V1 Ross's extended city, easy entry Goblin- 06 SS/SC, NW Arkansas

[Ross]

I was leaving room for a front anti-sway bar.... and it is the DF supplied fan, with reverse polarity to run it in reverse. The fan rarely ever comes on, and only because I lowered the 'on' temperature in HP Tuners, to 205F. It was set to 223F stock, and never turned on.

 

[JBINTX]

223?????? That is the stock setting???? Dang!!!
I think my kicks on at 192.
I thought 230 was the point you never want to hit for coolant temp. 223 did not leave much room.

I have been doing some data logging on temps and IAT's. I will be posting those results soon. You gotta be getting some warm days in AR these days too?

 

[Ross]

I always like seeing that box at the front door. 225/475 front springs arrived, 3 business days, pretty good.

 

[Ross]

I decided to stiffen my crumple zone radiator subframe. Originally I welded and X support, but it interfered with the bottom radiator inlet. Now it is a Y support. This subframe is too soft sideways, in my cross country driving opinion.

Then I put foam weatherstripping around the fan, and welded 4 tabs onto the subframe.
The radiator now is free from those 4 straps, which also caused some fins to get damaged when going cross country.

The foam is lightly compressed when the radiator is in place.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Hmmm, wonder where I've seen that before? Ross, looks good and stiffening the radiator support and mounting the fan separately from the fan is a definite improvement over the through the core plastic mounts.

 

[JBINTX]

and reverse the polarity on the fan wiring from where you had it on the front.

 

[Ross]

and reverse the polarity on the fan wiring from where you had it on the front.

Yes, and added a quick disconnect to the fan. I think I will fix up the original subframe & radiator, as I have a spare fan, and who knows, it might come in handy...

 

[Ross]

My 3 gauges in the dash haven't worked for a week, so now that it isn't intermittent, I should be able to track down the electrical issue.
I tested all the wires at the dash cluster connector. They all seem to work correctly with my meter, so I grabbed my oscilloscope to check the GM Low Speed data. Seemed to be repeating the same data, so everything checks out.

Plugged the cluster back in, and all the gauges work correctly.

Really? A week dead, and the day I go to check it, everything works. I have wiggled that electrical plug a hundred times. Never fixed the gauges.
Well at least I have of good base line of what the electrical should look like.

 

[Ross]

I followed Rttoys’s great idea:
Edited my first build post with an index to notable tech in this thread, in hopes of making it easier for others to look up things.

 

[Ark :D]

That's a really good idea, I'll do the same with my build thread once the car is done.

 

[Rttoys]

Woohoo. I had a good idea. I’m glad it’s catching on. Some of these threads are long with a lot of jibber jabber. That’s not a bad thing, because I like the camaraderie, but makes it very difficult to find info. hell, it’ll be helpful just being able to go back on my own thread and look up notes.

nice job on them too.

 

[Ark :D]

Some of these threads are long with a lot of jibber jabber.

Whatever could you POSSIBLY mean? *innocent whistle*

 

[Rttoys]

Lol.

 

[Ross]

I removed the switch part of the keyed ignition to clean it, as the starter motor position is intermittent, as are the dash gauges.

Here is the dirty insides. I wiped it all clean, and put in some new dielectric grease. Update: Don't use dielectric grease on electrical contacts! It is non-conductive. There is some dispute over using dielectric grease. It is an insulator, and slippery. So use it if you want. Grease tends to collect dust... so there are pros and cons.

Took it for a quick drive in the rain. The car started 5 times in a row, and the gauges worked 90% of the drive.
So the gauges are not fixed yet, but the starter seems to be fixed.

 

[Ross]

Put on the new front springs, leveled the front A arms (with the weight of 2 people in the car).

Drove it 10 miles, MAF tuned the engine twice (only a few % out of tune).
The new springs feel the same as the old ones, but the nose of the car doesn't drop to the ground under hard braking.
The starter didn't work, but new clue: the BCM relay was clicking when I tried to start the engine, so it isn't the ignition switch.
The dash was working about half the time, and I think that is what is preventing engine starting.
Luckily HP Tuners works fine even though the dash isn't.

 

[Ross]

Replaced the spark plugs, checked compression. I've owned the LSJ for 1.5 years, guess it is about time
The old plugs were AC Delco 41-106 Iridium, the new ones are NGK BKR7E 4644 standard plugs.
Gapped to 35 thou, and torqued to 20 ft pounds.
Any opinions on reading these old plugs?

Compression on a 200K mile LSJ:

Cylinder #	3rd hit	6th hit of compression in PSI
1	150	175
2	145	170
3	150	175
4	150	170

I tested Cyl#1 before I pulled all the spark plugs, and the numbers were lower, as the starter had a harder time turning over the engine.
Went back after all the plugs were out, and retested it, for consistency. It was 145 / 160 with the other plugs in.

 

[Parson Green]

Replaced the spark plugs, checked compression. I've owned the LSJ for 1.5 years, guess it is about time
The old plugs were AC Delco 41-106 Iridium, the new ones are NGK BKR7E 4644 standard plugs.
Gapped to 35 thou, and torqued to 20 ft pounds.
Any opinions on reading these old plugs?
View attachment 15802

Compression on a 200K mile LSJ:

Cylinder #	3rd hit	6th hit of compression in PSI
1	150	175
2	145	170
3	150	175
4	150	170

I tested Cyl#1 before I pulled all the spark plugs, and the numbers were lower, as the starter had a harder time turning over the engine.
Went back after all the plugs were out, and retested it, for consistency. It was 145 / 160 with the other plugs in.

Looks totally decent to me. Nice.

 

[ctuinstra]

The compression looks good. Did you hold open the throttle while cranking? You don't want to limit the air being pulled in. Another good test would be a leak down test while you have them out. You might consider a cooler plug if you have upped your boost. I was running the same NGK (best plugs out there IMO) but our tuner put in another set that he really likes for all his high boost vehicles. Sorry, I don't remember at the moment what they are.

 

[Ross]

The compression looks good. Did you hold open the throttle while cranking? You don't want to limit the air being pulled in. Another good test would be a leak down test while you have them out. You might consider a cooler plug if you have upped your boost. I was running the same NGK (best plugs out there IMO) but our tuner put in another set that he really likes for all his high boost vehicles. Sorry, I don't remember at the moment what they are.

I didn't know to do that. So the throttle body was closed when compression testing. Oops!

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Looks totally decent to me. Nice.

No carbon, no ash, no staining, tips are not burnt, and your compression is good all the way thru - your engine is doing great as far as inside the cylinders are concerned. Those plugs are still good, if you were to reuse them.