Restoring Rusty

[Will206]

I have the non-gas Flux core model, some thing I have done:

- Converted it over to DC with some big caps and a bridge rectifier. (Tutorials for this are everywhere)
- Upgraded the wire to Hobart .030
- I do have an auto darkening helmet

I'm getting better at not burning holes in stuff, the thinner wire might help. It still splatters a lot. Its only power settings are high/low. I'm usually running it on high.

[Will206]

Dupe post. Can't find delete!

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Gregski

Thank you so much, glad you swung back by Will

A couple of things...



LOL, aint that the truth, having graduated from the College of Cheap Harbor Freight Tool Knowledge myself, I have this bit of wizdom to offer

first I hope you have their MIG or at least Flux Core / MIG combo machine and not just their Flux Core unit, (don't know what you got, ok, are you using a gas tank with your box or no tank? no tank means Flux Core)

so one thing that really transformed my HF MIG machine was tossing their cheap spool of wire that it came with and right away going to Home Depot and buying a spool of Lincoln name brand .030 wire, if I was to do it again I would got even thinner wire like the Lincoln .025 to ensure I would weld and not burn holes in the exhaust

then it is just a matter of figuring out your box settings, and honestly you play more with the heat knob ie amps than the wire speed, you set the wire speed to a low setting like a 2 and then just mess with the heat knob until the wire actually penetrates the metal and you can't tap the weld bead off with a hammer, if you can take a hammer and knock the bead off than the wire feed is too cold and you need to up the heat, also if it is popping it is too cold and the wire is bouncing off the metal, tap tap tap instead of melting into it

see what you have made me do, you made me get up on my welding soap box, sorry, hope that helps though

P.S. also an auto darkening welding helmet is a must especially for beginners the nod your head to make the old style helmets fall over your face was cool in the 50's ha ha

I resemble that 1950's comment... I still have two Huntsman 400 Fiber helmets with #10 & #12 shields. One is modified with a dowel handle & no headband and one with a good headband that I nod my head to drop down. They're still pretty decent very light helmets and I never get flashed. I mostly use em for stick and TIG.

I have a 2 year old Lincoln Viking and a new Jackson BH3. They are both noticeably heavier than my old fiber helmet and you can get flashed if you don't set them right. They are also easier to use with the MIG for sheet metal work.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Will206

I have the non-gas Flux core model, some thing I have done:

- Converted it over to DC with some big caps and a bridge rectifier. (Tutorials for this are everywhere)
- Upgraded the wire to Hobart .030
- I do have an auto darkening helmet

I'm getting better at not burning holes in stuff, the thinner wire might help. It still splatters a lot. Its only power settings are high/low. I'm usually running it on high.

use caution you can not use the MIG .025" wire spool on a Flux Core machine Flux core is a special type of shielded wire the shield on it is in place of the gas

I think there is some kind of spray you can get (look into it) to spray your piece before you weld it to make sure the splatter don't stick, I had a lot of splatter with my Harbor Freight Flux Core machine, little bits a bit bigger than pieces of crushed pepper all over the place, they would come off easy with a wire wheel or a grinder but still it meant an extra step

[Gregski]

so with the Air Fuel Ratio adjusted to be way better way leaner into the high 13s range rather than the 10.6 range I started with, the truck is running great, idles around 550 RPM nice little rumble, not perfect yet, but better

I drove it in to work today, ran great, even the fuel gauge decided to work

[Chrispbrown36]

I love how clean the new gauges look...mine aren't bad but not nearly as shiny. I am having some issues with high idle and have been told to get a wideband to get it figured out....I just can't afford to drop the cash...there has got to be a better (cheaper) way!
Flux core will always splatter.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Chrispbrown36

I love how clean the new gauges look...mine aren't bad but not nearly as shiny.

Thank you, I now kinda wish I went with white digits to match the dual AFR gauge, ha ha

Originally Posted by Chrispbrown36

I am having some issues with high idle and have been told to get a wideband to get it figured out....I just can't afford to drop the cash...there has got to be a better (cheaper) way!

there is, bench tune your carb, look at my detailed thread here how I did it, very simple, no gauges needed

INNOVATE DLG1 Wideband O2 Oxygen Sensor Tuning Diagnostics Logging Air Fuel Ratio etc starting at thread #42 (also not in the thread but my initial timing is set to 10°)

Originally Posted by Chrispbrown36

Flux core will always splatter.

True

[Chrispbrown36]

Mine is a TBI, so there isn't much I can tune without changing out chips (as far as I know). I really have been thinking about changing over to a carb...a computer seemed like a great idea now I am beginning to hate it...

