metaruss

The car has been sitting for a very long time.  I started working on the rust on the left, front fender a few weeks ago.  The Shelby Dodge Automobile Convention 10 is coming up in July 8, so I am starting a campaign to get the car ready.  I need to get the power window and door lock motors installed, as well as the power mirrors (the doors are already taken apart).  I also need to replace the weather stripping along the bottom of the door windows.  Mechanically, the car is sound.  I would like to have air conditioning for the trip as well, so I will pull the A/C heater unit to flush the crud out of the evaporator coil (the compressor was rusting, internally).  I will replace the plugged heater core while it is out.

I’ve signed-up for all the events, which includes a performance driving school and drag racing.  I won’t bother with the car shows.  🙂  The car is going to take a beating, so hopefully it will be able to make the trip there and back.

I installed the Conquest intercooler into the Shadow with some clever plumbing to keep the BOV.  I upped to boost to 14psi and the car makes lots of power now.  Performance-wise, the car is right where I want it.

I also dumped the disintegrating 1988 shifter and replaced it with the ’87 unit from the CSX (which has an A568 now).  I also moved the pivot point up on the shifter arm for the cable.  This shortened the throw of the shifter considerably.  I made new end boots for the cables out of bicycle tire tubes and flushed the cables with 100% silicone lubricant.  I also tightened all the nuts on the shifter itself.  All of this has made the most solid shifter I have ever felt.  It actually feels like a rod shifter.  I adjusted the cables to bring the shifter planes as close to the driver as possible.  If this tranny didn’t shift like a truck tranny, the whole setup would be awesome.  Now the A568 feels more sloppy than the A520.  🙂

I picked-up a used hood from MoparChad to replace the bent one.  I also got some power window and door lock motors off of the same car.  The parts car was pretty rough, otherwise.  The Shadow looks a lot better now, though the “new” hood needs quite a bit of work…at least it’s straight.

Well I took the old hood off, threw it in the grass, and started jumping on it to straighten it out.  After that and some work with pliers and wooden block, the hood was straight enough to close.  The Shadow is now back as my driver, though it looks pretty shabby from the front.

A few more weird things happened lately.  First the long, steel fuel line on the fuel rail cracked at one of the bends, causing the rail to depressurize when I accelerated.  Then I started getting very bad hesitation.  it got to the point where the engine would not even want to run under any load, then would suddenly be fine.  Turned out to be the ignition coil mounting bolt, which was stripped out.  Now all is good and the car is flying.

The next thing that needs attention is the tires.  There appears to be flat spots from a 4 wheel lockup (panic stop).  It has been doing this since I bought the car.  I’m not sure if the tires can be salvaged, but the vibration is very annoying at high speeds.

This past weekend I straightened out the subchassis and fixed a few broken items.  These include the oil pressure light switch and the oil filter, which got whacked by the radiator fan motor and shroud when the subchassis got pushed back.  Our handy-dandy hydraulic kit saved the day again.  It’s just a basic narrow cylinder with various extensions and ends so that you can stick it anywhere.  Works great for separating ball joints, too.  Anyway, I got the subchassis back where it should be and straightened out.  I also fixed the grille brackets, headlight bowl/bezel, and fender.  What is left of the grill is back in place and the headlights will be fixed as soon as I get some new alignment screws.  If I can’t find a grille, I may just patch-up this one and use it.  It doesn’t look great, but it will get me through the winter.  What I really need is a hood…I cannot save this one.

In light of the hood bulge rarity, I may just put the T1 radiator from the CSX back into the Shadow and either convert back to T1 or use the Conquest  intercooler setup.  This would put the CSX back the way it was and allow me to use a flat hood on the Shadow.  I like the look of the bulge hood, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.  I’m not sure that the Conquest intercooler is any better than the stock T2 unit.  It’s longer than the T2, but doesn’t have any fins in the tubes (they are just flattened round tubes).  Flow may be a bit better (maybe), but I think efficiency is questionable.  Also, the CSX doesn’t have A/C, so air flow to the stock IC in the stock location should be better than it is on the Shadow.  I’m probably going to keep the BOV on the Shadow since it has the little Mitsu turbo.

For the first time in a while, less bad news.  🙂  I finally got the Conquest intercooler installed last week.  I found some 90-degree 2-1/8″ I.D. hoses for the connections under the front cross member.  I found them at Trak Auto for some kind of Ford van.  The rest of the plumbing consists of mandrel-bent and straight exhaust pipe.  The turbo-to-intercooler run is two 2″ mandrel bent pipes and some straight hose.  The intercooler-to-throttle body run is two 2-1/4″ mandrel bent pipes and a long 2-1/4″ straight pipe.  All connections were made with bits of truck radiator hose and many stainless hose clamps.

