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LTX and LSXPutting LT1s, LS1s, and their variants into Third Gens is becoming more popular. This board is for those who are doing and have done the swaps so they can discuss all of their technical aspects including repairs, swap info, and performance upgrades.
This is mainly a placeholder post to start my build thread, but considering how quickly the part acquisition is coming I figured I might as well start my thread.
Quick backstory:
I bought the car several years ago from a gentleman up in Oklahoma. My 79 Camaro had just been totaled by a scumbag who ran a redlight at 80mph and I needed another car. Honestly, I never had a high opinion of third gens and yet when I was scouring craigslist for cars I came across this one... Factory 305 with a T5, red on red with 169k miles. Guy wanted $3k, I talked him down to $2500 and drove it home, and fell in love with it. Her name is Vendetta, or V for short.
While there is nothing wrong with the stock rims, I still had my rims from my 79 (I kept the car for quite a while with the intention of fixing her) and wanted more rubber on the ground.
The last several years have yielded some developments, as per usual with these cars. Original clutch went out at 188K miles (not really the clutch.. the TO grenaded) and that was a fun time replacing everything. Developed a really bad misfire that took forever to place (even had 30+ year Chevy tech's at the dealership I worked at who couldn't figure it out) and finally pinpointed to the headgaskets. Slave cylinder exploded and shattered the bracket so had to replace both. Leak in the Diff. Removed smog crap and cat as it was clogged.. and yet it still ran like a bat out of hell. Mind you, I hate the 305 something fierce.
So, what prompted me to decide to swap in an LS motor? Besides the fact that Hotrod produced some amazing numbers with a mostly stock motor (I know, I know... most of you hate hearing about that article), I like the power, versatility and fuel mileage. What finally got me to start the swap? Trying to remove the heads to replace the gaskets and the stupid alternator and p/s bracket being bolted with Torx head bolts... and the bolt to the head at the top and the bolt to the block at the bottom stripping out and having no room to maneuver. So, here we are.
Editing this space to be a holding spot for important links, any and all video's and anything else that might be useful without having to search through the thread
Updated 2/26/16
Spreadsheet for all the parts I've bought for this swap so far. Includes prices, most have links and/or where I bought them from, and it's mostly up to date. I haven't really included any of the bodywork or paint stuff I've done, but I might add them in later.
I know that to mount the LT1 T56 up to an LS motor requires swapping out to the longer input shaft, changing the front cover and bell housing.. but is the bell housing absolutely necessary?
I ask for 2 reasons:
1. The trans I'm trading for has everything in it's current form, including the hydraulics, fork, bell housing etc and if I can make it work without having to replace everything that'd be nice.
2. The LT1 setup leaves it in same position as the T5 so I can reuse the driveshaft, torque arm setup etc. If I swap over the components to "make" it a LS1, can the same thing be said?
Edit: I'm lumping the 2nd and 3rd posts together so that I can use the 2nd post as a holding ground for relevant links, and video's etc.
I've spent probably close to 130-140 hours researching this subject (my job is pretty darn relaxed lol) and my build sheet is definitely long, but I've got 90% of the parts needed found, and have already bought a good amount. The goal is to have everything done by end of May/June at the latest!
I'm at work now so I can't really post up pics of everything I've got yet, but I'll update accordingly. The end goal is 1400 HP on demand. That won't happen until next year, mid-summerish, though. The goal for now is to get the swap in, and driveable asap. I've put a ton of time in research so that I won't come across many surprises, especially since so many have done something similar.
Here's the sitrep:
This past Monday, I acquired an 04 4.8 that had around 119k miles on it. Came complete with all manifolds, TB, mounts etc. for $400. Had it torn down to short block status in about an hour. Still need to pull the pan, front and rear covers, pistons and then everything will be off to the machine shop to get completely cleaned.
2 options there.. 1. A friend of mine has someone who owes him a favor and may do it all for free. 2. If that doesn't work out, about $120 at another place to get the block vatted/magnafluxed, heads cleaned, cam bearings replaced, pistons all cleaned up and all tolerances checked and confirmed. I can do most of this (short of the block and cam bearings due to lack of tools), but I figure since I'll have everything there I might as well get it all done at once.
Last night, I found a guy who has an LT1 T56 swap with 80k miles in his 91 Camaro and is looking for a WC T5. He's agreed to trade me everything he's got for the swap for everything related to my T5 +$600 and I'm taking it and running! Yes, I know it won't bolt up to the 4.8, yet. Planning on hitting up TDP to get the parts swapped over and the internals checked and upgraded so it's a moot issue. Especially since he's somewhat local to me.
Had someone who still owed me money who works at O'reilly (I used too), and so he traded that debt off by getting me a new 4.8 starter, F-body P/s pump and Alt. Saved myself a bit there.
