1972 Buick Turbo LS Pro Touring - Garage Made

[lwilliams]

***Posted this in the "New Member" section too but thought I would put it here to incase it can help anyone else looking to do similar things!***

I just joined the forum. Truth be told it was just to check out some shocks that someone was selling but i see there is a ton of useful info on here! I'm up in Canada land and the snow is flying right now so not a bad time to make some progress on my project! Just a financial advisor with a car hobby...

Picked it up in Calgary, AB about 4 years ago. Got it from stinky Roger. Literally the guy was gag worthy. Paid 2000$ for the car. just a standard 350/350 car. Drove it for 2 weeks then it sat for about a year on my garage pad. Built the garage and then started to tear it down. For the most part the body is in decent shape from what I can see except the roof skin has holes in it. The car originally had a 1/4 vinyl top that stopped working and rust ate its way through the spots it was attached to the roof skin. Some patches to be done (drivers door, passenger fender, quarter panel patches, small spot on the trunk floor) the hoods in good shape though!

Nothing to special about the car to start with but I completely tore it down to the frame. Didn't really do a tone to it for about 3 years until this year i have made a ton of progress.

I always wanted it to go fast, stop and handle well. Got the body off the frame a, had the frame sand blasted and then installed a Hellwig Frame FX kit. Essentially turns the coupe frame into a convertible frame with an extra body mount. Wasn't terribly hard to install this, just some grinding, cutting and welding. Welding is slow with this. Had to do about an inch at a time in 4 different spots then wait for the frame to cool to the touch and repeat. I think it took me about a 5 days of off and on to full weld in the kit. If you put to much heat through the frame when you weld it it will bow out the middle frame rail sections and then you have to go get it straightened. Mine bowed out a little bit but nothing that wasn't manageable, everything still lined up. Went this route cause it made clear space under the car for exhaust and anything else. (see pics of the old frame (just oily and had a coating on it really, then sand blasted, then with the kit installed).

Once the frame was welded i just finished it up with poly body bushings from energy suspension and put the body back on. obviously i haven't driven it with the frame kit yet, but just moving the car around with a jack there is a noticeable difference in the stiffness of it.

https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181032&d=1605052011https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181031&d=1605052011https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181030&d=1605052011https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181029&d=1605052011

I have always wanted to do an ls swap. Super tough and reliable and cheap to buy. I got my engine for 250$. 5.3l lm7. Doesn't get more generic than that. Supposedly it has 170,000kms (105,000miles) on it and ran fine when pulled. Guess we will see! Needed some sensors, a coil and what not but nothing major so far. I used UMI lsx mounts for the install. Put on an f-body oil pan so the oil pan wasn't hanging 3" below the k-member. Also got a 4l60 trans built that a mated to the 5.3l. think i might be the only person in the world that had to cut their trans tunnel to make this fit (my car seems to be different when it comes to the measurement and fitting of things, same thing with the steering box) going to end up running a turbo. Not sure how to fix the picture orientation.

https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181033&d=1605052594https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181034&d=1605053368
Added a JGC steering box too, had to beat the frame a little to get it to fit which is odd cause i haven't heard of anyone else having to do that ()you will notice a trend here). Car stayed like that for a real long time. like 2-2.5 years. Then I made a ton of progress this year.

Put together the whole fuel system. Tank, pump, filter, fittings, lines you name it. used PTFE fittings and hose. Fixed the core support cause one side was totally rotted out. Installed a Buick big block radiator along with some ford windstar fans, plumped the steering box (fittings too) with a cooler and the water pump hoses.


https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181036&d=1605053563https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181035&d=1605053523https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181037&d=1605053880https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181038&d=1605053901https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181039&d=1605053933

Then i fabbed up a log manifold, sch 40 pipe that is all 2.5" with 1.5" runners. got a flange that is a 2.5" pipe to t4 that made this easy to install the turbo. This is a 78mm i used for mock. Will end up using a 72mm most likely. going the vs racing route with this!
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181040&d=1605054183https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181041&d=1605054199https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181042&d=1605054217

Also got some front suspension goodness installed. Had to drill new upper shock mount holes, which i don't think anyone else has ever had to do. 1" back on the drivers side and 3/4" back on the pass. side. Like I said trend with my car that its tolerances must have been after some afternoon scotch on the assembly floor. Got the suspension and brake parts from a friend. 6 piston wilwoods with 12.19" rotors too! Adjustable upper control arms, tubular lower arms, 2"drop spindles, and the brakes.

https://advertising.forumexcellence.com/ads/www/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=57&campaignid=3&zoneid=32&loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pro-touring.com%2Fthreads%2F135439-1972-Buick-Skylark-Pro-Touring-Smiles-per-build&referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pro-touring.com%2Fforums%2F6-Welcome-To-Our-Message-Board&cb=d395c48950


https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181043&d=1605054375https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181044&d=1605054473

Picked up a 12 bolt about a month ago. Its a 373 posi unit. Running poly bushings in the axle. Got rear suspension control arms coming from a buddy (rod ends in all the joints except the upper arms that bolt to the axle, 2" lowering springs in the mail (125#-200# progressive springs). Just need some single or double adjustable shocks to complete the package (anyone got some for sale?). Also picking up some wilwood brakes from a guy that couldn't use them for his project. 4 piston with 11" low profile rotors and calipers. 500$! Steal of a deal, they are new in the box.

Pretty sure i am going to be running these wheels (Below). Either 18 or 19 inch x 10.5 wide and the 295's on all four corners. they would be about 10 lbs lighter than the corvette reproduction rims i was looking to buy and i can source them in Alberta and avoid paying the conversion, shipping and duty across the border (such a killer these days).

181073

Also just picked up some Cobalt ss seats that I will swap into the car. Going to have to make brackets to get them to fit but nothing crazy. (Paid 300$ for them). will post pics when they are set in place and what the brackets look like.

181074

Really trying to do this car with as many decent components as possible but without spending a ton of cash. Getting lots of stuff used from other people that is making a huge difference. Saved about $3000 on suspension, $1750 on brakes and $800 on seats doing it that way compared to buying the new stuff i was looking at.

[andrewb70]

Great build!

Andrew

[lwilliams]

Great build!

Andrew

Thanks! Coming together slowly.

[Vimes]

Tell me, was that car primer grey, and if so were the tail lights painted black around the outer ring? And did it have a Gen 1 Chevy engine in it? Been trying to track down my first car on and off for years, to either buy back or at least know it has a good home.

[lwilliams]

Tell me, was that car primer grey, and if so were the tail lights painted black around the outer ring? And did it have a Gen 1 Chevy engine in it?

It wasn't primer grey when I got it. There is a shot of the back drivers quarter in the first picture of the thread, it is a light blue.

Around the tail lights on the rear bumper it is not painted black there is a rubber piece that basically seals the tail light to the bumper (the rubber is black). The outside housing of the tail lights themselves are black plastic.

It had a Buick 350 in it. I looked up the casting numbers. (they were a thin wall casting which made them lighter than a standard chevy 350)

[ICrombie]

Looking good so far! Subscribing to this one, should be exciting to see it come along.

[lwilliams]

got some rear end poly bushings installed today.

Really wasn't to hard to be honest. Most difficult part was getting the OEM metal thrust washer (i think that is what its called) out. did the old heat and beat treatment on it, seemed to work fine.

First started with drilling out as much of the rubber around the steel pin as possible. Tried to stay as close to the dowel as possible.

181092181093

Once i had drilled out as much as i could i knocked the dowel out with a 2.5# mini sledge and socket that sit the size of the dowel.

181094

Next i hammered in a long flat blade screw driver and just pried the rubber out. It was all pretty easy up to this point!

181095
181096

Then came the heat and beat treatment on the thrust washers. I used a blow torch on the housing eye's/ears and the metal thrust washer. then i had a hitch laying around and butted it up to the thrust washer and beat away until one full side was knocked out. Once it was that far out i took the same mini sledge and screw driver and hammered against the inside of the lip of the thrust washer until they came out. Drivers side was pretty easy. passenger side started to smash the outside lip so it wouldn't come through so i had to bend it back in towards the middle to get it knocked out.

181097

Disassembly all done!


Putting in the new poly bushings was essentially the reverse of everything above. I used the hitch and mini sledge technique to put the new thrust washers in (sprayed in a little wd-40 on the OD of the washers to provide a little ease into place.

Next i just lubed up any parts of the poly bushings that contacted metal. OD of the poly bushing and OD of the new metal dowel. on the other side i lubed the ID of the end cap bushing. *** I would recommend wearing gloves for this, it is super thick and tacky (i was in a cold garage which doesn't help), took me a good 3 goes of degreaser soap to get everything off.***

181098

Only difference in the assembly is to trim enough off the end cap bushing leaving only 1/8 of the poly bushing material as the space between the housing is really tight.

181099

Overall not a hard job. Now just to get the gear oil (accidentally bought synthetic and need conventional) and the limited slip additive in and a gasket to seal it all up.

Rear springs came today. BMR progressive rate springs (125lbs-200lbs). Got these as a scratch and dent item. Only issue i can see with them is in the pics below so I am more than happy. I think it saved me about 40$ USD compared to buying them new. I was originally going to go with UMI rear springs which are 130lbs (linear rate). So i figured these should ride like those when cruising and then when i get into corners (plan to do some cone course racing with this car and some very spirited street driving) they will end up being stiffer and perform better under load. I was playing around with them and putting my own weight on them the first inch is a plush and then they stiffen up real quick.

181100
181101

Just waiting on control arms from a friend off his car, he might have them off this weekend and then I can put the rear end together minus shocks. Looking for some single or double adjustable ones that would work with the 2" lower springs. Stay tuned!

[Vimes]

It wasn't primer grey when I got it. There is a shot of the back drivers quarter in the first picture of the thread, it is a light blue.

Around the tail lights on the rear bumper it is not painted black there is a rubber piece that basically seals the tail light to the bumper (the rubber is black). The outside housing of the tail lights themselves are black plastic.

It had a Buick 350 in it. I looked up the casting numbers. (they were a thin wall casting which made them lighter than a standard chevy 350)

Bummer. Oh well. Those are great cars, hope to have another one day. I know they're basically the same car but I'd much rather have a Skylark than the Chevelle I have.

[lwilliams]

Picked up my seats. They are from the cobalt ss. Totally bought them hoping they would be good, my cousin picked them up for me. Got to sit in them and they are fantastic, bolstering is really good on them and i fit in them really well. Not sure how you could ever go wrong with them, considering that I only paid 300$ for the set. What is really nice about these is that the drivers side seat is height adjustable (had no idea when i bought these that was the case). I originally just set them on the floor of the car and was a little disappointed how high i sat but then viola, height lever. i can adjust them so i fit perfect in it and still have a few clicks (2-3 of even lower adjustment. I am 6'2" so i was happy they have adjustment.

That being said there was a bunch of work to get the original brackets off the rails. I didn't count but i wouldn't be surprised if there was about 20 or so 1/2" to 3/4" rivets holding the brackets to the rails. I used an angle grinder to cut the rivets off then a pin punch to knock them out of the rails. Had to wack it with some pretty decent force but i was careful to check the rails to make sure i wasn't bending them or anything like that. This probably took me 2hrs at least, there was a lot of rivets. As an added bonus i wasn't paying attention to the spark show i was sending from cutting off the rivets and melted tons of metal dust into my garage windows.

not the nest pic but this is what the rivets were like.
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then what they look like cut off. you can see it in the picture, there is a faint outline of the rivet and bracket that i could see and use the pin punch to push them out.
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I will need to do some floor modification to the driver side. The body mount sheet metal that contacts the seat at the front and rear of the rail doesn't allow the sit to sit centered with the steering wheel. I will have to cut out enough to get the seat to move about 1-2" to the left I figure. Won't be hard just some added work. I will put in a 90 degree angle of sheet metal to fill the hole i cut out and weld it in.

essentially the angle piece here from the top of the mount to the bottom of the floor defiantly has to go then maybe some more. ill slowly cut out portions and mock the seat up until it fits right or i just get to close to the mount itself.

This spot hits the front of the seat rail on the drivers side by the door
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this spot hits the rear side of the seat rail on the same side


There is also a hump of sorts on my passenger side that sits in the middle of the rail (on the side closest to the drive shaft tunnel) and doesn't let the front and back ends of the seat rail sit on the floor. Really hard to get a picture of this with the seat in and you can't really notice it just with the passenger side area on its own. I might cut this down to as it will allow the passenger seat to sit a little lower. I'll post pics of it and you can see where the hump was. They way that the seat sits on the pass. side, it is a little high for me (and i have some tall friends) so likely getting it to sit lower is a good idea.

you might not be able to seeName: seats passenger side.jpg
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Size: 112.5 KB it in this picture but the pass seat has a slight lean to it from that hump.

Once i get the floor all sorted out, I'll make up some brackets that bolt to the under side of the rails and then to the to body braces that run underneath the body of the car. The funny thing is that the seat rails are almost perfect to set in the factory holes as bare rails about an inch or so short on each end. Probably use 1-1.5" flat stock for the brackets.

Got my rear control arms. The uppers are adjustable Edelbrock arms (i don't even know if Edelbrock makes them anymore) i have the poly bushing on the axle side and then it is a rod bolt/bearing on the other end. Will just have to locate the axle to center once everything is bolted up. The lowers are adjustable from TRZ motor sports i believe. My friend that i got the lowers from said they are set to factory length already so i will just keep them that way. they are both rod bolt ends. I heard a lot of things like the rod bolt/bearing style ends are super harsh on the street and noisy etc. In talking to my buddy he said they are a little louder but ultimately fine for the street and not a harsh ride. Plus you can torque the rod style ends to spec without the car being on its own weight like you have to do with the poly bushings.

uppers
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lowers
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I also went a different route with my rims! I am picking up a set of C5 corvette Z06 rims on Friday. My buddy had the same rims on his Chevelle and i really like the look of them. they are 18x10.5 (rear) and 17x9.5 (front). currently they have michellen pilot sport tires on them 295/35/18 and 265/40/17 which are supposedly at 75% tread left. I will work them off at some point (likely as burnout victims)and then maybe throw on 305's in the rear (would definitely have to trim the fender lip )and 275's up front. Was really thinking that having the car set up to be square (295's all four corners) would be cool but it would be about $3000 or more to get all of that sorted out, so for $1700 for this set i am happy. The corvette rims are only about 1 lbs or so heavier that the super speed wheels i was looking at from what i have read. After getting the wheels i will just have to do some measuring and get some wheel adapters likely 2" (might have to cut the fender lip) or 1.75" if i can avoid the fender lip issue and they still look right on the car. here is a pic of the rims/tires.
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here is a pic of a buddies chevelle that had the same rims on his car
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Should hopefully have my rear brakes this weekend, 11" low profile wilwoods. They are 6hrs away and a friend may be heading that direction and could pick them up. They are brand new in the box so pretty excited about those!

NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS

Holy fack fack fack fack.

When i had taken the axles out of the rear end (72 chevelle 12 bolt posi) i must have spun the posi unit and the thrust washers that sit between the smaller top and bottom spider gears slipped out and are now trapped behind the spring and plates. this freaking sucks. I tried for about an hour and a whole bunch of options to get them out. Magnet, pick, tried pulling them through the springs, tried pulling the springs/plate out enough to see if they would come out, tried wedging the spring and plates either up or down to create some space between the housing and the spider gears but no such luck, it is just too tight and there is not enough space. oh and did i mention that by the time i noticed this i had already sprayed a bottle of anti-slip additive and a liter of rear end gear oil in the housing.

you can see the washers behind the springs all the way at the back.
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I really don't see any other option other to remove the spring pack and plates. could be kind of sketch because i am pretty sure that they are the 400lbs springs. i talked to the guy that built the rear end and he was really trying to get me to avoid taking the spring pack out. It is also really tight because the plates hit the ring gear when i pull them out so hopefully I can compress them enough to get them out. Going to wrap a whole shwack of welding wire around the plates and twist it super tight, probably zip ties, a clamp or ten and hopefully be able to get it out safely and not lose an eye or two (safety glasses first). If i can get it out it will be easy to grab the thrust washers and put them back in.

