Shammoo update

Impatience or Insanity?

The sheep have their doubts about me!

Mike, it's more of "In for an inch, in for a mile" (... and NO , I'm not talking about the sheep).
I look at a stock vehicle's dash, and I'd be hesitant to touch it. This car had already been modified (hacked up with a saw) So the mentality is that I'm just modifying things that were already modified.
So it's a different mind set going on. What's few more hours of wiring after a few hundred of motor swaps, ECM's, Programming, fuel pumps, Ignition modules etc?

I wouldn't touch the HHR SS that I Drive. OK , maybe few mods but nothing serious like cutting up the dash!

...Yet.

Interesting way of looking at things Dave.No wonder the sheep are so fond of you.
Jim Gordon

Latest project is just about set. I mentioned ordering a Vacuum gauge and Wideband AFR sensor and gauge from Glowshift. They screwed p the wiring harness and it took a few emails back and forth to get that operational. They pinned wires to the wrong places on one of the cables. Both gauges are in and operational to the extent that I can visually monitor as I'm driving.

Last step for the Wideband is hooking up the connections to the ECM and getting the ECM to recognize the new data stream. I had help from the boys at www.thirdgen.org on that part of things. Need to load the changes in programming up to my Prominator to see what happens yet.


I snapped some of the clips off the A pillar though when I tore it off, and will need to jury rig a new way of keeping the pillar up... likely just a capped screw. I'll be working on capping off the top and face of the dash this weekend.

Dave that looks awesome and Mikes right about the patience you have with your mods.My
kid brother is that way.And yes I too would be very hesitant to start cutting up a new cars
wiring harness like the HHRs.You ever get confused driving with all that info in front of you?
Just kidding but as we age the simple things become less simple and the complicated things
become someone else's problem.
Jim Gordon

Some might consider it a distraction, but every car has idiots light already.

I simply prefer idiot gauges.

If you look closely at the blue plastic where the idiot lights used to be, they have been hollowed out. Could it be that more gauges are in it's future?

Dave you install any more gauges and you will to change the name from Shammo to Black
Bird as in SR 71.Definitely will look like the instrument panel of an aircraft.Looks great so far!
Jim Gordon

Flasheroo wrote:

Dave you install any more gauges and you will to change the name from Shammo to Black
Bird as in SR 71.

Perhaps a Gaugeometer that keeps a running tally on just how many gauges are installed.

If will fit into a 52mm hole, it might just work!

Did you leave space for the flux capacitor?

OH DAMN... I KNEW I FORGOT SUMTHIN!





CRAP! It only comes in blue, and all my other gauges are RED!

I wonder if Bewber can use this for wagonfest shirts! (only kidding)

I solved an intermittent problem this week that was driving me further over the edge than I already am.

At times, my back gate window would not actuate. It would just go absolutely dead, and then for no reason, would just start working again with a solid thunk, like nothing was ever wrong!

The problem was in the steering column.

I switched to a floor shifter a few years ago. I removed the stalk of the old unit. The trick was that the cup (or cowl) that the old shift knob was attached to, would rotate around slightly, out of the "park" position.

As a safety feature, GM designed the rear window release circuit so that it can only function when the vehicle is in park, and you can't run over your mother-in-law that way. (dumbass engineers) So when the cowl unit would slip around slightly out of park... no more rear window ability.

The same slipping can also create a "No Start" condition as well. Keep in mind the car can only be started in park or neutral. So if it slips, the car is dead, and you would not even get a click out of the ignition, DEAD BATTERY? No it's just not in park.

I "JB Weld"ed the cowl to the shaft covering, underneath whee it wouldn't be noticed,and now I don't have any more issues with the rear window release.

...But will Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance arrive in time before the awesome power of the Empire's Death Star is fully functional?





NOT LIKELY!





MUAHAHA!

lakeffect wrote:

Your map lights look like your overhead is possessed by a demon with glowing yellow eyes.

I think you need a Lumina wheel.

Dave you do good work considering your age and this sheep obsession you have.Good thing
you have plenty of space in your wagon so they dont get jealous of each other.Personally
I would call it quits and enjoy all my hard work but I know you have more plans dont you?
Sheep ever get jealous of all the time you are spending on the wagon?
Jim Gordon

More plans?

Me?


Posi and 3.42:1 coming soon, within a few weeks.

Dual electric fans from mike (200Oz) on the shelf, going in likely over winter.

Mini-cooper hood scoop once the mechanical fan is cleared out of the way to the air filter, next spring.

At some future.point a full repaint.


