Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback

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Well... crap! I took the Roadrunner for a spin today. It started out running perfect when I went to the parts store. I had a few other errands to run around town and it continued to behave. All of the gauges are working along with every other electrical/mechanical function. When I decided to take the car out of town things changed.

The first few miles were great. - But then the problem from the other day came back. It started to act as though I was running out of fuel. There are no error codes that show up on the FAST interface.

Fuel pressure wasn't as steady as the other day. It varied between 34 and 43 psi. According to FAST it's acceptable if it's between 20 and 60 psi so I still don't think there's an issue with the pump or regulator.

We're using an Optima battery that has top post and side terminals on it. When we wired up the FAST system one of the major goals was to isolate the power connections for the fuel injection. We chose to feed power from the starter relay to the rest of the car's accessories and connected the FAST to the top posts. It never occurred to us to connect the FAST to those side terminals. I don't know if it would make a difference but I am going to re-route to them.

It's likely that there is a lot more information online about this 2.0 system now than when we did the initial installation. I guess I'll be spending the next few days searching for clues on further troubleshooting.
 
I'm back working on the fuel/ignition problem. I group the two together because they're both controlled by the FAST controller.

The first thing I did was to move the wires that supply power to the controller to the battery side terminals. Instead of making several changes at once, I decided to take the car out and see if it had made a difference.

I had a difficult time getting the car to start. It didn't want to start unless I gave it at least half throttle. Then it didn't want to stay running unless I kept the RPM above 1100. It died on me several times and would not restart without pressing on the gas. I realize that it's abnormal to depress the gas pedal when starting a vehicle with fuel injection. I'm accustomed to doing it on carbureted motors and tried it out of reflex.

Frustrated with the way it was running I decided to reset the system. It seemed to have cured the starting problem. The car started easily and ran fine. It continued to behave until I got a few miles out of town. Then the problem from the other day came back.

I had been watching the digital volt meter readout on the FAST screen and it never showed any problem. Today I noticed that the ammeter in the dash was pulsing as I drove the car back home.

Suspecting a voltage regulator problem I removed it and cleaned up the ground connections. I had a spare regulator in the toolbox so I swapped it out also. The gauges showed a discharge when I restarted the car. Apparently the regulator was bad that was in the toolbox. I put the old regulator back on and started the car. It's charging again.

I didn't have enough time today to try other things, but I'll start making a list of which checks to do next.
 
needsaresto said:
Wow,I feel disillusioned about the fast system,and I don't even own one!
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When my son decided he wanted to try fuel injection we both researched the various systems that were on the market. FAST was relatively new to the game but we were reading fantastic reviews about their first system. We weren't sold on it because they seemed to be a new company and we didn't want to end up with a system whose manufacturer might not be around long. They were expensive. When the FAST 2.0 came out and was advertised as capable of handling up to 1200 HP it seemed that they were going to outperform all the other systems out there and provide more than enough power capability if we installed a monster motor some day.

When we saw the episode on Roadkill where Finnigan installed one on his '70 Hemi Superbee we were sold. Everything looked simple and trouble free.

What we ran into is that we'd bought a system that no one knew much about. Almost no information existed online. FAST's tech support was pleasant but it was like talking to a broken record. They always insisted that if we were experiencing problems it had to be with the way we'd hooked it up.

We read and re-read the manual. We checked and re-checked all of our wiring. We tried various ways to re-route the wires as we tried to avoid picking up electrical noise from elsewhere in the car. As time went on we found more people were reporting problems in forums online. We weren't finding solutions. It seemed as though the guys that didn't have problems loved it and there were a few guys that said they had found noise issues that they overcame.

There were a few times that we thought we'd totally debugged the system. We were producing a noticeable increase in power. But every time we'd thought we'd solved problems they'd come back to haunt us a month or two later.

Now they've got a much more complete manual to follow that we found on the JEGS website. At this point it's tempting to take the car to someone with a bigger brain. - But the few shops around that would be likely to figure it out charge big bucks. It'll probably turn out to be something simple to fix. I'm not ready to give up yet.
 