Open to any other suggestions of getting them out without removing the spring pack. Other option is to take it to a shop and have them take it apart but it would essentially mean taking the entire posi out of the rear end removing the ring gear, removing the spring pack and then get the thrust bearings. I'd like to avoid it if i can. Besides i have two eyes anyways.

[lwilliams]

oops posted this in my new member post by accident here is the one with the pics.

Picked up my seats. They are from the cobalt ss. Totally bought them hoping they would be good, my cousin picked them up for me. Got to sit in them and they are fantastic, bolstering is really good on them and i fit in them really well. Not sure how you could ever go wrong with them, considering that I only paid 300$ for the set. What is really nice about these is that the drivers side seat is height adjustable (had no idea when i bought these that was the case). I originally just set them on the floor of the car and was a little disappointed how high i sat but then viola, height lever. i can adjust them so i fit perfect in it and still have a few clicks (2-3 of even lower adjustment. I am 6'2" so i was happy they have adjustment.

That being said there was a bunch of work to get the original brackets off the rails. I didn't count but i wouldn't be surprised if there was about 20 or so 1/2" to 3/4" rivets holding the brackets to the rails. I used an angle grinder to cut the rivets off then a pin punch to knock them out of the rails. Had to wack it with some pretty decent force but i was careful to check the rails to make sure i wasn't bending them or anything like that. This probably took me 2hrs at least, there was a lot of rivets. As an added bonus i wasn't paying attention to the spark show i was sending from cutting off the rivets and melted tons of metal dust into my garage windows.

not the nest pic but this is what the rivets were like.
181619

then what they look like cut off. you can see it in the picture, there is a faint outline of the rivet and bracket that i could see and use the pin punch to push them out.
181620

I will need to do some floor modification to the driver side. The body mount sheet metal that contacts the seat at the front and rear of the rail doesn't allow the sit to sit centered with the steering wheel. I will have to cut out enough to get the seat to move about 1-2" to the left I figure. Won't be hard just some added work. I will put in a 90 degree angle of sheet metal to fill the hole i cut out and weld it in.

essentially the angle piece here from the top of the mount to the bottom of the floor defiantly has to go then maybe some more. ill slowly cut out portions and mock the seat up until it fits right or i just get to close to the mount itself.

This spot hits the front of the seat rail on the drivers side by the door
181621

this spot hits the rear side of the seat rail on the same side
181622

There is also a hump of sorts on my passenger side that sits in the middle of the rail (on the side closest to the drive shaft tunnel) and doesn't let the front and back ends of the seat rail sit on the floor. Really hard to get a picture of this with the seat in and you can't really notice it just with the passenger side area on its own. I might cut this down to as it will allow the passenger seat to sit a little lower. I'll post pics of it and you can see where the hump was. They way that the seat sits on the pass. side, it is a little high for me (and i have some tall friends) so likely getting it to sit lower is a good idea.

you might not be bale to see it but the pass side seat has a slight lean to it from that hump.
181623


Once i get the floor all sorted out, I'll make up some brackets that bolt to the under side of the rails and then to the to body braces that run underneath the body of the car. The funny thing is that the seat rails are almost perfect to set in the factory holes as bare rails about an inch or so short on each end. Probably use 1-1.5" flat stock for the brackets.

Got my rear control arms. The uppers are adjustable Edelbrock arms (i don't even know if Edelbrock makes them anymore) i have the poly bushing on the axle side and then it is a rod bolt/bearing on the other end. Will just have to locate the axle to center once everything is bolted up. The lowers are adjustable from TRZ motor sports i believe. My friend that i got the lowers from said they are set to factory length already so i will just keep them that way. they are both rod bolt ends. I heard a lot of things like the rod bolt/bearing style ends are super harsh on the street and noisy etc. In talking to my buddy he said they are a little louder but ultimately fine for the street and not a harsh ride. Plus you can torque the rod style ends to spec without the car being on its own weight like you have to do with the poly bushings.

uppers
181624

lowers
181625

I also went a different route with my rims! I am picking up a set of C5 corvette Z06 rims on Friday. My buddy had the same rims on his Chevelle and i really like the look of them. they are 18x10.5 (rear) and 17x9.5 (front). currently they have michellen pilot sport tires on them 295/35/18 and 265/40/17 which are supposedly at 75% tread left. I will work them off at some point (likely as burnout victims)and then maybe throw on 305's in the rear (would definitely have to trim the fender lip )and 275's up front. Was really thinking that having the car set up to be square (295's all four corners) would be cool but it would be about $3000 or more to get all of that sorted out, so for $1700 for this set i am happy. The corvette rims are only about 1 lbs or so heavier that the super speed wheels i was looking at from what i have read. After getting the wheels i will just have to do some measuring and get some wheel adapters likely 2" (might have to cut the fender lip) or 1.75" if i can avoid the fender lip issue and they still look right on the car. here is a pic of the rims/tires.
181626

here is a pic of a buddies chevelle that had the same rims on his car
181627

Should hopefully have my rear brakes this weekend, 11" low profile wilwoods. They are 6hrs away and a friend may be heading that direction and could pick them up. They are brand new in the box so pretty excited about those!

NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS

Holy fack fack fack fack.

When i had taken the axles out of the rear end (72 chevelle 12 bolt posi) i must have spun the posi unit and the thrust washers that sit between the smaller top and bottom spider gears slipped out and are now trapped behind the spring and plates. this freaking sucks. I tried for about an hour and a whole bunch of options to get them out. Magnet, pick, tried pulling them through the springs, tried pulling the springs/plate out enough to see if they would come out, tried wedging the spring and plates either up or down to create some space between the housing and the spider gears but no such luck, it is just too tight and there is not enough space. oh and did i mention that by the time i noticed this i had already sprayed a bottle of anti-slip additive and a liter of rear end gear oil in the housing.

you can see the washers behind the springs all the way at the back.
181628

I really don't see any other option other to remove the spring pack and plates. could be kind of sketch because i am pretty sure that they are the 400lbs springs. i talked to the guy that built the rear end and he was really trying to get me to avoid taking the spring pack out. It is also really tight because the plates hit the ring gear when i pull them out so hopefully I can compress them enough to get them out. Going to wrap a whole shwack of welding wire around the plates and twist it super tight, probably zip ties, a clamp or ten and hopefully be able to get it out safely and not lose an eye or two (safety glasses first). If i can get it out it will be easy to grab the thrust washers and put them back in.

Open to any other suggestions of getting them out without removing the spring pack. Other option is to take it to a shop and have them take it apart but it would essentially mean taking the entire posi out of the rear end removing the ring gear, removing the spring pack and then get the thrust bearings. I'd like to avoid it if i can. Besides i have two eyes anyways.

[Vimes]

On the sears, would it be possible to use the seat brackets from the Skylark seats? They were made for the hump on the floor. If the new seats can bolt to those brackets they'd probably fit.

For the gear, if rotating it caused the problem, what about rotating it back? If you dropped the driveshaft you'd be able to spin the reat diff by hand using the yoke. Repositioning the diff that way might give you the room needed to work the washers out. A coat hanger might help here as well seeing as it's really stiff but bendable wire.

[lwilliams]

On the sears, would it be possible to use the seat brackets from the Skylark seats? They were made for the hump on the floor. If the new seats can bolt to those brackets they'd probably fit.

For the gear, if rotating it caused the problem, what about rotating it back? If you dropped the driveshaft you'd be able to spin the reat diff by hand using the yoke. Repositioning the diff that way might give you the room needed to work the washers out. A coat hanger might help here as well seeing as it's really stiff but bendable wire.

the original seat in the car was a bench seat and i sold it along with the brackets. there isn't actually and mounting holes in the floow for the rails on the inner most side of the car, so that is where i am going to drill some holes to mount the seat brackets i make to the existing body supports that run through the middle of the car.

The axle is completely out of the car so i can spin it freely already. I have tried rotating it back and that is what the guy who built the diff said to do (it was super clean when i got it from him with no oil in it). however now that i put the gear oil in it, it is just way to sticky to allow the thrust bearings to really move around freely. Coat hanger is a good idea! I will give that try, plus i can snake it through some of the areas fairly easy i would imagine. thanks for the idea!

[lwilliams]

Well more progress! And success getting those thrust washers out. I did end up taking out the spring pack and plates.

so essentially i pulled out the spring pack far enough that i could use a long screw driver and compress the springs enough to get it passed the ring gear.

181908

then i gently pulled the pack up past the ring gear
181909

once it was past the ring gear i pulled it out enough that the lower spring were still in the diff but the upper plate and springs were out enough that i could get a clamp on it. I basically wedged a smaller style c-clamp in through the grooves of the ring gear and was able to clamp the upper springs. I was originally using two clamps but for future reference for anyone else 1 clamp works better. i don't have a pic of this cause my phone died.

this is a picture when i was re-installing the pack but you can get the idea how it comes out too and how the clamps are oriented.
181910

once the spring pack was out i put another clamp on it to keep everything together.
181911

Washers were easy to take out at this point i just used a magnet to grab them.

Now for re-assembly.
i took the lower clamp off the springs (black clamp). Then I placed the pack against the passenger side spider gear and used the same long screw driver to compress the other side of the lower springs and then pushed it back into the posi unit.
181910

Finally got it all in! only to realize the washers fell out again while i was installing it. AHHHHHHHHHH! repeat process again. but only 4 times with choice words directed at my differential. What i did realize that renistalling them with one clamp was far easier than two. i did at one point have the pin in the upper spider gear holding the thrust washer in palce so it would stop falling back. but this was more cumbersome and things in the way. instead i just put the magnet back in that same spot and that helped to stop it from falling down.

Pin in place to hold washer, but it just kept sliding through and getting in the way.
181912

Essentially once i had the magnet in there and stopped the washers from falling back i got everything in and buttoned up. Sorry i wish i had some more pictures but my phone kind of died half way through and i was just getting frustrated and wanted it done. all in all not a hard job just one of those tideous you have to do it 4 times until it all goes together. after 4 times you start to get pretty good at it. The spring pack did come apart a few times. nothing dangerous or anything like i thought it could be, granted i think i9 have the 200# springs in my rear end. this definitely makes re-install easier. the other sets of springs are either 400 or 800# springs!

But like i said, all put together and loaded the carrier up with some anti slip additive and 2L of gear oil 80-90w. I spoke directly to Eaton. they said the original units need conventional oil (which mine is) and the new units can use either.

In the end this was a nice relief finally!. i probably spent like 2 hours or so screwing around with all of this to get it put together. Diff cover on and torqued to 20 ft/lbs, crissy crossy style.
181913

I got the rear brakes at this point to and started assembly on them. I wanted to wait to install the diff once the brakes were in so i didn't have to work under the car.
181914
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first step in the install is to remove the axles to install the rear caliper bracket and drum e-brake assembly. the drum/bracket bolts to the housing.
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then reinstall the axle. did you know that when you take the axle out and don't touch anything rear end related the thrust washers still fall out again! KILL ME! (repeat all spring pack pull-out and reinstall)

reinstalled the axles and the next step is to put on this collar that will wood supplied to make sure the rotor is centered and mated to teh axle flange properly. the drivers side went on perfect. However the passenger side broke.
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On the passenger side there was a very small shoulder on the axle. it was quite small so i thought i could just tappity tap the collar on (hammer and screw driver style, probably shouldn't have used a flat blade screw driver). But i broke it. Choice words for rear end again.

I will likely get another collar but wanted to continue the install. got out the mini dremel wheel and slowly took some material down until the collar fit.
181920

was still having some trouble getting the collar seated on to the rotor so i installed the collar into the rotor first and then on to the axle. i will likely get another collar just to be safe and install it when it shows. seeing how the car ain't moving anytime soon it will do for now.
181921

next was to install the calipers. pretty simple you just add or reduce shims on either side of the bracket/caliper to make it so the rotor is in the middle and equi-distant from either side of the caliper. (don't mind the rusty rotor pic the guy i bought these from had some water get on this rotor he didn't know about and it has some surface rust, i will get some brake clean to clean it up and then the first time i use the brakes it should basically come off)
181922

once the calipers were set i just had to remove the pad retainer, insert the pads and re-install the retainer. rear end is ready to get put together and in the car!
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181924

I put the rear end on a combo of jack stands and on a floor jack to maneuver it into place to get all the control arms put in. was a little bit of a battle at first but was a got a couple of them bolted in it was fairly easy. for future reference i think install the lowers first and then the uppers could make things a little easier. i also installed one of the ride tech coil over mounts (upper and lower) so that was the spring was in and the car is sitting on its own weight i can get a ride height measurement for shocks.

I haven't adjusted the uppers to center the rear end as i want to get both rear wheel adapters (on order should be here before Christmas) and both rear wheels in and see how everything lines up. It is defiantly pretty close already (the uppers were already installed on a Chevelle with a 12bolt).

pics of everything under the rear of the car!
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Also got my wheels and snagged a 2" adapter to borrow from a buddy.
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I did measure for the shock length but can't remember now what it was. i wanna say something like 13.5" or around there. My plan right now is to likely buy the JEGS single adjustable coil over shock and put them in without a spring. then if i ever want to adjust ride height or change springs i can just buy springs for the coil over and go that route, will likely just have to get some spacers to install the shocks. The wheel and tire tuck really nice in the rear! might change a little once i get it on all four but happy how it looks with that 2" BMR lowering spring. I can easily fit all four finger between the tire and the fender lip. Might not have to trim anything which would be nice too. I getting sick of grinding and the metal dust and stuff on the car and in the garage all the time. the rear brakes look a little small but they are the low profile ones meant to fit in a 15" wheel haha.
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Also started to install my seat will post some pics soon!

[andrewb70]

That's a pretty low stance in the rear. You will definitely have to do some transmission tunnel (maybe even driveshaft tunnel) surgery in order to raise the back of the transmission high enough to achieve good driveline operating angles.

Andrew

[lwilliams]

That's a pretty low stance in the rear. You will definitely have to do some transmission tunnel (maybe even driveshaft tunnel) surgery in order to raise the back of the transmission high enough to achieve good driveline operating angles.

Andrew


Your probably right. friend had his car at about the same ride height and the drive shaft hit the tunnel on big bumps. going to check out the angles for the rear end this week/weekend. The trans is set at 3 degrees already. I do have to close up the tunnel around the upper 2/3's of the bell housing as it hits in 2 spots right now and is reallllly tight to the trans cooler fittings/hoses. Going to get the angels right and then install a driveshaft and see how everything looks first, if it all looks ok i will probably drive it around some and get an idea on if anything needs to be done too.

[andrewb70]

Saying that the trans is at 3 degrees is meaningless. Three degrees relative to what? The frame? That measurement doesn't really matter because we are concerned with the front and rear operating angles on the u joints.

[lwilliams]

Saying that the trans is at 3 degrees is meaningless. Three degrees relative to what? The frame? That measurement doesn't really matter because we are concerned with the front and rear operating angles on the u joints.

spoke to a few people and they said to set an angle finder on the valley plate with the intake off. Set the angle to 3 degrees (pointing downward). this was with the engine and trans installed and the frame level. front to back and side to side.

- - - Updated - - -

i'll check the angle at the back of the trans and the rear end to but i am pretty sure that i check it before and it was at the same 3 degrees.

[andrewb70]

spoke to a few people and they said to set an angle finder on the valley plate with the intake off. Set the angle to 3 degrees (pointing downward). this was with the engine and trans installed and the frame level. front to back and side to side.

- - - Updated - - -

i'll check the angle at the back of the trans and the rear end to but i am pretty sure that i check it before and it was at the same 3 degrees.

Ok, but you have no idea what the angle of the installed driveshaft is, and without that information you can't determine the operating angles of the u-joints. Again, for the purpose of operating angles, the angle of the engine (and thus the trans) relative to the frame are meaningless.

Andrew

[lwilliams]

Ok, but you have no idea what the angle of the installed driveshaft is, and without that information you can't determine the operating angles of the u-joints. Again, for the purpose of operating angles, the angle of the engine (and thus the trans) relative to the frame are meaningless.

Andrew

good to know! thanks. i will check out these angles once the drive shaft is in. i'll wait to close up the trans tunnel at this point then. cheers.

[Big Dawg]

Nice build!! Subscribed!!

Where are you located?

