Putting a Caprice engine (L05-7) into a 92 g30 van (has L80e trans)

[Danboquist]

Have it running ok. It appears that something is banging around on the left accessory mount. I need to check that.
The EST was set at TDC (at operating temperature), but it wasn't idling all that great so I advanced the timing at the distributor.. found a sweet spot where it low idled smoothly.

How does this sound?

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[L31MaxExpress]

Sounds like it is out of power steering fluid and the pump gears are chattering.

 

[Danboquist]

Sounds like it is out of power steering fluid and the pump gears are chattering.

Thats impressive. I was so worried about oil, water and brake fluid (had a leak) that I didn’t even think about the power steering.
U da man!

 

[Danboquist]

Thats impressive. I was so worried about oil, water and brake fluid (had a leak) that I didn’t even think about the power steering.
U da man!

Ugh! It isn't the power steering. It does have fluid. I remember now I put some in when I hooked it up.
I took the drive belt off and that noise (which was pretty pronounced) went away.. sort of.. it does seem like I can hear a small knock on the passenger side of the engine.
Maybe I'm hearing things.. I don't notice it when I'm in the driver's seat.
Anyway, this is huge. I pulled that engine on July 12. I've been at it for a little bit.
Total I have around $2,500 in it (not including tools).

 

[Schurkey]

Spin each accessory by hand with the belt off. You'll maybe find one of 'em has bad bearings--rough, noisy, loose.

Alternator, A/C compressor, PS pump, water pump, AIR pump (if equipped), idler pulley, tensioner pulley, etc.

 

[Danboquist]

The knocking issue turned out to be the accessory mount was loose. I could move it with the belt off.. but not when it was on.
The knock was loud with the belt on but much less with the belt off.
When I put them on, I didn’t tighten them much because I didn’t know the torque and didn’t want to break the aluminum.
I put blue thread locker on the bolts and snugged them in pretty well. - no knocking.

 

[Danboquist]

Well, I guess this is the end of this thread. Thank you very much!

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Well, I guess this is the end of this thread. Thank you very much!

Be sure to update us with how it runs, performancd amd how it does on fuel.

 

[Danboquist]

Will do.
I took it for the first drive yesterday. To the store and back was two miles total. It didn’t drive like the other two that Ive had. It drove more like a car. The acceleration was great.
I have a question about the timing. When you set the timing by ear what are you listening for? Then when driving, what are you looking for as for responsiveness? Then when you throw a timing light on it what does the timing number mean to you? I’m not really getting the whole timing thing.

Btw, the quench on this thing is around 60. I felt like the safest way to go was to use the .039 head gasket.

The 8800 cam seems to be what is making this thing respond so well.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Will do.
I took it for the first drive yesterday. To the store and back was two miles total. It didn’t drive like the other two that Ive had. It drove more like a car. The acceleration was great.
I have a question about the timing. When you set the timing by ear what are you listening for? Then when driving, what are you looking for as for responsiveness? Then when you throw a timing light on it what does the timing number mean to you? I’m not really getting the whole timing thing.

Btw, the quench on this thing is around 60. I felt like the safest way to go was to use the .039 head gasket.

The 8800 cam seems to be what is making this thing respond so well.

TIming number is largely irrelevant to me. I look for it to run under load without spark knocking. Spark knock sounds like shaking a can half full of marbles. I also look for the best power while maintaining a decent idle quality and also want a clean hot restart without the engine kicking back on the starter dragging it. Generally speaking optimizing the timing gives better throttle response and fuel mileage and makes the engine have more torque across the whole rpm range at every throttle position. Assuming the balancer/timing pointer are accurate and it still has the stock chip, you will probably end up in the 4-10° BTDC range with the EST wire disconnected at idle. The TBI calibration does not have much in the way of total advance at WOT. It starts out negative and tops out around 18-24* depending on the specific BCC of the chip. TBI heads like about 26-30* total timing on 87 octane. It would be benificial to have a laptop with an OBD1 datalogging cable and TunerProRT with the scanner definition .ADX file for the ECM the van runs. If you have too much timing it will show up as knock retard. You may run into a scenario where you have the knock sensor being triggered but do not hear audible knock.