MTBSully's First Restomod: 1969 Camaro LS Build

[MTBSully]

More random updates as I wait for parts here and there.

Dirty Dingo low mount AC and ICT billet low mount alternator brackets


The alternator fits great. I went with a 105amp unit from I believe a 96-99 chevy truck. $80 amazon special. I was wondering if I might have to notch the subframe here but theres 1/2"+ clearance all the way around the alternator, and the mounting nut is on the backside, nowhere near an area where it might short. Looks like this is a bolt on a go fit with the holley mounts and the truck spacing.



Dirty dingo AC bracket, not so much, but that was to be expected. My AC compressor isnt here yet so I havent been able to test fit it, but my guess is we will have to do some notching here. Also it appears the tensioner contacts my ride tech sway bar, so some massaging will have to be done here. Ive also wondered about spacing the sway bar down 1/2" or so to gain some clearance that way.



Lifted the motor a bit a slid the drivers header in. Fits great with exception of very minor contact on the steering box, another thing I half expected. I am confident that with slight work with a flap disk on the steering box, and maybe a few taps of the hammer on the primary we will have clearance. The curve on the primary is so aggressive that even some minor massaging won't be visible from the engine bay.





Clearance underneath looks pretty good too. I don't have the transmission in yet (as you can see from the jack) so the floorboard clearance may change slightly, but it looks good for now. Tucks up nice. Overall im happy with these headers for almost 1/3 the price of any other LS swap brand. Welds and collectors look good.

[MTBSully]

Believe it or not the AC compressor fits with no notching. Its super close though, so i think it will be wise to do a small notch while the engine is out. Should be starting that this week.


Spent a couple hours friday making a bracket for my DBW pedal out of the 2010 camaro. Not the prettiest thing i've ever fabricated lol, but its stong as hell, functional, and free. I chopped up one of the original SBC motor mounts and used some scrap steel for the rest. Used the original holes in the firewall (not sure what they were originally for) because I didnt want to have to drill any new holes if possible. Works great and places the pedal perfectly after a lot of trial fitment and adjustment.




Finished making my AN lines for the fuel tank, popped those on and installed the notched 69 tank. Fits great. Going to order a fuel filter, and fuel pressure regulator to finish the system up.


New LS7 clutch kit and flywheel from rock auto came in along with some ARP flywheel bolts and other bits. Motor is back out so I can do the rear main seal and rear cover gasket before we pop the new clutch on.


Degreased and power washed the TR6060 in prep for its conversion to a T56 magnum I have planned. Just waiting on the tail housing which should be here in a day or two.

[ryeguy2006a]

You're making this look easy! Good work man, keep up the progress. Those headers fit really well.

[TheBandit]

Nice progress! I'm surprised the AC compressor fit without notching. Did you have the engine at the final angle? I know on mine I ended up shimming the tail of the trans up a bit at the crossmember to get driveline angles right, so definitely recommend making some extra clearance under there in case you need it later on. I noticed your tensioner and sway bar seem to be competing for space; on mine I shimmed the sway bar down with 1/2" aluminum. Low mount compressor was worth the hassle of notching - keeps the engine bay tidy!

For the rear main/cover alignment, these guys make an affordable alignment tool I wish I had when I built mine.
https://www.saccitycorvette.com/AlignItTools.html

[MTBSully]

Nice progress! I'm surprised the AC compressor fit without notching. Did you have the engine at the final angle? I know on mine I ended up shimming the tail of the trans up a bit at the crossmember to get driveline angles right, so definitely recommend making some extra clearance under there in case you need it later on. I noticed your tensioner and sway bar seem to be competing for space; on mine I shimmed the sway bar down with 1/2" aluminum. Low mount compressor was worth the hassle of notching - keeps the engine bay tidy!

For the rear main/cover alignment, these guys make an affordable alignment tool I wish I had when I built mine.
https://www.saccitycorvette.com/AlignItTools.html

Thanks! I beleive the motor was pretty close as far as angle but im going to notch it anyways just to be safe. Shouldnt take too long and I have the materials and means to do so. I plan on shimming my sway bar down as well, any pics of how you did yours?

I've got that LS alignment tool in my toolbox! A good one to have.

[TheBandit]

I have lots of photos yes. Below are a few samples. There are tons more in my build thread , but they might be hard to find so let me know if you need anything in particular. The thread is here https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...00-6-0vvt.html The radius plate for the bottom of the notch was made by hand bending a piece of 12 gauge mild steel around a metal pole.

Image1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5

[MTBSully]

New rear main seal, gasket and oil diverter on. New flywheel with ARP bolts and LS7 clutch torqued to spec.

