GrizzlyFox

Thanks to my pal Michael the grizzly is now sporting all the factory spfi parts. Cold starts are obviously much improved. Performance is better than ever as well. I had to modify the stock intake by rotating it 90 degrees and mounting a cone filter in the factory spare tire location. This was due to my dual battery set up taking up room for the stock air box. I've also removed the carpet and given the floors a good coating of bed liner. I've recently picked up a Meyers brand poly plow blade to replace the heavy steel one. We're now located in Michigan's Keweenaw peninsula, aka big snow country. We will see how the grizzly holds up to the demands. Luckily I have a very short driveway to clear. My snow blower is also tuned up and on stand by. Our first snow was yesterday, but it has since melted. I'm waiting on the welding shop to repair the plow blade for me and I'll post picks or video once she's back in snow pushing service. Cheers!

Good info Mack! Keep me updated. In trying to find time to get over to the junkyard and grab the proper distributor.

Well, looks like a carb disty is on my list along with the Weber. I will report back with my results.

Any ideas on hooking up a carb disty? I assume it has a completely different type of control module. I couldn't find any relevant data on our shop computer. I would like to swap a carb disty in place of the spfi one if I do continue to keep the carb in place.

The car has seemed happiest at about 12 deg timing. The spfi distributor does not have a vacuum advance. Fuel pressure is regulated to 7psi if I remember correctly. It no longer has the stock pump, but an aftermarket inline unit with an old school adjustable regulator. I think I'm going to check with the junkyard here locally and see what they're gonna charge me for an intake, throttle body, and the other spfi pieces and compare from there. The easier solution will be a carb at this point, I believe the return fuel line is cut off, and I'll probably need a new fuel pump as well.

Just did some digging on our shops Alldata manual, and it does say that the ecm controls timing using signals from both the crank angle sensor in the distributor and the throttle position sensor. It also mentions going into a fail safe mode, which makes sense. I guess that couls mean it won't advance timing under load without an input from the tps. I wonder if the MAF would play a role in timing control as well.

I've wondered about it going into a limp mode, but haven't been able to find any info on that while searching. Also, given that its slowly developed the current carb issues, i figured the disty and ecm were still happy to cooperate. I shouldn't have said that all sensors are missing. , the coolant temp sensor is still there.

Good to hear from someone who has some seat time in a carbed auto car. I've had autos, and carbs, but never a car that was both. It seems that my 3at spfi loyale wagon was a pretty capable highway runner despite the high rpm. It's also an option to find and install all the spfi stuff, but given the age and availability I think the Weber might be more economical and easier to service. I am still using the spfi distributor and computer, just with every other sensor disabled and missing. It was that way when I found it. Fuel pump is wired to a relay and switch. Before the current carb issues, the car had no issues keeping up with traffic. I just would like a little more get up and go.

I've always wanted one too. Very cool little rig.

Hey gang, So as of now, my 88 GL wagon, aka Mountain Grizzly Mk2, is my daily driver. I have owned the for some time now and have been slowly upgrading it to better suit my needs, and as things have worn out I've tried to retrofit and overall improve on it. When I got the car, it had way too much carburetor, a 600cfm 4 barrel. It was originally spfi. I used an ea81 intake and carb that I had kicking around to make it more driveable, then swapped to an ea82 carb and intake in hopes of better performance. Now about a year later, the new old stock carb I used is giving me some trouble, and I think before I bother with a rebuild it may be time to swap to the Weber. My main hold up is wondering if I will see a decent gain in performance. The car being a 3at is hopelessly slow, and I'm wondering if my money is better spent swapping in the 5 speed. I have a source for parts but nothing on hand for the swap. I'm not looking for a hot rod, but just something that will do 65mph without taking forever to get there. As it is now, the car is struggling to maintain speed climbing small hills, and has to be driven at full throttle most of the time to hold a steady 55mph. More info on the car itself. 195/60/15 winter force 2 tires, 6 lug swapped. Engine is originally an spfi ea82, xt6 pistons, full rebuild around 30k miles ago. Delta cams, 2.25 in exhaust from the header back to a turbo muffler. Engine is making a solid 20in vac at idle

Weighing my options for a Weber swap. The ea82 carb seems to be down on power and has decided to no longer want to idle when cold. No obvious vacuum leaks but I haven't had time to look more closely. Also, when was the last time you saw an 88 towing a 68? I had to get rid of our 360 shell because we are planning a long distance move and didn't want to haul it with us. I gave it to my boss who is into micro cars and will do something with it. Still very happy with this car. It does every thing I ask. Commute, plow, tow, and get us out into the woods.

The 854 tempo springs have no issues holding the weight of the snow plow! Can't wait for more snow to try it out. Not that I really want any more snow.

Nice looking right, and it sounds like it will be all sorted out when you pick it up.

Car alarm ? I leave the keys in mine. If any thief can figure out how to start it, they can keep the cold blooded old rust bucket. Seriously though, a hidden starter switch or fuel pump switch is my best recommendation. That and don't leave it locked, or any thing worth stealing in the car.

Here are some extra pics of the Grizzly this summer. It's been a great little chase car for our camping trips. Until money and opportunity permits, we have to take two vehicles on our trips because they're not enough seatbelts or room in the cab of my old Dodge. I am holding out hope I can find a 70s club or crew cab dodge to haul my camper.

I ended up installing my new springs this evening. I did not reinstall my upper strut lift because the stiffer springs make up for them. I actually think the front sits higher now with the new springs than it did with the old ones plus the lift blocks. The maiden voyage as far as snow plowing was Sunday morning. We had some pretty wet snow, maybe 3 inches. The car was able to push my long drive way without issue. Problem being the antique superwinch died. I have since picked up a harbor freight winch today, but have to reengineer my winch mount and wire it all up. I also have to build some kind of light bar to mount some headlights and turn signals to get them above the plow when it's raised up. Overall, I'm so happy and proud of how far this little car has come. It is a true Swiss army knife vehicle.

I ended up getting the 854s as well, installed them tonight without cutting any coils. The ride is stiff, but I'm not too picky. We will see how much of an improvement they yield once I have my snow plow back on.

Here's a almost current pick with 205/70/15 tires. I have since swapped to a 185/65/15 winter tire. I hope to have the new front springs on Monday evening. Then I can finish up building the snow plow set up.

Why have you decided to cut them? Are they just too stiff?

Tons of updates, but no pictures at the moment. The car is now sporting a 6 lug swap. I have also added the accord rear springs. Up front I made my own 2 inch lift blocks and will also be adding the Ford tempo springs as documented in Jezek's write up. I have also added a winch to the front bumper.

Any more updates on ride quality? I'm looking to order the same front springs, and hope to hear they're much stiffer than the stock ones. I am building a snow plow rig for my loyale, and the stock springs seem way too soft.

Following for updates, it's nice to see real world results. I'm looking to stiffen up the front end in my loyale as well.

Seat swap didn't take much. I made some brackets to adapt the rear mounts to meet up with the mounting points in the floor.

Now featuring the maxima alternator upgrade! I'm also managing a sweet 21mpg! Never got as good fuel economy with the ea81 carb, and the car seems to breathe a little better. It's still slow as can be, but I'm happier now that I'm not averaging 15pmg.

Got the maxima alt installed! Sweet upgrade. Too bad i didn't actually need one. The charge fuse was showing good when I checked with my power probe, but I didn't actually pull it out to look at it. Dumb mistake, but it did look good until I checked it with the dvom and found it was burnt. Thanks again for the help guys. A nice reminder to keep it simple!