[lwilliams]

Nice build!! Subscribed!!

Where are you located?

Thanks!

I am in Red Deer, AB.

[lwilliams]

Who's care is sitting on its own weight for the first time in like 4 years, this guys!!! For reference again these are C5 Z06 wheels 18x10.5 and 17x9.5, 295/35/18 and 265/40/17. Once the tires get roasted I will likely go to 305's in the rear and probably snag the 18x10.5's C5 z06 reproduction wheels my buddy has and run a 295 up front or stick to a 275 wide up front on these rims, but that is a decision for the future. The adapters i used are 2" all the way around.

182006

Still have to do some slight massaging on centering the rear end (its a little tight but still some space between the tires and fender lip). Anyone know what a reasonable amount of space should be between the fender lip and rim/tire?

I'll likely just trim them at some point, makes way for some 305 tires in the future. The front sits a little higher than i would like but i was thinking i also don't have all the weight on the front yet (oil, trans fluid, coolant, torque converter, power steering fluid, hydro boost, master cylinder, front bumper-hood-grill-headlights etc) so i will wait on messing with any of the suspension just yet until i have all the weight on the front.

i did get a little bit started on the drivers front seat fab. First i made as shallow a cut as possible to just peel away the floor that sits over the braces. Didn't really know what was going on under there so i didn't want to make a blind cut.

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once that was exposed and i had a better idea of what i was looking at i cut out the body support where i needed to. For the upper most one i wasn't worried about supporting it because there is that big extra body mount from the hellwig frame brace kit that sits right there. On the other body brace i put a jack and some wood under it and sat just enough weight on it that it was snug but not that the car was actually sitting on it with a ton of weight. i just wanted to support it essentially.

182010

Then i cut out those portions of the body braces. the one to the front of the car can get trimmed just a little more (like an 1/8" or so). But i want to keep just a little bit of room between the support piece i will weld in and the body mount.

182007

Once the braces were cut out i also trimmed part of the seat plastic so that it would fit over the little hump of the body brace (one closer to the fire wall. i only took a little bit off, may need some more once i actually get them mounted and the carpet in but i didn't want to get to crazy right away with trimming them.

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Once that was trimmed, I could mock the seats up in place and they are now centered with the steering wheel. Before i sat like an inch or so to the right of the steering wheel. Would have been hella weird driving that way. That being said i would say that the body brace cutting is really not necessary if you are not a tall guy ( i am 6'2"), I need to cut them out so i can fit the seat a little lower and move them in the right position in the car and then i sit in a perfect position for me. i would think that if you are in the 5'10" range it is likely you can leave the body braces as is and just mount the seats on top of them!

Also, i put the car on its weight after cutting these braces. i wanted to make sure that there wasn't any issues after cutting the braces so i measured the gap of the braces while supported and then without any support and there was no change. should make a little bit of progress over the next week or so and hopefully have the seat all set in. will have to cut out part of the trans tunnel that i still have opened as it has to be modified too from when it was cut like 2 years ago.

[lwilliams]

made some progress on the body bracket/floor modification. I didn't want to just weld in a plate, i wanted to make some cross sectional area so this was stronger. Can't say i really like doing this stuff cause it is just super tedious. lot of cut fit, trim fit, trim some more, trim here trim there until it all fits. but some progress none the less. Don't worry i am not putting any fabricators out of business.

I found making some card board templates first and then cutting them out of steel helped for sure. here is a pic for the plate tacked into the brace closest to the actual body mount.

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some of the card board templates and the plates that go between the body brace and the plate close to the body mount.

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i did end up bending most the tabs and you will see how they fit the brace i thought this would be a good way to put everything together.

182309

Here is how those pieces fit together on each of the body braces.

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A little weld filling happened here.
182311

Once i had those two pieces tacked together i made a couple other pieces for the sides of the mounts to essentially box it in once i put a top plate on it. I only have the more forwarded brace with the side tabs in at the moment. Once they were all in i fully welded as much as i could on all braces. Welds are by no means something to write home about., It is a really tight space and awkward at times to get in the with the welding gun. I was also having a ton of issues with my wire feed. It always seemed either to slow, to fast, like it was getting caught on things etc. I finally opened up the welder and saw the the wire spool was getting pinched. Once i fixed this tacking the top plate to box everything in was much better and the welder was behaving normal again.
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That it for now. i am hoping that i don't run out of welding gas and can finish up the rest of the body brace stuff and then close up the floor. If i don't run out of gas i think i should have it all buttoned up by the weekend and then get some brackets made for the seats and get them installed.

really looking forward to getting this done, this tedious fab jobs are exhausting at times.

***Looking for some advice and opinions here. Should i just weld the floor to the body brace support i made or weld a piece over the body brace like the floor originally was and just put in some spot welds like it was from the factory? I am thinking that if i just welded it all together (fill in the gaps of the floor with metal welded to the brace itself) as one unit instead of doing the spot weld stuff it would make it stronger. Then again i'm not a fabricator. thanks in advance for the suggestions!

[lwilliams]

Seats are in! Can't say this was actually a lot of fun getting this step completed. I would think i easily have like 30+ hours into this part of the car. What was thought to be quick, simple, easy was definitely not quick or simple. I also think i had that drivers seat in and out of the car like 80 -100 times measuring, mocking it up, test fitting etc.

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from where i left off last time i ended up cutting off that top plate and going back in and welding the space between the brace and the floor and then i made the executive decision to just seal the floor to the brace itself.

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the next two pics are the floor and braces all tacked together on the drivers side ( i did end up fully welding them in). This was a ton of work and a constant cut, trim fit each piece until it was right. I was frustrated a lot of times. i counted and just on one of the body brace/floor sections there was 13 pieces to put in. glad this was done.
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Once that was all done i moved on the the mounts and seat brackets. this is an initial look at what i had going on. I did end up removing the 1x1 square tubing cause it looked lame and i think with what i finished with will be stronger. this was the first rendition of what the brackets and mounts looked like before i welded the two larger metal mounts to the floor.
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mounts welded to floor

183186

once i had this all set make sure to face palm moment yourself as you didn't notice that the seat was hitting a part of the floor that made it sit way to high. Face palm self again as you run out of welding gas and cutting wheels. Face palm self for a third time as you have to cut down the floor mounts you just fully welded in to get the seat height right.

here is a pic of what the mount looked like after a cut them down and welded them back together i also welded a 5/16 bolt to them that the seat brackets bolt to. i used 5/16 hardware every where as that was the stock mounting stuff to begin with.

183187

All in all at the end of it this is what the mounts and seat brackets on the drivers aide all looked like. pretty good seat position for me (im 6'2) and i stare out of the windshield a little above the midline of the windshield. I again made a mistake on measuring and had to weld some spacers to the mounts on the inboard side to get everything to sit right. used a bunch of washers to get everything to sit right as well.

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on to the passenger side, in relation this side was a cake walk compared to the drivers. i could have cut up the body braces again to get the seat to sit perfectly center but it is quite minimal and not of any real concern. i did convince some of the floor to move a little bit with the mini sledge to get everything to fit just that much better.

183190

Don't have pictures of these seat brackets but they are real similar to the drivers side ones. both of the outside locations (driver and passenger) mount in the stock location. The inboard side on the passenger i drilled through the flow and body brace and have a bolt, washers, nut run through there. same as the factory stuff basically. Just used some washer to get the brackets level and such and it all bolted together.

End result, they look good and feel well and also are bolstered really well. Went through a ton of welding gas, like 6 cutting wheels, multiple trips to the hardware store for bolts, washers, nuts and even burned through a coat. May or may not have lit myself on fire slightly as i was firing sparks at a cotton dickies jacket. Someone would have pissed themselves laughing if they saw me trying to get this fire out slash trying to get this jacket off. Maybe i should set up a camera in my garage?

At the end of it i wouldn't do it again, way to much tedious work. and the project switched from fun and exciting to just something i didn't look forward to. not having to cut up the body brace and floor i don't think it would worth it.

Next step is to get that mess of a wiring harness put back together (you can see it at the feet of the drivers seat here), front bumper, grill headlight bezels and headlights all put in.

183180

On to better and more exciting things now. Will definitely have it running in the winter or spring this year with the terminator x max!

[lwilliams]

thought i would also add. I bought a respirator about 2/3 of the way through the seat stuff. I have used no masks, N95's, other face masks and the respirator is by far the best for a few reasons. This one is good for welding fumes and silca approved (what ever that means). But if i didn't where a mask i could blow my nose after being in the garage and it is just pure black nastiness. Wearing the respirator there is virtually nothing or a very small amount of black stuff. Soooooooo worth it. It also fits under my welding helmet. Another serious bonus to it is that wearing the respirator does not fog up any of my face shield, safety glasses or the welding helmet which the other face mask did really bad. Highly, highly recommend anyone get one if they are doing any sort of grinding/welding projects. Ill never not have one again.

Got this one from princess auto for 55$ and it has replaceable filters i can buy.

183191

[64G-lark]

Nice build. I have a soft spot for Buick’s. Keep the updates coming.

[lwilliams]

Nice build. I have a soft spot for Buick’s. Keep the updates coming.

Thanks! Getting closer to hopefully driving this thing!

[lwilliams]

Starting to look more like a car and a little less like a project! Got most of the interior back in the car, check out that rear seat Buick luxury (circa 1972). A little dirty from sitting for the last number of years but a quick clean and it is ready to go. I also have a brand new headliner that i originally got when i purchased the car as well as some brand new weather striping, window fuzzies and such. Too bad the headliner is white too. Will eventually switch it all over to black. Once you go black bucket seats you never go back! Gotta love the ashtray on each side in the rear of the car, really useful back when smoking was considered healthy.

183424

A little blurry, but you get the idea. When i get the interior installed i might actually try this out in the car to see what it looks like on black interior. It would help to make the inside of the car brighter and not totally black and dark. Open to suggestions here too!
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183421

183422

Also got a bunch of the front end assembled bumper, grill and semi-mounted the head light bezel's. I am missing four of the retaining nuts and a few headlight springs. They are on order from my local shop and then the front end will be buttoned up. love seeing it really starting to take shape!

183423

Picked these up from my local shop when i ordered that other stuff. nothing crazy. Flexible trans dip stick for the 4l60 and a lokar 36" throttle cable. I need to either get a stock cable bracket or make one myself. maybe get it in this weekend.

183425

[lwilliams]

Finally got to some more progress on the car. putting those seats in killed me on the motivation side of things. But back in the swing of things now. I got the throttle cable installed along with the dipstick for the trans nothing to exciting about either so i don't have a pic. However I did install a new steering wheel, built a crossover pipe to connect both sides of the exhaust and cut and rewelded the manifold that holds the turbo so now the exhaust turbine points right to the spot where the exhaust will feed under the car.

The steering wheel is a grant D-shaped one. Nothing expensive here i honestly think its like one of the cheapest ones they make. its a 13.75" x 11.25" i think. It is sooooooo much easier getting in and out of the car now. The flat bottom on the D-shape is to account for that. I don't have any of the steering box hooked up to any steering linkage but even just rotating it from lock to lock compared to the original wheel is a huge improvement!

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Here is a little bit of the mod that I did to the current log manifold. Essentially cut the 45 degree elbow way down on its and angle. now the exhaust turbine points so i should be able to just run a straight pipe down and under the car instead of having to make an offset.

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Next was the crossover, it is all 2.5". i attached a vband to the 45 degree on the log manifold, which was easy enough. For the drivers side i re-used the stock truck manifold. I cut the flange off of it and welded a 2.5" straight pipe to it in the orientation that made sense to align with the crossover then welded a vband on to that. To weld the manifold I threw it on the BBQ for about 25-30min till it was hot. then i welded the pipe to it and as soon as i was done wrapped it in a whole bunch of towels and just let it sit. it welded up pretty nice and it took about a good 2 hours to really cool down to where i could handle it.

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Then i worked on hooking the two sides together, be prepared for the worlds most unnecessarily long flex pipe for this type of crossover. DISCLAIMER: i was trying to make this crossover with just one 45 degree bend, 2 90 degree bends and then the length of flex pipe and what ever length of the legs from the bends i got.

So it is a 90 coming off the drivers side pointing to the passenger side which meets up with the flex pipe.

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187558

then it was a little bit of straight pipe to another 90 on the passenger side followed by the 45 degree and some straight pipe to meet up with the 45 degree on the log manifold.

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187560

It all turned out really well and honestly wasn;t as difficult as i thought it was going to be only one problem.... it is WAY too low haha. Like i said i only had a few bends to work with. But i looked it over and just a couple more 45 degree bends to push it back and i can tuck it up a whole bunch better under the trans oil pan and the bell housing. I may even ditch the long flex pipe for a piece of straight 2.5" and put another small flex pipe some where else.

187561

Some exciting stuff coming along though. I am likely getting the actual turbo that will go on the car. Friend of mine is checking it out Monday and if all goes well he will grab it for me. It is a 7875 billet vs racing turbo. The guy i am buying it from only had about 1500km on it so hopefully everything checks out and it is in good shape.

187562

I have also ordered exhaust parts some have come and some i am waiting on. I am pretty excited about this. I am going to run a single 3" all the way, however once the exhaust comes off the turbo and under the car i am going to run a y-pipe. one side will feed the normal exhaust and then the other side i am going to hook up to a loud valve. I got a standard 3" magnaflow muffler that should be pretty tame for the most part, this will be nice when just driving around and on the highway, my wife and kids will also be in the car with me so i don't want it to be so obnoxious that they don't want to sit in it.Then when i get on it hopefully it sounds like all hell is breaking loose! For those unfamiliar with a loud valve it is an exhaust cutout but is boost referenced with a diaphragm that opens the valve. so it will start to open around 1-2 psi and then be fully open around 6psi of boost.

https://loudvalves.com/products/3-5-boost-activated-loudvalve?variant=32909551436


So far i have got the muffler, y-pipe and vbands. Just waiting on the bends and flex pipe to show up which should come monday. I have about 5' of 3" exhaust tubing from an old project laying around. Will send pics when this is put together. once that is put together i will likely work either on the loud valve part or order the intercooler piping i have decided on and get working on running that since i will hopefully have the turbo for the car. I am also going to have the waste gate (likely just a 50mm vs racing) welded directly to the turbine housing. It will fit really well in the car that way and then i can easily run a tube right back into the exhaust.

here are some pics of the exhaust stuff i have so far. hopefully will have it at least all tacked together by the end of next weekend!


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[andrewb70]

That's a lot of progress! Nice work.

[lwilliams]

That's a lot of progress! Nice work.

Thanks should hopefully have the full exhaust, hotside and cold side all put together by mid summer. cheers!

[lwilliams]

Made some headway on the down pipe and exhaust. Coming together pretty good. I need some exhaust hangers and just ordered some today, should be here Thursday. Also picked up my turbo, its that 7875 billet vs racing turbo. here is a pic!188083

Fabing up the down pipe was pretty straight forward just a couple 45 degree bends with some straight lengths.

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The turbo doesn't sit quite level and is tilted back a little bit. so the angle coming down isn't level so i just had to cut in a little pie cut to make it level to the ground/car. First pic you can see that the flex pipe is angled towards the ground. next pic is the pie cut to level it out.
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Got it all levelled out and then lined it up to go under the trans crossmember, the nagle of it would have the exhaust running into the drive shaft so i made another pie cut to send it straight back and run parallel to the drive/shaft frame.
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once it was lined up i put the y-pipe on then a small straight piece and the muffler. also put a 45 degree bend on the loudvalve side of the y-pipe to see where it would come out and it looks like it would line up and point right at the rear tire so that works out well (i'll set it to point in front of the tire not at it). i am actually going to cut the small piece of pipe tacs between the y-pipe and muffler off and put a long piece of pipe there then i can tuck the exhaust up a little better.
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That's where it is at so far. waiting on those hangers and then once it it is fully welded and the hangers are on i will start working on the tail pipe section. Some pics of the stuff all tacked together.