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Chrispbrown36

Mine is a TBI, so there isn't much I can tune without changing out chips (as far as I know). I really have been thinking about changing over to a carb...a computer seemed like a great idea now I am beginning to hate it...

TBI, what you got? is it that 1987 Chevy 4x4 350 auto? is it stock chip or chipped? I thought the whole point of an ECU or an ECM what ever you call the car computer black box is to do all this work for you, I mean what's the point otherwise

so if it is wigging out, it only does what it is being told, what I mean by that computer has it's field soldiers, the sensors, and they tell it what to do, the first thing I would do is replace your Oxygen sensor(s) with quality OEM spec ones what ever the engine you have came out of or is, then reset the error codes if any and drive around

the next thing to replace is the MAF Mass Air Flow meter sensor thingie, check the error codes and drive around

the next one after that could be the throttle position sensor

[Will206]

High idle on a TBI? Check the base gasket as well as for slop in the throttle.

[Chrispbrown36]

87 4wd with a 350 TBI and 700R4 tranny. The motor is not the original according to the guy I bought it from but he didn't say what it came out of, how many miles on it, or anything else that might have been useful. I was too blinded by the beauty of the truck to think at the time....let's call it truck goggles.
The O2 sensor is about a year old and I believe it is a house brand from somewhere. I have been trying to stick with AC Delco on everything, but that one I slipped up on. That will probably be remedied soon.
The TPS, idle air control valve, and map sensor are all new (past year to six months) and AC Delco.
Not getting any vacuum leaks at the throttle body base. The EGR was leaking on me but has been replaced....but I went with an off brand locally instead of waiting on an AC Delco to be delivered. I do have a vacuum leak toward the back of the intake manifold, so I am going to redo the intake gaskets in the next couple of weeks.
No slop in the bushings either that I can tell.
.....So the love affair with the truck goes on but the engine and I are barely on speaking terms!

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Chrispbrown36

87 4wd with a 350 TBI and 700R4 tranny. The motor is not the original according to the guy I bought it from but he didn't say what it came out of, how many miles on it, or anything else that might have been useful. I was too blinded by the beauty of the truck to think at the time....let's call it truck goggles.
The O2 sensor is about a year old and I believe it is a house brand from somewhere. I have been trying to stick with AC Delco on everything, but that one I slipped up on. That will probably be remedied soon.
The TPS, idle air control valve, and map sensor are all new (past year to six months) and AC Delco.
Not getting any vacuum leaks at the throttle body base. The EGR was leaking on me but has been replaced....but I went with an off brand locally instead of waiting on an AC Delco to be delivered. I do have a vacuum leak toward the back of the intake manifold, so I am going to redo the intake gaskets in the next couple of weeks.
No slop in the bushings either that I can tell.
.....So the love affair with the truck goes on but the engine and I are barely on speaking terms!

funny feedback but sad story, wish you had a happy engine, well Chris thank you for reminding me why I finally got rid of my 97 Tahoe and rewound back to 1974 technology, the grass is truely greener I love the simplicity of my truck not to mention the space in the engine compartment

[Chrispbrown36]

Way to rub it in man! ha ha
Now....what have you done on Rusty lately....don't leave us hanging here!

[Gregski]

Just a Truck doin' Truck Things!

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Chrispbrown36

87 4wd with a 350 TBI and 700R4 tranny. The motor is not the original according to the guy I bought it from but he didn't say what it came out of, how many miles on it, or anything else that might have been useful. I was too blinded by the beauty of the truck to think at the time....let's call it truck goggles.
The O2 sensor is about a year old and I believe it is a house brand from somewhere. I have been trying to stick with AC Delco on everything, but that one I slipped up on. That will probably be remedied soon.
The TPS, idle air control valve, and map sensor are all new (past year to six months) and AC Delco.
Not getting any vacuum leaks at the throttle body base. The EGR was leaking on me but has been replaced....but I went with an off brand locally instead of waiting on an AC Delco to be delivered. I do have a vacuum leak toward the back of the intake manifold, so I am going to redo the intake gaskets in the next couple of weeks.
No slop in the bushings either that I can tell.
.....So the love affair with the truck goes on but the engine and I are barely on speaking terms!

If you can read the block casting number and stamped engine codes on the RH block pad you have a shot at figuring out what the engine was when it left the factory. The early TBI systems needed to be programmed to match mods like cams etc. but you should be able to get away with slight changes.
If you can find out what CAM, heads, and pistons you have you can probably find a tuned EEPROM image for that setup.

You want to keep the TBI setup or move to MPFI if you can. Carbs are easier but don't extract the power that a properly setup EFI system can. Stock 1987 the L05 TBI 350 had 35 HP and 25 ft-lb on the Stock Carbureted 1986 LS9 350. The 1987 L03 TBI 305 had 10HP and 25ft-lb on the Carbureted 1986 LE9 305. The TBI system did this with better fuel mileage and without blowing out huge amounts of garbage from the tailpipe.