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I know not too much about fast myself. Is it the kind of system you can plug into a laptop and tune? I know megasquirt is like that. My thinking is if you can get into the programming side of it (examine fuel and ignition curves) the problem might become obvious.My apologies if you already did this! I have been following along for a while,but my memory isn't what it used to be.
 
Although I haven't given up on the fuel injection I needed to take a break from it for awhile as I'm doing more research. We are getting another snow and are expecting 6 to 8 inches. I didn't want to move another car into the stall that might tie things up so I thought it'd be a good time to focus on the wood for the 'Lil Red.

The oak panels had gotten wet when they were outside and had discolored. I wasn't going to be able to stain and varnish them until I sanded them first. I began with hand sanding the first piece. Although it worked I was going to have a lot of blisters before I was done.

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I called one of my buddies to borrow his belt sander. It worked great. Not only was I going to spare the wear and tear on my hands, but it was a lot faster.

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Unfortunately the belt broke shortly after I finished the first side of the first plank.

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There won't be any place open locally that I can get a replacement belt until Monday. I guess I'll go back to hand sanding until then.


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1967 'cuda said:
Although I haven't given up on the fuel injection I needed to take a break from it for awhile as I'm doing more research. We are getting another snow and are expecting 6 to 8 inches. I didn't want to move another car into the stall that might tie things up so I thought it'd be a good time to focus on the wood for the 'Lil Red.

The oak panels had gotten wet when they were outside and had discolored. I wasn't going to be able to stain and varnish them until I sanded them first. I began with hand sanding the first piece. Although it worked I was going to have a lot of blisters before I was done.

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I called one of my buddies to borrow his belt sander. It worked great. Not only was I going to spare the wear and tear on my hands, but it was a lot faster.

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Unfortunately the belt broke shortly after I finished the first side of the first plank.

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There won't be any place open locally that I can get a replacement belt until Monday. I guess I'll go back to hand sanding until then.
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Amazing ,to me : You borrow a tool, and it breaks under your watch, lol.
 
Abodybomber said:
Amazing ,to me : You borrow a tool, and it breaks under your watch, lol.
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I HATE borrowing tools for just that reason. I've learned to never borrow anything that I can't afford to replace and I always return stuff in at least as good condition as when I get them.

I remember when I borrowed my dad's 4 banger Ford Ranger and ended up driving over one of it's pistons on the way to town. I SWEAR I wasn't rodding it!
 
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I remember when I borrowed my dad's 4 banger Ford Ranger and ended up driving over one of it's pistons on the way to town. I SWEAR I wasn't rodding it!

That was the problem.:D
 
SNKEBIT said:
I remember when I borrowed my dad's 4 banger Ford Ranger and ended up driving over one of it's pistons on the way to town. I SWEAR I wasn't rodding it!
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SNKEBIT said:

That was the problem.:D
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Holy Chmoly that thing was a dawg! I think it was an '84? Dad bought it hoping for good gas mileage and it probably averaged 14 with 17 down the highway. It took a good quarter mile to get up to 55. He bought it new and babied his vehicles. I never told my dad it was a p.o.s. (especially after I blew the motor and didn't want to sound like I was making excuses) but if all those early 4 cylinder Rangers ran like that I'd be surprised if the owners ever bought another.
 
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As I was hand sanding those planks last night it occurred to me that the local ACE Hardware store changed hands a few months ago. Someone from out of town bought it. You might be thinking "What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?"

Well the stores are not open past 5:30 during the week here. - And only until noon on Saturdays. Never on Sunday. Unless you're looking for a cold one at the bar you're S.O.L.

I called this morning and to my surprise they were open. After an hour of scooping snow I was able to get out of the driveway and headed up town. Even though the snow plows had cleared the streets they were already half way drifted shut again. But I made it to the store and bought some new sanding belts.

It still took several hours to sand the wood. I don't think the pictures that I posted yesterday showed just how discolored it was. After using the belt sander with 120 grit I switched to a jitterbug sander with 180. I'll still do a final hand sand before applying the stain.

