7/14/97 SC swap saga update

Now two months after the last report, here's the present state of frustration:

EXHAUST - I'm leaving the exhaust with the Super Turbos, as I can't afford the time nor money to go further. My next exhaust step will be headers of proper flow and design.

VIBRATION - A vibration started a year ago when I had the rear end gears changed from 3.27 to 3.73. I had called Ramjet the same day noting it. They said no way it's the rear end. I've spent a year trying to solve it. Strangely, changing torque converters made it HUGELY worse. Perhaps a weight had come off the driveshaft.

Since last May I took the car to Hooper's Rear Ends, their tech said my vibration was driveshaft. I them went back to Ramjet, which did the rear end install. Roger said also that he felt it was driveshaft. I then went back to Wenco, and Mike built yet ANOTHER driveshaft (from scratch), this time one inch shorter. Just before we were to install it, Mike called and picked it up, saying his guy may not have balanced it properly. Before installing it, I took the shaft to General Driveshaft (Kent) in Monrovia , and it was .022” out in the center, and not perfectly balanced. Kent corrected it to .005”, balanced it, charged me $35, and we reinstalled it. The vibration is now back to the original level. Oddly, it still does it under light throttle acceleration, disappears on deceleration in gear, and now only occurs in neutral from 73 down to 60 while coasting.

So it has NOT been the torque converter, driveshaft, U-joints, engine mounts, or pan hitting the crossmember, nor the exhaust touching the steering shaft. After a year and pushing $1300, we're down to half shafts or possibly a bad ring gear.

COOLING - And not to be outdone, I have installed FOUR Perma Cool 1000 CFM fans on the radiator. It does not cool enough. But it does quiet the motor nicely. I have SIX fans, including the two pushers on the front of the AC radiator. One last tweak to do: I'll pull off the fans and set foam weatherstripping on the shrouds to insure a perfect seal. MAYBE that's the culprit. I have not yet installed the new oil or trans coolers, and won't until I solve the radiator situation.

ELECTRICAL DRAW - AND, so as not to let me get the least bit complacent, I've developed a killer electrical draw that wipes out the battery overnight. It's NOT the fans, which are thermostatically controlled. I've killed my small battery charger, tried two batteries, and can't find the source as yet.

STEERING - Finally, the steering has gone even goofier now. The rack was rebuilt 3 months ago, and the steering degenerated back to pumping while turning right, and losing most of the power feature at slow speeds when warm. I replaced the rack (warranty), and it was good again for 24 hours. Now it's arm-strong power steering once it gets hot and pumping as usual.

So the vibration, cooling, and steering problems are NOT solved, after a year of trying. Any ideas?

7/31/97-more update

ELECTRICAL - Took it back to Robichau. The starter solenoid had a draw, and was replaced. The hifi has about a 6-AMP draw. Residual draw with nothing on is about 15 milliamps, WAY below acceptable, yet it still kills battery overnight, even with hifi disconnected. There may be a short in the battery line to the hifi. An 80-amp fuse/relay in the power distribution box was replaced, but there was zero power to the interior panel and ignition. I happened to be standing there and noticed 3 guys swarming the car, trying to solve the no power problem, and noticed the NEW fuse/relay was blown!

COOLING-Kevin pulled the thermostat and noticed the intake gasket was blocking about 3/4 of the opening from the head to the manifold. Barrington apparently forgot to cut OUT the interior portion (the gaket is made for two different configurations). Also, there is evidence of air/oil being sucked from the valley. It's been idling lousy, maybe that's part of it. PermaCool sent me another fan, and I'll replace the defective motor when I get the car back.

LIFTER NOISE - Since the manifold is off, I thought I'd address the strange noise, purported by some to be a bad lifter(s), that has been there since the moment the new engine from Barrington was first fired. Isky wants to physically have the lifters to check them, and I don't have that kind of time. It would cost half the price of new ones just for gas for the dually to drive to Carson with the lifters, plus half a day! We're just putting a new set in to see if anything improves. Probably another pathetic waste of yet another $100.

VIBRATION-Kevin has driven the car for 3 days, and feels it must be the rear end. I'll go back to Ramjet next week and have them disassemble it and look for a chipped ring gear or SOMETHING!.

POWER STEERING (or lack of it) - The power steering pump was replaced, and it didn't help. The pump was taken off and given back to the rebuilder, who felt they had made a mistake on it. We're waiting.

GENERAL OVERVIEW - It seems to be nearly impossible to find really qualified people, no matter how much I pay or who recommends them. I've done nothing but first class solutions to everything, not once looked for a cheap or less than ideal solution to anything, purchased the finest equipment I can find...and still this aggravating crap continues.