Already have the P/S bracket and Montana pulley; about to get the alt bracket; need to get the F-body balancer; have the LS1 water pump; bought a complete Posi unit with 3.73 for the rear end (will eventually be buying a 8.8 or 9 inch for the end result); bought some of the elbows for the intake.
I'm in the hunt for an LS6 intake, which are pricey as hell. Still undecided on which fuel injectors I'm going to use, found my rails and it appears I can reuse the truck TB. Correct me if I'm wrong. Also, I've already spoken with Pocket and will be ordering what I need when he's got his website up and going.
I know that to mount the LT1 T56 up to an LS motor requires swapping out to the longer input shaft, changing the front cover and bell housing.. but is the bell housing absolutely necessary?
I ask for 2 reasons:
1. The trans I'm trading for has everything in it's current form, including the hydraulics, fork, bell housing etc and if I can make it work without having to replace everything that'd be nice.
2. The LT1 setup leaves it in same position as the T5 so I can reuse the driveshaft, torque arm setup etc. If I swap over the components to "make" it a LS1, can the same thing be said?
Yes, you have to do the bell housing. I'd sell that trans and buy an ls one but that's up to you. If you do a stock ls housing with an ls motor you can use the stock drive shaft too.
Honestly, I'm not going to sell it off. There are so few deals on LS ones that it isn't economical. I'd have to drop at least $3k on the components compared to the $600 for the majority of what I need, plus another $250-300 on the conversion parts.
What if I don't plan to do the hydraulic TO bearing and keep the fork setup instead?
well I guess I'm not 100% sure but a bell housing alone is $200ish plus the hydraulics, input shaft, and adapter plate (200) etc. Ls1 t56 is prob worth 1800. Lt1 say 1200. So if you can't find one, do the swap. Search on it some...
I have searched. Quite a bit, actually. Most of it is conflicting. On some threads, people have said just the input shaft and front cover. Including some high profile car magazines.
Yet on others, it's also the bellhousing and hydraulics.
Also, those prices are a bit low. Most want about $2500 for the Ls1 T56 unless it has problems.
Anyhoo, we'll see what happens. Depending on the look of things Saturday should decide the outcome.
Sadly, she doesn't look as clean as she did when I first got her. Having to park outside the garage + harsh Texas sun + stupid neighborhood kids egging her a few times has caused the paint to fade and clearcoat to peel.
But, right now I care about the innards more than the outtards. She'll be getting some paint loving later, but for now she needs a new heart and brain. Thankfully, the interior is still in great condition, albeit needing some cleaning. All of which will be addressed as the swap goes on.
After looking into it more since yesterday, and doing some really deep thinking I'm going to continue on with the plan to swap for that LT1 T56. I'll be in the hole about 500 more on top of the cost, but that's still substantially less than the $2500-3k minimum you find trans for right now. And that doesn't take into account me selling off the LT1 parts. I know I can't get THAT much for them, but anything is better than nothing.
As a side note/comedy moment: My wife is giving me a hard time (all in jest) about how giddy this project is making me... she wasn't around when I was spending all hours of the night wrenching on my 79 Camaro, or my bikes so this is a side she hasn't really seen. lol
T5... Goodbye, old friend. Fond memories of tearing up 3 transmission mounts behind the all stock 305 aside, I'll enjoy my 6-speed far more, I believe!
Did the trade with the guy for his 80k mile LT1 T56. Sourced the LS1 input shaft and front cover for about $150 a piece, and now just need the hydraulics, clutch setup and bell housing! Definitely stoked! Will post up pics later of it.. was sick yesterday/doc appt so didn't really take any. Even after buying all for the LT1/LS1 swap, I'll STILL be below the cost of an LS1 T56 by itself. Some hack had the gall to offer to sell me just the T56 itself (not including bell, clutch setup, shifter, crossmember, etc..) for $2100! Smh.. Budget build, sir... budget build.
Small update: If all goes well, I should have a bellhousing for an excellent price shipped out on Saturday thanks to a member here. So, it should bring my total swap for the T56 (including converting it) to right around $1200, which is a helluva deal.
Plans for this weekend are to get the car turned around so the nose faces the driveway in the garage. Then, hot-wiring the fuel pump so that I can siphon out the full tank of gas that I had gotten right before it decided it didn't want to drive any more lol.
Ordered a full front end kit for only $133! Not high performance stuff, but that's okay for right now... she needs all new tie rods, center link, idler arm, pitman, bushings etc. so I figure while I'm acquiring the rest of the parts I need for the engine/trans, I'll replace all the front end stuff as well as replace the rotors, bearings and pads, suspension links and start work on the rear axle and gas tank.
Quick question regarding O2 sensors:
For those that have done the swap, and retained the 2 front sensors, which ones did you go with? The sensors that go with your respective engine? Any specific type?
