It all started with a leaky water pump

[Sask84gt]

So I’ve had an annoying water pump leak and some oil leaks on the ol 250,000km 302. Figured I would change the water pump lol. Well I’ve always heard and read about the opening up of a can of worms or the falling down the well of car upgrading but have never experienced it. I always have done things on the cheaper side which in a lot of cases I regret as it’s cost me more money in the long run. Well I don’t know if it’s mid life crisis stuff or what but holy hell lol.

So, from that water pump we are now at.

Motor is going to be stripped down and hot tanked, cleaned, honed and maybe taken to a 306 just to refresh the cylinder walls. Not sure yet on that as it’s going to depend on what it looks like. Motor has about 250,000km on it. Getting it decked and all the bearings refreshed. New comp cams double timing chain, cover and new water pump, oil pan, gaskets, rails, bolts etc. Installing new trickflow stage 1 cam along with a set of the trickflow twisted wedge 170cc fast as cast heads which are getting a basic porting to open up the flow a bit more. Trickflow 1.6 rockers. Intake is a edelbrock Performer rpm with bbk headers and full flowmaster exhaust. Should get me some decent HP and be a blast to drive.

Upgrading to the 87-93 spindles so I’ve ordered all new 11”powerstop rotors, calipers, braided lines etc.
Going to order the contour fan kit from lmr( anybody have any thoughts on this kit?) along with maybe one of their sve 3 core rads. I have a rock auto single that’s pretty much new. Would I be fine with staying with this or do I need a 3 core?

Dropping the External fuel pump crap( hate it). Have new efi tank to go in along with a Holley sniper in tank pump. Have 90% plumbed already but now need to run a return.

May go with a Holley sniper system or stay with carb. Haven’t decided that yet.

lastly and it going to a big maybe because they ain’t cheap I may put in a new tkx trans or a upgraded t5 from TREMEC. That’s down the road though as they run about 4K Canadian. I running a nwc which is original to my 84right now, plus I have a WC from a 87-93( not sure what year) sitting on a bench I may put in to see how it is. Or maybe sell and use money for new one.

So ya, that’s all happened in the last month lol. Sitting here typing this waiting for the heads and rockers to get delivered from summit lol. To say I’m excited is an understatement but I do know it’s going to be a lot of work and it will be under the knife for at least a year to a year . I just want the car to be a reliable fun driving car with a little spunk that I can take out around the city and on roads trips with the wife in the middle to later years of our lives. I will be 50 next year.

I will keep this thread updated as best I can with my progress just in case anyone wants or cares to know or to drop some tips, tricks and advice. Always will to take people advice here as we have some awesome knowledgeable members. Love this site!

Brad

[Chuck W]

I used the LMR brackets when I did the Contour fan install in the TBird. They worked fine.

I pieced the rest of the install stuff together myself. Mine is controlled via the MegaSquirt, so I didn't need any additional parts for that.

The Contour fans pull around 40A, so keep that in mind.

Which "kit" are you looking at? IMO, the Dakota Digital stuff isn't needed. Personally I have NO need for BT control over my car's fans from my phone...
I'd do a PWM controller before I'd do any of that nonsense.

What kind of controls for cooling does the Sniper stuff have? You could possibly have all the control stuff you need contained in that, if you go that route.

[Sask84gt]

I used the LMR brackets when I did the Contour fan install in the TBird. They worked fine.

I pieced the rest of the install stuff together myself. Mine is controlled via the MegaSquirt, so I didn't need any additional parts for that.

The Contour fans pull around 40A, so keep that in mind.

Which "kit" are you looking at? IMO, the Dakota Digital stuff isn't needed. Personally I have NO need for BT control over my car's fans from my phone...
I'd do a PWM controller before I'd do any of that nonsense.

What kind of controls for cooling does the Sniper stuff have? You could possibly have all the control stuff you need contained in that, if you go that route.

I do have the 3g alternator upgrade so I should be good with the amps. I agree with you on the Bluetooth stuff, don’t really care to be able to use my phone for that stuff. I was looking at the one with the Dakota digital. What’s a better alternative? Just would like to eliminate the clutch fan and go electric and have it turn on when it’s supposed to and off when it’s supposed to lol.

