Author Topic: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC  (Read 111898 times)

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Offline stobl

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #45 on: December 17, 2011, 06:37:22 PM »
SEPTEMBER 2011

The guy that was supposed to convert the vortec distributor for me flaked, and I got tired of waiting so I just decided to modify my oem HEI unit.  Cut down the weight plate into a point to act as the cam sensor trigger


Crank sensor from a early 2000’s ford escort (I believe).  Although I'm starting to get the feeling those sensors are a big POS (more on that later).  Might need to look into sourcing better quality ones


Fits well enough.  I’ll have to figure out some sort of cover for it.  Looks like a small stainless mixing bowl would work.  Also, you see those brake lines?  That’s the air vents on the cylinder heads.   3an lines from rear go to the T’s at the front of the heads, then dump after the thermostat.   Should help greatly with getting rid of air pockets in the heads.


Welded a oil temp sensor on the tank.  The more sensors the merrier


Then wrapped it with some pipe heat band

After only a few minutes

Not bad for right next to it


Well, after trying to rotate the engine, the engine just wouldn’t go.  Something was hitting… Frustrated I had glued the pan on, I knew it had to come off.  Yup….  Another issue of one-offs.  This can be explained by not using a gasket.

Rod bolts touch.  Crap.  No big deal, nothing that can't be easily fixed

So I beat it out with a hammer, stripped the paint, gave it a soaking with some prep-n-etch then repainted


With the engine out to fix the oil pan, I took the liberty to start mounting my mess of hoses.   The fuel cutoff T is on top and the oil distribution block is next to the midplate.  The oil comes from the T on the left (mounted on oil inlet plate), then from there goes to the Tee by the midplate, where the left capped outlet is a -6an to the turbos, and the top goes to the rear of the block (oem pressure sensor location that goes directly to mains).  Just to ensure lots of oil gets to the bearings


Another problem surfaced.  The Tee that mounts to the oil inlet plate was about ¼” too long and hit the frame.  So I’d have to modify the inlet plate…....again.....

Much better


I jumped around some more and made electrical pass throughs


Version one of crank trigger bracket



Version 2 of the tensioner mount.  The first one was too far out and simply wouldn’t tighten the belt enough. This moves it closer to the belt line between the alternator and crank


Crap. I broke the stupid hydroboost mount.   Oops.  Looks like I'll be buying a new one instead of rebuilding this


I had a friend CNC me some mockup bushing inserts for my new LCA’s (So i dont melt the poly bushings while welding)


Also took the time to make the vacuum port for the FPR.  Some ¼” quick fit tubing and fittings.  I had to disassembly the FPR/drill/tap it ffrom the stock 1/16”npt to 1/8” npt.

The mess of hoses begins.  Mind you, I bought all these off ebay.  There’s startlite, icore Kevlar, progold fittings, goodwrench 910, 810,  lots of nice ptfe, etc.  What I would do is measure, buy, hope it fits, if not, I’d see what else it would possibly work for.  The measure again, buy more, repeat.  Saved me a ton of money.   God bless old nascar parts


The mess in the rear

Front driver side is a tight fit, but luckily it worked.  In the left picture, the closest to you is cold water feed to head, the one behind is the return to the thermostat section.  and the big hose crossing across the bottom/front is -16 feed off water pump.


The fuel cutoff/oil T with the engine in place



Direct oil pressure gauge

Mechanical Oil pressure and the electric sensor are tapped into a port in the oil galley


Throttle pedal assembly.  Some 1" tube, a couple bearings, and some leftover 3/8" rod


Welded a plate to the floor/ bolted the pedal to it/through the floor.  Used some heims as support stands for the next linkage up, then to the throttle body.