For the LT1 trans on the LSx engine, bolt it up and measure. I did some fiddling with a LT1 T56 and was content only to need a spacer between the BH and midplate. It was never finalized, so I cant say thats all thats needed, but its not impossible
Thanks, Pocket. I thought about trying to make it work, but then I found some good deals on the input and front plate and a member on here sold me a LS1 bell housing for a great price so I'll only be in the trans for about $1200 total, including the cost of the trans itself.
Small update: Driving down to Austin with my wife on Saturday as she has a workshop she's attending and then a show that evening. During a lull period at work, I just so happened to look at Austin's CL and lo and behold there's a guy selling a full LS6 intake with TB, rails and injectors for a great price! So, while she's doing her workshop I'm going to try to be working a deal lol.
Also, just waiting on the axle seals to come in then I'm going to drop the rear out of the car, take it apart and completely clean it up, paint it with POR15 I have laying around and swap my posi/3.73's in. Also going to empty the tank and drop it so I can clean it out. Still need to buy the walbro pump and all the fittings and braided line to replace the fuel lines, but I have a couple of weeks so that'll be no issue.
Since I have quite a few more engine-related parts to buy, and also need to send the block, internals and heads off to the machine shop, I decided instead of being idle waiting that I'll start with what I do have. What that means is working back to front! lol
I have everything needed to redo the rear end (except for sway bar links, as I discovered but that's no biggie), so time to pull it out!
Dismantling has begun! First out is the rear axle. Took about an hour
Shot of the leaking pumpkin.
Annnd she's out. Used my transmission jack to raise/lower it while I worked on it. Made it easy-peasy to manuever and roll out from under the car.
#1 trouble spot. Pinion seal. Has been leaking for quite a while and has coated the case, torque arm and part of the underside in nasty, grimy, sticky oil gunk.
Another shot to show how bad it is.
Problem #2 trouble spot I didn't know existed until I pulled it. Looks like the wheel cylinder is leaking. Driver side. Means I've got to replace it.
The culprit.
Problem #3 the rear cover is leaking. Honestly, most of it is from the pinion leak creeping back but there's still a small leak. What you don't see is problem #4 which is the carrier inside. After cleaning and painting it I'll be putting new gears and a posi unit, as well as new axle bearings.
Thanks to Dallas getting iced over, everything is on hold thanks to lack of space in the garage. I have to move the bikes out into the driveway to work, which sucks but I have no choice. After it clears up (tomorrow or Wednesday), I'll be completely dismantling, degreasing, painting with POR15 and reassembling it to go back in. But, before that, need to drop the tank, clean it out, buy the fuel pump and swap it in. My original plan called for the vette filter and line swap, but I acquired this this weekend:
And now I'm wondering if I can't just use the fuel rail w/regulator that's on it? There won't be a return line, which is the only downside I see. Unless I go with the vette filter AND that (which seems overkill).
Having a hard time finding the answer to my question using search. Can anyone chime in on the use of the fuel rail w/regulator that came with the intake as opposed to going with the Vette filter and aftermarket rails?
Okay... so lots more digging and reading has turned up that it's just a dampener. So, Vette filter is a go.
Thanks to Texas weather AGAIN, my plans are somewhat in a holding pattern. I had planned on getting the rear axle apart, painted, and put back together by Sunday, but we'll see. Been snowing here hard for 5 hours now, and with limited space it's a PITA. Plus, still need to wire wheel some more of the case.
So, small but important steps already taken. Some have told me I wasn't the smartest for scraping, using the wire brush and degreaser, and hosing it down when it was 33 degrees out, but eff it. lol
From this:
To this:
Wider shot:
This stuff was on there thick. 2 hours of scrapping before I realized I could just wire wheel it. Need to pick up a couple more multi-packs of them and I should be good to go.
Also ordered my fuel pump kit today, as well as the LS additive and I grabbed a 9.5" tablet cheap I'm going to use to monitor the engine functions/read outs for current and future use when I start to tune it myself.
Started Saturday nice and early ready to get a lot of work done even with the snow/sleet coming down. I roll out the rear-end, pull the cover and let it drain. Oil actually looked pretty good, and it appears as if someone replaced the bearings and oil before I got the car... which makes you wonder why they didn't replace the pinion seal. I hose down the pinion shaft bolt with liquid wrench, apply the torch to the area to heat it up aaaaanddd.. loosen the bolt! But wait, as it's coming out, all of a sudden it snaps.
No amount of heating, attempting to turn it out with a pick and beating on it got it to move the way it should. I spent a good 1.5 hours trying to drill enough of a hole to get an extractor in there but no dice. At this point, I'm soaked, pissed off and on the verge of saying screw it and finding another rear-end. Took a break, looked it up, found the extractor kit for exactly this purpose and ordered it. Won't have it until this upcoming weekend, darn it all but here's to hoping it'll work as described since I went ahead and painted the case/tubes with the POR-15. lol I felt like I needed to accomplish SOMETHING... don't judge me.
