1998 Pontiac Firestorm

Life as a Blown V6

2003

*May 2003*
May 31st First official day of reconstruction. FMU and In-Line Fuel pump successfully connected. Bracket and Blower test fit as well as some ducting. Adjustments made as seen fit. Thanks to Gangreen, PJ, and Turbo-Benz things went pretty well.

June 2003

June 1st PJ was kind enough to help with constructing intercooler straps so the J-bent-pipe will fit above the intercooler. Unfortunately, the thing is now pretty much as the same level as the bottom of my front tires. Work continues. Otherwise, Blower ducting completed. Fuel pump and relay mounting holes drilled. Everything seems bolted up. Blower belt extremely tight but on.
June 2nd Relocated intercooler. Started the car. Stefan drove it up the road and back down to its parking spot. Blower belt fragmented - belt size 42.75" too small. Moving up to 43.5". Left headlight no longer raising, motor does not appear to be receiving power.
June 3rd Pathogen driven NA for state inspection. FMU vacuum source not connected. Tool needed to remove square from near back of intake. Testing continues.
June 4th-6th Intercooler and ducting relocations continue.
June 7th Attempted to drive Pathogen to the monthly HideOut gathering. Made it 4 miles before the Blower shifted and pulleys began to rub together. Testing continues.
June 10th Tool for removal of square purchased and sized - piece removed. Mounting Point C doesn't seem to fit correctly. Testing continues.
June 11th Intercooler relocation continues. Replacement piece found for intake. FMU vacuum source connected. (Down time taken to allow swelling to go down. No one sells gloves for people with small hands!)
June 14th Shimmed Bracket to keep pulleys from running together. C mounting point is in, but won't thread. Testing continues.
June 15th Intercooler Relocated to work with included straps. No longer need to cut-up 2 180` bends, just need one now and a rubber 90` from Lowes.
June 16th Shredded second belt. Shimming bracket resulted in belt rubbing against the bracket. Distance: 4miles. Testing continues.
June 17th Pathogen completes a 10 mile round trip to work and back with no belt wear. Testing continues.
June 18th Pathogen does it again. Testing continues.
June 19th Car pool to work, Virus shorts out in the rain. Pathogen makes the round trip for tools. Still no belt wear. Testing continues.
June 20th Pathogen makes it to 50 miles blown and arrives at a local car hang out. Notice take of old belt pieces between Charger and Charger pulley. Small bit of oil on Throttle body and back-side of Charger.
June 21th Pathogen shuts down on way to BK HideOut gathering by way of a massive oil leak. Car is nursed to a nearby Sheetz where the Charger is removed. No source of oil leak found. Oil lines are capped. Car driven home NA. (total fluid loss - 1qt.) Testing continues.
June 22nd Repairs. New return line built and installed. Charger reinstalled. No oil in the ducting so Charger doesn't appear damaged. Seal in high-pressure oil feed line appears to be broken. 'Band-Aid' constructed. Line is under heavy watch for further leakage. Replacement from ATI or other source is expected. Testing continues.
June 24 AM Pathogen makes it to work blown, but is constantly stalling every time I let off the throttle. Bandaid seems to have failed, allowing oil to leak from the charger-end of the high-pressure oil feed line. Pressure: 65ish at 2G. I'm beginning to wonder if there's something clogging the charger's oil-pressure nozzle, creating un-goddly pressure inside that line. While at 2G or higher, the oil pressure increase is enough to over come the loss from the leak. Otherwise it's low; do these cars shut down automatically if a sensor says "you're running dangerously low oil pressure"? (I was watching my tach, and not my oil gauge while trying to keep the car running.) That would also make the bandaged fail.
June 24 PM Path makes it back with no problems. Running a bit uneven, but not stalling. Pressure seems normal. No 'fresh' oil in engine bay, no belt wear. Testing continues . . .
June 25 Oil leak reappears. Source believed to be a bad feed line.
June 26 New feed oil line constructed and installed. Test drive to be conducted in the morning.
June 27 Oil leak still present. Now I'm completely baffled but have narrowed the possibilities of the problem. Car put down for repairs and further observation.
June 28 After a 15 minute observation period, source of the oil leak has been found. Car runs "normal" up to 3000RPM with no oil leakage. At 3000, oil literally pours from the pulley side of the Blower. Charger scheduled to be rebuilt by ATI ProCharger shortly. Standby for future updates.