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***looking for some input here, are people running 45 or 90 degree bends over the axle and out the back or a combo of both?***

[lwilliams]

I have not been updating this in a timely fashion, but have definitely been making some progress. Got all the exhaust done and got a v-band clamp to put the loud valve on, I actually have to weld another flange on to the existing flange to fit the clamp on, other wise the clamp runs in to the diaphragm (don't have a pic for this yet) . Ended up just running the exhaust under the axle.
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got some rear shocks installed too. QA1 single adjustable. A buddy gave me his coil over brackets he was using and i did some measuring and found these shocks fit great. They are poly bushing instead of spherical but not the end of the world. I am just not a fan of putting all the rear end weight on that small corner of the rear frame so i went the spring and shock separate route. Damn do shocks make a difference in the softness/stiffness of your suspension!

This is the lower bracket, just had to drill one hole in the axle bracket, it also ties into the lower rear control arm.
192369

Pic of the shock and upper shock bracket
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Did some intercooler and piping work too. My intercooler was actually able to fit (with some core support trimming) right in front of the radiator without having to run the piping under the rad support and up to the intercooler.
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The inlets on the intercooler line up like the photos below, so just a little bit of trimming the core support so the piping can run to the inlets. Then i mounted the top of the intercooler to the plate that sits on the rad support to hold hte radiator in place.

Inlets
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top mounting holes, can see the bolts holding the intercooler in the second pic

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I made a few brackets that I just welded to the core support that then bold to the bottom mounting holes of the intercooler just done have pics.

Next I just started fitting all the piping together and also got a filter along with a 4" 45 degree extension to try and fit the cone away from the radiator. some pics of all the piping.
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Got the steering linkage put together too. Buddy had a bump steer kit he took off his chevelle so i just swapped it on to my car. bought a new pitman arm (normal gm a body arm that goes on the JGC steering box), idler arm and center link.
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Moved on to getting the BOV and waste gate installed. Have to get these welded by a buddy as the turbine is cast iron and i cannot weld the aluminum pipe. the BOV is going on the 90 degree that feeds into the throttle body. both the BOV and waste gate are 50mm from vs racing. I am running the waste gate directly off the turbine. it is the easiest place to set it for space and ease of access.

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Also have a Stage 1 summit turbo cam kit (cam, springs, valve seals, keepers) that i have to install. its just sitting on the bench, hoping to get the cam and springs all installed this weekend.

[andrewb70]

Taking some notes for my 70 GTO turbo project.

[lwilliams]

Made some more progress and got the cam and springs all swapped in. Nothing new from any other cam/spring swap in an ls but here is my process in case it helps someone else. First time that I have ever done a cam swap, went real smooth I would say. I watched this link from sloppy mechanics a few times to get a good idea on what i was doing. I would have to say anyone could honestly don one of these swaps. Here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j74MxGo7GfU

First thing I did was pop the valve covers off and tackle the rockers. Because the heads are aluminum i made a point to loosen all the rocker bolts by hand. I didn't want to mess up the aluminum heads in some way and then be in a pickle.

Cracked all the bolts and loosened them off, and took them out (10mm)
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Then pulled them all out at once along with the "rocker stand"... not sure if that is what it is called.
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I took the push rods out and put them into a box in order for where they would go back. I don't think you have to do this at all as i have seen countless people just pull the rods and random and stick them back in at random too. Just my OCD with this part i guess. you can see one side looks super clean and the other is like caked on oily tarnished. Asked a friend about this and he said that it is due to the PVC system being on the passenger side. The clean ones are on teh Passenger side, same thing for the inside of the valve cover and the rockers.
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Front cover was off and that exposed the cam gear bolts (10mm) to take them out.
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once the cam gear was out of the way it exposed the cam retaining plate (10mm) forgot to take a picture of this but 4 bolts and it comes right off. Now the cam is exposed. Water pump bolts thread right into the cam too. I used to of them to give me some extra leverage removing the cam shaft. Before pulling it out i spun the cam around a bunch of times to set the lifters into their trays. Then put 5/16" wooden dowels through the two holes that you see in the picture. This keeps the lifters from falling out of the tray when swapping the cams out. lots of people do it this way and it seems pretty flawless. Once all that is in place i pulled the stocker out.
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Here is the stock cam, never inspected one before but from what i have read/seen in other videos all looks to be fine. I followed the sloppy mechanics rule and never checked out the cam bearings, because that way they will be totally fine haha.
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Lubed up the new cam with some ultra slick, the cam is a summit racing stage 1 turbo cam 8715R1. Went back and forth between the stage 1 and stage 2, (like more chop just like the next guy). However a buddy is making like a 1000whp awd typhoon and running a stage 1 cam along with like a 200-300 shot of nitrous in a 5.3l. So that convinced me to just run the stage 1 route. it will be a better daily driver cam anyways which is what this car will be like 90% of the time.
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New cam installed. Put water pump bolts into the new cam too for some leverage and put it in to the engine. yanked the wooden dowels and put the retaining plate back on. Next was to line up the cam gear with the crank gear. there is a dot on the cam and crank gear. when the cam gear is pointing straight down and the crank gear dot it pointing straight up these dots need to be pointing right at each other.
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Cam dots lined up
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Next I moved on to the springs (replaced the valve seals too). This is the tool that i used, got it from Texas Speed. 45 USD or about $110 by the time it made its way to me up Canada. here is the link https://www.texas-speed.com/p-7648-texas-speed-valve-spring-installation-tool-kit.aspx As the heads are still on the engine i had a leak down tester and a hose from it that i used to thread into the spark plug hole and fed some compressed air to keep the valves from falling. I used 50 psi. It bolts to the existing rocker stand, also bolted one other rocker at the end of the stand just to keep the rocker stand aligned. you put a 3/8 wrench in to the side of it and just push it down just like the rocker does on the spring.
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I used a magnet to take the stock keepers out. Don't have a pic for this as it is to hard to hold the magnet, wrench the tool down and take a pic. Put i compressed the spring and then used a magnet to get the keepers out.

once the keepers were out I removed the stock spring and kept the hat. this exposed the valve seal. I just used some small vice grips to pull out the stock valve seals then just pushed the new ones on.
old seal getting removed
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no seal
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new seal pushed on
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next i put the new spring on with the stock hat
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When using the tool for installing the new spring and new keepers it took a little finessing to figure out how it best goes back together. What I figured is that if you can have the spring/hat just clear the valve stem towards the outside of the engine it leaves enough space to get the new keepers in.

All installed
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Once all the springs and rockers were back installed i poured a little oil over everything for a little help upon first start up. I did do the standard mild bang bang with a rubber mallet to seat the springs and such. torqued everything to spec. Cam retainer 18ft/lbs, cam gear bolts 22 ft/lbs, rocker arm bolts 26 ft/lbs.

I also got the cut out mounted... FINALLY! I was finally able to find just a vband clamp without the flanges that wasn't ridiculously priced. When I initially tried to fit it on there wasn't enough space to clear the diaphragm. So i welded another vband i had laying around to it to make it work haha. Fits now!
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Thats it thats all! next will be the welding for the waste gate, BOV, charge piping and the front timing cover oil return fitting. My welder is gone for about another 2-3 weeks so i have to wait until then. Might try to pick up some LSA/LS9 injectors in the next few days for about $300 too, just need some spacers to make them fit (lots out there to choose from). Once the welding is done and I have injectors all I need is the holley terminator x max and we can get this pig fired up.

[andrewb70]

Good job! Let me know if I can be of service with the Holley EFI tuning.

Andrew

[lwilliams]

Good job! Let me know if I can be of service with the Holley EFI tuning.

Andrew

Thanks! Getting closer to having a driving car. I do have a few tuners local to me where i am at. cheers.

[ryeguy2006a]

Don't pay $300 for LSA injectors, I've bought several sets now for around $175 bucks. Check the FB groups for CTS-V's. Most guys are upgrading to a 850cc injector and sell the LSA for pretty cheap. Great progress by the way! Love my 8715 Summit Cam. I turned my idle down to 675 rpm, and it has all the chop I need. I get compliments on it all the time.

[lwilliams]

Don't pay $300 for LSA injectors, I've bought several sets now for around $175 bucks. Check the FB groups for CTS-V's. Most guys are upgrading to a 850cc injector and sell the LSA for pretty cheap. Great progress by the way! Love my 8715 Summit Cam. I turned my idle down to 675 rpm, and it has all the chop I need. I get compliments on it all the time.

I ended up getting the injectors, paid $250. I am up in Canada too so prices, even used parts, vary compared to the US. From an exchange perspective 250 x .7 = $175. So sounds like it’s right in the ball park. Thanks for the insight on the cam and idle speed! I’m getting super pumped about having this thing hopefully running in the next few months or so.

[lwilliams]

made some more progress on the weekend, picked up this B&M shifter for $350 brand new in the box. I had always been looking for one of these on kijiji and had pretty much never seen a complete one for like 3 years. so i jumped on this guy. Its a Pro Ratchet shifter. so it moves up or down one gear with each push. here are a few pics.

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first things first is to mark out where the mounting holes go. i took the seats and the carpet out ten reinstalled the drivers. I just sat in the seat and found a comfortable spot for the sifter then marked and drilled the holes. once those are drilled you drill a lofty 1.5" hole (3" from the front most mounting hole) into the floor for the cable to go through.

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Then take the shifter out to do a little work before the final install. add in the cable and attach it to the shifter with the e-clip, and bolt the shifter cable mounting tab to the shifter itself.

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Bolt down the reverse light and neutral safety switches

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And also knock out the pin in this hole (circled it red). These shifters come ready for 3-speed transmissions. knocking out this pin gives you one more slot to use with the four speed.

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then, re-install the carpet and seats. cutout the carpet where the shifter bolts too and also make a cut right where the shifter cable goes through the 1.5" hole. Mount the shifter in place (you can see how bad I am at cutting the carpet for good fitment. the seats are no exception, i have absolutely butchered the carpet in this car).

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add back the housing, shifter knob, gear selector indicator and the reverse lockout handle.

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A little look of it installed along with the interior back in. Played around with the shifter and it will be awesome slamming through some gears when it is on the road!
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Also picked up those LSA injectors. just waiting on the injectors spacer kit from ICT. The LSA injectors are shorter than the stock multec ones. this spacer kit adapts the injectors to the truck intake and spaces the fuel rails accordingly.
https://www.ictbillet.com/fuel-injector-spacer-set-of-8-truck-intake-manifold-to-ls3-injector-adapter.html
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Spacer kit should be here this week and then i will get those put into the intake as well. Next just comes welding the wastegate (and piping it back to the exhaust) and blow off valve flanges and the turbo drain fitting into the front cover of the engine. I have the drain set up ready to assemble once the fitting is welded on. then its the terminator x max and see how this thing will run! should have it going before the end of the year.

[lwilliams]

injectors spacers showed up yesterday and i got them swapped into the intake, all in all pretty easy.
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took the fuel rail off the intake, just 4 bolts holding it on. and then pull the injectors out of the intake.
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then take the clips off all the stock truck injectors, this is easy I just pulled them off by hand.
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Once they are out and the fuel rail doesn't have any injectors in it i dumped all the old gas out, they were still really full from who knows how long ago.
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once emptied i lubed up the O-ring of the injector spacer with a little bit or engine oil and and pushed them into the fuel rail, this was a little hard at times but they went in by hand.
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once all the adapters were installed, i lubed the upper O-ring of the LSA injectors and put them in, and now it is ready to go back in the intake. The ICT kit comes with new o-rings for the bottom of the injectors that seal into the intake, but i found that they were a lot looser than just the stock O-rings on the LSA injectors so i just left the stock ones on. lubed them with some oil before setting into the intake as well. i looked when they were installed and they were all tight and the o-rings weren't warped or anything

Lined up all the injectors in their respective holes and pushed the fuel rail and injectors into the intake as one unit on both sides.
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once they were pushed in i set the spacer between the rail and intake that comes with the kit and then reinstalled the intake and it is ready for some fuel!
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Just waiting on my welder to get home so he can weld the BOV/wastegate flange, an intercooler pipe and the drain fitting in the front engine cover. I'll install them all once that happens, run the vacuum lines and oil drain line then it is ready for some terminator x action.

[lwilliams]

Made some more progress. Got the flanges for the BOV and wastegate welded up and finished the wastegate routing into the down pipe. Also finished making the intercooler piping all blingy haha. Got this heat tape along with the heat wrap so i figured i would put it on there any ways.

Pic of the wastegate installed in the flange on the turbo housing and what the flange looks like through the turbo blanket.

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here is the wastegate mounted on with the blanket and then the start of the plumbing of the routing back into the down pipe. I read that you can;t just 90 degree this back in to the DP otherwise it will create tons of back pressure so i angled it in as best i can. I did have the DP in the car when mocking up the routing just didn;t have a pic of it. Ya i aint no welder. covered it all up in heat wrap and also some some heat wrap sleeves for the spark plugs because the down pipe sites pretty close to them. I also heat wrap the log manifold and crossover pipe. I'll probably do that once i have the new trans and converter in as i have to modify the crossover pipe anyways.

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Also added in the O2 sensor to the DP. When i get the Terminator xmax i'll use the supplied O2 sensor in the kit for the driver side bank to monitor AFR's on both sides.
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this is what it looks like all wrapped up. just need some 1" heat wrap for the small section of pipe right off the wastegate as i didn't want to weld the flex coupler right to the flange on the wastegate. i only had 2: heat wrap and it didn;t look good with the 2" wrapped on it.
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I also got the turbo oil drain fitting welded to the front cover and put the hose and fittings together. I'll grab a pic for this all installed.

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Here is the blow off valve mounted to the flange on the pipe heading to the TB. Also a pic of all the piping put together now.
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Got a rear diff cover on order as well as the e-brake kit for the rear brakes. should have those installed over the Christmas break. going to order some more spark plug heat boot protectors as they are six inches long and they either leave a portion of the wire exposed close to the DP or the log manifold. so i will get another set to make sure they are all protected. Going to run the vacuum lines for the wastgate, boost reference exhaust cut out and the blow off valve next too. Also need to grab a 2bar map sensor,***anyone know off a cheaper alternative to this?*** getting close to having the whole engine bay put together.

[Vimes]

Nice. Sometimes I wish I'd looked harder for another Skylark.


Also need to grab a 2bar map sensor,***anyone know off a cheaper alternative to this?***

GM uses a 3-bar MAP sensor (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12592525) on their forced induction rigs, and they are in the 50ish dollar range. This work for you?

[lwilliams]

Nice. Sometimes I wish I'd looked harder for another Skylark.



GM uses a 3-bar MAP sensor (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12592525) on their forced induction rigs, and they are in the 50ish dollar range. This work for you?

Thanks for the heads up I will check it out!

[lwilliams]

Here a few pics of the turbo oil drain line. i used -10AN fittings and line. I also found this drain that connects to the turbo from performance world it makes it so much easier to connect the line and it clears the bottom of the turbo nicely to avoid super tight spaces. it is also a rubber seal opposed to those paper gaskets that leak all the time. here is the link if anyone wants one http://www.performance-world.com/Turbo-Oil-Drain-p/83240l.htm

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Here is a pic of the current state with everything put together.
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[lwilliams]

Well, finally back at it, just a 2.5yr hiatus i guess. Pushing really hard to have this thing on the road and driving this summer. Just ordered a mid frame brace and front frame brace from Philip Ortega aka tigerchevelle77 on instagram. Also ordered a QA1 sway bar through my local shop. Since i was adding the front frame brace which has some weight to it i figured having the hollow front sway bar to save some weight, would help to balance everything out weight wise. I did a little research and also found that the hollow ones are made out of a some stronger material and although lighter and hollow, they are actually stiffer. pics below of the braces i ordered. i already got the upper shock mount brace from him a while back.

Sway bar i ordered
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Braces: the one up top is the mid frame brace - it connects to the the two lower control arm brackets then follows under the body connecting both sides. The front brace is the bottom one in the pic, it connects both of the frame horns and then ties it all together with drilling/bolting to the K-member

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happy to be back at this again. Going to get the catch can, fittings and lines all put together next.

[lwilliams]

Got the catch can and the front sway bar installed.

For the sway bar, what was supposed to be a quick 30-40minute install turned into about a 4 -5 hour run around. Had it all greased up with the brackets and ready to mount it with the brackets and plates. Then when i went to use the supplied hardware that came with the kit it was way to small. The bolts just slipped right though the holes it was supposed to mount in to. So off to peavey mart to get some bolts/washers for the 1st of 3 times.