Waiting on my fuel pump, tablet and bluetooth dongle and the goal this week while waiting on the extraction kit is to get the tank drained, removed, cleaned out and hopefully no further hiccups. So many conflicting fuel diagrams out there, but I think I've narrowed down which I'm going with. Just need another $280 to order all the fuel line parts.
Got the extractor kit in last Wednesday. Went to work on it Thursday night. I drilled for quite a while and finally had enough of a hole to get the extractor to bite. Wrenched on it, wrenched on it and then... .the extractor broke off IN the bolt. That was WITH getting the extractor loose, drilling some more and trying again. Such a simple task made impossible by the previous person who did the rear end (oh yes, it was worked on before). I haven't been that pissed in a long time, but I stepped away and did something else.
Friday... took the day off due to certain circumstances. Dropped the wife off at work, went home, called around and decided to let a trans/rear axle shop fix my problem for me. Everyone wanted upwards of $300 just to drill out the bolt!? I told most of them I'd buy another rear end for less than that before I chunk that kind of cash down... finally got recommended another place, they'd do it for $35. I get there, and within a minute they had it knocked out.. My efforts hadn't been completely wasted as there was only about a 1/4 inch of bolt left in the rod and it took a good smack from a sledge to break it off. Anyway, for my $35, they went ahead and pulled the carrier, knocked out all the bearings and races/seals and I have a completely bare unit to work with! Yay! Somehow missing my beam torque wrench so now waiting on another to come in.
Also decided to finish tearing apart my motor and drop it off at the machine shop as they are overloaded with work and it'll take at LEAST 2.5 weeks to get to it, if not more. I'd like to know if the motor is still good before my May deadline so it made sense, especially as they aren't open weekends and I get home late from work. Here's what I gathered during the tear down:
1. Lifters are absolutely nasty. Pulled the trays, and they were all stuck in the block. Magnet didn't work, ended up having to use long needle-nose pliers and twisting motion to get them out. After looking at the prices for LS7 lifters, I'm debating taking them apart and cleaning them for now. Input and advice on this would be great.
2. Pistons have decent carbon build up. However, they still look pretty good, so I'm going to clean them up and reuse them for now to continue the experiment. New rings are a must, of course.
3. The sludge that was in the motor was pretty ugly. I instructed the shop that I wanted the WHOLE THING cleaned out. Oil passages, water jacket etc. Crank is getting polished at a minimum, and I'm hoping it doesn't need to be ground. There was a SMALL lip on the cylinder walls, so a quick-hone will be done. Nothing excessive.
4. Edit: Scratch the head questions. Considering the cost, I'm putting off doing any serious head work right now. For the cam I wanted, I most certainly have to get it milled and bigger intake valves, but the cost of doing it PLUS the cost of the cam, not to mention lifters, springs etc. is just prohibitive for when I want the car running and driving. I'll have to make do with a different cam, and maybe by the end of this year I'll pull the heads, or obtain an extra set and get it done.
Thanks to rain, didn't do much outside of tore stuff out of the engine bay. Most of the harness is out, as well as all the old, beat up A/C components, evap canister etc. My nephew will be here this weekend to help (wants to become a tech, doesn't know much about turning wrenches so figure I'd give him an edumacation as well as have a tool monkey on hand), and the plan is to pull the old motor out, and prep the bay for paint.
2) Measure the skirts. If they're within spec and not scuffed up badly, reuse them
3) Hot tank should do it. Be sure to remove the oil plug and dumbell in the rear. These are dealer only items too, but not expensive. The remaining plugs are all threaded and can be reused as long as the threads arent jacked
4) Look into 243's/799's. The market is flooded with them from LS4s and late model 5.3's all having them. Not a hard find at $3-400. Valve job and rock on
That's actually a lot better deal than what I was looking at getting. I'm going to attempt to clean up what I have for now, but I've got that noted on my build sheet. Thanks!
This weekend is going to be very busy, but I had planned on checking them out. Outside of looking used, I'm surprised at how good the pistons look.
Yup, getting the works done on it. While it may not be completely necessary, it's getting hot tanked, magnafluxed and a general once over. I want that thing CLEAN!
I have been. That'll be a later addition though. The heads I've got will work well and I'm going to go ahead and throw either some LS6 springs or a set of PSI LS1511ML's that are going for cheap. Depends on if I win them. lol That'll take care of the lift issue I was going to have with the cam I want.
Got a decent amount of work done this weekend. Not as much as I had hoped, but enough to where I feel somewhat accomplished.
As stated before, had my nephew over because he wants to turn wrenches for a living, and what better way to start learning than removing stuff from a car and tinkering? Allowed me to do other things while I set him to tasks. lol Also wound up having my younger bro's come over Sunday to learn how to remove the engine and wrench.
