Dust Buster Race Car...help needed

[lemons bob]

Well thats GM engineering. I'm sure its assuming that the water in the radiator would be below that of the engine so it wouldn't be 195 typically.

Are you still going through the radiator? With the condenser as a cooler you may actually be putting heat back into the fluid after cooling it depending on what your engine temps are.

[OnkelUdo]

I guess one tank might be lower than engine coolant temp but the other would not be.

We bypassed the in-radiator cooler for many, many reasons. The biggest on is if we ever had the change a radiator due to damage from flying pistons, connecting rods, power ranger heads or deer, etc, getting all those fittings loose track-side would have been...um, challenging with a hot motor.

[OnkelUdo]

Might go to look at a COLLECTION of partially functional U-Vans this Sunday. Long story but basically a slightly off-center guy bought every one of them that came up for sale at a low enough price and planned to make 3 running ones out of the 8-10 vans he has. His brother is now selling off his "estate" which also includes an enclosed trailer made from the back half of one of the vans...and the front half-cut.

We already have a spare sub frame with everything on it functional when pulled. It is obvious that there is a strong chance we need a new tranny and from what I understand the variations of the 4T60E are numerous. To complicate things more, we have the transitional year 1995 for both sub frames. So is completely a crap shoot on whether earlier, over even same year, 4T60E's from a U-body will fit (from my understanding) our axle spline count? Rock auto shows the same part number for a left and right drive shafts regardless of year as long as it has the 3800/4T60E.

Anyone need UVan parts? From the guy's description all but the front half-cut have one of the following problems: Bad engine, bad transmission or rusted sub frame.

[Jr's3800]

Any 94-97 lesabre, olds 88 or Bonneville trans will work as well.. the 96-97 trans will have a carbon woven clutch torque converter opposed to a low carbon clutch in the 94-95.. so you do have options..

[Duke George V]

'96 is gonna be one-year-only for a lot of things. I believe the 94 and 95s have the same transmission, as far as internal wiring goes.

If you're willing to dig that far, I would like a '96 throttle body with cables. I'm gonna need one for my '96 wagon when I do the 3500 swap.

[OnkelUdo]

The J-box test revealed what we already knew in our heart of hearts...the tranny is slipping. No obvious electrical faults but it responded to manual inputs from the box about the same way it acted on the track. Known good tranny it is...and potentially rebuild this one better clutches, a shift kit and maybe a few other things I can't remember from some of the W body guys.

[lemons bob]

how many miles on it before racing. Sometimes age just catches up to you.

[OnkelUdo]

The age of the tranny in vehicle is unknown as it was a junkyard replacement based on all the paint-pen markings.

Just reading up on the 4T60E makes me believe we killed it with prolonged heat. The basic design and age may have been what was causing that heat (inherent slippage and no indication it was ever locking up). Better clutches and a shift kit (plus maybe improved valve bodies) could partially solve all of this. A good job for out resident retiree.

[lemons bob]

I guess that is why I've always felt I'm lucky with the old th125c. Its pretty basic so it doesn't seem to have as many issues. A couple race back an arrive and drive was trying to get us to tell him the secrets of our trans since it shifted so much better than some guy he knew who did every tweek you can find to do in some fiero project he was working. The we changed the fluid and filter once, didn't seem to satisfy him.

[OnkelUdo]

We have another parts van. No picure because I was too lazy to download from our team facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BadDecisionsRacing.

It is a 1993 Tansport with another 1993 drivetrain in the back. Engine in back broke the plastic coolant fitting and died...undiagnosed...but should have a good tranny. Interior is rough and exterior has lots of paint and clearcoat issue but no damage.

We plan to swap the harnesses from our blown tranny to the spare tranny and see how it does (1993 with the 6-pin harness...we need the 7-pin). If good, might refurb the van with some of our non-race spares and sell...does not run but likely just a crank or cam sensor.

This guy has I think a total of eight more. I have seen 6...and a half. All 3800's...all with issues from blown trans to blown motor to rusted out sub-frame...front or rear.

[lemons bob]

It is a 1993 Tansport with another 1993 drivetrain in the back.

I keep wanting that to mean that it is a dual engine awd Transport.

[OnkelUdo]

I keep wanting that to mean that it is a dual engine awd Transport.

Once we have a fuel cell, have done both the hotwheels pickup and convertible people carrier theme...your wish will be granted.

[Duke George V]

Once we have a fuel cell, have done both the hotwheels pickup and convertible people carrier theme...your wish will be granted.

Yeeeeesssssssss

[lemons bob]

I also see with how much easier it will probably be to work on the rear engine as opposed to the front, eventually you will decide not to fix the front engine and just leave it out of the van.

[OnkelUdo]

This is of course assuming we do not put an iron duke in the front just for good measure...