MJ 3800 camaro powered

[JeepcoMJ]

thx twist.

 

I got some nut-serts for my visor today but they're aluminum :( so I'm debating on what to do...I want to use stainless so that It won't rust or corrode.

 

and I got the auto body shop who did my paint to give me a paint chip for the color my truck is so now I can color match the visor after I sand and prime it. i'm painting the visor white, but then painting the sides of it black to match the black trim that will be above my doors (currently don't have any).

 

furthermore...I may have a lineup on a 97 exploder 8.8 with 3.73's for 50 bucks and it just needs rotors and pads (warped and worn).

 

any tips on what to look for on the 8.8 before I say yes? I do intend to weld the tubes to the diff housing and most likely this will be SOA when I put it in so that I can remove my AAL's and then lift the front 2 to 3 more inches.

[JeepcoMJ]

ungh so it died today. driving down highway 12 south from whitewater, WI to burlington, WI. 7 miles out from whitewater...it just stopped running. no noises, no clanks, whirs, just felt loss of power and watched the RPM's drop to nada when i pushed the clutch.

 

I had just refueled it...so it may be bad gas. i put in premium though, so i don't think it's that.

 

fuel pump works, fuses to computer are good, the VATS bypass i built that overrides the antitheft (fuel enable/disable) works, I tested that with my voltmeter on the side of the road...the fuel injectors ARE being grounded, and have power.

 

checked for spark by undoing a plug, and cranking it while grounding the plug. either it wasn't grounded right or it doesn't have spark.

 

SO right now, it's one of 5 things.

 

1. faulty ECU

2. faulty coil pack (1 coil per 2 cylinders..no distributor on the 3.8)

3. faulty crankshaft positioning sensor

4. short in wires, corroded connections

5. water or other agent in fuel.

 

 

i know you guys probably don't know the Camaro 3.8 well if at all, but is there something i could be overlooking?

[JeepcoMJ]

oh, i had a family friend who owns a salvage/wrecking business come get me with his flatbed truck. he only charged me $1 per mile...so 50 bucks.

 

BUT that wasn't in my budget...always happens like that doesn't it? :cry:

[JeepcoMJ]

the power steering pump is leaking. the 3800 has the CPS placed right up front of the motor behind the balancer wheel on the crank. the power steering pump is to the left and above it...and it's leaking very mildly from the front seal.

 

anyways, when it's running the fluid gets spun towards the crankshaft, and it hit the CPS and somehow got into the connectors. sprayed everything with brake clean, put it back together with dialectic grease stuff, and presto it starts.

 

stupid thing to have happen...i'm keeping brake clean and the 9/32 socket with me at all times now (or at least until i replace the power steering pump)

 

once i register the other truck this will be parked and i will go over every connection, clean them, dialectic them, and put them back together. I wanna re-route the starter wire as well...it's a little bit close to the left header for me to be comfortable...

[Mitch]

nice detective work! glad you were able to fix your baby! Glad it wasnt something major.

[JeepcoMJ]

bah. so a few more things got f*d up on it this week....

 

blew all the rear spider gears...who'd have thought a 3800 camaro engine would have done that? :P

 

front ujoints binding...not loose, but apparently i forgot to grease them and they needed some...greased all greasables on the truck. wouldn't go into all 4 caps on each front ujoint, but went into most...i'll keep driving it and trying to grease them.

 

needed oil change, 3rd one since engine install...5500 miles on it (oil changed every 1000 for the first 2 to see how it was running)

 

something else went wrong electrically...security fuel enable wasn't working properly on the computer, so the injectors were turning off after 4 seconds of running...rebuilt the bypass module to a 50 hz signal, and it works great.

 

 

the bra came. i'm ashamed to say that I couldn't put it on with one hand....

 

it didn't look right with the chrome headlight doors. and i had to put an 8 slot black grille in it for it to work

so i painted up my old headlight doors, and now it's all black. also painted and installed my over-door trim.

wanted to see what the visor would look like....

 

and decided it will be white. I'll paint part of it black just to contrast (the sides of it) but it's going on for sure.