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hardware that was too small... damn you QA1
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Grabbed the right bolts and then snugged and torqued both brackets down after lining up the sway bar.

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Then i noticed that the sway bar was contacting the tie rod. I had mine mounted on top of the steering arm and it sat flat that way when the car was sitting on its own weight. Went to put the tie rod to the bottom of the steering arm but there wasn't enough clearance from the rim. Here is where the job turned timely. Jack the car up on jack stands, off come both front wheels, calipers, tie rods, and the steering arms. Had enough washers to shim out one steering arm but not each side. Off to peavey mart to get 0.72 cents in washers for the 2nd of 3 times that day. got the steering arms shimmed out using three washers on each bolt.

here are the bolts i shimmed out
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That gave me enough clearance to get the tie rod away from the rim on the bottom of the steering arm. Then I put everything back together.

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so finally time to install the sway bar end links and call it good. Nope. The bolts that QA1 supplied for the end links were too short. i don't think that this is a QA1 issue as the lower A-arms i am running are a lot thicker than the stock ones i think and they took up a bunch of the bolt length. with all of the rubber bushings, washers and sleeve the bolt was flush with the bottom washer and i couldn't get the bolt on. tried to compress everything with all kinds of clamps but just couldn't get anything to work. So off to peavey mart for the 3rd of 3 times. But the longest bolt they had is 6.5". I waited until today and grabbed an 8" bolt (the kit comes with 7") and it worked like a charm. I don't care what they say, size does matter! it says to torque the end links to 11-18ft/lbs, 18 is stiffer for less body roll and 11 is softer for more body roll. I split the difference and torqued it to 14ft/lbs for the moment. looks like it should have good clearance and room to move under there. Its all installed and ready to go.

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Next was on to the catch can, this is the kit i ordered off of amazon. Honestly for 62$ for a can, filter 6 fittings and hose the stuff is pretty decent quality. I would buy it again. I also ordered a fitting that goes right on the oil cap with a 10AN fitting and then another barbed fitting that fits in the the back of the drivers side.

Here are the links:
Catch Can kit - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CH15Q16F?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Gas Cap 10AN fitting - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07P656N52?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Barbed 10AN fitting - https://www.performance-world.com/Valve-Cover-Fittings-p/82009.htm

Catch Can Kit
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Oil cap breather fitting and barbed valve cover fitting
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Everything worked well and was easy to install. I made a bracket out of some steel i had laying around and bolted it to the alternator bracket. Only issue with this kit is i would say that the mounting bracket is not square. it is cockeyed to mount to get the can and filter to sit flat. which you can see in the one photo.

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Wanted to keep everything clean and pretty tight so ran the drivers side with a 90 degree straight the front that follows the fuel rail and then comes down the valve cover to a 45 degree to the catch can. on the passenger side i looped it under the intake and then over the catch can. The oil cap breather fitting has a 150 degree fitting on it and the there is a 90 degree fitting off the catch can heading straight left.

fittings installed
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Lines and fittings running to the catch can
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The frame braces I had made have been shipped and are supposed be here Tuesday next week. Will get those installed sometime that week or on that weekend.

Once those are in the next things on my list are a torque converter (likely circle-d unit), radiator with a shroud and fans, 4l80e and a CPP hydroboost set up and all the brake lines and fittings. Not in any particular order, should likely have enough cash in the next 2-3 weeks to do at least one of those for sure, probably two out of that list.

[lwilliams]

looking for some opinions on either of these control arm braces has anyone used either of these?

These are QA1, more like the stock ones that came on the convertibles i think.

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Then the UMI ones

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[ryeguy2006a]

Great progress! Look forward to seeing how you like the turbo LS!

[lwilliams]

Spoke to QA1 about the control arm braces and asked about any performance difference between the adjustable and non-adjustable versions they have. They said that there is no performance difference and that the non adjustable are actually easier to install then fiddling with the adjustments and getting everything to line up. so going the non-adjustable route.

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Mid and Front Frame braces will be here on Tuesday and I got my welder back so hopefully put those in during next week or on the weekend.

Also, just sourced a 4l80 from an auto wrecker, 170,000kms, tested good. 675$. picking that up on Friday and will get a trans go kit installed.

Next purchase will be a torque converter. Likely going the Circle D route for the TC.

[boss_hoss]

Spoke to QA1 about the control arm braces and asked about any performance difference between the adjustable and non-adjustable versions they have. They said that there is no performance difference and that the non adjustable are actually easier to install then fiddling with the adjustments and getting everything to line up. so going the non-adjustable route.

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Mid and Front Frame braces will be here on Tuesday and I got my welder back so hopefully put those in during next week or on the weekend.

Also, just sourced a 4l80 from an auto wrecker, 170,000kms, tested good. 675$. picking that up on Friday and will get a trans go kit installed.

Next purchase will be a torque converter. Likely going the Circle D route for the TC.

Great build, Congratulations on getting back into the project. It's hard getting up the steam to get these projects going again after you've taken some time off. What did the Front and Mid Frame braces cost if you don't mind me asking? I've got the stock frame on my Pontiac and would love to add some more rigidity without blowing the car apart again and those look like great options.

[lwilliams]

Great build, Congratulations on getting back into the project. It's hard getting up the steam to get these projects going again after you've taken some time off. What did the Front and Mid Frame braces cost if you don't mind me asking? I've got the stock frame on my Pontiac and would love to add some more rigidity without blowing the car apart again and those look like great options.

the front brace was 230USD and the mid brace was 200USD. you have to pay shipping on top of that. UMI also makes a front brace but its not nearly as effective as this one. Philip Ortega is who builds them, tigerchevelle77 on instagram, message him on instagram if your interested. He is great to work with. He had mine built and shipped in 4 or 5 days i think it was.

Because the frame horns on the A body's move up and down so much the front brace really helps to prevent that, and since it is triangulated its real strong. Research i found said that the front frame brace adds more rigidity to the body than even a frame brace kit. I would be curious for you to put one on after driving your car without one and see what the difference feels like. I haven't driven my car in so long and the entire thing has changed top to bottom so much that i don't have anything to compare it to.

[boss_hoss]

the front brace was 230USD and the mid brace was 200USD. you have to pay shipping on top of that. UMI also makes a front brace but its not nearly as effective as this one. Philip Ortega is who builds them, tigerchevelle77 on instagram, message him on instagram if your interested. He is great to work with. He had mine built and shipped in 4 or 5 days i think it was.

Because the frame horns on the A body's move up and down so much the front brace really helps to prevent that, and since it is triangulated its real strong. Research i found said that the front frame brace adds more rigidity to the body than even a frame brace kit. I would be curious for you to put one on after driving your car without one and see what the difference feels like. I haven't driven my car in so long and the entire thing has changed top to bottom so much that i don't have anything to compare it to.

Awesome thanks, those prices are very reasonable I'll have to give him a holler. I'm definitely very aware of the amount of flex in the front of the A-bodies frame whenever I jack my car up or put it on a lift.

[lwilliams]

yeah they have some serious give to them, that hellwig Frame FX kit i put in also really helped with flex that i could notice just from jacking the car up. The nice thing about that front brace is i am pretty sure you can use it as a jacking point as well. I have trouble getting a jack under my K-member so that frame brace should make a good lifting point to. I should get both braces tomorrow so ill post some pics of the installed result when i have it put it.

[lwilliams]

Brace, braces. braces. Got the rest of the frame braces and it is all about 85% done. Pic below has the Front frame brace (top), rear control arm braces (middle) and the then the mid frame brace (lower).

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Got to work on the control arm braces first. I had already used some lengthy bolts when putting the control arms in so i didn't need to use the longer bolts that were supplied with the kit. Just took the nuts off and then flipped the nut over on the bolt and tapped it out a bit to make fitting the braces on the upper and lower bolts a little easier.

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Next i fit the brace on the top an bottom bolt. Super easy install, especially cause i didn't have to take my bolts out. pointier side of the brace goes up top and the flat side on the lower control arm. They are side specific but you can't screw it up they only fit one way.

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once it was put in place i just snugged everything up on the onside and then repeated the process on the other. they fit real nice and happy i went this route compared to the adjustable ones, easy peezy.
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Next was the mid frame brace. you can bolt this in but with my welder i figured it would be easy enough to just weld it in. I used a couple clamps to set in place where i wanted it and also make sure that it had some room on the little cavity that it follows in the body. i set it a little below the hole that the parking brake cable passes through.

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A bunch of tac welds once it was in place. i didn't fully weld it in at this point. I moved on the the front brace once it was all tac'd together. my welder is getting real low on gas and i need to set up some light under the car and remove part of the exhaust to really be a in a good spot to weld it. I won't be bale to fully weld all the seems at the moment but will get most of all 3 sides welded in. Once i have the body off the frame in the winter, ill finish off the welding before the frame is sent to powder coating.

This pick shows how the brace sits in the car, it is a little lower than what i ended up setting it at but gives you an idea how it sits in the car.

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Now on to the front brace. This was a little difficult just by myself, so i put a piece of plywood on the lift rails and then wedged a box under the k member and the brace to give me a little support holding it. Once i had it in the position i wanted i traced the tabs that are on the frame horns so i had a good reference point to work off of. When i had it set in the right place I center punched for some holes and drilled one on each side of the frame rail.

this is the tracing of the tab with the the center punch hole

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then i drilled that one and installed that side as it just made it so much easier to hold and orient the brace the the passenger side.

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Repeated the same process for the passenger side and bolted that together as well.

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this is where i called it a night. I will have to drill and tab the two holes that go into the k member. i don't have a tap and die set, so either buying one or seeing if a buddy has one i can use. here are the tabs that mock up to the k-frame. i also need to get some hardware for this as i don't have any, also need another 1/2 inch bolt nut washer for the passenger side. I bolted it together with a few things i found laying around in the bolt box.

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Either way it is all lined up so this pic gives you and idea how it sits on the car. The brace and tabs are also oriented enough that you have a decent amount of wiggle room to fit it with room around the sway bar.

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will try to get that mid brace welded in and the rest of the front brace put together this weekend. once that is done next thing is to get the radiator/fans/shroud sorted out. I stumbled across a company called autoplump that makes some real sexy looking AN20 radiator lines and fittings that i am going to have to try and talk myself out of.

[lwilliams]

finished up the rest of the bracing this weekend. welded in the mid frame brace supports and drilled and taped the other two holes for that front brace.

it wasn't too bad welding in that mid frame support, it can be bolted in but i opted to weld it. basically got all the side done except for the top of the plates. I will do those when i have the body off the frame again in the winter and finish it up at that time. a little wire wheel and grinding actions and it should all look good.

My fuel lines were right where i was welding so i undid a few clamps and then tucked them up and away. I put an oven mit between them and where i was welding to protect them.

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passenger side all welded
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drivers side all welded
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I also was looking at the lower control arm brackets, has anyone ever boxed these in?????

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i think i am going to do that when i have the frame off the car again. I think ill box the top and bottom since it will just be really easy to do and likely provide a ton more support and stiffness there.

Next was finishing the last two bolt holes for the front brace. I wouldn't be able to run a bolt and nut where it was lining up so i had to tap the hole for the bolts. First time tapping anything so it was fun to do something new. Pretty easy overall, drilled 28/64's hole then used the 13-1/2 tap to make the threads. spun it in about 1/2-3/4 turn and then backed it out about 1/4-1/3 of a turn to clear metal shavings. repeated the process until i was all the way through the hole. the one hole on the more passenger side was a little off when i went to tap it, so i just used the air dremel and a carbide bit to hollow out the mounting hole on the brace side a little bit more. I did put a bunch of extra weight in the car to mimic the weight of the transmission, since i don't have one in at the moment. not sure if it really matters or not but i didn't think it would hurt.

Everything bolted right up and is installed. looks pretty good.

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the bars on the front brace are all hollow. When i have the car apart again in the winter ill plug them up with a chunk of metal and weld it in there to stop stuff from getting in and eventually getting rusty and what not.

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All the frame chassis stuff is done on the car now!

On to the next thing. Going to likely order a radiator, fan, shroud kit and get that put in. Also got a stock steam vent line tubing set up from a buddy that i will rout to the radiator as well. Also going to get going on the brakes. CPP Hydroboost set up is the rout i am going to go. ill probably get the front brake lines and the the brake lines on the diff all set up in the meantime as well. Should hopefully be ordering the radiator set up, hydroboost and brake lines this week.

[Threepointtwo]

Great progress!

[lwilliams]

Great progress!

Thank you sir! really going hard on this thing at the moment.

[lwilliams]

Curious if anyone has any recommendations on electric radiator fans?

Ordered my radiator, but when I went to order the shroud and fans, the shop I get my parts from couldn't get the fans. i need two 14" fans that flow a combined 4000+ CFM.

Radiator should hopefully be here friday or monday, Then i can install it and remove the intake to run the steam vent lines and tie those into the rad as well.

I also think i am going to pause the CPP hydroboost and brake line install and instead order the terminator xmax. once the rad, fans, shroud is all put together i will have everything i need to fire this thing up.

[lwilliams]

Lots of progress now. radiator and fans are all in, holley terminator x is put in and this thing is running! Also picked up a 4l80 from the wrecker. all looks good, fluid was nice and the pulled the pan and everything looked good in their too!

man oh man wiring is a big job! really underestimated the time it takes to do that.

next steps are a TC - likely a circle D one i have narrowed it down too, Trans go HD2 install for the 4l80 (and a real seal kit), trans cooler, then put it all together and get it mounted on a new cross member. Will post pics and videos soon.

[lwilliams]

These are the fans i got - just off amazon. Derale fans. here is the link. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B004XOO10Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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they have a high & low speed setting but i just wired them in for the high setting and have each fan come on at a different temp controlled by the holley. First time wiring in a relay and such but it is super simple. the fans came with a diagram on how to wire them, i got these 5 pin relays ( you can use 5 or 4 pin) from Auto Value for 15 bucks each, they are weather proof too incase i want to mount them in the engine bay 15$ per relay. cheaper than anywhere else i could find.

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the radiator is a champion, this thing is pretty beefy and a huge difference from the stock gm-Abody radiator i had in there. No trans cooler built into this one. I wanted it to be all radiator since the intercooler covers up so much of the radiator itself. Ill run a separate transcooler and fan under the car once i get a trans put in. Fit like a glove and the water pump hose connect is on the same side that the water pump faces. I just cut the original hose i had (i believe it is from a 99-06 tahoe) to get it to fit. the lower hose i had already fit just fine.

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also used a rivet gun for the first time to insert rivet nuts into the radiator. really slick! i put three in the top and three in the bottom of the rad and made subsequent holes in the shroud. i believe they are 6mm Allan key bolts. One mistake i made with the shroud is that the fan sitting more on the upper side of the shroud blows hot air on the intake charge pipe. for the moment ill probably just bend a piece of metal to protect the charge pipe. I will likely get another shroud made to flip the up and down orientation of the fans so that i don't have that issue. I will also likely get an upper radiator hose that fits a little better, this one is a little bit kinked so slightly, not major at the moment.

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Some pictures of everything pre assembled, assembled and then on the car. This champion stuff is nice, i would recommend it.

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I also got a steam line kit from a buddy of mine, they came stock on ls engines but they don't make them anymore, too bad cause its sleek and nice and fits under the stock intake. it also allows me to connect the steam line directly to the radiator to vent the steam out that way. i only have one good picture and forgot to take one with it installed and the intake off. Either all it does is connect all four steam ports and has an barbed fitting to connect a line from the steam tubes to the radiator.

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[lwilliams]

Ok, now for the terminator xmax install. I didn't really take any pictures of the install itself. Install videos and blogs are plenty everywhere so i figured that would be redundant. Putting the original harness back together and hooking it up was something i could have done a better job of being organized for when i took it apart. most everything wasn't working and i couldn't figure out why until i went under the dash and realized i had previously disconnected everything. i also needed a new battery for the car so that helped once i knew i was actually getting voltage to things. I ran into one problem where my brake lights kept pulsing every time i took my foot off the pedal. My buiddy said he had a similar issue with a bad ground. literally spent like 2 days trying to figure it out. Then, explaining it to a friend he said, "that sounds a lot like hazard lights". FML hahaha. i had the hazards clicked on but didn't know that was the cause as i have no lights or gauges hooked up to show the hazards were actually on. Yeeeesh haha. 2 days of my life i wont get back but you live and learn.