Now that this car is intercooled, I return boost control back to the logic module.  So now the 16psi ND computer can do it’s thing.  No more pinging at 13psi either.  While I was at it, I relocated the MAP sensor to the firewall right next to the brake booster.  I made an aluminum heat shield to protect the sensor and solenoids from the turbo.  I took great care in replumbing the vacuum lines such that critical sensors will not be effected by other vacuum devices.  These include the MAP sensor and fuel pressure regulator.  Now the funky fuel curve problem is gone.

The setup worked great for about a week until I started getting problems where the engine would QUIT just as I would start to accelerate.  I also noticed an erratic idle speed.  I have have always had a code 15, so I just unplugged the frickin’ speed/distance sensor–problem solved.  I don’t have cruise, an automatic, or electronic speedometer, so the usefulness of the sensor is questionable anyway.

In other news, the piston slap is as bad as ever and the engine is consuming oil, though I don’t notice any smoke or smell at all, nor do I see any in the coolant, etc.  I loose about a quart every 1000-2000 miles.  I’m sure it’s just the rings.  Blow-by is horrible…the dipstick isn’t blowing out, but it is very tight in the tube.  Oil is coming out of the oil cap and it just recently blew some RTV out of the valve cover seal.  Due to the Shadow’s current condition, the Shelby is now my daily driver.  I hope it holds up….

Well, it appears that my luck has run out with this car.  I was traveling about 35-40 mph (in a 50 mph zone) on a dark back road near my house when a deer jumped out of the tall corn field from the left right in front of me.  I slammed on the brakes and swerved to the left hoping to avoid it (it was already more than half-way across).  The result was the right corner of the hood and grill caught the deer in the rear in mid-air and flipped it into the right shoulder.  My hood, grille, and headlight took most of the hit, but not before it bent back the subchassis behind it.  The right fender was also bent outward, but easily recoverable.  The big problem is finding an ’87 or ’88 P-body hood with a turbo bulge.  I need the bulge to clear my upper intercooler hose and radiator fill cap (T2 unit).  I saw a 4-door version of my car (red and all) in a yard.  Unfortunately, the car and hood/grille is gone.  If you know where I can find one, please let me know.

I finally solved the last of the annoying boost gremlins on this car!  I had yanked the Bosch BOV setup on the upper intercooler hose and replaced it with a stock T2 ribbed upper hose.  I have bad boost stacking without the BOV (very bad for this little turbo), but no more boost drop-off or random boost amounts.  Even though I have already tried removing the BOV and plugging the hole with a piece of wood, I wanted to dump this setup anyway.  First of all, I don’t like using that crazy setup with the two restrictors, check valve, and bleed to keep pressure on the BOV to keep it shut.  Second, I know that my IC has quite a pressure drop at high boost, so the BOV would probably be more effective on the lower IC hose.  Since I am not running more than 14psi (nor do I plan to), the stock BOV is perfect and it will also serve as protection because it will blow off the seat above 15psi in case something goes wrong with boost control.

So, I fabricated a new hose connection on the lower stock hose by cutting out a small section and putting a 1-1/2″ copper drain pipe in its place (the stock lower IC hose is 1-1/2″ ID).  I opted for copper because it was easy to solder on a 3/4″ fitting to attach the BOV hose.  It’s a 3/4″ copper T-fitting that I sliced along the back and spread open to match the curve of the big pipe.  It took some bending, hammering, and patience, but it worked.  I then used a short piece of 3/4″ copper pipe in the fitting to connect the hose to.  I connected the BOV to the copper pipe in the fitting with a short piece of 3/4″ I.D. heater hose and then to the air box with another piece.  I already had a 3/4″ copper pipe fitting on the airbox, so I just put a short piece of 3/4″ copper pipe in it to serve as a reducer.  The Bosch BOV used 7/8″ I.D. hose, so the 3/4″ fittings (not 3/4″ pipe) were the perfect O.D.  I squeezed the fittings so the pipe would fit tightly, sanded the surfaces, and then RTVed them in place.  I didn’t want to solder so that I could switch back easily.  The setup works wonderfully and for the first time, my boost is predictable and solid!  This car SCREAMS!!!

Well, the weekly strife with this car continues.  Monday it barfed out the block core plug behind starter…it had rusted out from the inside.  I replaced it with a expanding rubber core plug (Expand-Tite), which seems to be holding.  The next plug down has some evidence of a very slow leak.  Looks like that one is next.

The piston slap is slowly getting worse.  I think I should start thinking seriously about building-up a new, solid bottom end for this thing.  No screwing around this time….  *sigh*

Disclaimer: The projects described in these web pages may use dangerous materials, and components.  This material is intended for advanced electronics experimenters only and may cause your vehicle to be suitable for off-road use only.  The author assumes no liability for damages incurred through the use or misuse of the information provided herein.  This information is provided "as is" and without warranties as to performance of or any other warranties whether expressed or implied.  No warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered.