Floyd's City #180 - 2006 SS/SC - 3rd Round

Floyd

Member
Just finished getting Registration and paperwork done at the courthouse today for frame #180.
Hoping to get posting here regularly about some of the progress and work on it. Looking forward to get involved in the forums.

Brought it home last weekend from Charles Town, WV to Georgetown, KY. It was 500 miles out and 500 back.
@speedhacks is a great guy and did a great job finishing out the frame.
You can see his build log here: #180 Build Log 2
And his classified listing here: #180 Classifieds

Already started on some basic things, but I have an ever-growing list of things I want to do.
Being in KY, I'll get plenty of garage time before I really get it out on the road in the spring.

First things on my list are taking care of reliability/drivability things.
 

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Floyd

Member
I had noticed, when taking it to be inspected, that after it warmed up, the idle was up and down. It kept going really lean before richening up again.
So last night I cleaned the MAF and the throttle body. The throttle body was really grimed up, so hoping that starts to correct that issue. It seemed better when I warmed it up in the garage last night.

I also replaced the crank relay. I was having occasional no-crank scenarios when going to fire it up. Always resolved by getting out and pushing/tapping on the relays.

There is also a strange electrical issue when shutting the down the engine. I can turn off and remove the key and the engine will continue to run for a good 3-4 seconds before turning off. It has been very consistent, and not something I've ever had a car do. Could be dieseling? I haven't fueled it up yet, so maybe it just needs some fresh gas.

I'm going to take care of the chain tensioner soon as well. Seems like an easy job, even if removing the valve cover. And @speedhacks already had a new one bought, and in one of the boxes.
 

Desert Sasqwatch

Goblin Guru
Floyd welcome and congratulations on your purchase. Please be sure to reach out to the forum if you have questions.

The run-on is not dieseling, it is caused by an electrical anomaly with the heat exchanger pump backfeeding at ignition off. This has been a common problem and a diode is installed in the electrical circuit feeding the pump to stop the reverse current flow.
 

Sluggonaut

Goblin Guru
There is also a strange electrical issue when shutting the down the engine. I can turn off and remove the key and the engine will continue to run for a good 3-4 seconds before turning off. It has been very consistent, and not something I've ever had a car do. Could be dieseling? I haven't fueled it up yet, so maybe it just needs some fresh gas.
This is a known issue and I believe it is caused by voltage from the IC pump or HE fan, This is fixed by installing a diode.

Try this link.
 

Floyd

Member
PM me your address and I can send you a couple diodes. I have a bunch left over from my build. The diode on the heat exchanger positive wire fixed my run on issue.
Wow, thanks! I appreciate it, but I've already got a set coming in the mail. Sounds like I'm going to have a bunch of leftovers too. Haha
 

Floyd

Member
Took care of half of the timing chain tensioner job tonight. I don't think the valve covers have ever been off of this engine. It's awfully grimy on the outside. I'm going to do some cleaning before putting it back together. I'm also really tempted to give it some paint before putting it back. Picking a color would be the hardest part of that process.
 

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Floyd

Member
Out with the nasty old tensioner and in with the new!
The new one is a Cloyes tensioner that was in a box of the included parts. Torqued to 55 lb-ft.

I gently rapped on it with a socket handle after installing it. I honestly don't know if I'm supposed to rap on the "new" versions of the tensioner. I also followed the directions on some old cobalt forums where they put zip ties on the cam gears, but I don't know if that was necessary either.
 

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Ark :D

Goblin Guru
Oh, wow. I didn't get in that close and inspect everything. I didn't even think to. I should go get some closer pictures and look things over.
The inside definitely looked a lot better than the outside.
Well, the previous owner's timing chain tensioner gave out and she abandoned the car. Not pictured are the damaged valves and head, blown-to-bits rockers, and bits of timing chain guides scattered all over the engine. I had two donors for a reason!

Yours looks fantastic on the inside. Just needs a little cleanup on the outside, that's it.
 

Floyd

Member
Since I'm waiting on some valve cover gaskets, I spent some of the evening tidying up the cable bracing on the wing. I like the cable bracing, but the ends needed a little tidying up. They were taped up, but had started to unravel a little. I'm not sure if I may want to add small cable clamps, but for now, some heatshrink should keep them together. Froze my butt off. It's about 35 outside.

Next up, I want to remove the rear control arms and press the solid bushings in.
 

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Floyd

Member
You could really make those cables look nice by using some aircraft cable fittings.
I think you're right. I may redo it a little later. Not that it's wrong, but I'm not a huge fan of sandwiching the cable behind the washers, like I have it now. I think it could look a little cleaner.
I might use some small angle brackets as cable tangs, then put some thimbles through them, and then route and sleeve the ends of the cables. I think I would want to buy the right kind of crimping tool too. My crimpers are all for electrical work.
 

Floyd

Member
Finished cleaning up the valve cover bolts today. They are in pretty good shape. I simply gave them a good clean. It's always hard to keep from going 110% on something. Was really tempted to strip them completely with acid and redo the zinc plating.

I removed the old rubber gaskets from them a few days ago and put them all in a cup of WD-40. Covered it with some plastic wrap and a rubber band, to keep the stink down.
 

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