 

needing a LWB rollbar for it, whether it's factory or not....and a brushguard i'm thinking. new lift is in the works too...wanting a RE 6.5" with a 98 ford 8.8 w/ 3.73's (already purchased) w/ discs and entire ebrake assy, and i'm thinking 33x10.50s for my tires. no trimming desired

 

also put a selec-trac 2wd/4wd switch in the center console, and a silver dash bezel.

[JeepcoMJ]

chief stripes anyone?

 

 

thanks microsoft paint!

[86FUBAR]

um how bout no and that goes double fer that visor thingie, don't know if its made its way to ur neck of the woods but that style died with bell bottoms . pleas don't do it :brows:

[DirtyComanche]

I like the visor. But the bra, well, whenever I get personal with ones of those I take it off.

[JeepcoMJ]

the visor will be white, sides will be black. i'm in the market for a rollbar and brush guard.

 

the bra...well, for 5 bucks it does offset the color nicely...where could I go wrong?

 

 

were you saying the visor is out of style or the stripes are?

[500 MJ]

But the bra, well, whenever I get personal with ones of those I take it off.

 

Lol, yah I don't like to leave them on either. Never liked the look of em on anyway. They look great when they are off and thrown in the corner...

[feerocknok]

I think the visor will look really good body color.

The Chief stripes would be a good addition with the lack of a bra, or the bra would be good with the lack of the stripes, but both gets things a lil busy.

You make me feel like a lazy turd.

[86FUBAR]

i was more concerned with the visor than any thing ,never cared fer them . the stripes don't look half bad have u thought of maybe adding a bit of toyota flair to it / lines seem wicked long and the bra well..... 5bucks sure y not

[JeepcoMJ]

I hate yotas.

 

well, no I don't, but I want the Chief stripes, but am too cheap to pay to have decals made, and my bottom edge needs to have the "chip guard" (orange peal???) removed anyways.

 

kill 2 birds w/ one stone.

 

the bottom of the door will most likely say COMANCHE, but no Chief and no 3800

 

I'd like to have comanche decals and 4x4 decalse done up in black to put in the stock locations (4x4 in rear upper corner of the side of the bed)

 

Perhaps just black from where the orange peel is down (4 inches) and then the comanche and 4x4 decals?

[Pete M]

I like the 2 tone idea. :D

 

 

I did mine in bedliner. Right now it's the only thing holding my rockers together. :(

[JeepcoMJ]

Pete, how did i figure that would be the case?

[JeepcoMJ]

I put in newer style cherokee short visors (using my original clips) and a (chevy yukon???) OHC today. didn't hook the lights up and there are no other electronics to speak of...but it looks GREAT! waiting on matching headliner material now (as I will recover the complete headliner at the same time...note the stains from the glue seeping through)

 

 

sorry for the dark pictures.

[feerocknok]

How did you fix the console into place?

[JeepcoMJ]

1 screw up front of it dead center between the old sun visor mounts, and it's got a flat plate on the back...cut some of the headliner out and slide it up there and it holds in nicely :D

 

it's got some major gremlins though...every once in awhile it will just die while driving, just zip and it quits running.

 

it's wiring or fuel delivery...either the ford inline fuel pump or the leaking power steering pump is throwing fluid all over the CPS (mounted behind the harmonic balancer in the 3800).

 

and my damned clutch master cylinder is leaking...yay :(

 

it died again today...i tested everything and it all seems in good order, so I believe that I need a new CPS, power steering pump, and clutch master...$400 worth of stuff.

[JeepcoMJ]

@#*(%&()@#()*^!@)*(^$)(!#@%$@#%#@% :hateputers: :headpop:

 

after some extensive testing, i found my CPS theory to be absolute crap. it was a faulty connector at the coil pack control module.

 

runs and drives.

 

still needs new clutch master cylinder and power steering pump. oh, and brake booster...mine has a hole in it :eek: my fault :oops:

 

but the brake booster will wait until the 8.8 swap...that 99 wj booster is looking mighty enticing.

 

oh, and the tcase is SHOT. the tranny and tcase have well over 300,000 miles (had them laying around out of parts truck during 4x4 conversion, so they were it). so now it gets the tranny and tcase from my "tatersalad" truck.