[Chuck W]

I guess it depends on what you use for engine management. Looking at the Sniper stuff, there are options for adding on I/O's which include fan controls, which you can program with that. You basically control power relays for the fan through that.

On my LTS with the CFI 5.0, I ditched the clutch fan for an e-fan, but kept it kind of "dumb". A couple details are in my thread in the "Others" section.

I used an extra Volvo 850 fan I had with its 2-speed relay set up. Fed that power through an in-line fuse from the battery. I added a temp switch in the heater hose for the high-speed fan (ON around 205*/OFF 180*), which is pretty basic.
Seeing as the car has working AC, I wanted to have the low-speed fan run when the AC was on. I intercepted the AC compressor command from the temp controls through a relay that sends a signal for the low-speed fan to run whenever the AC compressor is called to operate.
System works great like that.

When I swap the CFI/EEC4 out for the port injection set-up and a MegaSquirt, I'll ditch the temp switch in the heater hose and just control the high fan with the MS ECU, like I do on the TBird. I'll probably keep the AC relay set-up for the low-speed fan, though.

[Sask84gt]

I guess it depends on what you use for engine management. Looking at the Sniper stuff, there are options for adding on I/O's which include fan controls, which you can program with that. You basically control power relays for the fan through that.

On my LTS with the CFI 5.0, I ditched the clutch fan for an e-fan, but kept it kind of "dumb". A couple details are in my thread in the "Others" section.

I used an extra Volvo 850 fan I had with its 2-speed relay set up. Fed that power through an in-line fuse from the battery. I added a temp switch in the heater hose for the high-speed fan (ON around 205*/OFF 180*), which is pretty basic.
Seeing as the car has working AC, I wanted to have the low-speed fan run when the AC was on. I intercepted the AC compressor command from the temp controls through a relay that sends a signal for the low-speed fan to run whenever the AC compressor is called to operate.
System works great like that.

When I swap the CFI/EEC4 out for the port injection set-up and a MegaSquirt, I'll ditch the temp switch in the heater hose and just control the high fan with the MS ECU, like I do on the TBird. I'll probably keep the AC relay set-up for the low-speed fan, though.

So looking through lmr. Would I be able to control everything with just getting the adjustable fan controller from them? So get the fans, bracket kit and the fan controller?

[85GTGuy]

So I’ve had an annoying water pump leak and some oil leaks on the ol 250,000km 302. Figured I would change the water pump lol. Well I’ve always heard and read about the opening up of a can of worms or the falling down the well of car upgrading but have never experienced it. I always have done things on the cheaper side which in a lot of cases I regret as it’s cost me more money in the long run. Well I don’t know if it’s mid life crisis stuff or what but holy hell lol.

So, from that water pump we are now at.

Motor is going to be stripped down and hot tanked, cleaned, honed and maybe taken to a 306 just to refresh the cylinder walls. Not sure yet on that as it’s going to depend on what it looks like. Motor has about 250,000km on it. Getting it decked and all the bearings refreshed. New comp cams double timing chain, cover and new water pump, oil pan, gaskets, rails, bolts etc. Installing new trickflow stage 1 cam along with a set of the trickflow twisted wedge 170cc fast as cast heads which are getting a basic porting to open up the flow a bit more. Trickflow 1.6 rockers. Intake is a edelbrock Performer rpm with bbk headers and full flowmaster exhaust. Should get me some decent HP and be a blast to drive.

Upgrading to the 87-93 spindles so I’ve ordered all new 11”powerstop rotors, calipers, braided lines etc.
Going to order the contour fan kit from lmr( anybody have any thoughts on this kit?) along with maybe one of their sve 3 core rads. I have a rock auto single that’s pretty much new. Would I be fine with staying with this or do I need a 3 core?

Dropping the External fuel pump crap( hate it). Have new efi tank to go in along with a Holley sniper in tank pump. Have 90% plumbed already but now need to run a return.

May go with a Holley sniper system or stay with carb. Haven’t decided that yet.

lastly and it going to a big maybe because they ain’t cheap I may put in a new tkx trans or a upgraded t5 from TREMEC. That’s down the road though as they run about 4K Canadian. I running a nwc which is original to my 84right now, plus I have a WC from a 87-93( not sure what year) sitting on a bench I may put in to see how it is. Or maybe sell and use money for new one.

