what did you do to your ride today?

[3X00-Modified]

Hummmm, my original post from around midnight last night has disappeared, interesting.....

Hawk

That's because you put it in the Whats on your Bfest to do list thread.

[Styluss]

HAWK! Don't let your car sit that long!!

[woody90gtz]

I got 14 months beat, easy. About 19 months off the road for mine when I broke the trans. And it did end up with a few issues from sitting that weren't there when I parked it... Not good to let them sit around. And mine was even garaged the whole time.

[Rettax3]

That V-8 Indy of mine was sitting for a while before I got it, and although I've moved it around a couple of times since then, it wasn't under its' own power yet -the oil-pan still needs to be welded up (I'm replacing the cracked aluminum with new steel, and building from scratch takes motivation and time), plus the new mounts need to be finished, and a handful of other details completed before the car will run again. At this point, I probably need to go through the whole thing, so I don't see having the time for another year... I hope the injectors haven't (and don't) get locked-up on me -it has happened before. At least the serpentine belt was removed, so I'm not worried about bearing being deformed under the tension...

[Money pit Beretta]

Nice work there Rettax3, the Indy is looking good.
My car has been out twice in about 18 months. There is a bad vacuum leak and the brakes still need to be bled. This is the rainy season, so it's tough to get a plan going.

[Rettax3]

Nice work there Rettax3, the Indy is looking good.
My car has been out twice in about 18 months. There is a bad vacuum leak and the brakes still need to be bled. This is the rainy season, so it's tough to get a plan going.

Thank you! I'm pretty happy with the results. Right now with the paint peeling on the GTU in a few smallish areas, the Yellow Indy is my nicest-looking Beretta now, and maybe my second or third best overall.

I hear what you mean about the rain. The GTU has been hogging the garage for a few months now, so it is hard to get anything else worked on here, too. At this point, I think I could get that GTU done if I could get out to a junk-yard and pull a pair of newer-style wheel-spindles (I need the ABS wheel-speed sensor, and newer spindles seem like the easiest way to accomplish that).

[Hawk]

Hummmm, my original post from around midnight last night has disappeared, interesting.....

Hawk

That's because you put it in the Whats on your Bfest to do list thread.

Well, duh.....see, when you let your Beretta sit that long, spider webs sneak into your brain too....LOL
Sorry.....

Hawk

[Hawk]

HAWK! Don't let your car sit that long!!

Ryan, didn't have a choice, nobody locally to help me with parts and getting this Turquoise Beretta back on the road......

Still need a CAT and upper and lower radiator hoses ( they are too soft and expand to the point of making me very nervous) before I can get the Beretta DEQ'd and re-licensed.....

Hawk

[Hawk]

Really and it doesn't leak?

MPB, no it doesn't leak.....

And, if you think that looks clean, you should see the hinge area of the doors and rockers, so clean you can eat off them....absolutely NO RUST.......

Hawk

[woody90gtz]

Set mine on fire. No not really. But I thought about it.

[Rettax3]

Set mine on fire. No not really. But I thought about it.

I was pushing to the point of wanting a sledge-hammer for the '90 Turbo 'Retta a couple of weeks ago -I just couldn't get her to stop bleeding oil. Until I finally switched-out the aluminum tubing for the turbo's oil-supply with copper -I think I mentioned that here already, just not the extent of my frustration with it. I've also ordered a Dakota Digital SGI-5 to correct the speedometer issues, that way I can use the Cavalier Z-24 Getrag 282 with the 'wrong' VSS and use the original instruments from the car. I have given up finding another good Z-24 digital instruments cluster for a reasonable price. Too bad, it looked really good in the car...

Top to Bottom:
-Original Gauge Cluster from the Turbo 'T-Type' 'Retta.
-Modified Z-24 Digital Instruments (Analog Tach).
-OE Digital Beretta Instruments.

I made a translucent blue cover-lens for the cluster too.

Or, I can use the SGI-5 on the S-15 Blazer digital instruments I have in the car now, but I still wouldn't have a functional tach since the Blazer uses a distributor, and I would have to tinker with a pickup-coil to make a signal generator for the instruments.