Old, tired, POS 305 finally out. Weather was kind enough to stay nice for a while.
You can see the ugliness... smh
The slightly bare engine bay. Time to start removing more things, cleaning it up, relocating the brake lines, and painting it.
My helpers.
I also dropped the tank and cleaned it out. Shockingly, it wasn't that bad. Just a few broken pieces of plastic from the bucket. Sock was black as coal, though. Swapped out the pump for my Walbro 255 while I was at it. Need to buy the fittings so I can run the new fuel lines, but that'll have to wait a week or so. Didn't get a picture of it because everyone here has seen tons of them, lol. I need to pull it back out though because I forgot to test it, so maybe then.
Pulled the harness completely out with minimal cutting. C207 is easy to take out once you remove the bolt and fiddle with it some. Only cut wires were the wires going to the block near the battery (fused together) and 2 engine grounds on the back of the driver side... somebody really smart clamped them so tight between 2 nuts that it wouldn't break loose and I had to cut it off. Left enough slack for new connectors so no biggie.
Attempted to get my diff put together and succeeded in knowing I either need to fork out the cash for a press, or just pay a damn shop to get it done. I don't want to do either, but I can't get the pinion depth right without removing the previous bearing, and my backlash is horrible. I've done a few of these and never had issues, but I had access to a press. Not to mention I found out someone made off with my inch/pound torque wrench, and some of my tools are also missing. So, $250 for the tools, or $300 for the shop to get it done... I severely dislike other people doing my work for me, but I'm at the point where I am starting to hate this rear end. Granted, I might find the stuff cheaper used, but space is an issue...
Worked on the engine bay removing most of the components. Leaving the brake master and booster because I really don't want to go through that removal process again.. Wasn't fun last time, and I highly doubt it'll be fun the next time. I'll just wrap them up when I paint. There's not a whole lot I can do thanks to the rear diff still not ready for reinstallation. I'm about to break down and convince the wife to let me get the shop press so I can just get it finished and move on.
Now, for my question:
Came across the thread about repurposing the T5 master to work with the T56. I'm leaning that way due to it being cheaper (for now), but I've never used SS line before, and after hours of searching, I can't seem to find a walkthrough on how to actually build a SS clutch/brake line using fittings and SS hose. Can anyone enlighten me on this, please?
Previous question still stands. Any info on how to build the line?
Also, another weekend come and gone. I went and bought a 20-ton shop press to get this stupid rear-end done (because I didn't, and still don't, want to spend $300 for a shop to do what I SHOULD be capable of doing). Pulled the bearing off the pinion no problem. Hollowed out my extra bearings for pinion depth. Spent 8.5 hours... 8.5!! on it Saturday and got absolutely nowhere on it. I had to have installed and removed the carrier at least 40 times. Incredibly frustrating. Can't get the tooth pattern the way I want it, and backlash was being a PITA.
Stepped away yesterday, found my good quality Mic (measures up to ten thousand's of an inch), micced up my shims again (cheap @#%$@ mic) and marked them and I'll be starting over again tonight. Trying to install this thing from complete scratch has been a 3 week nightmare, but I refuse to give up. I've almost half a mind to get it as close as I can, reinstall under the car and continue on and work on all the other prep things that need to be done just so I can feel like I'm accomplishing something, and come back to it later.
TL : DR - This is what to avoid when rebuilding the rear end. KEEP YOUR STOCK SHIMS! Somehow mine got mixed up/misplaced when I got everything removed and I have no starting position. Oh! And the pinion in the locker/gearset replacement didn't even have a shim..
formulakiller did a good write up modifying the 3rd gen master to accept the 4th gen line. IIRC, he simply opened the fitting bore slightly with a dremel. Alternatively you can find a local hydraulics shop and tell them to find a fitting that works. The shop I went to had all the stuff in stock which never happens for me
It was his thread that prompted the idea, and I plan on following it but I suppose I didn't word it correctly. I'm just curious how to assemble the line using the roll of SS line and the fittings, as I've not seen anything on how to do it/done it myself. But, I'm about to order all of my fuel line fittings tomorrow and that's practically the same stuff so I'll figure it out.
Small high pressure lines like those need to be crimped. Thats not something you can do without a press and special dies. I have seen reusable fittings similar to -6 stuff commonly used for fuel and oil systems, but I wouldnt trust them. Those assemble just like any braided line to fitting. FYI, the smaller the line, the harder it is to assemble the ends
Ahh. I see. I actually had to go out and buy a 20-ton shop press for this rear end.. I'll do some digging to see if I can find the correct die. Thank you, sir!
I just happened to browse Russell's site and found their how-to to making fuel/clutch lines. Wish I had thought to look before.
Had to fix one of my renters/friends Honda this weekend... damn, I hate Honda's. Took up my entire Saturday but he has a running car again.
