rang-a-stang's summer project/build

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Like Driftwood said, even with the challenges it is coming together and looking awesome!

Keep at buddy!

[rang-a-stang]

Sunday I went back to the wrecking yard to grab the rear bumper and windsheild from that 1990 GW. The rear bumper is SWEET so I grabbed it and but I cracked the windsheild trying to get it out. Got some other goodies, too.

Tonight I went out and finished up my wiring. Everything seemed to go fine. I wish this picture came out better because I am super stoked on my Check Engine Light. I used the spot below the E_Drive light and turned it into my Check engine light. It was a pain in the butt, but it's cool looking and maintains the integrity of the stock dash.


Then I went to try and start it so I could work on timing it a little better (since my rad is out) and it would not spark. The injectors were not firing either. My CEL would only dimly light and my fuel pump was on constantly. I took a break, moved everything off the roof so I could back it out, ate dinner and went back out to figure out why it wouldn't start. So, to be safe I grabbed my spare computer and hooked it up. With the spare computer, the injectors started firing again and the CEL lit brightly as it should. So I grabbed my primary computer and realized I put the chip in backwards. DOH! I flipped it over, plugged it in and got the same indications as my spare computer (good CEL, injectors firing, but no spark). So I swapped the ignition module with my spare and it fired it. I unplugged the timing plug and it died. I tried to time it using the starter but my battery went to low before I could get it where I wanted it. Went in for the night because I have to go to work early tomorrow. I am fairly confident maiden voyage is tomorrow!

[bkilby]

nope. get used to it.you're gonna find you need the belt so tight it takes the bearings out of the alternator,water pump and power steering,and it still will squeek.

Squeeking is generally from misaligned pulleys. SERP belts are flat and want to stay flat. They can

[fsj454]

maden voyage

I hope you have a on your first trip . . 1990 window mechanisms are hard to come by....

[chubbinius]

Best wishes on the maiden voyage, rang-a-stang! Bon voyage!

[rang-a-stang]

So tonight I put the rad back in, dumped my last 3 quarts of ATF in, and started it up. I tried to set the timing but the serpentine system almost completely blocks the line of sight to the timing marks on the timing cover. grrr.... I tried doing it from underneath but I couldn't see the timing mark on the damper. The timing is obviously way off. I decided just to back it out anyway because I wanted my garage floor cleaned up and to see my rig outside. I backed it out, went about 50 yards up the street and it bucked, snorted, and ran like crap. So I backed it back to my front yard and parked it. The computer triggered the fan exactly as it should have so that was good. When I shut it down, the damper timing mark was directly down so I used some masking tape to wrap the line down the front so I can see it from below, next time I try to time it. My son and I lifted the hood back on and locked it up. Tonight it will spend the first night out side since May. I put the new to me rear bumper on it. I'll take some pics tomorrow when the sun is up. I also looked underneath and was "delighted" to see red trans fluid at pretty much every place 2 lines joined together. It's also at least 2 quarts of ATF low, still. My god these trans drink alot of ATF. I also noticed my steering gear is coated in fluid. I am REALLY hoping that's left over from the last leak because I hate leaks and I really don't feel like rebuilding a steering gear. The belt howls like a banshee getting raped.

Bottom line: Brakes work, trans works (but leaks), EFI basically works, cooling system works, more work to go, wife wants me to take a break, I re-did my "to do list" and it's not very long but "tuning" is on there and I am a complete and total NEWB there.

[bkilby]

Congrats on the first start up! Leaks suck but you'll get them solved eventually. Lol.



Evidently this board doesn't like IOS because my last response above was way incomplete and I couldn't go back to fix it when responding on my iphone.


Anyhow, on the pulleys.....serp belts don't like the pulleys when they're not square with each other. I use steel machinist rulers to check the pulleys for being square to each other and adjust however necessary. Using regular washers as spacers can throw the pulleys off where they're not square. It took me a few days to get mine right and I used to do this for a living. Lol. Oh, and the bearings are the same as any other item. I wouldn't worry about wiping them out by tightening the belt. And...on my system, I ended up putting a new belt on after all the pulley adjustments. There was so much aluminum imbedded into the belt that I couldn't get it to stop squealing. A new clean belt did the trick.

[rang-a-stang]

Congrats on the first start up! Leaks suck but you'll get them solved eventually. Lol.

Evidently this board doesn't like IOS because my last response above was way incomplete and I couldn't go back to fix it when responding on my iphone.

