1967 Lemans Project - LS376/480 & 4L80E Build

[Pontiacken]

Hello my name is Ken and this is only the second forum I have joined so please bear with me as I figure the functions to this one out.

I have a 1967 LeMans that I obtained through the family in 1992. It has not seen a day of duty since. Yes, that is almost 20 years ago. It has been an on again off again project for many different reasons over the years. However for the past 9 months or so God has seen fit for me to be able get serious about this thing. I have been more than pleased to get busy!

So here are some pics and descriptions of my near 20 year project:

This is my oldest son at age 2 when the LeMans made it to my house


This is him at his wedding last December. He is now 20.


This is the Lemans as it was in 2005. Mostly rust fighting and interior removal at that point




Dog house off


OL trusty 326 and 2 speed tranny out


Body comming off the chassis


Body as it sits now awaiting its turn for some work


Chassis after seperation from body


Frame stripped of all parts


Lots of welding and grinding to strengthen frame:

Frame rails boxed in




Gussets welded in




Transmission crossmember cut to length and rewelded


Preperations and measurments being made for clearencing spring pockets for ridetech suspension parts




That is where the frame is at this point. The heat here in the DFW area of Texas has been brutal the past few weeks so not much work has been done.

I have had the 12 bolt rebuilt. New axles, tightened up posi and dress up is all it needed.


Bought the modified 4L80E


And the LS376/480.


Will post pics when I get some more of the parts in.

I have been scouring the forums and been very impressed by some of you with your technical savy, craftsmenship, good ol American Ingenuity and most of all your willingness to share. So please feel free to ask any questions as I am bound to ask alot of them myself.

Thanks to CFster for his help so far!

[Motown 454]

Looks like a nice project. Very nice drive train.

[CFster]

Fantastic Ken! I'll be watching you build for sure. Nice combination!

-Colin

[therobski]

Hey brother therobski here, I'm new to the site too and building a 64 F-85 post car. I live over on the lake in Rowlett. We need to meet.

[therobski]

FYI I boxed my frame too, had it sand blasted and powder coated, got it home and discovered that in order to get the transmission cross member back in I had to cut a lot of my boxing out on one side to get the cross member back in....

[Pontiacken]

FYI I boxed my frame too, had it sand blasted and powder coated, got it home and discovered that in order to get the transmission cross member back in I had to cut a lot of my boxing out on one side to get the cross member back in....

therobski I am doing the same as far as the sandblasting and powder coating goes. The way I am tackling this problem is welding shelves onto the boxed area of the frame to secure the crossmember. That is why I cut the ends of my crossmember then removed about 1" or so on both sides then welded the ends back on. See the 5th picture up from here in my original post. I feel for you having to cut up all that work and powder coat. Have you started a thread? Would love to see your project and meet you as well.

[Pontiacken]

Picked up the engine the other day and some other parts have come in as well:


Engine stands


Adapter brackets and mounts


Flexplate


Oil pan


Engine


I have enough parts in I need to get back to work. Will finish up with the spring pockets on the frame then mock up the engine and tranny so I can place and weld in the crossmember "shelves". Once that is done then the frame will go out for sandblasting and powder coating.

[Pontiacken]

Started mocking up the engine and transmission today and ran into a problem with clearance between the oil pan and engine cradle. See pictures below.



The pan just buries into the back of the cradle:




I have a full inch of clearance between the front of the oil pan and the cradle:


After making several measurements the engine appears to be forward about 5/8" from original


So I quess my questions are:
1. How much clearance is enough between the oil pan and the back of the engine cradle. 5/8" to 3/4" enough?

2. What is the minimum clearance allowable between the front part of the oil pan and the top of the engine cradle?

I would like some feed back on this because if I am going to have to move the engine stands I would like to do it once and account for both front to back and up and down.

Any pictures of your clearances from your LS3 to 66-67 A bodies would be great as well.

Thanks again-Ken

[CFster]

Huh. I have plenty of room. Hard to tell in this pic, but enough to run that big starter cable in front of the pan...



What kind of adapter plates and mounts are you using? These are mine -->





You've got your brackets bolted on the right way?

[CFster]

You also have to allow clearance for your tie-rod travel.

Mine will still hit at full lock, especially since I put the AFX spindles on it. They allow more lock.

[Pontiacken]

Colin,

I used the AutoKraft mounts because apparently Edelbrock quite selling those adapters plates by themselves. I checked everywhere. I could only get them by buying the whole conversion kit. There were different things about the kit I did not like such as the headers and the fact that the kit was based on a '64 Chevelle. Not sure the frame was close enough to the '66-'67.

Here is a pic of the AutoKraft adapter/mounts I have. I did put them on opposite sides from what AutoKraft has marked on them because it would have moved the engine 2 more inches forward from where it is now. They are beautifull just not quite right.



Thank you for the pics they will help a bunch!
Ken

[jgpclone]

sweet ride its going to b one bad ass lemans when ur done with it

[Code Red]

good luck with the build man

[StyleIn68]

I'd shoot for 1/2" min between the cross member and the pan. How is your firewall clearance going to be with the engine where it is now?

[Pontiacken]

I'd shoot for 1/2" min between the cross member and the pan. How is your firewall clearance going to be with the engine where it is now?

StyleIn68-

I think I will be able to get about 1" by moving my stands back as far as I can. Firewall clearance should not be an issue from what I have been reading and measuring.

Thanks-Ken

[armourmark]

Otherwise, get some 1" setback plates. Try carshop.com
Love the Build!

[Pontiacken]

Well I decided that moving the engine stands back would be the easiest and least expensive thing to do. So here are the results.

This is what I started with:


New holes drilled:


I tapped them for ease of install:


Engine stand reinstalled:


Engine and transmission reinstalled:


Oil pan clearance much improved:



Measurments make me believe I will have close to 5" to the firewall. All looking good I welded in the transmission crossmember brackets to the frame rails.

Measuments made and lines scribed:


Marked areas prepaired and brackets welded in:



Finished product:


The next post should be of the frame back from the powder coater and I can start putting the suspension on. YEA!!!!

[LeighP]

Nice work.

[Pontiacken]

Nice work.

Thank you Leigh. I just checked out your thread so right back at you with the "Nice Work". I loved my '71 Esprit. It had a 400 with a Turbo 400 trans. What I would give to have it back again!

[wmhjr]

Just a caution - I would make sure to measure carefully about how much you're setting the engine back. The external dimensions of the LX compared to a Pontiac Standard Block are different, however if you look at the frong upper shock perch hole, in a Pontiac motor that hole is slightly behind the center of the engine on my car with solid motor mounts in stock locations. That means my engine center is slightly FORWARD of the holes where the shock shafts come up through the perch. In order to safely remove my engine I not only need to remove tranny and scattershield, but I really also need to remove clutch, pressure plate and flywheel. If the LX is that much shorter (front to rear) then you're probably OK, but I know if I moved my motor back even a 1/4", I probably wouldn't be able to get the scattershield bolts off and there is no way the motor would come out.