Mikey's new four-door

[Piece-it pete]

Glad you figured it out!

Pete

[packman]

Get that 351W back in there! Problem solved



Packman

[1987cp]

What's that have to do with modified electricals being wonky?

[packman]

What's that have to do with modified electricals being wonky?

Perhaps your P72 wants its 351W back. Therefore, it will sabotage anything other than that. Seems logical, right.



Packman

[1987cp]

I don't know, with all the annoyances it's given me in the past couple of years ......

[packman]

I do think our vehicles have personalities. Even more so when you add a computer. My Malibu had a personality;pretty sure of that. Once I messed with its look (paint and Cragars SS) it took on a whole different demeanor. Almost antagonistic. I didn't know my Ranger long enough, but my S-10 is a real pisser. It has been abused and it takes it out on me. The CV has a quirky personality too. It won't give my mom any trouble (which is good for its sake), but it will let me know when I'm driving. It's the way it is with our vehicles.


Packman

[torquelover]

Perhaps your P72 wants its 351W back. Therefore, it will sabotage anything other than that. Seems logical, right.



Packman

Seems plausible to me, too. I had intended on stabbing in the 302/AOD combo from my Fox Mustang into that very same car, but I sold them off cheap as they seemed cursed. Even just sitting in the garage on the floor and on the engine stand, they both caused me grief.

Things got worse once I started getting ready to do an EV conversion on it. It was the only way I could keep it on the road legally out here, while still being able to keep the low-end torque I am so fond of. Seemed anytime I got further towards getting it done, I would suffer some crazy physical ailment preventing me from starting on it.

There is one friend of mine that never liked the car, and oddly enough, the only time it ever failed me was when he was either in the car, or directly next to it, so I would say there is something different with that thing. Treat it right and it will take care of you. Treat it wrongly or threaten to neuter it and...

[1987cp]

That really does make it sound like this car has some bizarre personality quirk!


BTW, you'll be glad to hear that I was enjoying very decent torquey response on the way to and from Meijer and church today. The Torkmaster2000 I threw in for a converter does seem to stall lower than the old one, but response is WAY up, and I seem to be noticing the fuel gauge not moving downward quite as quickly.

You think if I show the car a pair of TW190 heads and a single-plane 351 intake, it'll miraculously heal its own rust holes?

[packman]

That really does make it sound like this car has some bizarre personality quirk!


BTW, you'll be glad to hear that I was enjoying very decent torquey response on the way to and from Meijer and church today. The Torkmaster2000 I threw in for a converter does seem to stall lower than the old one, but response is WAY up, and I seem to be noticing the fuel gauge not moving downward quite as quickly.

You think if I show the car a pair of TW190 heads and a single-plane 351 intake, it'll miraculously heal its own rust holes?

Oatmeal m8




Packman

[johnunit]

I think the voodoo cargods inhabiting your car would be most pleased by a pair of TW190s. A sacrificial offering of airflow wrapped in aluminum.

[1987cp]

New p/s muffler hanger installed. Old bit was a small piece of steel, bent and twisted to attach the U-bolt to the factory hanger, and its demise was what was responsible for me getting bashed in the eye while disconnecting the exhaust. New hanger is just a piece of that multi-perforated 90-degree hanger strip. A couple of notches to fit the U-bolt and to clear the exhaust tube, and it bolted up nicely. I went to some extra trouble removing a bit of old metal that'd gotten welded to the factory hanger, took a bit of extra time and annoyance, but it was worth it!

[packman]

Tailpipes that don't swing around FTW



Packman

[1987cp]

Absolutely.


Now I guess I'm back to the same problem I'd been whining about recently with this same transmission when it was in the two-door: reluctance to shift! Today with things hot it was giving me Second by ~37mph and Third by ~57 or so, which is annoying but not really-stupidly so, but I took it up to an indicated 80 (probably more like 75) on the freeway and never got Fourth. Definitely going to have to see about getting that stupid valvebody swapped out. Transferring the TransGo-equipped VB that had been in this car should be an option, but watching the install vid revealed that their kit includes an orifice restrictor above the VB, so I'd have to either successfully extract that from the old tranny or else see if TransGo can send me a new one. Also, they have springs that go under the 2-3 accumulator piston, which on this transmission was the one I wasn't able to get out whilst installing the B&M upgrades. Maybe it'd really be that much simpler to transfer the upgraded bits to the other stock VB I've got and hope it's less sticky!


One weird bit of annoyingness is that when this transmission was in the two-door earlier this month, I could get it to shift into Second at speeds as low as 30mph by shuffling the selector to "1" and back. No longer does that, though the only changes are 2-3 quarts of new ATF and a different (but by all appearances equivalent) torque converter. Goofy.

[86VickyLX]

It sounds like some kind of TV valve/governor problem to me.

[1987cp]

It sounds like some kind of TV valve/governor problem to me.

Mm-hmm. The question is, which? I've currently got extras of both that I could swap in. Governor sure seems a lot easier ...

I noticed today that it's knocking off zero-throttle shifts right at 4000rpm, which seems to be pretty consistent for both the 1-2 shift and 3-4. I wonder ... TransGo sez that for best results you should use their HIREV kit only alongside their shift reprogramming kit ... I don't suppose the shift kit contains a provision that prevents late shifting when the HIREV is installed? Might have to ask about that on ClickClick, provided they don't think I'm too much of an idiot after announcing that my stupid klacking noise was actually coming from the '81's valvetrain!


Today I spent a little time fiddling with alignment on this car, finally making full use of my nice $200 home alignment measurement kit. Final measurements are 0 camber right and left, -6 deg. caster left and -5.5 deg. right, and zero toe. I think I've also gotten rid of my recent steering-wheel-uncentered-itis, but confirmation of that will have to await a test drive.