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I had bought the wood in a kit from 'BRUCE HORKEY'S WOOD & PARTS for Pickups out of Minnesota. It came with everything that I would need to finish it.

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The instructions call for five coats of varnish with a minimum eight hours of dry time between coats. The work spent sanding between those coats is gonna get old.

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The first few coats are thinner reduced. I started by doing the back sides first. I won't wait until they've dried to flip them over. If the bottom finish gets marred I don't care. It's not going to be a trailer queen, it's going to be a trailer puller.

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The environment in the garage is too dirty so I moved this project into our basement. I cleaned everything before bringing it down. After blowing stuff off with the compressor I wiped everything with a damp rag. Prior to applying the varnish I used the tack cloth to pick up any left over dust.

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1967 'cuda said:
As I was hand sanding those planks last night it occurred to me that the local ACE Hardware store changed hands a few months ago. Someone from out of town bought it. You might be thinking "What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?"

Well the stores are not open past 5:30 during the week here. - And only until noon on Saturdays. Never on Sunday. Unless you're looking for a cold one at the bar you're S.O.L.

I called this morning and to my surprise they were open. After an hour of scooping snow I was able to get out of the driveway and headed up town. Even though the snow plows had cleared the streets they were already half way drifted shut again. But I made it to the store and bought some new sanding belts.

It still took several hours to sand the wood. I don't think the pictures that I posted yesterday showed just how discolored it was. After using the belt sander with 120 grit I switched to a jitterbug sander with 180. I'll still do a final hand sand before applying the stain.

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I would work, what I had. (A personal thing) .
Otherwise, get it.
 
Top side coated. It seems as though the wood is absorbing some of the varnish which is good. It loses it's sheen as it dries (or evaporates). It took 12 ounces of varnish combined with 4 ounces of thinner for this first coat. I will try to put on the second coat Tuesday afternoon. The smell isn't too bad. I was concerned that the fumes might drive us out of the house . I've been running the exhaust fan that's in the basement bathroom to help. The room I'm working in is isolated from the furnace so I'm not concerned with a flame hazard.

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1967 'cuda said:
Top side coated. It seems as though the wood is absorbing some of the varnish which is good. It loses it's sheen as it dries (or evaporates). It took 12 ounces of varnish combined with 4 ounces of thinner for this first coat. I will try to put on the second coat Tuesday afternoon. The smell isn't too bad. I was concerned that the fumes might drive us out of the house . I've been running the exhaust fan that's in the basement bathroom to help. The room I'm working in is isolated from the furnace so I'm not concerned with a flame hazard.

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I`VE LIT MY 505 WEDGE 3 TIMES,WORKING OUT SMALL BASKET CASE PROBLEMS (NO BASKETS) ON A 5 YR. BUILD. THE 2.0 HAS REALLY LEVELED OUT AND RUNNING SMOOTH, MAY HAVE IT TIMED A LITTLE FAST FOR 91 OCTANE, NOT SURE. BUT THE F.I. SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THAT. HAD A HEATING PROBLEM, GRIFFIN ASSURED ME THAT THE 28X19 ALUM. 1 1/4" 2 CORE WOULD COOL IT, HASN`T SO FAR. GOING TO INSTALL A BACK UP ELEC. FAN WHEN IT GETS HERE, RUNNING A SHROUDED 17" MECH., THAT SEEMS TO BE MOVING A WHOLE LOT OF AIR BY ITSELF, WE`LL SEE.
DON` THINK AN ELEC FAN WON`T CUT YOU, IVE GOT 7 STITCHES IN MY FINGER BECAUSE OF STUPIDITY, RUINED THE DAM FAN TOO! COULDN`T BE HAPPIER W/ THE FAST 2.0 SO FAR, VERY RESPONSIVE TOO! -SORRY FOR THE CAPS--STIFF FINGER!!
:coffee2:
 
