Nomad final assembly

[chevynut]

Got the power turned back on today and everything is fine. I still have quite a few unterminated wires so I'm nervous every time I do it...LOL. I ran the brake pump to bleed it and topped off the brake fluid again. Then I laid out and drilled holes in the side of the console next to the driver's seat for cooling the ECM. I made a punch that fits through the holes for punching through the foam and leather once it's applied. Larry finally called and told me he can come over "late" next week to install the headliner. I told him I needed it done early next week due to my brother's memorial service next Friday...it was supposed to be this week when I got back from SEMA. That's what we talked about before I left. This has been going on since April and I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen next week either, given the pattern of delays.

[chevynut]

Several weeks ago I attached my J-weatherstrips with 3M Black Super Weatherstrip adhesive. Yesterday I realized I still had the blue tape on them so I took it off, and the weatherstrips basically fell off. The glue didn't stick to the rubber at all, and I carefully cleaned the rubber before attaching them. So I took them off and cleaned the glue off of the door. I hate doing everything twice.

[Tabasco]

I was advised to use Gorilla Super Glue Gel to install the j-strips. It worked well for me.

[chevynut]

I was advised to use Gorilla Super Glue Gel to install the j-strips. It worked well for me.

Thanks for the tip. I will try that. I searched the web and found articles on using 3M WS adhesive and how to do it correctly. Seems like a pain in the ass. The J-weatherstrips have to be positioned correctly and it seems like the Gorrilla stuff allows some movement before it sets up.

[asbicca]

I used the Gorilla Super Glue Gel on my "J" weather stripping and it worked very well. I also tried it on my wife's Cadillac ATS door weather stripping that had come loose in places and it worked there as well.

[chevynut]

I installed the j-weatherstrips with the Gorilla glue and it was WAAAAY easier to do than using the 3M stuff. And it holds like crazy. I just put the glue on the bottom first and pressed the pins in place. Then I put more glue on about half of what was left and positioned it and held it in place for a few seconds. Then I finished off the last few inches. The glue allows you to do a little re-positioning if you're fast. Thanks for the tip guys!!!!

Now on to the next project....door weatherstrips. Do they need to be glued? I'd prefer not to if I don't have to. I'm pretty sure the original weatherstrips weren't glued. I have T&N door weatherstrips that a friend found for me.

[chevynut]

Well I went ahead and installed the door weatherstrips without the glue. If I need to glue them I'll use the Gorilla glue in spots that should be easy to do. I'm not sure why anyone messes around with that 3M weatherstripping glue. I used it on my tailgate weatherstrips and it was a pain. I did have to take the vent window cap back off to get the weatherstrip in the way it's supposed to go. It's all done but the area at the interior molding which I will glue on later. Still haven't started the 502.

IMG_6491.jpeg

[chevynut]

Gotta tell you guys I've just about lost my patience with this car. It's one damn thing after another. Here's a summary and a new problem.

After getting the body on the chassis, I couldn't get the engine started again, even though it fired right up in the chassis after I built it. In the process of trying to troubleshoot it, I broke the nose off of the starter. So I fished the piece out of the bellhousing and replaced the starter. Then I found the problem was low fuel pressure due to the deteriorated fuel line inside the gas tank. So I replaced that with the correct hose and got fuel pressure, and the engine started. Then sometime later the Summit Racing braided stainless fuel supply hose blew out on top of my tank. So I replaced both the supply and return hoses on the tank with Earle's braided stainless fuel hoses. Months later the Summit fuel supply hose in the engine bay blew out and I replaced all 4 hoses with PTFE earlier this year.

Then I had the leaks in the brake system and clutch to deal with. Those are fixed.

More recently I've been trying to start the engine again to charge the A/C and do a little more tuning because it wasn't running right since replacing the hoses. I don't know what happened. I figured I had a timing issue because I had to pull the distributor to replace the fuel line so I needed to set base timing again. Then I ran into more problems.