Built the alternator support bracket.  Mounts to the cylinder head


Cheap tool alert:
There is a -12an water return in the very front of the motor that I simply couldn’t get to.  So I bought a set of harbor freight wrenches, cut them in half and notched the box end

Easy fit AN box wrenches.  It solved my problem, and now I have some neat new tools to use


Battery box found a new home

Bolted it through the floor.  Still need to weld some 1/8” plates on the underside for the time being


Looks like a good spot for a battery disconnect.  There will be a shutoff on the rear of the car, and a lever for me to pull from the driver seat (you never know when you need to cut power)

Now I need an arm to mount some heims to control the shutoff.  In comes some scrap 3/8” plate (I never throw out my scraps. They always come in handy)

Just needs a few holes for the heims (and of course to make it visually pleasing eventually)


 
« Last Edit: December 17, 2011, 06:52:07 PM by stobl »
-Blake S

Offline stobl

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #46 on: December 17, 2011, 06:49:36 PM »
OCTOBER 2011
   
I got tired of trying to explain to people what all the hoses for, so I made this chart.  This is just the passenger side:


Fuel filter mount V1. Yes, it’s what I’m using


Splitters I built for the cooling system.  -16an in from the pump, splits to -12 outs to either side of the heads


-10an fuel return line


Fuel primer section V1.  That primer thing I made mounted here.  16an off of tank, and the 10 feeds the primer pump.. that fabricated section isn’t going to be used, and ill use a 8an off the walbro and feed a swirl pot in the front.


Installed the fuel strainer and glued on the fill plate


I found out they recently installed a couple E85 pumps 5 miles from my house.  Good reason to pick up a couple fuel jugs.  It smells awesome


Finally time for wiring!  I’m starting with a 12’ harness for megasquirt 3x and cutting it to fit.  Simply was easier to do it that way


Ugh.  This will never do.  Looks like there will be a version 2 of the crank sensor.


Starter relay and electric battery disconnect (aka key switch) so I can quickly cut power to everything BUT the computer/datalogger/emergency stuff.

Cut it to length then start shoving it in expanding loom with lots of heat shrink


The annoying part.  Connect it all to some Deutsch-like (Delphi HES specifically) connectors for the firewall passthrough.

My chart as I went through it all

Also my temporary wiring section until I build the dashboard.  It’s a mess

A cookie sheet makes a good switch panel (I only really needed the left group for now).
Left side group- power switch, starter, ignition coil power, injector power, fuel primer pump


And my temporary air intake.  Haha


At this point I attempted to start the motor.  It kinda-sorta ran.  LOTS of problems (timing, fuel.  Mainly the crank and cam sensors).  One big issue was the cam trigger was too “thin” and not giving me a nice signal so I fixed it with some washers to build height to it



Poor man’s lathe.  Drill press and angle grinder.  I turned it by hand and held the grinder steady to try and get a concentric arc

Slowly getting better

Not too shabby (I need to fill in those holes)


Here's a youtube video of the first "start"  the timing is completely jacked up and it was running insanely rich (burning your eyes rich on e85).  This was due to a problem with the crank and cam sensors loosing sync with the computer, so it would only run with the timing 4* after TDC.  That's why it sounds like an old beat up truck.  I need to figure out something better than those ford sensors.   After this i decided i need to get it started first with regular gasoline before i start fiddling with e85, so this is the only video at this point.

http://youtu.be/WlBWCWR6qnU




-Blake S

Offline stobl

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #47 on: December 17, 2011, 07:04:00 PM »
NOVEMBER 2011

I found a sale on NOS (circa 2004) carrera late model coilover shocks (cheaper than oem replacements).  7” stroke..  Good enough to get me going and allow me to build the mounts I need.


After scrapping the idea of the rear fuel primer section, I decided to go the route of a swirl pot.  Some 6” x .125 wall tubing and hemisphere architectural end caps.

This 8an outlet on the bottom/side is for the pre-start fuel primer.  Because I'm using a belt drive fuel pump for EFI, it wont build enough pressure until the engine starts.  So to start the car, i have to turn on another electrical pump which will build pressure in the fuel rails until the engine catches.  Then i can turn off that pump and let the belt drive take over

IIRC this holds about 1.3 gallons.  For those of you who haven't seen one.  It works as follows-  the electric pump in the rear of the car constantly feeds fuel to the lower 8an on the side of the tank.  the 16an on the bottom goes to the belt drive pump.  the 8an on the bottom goes to the startup primer.  the 10an on the side is the return from the fuel pressure regulator.  Doing it this way minimizes fuel lines running the length of the car, and ensures this swirl tank is always full of fuel.  the 10an bung on the very top is the return line back to the gas tank in the trunk.

