:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry, i couldn't help but laugh.....been there done that...more than once too.

Never think about even snugging those plenum bolts until they are all started. Just get them started tham move on to the next one. I, in fact, did reverse three of the bolts...you can't do them all because of the curvature of the plenum in most places. I reversed the drives side inner bolts between the runners and one on the passenger side. I used the old stock plenum bolts and put lots of red locktite on them and even drilled them so they could be wired together...but never had to resort to that. If you run your wires under the plenum, be careful that these reversed bolts don't rip them.

You aint the first and wont be the last to stress out installing a SR. The night i left the towels in there i had installed the plenum 4x. I was trying to get the car together for the first etown corvette challenge. I had just undone a siamesing experiment on the runners that didn't work out too well...so i had it a part once earlier in the season. It was friday and i had to get the whole thing back to gether and race ready for the morning. I was going to take the day off, but i was continually interupted by the office...like 20x, which completely screws your concentration. First shot at the plenum, i forgot the TV cable....Duh . On attempt two, the last (i swear it was the last) bolt wasn't even close to lining up. WTF?? I had had the damn plenum off several times and never had this problem...heck i just had it installed before i realized the TV cable was out...but nonetheless, it wouldn't line up. By this time it is getting late and i'm starting to rush. i pull off the plenum in a rage and decide i'm going to enlarge the holes so i wont have this problem again. Only i drilled the holes with the wiring harness still in place and tore the whole thing to shreads...the bad news was that i didn't notice it until hlaf way thru the next attemp at installing the plenum again........so off it comes again!!! SOB!!!! Now i gotta take all the heat tape off the wiring harness and solder all the wires i just cut (in 3 locations)...believe me i was almost crying at this point. Anyway, i get that fixed and on the fourth attemp, my daughter decides she wants to have a father daughter talk while im installing the plenum for the fourth time at like midnight. Everything seems to go together smoothly and i'm done by about 12:30. I start the car up and it doesn't want to run for crap. i check the headers and it is only firing on like 3 cyls. i figure i must still have some broken wires and give up on making the Challenge and go to bed. Next morning the car starts right up and runs like a charm???? I use it to take my daughter to soccer practice and run some errands. No problem.....i'm thinking ... "what did it heal overnight or something." When i get home i notice all this burnt paper all over the garage. My first thought is "the damn kids" were playing with matches, but when i looked closer, i could see they were paper towels!!! The ones i stuck in the runners so nothing could fall in....DUH........man did i feel like an idiot. I'm usually a reasonably good mechanic, but between all the interuptions and the frustration of that SR...i just went to pieces.

Sorry for the long post but i thought you might get a kick out of it and not feel so bad. Heck, its only your first time...ROOKIE!!!


BTW, the second time to the track after that...the head gasket blew and i had to take it all apart AGAIN :cry :cry :cry Then after i got it back together, the fuel pump took a dump

Fortunately the second half of the season was without incident.




[Modified by ralph, 6:16 PM 1/11/2002]

 

WOW Ralph , 4 plenum installs in 1 night !

I have installed a few Superram setups in the last 8 years and none of them went smooth. I worst mistake is forgetting the TV cable.

Vic

 

Thanks guys, now I don't feel so bad. Sunday is another day and I'm sure all will go smooth. Cough, cough. You know it must be what women go through when having kids. At that moment they want our nuts on a pole in from of the hospital, but 6-12 months later they are talking about having another kid. Human stupidity I guess. Well off to watch the UFC championships! My younger brother does that, stuff in MO. The one guy he fights with was on TV a while back in an exhibition match. Kinda off the subject, but like I said I am taking a breather for the weekend. Later. :cheers:

 

Funny stories! If I ever decide to sell my Superram, I'm going to ask $2000.00 for it because it lines up perfectly! I swear I have had the plenum off 3 times and its not sweat at all. That's not to say I don't know the ultimate fustation. Here is my quick story:

Last year my 89 just died on me which was the only time my car ever left me stranded. I had not spark at all and no fuel injector pulses. To make a long story short, I decided to replace the pick up coil in the distributor. Well to do this as most of you know, you have to remove the gear on the end of the shaft. I have a business with lots of heavy equipment and such and I have full time mechanics. I took the distributor over to the shop to use his small punch to drive out the drift pin. My mechanic told me to mark the gear before taking it off so I don't install it 180 degrees off. I laughed at him and explained that on a chevy it doesn't matter. Ok well I go home that night to "throw" the distributor in (like I have done many times in the past) and try to start the car. Well it drops in but won't go in all the way. I can't get the darn oil pump shaft to line up. I mean to tell you I had tried for over 3 hours to get this thing in. I kept telling myself "There is no reason this should not go in". There was beads of sweat drippng off my head. I was yelling at my wife because she was like "When are you coming in" and "How is this fun for you." At one point I took the entire distributor apart and put it back together. Still not in. I even resorted to, get this, jacking up one side of the car to balance the oil pump shaft straight up becasue you know it kinda is a little floppy in there. I had just about lost my mind. I put the distriboutor on the work bench. I never admitted this before but I was actually cussing it out. I was tired, it was humid and the dog was getting on my nerves. I kept looking at it and looking at it and then it hit me like a ton of bricks............................I HAD THE GEAR ON UPSIDE DOWN!