famous bob said:
I`VE LIT MY 505 WEDGE 3 TIMES,WORKING OUT SMALL BASKET CASE PROBLEMS (NO BASKETS) ON A 5 YR. BUILD. THE 2.0 HAS REALLY LEVELED OUT AND RUNNING SMOOTH, MAY HAVE IT TIMED A LITTLE FAST FOR 91 OCTANE, NOT SURE. BUT THE F.I. SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THAT. HAD A HEATING PROBLEM, GRIFFIN ASSURED ME THAT THE 28X19 ALUM. 1 1/4" 2 CORE WOULD COOL IT, HASN`T SO FAR. GOING TO INSTALL A BACK UP ELEC. FAN WHEN IT GETS HERE, RUNNING A SHROUDED 17" MECH., THAT SEEMS TO BE MOVING A WHOLE LOT OF AIR BY ITSELF, WE`LL SEE.
DON` THINK AN ELEC FAN WON`T CUT YOU, IVE GOT 7 STITCHES IN MY FINGER BECAUSE OF STUPIDITY, RUINED THE DAM FAN TOO! COULDN`T BE HAPPIER W/ THE FAST 2.0 SO FAR, VERY RESPONSIVE TOO! -SORRY FOR THE CAPS--STIFF FINGER!!
:coffee2:
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DIDN`T MEAN TO HI-JACK!------bob
 
famous bob said:
I`VE LIT MY 505 WEDGE 3 TIMES,WORKING OUT SMALL BASKET CASE PROBLEMS (NO BASKETS) ON A 5 YR. BUILD. THE 2.0 HAS REALLY LEVELED OUT AND RUNNING SMOOTH, MAY HAVE IT TIMED A LITTLE FAST FOR 91 OCTANE, NOT SURE. BUT THE F.I. SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THAT. HAD A HEATING PROBLEM, GRIFFIN ASSURED ME THAT THE 28X19 ALUM. 1 1/4" 2 CORE WOULD COOL IT, HASN`T SO FAR. GOING TO INSTALL A BACK UP ELEC. FAN WHEN IT GETS HERE, RUNNING A SHROUDED 17" MECH., THAT SEEMS TO BE MOVING A WHOLE LOT OF AIR BY ITSELF, WE`LL SEE.
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famous bob said:
DON` THINK AN ELEC FAN WON`T CUT YOU, IVE GOT 7 STITCHES IN MY FINGER BECAUSE OF STUPIDITY, RUINED THE DAM FAN TOO! COULDN`T BE HAPPIER W/ THE FAST 2.0 SO FAR, VERY RESPONSIVE TOO! -SORRY FOR THE CAPS--STIFF FINGER!!
:coffee2:
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AWESOME! It's about time you got off your keester and fired that puppy up. How much have you driven it? - Or are you still tuning in the garage?

We're running a 3 core Champion aluminum with the 383. My son has not opted to use the EVANS Waterless coolant with it but I wish he would. I know at $52 per gallon it's pricey but I sure like the idea of protecting all of those aluminum parts from corrosion. I'm pretty sure that he'll switch if we have a cooling problem. I assume you're running an aluminum water pump. I'd read awhile back about several of them having problems with insufficient porting and they were causing cooling issues. I know we checked ours by comparing it to the stock cast housing to make sure we had a good one. They say the bad ones have much smaller ports.

When I saw the CAPS I figured you were just trying to convey how excited you were that the monster is running.
 
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It's hard to give an exciting update on the wood. Progress is slow. Very slow. According to the instructions that came with the kit I should be working in an environment that is between 68' and 72'. My basement is a few degrees too cool. I'm not sure if that's the reason why my drying time is so slow or if I've applied the varnish heavier than I should have.

The minimum 8 hour lapse between coats is taking closer to twelve. I've already applied the first two coats and they've dried. My instructions call for sanding prior to the application of the third coat. I've had second thoughts about following these instructions. As much as I want the wood to look good I know that I'll be hauling stuff in the bed. A perfect glass smooth finish is likely to be short lived. After the second coat had dried the finish looked every bit as nice as what I'd hoped to have when I am finished.