Now I need to mount it.   Take some old 4” exhaust tubing, slit it, and bend it around your argon tank

1x1 tubing with some extra junk on it

Then weld it to this side.  (Had to cut off fuel filter, I’ll remount it somewhere near by)

The holes i cut out in the 1x1 tubing are slots for 3/4" wide t bolt clamps.  I figure 3 should be enough to ensure it doesnt move.  Once i get everything else figured out, this tank will get it's own protective "cage" around it, since it's outside of the frame.
 
-Blake S

Offline Geo

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #48 on: December 17, 2011, 08:54:39 PM »
Blake,

I like this build.  Lots going on... and off for modifications.

A few thoughts.  The air bleeds do not look like they flow upstream.  An air bleed will not work if there is any downward flow.  The right angle at the "T" at the front of the heads is down from the back of the heads as is the flow to the central "T" and perhaps the flow to the air purge point - radiator or puke can?  The ignition trigger needs to be a sharp cutoff like the crank trigger wheel teeth, only less thick.  As deep and there is a gap spec like spark plugs. The ECU needs to see a distinct on and off from the sensor, not a gradual increase and decrease like your smooth radius trigger.  The positive side harness is done so now build a ground harness and make the wire from the starter-block point to the battery as big as your positive cables. Ground all the components that do not have a ground - ECU fuel ignition computer, headers if sensors do not have grounds, instruments, switch panel...

OK, I ready for the next post.  Pant, pant sure kept me busy today!  Thanks!   :cheers:

Geo

Offline Dr Goggles

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #49 on: December 17, 2011, 09:58:13 PM »
Holy shit!..just when I thought things were getting a little boring here.

Blake , finding this site must have been a buzz, because at some point you probably  started to think everyone who thought you were mad, was right. Then you found this place where people don't just tolerate you, they cheer you on.

Go for it brother, we're all loving this. :cheers:

Few understand what I'm trying to do but they vastly outnumber those who understand why...................

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Current Australian E/GL record holder at 215.041mph

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN SLOW BUSINESS.

Jessechop

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #50 on: December 17, 2011, 10:31:18 PM »
This is insanely awesome!

It also made me late for a meeting on Friday and supper tonight! Whoops  :cheers:

Offline kiwi belly tank

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #51 on: December 18, 2011, 12:56:43 AM »
Lotsa whittlin, grindin, bangin & weldin goin on here, puts a smile on my dial. :-D :-D
There are lakesters & liners shorter than this one. :cheers:
It's gotta be tough to fit a race seat in there! :roll:
 Welcome to the land of the crazy's, you fit right in.
   Sid.

Offline SPARKY

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #52 on: December 18, 2011, 06:48:24 AM »
speaking of liners and lakesters---this thing is almost qualifying for "special Construction" 

when  Andy gets back to the pickup AA/BMP build we will be spending hours on here studying this build-- what little bit we did we uncovered a lot of the same clearances issues

creative and original :cheers:  :cheers:
« Last Edit: December 18, 2011, 02:25:40 PM by SPARKY »
Miss LIBERTY,  changing T.K.I.  to noise, dust, rust, BLUE HATS & hopefully not scrap!!

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."   Helen Keller

We are going to explore the racing N words NITROUS & NITRO!

Offline donpearsall

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #53 on: December 18, 2011, 10:44:57 AM »
Wow is right. Way to go. I love "enginuity" and you sure have some going on there. Thanks for the build diary. Now I know why I build bikes and not cars.
Keep on posting.

Don
550 hp 2003 Suzuki Hayabusa Land Speed Racer

Offline robfrey

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #54 on: December 18, 2011, 01:23:38 PM »
Thanks for sharing. We know all this posting takes time. We do appreciate it!  :-)
496 BGS
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Offline mc1984ss

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #55 on: December 18, 2011, 01:41:44 PM »
Love the build and thanks for sharing! I have always beena big fan of the big cubic inch caddy motors. Keep up the good work cant wait to see more!