Moral of the story, if I would have listened to my mechanic and marked the gear, I never would have had the problem. As it turned out the ignition coil, not the pickup coil, was bad.

Good luck!
Jason

 

89, Good story. How in the heck did you put the gear on upside down??? i didn't know it was even possible. :lol:

love the fact that it was the coil and not the pickup...definitely sounds like something that would happen to me. Only why no injector pulses???


[Modified by ralph, 8:39 AM 1/14/2002]

 

Ralph, It's possible believe me. On the injector pulses, the ECM did not see any ignition pulse signal from the distributor so it did not operate the fuel pump or fire the injectors.

Jason

 

Guys,
I'm proud to report that the SuperRam is installed!:cheers: I took all the bolts out and redrilled the one side out a bit and it went together without a hitch. All in about 1/2 hr! Perhaps I was just too tired the other night and wasn't concentrating or something. I am going to say it just so that others are not afraid to get one of these. It really isn't as bad as I described it the other night. I would have no fears of taking it apart again, but I definately don't want to prove that point. Needless to say, I'm relieved it is on.
Those of you that pointed out to slot the bolts were absolutely right, it made the job much easier. Secondly drilling the upper runner throughholes out to 5/16" is also a must. Both make the job much easier. Lastly something I found really useful was I went to autozone and bought a little cheap 1/4" 12pt wrench, probably only 3-4" long. Used it to tighten every bolt down. Had plenty of room and it reached every bolt without a hitch! Very much worth $5. A socket will never get at some of the bolts and I would not trust tightening with the slot and a screwdriver alone. I just used the screwdriver to take the slop out.
Tonight the brackets and pulleys are getting put back on. I also went and bought a new H2o pump, cheap insurance the way I see it. I will report the outcome tomorrow. See ya.

 

Guys,
Hey got a little more done on it last night. All the brackets are back on with pulleys. Wasn't as bad as I first though it would be. Just have to wait till the pushrods come. I called Jegs yesterday and she said it could take up to 6 weeks for them to arrive! That is not what I wanted to hear. OH WEll. later.

 

Trickflow makes a nice pushrod in many different lengths. Try Summit.

 

It's not only possible...It's EASY!!! And I'm sure that isn't the mistake the guy who suggested marking the gear had in mind. When I installed the ported intake on my Crossfire, I thought it would be a good idea to shim the dist drive gear to get rid of some of the slop. To make a long story a little less long...the friggin distributor wouldn't drop that last 1/2" into the pump drve shaft. I spent quite a bit of time moving the pump shaft just a scoch to allow it to line up. Luclily, I caught the problem before I used the "crank til it drops" trick. The shims weren't all that different with the gear upside down, either. BRAIN FADE!!!

 

89vette,
Hey thanks man! I called summit when I got back to the office about 5 minutes ago and they have the length I needed in stock! Super! I will order them when I get home and they will be here by this weekend! I might be able to fire it up this Saturday or Sunday. Man am I ever pumped up! Sorry for so many !!! but I was kinda bummed about the 6 week wait. Not that it will help matters any when its friggin winter here and I can't drive it anyways, but I sure can go out and fire it up every once in a while!.
What is the best way to set the RR once the pushrods come. Should I use the spin method unit there is drag then turn the polylok 1/2 turn and lock, then say good enough or what. Would like to hear from you champions of experience.
Also what is the best breakin method for these components. Everything has assembly lube on it. Also should I be worried about running it with just the headers and the floorboards heating up? Sorry for all the questions, I just hate to screw something up at this point. Thanks guys.

 

i ran mine with the headers open, but didn't drive it anywhere until the exhaust was on. On the Rockers, this is what i do (there are probably quicker ways but): I cut the top off an old cap and use that to ID the cyls that are about to fire based on the rotor postion. I know both intake and exhaust are on the base circle fior the cylinder that the rotor is pointing at. If the cap and wires are already on, i'll just turn it until other valve is open.

