechanical fan plus a single electric fan down at the radiator that cycles with the temp. It looks like those are supplemental fans. Don’t they come on when the engine gets hot?
My factory original 82 has a mechanical fan plus a single electric fan down at the radiator that cycles with the temp. It looks like those are supplemental fans. Don’t they come on when the engine gets hot?
At least one is on as soon as the ignition is switched on even with the motor off. On my list is finding how they are wired and setting them up correctly.
that is a direct drive engine fan. there is supposed to be a clutch there. that is about a 30 hp loss running that fan at high rpm's down the highway when you need no fan at all.
that is a direct drive engine fan. there is supposed to be a clutch there. that is about a 30 hp loss running that fan at high rpm's down the highway when you need no fan at all.
Right? I just noticed that last night as well... I'm taking the shroud and fan off, wire the fans correctly and see how things go.
Is there a way to get cooler air to this thing? That intake is just sucking hot air into the carb... Sorry, new to these cars my background in more in road racing turbo four and six cylinder cars with fuel injection etc.
you can run an 80 to 82 cold air intake if you can find one. flat wide thing goes on top of the rad support and below hood. some have ducted it above radiator and below rad support. wider but warmer gap. general consensus is the warmer air with no low pressure head put on it by dragging it through ducts is equal or better than cold restricted air. also the air is quite hot when the engine is running and you are standing there looking at it. it is much cooler when 25 to 80 mph air is being blown through there.
you can run an 80 to 82 cold air intake if you can find one. flat wide thing goes on top of the rad support and below hood. some have ducted it above radiator and below rad support. wider but warmer gap. general consensus is the warmer air with no low pressure head put on it by dragging it through ducts is equal or better than cold restricted air. also the air is quite hot when the engine is running and you are standing there looking at it. it is much cooler when 25 to 80 mph air is being blown through there.
thanks, makes sense. So many things to work on... right now the focus has to be the suspension as it's scary... Looking at kits out there but almost all have poly bushings (not going down that squeaky road again)... Want Bilstein's, not sure about the rear spring whether steel or composite (have seen some posts about composite increasing ride height too much).
what is the red wire for that is wrapped around the hoses between cylinders 2 and 4?
The red wire that was wrapped up on the A/C line is probably the factory idle solenoid wire. As it comes out of the wiring loom it is green (the red wire is spliced onto it). The factory green wire goes from the passenger's fender across the engine to the throttle side of the carb. Sounds odd but it is where the A/C clutch wire comes from (also green). On my 78 (L48, 4spd) it wasn't used because there wasn't an idle solenoid on that engine/trans combo so it was also wrapped up and tucked next to the loom.
The red wire that was wrapped up on the A/C line is probably the factory idle solenoid wire. As it comes out of the wiring loom it is green (the red wire is spliced onto it). The factory green wire goes from the passenger's fender across the engine to the throttle side of the carb. Sounds odd but it is where the A/C clutch wire comes from (also green). On my 78 (L48, 4spd) it wasn't used because there wasn't an idle solenoid on that engine/trans combo so it was also wrapped up and tucked next to the loom.
ding ding ding! I think this is exactly it, I was looking at the wiring schematics for the car last night and saw the fuel cut solenoid to the carb circuit, guess the Holly doesn't have that, only 12V for the choke.
Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. I dug into the cooling system and found that the electric fans are directly corrected to the ignition on feed so they constantly run when the engine is running. I removed the crank driven fan and am adding a fan controller and fixing all the wiring problems as I run into them. Lot's of crappy walmart crimp connectors some of which had already pulled out on their own.... Will be dipping heavily into my wire loom stash as I slowly redo damn near everything. Both cooling hoses had almost rubbed through, one against the alternator and one against the frame...
Ordered new suspension pieces, front and rear springs, Bilstein's, delrin control arm bushings, all new balljoints, tie rod ends, etc. Borgeson steering gear box as well.
Best news? In addition to the 30hp bump from removing that damn fan I also discovered that the throttle linkage was never adjusted from where the crate engine was installed in 2009... Foot to the floor was only opening the carb about 60% lol....
First Corvette, couple questions