July 2003

July 01 Contacted ATI regarding rebuild of the Blower. Got RA#.
July 02 Mailed FedEx Ground to Kansas for repairs.
July 08 Blower arrives in Kansas for repairs.
July 11 Received phone call from James at ATI ProCharger. (A game of phone-tag ensues).
July 22 Contact is made. Blower front seal repaired under warranty. Outer housing rotated a few degrees south to about 5 o'clock. Possibilities for the blown seal are discussed. Current ducting setup to be looked over. Blower scheduled to return July 25th.
July 25 Blower arrives from ATI. ProCharger bolted on and oil lines connected. Round trip of 30 miles showed oil leak from return line.
July 26 Belt connected, new air ducting connected. Oil leak still present. Round trip of 50 miles showed oil leak from return line at oil pan and belt walk. C-mounting point seems to be stripped in the block - have to fix that. Shims on A-mounting point seem to be setting the belt off to the front of the block and causing belt walk. "Firestorm" graphics finally applied. (Thanks to Firebat's Cave to helping with these!)
July 27 Fell asleep under car. Fixed oil leak. All seems almost right with the world.

August 2003

August 1 Removed sims on A-point to straighten belt. Tighted B-point before connecting to Blower seems to have strengthened the positioning of the Blower. Still working on getting that C-point to thread, I've finally come to the conclusion that the hole is stripped.
August 2 Completed ducting by making temporary fix for the inlet as that orange hose has successfully shredded to pieces. Tied oil return line away from damaging belts and pulleys. New TO-DO-LIST as directed by members of the F-Body Hide Out. 1). Re-run return oil line to fix tiny-little oil leak 2). Re-locate Adjustable tentioner on Blower bracket 3). Complete Outlet ducting. (plumbing, blow-off valve relocation) 4). Re-run Inlet ducting using drier-hose and allowing for whisper lid 5). Seal C-mounting point to stop coolant loss.
August 11, 2003 Now fitted with BF Goodwrench Drag Radials, Pathogen hits the road again. Few problems remain. Inlet ducting still needs to be replaced, and the C-mounting point needs to be fixed. Running is smooth and consistent.
August 14, 2003 Blower removed to complete adjustments in preparation of the F-Body Nationals in Englishtown, NJ on August 16th. Ducting is rerouted, C-mounting point replaced by a stud, return oil line replaced. While reinstalling the Blower, something cracked resulting in massive coolant loss. Trip to Nationals canceled.
August 16, 2003 Search for the mysterious coolant leak begins with the non-fuctional AC delete. Blower removed. On a whim, I removed the Radiator cap to check the coolant level, thus allowing air into the system and breathing life back into the leak. Source of leak found to be in behind mounting point-B - Timing Cover. Removal of Crankshaft pulley will be required and I lack tools for the job. Negotiations with local garages and tow companies begins in the morning.
August 28, 2003 Good news! Notice received that a garage unit closer to our apartment is opening up (Unit #7). Our current/soon to be old unit (#16) is on the opposite end of the complex. Bad news; unit #16 needs to be empty on 8/31/03.
August 29, 2003 Water pump removed and AC delete completed.
August 30, 2003 Pathogen is pushed from the garage into a neighboring spot and covered.
August 31, 2003 Garage transfer completed. While in transition, I over heard something resembling an air-wrench from in side a garage. After explaining the problem and discussing the cost of towing a car, access to an air-wrench and a very willing assistant is achieved. Pathogen is pushed to Ray's Garage (Unti #10) where the Crankshaft Pulley bolt finally removed. Pathogen is then pushed to a spot directly in front of the rental office.

