Resurrecting Jalpa #359

https://www.facebook.com/derek.mccallister/...54193581911744/

 

https://www.facebook.com/derek.mccallister/...54193631631744/

 

My O2 settings were off and my map too lean, but WE GOT IT RUNNING. THat's the first step. Based on my settings for desired power were too lean, soooooo... i guess that's kind of a good thing since it's making more than i expected.

It's ALLIIIVVVEEE !!!

 

Huge congrats D!

One of the biggest moments in LP's history HAHA

 

I am so damn excited for you!

Congrats Derek, great job you and your machinist!! i'm about a month behind you with my Countach engine.

Congrats!!!!!

Very cool! It's been great watching this all come together over the last couple years. Congrats!

 

Hopefully you'll be driving it soon.

i was anxiously watching this on FB last night, every time it would crank i was sitting here going "cmon, cmon" (the girl thought i was nuts)

SUPER excited for you!

 

Now go put it in the car adn drive it, hell make the road trip to Monterey at the end of summer!

So long as I can get a good street tune and get cracking on this over the weekend, I don't see an issue with hitting monterey this summer. Just a matter of fixing the fuel map at this point.

i was anxiously watching this on FB last night, every time it would crank i was sitting here going "cmon, cmon".

SUPER excited for you!

 

Now go put it in the car adn drive it, hell make the road trip to Monterey at the end of summer!

 

Yeah, sadly I think i understand what happened. For first runs it's a good idea to turn on the analyze and auto tune function as it will attempt to at least adjust the base map to a desirable AFR based on your target AFR.

 

I'm currently using a wideband LC2. MOST wideband controllers will calibrate themselves when you plug them in. The LC2 is different. You have to power it on with nothing attacked and it'll flash red at you for 15 seconds. You then turn it off, and then plug in an O2 sensor that is hanging in free air. Then, plug it back in. It'll flash green and eventually go solid, signifying it is calibrated.

 

My machinist did not know this, installed everything and put it in, and I completely spaced it. So the entire time I was attempting to make changes, my AFR was reporting as way too rich, since it was test fired with the O2 installed, so fumes in the pipe. So it kept attempting to lean out, even though we needed to do the opposite.

 

Now that I know this, the next time I start it should be much easier to deal with and I can revert back to my old basemap. All it needs to do is get itself running at 1-2rpm and we can get it proper. Not a big deal. Lots of little things happened last night that made it a pain to get it started, but nothing bad, just little hiccups. To finally hear it was a huge moment.

Wow that's awesome! Huge congrats!

I think I finally found a decent local shop to rebuild and tune the carbs on my Jalpa. I figured I had better get my butt in gear if i am going to join you on any significant drives. I hope to be ready for adventures within the next few weeks.

Wahoooo this is amazing!!!! Congrats bud the heart of your Jalpa is alive.

So, who wants to see the real before and after photos?

So, who wants to see the real before and after photos?

 

I think it's safe to say......everyone who's been following this thread!

So, I held off on posting all of the really bad stuff, I figured most people would be like, "yeah this isn't gonna go anywhere." So I saved them for the day the engine was confirmed running and happy. In fact, upon calling a place that was well known for these cars, they told me there was no point in rebuilding this car and basically that I was crazy, and not worth my time, and was essentially given a lot of flak over the phone. Upon giving me a quote on what they begin rebuilding engines at, I went "yeah lol. no."

 

The interior itself is great, the chassis and frame is great, but the wiring and engine were shot.

 

I talked to my machinist, and for 3/4 of that price, I have built the engine far beyond that, improved it over factory spec by far, moved to EFI, ITBs, and built it exactly how I wanted it.

 

The engine, when I got it, was filled to the top of the dipstick. I don't mean that it was filled to the full mark, I mean the entire dipstick had fluid. Water, fuel, oil, coolant. You name it. The carbs had sat for so long that they were completely and utterly destroyed. Holes in the float bowls, literally crumbling as I took them out. One of the float bowls broke off as I took the carb off the engine. Some of the pistons were so corroded away, they looked like they had melted.

 

On top of this, the factory head gasket had failed a long time ago, and the heads were so severely pitted, it was 15 hours of welding PER HEAD to repair them properly.

 

I still knew it could be rebuilt. Like I said, for 3/4 the price I was quoted to "start rebuilding", I've attained a beautiful, as I wanted build. Pretty sure i'd be 2-3x the original quote for where I'm at. Even the guy who repaired my cylinder heads laughed when I told him the original "starting cost" of rebuilding everything. His words, "Metal is metal, welding is welding, machining is machining. This metal and that engine is still just metal at the end of the day. That's ludicrous." My machinist told me that was also ridiculous, and has wanted to work on these cars for a long time, so he undertook a lot of machining and custom tools to make it happen. He now has every tool imaginable to work on the v8 engines.

 

The day I pulled the engine and got the heads off was unsettling, stressful and I knew there was a long road ahead.

 

These are the carbs. I held onto them for the sake of reminding myself just how much of a pain this was going to be.

 

One of the cylinders.

 

One of the cylinder heads and pitting. As you can see, the combustion chamber is completely rotted away.

 

That doesn't look TOO bad, right?

 

Well, that was before I cleaned it up.

 

The subframe, unfortunately was in bad shape.

 

 

 

 

But with time, progress, patience, money, it's alive. After being told that "what i had is basically a parts car" and that, "this isn't just some corvette you can get parts for at the junk yard, these things are hens teeth" and having been insinuated that I'm some sort of idiot with a pipe dream, I took the time to make sure that dreams could come true. I wanted a challenge, I got a challenge, and a wonderful challenge it has been.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BRAVO!

Great Job!

 

That's a tremendous amount of work. Glad to hear it's all coming together well for you.

Well done!

I LOVE this thread!

You're the man Derek! SO happy for you bud!

 

Driving that car for the first time is going to be one hell of a feeling! Be sure to get it on video! Enjoy!

Great to see!

That is amazing. Great work!

WOW!! You told me things were a bit worse when you started than you were letting on, but I never suspected it was that bad. Makes this thread all the more impressive! My hat is off to you sir!!

The engine is home safe and sound. This weekend, the process of fitting everything begins.

 

Here's a photo with me and my machinist.

 

 

 

Keep it up! A few days ago the sky was falling and here you are 72 hours later with a working engine. You will be driving the car in no time!