Anyhow, on the pulleys.....serp belts don't like the pulleys when they're not square with each other. I use steel machinist rulers to check the pulleys for being square to each other and adjust however necessary. Using regular washers as spacers can throw the pulleys off where they're not square. It took me a few days to get mine right and I used to do this for a living. Lol. Oh, and the bearings are the same as any other item. I wouldn't worry about wiping them out by tightening the belt. And...on my system, I ended up putting a new belt on after all the pulley adjustments. There was so much aluminum imbedded into the belt that I couldn't get it to stop squealing. A new clean belt did the trick.

Thanks, Brad! I have all but given up on using my phone (Iphone SE) to post. It is almost impossible to get a complete post in with it these days. I can't tell you how many times I have spent a bunch of time writing a post to have it disappear when I hit "Submit Reply".
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The more I thought about it last night, I think the squealing may be my alt (rather than the belt). I had to put a ~1/8" spacer between the fan and the alt body to get it to protrude far enough out of the Bulltear bracket to line up with the other pulleys and I have a feeling the spacer is rubbing on the alt body... I'll figure it out. The Alts not charging so it has to come out anyway. I have field voltage getting to the connector through the charge light but the charge light is not coming on at any time either. I used a large carpenters level to square my pulleys but I think you are right, I am going to have to re-visit all of them to see what's going on. Not right now, though; I'm frustrated with it and have other car maintenance to catch up on now that I have my garage open again.

Here's how it looked this morning. This is the first time I have seen my hood on it in 9 months, too. And my rear bumper. I know there are folks that prefer the clean/bumperette free bumpers, but I like the bumperettes. Besides this one matches my front bumper. I have not cleaned it yet but it will clean up nice with some love, Bar Keepers Friend, and time. We're supposed to get rain over the next couple days so my whole rig will get a wash, too! haha! I put a gasket on my passenger door which was the only water leak I "know" I had in the cab so we'll see if that's fixed.

I guess I should update my signature (its says my chief is in pieces, it's not anymore )

[SOLSAKS]

congratulations !!!
looking good, moving on its own power...
you wil be on the road soon.

dave

[bkilby]

I used a large carpenters level to square my pulleys but I think you are right, I am going to have to re-visit all of them to see what's going on. Not right now, though; I'm frustrated with it and have other car maintenance to catch up on now that I have my garage open again.

I usually start with the crank pulley then move to the water pump. Once you verify they're aligned, move on to PS, Alt and whatever else you got. It's usually the Alt and PS that screws everything up. Lol.


Nice job on getting the rig moving! Wish I was closer to come check it out.

[Ristow]

mr bulltear himself installed the serpentine on mine. i provided the test car for it. squealed from the first time i fired it up to drive it home from his place.


he tried different belts,tried trimming the ribs down on the pulleys,no change.


look at the water pump belt engagement. not near enough belt on that pulley,and its the wrong side of the belt. i also think made from aluminum has something to do with it too.



i typically stay out of these discussions because i get accused of picking on the vendors,but honestly i'm surprised he sells the kit. it simply doesn't work,and isn't cheap.


it was a happy day,when i took that pos off and put the peaceful v belts back on.


and i'm not trying to derail this thread. just noting that trying to make this work may be futile.





oh,wait till you turn the a/c on with that serpentine.....LOL!

[bkilby]

mr bulltear himself installed the serpentine on mine. i provided the test car for it. squealed from the first time i fired it up to drive it home from his place.
he tried different belts,tried trimming the ribs down on the pulleys,no change.
look at the water pump belt engagement. not near enough belt on that pulley,and its the wrong side of the belt. i also think made from aluminum has something to do with it too.
i typically stay out of these discussions because i get accused of picking on the vendors,but honestly i'm surprised he sells the kit. it simply doesn't work,and isn't cheap.
it was a happy day,when i took that pos off and put the peaceful v belts back on.
and i'm not trying to derail this thread. just noting that trying to make this work may be futile.oh,wait till you turn the a/c on with that serpentine.....LOL!

Is it possible he changed the kit since your install? The kit I had used a grooved water pump pulley and had about 1/2 pulley of belt wrap. That's plenty. He certainly needs to make the product better or quit selling it. Lol. I run an aluminum serp system on my SB Mopar and it's flawless.

[Ristow]

The kit I had used a grooved water pump pulley and had about 1/2 pulley of belt wrap. That's plenty.

did you drive it after the kit was installed?

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Killer work Rang! Glad its still coming together, don't get discouraged. Your'e on the final stretch, tuning it all in is the most tedious part but worth it in the end!

I also experience the Iphone problem

[rang-a-stang]

My water pump pulley is grooved also. When I look at the various configurations of BT Serp kits, I notice the idler to the drivers side (circled in yellow in the picture below) is flipped downward in the later versions. This is how I mounted mine also. It gives about half of the water pump pulley some coverage by the belt. This picture is one WesDog took when he had it (I did not use the smog pump or the idler next to it, and I have a York so pretend those are not there).