***at first the wiring of everything was some what intimidating to me, however watched a bunch of videos on youtube and read a bunch too, it was actually really easy. But holy cow does it take some time to wire everything my god. hours and hours. If i can wire this thing anyone could wire one***

A few things i had to do that aren't really told to you when buying the term x. First off the instructions are really good and actually hooking the harness and computer itself up are super easy. I figured it would be better that I mention some things you will probably need which you don't know. specifically for the part number for my car, I have ev6 injectors so although i have the truck engine my kit is actually the ls1 24x cam sensor with ev6 injectors. that way i didn;t have to run an injector harness adapter of truck injectors to EV6.

1. alternator wiring - do this! https://www.holley.com/products/ls_power/ls_and_lt_accessory_drives/gm_ls_accessory_drives/high_mount/ls_and_lt_accessory_drive_components_and_service_p arts/parts/197-400?srsltid=AfmBOor5rS6QDfnHSYIqiKIx_J4mep1WedRpbM bIRI7MvmKpTb5ZwueB but for way cheaper than having holley send it to you. I just went to Auto Value got the parts guy to get me the right pigtail for my alternator, same one as above ($4.69), then got a pack of the 1/2watt 560ohm resistors ($2.36), i already had some 16 gauge wire, then ran it to a Key on 12v source on the fuse box and bang i'm at like 14+ volts all the time no problem.

2. i got the new version of the gm 2.5bar MAP sensor (this is only needed if you are running boost, otherwise you can plum a line from vacuum all the way to the internal holley 1 bar sensor in the ecu) - i also got the holley MAP sensor connector when i ordered the Term x. Easy peeeezy. I had a pvc block off adapter that happened to just bolt up really nice to hold down the map sensor. so that was a nice surprise. i removed it to put in the IAT as per below. https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/fuel_injection/harnesses/parts/558-416

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3. IAT/MAT sensor - i got a push in one from Auto Value again. i think any OBD2 blazer, jimmy etc is the right one. its explained in the sloppy link here. I just followed this thread from sloppy mechanics. and used some gasket sealer it is in their freakin tight, shouldn't pop out under boost but it if does ill switch to at threaded one. thread on the install from sloppy https://sites.google.com/site/sloppywiki/how-to-section/installing-iat-in-truck-intake. low dollar has a really cheap IAT sensor if you want threaded. only $15USD https://lowdoller-motorsports.com/products/intake-air-temp-sensor-iat-mat-25036751-25037225-25037034?srsltid=AfmBOord7oD4Lod7FmAxV974FRMUAypgK lMM_rTXAgS4dGANp9rKvx3m

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4. computer can to usb connector- get this, it is so you can plug the holley into a computer, yes its $80 and you will say do i really need it. Yes you do, its just easier to do everything with the software compared to the hand held. it is also just nicer with the monitors while the engine is running.

5. fuel pressure sensor - this it totally optional but as i will explain below it is just nice to have. the system will run completely fine without it, but if you are trying to trouble shoot potential fuel issues like i was it is nice to just rule out that you fuel pressure either is or is not in thew right spot. Again low dollar motor sports has a cost effective solution hear and they send you the data to put into the holley software for accurate readings (because you bought the can to usb cable remember). plus it connects right to the fuel rail schrader valve, again... easy peeezy! as i have had this running since early january i did go an buy this sensor and hook it up. really nice piece and it is nice to know what my fuel pressure looks like. https://lowdoller-motorsports.com/products/7-16-20-female-100-psi-pressure-sensor?_pos=13&_sid=229aafed4&_ss=r

6. priming the engine - if you engine had been sitting forever like mine you probably want to prime it before staring it. i found this great video on doing that on the cheap! a $2.50 oil pressure fitting from amazon, $2 barbed fitting from home depot and a pressure can sprayer. hook it up like so in the pictures, fill the can with oil, remove the sprayer attachment, plump to the barbed fitting and pump that sucker up. i would let it set for a minute then turn the crank somewhat add pressure again and repeat. i probably got about a good 1-2 liters of oil in there doing it this way. when i went to just crank the engine over before initial start up (coils and injectors unplugged) it got oil pressure within a few seconds.

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[lwilliams]

Initial start well this was super anti-climatic, all ready to go and then just cranking cranking cranking. no start, smelled super rich, lots of unburnt fuel etc. felt like the base calibration i loaded in the wizard wasn't working. did some research and the holley will not give fuel if you are already depressing the brake pedal before cranking, tried that and it fired right up (depressing the pedal about 20-30%). but i could not get it to idle worth a damn it would just die. Had a base map sent to me by a tuner a friend hooked me up with. it would start but not necessarily easily and still running not that great, really rich again. I ended up doing two oil changes cause the oil was getting so gassy. long story short i basically had the set screw in a position that had the throttle blades almost completely closed. once i figured that out (this is where setting the IAC is sooooo important) it starts and idles really well. virtually no issue here now. took a data log and sent it to my tuner for some clean up. Car sounds good too. Nothing to crazy but a little bit or garble in there. i have the summit 8715R1 cam, its stage 1 turbo cam, 3" downpipe and exhaust fed through a pretty short magnaflow muffler.

here is the set screw pic, just sits under the throttle body, once i got that figured out it cleaned up almost all of the issues i was having.

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Its a little awkward, use a T15 torx bit to adjust it so the throttle blades are either open or closed. Got it set so it sits right around 5% when idling. The engine isnt hunting for rpm at idle like it was anymore either.

A couple videos of it running, do not mind the wiring dubauchery there, everything is cleaned up like i said, most important is that it all runs really well!

https://youtube.com/shorts/_EUwfjuhNR4
https://studio.youtube.com/video/_EUwfjuhNR4/edit

for wiring in the fan and fuel pump relays that was simple.
30 - goes to the battery with a fuse (30amp for the fans - mine pull 22each) (15amp for the fuel pump, mine should get above 12amp)
87- goes to the fan/fuel pump
85 - to a switched 12v source when key on
86 - connect to to either the gray with red or grey with yellow wire on the holley out puts harness for each fan - for the fuel pump this is the green wire identified in the kit

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Holley also recommends that if you have a dual post battery (i do) and that you set up the holley on its own posts. One thing i came across in the research on install over and over was how much EFI and system like this want clean sources of power and grounds.

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For grounds i have one running from the starter bolt on the engine to the frame (ground strap), then from the battery to the block and the battery to the frame.

All of the 12v power is just put into connections at the fuse block with confirmed cranking/run or just run volts as per what i found with my volt meter. I made sure to run the holley ecu on all of its own grounds and power (switched and battery).

I took the heater core out because one entire end just pulled straight out one day so it was ruined. i have to replace it regardless and it let me run everything through the hole for wiring at the moment. I ordered and installed this bulkhead into the firewall to run the harness through. it fits the part of my car harness (pretty thick like 6-8 wires and the entire holley harness minus the transmission harness, ill run that through the floor or firewall somewhere else. Ill get a pic of this and load it up here soon.

https://www.amazon.ca/01232023-Terminator-Aluminum-Eliminate-Firewalls/dp/B0D6VBHS24/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3TTYR6O6KBK8E&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.n1MfQhWhzvLkMZig-oPw2shwMMttjbzzVg0M__0vP0_S-flnoyNtGjApVd6QiKSj_jAAbYO3IkZpPt4znBBsrU7ugnMjS1J pVJ4KCPS1YEw63L7wsjESdZMT5XpRxArfLV5nTwF2tmXSfMQ7U ye5Ti06nO7v923szonjltSCktmj6HmLOWlxFZUzj-2Gh2tGVR8-_ORxLOWqzM2MlPKvAE7B16GFKSZwa1q-05h14jIMyBrAbDS6L4m0KJVCREKYgaeKj-p6eZPzvzuWLHGak9zlQZgaeF0-FaMiuPPTrNreNytolYgjAAtdwTYCH1-kG7xPS6c20zAUgo7M7VRrluOEUQz4ArLXzFgDn2SGCY7SJtRTo tuRfJ_92QcTbsoQq6zobCgiXzyHm8EW_kX1kt5jpsfElhf_IKK 7NG6aOf_dOUIYoE21qd8V0x326VzN.Qi9RwMXx7JR3B-KGs_7OjYATwTJ5tWpM6w6i4tKFPqA&dib_tag=se&keywords=terminator+x+bulkhead&qid=1736543928&sprefix=temrinator+x+bulkhea%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-7


the wiring in the videos and pictures is a complete mess, that was just to make sure i got everything running and it all worked right. I have ait all cleaned up now and will take some pictures of that too. I would say that it is "clean" like everything is hidden but it is all really tidy.

also ran a burp no spill funnel with the radiator to get it topped up, fans come on at the intended temp cool everything off pretty good and i think i have all the air out of the system, but we will see. i have done it 2-3 times just to be sure.

I am going to keep the heater, it will be nice in the spring and fall and also if it is raining (yes i plan to drive this thing all the time). so ill get a heater core reinstall everything and then once i have the inner fender wells put back in ill run the heater lines to it. But having a serious problem finding a core that fits, the one from the part store didn't fit and then another didn't fit either. probably going to be a lot of trial and error figuring out one that does.

I also filled the power steering and it is working great no issues there. I took the old cooler off and just have the lines connected right now. It had fallen down during install of the term x and when i was moving the wheels back and forth i squished it.

[lwilliams]

So next steps will be:

1. reinstall heater core and such

2. clean up all the wiring and mount the term x and relays - this is pretty much done, ill post some pics soon

3. I do not have turn signals, everything else is working fine lights, highbeams brake lights. i must have disconnected a wire or something that i have to go on the hunt for. Once that is figured all the safety lights will be working.

4. Digital Dash - I ordered the NexGen EFI 5" dash, should be here i n a few weeks, just waiting on the GPS stuff to arrive so Alex can send to me all at once. Got some ABS plastic that i will cut and mold it shape where the original gauges went. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BTWKB2NT?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

link to the nex gen dashes:
https://www.nexgenefi.com/product/pro-edition-slim-digital-display/

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I also ordered a flush mount 3.5" holley mount that i will put into the plastic cluster that holds the 5" dash as well. ill run them both at the same time.

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https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1778423631/flush-mount-for-holley-35-sniper-and?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_ca_en_ca_-electronics_and_accessories&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQiA_NC9BhCkARIsABSnSTYQfh8XDWJ FfyosdAoBeLLwcyPkjyXSHaS2P4MCalp3drT1TjOmG9YaAq5JE ALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_12650989569_119864832693_5109537294 45_aud-2079782229334:pla-315906365651_c__1778423631enca_102855400&utm_custom2=12650989569&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_NC9BhCkARIsABSnSTYQfh8XDWJFfyosdAoB eLLwcyPkjyXSHaS2P4MCalp3drT1TjOmG9YaAq5JEALw_wcB

5. Got a 4l80e trans last week. looks good other than the rear seal is likely leaking (easy fix). pulled the pan off and nothing out of the ordinary, fluid looked good. came from a 2001 3500 express van that a day care was using for pick ups and drop offs. Only 130,000kms. Going to order the transgo HD2 kit and get that installed along with the rear seal and bushing kit i just ordered. will also install a new filter.

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6. order a torque converter, think i am going to get this one from summit racing. Very confident it is a circle D torque converter. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-700342?seid=srese1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_NC9BhCkARIsABSnSTYfc-_BjPReflIPZMBxOHMYHJyhMRarhjNTy9QHozBf32_w8G7FFNAa Ao-LEALw_wcB

once the HD2 is installed and I have the torque converter i will get the trans mounted and into the car, want to do a custom trans mount so that i can run the exhaust tighter to the under side of the car, it hangs down lower than i like.

7. After all the trans stuff is isa done, just a drive shaft, Order the CPP hydroboost set up, run the brake lines and this thing will be ready for a maiden voyage. shooting to have it ready by May or earlier assuming all goes well. Getting closer!

[lwilliams]

a video of it running with the wiring pretty cleaned up.
https://youtube.com/shorts/nCW1uVbI_Hk

[lwilliams]

looks like some of the pictures didn't come through.

this is the evap delete hardware that i used to hold down the MAP sensor

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this is the IAT sensor installed done the same way as described above with the sloppy mechanics install.

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Fuel pressure sensor installed, these are nice as they thread right on to the Schrader valve of the fuel rail crossover. just threaded right on then i got an extension harness from low dollar motorsports that clipped right into the holley harness to be able to route the harness under the throttle body so it doesn't sit right on top of the intake manifold.

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Some pic of the wiring relatively cleaned up inside the engine bay. The wiring is pretty much cleaned up inside the car. just leaving it all loose for the moment until i get the heater core installed, heater box bolted back up then I think I am going to sit the ECU in the glove box and tuck all the wiring up in behind the dash panel.

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pic of the battery, the terminator is on the front two posts only everything else is on the top posts.
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Set screw pictures to adjust the IAC percentage to around that 5% mark.

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Hopefully these ones work, this is what i used to prime the engine.


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[lwilliams]

above is the bulkhead from amazon and it running the harness through the firewall. seriously a really nice piece!

[lwilliams]

some good progress over the last little while. Mounted the ECU and got all the wiring tucked away, got a battery mount to sinch that sucker down and keep it in place, drilled and tapped the intake for the blow off valve reference line, got the heater core installed (nice PITA that was), installed the heater box and blower motor cover. grabbed an engine cover to try and hide lots of the wires and such around the intake and cylinder heads, snagged a new dipstick for the 4l80e, a boost tee (just in case we need to add little more jam come tuning day) and got my Nexgen gauge display installed - looks reallly good!... oh yeah and all of a sudden my fly wheel is bent, zero idea how this occurred. I remember checking it running beofre and i am positive it was laser straight and now she got some wobble. ill get a new one when i get a TC.

I originally wanted to mount the ECU just right into the glove box. However the glove box is like really compressed cardboard and mine is super banged up and worn so i didn't feel comfortable with it there. so i mounted it to the inside of the glove box door. Drilled a tapped some holes and bolted it down. it is pushed a little offset towards the drivers side. this way i can see all the indicating lights on the ecu when i am sitting in the drivers seat if i want to have it open for tuning purposes or whatever and be able to see the lights. then i ran all the wring through the back of the glove box insert and to the ECU, some trial and error in cutting the back of the box to run the wires to. Either way i did end up just ordering a new glove box insert, mine is super trashed like i mentioned. Ill get the wires all sorted and cut the box so it fits nice then just transfer that to the new box insert. I did also place my phone in the glove box a record a video of me closing the glove box lid to make sure the wires to the ECU are not be bent strained in anyway to bad. From what I can tell it all looks good for the most part. That being said i think when i get the new glove box liner i will see about mounting the ECU to it. i just feel that over time of opening and closing that box and the wires bending back and forth will eventually wear it out or potentially cause some issues. TBD.

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next was the battery mount to make sure it doesn't meet its face to my tire at the moment. just drilled the core support where it made sense to mount the battery and bolted it down. just had to make a top brackets the the studs bolted down to to hold everything in place.

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watched some videos on running the blow off valve line from the intake and just drill and tapping it. was pretty easy and far better than the set up of running a larger diameter hose to an adapter to a small diameter hose crossing the intake and then to the BOV. this is cleaner.

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[lwilliams]

whoops uploaded a ton of pics above by accident. ill provide reference here.

Installing the heater core was a pain. tried the recommended one from my parts store, didn't fit, tried a few from other Buick models and no bueno. went back to the original and just made it fit. there is absolutely no way it was going to fit with out modifying the firewall. As you can see in the pic below i had to cut the fire wall where the bottom line fitting was. no way it would get in there other wise. Finally i think its all good and no. the heater box runs into that same lower line fitting. so then i had to cut out the heater box where it mounted up to that fitting. this was a grade-A PITA. this was so much back and forth and fitting and grinding and holding the heater core inside the core that kept falling down son and so forth. the heater core itself also kept popping out of it holder and the stock brackets didn't really line up that great to it, i put a self tapping screw in the one side of the bracket as i kept popping off and flying into the engine bay hopefully i never have to replace it ever again.

