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Hacksters daily driver 242.....lq4 and t56

Most people claim the heater core circut needs to flow in order for the T-stat to open correclty. I have kept my heater valve open and mine runs at a constant 200. The truck thermostat doesnt even open untill 195. I don't trust my pos autometer gauge enough to close the heater valve and see what happens and I havent had a laptop in the car since I street tuned it. FYI the stock thermostat can be modded to open earlier. I have also seen people have to loosen the stem pipes on the heads to get the air bled out or even drill a 1/8 hole in the t stat to help it bleed when cold. I did't have any issues with mine but I could have just been lucky. Glad to see its up and running, now the countdown begins untill you want to make it faster.
 
:)Thanks to you both for the input. I have read about the 1/8" hole in the stat and the steam lines. I popped off the steam line when I filled the system and I am very confident that I have all the air out now.

I left the heater valve open as well and it is still open. Might be a different story when the warm weather gets here.

So, came home after thinking about this today. The system needs to have the cap on it to perform correctly. Topped of the expansion tank put the cap on and got to work on other stuff.

Got busy on other stuff. Picked up the alternator plug from a local wrecking yard at lunch today. Got home and wired up the plug to the wire that was already ran.

Ditched the factory fan switch and installed a flex a lite adjustable fan switch into the inlet side of the radiator and mounted the switch behind the grille so the engine bay doesnt show a bunch of aftermarket crap.

Started it all up and ill be damned the the alternator works!! 14.3 volts now instead of 11.5.

So I went ahead and plugged in the OBDII reader to see what kind of gremlins I had created for myself.

One 650 which was faulty MIL (Check engine light) which makes sense since I did not have one wired up yet. So off to radio shack to get a light to pop in the circuit.

There are four other codes in the computer, all of which are related to an automatic transmission so no worries there. Started it back up and the MIL 650 code is all gone...yay!!

Ok, were cooling, were running, were charging, I clearanced the driveline a bit for a little less noise under acceleration.

Now why is this terd idling so high? Lets see, already did the propane on the intake manifold and throttle body and came up with nothing.

Tore into the throttle body a bit. Compared the ls to the truck throttle body and the throttle stop had obviously been messed with so I dialed the throttle stop screw back a little bit and realized how far out it was. Dialed it back until the throttle plate was all closed like it should be.

Fired it up and Ill be damned, it started up and idled just like it should. :)

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Well it made it this far on its own power.

No bad noises, issues temp problems or failures.

Lets see how it does on the freeway.

FAIL...

No 5th gear. Tried once, felt like it went it, let the clutch out and got nothing. Tried it again and again and got the same thing. Got in to go in once out of three or four attempts so I am guessing thats its the syncros in the tranny.

Sixth works just fine though.

Not really up to pulling the tranny out quite yet and pretty bummed as the tranny was a ton of friggin money.

But its on the road and about dialed in for some fun.

Needs some upper adjustable torque rods in the rear as it hops pretty bad with the stock shot bushings.

Sean
 
Its fun to drive even without 5th gear :)

I am pretty focused and try not to let stuff linger, so yeah i dont really hang about much.

I am probably going to have to just drive it like this through the summer if I can, I have too many other things on my to do list....like get a truck and trailer ready for a trip to Davis and get the other car done as well.

Sean
 
Little bit more screwing around with it tonight. Its a bit weird.

It almost seems like the shifter is not quite traveling far enough in 5th gear. If I hold the shifter all the way in 5th gear, you can feel the gear grab and then its just fine. It is not ideal but its liveable for now.

Might screw around with the shifter and the plastic bushing in the shifter.

Took it out and drove it tonight a little bit. Its not too warm here but was close to 70 cooled just fine the entire time out. Runs a little bit higher on the guage than the old volvo did but I did not see any reason to worry.

Stopped over to see Cameron today at IPD. Picked up some goodies. New adjustable track bar and some adjustable uppers to stop the horrible wheel hop and busted up bushings.

Think Ill be able to get those on tomorrow night.

Made a little extender for the shifter so that I could run the stock shifter boot.

Thats it, nothing exciting, no photos.

Need to get the steel wheels off the other 242 and figure out what I am going to do with them just widen them or try and turn them into 17's.

Sean
 
The temp compensated gauge on my 745 comes up to temp, sits still between 180-210 or so, then starts to go up. @$#%ing cheesy crap by OEMs to make their gauge pack just as useless as an idiot light
I imagine the 240 is about the same, and I'd be surprised if your motor ran under 110 with a stock stat.
I zap the motor with an IR pyrometer right by the thermo housing, and know exactly what is happening, then a few other spots just to be sure.
 