... considering my age.... luckily, I'm very immature.

You immature?Talk about an understatement.LOL.Wagon going to look wicked with a new paint job.Are you talking about a Mini Cooper S scoop or one of the John Cooper Works
scoops?What about an STI flush scoop instead?Just an suggestion!
Jim Gordon

Didn't know there were two kinds for mini's


The Subaru type scoops stick up in the air too much for my liking. The mini's lay relatively flat and are more unobtrusive.

Immaturity... A woman who was 104 was shown being interviewed on NBC one morning. She was being asked what she attributed her long life to. Her response was that she acted as immature as she could.

When asked why in the world she would do that, her response was,

"IF I ACTED MY AGE I'D BE DEAD!"

At 60 years old, I also play in a classic rock band, and have gigs lines up all spring, summer and new ones being added for fall.


www.4comotion.com or facebook the word comotion

Stingroo wrote:

I think you need a Lumina wheel.

I was just thinking, all that custom work and a stock wheel. I vote a late 80's Corvette wheel. That'd look good in there. The thick 2-spoke one.

Dave if you enjoy playing and dont get booed off the stage,GO FOR IT.The Stones,Aerosmith
and a bunch of other rock bands that qualify for social security are still playing to sold out
houses and if it makes you feel good about yourself then ROCK ON .
Jim Gordon

I'm Not saying I would do this at full price... maybe a kockoff or ebay version..

This tends to match the wheels that are on the car, which are Boyd Coddington designed. To me, it would be a good tie in. But close to $500.00 for just a steering wheel!







For $139.00 this might be more workable



I checked the application chart, it mentions Caprices up to 1990, I suspect that's when teh Airbags came out.. So the wuestion becomes if the air bag is removed, Would it fit?

Any body swap steering wheels yet?

lakeffect wrote:

Any body swap steering wheels yet?

are you kidding? you never noticed all the threads?? and pics?

you shouldn't be changing the car,. remember its heritage quote, unquote,.

It's heritage IS change.

According to Kicker, it was never one way for more than a short time. They upgraded it constantly during it's touring period. It was changed after they owned it as well. So what day in it's life am I supposed to duplicate? It's not a still life painting, it evolves.

I understand your point Nick, but what it it boils down is that it is now MY car. Even Hall of Fame athletes retire on move on to the rest of their lives after their sorts careers have faded. Time marches on, and Shammoo becomes what I want it to be, not what someone else envisions it to be...

... at least not until I sell it to them.

Dave that wagon is going nowhere but with you to your grave.Probably going to be buried in it anywhere!
Jim Gordon

According to my wife, it will be soon!

What are those covered toggle switches on the console? Is that nitrous?

Flasheroo wrote:

Dave if you enjoy playing and dont get booed off the stage,GO FOR IT.The Stones,Aerosmith
and a bunch of other rock bands that qualify for social security are still playing to sold out
houses and if it makes you feel good about yourself then ROCK ON .
Jim Gordon

I saw Hubert Sumlin on PBS last year. He used to be the guitarist for Howlin' Wolf in the 50s and 60s, and he wrote
that riff for Smokestack Lightning. In the TV show, he was about 80 years old. And he blew those young guys
like Clapton off the stage. It was awesome.

Those are the "warp to light speed" switches. They activate the dilithium crystals.

Actually the silver ones are for interior lighting, front, center, rear.
The big red switch will be an electrical fan manual over ride.

Other stuff on lower console, left side red button is rear gate, check engine light above that.

Right side is rotary Prominator program selection switch and display. Center is access for the ECM. including ALDL datastream port and upload port along with power outlet for cables and laptop.

Thanks for the encouragement about Herb.

Dave

Oops. I misspelled his name, and you picked up on it. It's Hubert, not Herbert. This is the other guitarists (Clapton, Cray, etc.) playing backup for Sumlin.

You'd just need the adapter for that wheel to bolt to. Otherwise, remove clock spring, put adapter on, bolt wheel to adapter, unplug yellow airbag wire, you're done. Steering wheel swapped out.

I see this adapter on Summit's site, But am a little gun shy because it says up to 1991 Caprice, and after that Impala up to 1985. So I don't know what to think about it being the correct part.

http://www.summitracing.com/search/Department/Interior-Accessories/Part-Type/Steering-Wheel-Installation-Kits/Brand/Summit-Racing/?autoview=SKU&keyword=Adapters

91-93 will be the same, cant say about 94+ because of the VATS.

Lucky for me that Shammoo is a 1993.