Before I went to Mexico a couple weeks ago I tried firing the engine and it ran really rough. It's been getting worse for some time. I poured a couple more gallons of gas into the tank because I figured it was getting low, and maybe that's why it was running so bad. I tried again and it wouldn't start unless I gave it half throttle. Then it would start and not idle. It got worse and worse bgth6e more I ran it and started smoking real bad out of both exhaust pipes. It was white/gray smoke and was really strong like a very rich mixture. I hooked up the laptop and it was worthless with everything jumping all over.

So I left for Mexico and it kept bothering me. I was wondering why I was getting a ton of gray/white smoke that suddenly kept getting worse. I put about 2 gallons of gas in the car before I tried to start it, and it used to run without smoking. While on vacation I wondered how this could happen, and concluded it had to be the gas.

Then I remembered something stupid I did that I knew I shouldn't have done at the time. In August I was going to my home in Montana and I drove my 2019 GMC Sierra Duramax. I worried about running out of fuel since I was fairly unfamiliar with the truck since I rarely drive it. All my yellow diesel cans were up in Montana so I put diesel in a red gas can "just in case" I needed it. I ran out of fuel once with the truck and didn't want to chance it. Part way through the trip I dumped about half the diesel into the truck and put the can in the back. Sometime during my trip I needed to fill some other gas cans for my ATVs and I apparently filled the one with diesel in it too. Then I completely forgot about it.

When I got back home from Mexico I checked the gas can I used and it smelled like gasoline. However, it still had a small amount in it and I dumped it on the ground and lit it. It burst into flames, but burned way longer than gasoline, and smoked black. I concluded it was half diesel.

So I drained the tank and put a couple more gallons of good gas in it. I ran the pump several times, and purged the fuel from the fuel rail with the fuel pressure gauge connected to the front of it. I checked the fuel pressure and it was 56 PSI. I then drained the tank again and put 5 gallons of fresh gasoline in it.

With the fuel system purged, I decided to try to crank it today. The engine turned over part way and stopped. I grabbed a ratchet and tried to turn it over by hand, but it wouldn't turn. I pulled the spark plugs and found #7 cylinder full of fuel. The rest were fine. The engine turns over fine by hand without the spark plugs.

Next I pulled the dipstick and it looked fine with clean "oil" until I looked closer. The oil was very thin, but I run Mobil 1 5W-30. It was hard to see the level on the dipstick so I put it on a rag and smelled it....it had gas in it. So I pulled the oil drain plug and got 10 quarts out of a 6 quart pan. I pulled the filter and it was full of oil/fuel too. I don't know how long it has been like this, but I obviously have at least one really bad injector. Usually I run the engine and don't run the pump repetitively but it always primed for 5 seconds. My oil pressure has always been good so I hope no engine damage. I checked for debris in the oil from the filter and it looks clean. I think most of the fuel is from yesterday when I ran the fuel pump so much without running the engine to try to purge the bad gas out of the fuel rail.

I had a suspicion I might have had a leaky injector a while ago when I checked my fuel pressure and it dropped fast after the pump turned off. I posted about it here. I investigated it and found out that some of the Walbro 255 LPH pumps don't have check valves in them. So I assumed that's what it was.

What a mess! My injectors were brand new "green" Bosch injectors. I plan to replace them all with Holley 522-428 42 lb/hr injectors. It sucks that I have to pull the upper intake manifold again to do that. I wanted to change the oil and filter anyhow, even though it has very little run time on it. Good insurance.

I think this bad injector explains why my engine always had a rough spot in it when I revved it. I always suspected a bad injector after cleaning all the spark plugs once and it did nothing. It also might explain why the engine cranks so long before starting sometimes.

My friend Gary says I don't have "normal" problems.

I'll get past this too, but it seems like someone doesn't want me to finish this car.

[busterwivell]

I do!

[TrifiveRichard]

You’ve had more than your share of problems, Laszlo! Sounds like you’re getting close.