My cruising speed is currently 2300-2500 rpm, the 3.08's will drop that to right at 2000rpm. 95% my driving is between 70mph and 80mph. I live in the middle of now where and the nearest small city is 185 miles out (nearest Walmart), and I don't go there, so next nearest is Las Vegas or Salt Lake City, both 250 miles out (nearest Target). Going to work is 8 miles of 70mph speed limit on a 10 mile drive. I'm ok hanging out in 4th gear around town. Besides, the 3.08's are free, I'm only out time and a few dollars in gaskets, pinion spacer and fluids. If I don't like them, I'll step up, or as mentioned go with the 212 cam for big low end torque numbers. I ran a '69 Firebird 400 for a few years with 2.73's and a 700r4 with lock up converter, it was happy with 3rd until the highway. **Also remember, the EFI/timing controls let me do things with low rpm load tuning that a carb and distributor optimized for higher rpm aren't going to allow.
So I finally got around to swapping gears in the Skylark. Boy, is it much easier to do with the rear axle out of the car and in a well lit place. Started with putting the skyark into place. My usual area of work. That's the Centurion parked next to it. Pulling it all apart. The 3.70's in place. The 3.08's in! The pictures of the pattern didn't turn out very well. The pattern is about in the middle of the tooth, I would of preferred a little more to the inside, but considered it good enough. The 3.70 gears are really really shiny (polished?), and covers almost the whole tooth. They were silent, but I wonder if I had too little back-lash or something on them. I've never seen gears that shiny, granted, I haven't seen too many. Check out that reflection. Even the ring gear. But not with out drawing blood :'( :'( I have to hook the brakes and driveshaft back up, then I'll be good to go. Probably do it after work today. In other news, right before Bonneville my LC-1 wideband O2 sensor quit working on me. So I've been running since then with out an O2 sensor fuel correction, which fortunately I have the tune close enough to not be much of an issue. I towed the trailer to Bonneville, took a 1200 mile round trip to CA, and one 600 mile round trip to Las Vegas without it. But I much prefer to have one, so I ordered a new one from DIYautotune.com. And since I was ordering that, I decided to pick up a MegaViewer. Which will allow me to watch all the sensor readings with out the laptop hooked up. Also I can set parameters up so that it'll automatically flash to any sensors that read out of a specified range (like temp). I'll remove the aftermarket temp gauge I have in the car when I install this and rely on the stock temp gauge and the EFI sensor. Now I have to decide if I want to place it behind the cluster window (infront of where the clock delete plate) or I'm considering trying to make an overhead console and place it in there. The buttons are there for show, I can wire them to any kind of momentary switch where ever I decide to place them.
It's mobil again! Drove the car down to the gas station and back. So far so good. Ever so slight whine coasting, didn't hear any noise driving. I'll be taking it to work tomorrow to test out its new longer legs. Feels more Buick like to me, letting the low end torque move the car rather than instantly winding up the rpms. I'll run it for a while, perhaps order a 212 cam.....
Thanks! I've been driving it to work the last few days. Definately liking the new rpm range. I'm taking it to Las Vegas (250miles each way) first week of November, I'll do an MPG check then. I already ordered a 212 cam and lifters, so when I get back from that trip I'll swap cams out and re-tune for that one for a trip to CA (500 miles each way) for Thanksgiving.
A few weeks ago I purchased a MegaView (and LC-1 that replaced my probably dead one, I swapped it out last week :TU: ) so I can see/monitor what the megasquirt is doing without the laptop hooked up, and finally put it together. It even appears to work! So I rolled out my radio shack special soldering mat again for assembly. Got all the parts laid out. You can see my JimStim in the top left which I used to bench test the MegaView. (Excuse all my photography, I suck at it) All the parts from DIYautotune come neatly labelled. In a couple places scotch tape helps out As you can see where the components go are also written on the board. I have the assembly directions up on my Laptop screen anyways. I'll usually install several capacitors, diodes and resistors at a time then flip it over to solder them. Here is the rear of it all assembled. I found a scrap plastic box in my basement I quickly cut on just to set it up to test with. I have a much more solid and nicer plastic face to use for when it goes in the car. It works! I clearly goofed up which side is up I'll remove my aftermarket temperature gauge when I install this, and can use my dash gauge and if I get concerned about the temp pause the megaviewer on the temperature to watch it closer. The next question is of course is where to put it in the car. I can immediately place it under the dash where the temp gauge is (similar to my fuel pump amp gauges), I've considered seeing about placing it behind the cluster window infront of the clock delete plate but it's a bit big for that area IMO. What I'd really like to do is try and make an overhead console for it. Might break out some cardboard and see if I can come up with something....