 

and all i REALLY want to do is put a waggy front end with brush guard on it...i don't actually want to FIX anything.

 

oh, haha, mu UCA's are shot, and my alignment is wrong (funny tread on tires and a tape measure says toe-out). can't replace the UCA's without removing the left exhaust header...it's in my way :( well...maybe i can undo the motor mount and get away with it. at least that doesn't have a gasket.

 

BLAH

[JeepcoMJ]

....wouldn't start today. just clicked.

 

checked battery with volt meter it was 13 volts. starter relay was fine. starter wasn't.

 

well, the heat shield for the starter, suffice to say, was not accounted for in accessability when I built the exhaust manifolds...but I got it out.

 

the starter was loose. I removed it, checked the flywheel teeth and starter for functionality. starter sounds dry, so it IS going to die soon. I'll order a new one when that happens.

 

anyways, I re-routed the starter wire around the front underside of the engine rather than over the bellhousing and within centimeters of the exhaust, as a safety precaution. that's all done. got the starter back in and hooked up, same probelms.

 

I did take care of the battery terminals beforehand. so I stuck the charger on it...learned something today. just because a voltmeter says 13 volts, doesn't mean that the battery has enough charged nacelles to turn over the starter.

 

charged it. starts, runs. hooked up the large voltmeter/timeing/scan tool my dad has before starting it, 12.67 volts. running, 12 volts. deduced that the alternator isn't charging.

 

took alternator in to Maxim rebuilders, which is a electric motor/starter/alternator rebuild place, it's FUBAR. so they're rebuilding it entirely and upping it from 105 to 145 amps for $1 per amp.

 

so i'm driving my bro's porsche in the meantime, alternator should be done by tomorrow.

 

also rotated my tires, my camber AND caster are off on the front end. way off...and the tires are toed out. idk how, but a new front axle is in the mix within the next few thousand miles so I adjusted the tierods using a tape measure to the tread on the front and back of the tires until they were equal, so my toe-out is fixed, but axle, still bent.

 

man, this thing is KILLING me on money right now. so many problems in such a small space of time. it's what you get with custom projects like this i guess

[JeepcoMJ]

now sporting 145 amp alternator. doesn't go below 13 with EVERYTHING on. runs at a constant, steady 14 amps.

 

took the front end bra off...didn't like it, it's not tough...

 

I also cleaned all the pitting off of the brush guard I am using with a polishing wheel on my angle grinder...looks great. now i have to sand it a bit to remove the lines caused by the angle grinder, sandblast the rest of it, and paint it. then the push bar part of it will be done. a friend of mine is making me hoops for around my headlights and turn signals, as he has access to a pipe bender..1" diameter solid steel pipe is what he's using, he's just making the hoop bends, i get to cut off for length.

 

then the waggy front clip will probably go on it in a month or so...I may use that for the 89 when I get it...

[JeepcoMJ]

aaaaand new rebuilt/new syncro ax5 tranny going in next week. 2nd and 3rd gear died at 370,000 on the tranny, and the t-case chain snapped.

 

time for an np231!

 

after that, the 3800 will be on the backburner while I build up the 89. I'll be installing black interior in the 3800 complements of mpfdm (Paul, thanks much!) in the 3800 though! finally, all black and white with no funny colors (byebye blue).

 

I have 3 more projects to post up now;

 

Gordy (my brother's 88 )

Turbo (the 2.1 Renault TD...my dad's geting a dodge cummins so the diesel will be mine now for the sum of free)

89 Pioneer (my 89 pioneer :P Designated wheeler/winter rig)

[JeepcoMJ]

my spare tire carrier broke...the cable rusted through. so after 4 months of not having a spare, I decided to fix it. completely removed it, blasted it all, painted it, cut the rusty end of the cable flush and welded it so it wouldn't fray, put it through the tire holder thing and clamped it back so it wouldn't fall off. then I put on a really really nice spare that I had for it...it's only a 27.5" tall tire but it will work in a pinch.

[feerocknok]

I've never seen someone attempt to fix one of those...