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95naSTA's Bonneville Progression


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Seeing stuff like this amazes me, I wish I had the tools and know-how to do something this involved.

And yes, very colourful. Too bad it has to be covered. :(

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Seeing stuff like this amazes me, I wish I had the tools and know-how to do something this involved.

And yes, very colourful. Too bad it has to be covered. :bacon:

^^^ this.

:( teach me :)

^^^ that. or you may work on my Ecotec since you did want to work on one. :D:P

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Thanks guys. This stuff really isn't that bad. Cleanliness is just real important as are the torque specs from the lower intake down.

Way back there was a L67 cam install write up that I used for my first head/cam swap (04'). I think it was called Eric Bruno's Cam install guide. It was very well detailed and illustrated. I must have read that thing 30 times before I tore everything apart. I really had barely a clue what I was doing.. But I started Saturday morning, finished Sunday night (worked straight), and drove the car to work Monday. I think I put 80k on that cam too. But, that's how I learned.

Yep, Ed. Just revised 1.6s. I got them for a decent price and said to myself, at this point, why not. It might rev a tiny bit happier with those and the Ti retainers but I don't expect any measureable gains.

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The GP still needs some gaskets replaced (lower intake manifold and head gaskets) so I may eventually tear it down that far and see if I can put it together again. :cheers:

But again, wow.

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I know next to nothing about engine internals but when my dad and I start the Ecotec swap on the Fiero next year, I know I'll be jump-starting my knowledge base!

One thing I can say: engines are beautiful. I want to photograph the heck out of mine while I'm putting it together.

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Been about a year since I have checked in and all I can say is wow. Engine bay looks incredible man and loving the battery set up. Sucks about the motor but you will get it healthy and get this beast running soon! Keep it up!

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Thanks!

IT's ALivE!

I started it up around 6:30 or so tonight.

Friday I pulled the old engine and swapped over the ported rear cover, powder coated flex plate, knock sensors, oil level, sealed up the oil pan, A/C compressor, and starter. I also JB welded the problem fuel rail fittings.

Then I took a day off..

Today I popped the engine in, completed all the btch work associated, tired to start it up for about 20 mins, checked spark and fuel, had both?, swapped to another PCM and it sounded better and then started. Wooooo.

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Don’t mind the messiness. The goal of the day was to get it running and bled.

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Thanks guys.

Ed,

I'm running an eprom emulator with TunerCATs RT. So I can tune on the fly. No burning of chips or flashing downtime needed.

I've got EFI Live v4 for logging and an Actron for quick checks.

The PCM in the car now is the stock 240k mile PCM. I swapped to a different one back before I knew what happened with the old engine. I'm not convinced that PCM is toast though. I know they're painted as crap but I've never had a problem with them in both 95s I've owned.

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Thanks guys.

Ed,

I'm running an eprom emulator with TunerCATs RT. So I can tune on the fly. No burning of chips or flashing downtime needed.

I've got EFI Live v4 for logging and an Actron for quick checks.

The PCM in the car now is the stock 240k mile PCM. I swapped to a different one back before I knew what happened with the old engine. I'm not convinced that PCM is toast though. I know they're painted as crap but I've never had a problem with them in both 95s I've owned.

Gotcha, that makes sense.

I just know there have been quite a few 94-95's that have had PCM's replaced, lol.

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Some good and bad happened today.

The bad was:

It took me 20 mins to get the Bonnie started due to a dead optima and not enough fuel

The hood latch was gunked up enough to where the hood would shut, feel shut but could still pop back open.. and it did while I was driving at 35ish.. the safety latch bracket is still in my painter buddy's possession.. ef em ell. The hood kinked a little on both sides half way up the length which is pretty lame but I bent it back and it's ultimately repairable. Remember that the hood is already damaged from my strut poking it during the accident that put the car out of commission in the first place.. So, I guess it's not terrible..

The Good:

The car is now inspected. So, no more worry about it sitting on the street. And since it sat for a year it was emissions exempt. lol.

With the whole not starting thing.. I had a hunch and added fuel via tuning and I was able to get the car started.

A buddy had a civic overflow bottle laying around for free and had a bracket that wasn't for it but will work to mount the bottle in my fender. So that was a freebie.

And I got a rebuildable 01 VLSD trans for the i30 for $50. He didn't want anything but I couldn't not hook him up with a little $$.

The car runs and drives good for the most part. It needs a tune bad and also needs a flex section in the exhaust so I didn't really get on it. The midrange is definitely beefy though.. I'm also pretty siked the 3.43 trans I rebuild and programmed in.. It goes into all gears no problem.

I lowered the front a little at some point during this whole evolution and there are no noticeable axle vibes. I think the fresh engine mounts might have something to do with that.

And it was cool to see the look on people's faces when I popped the hood. :shock: What the hellllllll??? lol.

I'm going to try and squeeze in what I can but this month is a busy one.

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I used the stock diff from my old 95 4t60-e (3.06) with 37/33's.

Mini update.

I got the coolant overflow hidden/mounted/connected.

It's only one phillips head screw away from checking the level, which is worth it to me.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I messed around with the tune a little more and I got the lower load fuel trims in an acceptable range. I can't really get on it since there is no flex section in the exhaust yet but the midrange definitely feels healthy and there's no knock. (I'm in the 10.5ish range CR on an iron head) Although it is cold, it has no trouble keeping cool at idle too.

Another thing on the horizon is adding a coolant level sensor to that overflow tank. It was an option on my car so it'll just involve adding a wire to the PCM.

I really miss driving this thing. It's lower than the i30 and the ride is still much nicer. I was messing around with it the other day and just stopped what I was doing and drove it around for the hell of it.

Hopefully soon I can get the spare engine wiring harness in the car and start going to town on it, relocating the ICM/coils, and tucking the spark plug wires.

I'm still on the fence about doing the exhaust. I typically hate doing exhaust work but I've always been doing it in the street or driveway.. I got the clear to use a lift at my buddies shop. It'll be full stainless: v-banded right after the front Y, cutout, cat, res, large muffler, and dual tips of some kind. At that point I can hook up my dual widebands to really see what's up.

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Since you have the access to the lift I'd definitely take advantage of it! Making the exhaust work that much less painful would be worth it to get what you really want.

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  • Founders

Since you have the access to the lift I'd definitely take advantage of it! Making the exhaust work that much less painful would be worth it to get what you really want.

:pop_corn:

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Since you have the access to the lift I'd definitely take advantage of it! Making the exhaust work that much less painful would be worth it to get what you really want.

this!!!

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