Just driving the heck out of it. Put ~1800 miles on it in the last six days. Ely,NV ---> Las Vegas for a few days (SEMA) --->Phoenix, AZ for a Pontiac OHC 4.1L Six ----> Sierra Vista, AZ to visit a friend and pick up a 292 crank to see about building a stroker motor ----> Globe, AZ to visit another copper mine ---> Ely, NV back home. The 3.08's seem to be working out good for me. Didn't notice much in the way of increased mpg's, but I was driving fast and hauling a trailer... They were quite nice for passing on hills. 5th was good for maintaining speed or slowling increasing speed on 4-6% grades, but passing in 4th was a cake walk. At my friend's house dropping off the 2-speed trans and picking up a crankshaft. And it was snowing when I got home uzzled: Next move is to replace the pinion seal that appears to be leaking and swap in the 212 cam :TU:
Yeah I cut it back in 1996 when I was 16. I'd do it again to this car. My Centurion's is untouched and the radio mounted under the glovebox and I use a remote. The T-bird is untouched and I use an 8-track to cassette adapter, cassette adapter to headphone jack to plug in my mp3 player or satellite radio. Both these car's radio face will remain intact.
it looks really good. i got a mount and mounted mine under the dash. but the vibration is making my face go out. it has a flip down face. because its not really secure.
Put somewhere between 3200-3300 miles on the Skylark last month :3gears: Just keeps on cruising. Still working on fuel mileage. Still stuck at 17 despite the cam AND gear change :spank: I think I have a fair amount of work to do on the ignition timing table left, which should result in being able to lean out the fuel table some at light throttle/cruise. I did notice with the cam/gear change, climbing the hill to work requires 22% less throttle. Basically went from a TPS reading of 23% down to 18%. Extra torque and lower rpm I guess.
Hey Randall-have I mentioned to you when I drove my automatic 72 (4100 lb) Skylark to Ohio in 2004 for the BPG and norwalk races, it got 16 mpg? And the only solder and circuit boards invloved were in the alternator and wiper motors....:spank:
Hey Scott - Did you know the best mpg's I've gotten with the car to date is with the Centurion engine in it, Q-jet and points, TKO-600 and 3.23 gears, consistently got 23mpg between Ely and So. Cal. :spank: I got 17mpgs with this engine and the Q-jet too, only it regularly vaporlocked on me :blast: Here I thought you were posting to give me crap for not visiting you last week. Think of the extra 100 or so miles that could of tacked on to my miles driven last month....
With the tuning software I'm using I can customize a dash cluster screen, and now I'm contemplating doing a half digital dash conversion on my car. I'd do the whole thing if I could figure out how to hook my vehicle speed sensor (TKO-600's come with them) up to the MegaSquirt 2 and get it to read the speed and the tuning software to make a gauge accordingly. I think I've read that it can be done... Anyways a standard 8" LCD screen would fit perfectly for two of the four gauge pods. I made a digital gauge screen up with a spare cluster trim plate held up infront of the computer screen then MSpaint'd it together with the other two pods (speedo and Fuel/Voltage). I would make the screen background black, it was an after thought I noticed when I was stitching the two pictures together. Also, went on a ~550mile road trip this last weekend, averaged just about 19mpg. Still lower than my target but finally beat the Q-jet.
A picture of just the digital part. I blacked out the background and turned on the two indicator lights. The upper one is washed out in the photo, but it's orange and says "Warm Up" to indicate that it's using warm up enrichment (not linked to the coolant temp in this picture).
Re: TheSilverBuick's 1977 Skylark -Digital cluster? Thanks. I played with it some more. If I get the VSS inputed, I can also input the fuel sending unit wire and add a fuel gauge. I need a wider laptop screen =P