USB ALDL interface cables are not expensive... $55 at most and you can build your own for less. Used enterprise class XP laptops are right around $100. WinALDL and TunerProRT are not difficult to use and are either free or donationware.
You start running into real money when you get an emulator like the Ostrich and start building your own custom programs. http://support.moates.net/gm-86-95-obd1-guide-read-me/

[rusty76]

Boy you lost me on those words^^^^. lol

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by rusty76

Boy you lost me on those words^^^^. lol

Sorry. Been hacking embedded hardware for over 40 years. It's like Tinker Toys and Legos now.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by hatzie

Sorry. Been hacking embedded hardware for over 40 years. It's like Tinker Toys and Legos now.

Not to be a jerk but what were you hacking in 1976? LOL

Being an IT guy claims like that are one of my pet peves

[hatzie]

I've been playing with or hacking on electronics (learning how they work and why and then building stuff with them) since the mid to late 1970's. Somehow hacking has morphed into vandalism and other criminal acts perpetrated over networked systems. I was not breaking into the Pentagon on ARPANET at 10 years of age.

Electronics were very embryonic in comparison to what we have now... I was playing with TTL and Transistor circuits among other things. It was closer to 37 or 38 years ago that I got my grubby paws on anything marginally resembling a modern computer.
What we would call "real" computer hardware with a keyboard and tiny CRT was what I could get access to after hours and some weekends, if I was a good kid, at my fathers' place of work. He was a Chemical Engineer in ceramics and industrial coatings. His ceramics and coatings were used for discrete through hole and early surface mount components along with the metallized inks he was working on for making early high density integrated circuits... What they were calling high density in 1978 through the 80's is laughable now but it was really cool stuff then.

Motor and servo controls fascinated me at that time. I had access to early multi-pen plotters, both working and horribly failed. They were controlled using GPIB from an HP85 with a whole 16K of ram and 8" floppy drives with abysmal data capacity. I also had intermittent access to an HP9845 but only for programming and playing with a working plotter... only when I was a very very very good kid. All of this was very very expensive computer hardware for a young teen to have access to. I made actual mechanical and electrical repairs to some of the HP plotters and I was allowed to play with one that was beyond repair. The real engineers thought my Frankenstein with wire wrap boards was amusing and it kinda worked.
I guarantee a kid would never be allowed to play with hardware like that at their fathers' place of work in this day and age.
Goodies like that were nowhere near as easy or as available as the truly serious robotics and electronic controls and sensors that youngsters presently have easy access to. The discrete hardware and Microchip PIC and Atmel or some of the canned development hardware like the Intel Galileo and Arduino boards among others are really cool. Modern hardware really is like Legos and it's cheap... but even the TTL chips and discretes could be compared to Lego sets if you were mildly careful of what you were doing. $1 for a component was a huge amount of money for a 10 year old kid that was getting $2 to mow the lawn so screwing up and smoking a $35 TTL chip was a really big deal. Pulling stuff from a dumpster for components was not off limits as long as it stayed in the barn or garage and got heaved when I was done with it.

I'm lucky enough to still be playing. um... I mean working with electronics hardware in the field in a company I own more than a small part of. We make passenger counters for public transit buses, coaches, and rail. I am a field engineer because it's still fun to build this stuff.

[Rich84]

Hatzie..as usual I have no freaking idea what you are talking about..lol. All I know is "try rebooting it if it doesn't work"

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Rich84

Hatzie..as usual I have no freaking idea what you are talking about..lol.

Sorry.

Originally Posted by Rich84

All I know is "try rebooting it if it doesn't work"

At least you aren't using a hammer...

[Valarius_Starchaser]

Hatzie I enjoy your interjections and in my time studying the GM 7427 PCM for my 4L80 after reading this I know about 1/10th of what your saying and that's good because now you are driving my to learn more and that is the #1 reason I come to this site is to find the drive and necessity to know more because if I never knew something existed then I would never know to know more if that all makes sense

[ZUKE]

[/IMG]

[HIGHWAY BY THE SEA]

Originally Posted by hatzie

Looks like that door has been mis-aligned for a while.
I read somewhere about someone using ABS tubing to replace the plastic sleeve on the striker pin. Can't find it now...

YES!!! I have done that with a piece of plastic tubing on my 81 stepside, and the door has never been better!!! ☺

[Gregski]

~ partz ~

Wanted a digital fuel gauge but didn't want to pay shipping, so.... A double click here and a double click there later