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I also found this engine cover to sit on top to hopefully hide/dress up the engine bay a bit. i did have to do some trimming to it at the back where the harness exits the firewall and a few other places but other than this it was pretty easy to get it mounted. unfortunately my hood bracing hit the cover, so did some trimming there as well. everything fits nice now.

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Now on to one of the last pieces of the interior Nexgen dash install! This is the 5" prodash. for the first few minutes i have used i would definitely recommend. Install is Mecca Easy and it has tons of layouts. Alex at Nexgen is soooo helpful and incredibly responsive. At first i ordered a1/4" of ABS as i thought the thicker would be better for durability stability etc. turns out it was just harder to work with I wanted to originally bend the upper part of the dash insert to mount into the original dash. But it just didn't bend well and took forever to heat up with the heat gun due to it being so thick and it also just looked off being so think when i layed it on the dash. Tried it two times and eventually just gave up as it was just to hard to work with for my application. ordered another sheet of ABS but 1/8" this time. i also wanted to avoid bending the top part of the insert this time and just make a flat piece. This time i also used a table saw to cut it, the circular saw just wasn't consistent enough to make a straight line. I wanted to mount both the 3.5" Holley handled and the gauge display. then i can cover the parameters of monitoring pretty much anything. I really really really did not want to cut up my original dash, these things are expensive and i just hate doing that kind of stuff. But i eventually had no choice. I could fit the 3.5" right beside the Nexgen and avoid cutting up the dash but the steering wheel covered up like 70% of my view of the 3.5" doing it that way. Unfortunately, i cut the dash as in the pic below. But, the i have full view of the digital dash and the 3.5" handheld now everything fits really nice too. For the Nexgen the mounting and the install/hookup couldn't have been easier.

Used the template and taped it to the ABS dash insert drilled the mounting holes where indicated, i used a 1 3/4 hole saw to cut the big hole in the middle. got eh dash mounted on the ABS, then super easy hook up. connect the Cat5 cable to the back of the nexgen, the other end connects to the Nexlink, i ordered the Can/bus harness connector. this is nice as it come with a built in splitter that i connected to the 3.5" handheld. just connect the right colored wires (yes yellow is ground and black is for the can) into the Nexlink and the plug in the canbus into the holley canbus connector. The picture are of the night on the town layout and the haltech layout. I really like the haltech layout! i can post some pics of other layouts if anyone wants to see them. 9 sensor inputs on the haltech layout!... i am also going to get a buddy to 3d print me a trim piece to go around the vent cutout to clean that up. lastly i will have some black mounting screws for the actual dash inset, i just used what i had in the garage to get it mounted for the moment. i also bought another canbus splitter which i will likely hook up that way i can have the nexgen, 3.5" handled connected and also an extra port to plug in a PC for tuning and such

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lastly, somehow my flywheel got bent, when i first got he engine running i checked it and it was laser straight, not its got some noticeable wobble. Zero idea how that happened. you can see in the pictures one of the flywheel tabs right by the TC bolt is flat and the other is bent. So ill have to get a new one regardless of whether i get a 6 or 3 bolt converter

Not bendy
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bendy
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Next on the list is to install the HD2 trans go kit into the 4l80e. it just showed up yesterday, probably do that this weekend. I also got the trans cooler kit - just an american volt version from amazon. Next purchase will be the flywheel and a TC then the trans is ready to go in and be mounted along with some fluid. This will be nice because i will also be able to run the last bit of trans harness from the holley and then the interior will be all put together.

[lwilliams]

lots of progress from the last post. Trans cross member, transmission, torque converter, transmission cooler lines, cooler fan and trans temp sensor, SFI flexplate are all installed. Connected the Term X harness to the trans and wired in the rest of the trans harness to power, ground and etc. Bled the power steering fluid, installed the CPP hydrastop routed all the lines and installed the cooler in front of the radiator. Got the exhaust cross over installed and fully welded under the torque converter (will likely go back and tuck this closer to the trans pan), cut the down pipe shorter a little bit so that it tucked the exhaust under the car (it is way better and far less visible now).

[lwilliams]

keeping trying to upload descriptions and pictures of everything but i get "Internal Server Error" every time i try to post. the is round 2. then everything gets deleted in my post. ill try again otherwise ill leave it for a few days

[lwilliams]

Ok maybe just keeping the posts shorter id the key?

pic of all the trans, TC and flexplate installed. did this after i had measured and persuaded everything out of the way (drivers side top two bolts, floor by the gas pedal, floor around the cooler line fittings and the floor where the shifter cable comes through.

this is the flexplate i used. 3 stage torque sequence, screw driver to hold the plate in place and blue locktite.

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everything put together. torqued the converter to 54# and used red loctite (it came on the bolts already).

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[lwilliams]

i also reaplaced the rear bushing and seal since they are easy enough to do when the trans is out of the car and the rear seal was cracked already.

used a piece of wood to press int eh bushing and then a rubber mallet and hammer to put the seal in.

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the trans is THICK!. pretty sure fully dressed with all fluids and converter it was like 230lbs or something like that. Once i had it bolted up to the engine i got the angle to 3 degrees on the back end then started making the crossmember.

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[lwilliams]

once the trans was set at the right angle i started at the crossmember.

originally i tried to the get the mounts that connect to the frame to bolt in on the side and then bend the plates so that they sat on the angled part of the frame brace. But there is just no way to do that and be able to remove the crossmember when everything is in. so it is just flat plate bolted into the frame. drilled a tapped 1/2" holes for the bolts to go into.

the bar is 1.5" with 1/4" wall.

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[lwilliams]

i made an angled bracket that the trans mount sits in and also just welded two plates on top of each other in the mount for the correct height to the trans mount. this was better than fighting a bunch of washers on the trans mount to get the correct spacing.

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i also used a drilling block to line up the holes through the spacers and bracket into the trans mount.

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once that was all squared away, i might add i had this crossmember in and out a lot of times to get everything put together properly.

then i mounted everything back up and cut our the section for the exhaust to run through

[lwilliams]

i bought a 4" square tubing from a fab shop, originally I cut it in half thinking it would have enough rigidity not to flex, but that was definitely not the case it flexed a lot. so i welded it back together (inside and outside) and also put some gussets on it.

this allowed me to cut down teh down pipe and tuck the exhaust up much closer to the body. it is almost totally hidden now compared to being quite visible under the car.

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once i had everything tacked together and happy with teh fitment it all got fully welded. made sure to keep moving around and not get any one place to hot.

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[lwilliams]

picture of the exhaust lining up through the corssmember now. this is a next step to get the current exhaust connected to the new routing of the downpipe.

A 3" vband won't fit through the crossmember so i ordered a 2.75" vband and will get a couple 3" to 2.75" to feed through the cross member exhaust opening and all should be good.

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a little look of the underside of the car and you can see how the exhaust crossover and the trans sit from a depth perspective

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[lwilliams]

once the fab stuff was all done i mounted the cooler and fan and got all the lines connected. i mounted the cooler under the car with the fan as a puller and there is about an 1" or more of space.

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on one cooler line is the temp sensor probe, the other side has a temp thermostat for the fan to get triggered at 180 degrees.

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i picked up this temp sensor gauge for 50$, it is installed right beside the NexGen EFI dash and visible through the steering wheel. it is a ford factory gauge through autometer.

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[lwilliams]

next was the hydrastop system. this is a nice unit and install was honestly really easy. the hoses and lines were real easy to put together, much easier than 6am PTFE lines. Hoses are reversed threaded into place and then the fitting thread in normally. used a metal cutting wheel to cut the hoses (pressure and return), blew out teh debris with compressed air and installed them.

unit was easy to put in!

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Fluid in the power steering box and or the pump was dirty dirty, pretty brown i flushed the system by leaving the pressure side of teh pump to the steering box connected then routed the return pump and steering box lines to one line and just cycling through the fluid by turning the wheel lock to lock a bunch of times took a good 1.5-2 liters of fluid to get it clean.

i do have all the hoses and cooler plumbed and connected just no pictures. ill do that later this week.

[lwilliams]

here is a bunch of pictures of the cross over pipe. i knocked it down to 2 1/4 inches. for some space saving. just a 2 1/2" to 2 1/4" exhaust reducer on either side.

it is fairly tight to the converter. i will exhaust wrap it for sure. I am thinking that i may just cut it in the middle and spin the pipes more backward closer to the pan. if it can create enough room ill fab a little heat shield that will bolt to the two lower trans bolts that are open just as a measure of heat reduction on the converter.

the finished product.

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some build pics

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this tab on the trans was in the way so i cut it out so everything lines up on the passenger side manifold.

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you can see the exhaust flex pipe above. i ended up removing it and just making the whole thing solid. talked to a buddy and he mentioned that they can fail and then wipe out the turbo. Solid steel it is.

[lwilliams]

Next steps are to connect the exhaust through the trans crossmember, run all the brake lines, get a drive shaft built and set the rear end angle opposite to the trans, run the trans harness through a bulk head that i ordered, connect the gps to the nex gen dash, make sure the trans cooler fan works then get all the fluids set properly.

once that is done it is ready for the first drive.

assuming the first drive goes well i will set up a date to get it tuned.

ill post some pics of the cpp hydrastop installed with teh lines.

[Vimes]

Don't know if it's just me but all your links you just added that I tried come up as invalid. I dropped a note to the admins.

[lwilliams]

Don't know if it's just me but all your links you just added that I tried come up as invalid. I dropped a note to the admins.

thanks for the heads up, yeah i'm not sure what's happening there. ill fire amessage their way too. cheers

[lwilliams]

So the car is on the road!!!

Got a few things to work out but overall it drives pretty nice. CPP hydroboost works really well. brake feel i would say is between a normal car and say a race car. the feel is slightly stiff but nothing i would ever complain about. they feel nice. Going to wait for the admins to confirm the issue i am having in loading up pictures that aren't working. then ill upload all the pics of the car more or less complete and a video of it driving. the 3000-3200 stall torque converter is great and functions really well, seems great for daily driving and will definetly light off when i get into it.

Just running the Holley base tune at the moment and utilizing the learn feature. definitely not getting into it at all. maybe given it at most like 35% throttle and just watching the AFR's, temps etc.

A few things to work out:

1. Original trans cooler was tucked up in between two body braces and i just don't think it got any airlfow that it needed. I ordered a trans cooler fan kit off amazon from american volt. the fan sucked balls. it was a literal puller/pusher. the center of it would push air and the outside would pull air. i tested with a piece of shop towel. so it made sense why my trans temps just kept slowly keeping up up up as the cooler was just circulating the same temperature air constantly. So i got a different fan from Sir Amazon. flows more and works better. also lowered the cooler so it has more free flowing air. i also switched the location of the trans temp and thermostat. thermostat sees the fluid coming from the trans and the temp gauge sees the fluid leaving the cooler. when the fane is one (only had it on for a little bit) it got like 20 degrees cooler leaving the fan than what the transtemp was so it seems to be working now. It does hang a little lower than i think id like at the moment. it is also level to the ground. i am going to adjust the bracket so that it is on a bit of an angle to catch some air. for reference i have it mounted under the car right under the drivers seat more or less. *** also going to build a little heat shield out of the 20 gauge metal sheet i got to separate the crossover pipe that sits under the converter, that will also help the trans temp stuff.

2. Pretty sure that that power steering pump is leaking pretty good at the moment. picking up a new unit today or tomorrow and i will swap it out.

3. Alternator doesn't seem to be doing a good job keeping up to engine rpm. if i start accelerating under some load and the rpms start getting up to 3000 or so voltage drops all the way down to about 12.5-12.6. so got another unit that i will pick up tomorrow as well and swap in and hopefully that corrects the issue.

4. drive shaft i got was slightly short for what i wanted. car is at the driveline shop today to correct that and also add a 1350 series pinion yoke on the rear end as it just has the 3R which is somewhat questionable if it will consistently handle 500-550 wheel.


This pig gets tunes on Tuesday the 20th! wastegate spring is set to 7psi so we will start there and see where everything ends up. i have a turbosmart boost tee to add a few more pounds if required, but im a little limited, i still have the stock fuel pressure regulator which will only compensate to about 10psi at the most.

either way just driving this thing around i can tell it wants to get f**kin moving. its feels pretty effortless to get it moving, should be fun when its all tuned and ready to really hit the pavement! Some dude in a cowboy hat and handle bar moustache screamed "**** yeah brother!" with a rock out hand gesture at me when i was driving it, the car gets some attention haha.

i'll post some pics/vids once i know they will work.

[lwilliams]

Got the car tuned yesterday! Made 460whp/430tq at 10psi.

Ended up stopping there just because i am still running the stock fuel pressure regulator, stock fuel rails etc. thought it would have made more but i think a limiting factor may be my exhaust manifolds and the log i built likely doesn't flow the best. Didn't have much time to drive it after the dyno and was in rush hour traffic the whole way home. either way this thing moves well. got into only once on the way home due to traffic. Car drives really nice and also handles the tires breaking loose really well too.

Going to just drive it like this for the summer and get used to it. will do fuel mods in the winter and then go back to bump things up to 12-13psi and aim for around 500whp.

I will get some pics of the car all assembled on here soon. just really busy at the moment. I also have some dyno pull videos i can set a link to.

Biggest change that i made was notching the front bumper out and tucking the trans cooler at the front of the car. it lays flat and then i set up some ducting to it. Had the fan on the cooler on the dyno the whole time and the temps never went above 150 degreed, it was a cooler day at about 15 degrees Celsius outside but either way the cooler is doing its job.

The converter seems to be a really good match as the boost ramps in and they pair really nicely together.

SUCH A Freaking bummer it is pouring rain today, likely all day but everything clears up tomorrow and ill be able to go for a good rip!

[lwilliams]

ok so finally have some time to update this and working out all the kinks on the car thus far. I was having a big fuel issue where gas was getting into the oil, like lots. to the point that i had to change the oil like 8 times until i finally figured it all out.

First ill see if the pictures in the thread that didn't work will come through this time. this is the flexplate that i used. It is from Performance world, 3 stage torque sequence with some blue loctite. used a screw driver through the flexplate to hold it in place while I tightened everything down.
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torqued the converter to the flexplate at 54# with red loctite

here are some shots of the trans cross member as i don't think that they came through last time, also the exhaust lining up through the square chuck of tubing through the cross member.
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[lwilliams]

to mount the trans cross member i just drilled and taped holes into the frame pretty sure that they are 1/2 bolts 2 on each side.

the trans cooler was a point of pain for a while. I tried to mount it under the car. didn't work. mounted it with a good angle to catch airflow under the car, didn't work. mounted it super low under the body of the car with an angle to catch some air, that didn't work either and when it was super low i crunched the fan coming off a lift at the drive shaft shop.

so i re-routed the whole thing and notched out the front bumper to fit. at the moment it works really well. scabbed in some brake duct hose just for the moment. but i will switch to hood pins on the car (reluctantly) and then remove the hood latch assembly that the brake ducts are connected to and then bend/build and actual duct of the front bumper opening to the cooler. I also build a shroud for the cooler fan when i feel like that. But probably in the winter.

trans cooler fan mounted under the car - no bueno
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bumper cutout to fit the fan and then the ducting running to it
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i can monitor the trans temp on the Holley 3.5", this gauge measures the temp of the fluid leaving the fan. lets me know that the fan is actually working. usually about a 30-35degree difference between the trans and cooler temp when it is on.
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[lwilliams]

so back to being under the car. here are some pictures of the cross over exhaust pipe being routed. From these pictures i have put it in heat wrap and also built a little heat shield between it and the cross over pipe. the temps are very different when i use a temp gun on the TC and the cross over pipe so it is working well.

this is the finished product on passenger side running up to the log manifold.
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the is the drivers side coming down and under the TC

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before doing this passenger side up to the log manifold this ear had to be cut off.
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fits good now!
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to route the trans harness back to the holley i got a billet piece from amazon, i can look up the part again if someone wants it. me being a dummy literally drilled a hole directly where my foot sits on the gas pedal the first time, so i moved it back to like half way between the seat and the gas pedal being a 1/2 dummy. ill move it again to just in front or even a little under the seat. i am going to try and build a console between the seat that runs all the way up to the dash this winter and then i will tuck the wires in teh console if that plan plays out.
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[lwilliams]

also when looking at the cross over pipe i did end up getting rid of the flex pipe there. buddy of mine whose built lots of these cars said that they can fail and then wipe out the turbo. i may put another one in but it will be the accordion style exhaust bellows instead of the one in the picture.

for the brakes i have that CPP hydro boost system. this works really nice and is a great balance of brake pedal feel, firm enough for a spirited drive but not so hard your leg gets cramped in traffic. really happy with it.

was a pretty easy install overall and i used NiCop lines for the brake lines. SOOOOOO nice. bend them by hand and they also flare really nice. ill get some pics of this when i can, ill also get some more just general under car pics when i have the car up on the lift and installing the ebrake handle that i bought.

some shots of the CPP system, again, highly recommend it to anyone thinking of doing it. Install was not difficult, probably one of the easier things i have done.

lots of hosing going every which direction, but to keep it simple any rubber hose you see is a return line either to the steering box or steering pump itself. Any braided looking line is a pressure lines to the steering box or to the hydroboost. This Brings us to the first issue i discovered on the autocross track. The pulley i have on the steering pump is about 3/4-1" smaller than the original one. When i was at the track it was spraying fluid every where. basically i mash the gas and it is getting spun to high hell, or i am steering hard in a corner or hard on the brakes. Either way it never gets a brake on the track. So i have ordered a an ICT billet bracket that will move the pump inward about an each and then i can run the stock pulley sizer and it will hopefully correct the issue. Next race day is August 16th so i will be able to tell then.

