MoabB2's Body Restoration Thread

[Premier]

No, there is no way for me to make it to Moab this year. Plus my truck is still in a million pieces. I either need to fix it the ret of the way, or sell it and find something else. It looks like your a ways west of big cottonwood(holliday?).. I used to live at the mouth of little but now im in south jordan.

 

[MoabB2]

Close, Sandy...right on the border of Cottonwood Heights. Brighton HS. You?

 

[Premier]

I went to brighton. I used to live at the mouth of little cottonwood near la caille just above wasatch. Now im out on 9800s and 3600w just east of bangater. Here is a view from my house looking to the south east. I miss all the trees and stuff up in that area. So is it closer to willow creek?

 

[zainyD]

MoabB2, by far the best BII I have ever seen. I like everything about it other than the axles, which, will be changed soon. Where did you get the FX4 graphics made?

 

[MoabB2]

Thanks Zainy. Yeah, I can't get rid of those stock axles fast enough. I have no $$ right now though!

I've got a lot a compliments on the FX4 decals. I found a guy on Ebay, in like Conecticut or something. After quite a few rough drafts we were able to narrow down the exact design I wanted. I wanted them to look as factory as possible. I think they turned out great.

 

[410Fortune]

Your rear license plate wont last long hanging down below the bumper like that

Looking great! Hopefully your alignment and engine issues are coming along as well?

 

[MoabB2]

Your rear license plate wont last long hanging down below the bumper like that

Looking great! Hopefully your alignment and engine issues are coming along as well?

HAHA! Don't worry about that, I've bent that sucker in half a couple of times. it bends right back, how bout that.

I'll be getting the gas can carrier for my bumper soon, and that should take it up out of the way.

The alignment and engine issues are still a mystery and I have no clue where to go from here. For the alignment I think my only option is to get rid of the spacers and deal with the rake.

For the engine, I have no clue what the problem is, or why it is backfiring. I was told all my fuel trim levels are within spec. I don't have a CEL. Don't know if I have stored codes. I have a lot of condensation accumulating in my exhaust. Not sure what that means or if it is related. I wonder if the only option to get it running right is a custom tune.

 

[410Fortune]

without a CEL its likely ignition or a mechanical issue with your rebuilt 5.0L

Did you check the firing order?


Alignment should be possible since you have 2.25 degree shims and 0.7 + camber, 2.75 degree shims WILL fix it, the alignment place you use obviously has no idea what to do with a TTB Because in the pics your shims are turned OUT where they should be turned IN, having the ball joint stud straight up and down is optimum, but pointing it towards the back of the truck and towards the engine should correct your camber and help your caster. Phone book is your best bet for this, and then I would go back to Big O and demand my $$$ back

 

[MoabB2]

I went back to Big O, and put up a big fuss. I went back in the shop with them and watched them do the alignment. He walked me through all the computer steps and showed me what would happen if he turned the shims. They were both at the optimal positions.

He claimed that if we used a larger shim, it would correct camber but throw off caster or toe or something.

Haven't checked the firing order. But it has always done this.

 

[410Fortune]

caster is set by lift height and the radius arms, it is only slightly adjustable at the shims and takes a back seat to the camber setting

if you are .7 degrees + then the 2.75 shims will correct it, also my truck daily driven is setup with exactly 1 degree of + camber on each front tire, it tracks perfectly straight and this is the optimum setup for y truck according to my alignment guy (best there is IMO) But with my steering, custom beams, and extended radius arms I dont have the bump steer you do, I used to I drove my BII with massive bump steer for years and its down right scary compared to how the suspension cycles these days

I say check the firing order because your wires may have been in the wrong spots since day 1 of your engine conversion and the mistake never caught? It's an easy check and fix.

If it was an emissions issue I would expect to see a CEL (EGR, 02 sensor, etc)

Backfiring in the intake points to a mechanical issue with the valves possibly? I am not sure , this is not my area of expertise, but I can tell you many times when an engine is rebuilt, something internally can go wrong......sometimes a rebuild = MASSIVE HEADACHE I have my fingers crossed but its not looking good. I suggest getting it into the hands of somebody who knows all about the GT-40p engine

Your exhaust will not effect this, heck I can drive either of my trucks all day long with open headers, they will just lack a bunch of torque

 

[MoabB2]

My engine has never been rebuilt...I would approximate 70k on it.

It really starts to do it badly when:
Freeway speeds, in overdrive but at a low RPM, under a load, say a small incline. Before it downshifts, it will kinda bog and backfire a bunch. Once it down shifts it usually will just rev higher and stop the backfiring.

 

[RatStang]

without a CEL its likely ignition or a mechanical issue with your rebuilt 5.0L

Did you check the firing order?