Offline neverdun

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #56 on: December 18, 2011, 10:06:43 PM »
Great job so far. Where are you in Va.? Keep it up!

Offline stobl

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #57 on: December 19, 2011, 10:17:20 AM »
An air bleed will not work if there is any downward flow. 

As far as I’ve talked it over, it should work for its intended purpose of simply allowing a continues path for steam to exit the heads.  The basic idea is that the two corners of each head provide the “high point” for steam to escape into.  Once steam is in the brake line (3an size) it should be able to be forced in a slightly lower point of exit by means of a pressure differential/ air being compressible vs incompressible water pushing it.  The outlet of that vent line is right above the thermostat which “should” provide a lower pressure than the heads.  Essentially the same idea as to how you can bleed brakes when the outlet at the caliper is much lower than the master cylinder.  (true, water isn’t as viscous as brake fluid, same basic principle applies).  Of course there are lots of other factors, but I’ll have to wait until I get it on the road to test to see if it works as planned.

As for the ignition problems, I changed the ECU settings from full sequential to a batch fire to actually get it running, so that it only relied on the crank trigger.  That was giving me a lot of false readings, even though the oscilloscope showed a nice clean signal.  I messed with the sensor spacing between .010” up to .060” and it kept kicking out lost sync errors. Talking it over with a friend, I believe the problem was more along the lines of the fueling, in that because I’m using 160lb injectors (8 of them), and at this point have very little experience with e85, I was getting small backfires which would cause noise in the electrical system, causing the ecu to lose it’s place and have to start over.  I decided that until I can get the fuel in the ballpark, I’m going to throw regular 93 gasoline in there, since I at least have a lot more experience with getting those tunes down.  I have a feeling if I can get rid of the random small backfires with a decent tune the ecu problems will disappear.

I’ve since pulled all the wiring out so I can finish up the firewall and make the dashboard, so trying to start it up again will have to wait a while.  No use in adding extra wear to the engine before the car even moves.
-Blake S

Offline stobl

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #58 on: December 19, 2011, 10:24:12 AM »
Just a quick update since we’re pretty much caught up where I’m at now (December 2011)

I’ve since built the welding jig to make the new lower control arms (A-arm style).

I measured the space between the mounts on the frame and both came up at 10.125” ID   So I took the rod, spaced out the bushings and made this


Also, because the oem control arm bolt is 9/16”, and the new bolt holes are 5/8”, I used some aluminum 5/8” fuel line to make bushings to temporarily center the bolt holes




Homemade ball joint cup holder:

Weld a washer on the inside


Cup sits right on the edge where the tubing expands



I tacked a piece of angle on the side and marked where the stock shock mounted.  Just a reference point for me



Trim the exhaust pipe reducer and bolt on a piece of plate on top to hold it securely


The cup is 1” tall, and the tubing is 1.5” in diameter.  I needed to squish it a bit to fit.  The tubing is in the bench vice/I was yanking on it with my breaker bar


All with just an angle grinder and flap wheel


Tacked on the cup, and attempting to trim for the bushing


much better


looks like it works


Difference:


I finally received the new front coilover mounts.  These are from some 4x4 shop that I’ll cut/weld/make fit in the stock spring pockets


The second side of the arm was fitted


I finished welding this side up last night



HOWEVER, I don’t like it.  This will go into the parts of shame pile.  Haha.  One of the big things I didn’t like is that the shell for the bushing is only 1/8” wall.  Last night I found a supplier of bushings with ¼” wall that I would much rather use.  I’ll still finish this arm up just to see how it looks and fits, plus it can always come in handy as a spare.
-Blake S

Offline sabat

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Re: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood AA/BFCC
« Reply #59 on: December 19, 2011, 12:12:33 PM »
Thanks for taking the time to take, post, and caption these pics.

"Cash toilet" is a great phrase, but I think this salt boat will be worth a lot more than the sum of its parts.