September 2003

September 3, 2003 General Tear Down Continue. Pulley puller not working with the crank pulley
September 5, 2003 New Timing Cover Arrives. Crankshaft Pulley finally removed with a second pulley puller.
September 6, 2003 Reconstruction Continues. Oil-pump not lining up with crankshaft.
September 7, 2003 Timing Cover installed. Path refuses to start.
September 9, 2003 CPS replaced. Path moves 50-feet under his own power and no serpentine belt.
September 10, 2003 Pathogen returns to the road for a 10-mile test drive; NA and no AC. 61" belt used. Repeated stalls while downshifting assumed to be driver-error.
September 11, 2003 Pathogen attends the Ride for Pride 2003, Pentagon memorial cruise along the George Washington Memorial Hwy with the F-Body Hide Out and CrossRoadOnline. No leaks, no stalling, no overheating, and no Blower. Headlight damaged on June 2nd begins working at the Pentagon. (Pictures thanks to CrossRoadOnline)
September 14, 2003 Massive Detailing project continues over from the 13th. Bracket test-fitting begins. B-point is not sitting flush on the timing cover. Modifications made (via file). C-point (extended do to missing AC bracket) appears a bit too short, causing the bracket to bend in-ward on the bottom.
September 21, 2003 Blower reinstalled. All bolts tightened, including C! Oil lines connected with new routing. Spark plug wires replaced - two of six sparkplugs replaced (grumble). Waiting on gaudy-orange silicon hose replacement from ATI.
September 27, 2003 Two sparkplugs replaced in the morning, gaudy-orange silicon hose and remaining ducting installed. Battery box acquired (car needed a jump). Gangreen swapped the last two plugs in the afternoon, gave the car a once over and found a coolant leak. Note made that the stock radiator-mount-panel no longer fits (do to AC-delete). Replacement to be acquired. Leak is being repaired.
September 30, 2003 Pathogen returns to the road.

October 2003

October 1, 2003 Well, good news - we've got boost! Unfortunately, that news was announced when I shot my dipstick on the drive home from work leaving those behind me gasping in a cloud of blue smoke.
October 2, 2003 Just to see how things would hold up, Pathogen makes a trip to the local 8th to see if any improvement was made. The car holds together to show a 2-tenths 1/8-mile improvement and a 3-mph improvement.
October 4, 2003 Pathogen arrives at the monthly F-Body Hide Out gathering Big, Bad, and Blown. And, not to disappoint anyone, catches fire on an exhaust manifold right below the FMU. No damage resulted, but concern mounts with regard to the up-coming trip to NJ.
October 10, 2003 Minor repairs are made from under Gonzo's trailer at the Ramada (Official lodging location of the F-Body HideOut). Ducting issues were brought up and a oil leak was fixed.
October 11, 2003 Pathogen runs at Englishtown, NJ with serious mechanical difficulties. Times are not being disclosed at this time.
October 18, 2003 Using an K&N Breather for a Mustang, and a spare oil-fill cap, a breather is fabricated. Initial tests show signs of oil leaking from breather at boost, but nothing as bad as blowing the dipstick.
October 23, 2003 Pathogen runs at Summerduck Dragway, VA. New bests for the 1/8th -- 9.455 @ 77.12, with a 2.240 60'.

November 2003

November 27, 2003
160-Thermo installed. On test drive, Pathogen catches fire again. No visible damage.

December 2003

December 10, 2003 RK Sport headers arrive, install to begin sometime-or-other.
December 28, 2003 Coolant leak solved. A plastic elbow had broken inside the alternator bracket. Attempt made to fix on going 'belt squeak' issue. Crank shaft pulley was removed and reset. Squeak returned during a short test drive. Oil leak from feed line remains. Hopefully this squeak is related to oil getting on the belt. (Squeak goes away after car has been on the road for a few miles.)