Alignment should be possible since you have 2.25 degree shims and 0.7 + camber, 2.75 degree shims WILL fix it, the alignment place you use obviously has no idea what to do with a TTB Because in the pics your shims are turned OUT where they should be turned IN, having the ball joint stud straight up and down is optimum, but pointing it towards the back of the truck and towards the engine should correct your camber and help your caster. Phone book is your best bet for this, and then I would go back to Big O and demand my $$$ back

See that is the exact same thing I thought.
To me it has sounded like Big O only had 2.25 degree shims and they were just trying to make a sell.

Josh going to need the address, and let me know what you want me to do around your decals...

Scratch that Just got your Email, never mind

Yes your Firing order was checked Multiple times, I have no doubt it is correct.
I don't think that is your problem, but a simple check wont hurt.


Richard

 

[Premier]

Hey call Russ. He has his own alignment shop, and all the VW Audi and tuner guys go there because he does a really good job, and is very good price. Its on 1915s redwood road.

Russ Pyle 973-7439

 

[MoabB2]

Rat, why do you think the battery isn't charging?

 

[410Fortune]

okay sorry I thought you had the long block rebuilt.

IS the computer getting a signal from the vehicle speed sensor?
It should NOT go into overdrive under 45 mph, without the speed sensor hook up this can happen.

Your issue may be the torque converter itself or the transmission?
Again not my area of expertise just throwing ideas around

 

[MoabB2]

I just got off the phone with Heath, you know him if you are local...

I explained to him the condition, he said popping in the intake is a lean condition. That is really what I think it is.

Now, why am I lean? I have no clue.

I don't think it has to do with the vss. That is only at speeds higher than 45 mph. My speedo is way off however, it reads very low with the big tires. it'll only hit OD when my speedo hits 45 or so.

I wonder if it has to do with my gearing????? Is the actual load created by the larger tires throwing the computer off by what it 'think's the load should be? So the load is actually greater than what the computer thinks it should be, causing a lean condition...?

Anyway, Heath gets the truck on Tuesday. He will be sealing up any exhaust leaks, resolving the lean condition and possibly correcting the issue with a SCT Xcal2 custom tune on the dyno. I have some free dyno runs at his shop that I need to use, so hopefully he can use the dyno to track down my issues.

I am so tired of this motor not running right. It will be 2 years next month since I started the swap, and many thousands of dollars later, I still can't get the thing to run. And then the damn alignment has got me all frustrated too. AHHHH, I just want to be able to drive the sucker.

 

[410Fortune]

okay lean conditon can be intake leaks I know that much. I would check your plumbing, intake gaskets, hoses, etc and make sure all the ports on the upper intake that need to be connected are

The computer needs an accurate VSS reading just like any other sensor it is heavily dependant upon the VSS for controlling the transmission. You need to do the math and get the correct speedo gear (close as possible) to get your speedo close to correct, this is important to your conversion

 

[MoabB2]

Where does this speedo gear go?

Wow, I can search!

 

[MoabB2]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182172&highlight=speedo+gear

 

[MoabB2]

Ok, here's a little update. I've been rushing to get it all taken care of before we leave to Cali this Friday. I need to have her all ready to go and on the trailer Thursday night.

She sat at the dyno shop for a full week. They finally go around to looking at it. First, they found a huge exhaust leak on the driver side header. The TM header design is a two part design, and the gasket sealing the two parts was completely toast. The two parts weren't tight causing the gasket to fail.

Got that fixed and threw on the scanner. No codes, other than my missing fuel tank sensor. Fuel trims looked perfect...everything was perfect! We thought we were all done. So I take it for spin around the parking lot. First few passes are just fine so I turn around to pull back in the shop and the popping starts again. Heath, the dyno tech, heard it this time and once again said it was running lean.

So, on the dyno it goes so that he can log some real time data. He finds that cylinder 4 is running rich, which in turn is causing the computer to compensate by cutting the fuel, causing it to run lean. He suspected a faulty injector. But later found that the spark plug wire to that cylinder was chaffed in 4 different places. So #4 was getting an intermittant spark, causing it to run rich!

Wow, what a difference in power! It actually runs good, I can't even believe it.

So, I told him to hold off on the Xcal2 for now. I want to get used to how it runs now and make sure it stays running good for a while, and then get the Xcal.


Now for the other drama, the alignment. It's at the shop right now so I don't really have an update. I tried to pull the coil spacers off this weekend, but apparently I didn't have the necessary tools, I couldn't loosen the nut holding the spacers down. So the shop is taking off the spacers and realigning it. I may even need new shims all over again. What a waste, friggin Dana 28. There is no way it is driveable how it currently sits though.