Worked on Sunday on my rear end since I finally got an inch/pound beam torque wrench. Pinion shim kit I had picked up was WAAAY limited. Thinnest shim I had was a .020, and I need about a .012-.015 so I had to order a new kit. Will be here tomorrow, and the rear end should be buttoned up and finished finally. Fuel line fittings/hose are on their way and then I can be done with this accursed rear half of the car... for now.
After almost 4 weeks of agony with this rear end, I can confidently, and with relief, say that it is finally done. Shim kit came in and I guessed correctly on the shim size I needed and torqued everything to spec. Axles in, locker works wonderfully and all cleaned up. Somehow, I couldn't find the black RTV I thought I had so I'll be sealing up the cover when I get home, filling up the oil/additive and getting it ready to go back under the car. No pictures thanks to it raining last night, but I'll fix that later tonight.
Fuel line and fittings are expected to arrive today so I'll get to work on that and knock out the harness and fuel line going to the front of the car by this weekend. Goal is to have the car rolling in and out by Saturday so I can clean up the engine bay, get it sanded down and primed for paint.
Machine shop is finishing up and I'll have my block, crank, and heads next week. They had to grind the crank down, so it's now .010/.010. Looking into the bearings, and I came across a helluva deal on some King's that include main/rod. Can anyone chime in and give me their opinion on King? Reviews I've read have most people recommending them over Clevite quite heavily.
Having to start from complete scratch on all measurements, instead of using the factory measurements as a guideline, really was not a fun process.
But... Fresh paint, fresh gears, fresh start. The locker was a steal! Amazing condition and it'll definitely be more peppy with the 3.73's instead of the 3.08's that were factory and having both wheels pushing instead of just one will be fantastic!
Picture of the finish
I decided to paint the drums to match because why have an all black, clean looking rear end and having rusty looking drums?
The drums/shoes have plenty of life left, so I didn't see the point in spending more $$$ on them right now. Besides, this time next year I should have a 9-inch with disc brakes under the car, hopefully.
False alarm on the fuel line fittings.... I got 1 fitting, and the hose... and no tracking info on the rest of the fittings until this morning. Sooo, Saturday looks like fuel line day. /sigh
This past weekend was very busy. Took all day yesterday as my "work on the car" day and ended up putting in a solid 9 hours.
Went and picked up a bench vise and a stand for my bench grinder... I've been needing one for forever, and I definitely was not going to come up with an alternative way to make the fuel lines.
Before reinstalling the tank Saturday night, I tried to test the pump... no dice, took it back out and found the in-tank plug had come apart... thought that was odd, but okay. Reconnected it, put it back together and it tested perfect. Installed it in the car, called it a day.
Sunday was the "goal" day. Dropped the tank again because I forgot the fuel door. Got that all buttoned up, reinstalled and good to go.
Made my feed and return lines as well as mounted up the fuel filter. I put it in the stock location for lack of a better spot, but removed the stock bracket and bolted the filter straight to the body. I'm not 100% fond of it being exposed, so I plan on fabricating a cover or some such to help protect it further. I held off making the feed line to the intake for now as I didn't want it to get in the way of cleaning/painting.
Got the rear end bolted back up, and rolling. Went with the poly sway bar links/bushings and those things are a nightmare to get bolted up properly... ended up having to enlist help putting it on due to it giving me a hard time. But, she's rolling now.
Got a great idea for the interior, but it's going to be a secret until it's finished!
Next couple of days will consist of scrubbing the engine bay clean, removing the steering shaft and gear, and maybe painting the engine bay this up coming weekend!
Welp... got the harebrained idea of removing the steering components and sway bar/links before rolling it out to clean and prep... boy, did that bite me in the posterior.
Saturday: From what it looks like, all original tie rods, idler arm, sway bar bushings and sway bar links, as well as ball joints... no pictures right now but it was bad... driver side link wouldn't drop out of the control arm like the other side did. Even after wailing on it with a BFH, it didn't budge. Now, keep in mind I had decided against doing the CA bushings and ball joints because I am going to be swapping to a tubular k-member and a-arms end of this year/early next year, but thanks to that link not coming out and me having a press I felt like I had no choice but to remove the a-arm and do the whole thing.
Fast forward to yesterday... after fighting the coil out (chain idea worked well.. otherwise, someone would have died... sheesh, that thing was under a load!), not only are the bushings seized, but I couldn't even get to them with the press and the ball joint popped out with enough force to kill an elephant. I dislike the idea, but I'm dropping the other a-arm, and having both taken to a shop to get them to pop out and in the bushings and install the ball joints for me.
While I'm at it, I'm going to go ahead and drop the k-member and paint it. I hated the idea of having the engine bay be painted and nice looking, and the rusty old k-member being ugly. I especially hated the idea of only painting the exposed parts of the k-member, so I guess this will work out for the best.. I'm debating working out a system to roll the front of the car out of the garage so I can clean the bay with everything out, but not sure yet.
