Street Build 1g Horse Pasture Find

[that_damn_gavin]

Came across this beauty in a horse pasture in Georgia. It's a one owner car and was running when parked. The owner moved halfway across the country and for some reason didn't want to take the car so he left it on his family's land. It had all the paperwork back to the day when it was purchased, even the window sticker! Luckily I was in the right place at the right time to be able to save it before they took it to the scrapper.

 

[that_damn_gavin]

Just after delivery

 

[blesi660r]

Wow that's awesome, what are you're plans for it.

 

[that_damn_gavin]

Got a new battery and was able to check out the electronics. Got a couple of things to trace down but most everything seems to be okay!

First signs of life:

 

[that_damn_gavin]

Wow that's awesome, what are you're plans for it.

I'm on the fence right now. I have a few other projects that have all my money tied up. My goal for now is to just get it running and driving.

 

[that_damn_gavin]

Got a few necessities in before I try to start her up

 

[that_damn_gavin]

New timing belt, tensioner, and pulleys installed. There were signs of the valve cover gasket leaking so I installed a new one. I was amazed at how clean the inside of the engine is for a car with 258k miles on it!

 

[that_damn_gavin]

After I got everything buttoned up it was finally time to see if she would fire up. I poured a couple of gallons on gas in the tank and turned the key. No spark and no fuel! After going through all the checks, I determined the ECU was at fault. Fortunately I still had my old E-prom ecu from my first build (10 years ago). Stuck it in and I had spark but still no fuel. I didn't even hear the fuel pump. Here we go again! Pulled the fuel pump out and along with a terrible old gas smell, I found this:

 

[that_damn_gavin]

Determined to get this thing running, I went to the local parts store and bought a new 33 gph pump (not going for crazy horsepower here). But, the tank was just too full of crud to install the pump back in. I pulled the tank and the entire thing was coated with this:

I drained the gas and started rinsing out the tank. Fortunately, that is not rust and there is nice clean metal under it. It's impossible to get all the way into the tank with just a water hose so I will take it somewhere to have it professionally cleaned and lined.

 

[that_damn_gavin]

Back to being impatient; I filled up a 5 gallon bucket with 93 octane, slid it under the car, and set the pump in the bucket. Turned her over and finally, fuel pressure!!! BUT, no fuel injector pulse Okay, now I'm starting to remember why I don't work on cars for a living anymore haha. Back to the drawing board, I pulled the cover off of my old ECU and found out the capacitor had leaked all over the board. Ran down to radio shack and they had one of the capacitors so I soldered it in with no luck. Ordered 2 sets of capacitors from madfablab and should be at the house waiting on my as I type this. I zoomed in on this pic and notice there might be some damage from the capacitor. Hopefully it didn't damage it and/or the other board is in better shape and new caps will get me going. If not, I will move on to the CAS.

 

[that_damn_gavin]

Had some free time at work this morning and access to a seemingly endless supply of 99% alcohol. Such a coincidence I had the ECU's with me!! Cleaned them up as good as I could and installed the new capacitors.

Non-Eprom:

I was really concerned about the brown spots on the Eprom ECU (circled in yellow) but I checked continuity across that part of the circuit and have continuity and it seems to be contained to just that spot.

The non-Eprom ECU didn't have any damage from the caps.

 

[serviceguy]

I would just make sure that solder has bonded to both sides of the board and the terminals, from those pictures doesn't look like the top side makes good contact with the capacitor terminal.

 

[that_damn_gavin]

I would just make sure that solder has bonded to both sides of the board and the terminals, from those pictures doesn't look like the top side makes good contact with the capacitor terminal.

Ah I see what you're saying. Thank you. I'm just wary of applying too much heat. I'll definitely address that issue. Thanks again!

 

[95GSTowner]

Awesome find!! Keep pressing on and I'm sure you'll have it running soon! What wattage soldering iron are you using?

 

[that_damn_gavin]

Awesome find!! Keep pressing on and I'm sure you'll have it running soon! What wattage soldering iron are you using?

Thanks! It's a Weller WLC100 (300 watt max) base and SPG40 iron. I've soldered plenty of wire but never on a component level.

 

[95GSTowner]

Thanks! It's a Weller WLC100 (300 watt max) base and SPG40 iron. I've soldered plenty of wire but never on a component level.

I'm no pro but when soldering on circuit boards I usually stay between 15w - 30w so I don't have to worry about it being too hot. You'll be fine

 

[that_damn_gavin]

I'm no pro but when soldering on circuit boards I usually stay between 15w - 30w so I don't have to worry about it being too hot. You'll be fine

Thanks for the tip. I'm about to try again in a few minutes.

 

[Chumpaumpalumpa]

I'm no pro but when soldering on circuit boards I usually stay between 15w - 30w so I don't have to worry about it being too hot. You'll be fine

650* and a small tip does nicely

 

[serviceguy]

Also make sure for the track and terminal to be as clean as possible and use flux (rosin). Proper penetration of the molten tin is paramount to ensure good electrical contact among all tracks.

 

[hotrodssnova]

I wonder what the injectors look like from setting with fuel in them. The tank was full of crap, might pull the injectors out and soak them. Hate to see one hang open and do bad things.

In your first sign of life photo, I noticed that the boost gauge didn't zero. That's a sure sign of a failed ecu. You might want to check the iac for the proper ohms. They have been known to take ecus out.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Nice find found mine in indiana it was a good find.