Beretta.net

Got a bunch more little details finished and got the powertrain back in. I do a lot better work than I used to, but it takes a ton more time. Is it worth it for a Beretta? haha

The breather that came with my oil separator fit in the rear valve cover hole perfectly, but the ICM was in the way. So I found a rigid PCV elbow and modified it to work. I also found a grommet that works perfect for that hole or the one at the top of the UIM by the TB. I also got rid of the old evap bracket that scrapes up your hand when working on anything back there - used a couple caliper slider sleeves.





Made my own "molded" hoses for the PCV separator by bending tubing and jamming it inside. Cleanest, simplest solution I could think of for the hose routing.




Dropped the body on top. So much easier that way. Got everything hooked up and with the help of my belt tensioner tool. It's tight AF with that new coolant pipe right by the belt.





Had to make a bracket for my all-rubber heater hose to snake around the headers back to the core. It's nice to work in a place with a mill, lathe, drill press, belt sander...and an almost endless supply of drills and taps and allen screws. haha



Just started putting the suspension in. It's a real bitch trying to keep freshly blasted and painted stuff scratch-free during install.

Also did some more reading about $A1 mask in OBD1 and found some cool stuff. But that's for another post.

Good update. That motor looks clean n' mean.

Its getting to the point where you pretty much need a machine shop to keep these cars on the road, ha ha

I can't believe I spent money on an actual seep belt tool when all I needed was an effing zip tie and a 9/16 wrench!!

Guess I should update this. Made a lot of progress and fired it up today! But it's super rich so I gotta figure out a better base pulse constant for the 28lb-ers. What I have should be close to correct, but according to everything I've read, nobody really knows what the hell the injector math is for $A1. Stock 3.1 with 16lb is 226, 3400 with 22 is 150 according to Superdave, and my 120 still seems way off. Dave recommended 130, but that seems like the wrong direction to me. I'd rather do more homework than try to guess and test and end up with fuel washed bearings.


But here are the things I actually got accompished!

After checking all the clearances in my 5spd, Jeff at EP thinks this loose shift cable end is the root of all my shifting problems.
https://i.imgur.com/oIpnjxC.gifv?1
So I tossed the plastic crap and wimpy stud for a 3/8 bolt. The smooth shank of the bolt fits the hole in the metal cable end perfectly. I welded a nut on the shift arm to screw the bolt into and used a lock nut to jam the bolt in the arm with a hair of clearance so the cable end doesn't bind. Works silky smooth in the garage, let's see how it does at 6000rpm.





Last fall I had the old man use his badass blaster (http://woodsmobileblasting.com/) to clean up some suspension stuff that really got nasty thanks to a leaky master cylinder and all the daily miles. I used 2k rattle can paint. Should hold up way better than typical air dry stuff. I didn't know the history of my steering components, so I replaced the ball joints and tie rods and wheel bearings for the track day that now we're not doing at Bfest... Also invented a way to install the subframes and swaybar without scratching up all the new paint. Just use the long middle bolts in the rear to hang it low enough.








I dimpled a set of almost-dead rotors to see how well it works. Created a pattern on the computer and flipped the faces in a way that it should all balance perfectly. If it does, I'll do a brand new pair and the Neon rears and have a fully matched set. I'm too OCD to mix and match front and rear visually.




I joined the RedLine MTL club too. Legend has it that you can shift better at high RPM with it than Syncromesh.


Got my new dash in and tried to rattle-proof everything as much as possible. Didn't get a pic because I have some more work to do on our printer at work before it's finished. Got new gauge cluster, stereo, hvac and wideband faces in the works. Also made a GoPro/phone mount out of a spare cluster hood I had around.

Since you are using bolts now instead of the stock "pins" on the shifter linkage on the trans, I assume there are no bushings in the cable ends like factory had?

What did you use to quiet squeaks from the dash?

heavywoody wrote:What did you use to quiet squeaks from the dash?

Lots and lots of glue.... lol

Spray undercoating on all the metals hold help it out lol

You and your mother fucking rubber under coating Shane.... haha

For squeak reduction I'm going with the tried and true. Drilling out rivets and replacing with bolts and nuts, tightly zip tying anything hanging around, using pieces of 8.5x11 foam craft sheet as "gasketting" on areas that will rub.

And the shift cable had a little plastic bushing I removed. The ID of the metal hole is perfect for a 3/8 bolt. The select cable is still in the stock configuration, but that one doesn't get hammered like the shift.

I did a very similar cable-end attachment on the GTU's F40. I hated the idea of rubbing metal-to-metal (a little grease helps calm the nerves though), but it fits so nice and removes slop so well... Looks good. I KNEW you were going to get your engine started up first... Oh well.