FWIW - the stock gauge on my 242 read a little higher than half-way under cruise with a 180F t'stat in the Ford motor and the Volvo sender/gauge. I checked the t'stat in pan of boiling water. Started to open at 178F - fully open by 182F. Knowing that - I experimented with a series of resistors in the wire going from the Volvo sender to the gauge. Found that with the right resistor, the gauge needle dropped back to the midpoint at the 180F operating temp. I set my fan controller at 187F -- and you can now see it all play out on the stock VDO gauge. Under cruise it sits right in the middle. In colder temps (30F) it'll sit just a hair below halfway at full operating temp. Once the car sits long enough for the fan to begin to spool up (around 185F-187F) the gauge sits just a hair above halfway. All of this is confirmed with a second Autometer gauge that's installed under the hood. Operates right at 180F unless fan is needed - then temps are up around 190F.

So - if you know the t'stat temp in the LS motor - you can alter the gauge reading a bit if you want.
 
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I was figuring I would have to do something with some resistors on the feed wire. Our systems are very similar from the sounds of it. My stat opens at 186 f. I have my fan set pretty low right now but as things become more comfortable I will probably raise it up to 190. Its set at 165 right now.

Do you remember what resistors you ended up using on it?

So drove it to work today with no issues then had a meeting across town, drove it over there and then sat in bumper to bumper traffic and no issues. Just need to fix one little power steering leak and button up the two brake lines at the crossmember.

Got a bracket built for the compter and voila....tucked it all under the dash and behind the kickpanel.

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I would consider the swap pretty much done now.

I do have some fresh IPD parts to throw on it this weekend and need to get some wheels cause these tethys are just not doing anything for me or the car.

More to come this weekend. Maybe even a little smoky tire action :omg:

Sean
 
Precisely the same spot that mine 'lives' - behind the passenger kick panel.

With your fan set 20F below your t'stat -- the fan is basically running all the time. I'd want it a good 7-10F above the t'stat set point. It should be off under cruise -- and come on as you slow enough to not have sufficient airflow across the rad.

Is it possible the shift stop is set in a way that it's limiting the throw on the 5th gear movement?
 
M.H. Yount said:
Is it possible the shift stop is set in a way that it's limiting the throw on the 5th gear movement?
Click to expand...

This is what happened to my Hurst shifter in my 244. The set screw vibrated loose and limited the travel into 1-3-5. Reset the bolt and tightened the jam nut and all is well. Could be worth checking out. Nice swap ;-)
 
My recollection was that I ended up using a 10 ohm resistor -- but it was over 10 years ago; I do remember experimenting with 2 or 3 before I found one that worked the way I wanted it to.
 
This is unpossible. Wont work. I'll trade you a SWEET Mercedes Molesto-van for it. WAIT!!! Let's put an LS1 in the van! I'll bring it over next weekend! I'm sure we can pound it out in a few hours.

Seriously though, Hack brought this thing by the shop, and it's NASTY. Great looking, sounds insane, and the install is SO clean. Want.
 
Hackster,

There are several references to this being a Corvette 5.3L engine but would you answer a couple questions.

What model year did it come out of and more specifically to my needs: is the Corvette fuel pressure regulator shown in post #40 a 45psi or 65psi unit? If not a 65psi unit do you know of one.

I have sent a couple days of phone calls and hours searching forums trying to find a 65psi mechanical regulator that connects like yours. Everyone wants to start with the MY, make, model and engine. Computers have eliminated personal knowledge from the automotive industry.

Thanks for the info.
 
TestPoint said:
Hackster,

There are several references to this being a Corvette 5.3L engine but would you answer a couple questions.

What model year did it come out of and more specifically to my needs: is the Corvette fuel pressure regulator shown in post #40 a 45psi or 65psi unit? If not a 65psi unit do you know of one.

I have sent a couple days of phone calls and hours searching forums trying to find a 65psi mechanical regulator that connects like yours. Everyone wants to start with the MY, make, model and engine. Computers have eliminated personal knowledge from the automotive industry.

Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...


Pretty sure it's not a Corvette engine, but most likely a Silverado/Suburban engine as those are the vehicles that GM put the 5.3L LS3 in. The Corvette got the 5.7 LSx motor.
 
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