The Pigeon Forge Project

[GeoffP]

I agree with a lot that's said here. Don't buy stuff too soon or you may end up going a different direction. I just got my 68 drivable YESTERDAY from a project that was supposed to take 6-8 weeks. It ended up taking almost a year and a half thanks to surprise expenses (long story that I may tell in my own thread one day). Having said this, I look forward to seeing you and your car completed at RTTH4 - I plan to be there too barring any unforseen complications. Oh - one last thing - BE PATIENT. Things will come together when you least expect it and then suddenly you're done, or at least that's what happened to me...

[Steve68]

Looking Good Tony, Next year I'll be there, most likely no car!

[trapin]

Thanks Geoff. Yeah I made sure I was patient with this build (or at least my wallet made sure). This engine was the best choice for the type of car I'm building. From the shortblock to the cam choice, intake, etc. It should be a lot of fun and not be overkill for the application. 370-380rwhp should be enough for my 26" tall Nitto's.

Steve...as long as your there, thats all that counts.

[CarlC]

Tony,

Sounds like you are making good progress.

One suggestion. Put the balancer on before stabbing the engine in. LS1 specs have the front of the crank snout approx. 1/8" behind the front of the front of the balancer hub. Heat the balancer to 230* and she'll slide right on. No tools necessary.

You will have enough room to clear the radiator support.

[parsonsj]

No tools necessary.

Other than an oven mitt, you mean.

It does work, though.

Tony, keep us posted on your progress. IV is only months away.

jp

[trapin]

Thanks for the info, Carl. I will get that done this week. By the way...would either you or John have any recommendations on where to bolt the chain to the block for the lift into the engine cabin? If you look on the front of the engine you will see where I have it bolted with a hardened bolt and it's in rougly the same postion on the opposite side of the block in the back. I'm thinking I might have a hard time unbolting the chain in the back once the engine is in so I might move the rear bolt to the side of the head, but then the chain will be putting immense pressure on the coil plate and valve cover. Any ideas?

[hotrdblder]

killer work tony, i wish you luck in getting it done for pigeon forge next year

[6'9"Witha69]

Deleted. I assumed.

[trapin]

Well, I got the balancer on tonight. That sucker did not want to just slip right on. I ended up having to heat it up to 265 degrees and even then it took some hammering with a rubber mallet to get the balancer on to the point where I could thread the bolt on about 4 or 5 threads. Once I got it on those first few threads it bolted on real easy. LS1howto says to torque the original bolt down to 240 ft lbs to ensure it is all the way on, then to take a new bolt and torque it down to 37 and then turn it one last time 140 degrees. I did all that but I could only wrench that sucker to about 95 degrees on the engine stand without having the damn engine flip over on top of me.

Good times.

[JMarsa]

Good work Tony!

--JMarsa

[BonzoHansen]

240 ft/lbs?!? Zoinks! I'm not even sure my t.wrenches go that high.

[parsonsj]

Yeah ... it's a big bolt. Glad you got it on there.

What's next?

jp

[trapin]

What's next?

Today I am going to test fit the engine into the engine bay to verify that the conversion plates and mounts will line up. If so...I might attempt to put the engine in and then secure it from behind with a peice of 1X1 wood against the firewall. Then I would do the transmission tommorow. I am still up in the air over whether I want to put the engine and trans in together but I'm freaked out about cracking my aluminum cylinder heads with all that weight. I have the chain bolted to my accessory holes. What do you guys think?

[SatisTraction]

i put my ls1 and t56 in as one. i used a leveler and had the chain bolted to 4 points. it was a hell of an angle and then i used floor jack under the tranny to help me get it all into place.

[andrewb70]

Tony,

Save yourself a huge hassle and install the engine and trans together. There are absolutely no issues with doing that. No worries!

Andrew

[parsonsj]

Tony,

If you can wrestle the drive train together, that's probably the way to do it. It's easier to stab the tranny on the ground than trying to do it over your head lying on your back. You'll need 3 guys: one underneath the car, one on top, and one on the jack. Your jackman needs to have a thick skin, and not get offended when you bark commands (iow, a wife is not the best choice, lol). Be sure to have a floor jack handy to be a temporary crossmember.

As far as using accessory drive holes, they'll be fine, especially if they are 12mm or larger. Even cheap 12mm bolts are rated at more than 4000 lbs in tension. Just be sure you've got at least 3/4" of useable thread in the head or block. Use a folded up cloth to keep the chains from scratching the heads or valve covers (and get the cloth back into the bathroom before your wife finds out).

Hope that helps.

jp

[Rubes]

yeah Tony, all at once is the way to go. It is a bit scary to swing it in over the header panel, but just go slow and it will be fine. I use a load leveler and do it by myself all the time. I dont even use a floor jack. Oh yeah, I just cut up some bike tire inner tubes and slip them over the chains. I'll make a good husband some day...LOL

[Bow Tie 67]

Yep just use the bolt holes on the heads with the engine trany combo. I have put a 6 speed in from under the car and it sucks big time!!!

[trapin]

Apparantly I'm having issues posting pictures as of late. Don't know what's causing this to happen.

[Steve68]

I put mine in with no problems, the old style way, BUT I don't have the front clip on and this is just the mock up motor, but by myself with a hoist just slide right in, Now to build the real motor,

Tony fix the pics, I wanna see,