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the steering pump cooler is the black one below. Either this summer or in the winter i am going to replace the inside headlights with funnels and one on side i will remount a different cooler. it will be out of the way of the rad and then take fresh air from behind the funnel, i can likely use a bigger cooler this way and also wire in a separate fan.
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[lwilliams]

so then on to the next issue i had. this was to do with fueling took a while to figure it out and like i said about 650$ in oil filters and changes before i got it squared away. I think it was a multitude of problems. the first and biggest was the stock fuel pressure regulator was bad which i didn't know at first. i am thinking that the seals basically dried up from the engine just sitting around for a while.

symptoms of this going bad were a lot of cranking on start up and often enough when the car did start it was kind of stumbly, spraying black wet carbon out of the exhaust pipe from unburnt fuel, fuel in the oil and my garage and the car just wreaking like gas. I found a way to test this was to just start the car and then pull the vacuum line off the regulator. if fuel comes out she's toast, which is exactly what mine did. so that was problem #1 solved with just a new regulator. this did make a good difference but the oil was still smelling like gas just less of it.

Solved problem #2. took the injectors out of the car and took them to a buddy to clean them. he said they weren't really clean but weren't really dirty either. one of them as he was testing it also had a bad spray pattern and then all of a sudden something just shot right out of the injector. he cleaned them three times and now they are all within 1-2% of each other. so that helped the issue too but was still getting some gassy oil.

Solved problem #3,started playing with the cranking and after start enrichment on the tune and finally got it sorted out properly as well. i was cranking like close to 50% more fuel than it needed on start up, and then the after start was not nearly enough and so i think the holley was compensating and dumping fuel into it. once i got that squared away their is no more gassy oil smell.

[lwilliams]

on to more exciting things i picked up this thing on the way to work one day. Damn golfers and their greens tools!
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this wasn;t all bad to be honest, when i actually looked at the tires i had they were made in 2010! dried out for sure.

so it prompted me to get tires on all four corners. Went with 315/30/18's in the rear and 275/35-17 in the front. looking forward to getting them scrubbed in and working on the street and the track. to fit the 315's i just had to trim the fender lip on the rear quarters. i already notice just how much nicer these tires drive down the road and absorb the bumps compared to the last one.


rears are falken Azenis RT660 and the fronts are nankang CRS. literally impossible to find tires in those sizes right now. called 4 different shops and 5 website before i found a place i can order 4 tires from.

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passenger side is pretty rotted out, so that will need replacing at some point.

[lwilliams]

a little look of the tires on the car! no rubbing issues what so ever in the rear. you can also see the ducting for the trans cooler.

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little interior shot.

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Also going to be cutting some vents into the hood. when the car is moving more or less at any speed cold, warm, hot day it is good. But it does start getting heat soaked at the autocross track and when it is sitting.

just a pic of mapping our some different size vents. looking at race louvers and track spec. i think i'm going to go with the bigger is better mentality. hopefully have these put on for the next track day.

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made a youtube channel just to post up some videos of the car. have a bunch of dyno videos and a few other videos of the car that i will post and then provide the link.

[lwilliams]

forgot that i also set up a harness that is easy to clip in and out of the car when i want to. i have angle brackets where the seat belt goes on each side and the some eyebolts bolted through the top of the body brace behind the seat. i don't think i would trust the eyebolts out on the street incase i got in a crash, the metal is pretty thin where the eyebolts are bolted too. but for just going around the track and needing the harness to keep me planted int the seat they work great.

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the seat belt cover hides the bracket too which is nice.
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pic of me with the harness on at the track!
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[lwilliams]

a few better pictures on how those harness clip into the brackets and eyebolts.

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[lwilliams]

found the picture i was looking for that was an indication my fuel pressure regulator was bad.

this is what my garage floor looked like every time i cold started the car. it would become less and less as the car warmed up, but every cold start was like this. I also had a bunch of black carbon on the rear quarter where the exhaust exited.

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[lwilliams]

got the youtube page set up

posted some videos that i have of the car. links below. I am going to try and hook up my go pro and get some better video of driving inside the car and also see if i can strap it to the outside of the car when i am auto crossing.

ill start uploading the videos to my adobe rush video software so they are not always shorts.

https://youtu.be/Ky4cbME-HxQ
https://youtube.com/shorts/q4XHYyOgoRQ
https://youtube.com/shorts/xNW4pp7U1uI
https://youtube.com/shorts/q4XHYyOgoRQ

hopefully going to order those vents right away and get them installed.

[carter_eng_fab]

Awesome build!

I feel the pain on the fueling issues. I had a used injector stick open and filled the crankcase so much the oil pressure when towards 0! Not fun at all.

[lwilliams]

Awesome build!

I feel the pain on the fueling issues. I had a used injector stick open and filled the crankcase so much the oil pressure when towards 0! Not fun at all.


Thanks! Its been a fun ride this year. just about got all the shakedown issues with the car figured out. Your fueling issues sounds worse than mine, its too bad there isn't a way to set like an alarm or something within ECU's if that happens.

Also seen injector issues the other way, friend had an injector flowing 30% less than the other 7 and it grenaded his engine. Pure destruction. oddly it lived for quite a while like that before it exploded a few pistons.


finished up swapping out an ICtTbillet PS + Alt bracket to use a bigger pully on the PS pump. will post it all below.

[lwilliams]

got the ICT billet Bracket for the PS pump and Alternator. this moves the alternator outward (which im indifferent about other than it no longer lines up with my engine cover) toward the side of the car but more importantly moves the power steering pump inward about an inch. Been having problems with PS fluid shooting out of the reservoir when i'm at the auto cross track. main culprit is the PS pulley i put on (much smaller than stock) was the only one that i could find that would clear the steering box while using the stock bracket.

Pic of the bracket package and stock pully
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Pic of the pulley that was on the pump (smaller) and the stock size one... you could say there a little different. Basically i think the thing was getting spun to high hell when i was flooring it then it is immediately under load when i'm either braking or steering or both, than back on the gas. So it was just getting no rest time and spinning way faster that it was intended too. Fluid was getting brown too compared to the new fluid that is clear.

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i didn't take any tear down pictures. But this is the bracket installed. Honestly not a hard job. and its a good looking piece. i think it is a little tight in my car around the steering box, frame brace, sway bar etc. so after fully installing the bracket i did have to loosen off all the bolts to be able to slide the PS pump into place bolt it on snug then snug and tighten down the brackets, add the idler pulley and finally reinstall the alternator.

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then got the stock size pulley pressed on and put into place. I didn't have the right size belt, so off to the parts store for the correct length

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[lwilliams]

now that everything was bolted in and buttoned up tight i had to figure out a new place to mount and plumb my catch can. it used to bolt to the side of the stock bracket assembly.

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i figured that the best way to do it is just to bend the catch can mounting tabs and then drill two small holes in the ICT brackets and bolt it to there.

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unfortunately i couldn't fit my drill in between the rad fan and the bracket. Ill get or borrow a 90 degree drill and it will do the job. you can see int eh pick below where i tried to drill it but just couldn't make it work. for the moment the long standing king of holding **** in place will do fine. Zip tied the can to the bracket. i will modify the hoses a bit, but first i just want to go for a drive with the new bracket pulley etc. then once i know everything works and is good where it is lined up ill drill the hole and plumb the catch can lines nicely like they were before.

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all put back together... sort of for the moment.

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was just about done bleeding the oil fluid out and then i ran out of new fluid. basically just have to fill and cycle the new fluid in the reservoir until it is at the right level and it is ready for a drive. that is a tomorrow job. oh i also had to route a longer cable from the alternator back to the battery incase anyone was wondering. Also going to cut/modify the engine cover on the alternator side to see if i can get it to fit and look half decent.

[lwilliams]

just about forgot. i found this pics of the car at a car show from about a month ago.

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[lwilliams]

"Closed Course - professional Driver"

Full 1st, 2nd and into 3rd gear pull. those new tires made a world of difference, they hardly broke lose in these two pulls.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/53UpBwRo6d8

[Vimes]

just about forgot. i found this pics of the car at a car show from about a month ago.

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That looks a lot like my 72 Skylark, which was my first car. I wish I could find it again, even if it means finding out it was totaled, although I'd rather find that someone took proper care of it after me.

[lwilliams]

That looks a lot like my 72 Skylark, which was my first car. I wish I could find it again, even if it means finding out it was totaled, although I'd rather find that someone took proper care of it after me.


the previous owner told me that it came out of the states at some point and he got it from a Police Auction. Did you happen to get arrested and the car was impounded? LOL

[Vimes]

the previous owner told me that it came out of the states at some point and he got it from a Police Auction. Did you happen to get arrested and the car was impounded? LOL

A short thread hijack -

No to being arrested although it was a near thing a few times :naughty:. The last time I saw that car was May 1, 1988. The next day I was getting yelled at by a drill instructor. Shortly before I joined the military I put a rod through the side of the block. The easiest thing at the time to do was to let my mother dispose of it, and she did so by handing the keys to my older brother who had an engine but no car at the time. I was fine with it, as it helped everyone out of a jam; I needed the car gone, she needed to stop sharing a car and he needed a car to drive.

Looking back though, I wish I'd have kept the car, or at least said he could use it but if he decided to get something else I wanted the car back. I've been looking off and on for getting on to 30 years now but aside from a possible location, once, about 15 years ago that didn't pan out, no clue where it went. It wasn't until my dad passed away a few years ago that I found something solid to use when I found the bill of sale from when the car was first bought - with the VIN listed. Last 3 on the VIN are 446. If it's mine there would be a jigsawed hole in the floorpan for a 4 speed shifter, and drag marks on the bottom of the rear bumper. The engine my brother put in the car would try to point its nose at the Sun at noon. Logically speaking I shouldn't want the car back considering what he put it through, but I've always felt like I abandoned a good friend since giving it up. I'd either like a chance to make it right or at least know someone else was a better friend than I was.

And now, back to regular programming.

[lwilliams]

A short thread hijack -

No to being arrested although it was a near thing a few times :naughty:. The last time I saw that car was May 1, 1988. The next day I was getting yelled at by a drill instructor. Shortly before I joined the military I put a rod through the side of the block. The easiest thing at the time to do was to let my mother dispose of it, and she did so by handing the keys to my older brother who had an engine but no car at the time. I was fine with it, as it helped everyone out of a jam; I needed the car gone, she needed to stop sharing a car and he needed a car to drive.

Looking back though, I wish I'd have kept the car, or at least said he could use it but if he decided to get something else I wanted the car back. I've been looking off and on for getting on to 30 years now but aside from a possible location, once, about 15 years ago that didn't pan out, no clue where it went. It wasn't until my dad passed away a few years ago that I found something solid to use when I found the bill of sale from when the car was first bought - with the VIN listed. Last 3 on the VIN are 446. If it's mine there would be a jigsawed hole in the floorpan for a 4 speed shifter, and drag marks on the bottom of the rear bumper. The engine my brother put in the car would try to point its nose at the Sun at noon. Logically speaking I shouldn't want the car back considering what he put it through, but I've always felt like I abandoned a good friend since giving it up. I'd either like a chance to make it right or at least know someone else was a better friend than I was.

And now, back to regular programming.


I totally missed your reply here! so its definitely not my car the those last 3 digits on the VIN are not the same as mine. i know what you mean, hindsight is always 20/20. i have lots of cars i wish I didn;t part with too!

[lwilliams]

Some more progress below. Now we got hood vents!

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these are the vents i used.

https://trackspecmotorsports.com/collections/universal/products/universal-racing-hood-louver-22-x-11-inch

honestly wasn't all that difficult to install. just a lot of measure 7 times cut once. Still not sure on if i like the look of them compared to a not cut up hood. I think that i will like them a lot better once i paint match them to what ever color i paint the car. i also made a DIY wicker on the front of them to increase air flow. it is just a angled piece of 3/4 aluminum that was painted black by my kids.

here is a video i made of me installing them. https://youtu.be/l3uYefkxUyQ

One other addition to the car that i have made is putting in coil spring isolators from energy suspension, both the ones on the rear end and on the frame. it has made a noticeable difference in overall ride quality and also quieter while driving as well. on another note i also put some wd-40 on the rod end joints of the lower rear control arms. they were sooooo squeaky. now the car with the isolators and lubed joints is really quiet, waayyyy better!

Somewhat hard to see the isolators but a few pics below. also used spring compressors - things are terrifying.

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quick look at the trimming on the engine cover to fit everything with the ICT bracket. Also a pic of my catch can. Had to use this tool i found called a rubber mallet to adjust its shape so i doesn't hit the hood vent when it closes.

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A few maintenance things i have run into. my front brakes were dragging hardcore, like really hardcore. I could barely turn the passenger side rotor by hand. the drivers side wasn't as bad but was still some serious effort to run it. I checked the fluid here and it was black!!!! but in a weird way. it wasn't black like it was boiled and cooked. it was black like the fluid was still good but it was full of sediment. Either way i had a buddy help me bleed the front brakes again and get some nice new clear fluid in it.

We have another autocross race this sunday. going to put the car through its paces and then check the fluid again and see how it looks. not sure of the fluid issue is also related to the brakes dragging but looking forward to seeing how the car brakes and drives without the sticky brakes, potentially even more MPG now wouldn't be out of the question for how hard they are stuck on.

My trans cooler blew up at one point on an autocross day, i narrowed it down tot a bole on the front bumper came loose and i think it torqued the cooler the wrong way and cracked it. WHAT A MESS that was! the cooler is attached to both the bumper and rad support. the bumper started flexing a lot a think with the loose bolt and then put a bunch of stress on the cooler.

here is some videos of the car at autocross a couple times.

Autocross Race Day RDSCC Event 8 - https://youtu.be/QG_4lhoWj4A
Autocross day trans cooler explodes - https://youtu.be/8-e1dW-S8z0

I have been trying to get in the habit of doing some normalized tech inspection on the car before each race day. hence how i found the terrible brake fluid and the stuck/dragging front brakes. I have also found that the shop that did my alignment only set the front camber to 0.25 degrees! SAYYY WHHHAATTT. i just didn't pay attention to the sheet when they had done it. From this i am noticing on my tires that the inside 3" is not wearing the same on the front tires as the outside. I know it won't be exactly the same perse but i have an appointment to go back and have them add some camber potentially 2degrees total. then i should see an improvement in cornering hopefully.

My steering was getting some decent play in it so i also tightened that up.

video of how to tighten the jeep grand cherokee steering box swap on these A-bodies below. it should work for pretty much an saginaw steering box.

https://youtube.com/shorts/rThZ1QFBWB0?feature=share

I can also change the boot up screen on my dash video below. Alex at Nexgen EFI works hard at making these things really user friendly and fun!

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https://youtu.be/RtpjX-I92MI