Side note, and something I do have a picture of:
Found inside one of the seat covers. I need to double check to see, but I think this is my car's birth date.
Went ahead and took off the other A-arm last night... decided since I was halfway there, I might as well go the whole nine-yards and be done with it. Man, was I glad I did!
I present to you.... Passenger side ball joint!
This is the aftermath from the pickle fork... BUT! It was already shot. Quite a lot of dried grease was caked on and around the whole ball joint. That thing was ugly, and when I pressed it out, it definitely didn't have the force the other side had.
Next up:
The struts... pretty sure they are shot as I could compress them with one arm... granted, it wasn't THAT easy, but they didn't have as much resistance as they should. Which means more, but necessary, expense. I actually picked up a set of KYB struts and shocks off fleabay new for $145.
A shot from the side with everything out:
Having the proper tools definitely helped. Internal spring compressor was a damn fine purchase, and made the RH side removal take less than an hour, by myself. I'm doubly glad I removed everything because the coil didn't even have an isolater at the top!
Plan tonight is to drop the K-member. Going to hope I have enough POR-15 to coat it properly. Control arms will have new bushings and ball joints as well. Need to come up with a way to roll the car out of the garage so that I can scrub the bay since 90% of it is empty now, and check/remove the strut mounts.
Dropped the k-member last night... came out surprisingly easy, compared to what other people have had to do. Just dropped right out (after maneuvering it around the brake lines). It also was not as heavy as others made it seem, which was nice.
Couldn't bust loose the struts from the mounts, so ended up just taking them all off at once... yet another expense! Mounts are completely shot... dry rot, ripped rubber, and more $$$ out of my pocket. Already ordered a kit, just to get it out of the way and done with.
Now the fun part... putting into action my idea of holding up the front end and pulling the car out of the garage far enough to hose down and scrub the engine bay clean.
Going to have to be Sunday before I can clean the engine bay. A lot of other things going on.
Decided to clean up the k-member and paint it last night. Did not come out as good as I had hoped, but I'm not to bent out of shape over it. Once the engine is in, it'll obscure it... and besides, I'm upgrading later.
I'm debating topcoating it. Ran out of POR-15 and it won't be until next week at the minimum before I have more.
I use tractor paint for blocks, suspension and chassis stuff. Basically brush-on powder coating. Goes on thick, then smooths itself out so the brush lines usually go away. Tough as nails after it fully cures
I'm looking into painting the block, so I might get some of that for this. The k-member was the last thing I was painting with the POR... there really isn't any rust anywhere else.
Sunday, I hooked up my engine hoist and hauled the car out of the garage. Conveniently, there are 2 hook points that are about even with the radiator support on the frame. Was an exercise in patience, but it rolled right out and allowed me to get to work.
For the record: POR-15's degreaser is wonder stuff. I don't think I'll buy any other degreaser again.
Years of power steering leaks, road grime, and general engine grime, as well as road deposits lodging into the rad support created a challenge... and the degreaser cut right through all of that!
Setup worked very well.
After scrubbing and light scuffing with a scotchbrite pad:
Firewall all scrubbed and scuffed. Redoing the tape to better hold out paint.
The paint on the driver side came off with the scrub brush, but left the factory primer on. Not fond of that, as I was going to use the factory paint as the base for the new paint, but I'll sand the edges down to match and be done with it.
There were only 3 exposed metal spots in the whole engine bay, and none of them were larger than a penny. However, it seems the battery tray has suffered the most... it's the only spot on the entire car that is rusty... and it's bad. Unfortunately, I don't know how to weld so I'm going to seal it with more POR-15, and hope that it holds until I can relocate the battery to the trunk.
Bit of good news... no, I'm wrong. GREAT news! Snagging a set of PSI 1511's for $100... couldn't be happier, especially after doing research on them and reading everyone's thoughts. Stock retainers for right now, but when I swap heads later on down the road I'll be replacing them with titanium. Pretty stoked about finding this deal.
Lol! Trust me, I'm still surprised. Only lick of rust is the battery tray (where 90% of it is), and under the rockers on each side at the weld points.. and they aren't that bad.
Got everything taped off last night. Supposed to be really stormy tonight, so I'll just be laying/hanging plastic for the over-spray. If all goes well, I should be painting the bay this weekend. I NEED to get this moving quicker, and the painting is the biggest hurdle.
Also got some rattle can painting done. No pictures yet, but I'll take some later. Think it turned out really well.
Still need oil pan kit, cam, lifters and pushrods to get the engine assembled. And, I need to get the harness from Pocket, which needs to happen very soon. STILL SO MUCH TO BUY!
My weekend was anything but idle. I'll let the picture dump explain.