Haven't updated in a while. Got it running decent with a base pulse constant of "100" and had to figure out some weird stuff with the idle oscillating. I've always burned chips and swapped them, but while I was researching TunerPro/Autoprom to troubleshoot my wibeband 0-5v datalog I learned how to emulate the chip and live tune. That's a whole lot faster! Also learned how to modify the datalog definition to change some things like NV ratio to actual gear and turn BLM and INT from 128 neutral to 100.



Took the bumpers off and blasted the peeling clear off to respray them. Amazing how easily the areas hit with UV came off and the shadowed areas put up more of a fight. Took that stuff to my painter 2 weeks ago and I'm still waiting for it back.....




So I've killed some time like making an LED T1.5 for the shift light in the cluster and "plated" the rear shock brace I made a few years ago at the weak point. Been going to do it forever and never had the time.




Also had to fight a new axle seal leak. That axle support bearing & seal must have sat on a shelf forever and dried out? Cause it leaked like crazy. So I had to pull that god forsaken axle again. Slide hammer wouldn't do the job, so I ended up pulling the jackshaft and mutilating the axle clip from the other side to get it out.




Got another fix in the works right now, but don't want to post until I confirm that I'm dumb. I think so, but we'll see.

Another couple weeks, another couple fights with this car.

Still don't have my pushrods yet that I ordered about 3 weeks ago. I have a lifter tick because the way I measured originally is incorrect for pedestal rockers...it only works for stud rockers like I've used in the past. I talked to Ben and he spec'd a set .035" longer. But his supplier ran out of material, and then when they finally did ship it they used UPS instead of USPS so they won't be here until midweek. Two weekends later than planned.

Worked on the interior while waiting and custom printed all the instruments. Had to completely disassemble and modify the HVAC to get it to light up even but it looks great. My LED shift light in the cluster didn't work out...with the key on it's dimly lit all the time and then bright when it should be. Something odd with the ECM ground apparently. So I put a regular bulb back in and added an external light. Picked up some cheap motorcycle turn signals and gave them a switched 12v with the ground spliced into the indicator ground to the ECM. Bingo, $8 shift light that's plenty bright. I made a quick connector so I can remove the shift light and the GoPro/phone mount when I don't want to use them with just a hood change.




Got my bumpers back from paint and they look amazing. But the match isn't even close. Ray Charles could see it. So I scuffed the bottom half of the car and it's getting a reshoot. This is the third paint job on this thing while the Camaro is still waiting for #1. What is wrong with my head? haha






Went to take it to paint jail today and it wouldn't start. I had made some prop gain changes to the o2, so I flashed an older tune I knew ran. Still no start. Burned a chip and tried it instead of emulating. Still no start. Changed memcals. Nope. Changed ECMs. Nope. Checked spark: nope. Checked 12v and CPS signal: ok. Borrowed an ICM off my neighbor's Impala and it fired right up! So I drove it to the painter's with a borrowed ICM and then reinstalled it on the Impala. Jesus christ...

Lmao what pain in the ass

Junkyard coil was junk. So I had to go back and get one out of a minivan that had been flattened by a monster truck...and I lost a 13mm socket somewhere down the firewall...FML


Finally got the pushrods and swapped them. Basically silenced the lifters. Sort of an ass ache to do with the intake on and the rocker studs I put in. Look how boring the engine bay looks without my signature red valve covers!



Cleaned up the Autoprom install to make it semi-permanent. It's a lot better than sprawled over the floor like I did have it. The ribbon for emulating goes out the back of the glove box to the ECM.

Got the car back from paint and put it together. I pinstriped the parting line with 1/8 red and I like how it ties in with the red accent theme I have going. I also replaced the faded reflective tape on the fillers and did the tails to match. I've got a set of brand new GM tails with the protective film still on them, but I wanted to see how the tape looks and holds up first.








I've decided I'm going to revive an old appearance mod, too. Can anybody guess what?

Giant red 'Bowtie" on your sunroof?
I like, no, I REALLY like that red pin-stripe. It makes it look 100% like you intended to have a two-tone car, not a 'damn, the top of my car is faded and peeling, guess what I'll do!' (I say that because the top of my blue '90 'Retta was peeling, I saved it with some clear-coat, but almost ended up with a two-tone car myself, aside from the flat-black hood it wears anyway).

Yeah, you need color in your engine bay, for sure. It is kind of funny to me, I never had any trouble changing pushrods on my '90 'Retta's LA1/3400 block with the 3.1 Turbo heads... and yes, the pushrods do have to be swapped around to work.

You don't want to know how many V-6 ICMs I have...

Damn, you're good. I figured it was an easy one to figure out! Haha

Yeah, I like the pinstripe more than I thought I would. I almost did black to disappear but figured I'd try the red first since it would be easy to peel off.