the "endless bummer"...

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Re: my future wifes new ride--still under $4500.00 total !

Postby thefatguy » Mon Jul 25, 2011 5:32 am

well, no new progress to report--other than finding a factory dual-gate shifter from a 1970 grand prix sj 455, hope i can make it work and look somewhat decent. we shall see, i suppose. i still need to get this d*mn car in for exhaust, been getting RETARDED quotes ( in the $500.00-$850.00 range...and i have my own mufflers and 40ft of 2.5 aluminized tubing already. F%^CKERS !!!!! but i digress....) i may end up stuffing factory v8 monza exhaust manifolds on it just because i could buy pre-made downtubes / headpipes and cram on a straight pipe & mufflers from there for less than a few hundred.hey, the fit on the sanderson shortys sucked anyway- altho im sure it will kill 20-30hp, its not like you cant afford that in one of these cars......and it would definately help in the 'public relations' department with my neighbors, just think--i would be known as 'the guy who put mufflers on BEFORE breaking in the 280/485/106 cam'. instead of 'that a$$hole nextdoor' as i am known now ! my next project will probably be running the battery to the trunk and wiring up the fans and gauges i think. anyone know where i can get a 50-70 amp relay that uses regular push-on terminals for the fans ? :th:
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Re: my future wifes new ride--still under $4500.00 total !

Postby Rickracer » Mon Jul 25, 2011 7:33 am

P/M sent, 8)
Rickracer
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Re: my future wifes new ride--still under $4500.00 total !

Postby thefatguy » Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:58 am

hah hah, wish i could change the headline on this post--im up around $6000.00 now, i think...and it still aint done ! pulled off the old gas tank ( it had a hole in it. ) and YAY, i just made 10 more problems to fix ! typical. i think now we are going to cut out the floor and move the new tank to the center so we have room for a muffler on each side like the old vettes do. that will also get rid of some of the rust...now , if i could just figure out what to do about a fuel pump and wiring for it, as well as getting the float to read tank level.... ah, the "joy" of working on an h-body...... :censored: :bang:
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my future wifes new ride--Up Around 6000.00 total now.

Postby Brian » Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:18 am

thefatguy wrote:hah hah, wish i could change the headline on this post--im up around $6000.00 now, i think...


Just go back and edit your first post. That will allow you to change your thread title.
Then came the churches, then came the schools
Then came the lawyers, then came the rules
Then came the trains and the trucks with their loads
And the dirty old track was the Telegraph Road.
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby thefatguy » Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:23 am

thanks for the info brian- as you can see, i took your advice. not much going on here on the astre, kinda lost my way financially for a little bit so ALL the projects are on the back burner, concentrating on the important things...like rent, and food.... damn economy. i may have to go find a "real job" shortly. ( i own and operate my own tow truck, but business is so slow now that its just not cutting it.) :shock:
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby HI WINDING MONZA » Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:39 pm

thefatguy wrote: ( i own and operate my own tow truck, but business is so slow now that its just not cutting it.) :shock:



Try being in the construction business and suffering for the past 3 years..........I have :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Doug in Az 8)
My Old Monza now lives in Arizona with its newest owner.

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1992 Pontiac Sunbird Coupe 2.0 OHC MPFI I4 TH125C 157k miles
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby thefatguy » Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:30 am

well, still just dying over here financially--havent made more than $200.00 a week for about 4 months now, getting SCARY...anyway i have cut out the trunk floor and started relocating the gastank to the middle so we can run a muffler on each side . ( and because cutting out the floor was FREE hah hah hah...) and the damn vette lost reverse so i gotta do a trans swap--AAAAARGH!!!!! :bang:
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby thefatguy » Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:46 pm

ok, some updates--gas tank is mounted in the center of the rear floor now, i just gotta finish the sheetmetal work. ( cant tell with the false floor installed--but i know so i gotta finish it. damn OCD.....) gonna fill in the stock fillerneck location on rr fender so to fill gas you gonna have to lift hatch, lift false floor, fill thru neck there. got the gauge pack mounted in dash, looks good-of course i will throw up some more pics when i get em. and we just ripped the 350/350 outta the vette, going to a 454...a nasty one. still in build proces, but looking like 9.75:1 comp, 289/595/106,roller top end,expecting anywhere from 450-550hp....should be fun. trying to do it all on a shoestring budget .
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby thefatguy » Fri Feb 03, 2012 3:25 pm

ok, dualgate shifter wont work without heavy mods, think its worth too much so its gonna be the B-n-M proratchet , got it installed looks wicked with the aluminum cover painted neon pink...wait , did i just say that ? anyway, also hung the shift light and mini tach under the dash ahead of shifter, wired the gauges together so i just gotta connect 6 dropdown wires ( 1 power, 1 ground, 3 pick-ups for the oil pressure/water temp senders and tach/shiftlight, and 1 for gauge lights.) today gonna see about mounting rear shocks and driveshaft...oh, we getting CLOSE here ! still gotta run transcooler, exhaust, and fan switch but thats about it and shes ready to fire up ! :th:
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby BadBowtie » Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:40 pm

thefatguy wrote:we getting CLOSE here ! still gotta run transcooler, exhaust, and fan switch but thats about it and shes ready to fire up !