S-15 digital instruments, currently in the '90 'Retta.

[Cliff8928]

I've also ordered a Dakota Digital SGI-5 to correct the speedometer issues, that way I can use the Cavalier Z-24 Getrag 282 with the 'wrong' VSS and use the original instruments from the car.

I corrected that problem with the chip. It's all in the programming.

[Rettax3]

I've also ordered a Dakota Digital SGI-5 to correct the speedometer issues, that way I can use the Cavalier Z-24 Getrag 282 with the 'wrong' VSS and use the original instruments from the car.

I corrected that problem with the chip. It's all in the programming.

"The chip"? It sounds like you are familiar with the issue I'm facing here, but just to clarify, I mistakenly put in a Muncie/Getrag 282 from a late '80s Cavalier Z-24 2.8 V-6 car, that had the digital speedometer, into my '90 'Retta. The VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) is NOT compatible with the Beretta's speedometer. One of them uses an AC sin-wave output signal, while the other utilizes a DC square-wave 'PPM' (pulse-per-mile) setup. Or, to put it another way, the Cavy VSS is basically a miniature alternator, while the Beretta uses a Hall Effect sensor with a reluctor-ring. This isn't a simple case of trying to correct a speedometer that is reading off a little, I had no speedometer function at all. It is like trying to start your car by jump-starting its' battery with an extension-cord from your house. Additionally, the Cavalier VSS sends its' signal straight to the speedometer, NOT to the ECM like the Beretta does, so I can't just drop-in the Cavy's PROM chip to fix it, the Cavy's speedometer corrects the Sin-wave signal into DC PPM and sends that signal out to the car's ECM for speed data, essentially acting as a built-in buffer. I do have a buffer from a four-wheel-drive truck for the S-15's instruments that can be 'programmed' for different gear-ratios and tire-sizes (GM factory setup, no less), but it lacks the versatility to accept a signal from a 40-tooth reluctor-ring on the final-drive (what our Berettas use) as compared to the 40-tooth ring on the drive-shaft prior to the axle's final-drive ratio (2.76-5.~:1), so my speedometer would read extremely low. Additionally, it still requires a Hall-Effect DC signal, NOT the AC Sin-wave that the Cavalier's VSS is producing, so it still doesn't work. I've thought about putting in a wheel-spindle from an ABS car, because the ABS sensor's reluctor-ring has so many more teeth on it that it would help correct the calibration issue and provide the DC Square-wave that either the Beretta cluster or the S-15 digital cluster needs. The Cavalier's digital speedometer is calibrated and compatible with the VSS in the car now, and I made a drop-in housing for it, and it looked good too, but they are very hard to find for a good price in functional condition. The last option I have is to use a speed-buffer from a late '80s Firebird (which had an analog speedometer with an electronic AC Sin-wave VSS, like the Cavy's), or an early '80s Camaro Berlinetta (which used digital instruments and the same sensor). I have one in the garage already. But the calibration would be off in the same way that the four-wheel drive buffer would be, so I would still need something to correct the calibration, but at least the signal type is compatible... Overall, the SGI-5 seems like a simpler alternative, and I'm getting tired of messing around, I have other projects I would like to get to.

So, if there is a cheap 'chip' that fixes this, I'm all ears, so to speak. I'm getting my SGI-5 new for $76, and it isn't difficult to install, plus I can fine-tune it for a correct speedometer (an almost unknown concept in a Beretta although my GTU's digi-dash seems very, very close).

[Money pit Beretta]

Really and it doesn't leak?

MPB, no it doesn't leak.....

And, if you think that looks clean, you should see the hinge area of the doors and rockers, so clean you can eat off them....absolutely NO RUST.......

Hawk

Boy you sure do have a keeper!

Rettax3: If that is what your third best looks like keep the others to yourself, you will make me sick(lol).

[Rettax3]

Rettax3: If that is what your third best looks like keep the others to yourself, you will make me sick(lol).