So ya, that’s all happened in the last month lol. Sitting here typing this waiting for the heads and rockers to get delivered from summit lol. To say I’m excited is an understatement but I do know it’s going to be a lot of work and it will be under the knife for at least a year to a year . I just want the car to be a reliable fun driving car with a little spunk that I can take out around the city and on roads trips with the wife in the middle to later years of our lives. I will be 50 next year.

I will keep this thread updated as best I can with my progress just in case anyone wants or cares to know or to drop some tips, tricks and advice. Always will to take people advice here as we have some awesome knowledgeable members. Love this site!

Brad

Wow! That's the definition of scope creep there. Sounds like you got a plan. Good luck with it all.... keep us updated.... looking forward to reading about your success in the future.

[KevinVarnes]

So, what was the impetus to go from water pump to full on rebuild? I understand the desire for an electric fan, but there is also something nice and simple about a mechanical clutch fan.

[Sask84gt]

So, what was the impetus to go from water pump to full on rebuild? I understand the desire for an electric fan, but there is also something nice and simple about a mechanical clutch fan.

Well I’ve always wanted to do a head, cam swap just never really wanted to sink the money. Pardon the French but this is one of those times to **** or get off the pot type things. I’m not getting any younger and who knows what crap life is going to throw at you. I’ve sunk a ton of time, and money restoring this car from what it was. Did it all with no knowledge to begin with and learnt from reading this site, asking questions and watching videos. So it’s time now to get done what I want and do it the right way. That’s true about the clutch fan, just would like a maybe less bulky set up and some more cooling.

[Sask84gt]

Wow! That's the definition of scope creep there. Sounds like you got a plan. Good luck with it all.... keep us updated.... looking forward to reading about your success in the future.

Thanks man, appreciate it.

[Chuck W]

So looking through lmr. Would I be able to control everything with just getting the adjustable fan controller from them? So get the fans, bracket kit and the fan controller?

Are you running AC?

I looked at the instructions for that adjustable fan controller set-up. For one, it says 25A Max on the capacity of the controller, and it only allows for 1 speed. Both Contour fans on high pull 40A. That extra plug down low on the shroud is for the low-speed circuit, through a resistor, which might be all that you need, honestly.
It does have an override circuit, that can be used for the AC or a manual switch, though. It just can't handle what the Contour fans put out, except for maybe on low speed.

I will say, on the LTS (with the Volvo fan) when I have the AC on and the fan is running low speed, it pretty much stays at my thermostat temp (180*), even when stuck in traffic on hot days

The Dakota Digital controller thing looks like it'll control 2 speeds, and has AC input, but I didn't see in the settings whether you can choose what speed fan for AC-on. I just see temp settings. It just controls relays, and isn't running a high AMP draw through it.


It might be possible to use that Derale adj set-up as a trigger for a relay on a larger circuit, so you can pull more AMPs. I don't see a need for adjustable controllers though. I can adjust the temps on the TBird in the MegaSquirt....but I haven't changed them since I set things up 20 years ago.

[Sask84gt]

No not running ac, at least not for the moment. Have the compressor just never went farther than that. I will most likely look at ac also especially if I’m going to be driving it a lot more. Right now it was a roll windows down and take for a short drive lol.

[Chuck W]

I mean. for the short term, you can go with a basic fixed-temp switch, a good 50-70A relay, a MAXI fuse holder and the fans and run it. Low-speed may be enough, but you could go nuts with high speed if you want.

If you want to add AC later and/or work with a 2-speed set-up, you can deal with wiring changes, etc then.

Just kind of depends on how deep you want to go with it.

[Sask84gt]

I mean. for the short term, you can go with a basic fixed-temp switch, a good 50-70A relay, a MAXI fuse holder and the fans and run it. Low-speed may be enough, but you could go nuts with high speed if you want.

If you want to add AC later and/or work with a 2-speed set-up, you can deal with wiring changes, etc then.

Just kind of depends on how deep you want to go with it.

Ok, thanks for your advice. I will continue to look into it and figure out what to do. I may just buy the whole kit a deal with the dakota digital as then everything I need to run it comes with it.