Nomad final assembly

[WagonCrazy]

just sell some stocks. the market has done well in the last week or 2.

[chevynut]

just sell some stocks. the market has done well in the last week or 2.

LOL! yes I've made a fortune this year in the market. It's not the money, it's the principle. I hate re-doing stuff.

[Rick_L]

"Getting the correct regulator is a mess. GM lists two regulators for the Ramjet 502. Early ones used a 43PSI regulator, and later ones used a 60PSI regulator and the parts lists for the Ramjet 502 list different parts. The part I had was for the newer Ramjet 502 and is the same regulator and fuel rail used on 1996-2003 Vortec 454 and 496 engines. However, most sites claim the later injector is only 36 PSI which can't be right. You can't even get corect info from AC Delco or Delphi on the pressure rating for different part numbers. Some guys on the truck forums used the 217-3073 regulator specified for their 454/496 trucks and said it outputs 58 PSI. Delco even says it's 36 PSI. If it's wrong it's going back."

Just get an adjustable regulator. Then adjust to whatever you need. The pressure needed will be dependent on the ECU and the fueling parameters programmed into it. Doesn't matter if it's a 502 or a Ferrari or a Geo.

[chevynut]

Just get an adjustable regulator. Then adjust to whatever you need. The pressure needed will be dependent on the ECU and the fueling parameters programmed into it. Doesn't matter if it's a 502 or a Ferrari or a Geo.

The fuel rail for the Ramjet 502 is from a '96-'99 Vortec 454 has an integrated fuel pressure regulator. I don't know how I'd bypass it without cutting it up and I don't plan to re-plumb the fuel system again. There is a billet fuel rail available but would require complete re-plumbing of the fuel lines. These small regulators are a proven design in millions of cars and trucks and it's not hard to change it. It's getting the right part that's hard.

As far as the ECU is concerned, it ran with the C950 so I'm sure I can get it to run with the TerminatorX. I don't see anywhere that Holley specifies the fuel pressure for their base maps, but it does matter. I can compensate for the higher pressure in the fuel map if needed.

[asbicca]

Check out Holley. I was able to get an adjustable regulator from them to replace the fixed one that came with my Edelbrock efi system. It fits right on the end of the fuel rail and has a vacuum port to sense engine needs.
Part # 512-502 or 512-507. You need to look at the orientation of the stock regulator to determine which one you need. The directions show a good picture of both regulators.

[chevynut]

Check out Holley. I was able to get an adjustable regulator from them to replace the fixed one that came with my Edelbrock efi system. It fits right on the end of the fuel rail and has a vacuum port to sense engine needs.
Part # 512-502 or 512-507. You need to look at the orientation of the stock regulator to determine which one you need. The directions show a good picture of both regulators.

Nothing like that will fit. Here's what the fuel rail looks like.




Here's the regulator that it takes.



If I were to add an adjustable regulator I'd have to put it on the frame and re-plumb everything. I would have to cut off the regulator from the fuel rail, flare the line, and add a coupling. Or I could leave the regulator in place and plug the return line. Not going there at this time.

[chevynut]

Apparently the difference between "Coil near plug" IGN1A type coil and the single coil ignition is that the CNP coils are "smart coils" that have coil drivers inside of them....I didn't know that. So that begs the question...why can't you just use a "smart coil" as a single coil with a distributor and eliminate a coil driver/CD box?

https://www.aemelectronics.com/produ...RoCZCkQAvD_BwE

https://www.diyautotune.com/product/ign-1a-race-coil/

It looks like that's possible, but I was told that these would burn up in a single coil application so I bought the MSD Ultra 6A CD ignition box. I also ordered the TeminatorX ECU and the un-terminated harness.

I still need to order the Dual Sync Distributor and I verified with Holley that theirs has a melonized gear. I'm trying to figure out all the connectors I need and I'm running into issues with the O2 sensor connector. Holley uses one standard O2 sensor connector for all their harnesses, but the 4.9 O2 sensor connector looks different than the 4.2 O2 sensor connector so I'm not sure how that works.

Holley sells the Bosch 4.9 O2 sensor for $126....I found the exact same sensor on Ebay from several sellers (Genuine Bosch) for $30, or around $60 from Rockauto. Googling a little I found out that the Bosch part number Holley sells is 17025 if anyone needs one. Prices are all over the place but no more than $75 anywhere.

Once I get the connector issue resolved I'll order the rest of the stuff I need. I found out that the injector harness I made isn't going to be easy to modify to separate the pairs of injectors so I'll just build another one.

I'm heading to Montana for Christmas so I had everything shipped up there so I can check it out and start working on it when I get back. Montana has no sales tax.