First comes the Posi and 3:42's so I can hit the drag strip at least once this year.

Shammoo went in for surgery yesterday. The Proctologist worked on his rear end for a few hours and will be sending him home in a few minutes. Therapy is taking it easy for the next few weeks or few hundred miles, and stay out of strip joints for awhile.

Shammoo now has a posi and 3.42:1 gears

Treat her gently for a while and she will repay with miles of happiness.How does it feel just driving
her gently as you can?

Shammoo is too mean to be a "she" unless it's Sicilian instead of Caprician

I'll have to check for a hairy chin to know if it's Sicilian

Dave are you familiar with the female Orca?

Only sheep.

Do female Orcas have hairy chins like Sicilian women?

Unibrows like Auntie Maria?

Yes and maybe!

Adjusted the hood latch as it was set too low. Couldn't get the thing to catch. and hood was rubbing one fender anyway.

Got a few miles on the gears. I haven't been nailing it yet.

Finally got the Stereo in the lower console all hooked up. Haven't had tunes in the car for about two years.

I tend to listen to the sidepipes to sort out tuning issues. LOVE THE SOUND!

Now that I have wide band O2 sensing, I've been working on Acceleration Enrichment issues. The AFR hangs up really rich (10.0) with very slight touch of the pedal, and stays there for awhile. Really messing up fuel mileage. I'm learning more about MAP AE events over at www.thirdgen.org and will apply that knowledge this weekend.

By the way, a near miraculous event occurred with my last fuel fill up. I usually calculate gas mileage to see what effects my tuning is having.

I started with figures at 8.3 mpg. This last fill up gave me 10.1 I realize that you guys getting over 20mpg are crapping your pants right now, but that's almost a twenty two percent change just by better tuning. I would suspect maybe a goal of 12 mpg might be obtainable, particularly when I got the enrichment issue fixed and get "Highway Mode" working when cruising.

Dave all joking aside you should be able to get a lot better mileage now that you are learning
more with the wideband gauge.If a factory 430hp vette can pull an easy 28mpg on the road,
your wagon should get an easy 17mpg on the road once your tune is finalized.The old saying
says knowledge is power and in your case knowledge is gas mileage.
IMHO
JEG

That 430hp Vette has heads that are light years ahead in design/flow than the heads on Shammoo. That's where the magic of HP and mileage comes from.

Thats why I said 17 mpg on the road and not 27!I am very aware of the flow characteristics of
the LS heads!

Okay! Thanks for letting me know!

Jason!

For the record, the heads are traditional, being that it's on an old school 400 block, but they are AFR 195's that have had a little work to match ports better. I chose them to keep the velocity of the air higher at lower rpm. The motor isn't designed to go to 7000 rpm. It's designed for low end torgue. Heavy car, lots of stop lights, neighbor hood travel is it's most common use. Racing at the strip will only happen a few times a year.

Thanks for the encouragement guys.

I changed a few settings in the program yesterday for enrichment (AE), and see a little difference. Essentially I'm trying to find the settings for how soon, how much. and how long.

Sounds like Shammoo is just another one of the sheep in that regard.

LOL

Well, turns out the difference I thought I was seeing in programming was actually bad.

An item named a multiplier was really a divider or factor for what I was hunting down. In stead of increasing fuel at TPS tip-in as you increased the multiplier, it was actually decreasing it because it was really a divider or inverse function. Freaking mislabeled stuff!


After raising the figure acceleration "bog" got worse. Finally cutting it 20% made the bog just about disappear. Now back to draining the rest of the swamp, one muck hole at a time.

Dont worry Dave we have confidence in you!AH dont we guys?Well hell I think we have confidence
in you or someone there who doesnt walk on all 4's.
Jim Gordon

Been messing with more stuff trying to end something odd I see when under slight throttle pressure. The AFR gauge goes immediately to 10.0, richest reading possible and wants to stay there. I Seem to be slowly finding some things that affect it. I would imagine dumping in fuel unneeded is grossly affecting milage.


If you've been reading the racing section, you know that Shammoo made it to the drag races locally.

Another issue may have been fixed tonight.

I've been having a hot restart issue in that The AFR has been going way lean, maxing out.
In doing research on Thirdgen.org, one of the reasons given is the location of the Manifold Air Temperature sensor (MAT) being under plenum is very prone to being heat soaked. It's metal in metal. The joke being it measure the temperature of the metal plenum not the air.

GM apparently moved the MAT sensor in later years and called it an Intake Air Temperature sensor (IAT) It's now wired in and will be tested tomorrow.