General Tech Cory's single seat selfish buggy

YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
So awesome Cory! When are we wheeling again?


I have to put this through it paces more before i take it anywhere. I have been battling an over heating issue. i have a new water pump and 160* thermostat coming meow. my cooling system is perfectly plumbed and raidiator is big enought for this 5.3. My water pump is the original one that came with the motor and has been weeping out of the weep hole since we got it started. The thermostat is also original. I have been wanting to do hanging tree sometime. I have my 2 seater still. Is yours back together after your motor woes?
 

Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi, UT
A month later, and the motor is back together............. Only to find out the turbo seals are bad again, or were crap when we put them in, so I am trying to decide if I want to buy an eBay turbo of the same model I have in, or fork out $8-900 for the Got Propane turbo, and manifold, and do a bunch of fab work to make it work... We are planning a trip to HTT in October if you would like to join? Taking a JK group from Odgen through it again.
 

YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
A month later, and the motor is back together............. Only to find out the turbo seals are bad again, or were crap when we put them in, so I am trying to decide if I want to buy an eBay turbo of the same model I have in, or fork out $8-900 for the Got Propane turbo, and manifold, and do a bunch of fab work to make it work... We are planning a trip to HTT in October if you would like to join? Taking a JK group from Odgen through it again.


With lockers i hope. . o wait you were not with us when we plowed a jk through there all damn day lol. fb the details. Ya i was skimming through your thread about one thing after another taking a shit on yours. Is it that much more noticable power from the turbo? My stock little 20r in my two seater feels like the power doubles in it going from 2-3 psi to 5-8 psi in the tires :rofl:.
 

Bart

Registered User
Location
Arm Utah
I can imagine. That is one HTT ride I'll be happy to miss. Stacking rocks all day is not my idea of a fun ride. Good luck Coco.
 

YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
Bumpity Umpity.

So i kept having an overheating issue and read on these ls motors you need the heater ports looped so hot water gets to the back of the thermostat to open in properly and i had mine blocked off with a temp sensor and the a line to the surge tank on my system.

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As a band aid i drilled behind the thermostat into the hot water cavity of the heater ports to try and see if that would circulate enough hot water to operate the thermostat correctly. It was worth a try since it was the stock water pump and had had a slight leak out of the weep hole since we got it started
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Well it didn't help so i went ahead and replaced it with a new one and installed a 180* thermostat. On the new water pump i milled a big slot between the two heater ports so they would circulate and then welded a thick block off over them and drilled and tapped it to accept my temp sensor and surge tank line.
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YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
So i changed the motor oil. drilled, drained and tapped the torque convertor and drained the trans pan and filled it with full synthetic, drove it to the parts store 1 mile and back and the surge tank cracked as i pulled into my driveway. It was only up to 190*. It had been overheated several times and that was the final straw. It kind of felt like a kick in the teeth after doing the oils and then this happens lol.



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Rewelded more better
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While i was dickin off with the surge tank i noticed the engine cover looked loose. I felt the bolts and the both felt tight so i assumed the mounting lug had broken off the intake. I was right:(
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It had been running a little rough and now i know why. Hope it didn't suck too much dirt. . .Damn plastic motors
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Plugged
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Flatbar welded above the intake so the cover floats above the intake now.
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YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
Well the the new water pump and thermostat may have helped a little but not enough. My radiator should be big enough so im hoping my fan and flow was not adequate. I went and bought a ford taurus 2 speed fan and reworked the fan shroud to mount it. It blows wicked hard. If this dont fix it then i will cut and extend the rear of the buggy and put a giant radiator in or scrap it and build rat rods.
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Noahfecks

El Destructo!
I have a classic car with a small block 400 courtesy of John Delorian, this model of car has a bit of a reputation for overheating. I tried everything you are working on here; bigger water pumps, tricks to improve coolant flow, giant aluminum radiators, multiple fans,cooling the oil. They all helped to a certain degree but really i was only trying to treat the symptoms and not the cause. Eventually I was convinced by a GREAT mechanic to work on getting my air/fuel and timing right. Once I got it right all the rest of what I had done was a waste of money.

So my $0.02 is to take a step back and go basic, figure out your air/fuel and timing
 

Ashcat

Active Member
Location
Wisco
If this dont fix it then i will cut and extend the rear of the buggy and put a giant radiator in or scrap the LS and build a small block Ford. They out perform bow tie products, are easier to service/tune and really impress the wimmins. They're also lighter and smaller than iron block LS engines.

I don't see how you could go wrong with the plan above. Totally agree with the points you made. Mine never breaches 195*. No secrets. No special systems, tanks, principals. Just your average centrifugal pump, thermal siphon, convection blah blah blah cooling system.
 

YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
So my $0.02 is to take a step back and go basic, figure out your air/fuel and timing
I've read about that on a few LS overheating threads that they had a different tune and helped a lot. I dont know where to begin or whom to seek for help with out traveling hours away. Im sure if this fan doesn't fix it i will start to read into it more.yj_auzzy had a scanner on it for bit but i didnt know what to look for in all the information.
 

YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
I see how you could go wrong with the plan above. Totally disagree with the points you made. Mine never breaches 195*. No real horse power. No wimmins, tanks, principals. Just your average lame non interchangeable ford boat anchor, thermal siphon, convection blah blah blah cooling system.

Hey i put a ford fan so im just hoping it doesn't instaseize and smoke my wiring harness now. Ill let you know how the new fan does first before i start down grading the rest of it.
 

Bart

Registered User
Location
Arm Utah
I could be mistaken, but the 5.3 in my buggy always ran at 210 and I was told that was the suggested operating temp. I went through a lot of different attempts to drop it and never could. Finally I left it and it never really went over 210 but would run consistently there. Wayne Hartwig could adjust your tune to richen the mixture if you decide to go that way.
 

YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
I could be mistaken, but the 5.3 in my buggy always ran at 210 and I was told that was the suggested operating temp. I went through a lot of different attempts to drop it and never could. Finally I left it and it never really went over 210 but would run consistently there. Wayne Hartwig could adjust your tune to richen the mixture if you decide to go that way.

Im aware of the operating temp. My problem is when im on it it will spike up to 230-40:(
 

YROC FAB.

BUGGY TIME
Location
Richfield, UT.
What welder are you using for you Aluminum work? I'm looking at a diversion 165 and wonder if that would be enough powa for this type of work?

The original stuff was tacked with my old dial arc and then welded out at work with a syncrowave 250. I just picked up a syncrowave 300 to replace my dial arc. You can find the big industrial sized stuff for cheaper than anything new and they are usually better for the price except being huge and take lots o power. I found my syncrowave 300 for 700$ a newer equivalent to that would be 4000$ Dont be afraid of old machines. That diversion 165 is really on the small side for doing aluminum at a decent rate. It would do fine for the occasional hobbyist 1/8 thick welds.Any thing thicker would have to be preheated or use helium instead of argon but then you would still have to do short welds before maxing out the duty cycle. I wouldnt want anything less then 200 amps. I set the syncrowaves to 250 on the dial and get close to maxing the pedal out when i first start up on aluminum to get the puddle to warm up.
 
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