[chevynut]

I'm back up in Montana now so I ordered all my new stuff and had it shipped here. Stopped in Big Timber to have dinner and spent the night with friends, then went to Immigrant and spent a couple nights with my stepdaughter and her boyfriend. We arrived in Lincoln on Tuesday night and I hit a damn deer just west of town, almost home.

Anyhow, I got the TerminatorX ECU, an un-terminated harness, MSD Ultra 6A ignition box and Holley dual sync distributor, all delivered to Montana. My injectors and fuel pressure regulator arrived before I left and the harness connectors were all delivered while I've been gone. Also had to order some contacts to rebuild my injector harness, which arrived as well. I was able to salvage the housings.

I found out that a lot (probably all) the $30 Bosch O2 sensors on Ebay are counterfeit knock-offs. The sellers are all from China and the parts say "made in Germany" which is bogus. They've done a pretty good job making fake parts. Bosch has a website where you input an authenticity code to verify they are real Bosch parts so I asked one of the sellers for the code off of two of his boxes along with pics.....no reply. LOL. Rock Auto has the best prices for the 17025 that I've found at $68 and they claim they're genuine Bosch parts.

I also decided I'm going to add a second O2 sensor that the TerminatorX supports. I always worried about having a problem on the passenger side cylinders and not being able to detect it. I did weld an O2 bung onto that header before I had them coated.

The wiring harness looks a bit intimidating with 60 wires in a huge bundle. I should only need about 40 or so with the added O2 sensor. Debating on what to do with the oil pressure and fuel pressure inputs, and whether I should add a second knock sensor. I'll check that out more. Also the distributor has a huge 10-pin connector with 4 wires in it so that's going to get changed. Holley's universal "plug and play" strategy isn't very optimal. I may remove the wires that I'm not planning to use from the connectors like I did with the C950 harness.

I'll be back in Colorado around the 8th so I can get back to work on it. Larry still hasn't finished the headliner, and if it's not done soon along with other progress I will likely be telling him to pay me and take a hike.

[chevynut]

Here's an example of a fake Bosch O2 sensor....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125976080526





Notice the "authenticity code". If you enter it in Bosch's website it comes up as fake.

https://www.boschaftermarket.com/xc/en/keysecure

They do a pretty good job of copying it, right down to the laser markings, the zip tie on the sheath, box, labels, and appearance of the part. If you look at seller feedback you'll see he's supposedly in the USA but probably has friends in China. These guys should be shut down.

[chevynut]

Got back to Colorado early this week and had to spend a couple of days dealing with flooding at my 90 year old mom's house. I got all my parts while in Montana so I'm ready to start the conversion to the TerminatorX ECU. I made a mount to put it under the rear seat and it will be good to have access to it like this. The MSD CDI box will go where the C950 was in the console.

IMG_6714.jpeg

I finished de-wiring the Teminator X harness and removed 26 of the 60 wires, which is a lot of wire....should have gotten a 50% discount . I've verified and labeled every wire out of the harness that I need. I also finished building the injector harness with 8 injector wires (previously had 4 for the C950) and 2 power wires (previously 1). I still have to attach the 10-pin connector to it when I decide exactly where I want it to reside under the upper intake manifold.

I plan to flush the entire fuel system again and install a new fuel filter. Then I can install the injectors and fuel rail and remove the C950 harness. I plan to re-use some of the connectors on it and try to sell the C950 box....I guess some racers still use it or someone might want it as a backup.

About half of the remaining wires go to the engine and the other half stay inside the car and every wire has to be terminated. In order to install the new Holley Dual Sync distributor I have to be able to get power to the distributor because it has LED's in it that help set the timing. I also plan to remove the huge 10 pin connector on the distributor and replace it with a 4-pin for the 4 wires needed. Holley tries to make everything universal and it results in non-optimal design of the harness.

I've been concerned about the CDI box because my friend used the Holley Hyperspark ignition with his Sniper and it caused huge issues. His engine got flooded 5 times as they were trying to get it running and the injectors and pump wouldn't turn off. The Ultra 6A CDI box looks just like the Hyperspark. Apparently the Sniper is very susceptible to EMI and you have to be careful with it. He abandoned the entire Hyperspark system and the problem went away. I plan to put an EMI shield on the coil wires from the CDI box to try to prevent this problem as I have a lot of sensor wires running in the same area. I wish I could have used just a coil driver something like in the GM distributor and not used the CDI. Luckily my MSD coild is compatible with the Ultra 6A box.

I got the new Bosch 4.9 WBO2 sensor from Rock Auto, but it doesn't have a Bosch "Authentication code" on it so I don't know what to think about that. I sent an e-mail to Bosch to see what they have to say....if anything.