My temporary paint booth. Took about 2 hours to get the plastic cut, and taped up properly.
Didn't have time to order more POR-15, so I taped up the battery tray and will go over it once I get more.
My masking job on the master/booster and the corner.
Passenger side
Now, before I continue, I want to remind everyone that it was my first time spraying. I've never painted using anything other than a spray can. So, with that said, I've definitely learned from this experience:
1. I like using a paint gun.
2. The $20 harbor freight HPLV gun is a damn good tool.
3. VENTILATION! I thought since it was a small area I could get away with natural ventilation. WRONG! When I paint the car, I'll be increasing my estimated fans from 4 to 6 after how the engine bay went...
4. Painting from INSIDE the engine bay sucks. Cramped, no way to take a break, and it was hot as hell. And, with the desiccant and regulator on the end of the spray gun, it was hard to maneuver into the small spots. But, I did it.
The following pictures don't do the paint justice. It's not a professional-grade job, but I'm happy with it. A couple of minor things, but most of them will be covered up by engine bay components so I'm not sweating the small stuff.
Some dust in this picture, but it wipes off. Paint has no outside contaminants, which makes me happy.
And, lastly the paint. This stuff is amazing. Affordable, goes on great, mixes really well, and it dries in no time. 10-15 minute flash time, but realistically it was dry to the touch in about 10 minutes.
I used engine enamel, and I think they came out great. I used enamel clear on them, and I'm not sure I liked it. It dulled the shine down some, which I can't really complain about as the car will be satin.
Here's the control arm. Black engine enamel, also with clearcoat. I think I'm shelving the clear coat.
Front sway bar and k-member braces done.
Engine bay as it sits now. K-member is in, brake lines are bolted in. Still need to massage them some more to clear the steering shaft.
I wirewheeled and degreased my steering gear, and spent most of yesterday cleaning out trash and reorganizing the garage. Still have a ways to go, but forward progress is forward progress.
Thanks! I do too. Pictures really don't do it justice.
Spent most of last night gallivanting across town trying to find a place that had the proper steel tubing needed to mod the internal spring compressor so the threads wouldn't bottom out. Finally found a place, and by the time I got home and had measured and hacksawed the pipe, I was done for the night.
Going to dissemble the spindles, clean and paint the knuckle, and then get the front end put back together this weekend so that I can have a roller again... after, of course, getting all the brake components for up front. lol
It's seriously great stuff. Got mine off of Amazon in a gallon concentrate. I mixed it 3:1 (concentrate, water) due to how much grime there was. Scrubbed it, rinsed, sprayed more... rinse, repeat. Took off some of the old paint, but didn't even mess with the factory primer. And, after light scuffing, it was a great base and I didn't need to lay primer.
I've used it to clean everything, so far. Years of grime gets loosened up, and whatever doesn't get scrubbed off comes off easily with a wirewheel.
Well, this past weekend was reasonably productive. I got some important things done. However, progress will be touch and go for a while thanks to my daughter being rushed to the hospital.
But, progress report:
Saturday was mostly painting, prep work, cleaning, and building. Broke the knuckles down to just knuckle and spindle, cleaned and painted them. Also cleaned and painted my LS6 intake and the blower/evap box as it was beyond ugly. No pictures of either yet, but when I get some free time at home, I'll take some. Also put my bench grinder stand together and swapped out one of the stones for a brass wire wheel.
Sunday, we put the struts, coils and knuckles back together. Even with the awesome spring compressor, it was a huge PITA! Had to have 2 of my roommates/renters stand INSIDE the car on the k-member and my nephew pushing down on the fender to gain that last inch to put the strut bolts through on the driver side. Passenger side was much easier. Unfortunately, as I suspected, the paint on the coils got scraped to hell and back again, but I'm just going to touch them up and be done with it for now.
Passenger side
Driver Side
Engine bay as it sits now. Got the brake lines massaged behind the steer shaft, steering gear bolted in place, most of the tape off. Still need to cut the hole for the harness.
And, finally, using the brass wheel (gently!), I had my nephew start to clean all of the carbon and gunk off. Still need to go get a small wheel for the ring lands but overall I'm very happy with how good a shape the pistons are in.
02-05-2015, 12:26 PM
Need to pick up a couple more multi-packs of them and I should be good to go. 
That was WITH getting the extractor loose, drilling some more and trying again. Such a simple task made impossible by the previous person who did the rear end (oh yes, it was worked on before). I haven't been that pissed in a long time, but I stepped away and did something else.
I told most of them I'd buy another rear end for less than that before I chunk that kind of cash down... finally got recommended another place, they'd do it for $35. I get there, and within a minute they had it knocked out.. My efforts hadn't been completely wasted as there was only about a 1/4 inch of bolt left in the rod and it took a good smack from a sledge to break it off. 