If I forgo the sanding I should actually end up with a heavier coating which may be better for me. One of my other concerns is that if the finish is 100% perfect, I'll be afraid of putting any scuffs in it when I haul things. It sounds like I'm just being lazy but I really do doubt I'd want to haul stuff on top of a show finished bed.

Tonight I'll apply a third coat of varnish. I only sanded one of the planks. If the sanded one looks spectacularly better next to the six other boards I may resume the sanding between the rest of the coats on all the boards. If the difference seems minimal I won't.
 
needsaresto said:
Got a space heater?
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The only heaters that I have are forced air propane or kerosene. I've been doing a great job of keeping the dust from the wood so far. This basement is relatively clean and totally critter free. I know that they say you can set up a fan to assist in drying but one of my main concerns is getting dirt in the finish.

The third coat wasn't reduced as much as the first two. It seems to have dried within the eight hours. When I compared the sanded board with the other six I couldn't see any difference. It's no smoother. So I'm getting ready to put on the fourth now. The first two coats called for 25% thinner. Coats 3 and 4 call for 10%. The final coat is supposed to be unreduced.

I layed out the stainless steel strips between the planks to see how they'd look. I think I'll be more than satisfied with the results I'm getting when it's done. The wood is not as smooth as glass yet but it does have one heck of a shine to it.

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The wood is looking good.
As for protecting the wood when hauling, I bought one of the thin 3/16" rubber bed liners for a standard 8' bed and cut it down to lay over the wood when hauling things.
Also I would not get too carried away with staining the wood, if the truck sits outside in the weather you will be sanding down and refinishing the wood in about 1.5 - 2 years.
 
sireland67 said:
The wood is looking good.
As for protecting the wood when hauling, I bought one of the thin 3/16" rubber bed liners for a standard 8' bed and cut it down to lay over the wood when hauling things.
Also I would not get too carried away with staining the wood, if the truck sits outside in the weather you will be sanding down and refinishing the wood in about 1.5 - 2 years.
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wood is lookin good! be a shame to haul stuff in it and mess it up. fired the barracuda again after changing the oil-filter, went to 15w40 helped the hot low oil pressure when idleing. also shimmed the oilpump relief spring w/ a .058 s.s. washer. seem to have got the oil pan leak stopped, (fingers crossed), ran it through the gears on jack stands. had to readjust the dist. a little, timing on the hand held is spot on now. dropped the timing back to 18, and 34 total. 17" mechanical fan in a close fitting alum. shroud took care of it this time. new elec. fan came in , installed it in front any way, the fast 2.0 will trigger it at 200. got to get a nuetral starter switch on it, so my dumb a$$ doesn`t do something stupid again . when it warms up, going to get ti down and drive it around the neghborhood. still need a front end alignment on the aftermarket front end bad--------------------happy happy happy !!!!!!!!!! love the fast 2.0 so far!:blob:
 
sireland67 said:
The wood is looking good.
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sireland67 said:
As for protecting the wood when hauling, I bought one of the thin 3/16" rubber bed liners for a standard 8' bed and cut it down to lay over the wood when hauling things.
Also I would not get too carried away with staining the wood, if the truck sits outside in the weather you will be sanding down and refinishing the wood in about 1.5 - 2 years.
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Thanks sireland67. You're right. I am going to have to figure out some way to prevent damage to the wood. I've been considering a tarp. Years ago I had a custom one made for this truck that attached with Velcro. It was black with a big red and white pentastar sewed into the middle of it. Unfortunately mice had gotten to it when I had it in storage.

I never did put in any form of bedliner. My floor was always painted the red as it had come from the factory. I suppose I'll have to try to protect it. I'm planning on hauling a tool box, floor jacks, and generator when I go to the races. One concern I have is whether or not a rubber mat would trap moisture and actually ruin the wood. I guess it would work OK if I only used it as a pad while I had stuff in the back.

If the truck is outside the only way to protect the side wood would be a car cover. It would be cool to have a custom one made that fit down over the stacks.
 
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