They use a 50 degree reference angle on the distributor which is weird to me. You have to set the engine at 50 BTDC with #1 on compression and install the distributor, then turn it and watch two LED's to get the timing set. Those LED's are the cam and crank sensors. Once that's set, you tighten down the distributor and leave it. Not sure why they use 50 degrees when most use 10 degrees, but I believe the ECU retards the timing from that point and 50 degrees is the maximum advance you can get.

This is turning into a big project but I think it will be worth it. I resisted going backwards like this for years, but as Rick said it's a good time to do it since I'm waiting on Larry to work on my interior.

[chevynut]

Yesterday I got the 10-pin connector on the distributor changed to a 4-pin one. Then I turned the engine over by hand to 50 degrees BTDC on #1 so the old distributor is ready to remove and drop the new one in. I ran the fuel pump with the fuel rail still off and flushed the supply line up to the fuel rail/regulator.

Then I removed the entire C950 harness and labeled the wires that need to be re-connected to the TerminatorX harness. i salvaged several of the connectors off of it since the harness is basically trash now.

IMG_6736.jpeg


I plugged the new harness in and separated the wires into two bundles, one bundle that goes to the engine compartment and the other that does not. There's WAAAAAY too much wire in a 15 foot harness....8 or 10 feet would be plenty. I've made several schematics showing how everything needs to be wired up.

Next step is to mount the CDI box and run power and ground to it and the ECU. I think I want to remove a couple of wires from the CDI box harness too, since they're for a magnetic pickup which I won't be using. Then I need to start connecting the new harness wires inside the car and run the rest of them through the firewall.

[chevynut]

Still working on the Nomad as much as I can. I got the CDI box mounted where the C950 ECU was. They want you to put it on rubber vibration isolators, which I did, but I'm not sure they even do anything. I did remove the two magnetic pickup wires from the CDI box, and I also removed 5 more input/output wires from the TerminatorX connectors. I just can't think of anything else to do with those I/Os. I am using one input and two outputs, same as the C950.

Today I removed the old 4.2 O2 sensor and installed the new 4.9 one. It was a bit of work getting it routed into the console, but I got it done. I also installed the new fuel pressure regulator in the fuel rail, and temporarily installed the harness/fuel rail without the injectors so I can wire up the connector to the main harness.

Now I'm ready to start cutting and crimping terminals onto the wires. It should be pretty easy until I get to the engine compartment. I'm trying to document everything and go slow so I don't make a mistake that would be hard to find.

IMG_6739.jpeg

[chevynut]

Turns out Holley says to wire power and ground for the TerminatorX ECU and the MSD CDI box directly to the battery. As long as you have good connections and proper size wires, you don't need to go to the battery imo. I have a 1 gauge wire from the battery to the starter. Then I have another 2 gauge wire from the starter to a large fuse box in the console. An 8 gauge wire feeds all 5 breakers mounted in the console from there. I plan to run a 10 gauge wire from there to a 30A breaker, then to the TerminatorX ECU. I plan to connect the ground wire to my rear seat frame mounting bolt that goes into the body. The rear seat frame is aluminum and is grounded in several places with bolts. I feel this is better than running two 10 gauge wires all the way to the battery. Plus I have been told that the ECU only draws around 10A so I don't understand the need for the huge wires.

As for the CDI box, it uses 12 gauge power and ground wires. It only draws about 6 amps at full power, so again the wires are overkill. I plan to run the constant power to a 10A fuse in my fuse panel, then the ground to the console base. The console base is grounded in numerous locations to the body, which is grounded to the frame and battery. Again, this is better than running 12 gauge wires all the way to the battery imo.

[chevynut]

I've been plugging away on the wiring as much as I can. Got power and ground wires run to the ECU and CDI box. I removed three wires from the CDI box and ran the "points out" wire from the ECU into one of those locations. The other two are unused in my application. I've re-wired the fuel pump relay and the 3 I/Os that I'm using.

All I have left inside the car is installing the O2 sensor connector. They give you no sensor pinouts for the 4.9 sensor, and Holley sells an "adapter harness" for it and the wiring diagram for it is not available, at least I can't find it. So I searched and found some sources for the correct 4.9 sensor wiring and signals, and mapped them to the ECU harness. Once I get that connector installed it's on to the other side of the firewall.

The left side of the console in this picture is all the new ECU wiring. Lots of stuff to keep straight.

IMG_6749.jpeg

[WagonCrazy]

Looks good Laszlo. I like your description of your +battery and -ground wire rationale. It seems logical to me, and is how I wired mine up too (lots of grounding points all tied into to the chassis/block and a few common +battery connection points near where power is needed...rather than multiple long runs back to the battery itself).