Cant wait! :burn:
James

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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby thefatguy » Mon Feb 13, 2012 7:16 pm

dang it...everything on hold for the next 3 weeks, im on "rat patrol"--my mom is flying out to the mainland,and GUESS who the lucky guy is who gets to take care of and feed her 3 fricken 10lb ratdogs on maui is ? ( she cant possibly fly them here--they dont like to travel, you know...)....yep, i get to leave the day before valentines, and i will be gone for 3 weeks-putting my life, business,everything on hold . paz and the boys arent to thrilled with this either. gee, good thing my brother is the "good son" in this family and i am the a$$h*le, huh ? sheesh... :rolleyes: i will get some more pictures and update when i get back. i need to : put mufflers on.run 2 transcooler lines. install 1 switch for electric fans.finish tinning the trunk floor. cram in the driveshaft.hide a few loose wires up under the dash.and drop gas,water, and oil in this thing. thats it.except for the 'fubar' factor, of course....
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby thefatguy » Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:40 am

its alive ! its ALIVE !!! ahah hah hah hah hah !!!!!!!!!! :dance: after a year and a half of setback after setback, fixing one problem and making 5 more,bad parts,bad machine work, bad service, bad attitudes, bad everything---we got her started and ran in the cam today. in a nutshell, it. fricken. THUNDERS ! the gear driven isky 280-495-106 mega hydraulic sounds so nasty, rumpity rumpity rump !!! still gotta do more work so shes drivable, then the long tedious process of getting it legal ( insurance first,then reconstruction,then safety, then registered, then BACK for safety again, etc....good thing we own a tow truck, huh ? ) with the DMV....*sigh* so close, yet so far away....but it runs !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby thefatguy » Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:39 pm

ok, so been doing a little tuning on the motor, and it seems to me that its starving--we might need a bigger carb . paz crunched the numbers and came up with around 570 cfm, which means the 600 SHOULD be ok in theory. but we have the fuel bleeds at 3.75 turns out for it to idle. seems excessive to me, usually 2.5 turns or less on most small blocks. even big blocks usually less the 3.25 turns out. the formula used to decide carb size ( besides plain old common sense ) was 333 cubic inches x 6000rpm max, divided by 3456. the motor is gnarly, though--10.75 compression, 280-495-106 cam,torker II intake, 2.02 valve camelback heads with a hot street/strip port and polish, roller top end. maybe we need to step to a 650 but edelbrock dont make one. the next size up is a 750, but i think thats just too big. any thoughts ? thanks all....
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby cjbiagi » Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:24 pm

You probably have the idle set up so high because of the big cam that you are not running on the idle circuit any more. That's why the screws have such little effect. The throttles blades are probably past the idle transfer slots so your idle circuit is basically bypassed. Drilling some small holes in the throttle blades usually will help a situation like that. The holes will pass more air allowing you to close the idle back down to where it should be. Oh, by the way Edelbrock does indeed make a 650, I have one on my car. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Edelbrock-Thund ... es&vxp=mtr
Clyde.........75 Monza 2+2
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Re: the "endless bummer"...

Postby thefatguy » Tue Mar 27, 2012 2:04 pm

cjbiagi wrote:You probably have the idle set up so high because of the big cam that you are not running on the idle circuit any more. That's why the screws have such little effect. The throttles blades are probably past the idle transfer slots so your idle circuit is basically bypassed. Drilling some small holes in the throttle blades usually will help a situation like that. The holes will pass more air allowing you to close the idle back down to where it should be. Oh, by the way Edelbrock does indeed make a 650, I have one on my car. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Edelbrock-Thund ... es&vxp=mtr



yah, done the drill holes thing before--but the idle is at 850rpm, and to set it we went from went throttle completely closed , to turn idle screw in just till it touches the throttle lever. it took 1.25 turns to achieve the 850rpm idle, i dont think we went past the transfer slots--when we pulled the carb off and turned it upside down ( nice---gas everywhere. DOH ! ) the throttle plates are about 2/3 of the way though the slots. maybe theres too much 'signal' at the carb due to high effeciency and smallish carb size ? dunno....never saw the thunder series carb, how do you like it ? i love the regular edelbrocks, "jet em, set em, forget em ".....even the 800eps we run on the big blocks are awesome. :th:
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