Black Jack. Rust Wars: Revenge of the Die Grinder

[AeroCoupe]

So with the higher octane fuel you can be a little more aggressive with the timing. Rule of thumb is to pull two degrees every 50 hp of nitrous. With a lower octane you may want to pull 5 degrees for a 100 shot vs 4 degrees. Again, read the plugs and run the fuel a little fat. You can always lean it up when its fat but if you start lean then thats when things get torn up. Best thing to do is run a knock sensor and have it back timing out.

Higher octane is more friendly to a nitrous tune and you can be more aggressive i.e. get more power our of it but like any other power adder you can work up an 87 octane tune.

 

[Noobz347]

I would personally not run 87 in anything but a lawn mower.

I run 89 in my Suburban, even. Non-ethanol, when I can find it.

 

[AeroCoupe]

Meh to each is their own. I run 87 in my tuned F150 and it does just fine. It’s all in the tune.

 

[FastDriver]

I respect your position, but also never experienced any issue running 87 in anything. It still feels really sporty; I can't tell the difference, though I know the dyno & track would. But, since 99% of my driving is mundane to work & back kinda stuff, plus I can flip a switch and refill the tank for the other 1%, plus at the end of the day it's a high mileage stock block, I'll be happy to keep $600-800/yr in my wallet.

I'll save the nitrous for the 93 tune that it has done well with, so far. Mostly, I don't want to blow up the motor and take a mental L for being dumb/greedy.

Thanks, guys.

 

[General karthief]

don't want to blow up the motor and take a mental L for being dumb/greedy

Not dump or greedy when it comes to blow'd up engines.......
It's ambitious

 

[FastDriver]

First leg of 270mi was 25.7 mpg. Included 80mph jaunts and the vast majority of the time was with A/C on.

Edit/update:
~700 mi round trip. Most driving was in the rain. Felt completely stable, thanks to the Michelin Cross Climates. Didn't keep track of mileage on the way back, as I spent so much time in traffic, narrowly avoided a hailstorm, then was trapped in a town near Emporia, VA, where 5 different routes were blocked by accidents & downed trees, until I cleared one of them with several other guys that had chainsaws -- never had that happen before. Almost ran out of gas, there, as several stations were without power.

But, anyways, I was pretty happy and comfy in black jack, streaming Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy, a Star Wars book trilogy I read as a teen, for most of the trip. Got home, and all's well that ends well.

 

[FastDriver]

A/C started acting up. Added way too much freon before realizing that it was the pressure switch itself, and that I just wasn't revving the motor enough to build a/c pressure. I'm still a newb with doing A/C myself. Once I started bring the RPM up and watching the gauges, it was shooting up over 400 psi on the high-side for a bit, and I recovered some of the freon back out of the system. Took it for a test drive, and seems to be working nice. Air looks to be blowing around 40-50* in 90* weather. Good enough.

Brake Booster replacement

Black Jack's back under the knife. The rain and oppressive heat ain't makin' it easy. Frustrations abound, but nothing serious. At least I can dehumidify the garage, open it to the house to bring temps down, and spread out a bit. Need to install a split unit a/c, one day.

Take a look at the difference between the LMR and older '93 Cobra Booster I got when I bought the Reef Blue '93.

LMR:

Older '93 Cobra:

That adjuster is a lot shorter, whereas the LMR one completely adjusted in doesn't get this short. While that could be the reason, I think there's some kind of vacuum leak going on in it. Either way, it was such an PITA to remove that I definitely won't reuse it.

 

[FastDriver]

The hard part is done. All downhill from here:

It ain't pretty, but I also seized the opportunity to sand the rust off of the shock tower and spray it. It was a bit worse than surface rust, but I think I got it in time to keep BJ safe for a long time in that area.

 

[FastDriver]

Success! Took the car for a test drive and the new booster, with vacuum hooked up, had no brake drag. If I had it to do over, I'd try to swap the adjustment rod alone to see if it really was a vacuum problem internal to the booster or just a lack of adjustment range. Now, I'm not sure if I should toss the booster to resell it.

 

[gkomo]

Cobra booster? Any issues getting it in?

 

[FastDriver]

Yes. Cobra booster (93). No. No issues getting it in, outside of the norm. I pulled out the LMR 93 Cobra booster that was giving me problems, and I put in a 93 Cobra booster that I've had on the shelf for a long time, and for some reason I think I may have gotten it from @GroverDill when he sold me the Reef Blue '93. I don't know what brand, but again, scroll up a bit and see the difference I noted in the adjuster.

 

[FastDriver]

So, I searched around the forums and read the LMR reviews, and I can't find anyone else complaining about brake drag from their '93 Booster. So, I guess this was just a one-off situation.

I think I'll chuck the LMR one in the trash. If it were an easy part to install, I'd let someone else try it, but putting in serious work, only to have a hard to diagnose problem for more than a year, followed by having to do it over again really sucks. Don't wanna do that to someone else.

 

[Mustang5L5]

The LMR one is likely an SKP brand booster. It's the only brand sold as new these days.

 

[Noobz347]

So, I searched around the forums and read the LMR reviews, and I can't find anyone else complaining about brake drag from their '93 Booster. So, I guess this was just a one-off situation.

I think I'll chuck the LMR one in the trash. If it were an easy part to install, I'd let someone else try it, but putting in serious work, only to have a hard to diagnose problem for more than a year, followed by having to do it over again really sucks. Don't wanna do that to someone else.

How old is it?

 

[FastDriver]

No tellin. I might not even be right about where I got it, but if I am, then it's been on my shelf for 7-8 years, and who knows how much more on Joe's.

Maybe I can get a p/n when I get back home. Black is still down while I'm treating surface rust in the cowl.

If you meant the LMR one, then not more than 2 years old.

 

[FastDriver]

Rust Wars:  Revenge of the Die Grinder
Long, long ago in a cramped galaxy under the cowl… a phantom menace emerged... Do not under estimate the power of the oxide.

I have no idea what I'm doing, but I know I won't leave it worse than I found it. Very hard to get the Makita Die Grinder or the angle grinder to everything in the cowl:

So, after I hit it with a wire brush in the nooks and crannies, I'm gonna have to rely on chemicals. Ospho came recommended. It's directions suggest wetting the surface, but in this case, I don't want to send water that never dries into the pinch welds to then be painted over. So, I'm going to apply it directly, and let it dry for a day, then either...

1. Rattle can prime & paint, or,
2. POR-15 it as much as I can reach

I originally leaned towards POR15, which has done well for me in the interior, but studying a bit leads me to believe it fairs badly against UV light, & gets brittle. So, I'm wondering if primer & paint just make more sense.

 

[AeroCoupe]

Self etching primer and a good epoxy?

 

[FastDriver]

Self etching primer and a good epoxy?

Specific recommendation?

 

[RaggedGT]

I would think any kind of brush on/roll on rust converter (Eastwood etc.) that you could top coat/seal would be a pretty good fix, using the rust converter you could almost flood the areas that are hard to reach. And then seal it all in with a uv resistant top coat

 

[limp]

As Ragged said, I like to clean out all I can with a wire wheel, sandpaper, or grinder, Kill it with a rush converter, then paint it with some good stuff..
VERY IMPORTANT to let the rust buster dry well... Do not be in a hurry to paint over it until it thoroughly dries....