Then i turn the polylock down while spinning the pushrod until i feel the slightest restriction. This is easy when the lifters are pumped up, but you have to be careful with new lifters cause they compress easily. Then i turn them 1/4 turn and tighten the allen screw. Then i use the 5/8 socket to turn them about another 1/8 turn to drive the allen screw home and insure it wont loosen up. Lately, instead of the last 1/8 turn, i've been using 35ft-lbs of torque, which should be about 1/8. Before i started using the torque wrench i must have been over tightening some cause when i loosened them, the stud came loose instead of the polylock...the torque method seems to have solved that (in addition to removing all the studs, adding red locktite and re-torquing to 60-65 ft-lbs...which i recommend you do). Have fun.

 

Guys,
Hey thanks Ralph for the info. I will use your method, makes a lot of sense. One other thing I just thought of. I will be starting it tomorrow afternoon after some more small things like all fluid replaced! :D The question is this...I bought a new O2 sensor, but with the headers there is no provision to put this. I was going to have an exhaust system made up and put the o2 sensor in it rather than the header. My question is do you have any ideas how I can start the car with that in there or I was thinking of going and having a small tube made up with the provision in it just to get me by....any suggestions...I would also like to hear suggestions of what my custom exhaust should have included when made....looking forward to hearing from you guys...Also wait till you see the air pump elim bracket I made! Pretty inpressive for a rookie! Pics to be taken after install tomorrow! Later dudes... :cheers:

 

Ski, you shouldn't need the o2 to start the car, but i'd install it in the collector of the header not further back in the exhaust. You want it to get hot as quickly as possible. I guess if you went to a heated o2 it might not matter but i would still keep it as close as possible. Let us know how the startup went.

 

All,
The car is ALIVE! And all I can say is HOLY CHIT! This thing is awesome. It started right up! Well actually I was not real sure how to set up the initial timing so I got it as close as possible and then had my dad turn it CCW shile cranking the engine and once it started I ran out and got the timing light on it and set the timing to 6 BTDC...I realize this problably needs advanced now but it idled fine, well a bit more lumpy than before :D . I was totally impressed at how quickk it revs now! I mean it sounds like you unleashed something from hell when you touch the gas. Totally Happy so far. Too bad it is snowing here, or I might try to sneek it out for a spin. A few questions for you fella that have similiar setups....

1. What timing should I shoot for at idle. Should I hook up the laptop and advance it till I see knock then back off alittle? I have heard of that before?

2. What fuel pressure should I shoot for at first?

3. Anything I should or shouldn't do while tuning this thing (kinda open ended). Even with all the EGR stuff eliminated...there are NO CODES! I let it get all the way up to operating temp and all is good! Will driving change any of this?

4. I would love it if someone sent me a bin file of a similiar setup to get me close to what I need to do. I realize every car is different, but it would at least get me started. I will have to get some logs at idle and start from there till the weather breaks. Any advise I could get on were to start and what to look for would be great!

Thanks you all for your support and help throughout this project. I feel it has already been a success and hope it helps others out in the future. I will summons my brother for a video clip! I will post as soon as possible! Thanks again and sorry for all the questions. :cheers:

 

Ski

You car is a 89 auto right ? What chip are you currently using ?

Great job in getting everything worked out.

Is the exhaust hooked up yet ?

Vic

 

Nice job! Did you "burn" in the cam yet for a few minutes?

 

Guys,
Burn in the cam....explain? I only let it run for a short time, maybe 3-4 minutes.
Yes the car is an auto. The chip was one that I burned before with the stock slightly modified engine. Fan temps, WOT timing advance, ect. Nothing major. Also the EGR was NOT disabled and that is why I was shocked not to see a SES light. The light does work however becuase while the plug that you disconnect for timing (can't think of the name now, EST or something) it did trip the light. The light went out when wire was connect and car restarted.
Any suggestion are welcome. And please explain the burn in of a cam???? Hope I didn't mess anything up. I don't think I did though. Let me know. I think you are refering to running it at ~2200 for awhile or something but please clearify for me if you could, Scorp. Thanks guys.

Oh yeah and the exhaust is not on, just headers. I would like to keep the sound of the car as close to that as possible, but maybe a bit more quite, what do you all suggest. I now have FLowmasters, how do you think they will sound? Sorry for all the questions I am a bit hyper today. :crazy:


[Modified by ski_dwn_it, 12:18 PM 1/21/2002]

 

[QUOTE]I think you are refering to running it at ~2200 for awhile...[QUOTE]

Yeah, about 2000 RPM for about 20 mins (only 90% sure on that one). It will just let the came get the initial wearing in with the lifters done. You will want to change your oil & filter after that. Then change it again at 500 miles, and at 1000 miles. At that point go back to your normally scheduled times.

 

Scorp,
Hey that wasn't too bad of a memory by me, huh? I will do that tonight if you think it would be best. I'm sure it can't hurt anything. If anyone else if positive, please chime in. Still curious about other questions. Also should the vacuum be off the fuel pressure regulator when setting it? Please advise.
Thanks,
Jesse