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Author Topic: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"  (Read 40677 times)

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GTRS Fiero

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #330 on: May 08, 2021, 02:42:52 pm »
Yes, diodes and separate relays.

TopNotch

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #331 on: May 08, 2021, 02:45:17 pm »
I took the car to the meeting today, which is a fairly long drive from my house. I came home to find some of the wire loom melted. I had bought it from Amazon. So I ordered some from Summit Racing, which is supposed to withstand high temperatures. We'll see.
The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.

GTRS Fiero

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #332 on: May 08, 2021, 03:07:44 pm »
You may recall that my loom succumbed to the heat in my engine bay, as well.  I finally ended up with the high-temp loom, which has a silver stripe.  The loom that was good to 450F melted.

Raydar

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #333 on: May 08, 2021, 03:37:44 pm »
...
I finally ended up with the high-temp loom, which has a silver stripe. 

The last batch I bought also had the silver stripe, but it feels thinner than I would have expected.
I haven't tried to melt any of it yet, however.

Pat, you've done wonders with that car. It looks great!
As I mentioned, I also like the "dog bar".  :D
...

GTRS Fiero

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #334 on: May 08, 2021, 03:43:30 pm »
Pat, you've done wonders with that car. It looks great!
As I mentioned, I also like the "dog bar".  :D

Of course, I haven't seen it in person, but it went from nasty to nice, in the pics.

"Dog bar", as opposed to "dog bone"?

TopNotch

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #335 on: May 08, 2021, 06:16:36 pm »
"Dog bar", as opposed to "dog bone"?

The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.

GTRS Fiero

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #336 on: May 08, 2021, 07:49:10 pm »
Ah, yes.

TopNotch

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #337 on: May 13, 2021, 04:41:30 pm »
Here's my fix for the PRNDL switch. When the transmission is in park, the lever presses the little push button switch, which grounds the wire that indicates neutral. The car idles perfectly in park now.
The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.

GTRS Fiero

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #338 on: May 13, 2021, 06:34:32 pm »
What is the light nlue stuff?

TopNotch

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #339 on: May 13, 2021, 06:58:38 pm »
What is the light nlue stuff?
Some kind of sealant, where the wire bundle enters the switch.
The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.

GTRS Fiero

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #340 on: May 13, 2021, 07:02:09 pm »
Ah.

Did you get the high-temp loom in?

TopNotch

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #341 on: May 13, 2021, 08:06:13 pm »
Did you get the high-temp loom in?
Yes
The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.

GTRS Fiero

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #342 on: May 13, 2021, 08:12:20 pm »
Your shift lever looks a lot nicer than mine.

TopNotch

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #343 on: May 19, 2021, 03:04:06 pm »
I found and fixed another little problem with the original build. After my test drives, I've seen a few drops of oil on my driveway under the car. I looked, and it sure looked like it was coming from the front crankshaft seal, so I pulled the balancer/crankshaft pulley. BTW, that's another job that's easier on a 3800 than on a stock Fiero. For one thing, the dust cover at the flywheel/flex plate is very easy to remove, and there's a little notch there that looks like it was just made to allow you to clamp the ring gear in place with vice grips so you can remove the pulley bolt.
But when I removed the pulley, there was no oil on its back side, and the seal looked fine. I put a new seal in anyway and searched for the source of the oil. Finally, I found a bolt hole on the timing cover with no bolt in it. The hole was hidden by some wiring and not readily visible. The oil appeared to be weeping from that hole, and trickling down to where the crankshaft pulley attaches. I put a bolt in the hole and went on another test drive. The dripping appears to be fixed.
The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.

GTRS Fiero

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Re: The New Life of the 3800 "Formula"
« Reply #344 on: May 19, 2021, 05:48:09 pm »
I wonder how they missed that?