[MTBSully]

Began the dreaded task of converting my tr6060 to a t56 magnum via mainshaft and tailshaft swap. Other than swapping to a 26 spline input shaft from a 10 spline on the t56 in my 2004 cobra back in the day, i've never really messed with internal transmission work, so we'll see how this goes lol.

Brought up the old workbench from my basement just to hold the transmission so I can keep my SS bench nice and clean and organized with the internals. Drilled a 2" hole in the bench as well for the input shaft to go through so there isnt pressure on it.


Tail shaft off. Can't beleive how clean this transmission is. Fluid was cherry red, not much material at all on the drain plugs. Just as clean as the motor. Glad I bought a car that was maintained!


Started pulling gears off with my 3 jaw pullers and bearing separator. This is the most time consuming part is setting up the 3 jaw pullers with the right combination of arms, extensions etc.


A few hours later and the main case was off.


Thats where I left off for the night. More progress to come.

[MTBSully]

New video is up!

[BrianP]

Here’s a diagram of the wires going through the firewall bulkhead connectors.
The connector with the wiper wires also contains: coil+, starter solenoid, tach output, and heater fan.

[MTBSully]

Here’s a diagram of the wires going through the firewall bulkhead connectors.
The connector with the wiper wires also contains: coil+, starter solenoid, tach output, and heater fan.

Awesome this is very helpful. Thanks!

[MTBSully]

Got the mainshaft completely torn down.


All parts laid out.


Waiting on the front mainshaft bearing which had to be destroyed in order to remove it. A $10 timken bearing on amazon, so no big deal. The replacement will be here today so I can start re-assembling everything onto the T56 magnum mainshaft shown on the table. In the meantime I banged out my subframe notch for my low mount AC. I measured the stock subframe at ~.115-.125", so I ordered some material slightly thicker than that from grainger.

First piece tacked in.



I made templates out of cardboard and then traced onto the steel sheet and cut them out with my cutoff wheel. Cut and trimmed to fit and welded in.



Grinded the welds smooth and added a quick coat of primer on the bare metal.


Even though no one will be able to see this area i'll be adding a slight bit of filler, sanding and giving the subframe a fresh coat of satin black. Should look almost OEM when its done.

[thumper877]

Not sure I'd have the balls to take on a transmission I'm pretty sure I could get it apart but getting it back together would be another story LOL

[MTBSully]

Not sure I'd have the balls to take on a transmission I'm pretty sure I could get it apart but getting it back together would be another story LOL

Definitely a daunting task but i think with proper organization and taking your time I should be ok. We shall see here soon! lol

[ryeguy2006a]

Looks good man! I should have bought a press when I did mine. Would have saved me a bunch of time.

[MTBSully]

More slow progress on the transmission "rebuild". The learning curve here is steep. I'm confident I could do this in half the time or less the next time but it is a struggle learning how everything goes together the first time. Getting there though.

Main shaft is mostly back together including new front bearing with the help of my press.


Main shaft, countershaft and shif rails all assembled on the front plate. This was a puzzle that took almost 2 hours. I struggled for a while installing the countershaft. Manual states the main shaft should be installed first and then lifted up slightly to install counter shaft. I found that every time I did this the slider would move down and cause the plastic slider "centering bearings" to fall out. Very frustrating. I finally decided to try it the other way and put the countershaft on first and that eventually worked. Once again, if I was doing this again tonight I could probably have it done in 15 minutes but thats part of learning.


Tonight im going to double check all the shift rails and forks are assembled correctly, clean the case and install. Hopefully have a complete transmission here shortly.

[ryeguy2006a]

I had that same struggle getting to that point from being fully disassembled.

[MTBSully]

Made some good progress on saturday.

Case back on after getting the shift rails all interlocked correctly. Pressing on some gears with 2" steel pipe and a M12x1.75 threaded rod.


New bearing installed in the t56 magnum tail housing. Reverse idler transfered over.


T56 magnum speedo gears installed using a ball bearing from home depot. Thankfully they had the size i needed!


Tail housing sealed up and torqued


Made myself a mid shift blockoff plate from the same steel used for my subframe notch.


Ready for some fresh aluminum paint



Done. Magnum shifter installed and new rear seal installed. Ready to go in the car minus 2 AN fittings for the transmission cooler.


This was a challenging project but I took my time and got it done and learned a lot about manual transmissions in the process. i'm confident I could do this again in 1/2 or 1/3 the time. No extra parts and the transmission shifts into every gear nice and smooth. I think we should be good to go.

Going to repaint part of the subframe tonight where I notched, and then the motor/tranny should be ready to go in. Going to try and install them both at the same time, but we'll see. Feels good to have the drivetrain ready to go.

[ryeguy2006a]

Congrats on the rebuild! The TR6060/Magnum transmissions shift so much smoother than the older T56.

[TheBandit]

Bravo nice work!