A buddy of mine came over to help yesterday, and we got everything buttoned up right before dark. I'll have to say, working on this car is the biggest pain in the *** ever. It was so frustrating, but that's another story. Now it's done!!

Details on what I installed- Fully homeported LT1 heads, Manley Race Flo 2.00x1.56 valves, LT4 HOTcam, GMPP 1.6 roller rockers, some type of upgraded springs. Oh, and an LT4 KM.

I'm taking it very easy on the car this week, to tell you the truth I'm scared to drive it. I just need to drive it around and get my confidence back in it.

It lopes a lot harder than I expected Probably because the idle is a little low for it. Actually it likes to die at idle, so if the PCM doesn't compensate in a few days I guess I'll have to get a tune. I'm going to eventually get a tune, but really don't have the money. Does anyone know how much the PCM will compensate, and how long it takes??

Also, my cooling fans aren't coming on now The relays and fuse checks out ok, what could I have done? Is there a connector somewhere that I may have forgotten?

Thanks
John

 

when i was just trying to start my stroker, i couldn't get it to sit still for 10 seconds before stalling. I raised the idle and was finally able to tune it a bit.

edit:
vac leaks

 

Try adjusting your idle screw. as for the fans, no clue sorry

 

For a heads and cam install the only place you would have disconnected your rad fans at would have been right at the clips on the rad no?

Make sure you used the right type of thread sealer on the head bolts. Loctite won't cut it.

 

Dude you are gonna need a reprogram for that hot cam. It wont run right. Trust me on that one. I done it on my Impala. GO to PCMforless.com and Bryan will take care of you.

 

What sealant do you recommend?

 

get LT1 edit and tune it yourself....Will be worth it in the long run.

Also, I am currently getting my stock heads proted and have a Hotcam kit on the way as well as a new short block. Will be a lot like yours...sort of.

How long did your install take? Im waiting on a few of the parts to get here, then im starting my rebuild also. But im putting in a new shortblock as well. My car is already on blocks in the garage awaiting its new parts. Glad to hear everything went well.

 

Gripenfelter- I used Permatex thread sealant with teflon.

Yea, I'm thinking PCMforless. I just hate to be without my car, as I don't have a spare PCM to put in while I have mine shipped to him. I know he's quick with turnarounds, but I was just without the car for almost two weeks!!

N2OpwrdTA- The install was a pain. It sounds like you have another car to drive, so that is good. Problem areas- coolant transfer tube on the back of the heads. It's real hard to get back on. Adjusting the rockers is a two man job(lots easier that way) and alittle time consuming. My exhaust has always been fairly hard to put back together. I would say that if you don't hit any snags, two full days should be enough to get it back together. Oh, and be careful with the bolts holding the opti on, I snapped one, so I went to lowes and bought three new ones.

If you have any questions now is the time to ask before I forget it

John

 

Take that puppy out and bang it off the rev limiter a few times. J/K.Congrats,enjoy!

 

John,

Glad to hear that you got them installed.. Bet you're glad to be back on the road!

A member of our club, Rick, has the HotCam (stock heads though), and he doesn't appear to have any idling issues. He's still running the stock tune as well.

Your ported heads I guess could be causing issues, or a vacuum leak.

Is it possible that you failed to reconnect a coolant temp sensor, so the PCM doesn't know the temp of the motor?

For programming, Learning the tuning software and doing it yourself are always better because you can do it whenever you want to. However there are risks involved and getting someone else (Like PCMFORLESS, or Madwolf - http://www.madz28.com)lets them take some of the risk off your shoulders. Couldn't you spend the extra bucks and have PCMFORLESS tune and ship a PCM to you, then you send yours back to him? Then you're not out a car while waiting.

There's a core charge, but it might be worth looking into!

 

Hey Lee, I'm thinking the same thing. Lots of people run the HOTcam on a stock tune without issues. I think the heads put me over what a stock tune can handle. I will probably just have Brian at PCMforless do it for me when I can.

About the fans, they are working now. Strangest thing. I checked, my buddy checked, and my dad checked last night, and the fans would not come on. Today they will. Go figure.

John

 

You don't know anybody with a data cable??? With pcmforless you get free upgrades for life so if you do that you might as well purchase a data cable so you can load tunes or even use lt1 edit and tune it yourself.

 

My car ran like crap before I got a basic program for the Hotcam. It would idle sooo rich at idle (600 RPMS) that it almost fouled all my plugs. Tuning is definitely required in order to improve driveability IMO.