Rochester, NY. Rust free will be the tough part here, but is something i would make sure if I was going to trade the car.

FWIW i did find the problem and am able to fix it. a chunk of the white plastic baffling inside the tank broke off and was preventing the level sender float from going as far down as it should. i just pulled the broken piece out so it should be fine now. when i pulled the fuel pump/sending unit out i noticed the float was laying right on top of the broken piece of plastic.

i took the tank to the car wash and blasted it clean. i'm also going to be flushing it out thoroughly even though it looks pretty clean inside there is a little bit of silt i want to get out of there. some pics:

http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03269.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03270.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03271.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03272.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03273.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03274.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03275.JPG

the new Walbro 255 HP pump:

http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03246.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03255.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03256.JPG

i also bought new fuel line O-rings, new rubber vent lines, and a new fuel filter of course. i should have it up and running again today or tomarrow.

it SUCKS installing a fuel tank on COLD wet slushy pavement! at least the temps were in the mid 40s but that of course meant melting snow flowing all over me while i worked:





here are a few pics of the Walbro pump installed in the pickup/sending unit:

http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03277.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03278.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/engine/DSC03276.JPG

however, the new Walbro 255 fuel pump did not fix the problem :( i think it'* something more simple now. i'm going to check the splice i made for the park/neutral safety switch, then scan tomarrow with my brother'* OTC 4000E to try to rule out MAP, TPS, and CPS etc. it still runs great it just won't rev past 3000 RPM. it'* acting just like it has a rev limiter set at 3000 RPM so i think the splice i made for the P/N safety switch is more than likely the culprit (the ECM thinks it'* in Park). but on the bright side, the car does now have a new Walbro 255 lt/hr fuel pump, new NAPA Gold fuel filter, new O-rings on all fuel pump line connections, and new vacuum lines for the canister purge solenoid going to/from the tank.

while i'm at it, here are some underside shots of the car. i wanted to take it to the car wash and powerwash the underside before i put the tank back in to take pics but i couldn't find anyone to tow me so i just said F%*# and put the tank back in. these pics were taken while the tank was out though:

http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03280.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03281.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03282.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03283.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03284.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03285.JPG

those are the fuel tank straps - as you can see no rust above the fuel tank:
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03287.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03294.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03296.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03288.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03290.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03281.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03292.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03293.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03295.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/body/DSC03297.JPG

the only rust i could find anywhere was on the dual outlet exhaust (which came from my old (rusty) '90 ASC/McLaren Grand Prix Turbo STE) and the trailing arms. but heck, i was just going to get the GMPP tubular trailing arms for around $40.

... I wish I lived alot closer.

crappy vid but here is what it'* doing:

http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/en...assproblem.MPG

just doesn't want to go past 3000 RPM for some reason.

so i went out and wiggled the Park/Neutral safety switch splice i made and that "fixed" the problem. here is what it revs like now:

http://www.turbosedan.com/cutlass/en...oblemfixed.MPG

so that was indeed the problem. the ECM thought the car was in Park. man i love that TurboXS RFL

it'* not really fixed yet, but it will be tomarrow after i redo the splice. the problem started right after i took those pics i posted in my 'Cutlass for trade thread' about two weeks ago. some water must have gotten into the heat shrink tubing and caused some corrosion when i was powerwashing the driver'* side wheel well (the splice is right above the trans).

woot!

the splice was fine, the problem turned out to be one of the wires grounding out on the transmission case. some heat shrink tubing and 2 minutes later the problem is fixed.

i also ordered some new front jounce bumpers and strut boots - the OEM style that are separate pieces and not one integrated piece like the KYB strut boot/jounce bumpers the car has now. they get here on the 12th and i'll be installing them right away. i'm going to cut 1.7" off the jounce bumper (to account for the 1.7" drop Intrax springs) and then the car will finally sit lower in the front (from other 1st GEN W-bodies i've seen with the Intrax springs it will be REALLY low!). then of course i just need to adjust the rear coilovers so it sits level. the car should look great after that, i can't wait to see it. it won't be "slammed" but it will be very much noticeably lower.

i'm not sure if i fixed the fuel gauge or not yet. there seems to be a "dead spot" in the sending unit. tonight i went out and started the car (knowing it was pretty low on gas) and the digital gauge read 2 bars lit up and the low fuel light was on. (16 bars lit total; so 2 bars lit = 1/8 tank). that'* the lowest i've seen the gauge read and the first time i've seen the low fuel light come on in probably 5 years. i though "cool, the gas gauge now works!" but then i started driving and the gauge went right back up to 4 bars lit up (1/4 tank) and stayed there. it did that twice tonight - i'd shut the car off and then restart it and it would read 1/8 tank, then i'd drive 2 blocks and the gauge went back up to 1/4 tank. i don't know if the sending unit contacts are just dirty below where it would read 1/4 tank or what. i think i might just dump a can of Seafoam in the tank next time i fill up and see if that fixes it.

yeah, i just recieved several shipping quotes for another member and transporting the car from Gillette to New York (1840 miles accordig to mapquest.com) the lowest quote i've gotten so far is $1075. jeez. a little more than .50/mile but pretty close.

on the other hand i got a shipping quote to transport a Bonneville from Arkansas to Wyoming (1075 miles) and the lowest quote i got was $795 and obviously that'* lower than .50/mile. so i might just get a lower quote; i'll just have to wait and see. it seems .50/mile to transport is a pretty good estimate though. thanks Hans.

just got one quote for $795 which works out to about .43/mile. not bad. Wyoming to New York is a long way. still, meeting up somewhere in between where i live and whoever might be interested in the car would probably be the least expensive method of transporting the car even though it would be much more of a hassle (scheduling days off work, lots of driving time, etc).

bump!

this is just a T&T vid.

http://www.turbosedan.com/vids/Cutlass_0-90mph.mov

i botched the launch; had to get out of it and start again in 1st gear (it sounds like i shifted to 2nd really early but i didn't). still nothing but tire spin through 1st gear though as you can see the speedo & tach flare up FAST (the tire spin in 1st gear made the RPM flare up to about 5500). i shift at 5000 RPM. i shifted to 2nd gear at about 30mph, shifted to 3rd at 53mph, shifted to 4th at 76mph. as you can see it was at 4000 RPM at 91mph in 4th gear. 5000 RPM in 4th = about 110mph. the car still made it to 91mph though in .2 miles according to the odometer and that'* at 4500ft with a 230lb passenger. i really think it could trap very high 90s possibly 100mph at sea level with good launch and track prep.