Quote: Originally Posted by Neil Well, the SES won't be hooked up, so it can stay in the cluster. Hell yeah I want to drive it.....this is a true test of my patience! my check engine light is not hooked up and it shines bright.

I was just thinking that my self while trying to find the thread again after a few weeks break from the board. Sticky please. Sooo, do you have a spot lined up for SEMA, NY and LA auto shows? Possibly a spot as the Pace Car at a Nascar race? Hmm? Me thinks I would like to see this seductive lady with a hard lined attitude on 4 wheels doing the round about on a track and the dance of speed at Watkins Glen.

No, no spot at SEMA, but that would be cool! I just watched the SEMA '08 show on the Speed channel a few days ago and the cars those cars are sick!!!

Well, I finished the brake line install under the car, now have to bend and flare the fittings for the master cylinder connection.

After getting the Billet Specialties Tru Trac kit in last week, I couldn't wait to get it installed!!!

more.....

=O wow, im in love

and more....

J8sus Neil, I thought I had a sickness with the $'s spent on my ride, you've got me beat, LOL. That new pulley setup is sweet. You're project is the next step IMO because its a LSX.
I see you're in Houston, I'm in Houston for a week again in April for training.

i only read to page 13, but is this car FINISHED YET?? ithoght you were talking March of 2007 on page 12 i think/

something tells me a car like this will never be "finished" great looking engine.

Keep reading.....still have more to go and have made alot of changes along the way and of course work prevented me from keeping my focus on this project. Will be ordering the Big Stuff III (DFI) this week probably.

Yeah, you are right! I intend to get this thing running before the interior is completely buttoned up. For example, the stereo will wait until I hear that engine purrrrr!

Neil, I have nothing unique to say after going through all 34-pages today. I'm completely and totally impressed with all of the work done on your ride and it's looking sick! I do have a question concerning the Hogan intake though. Are they custom built for the application or only built for specific types of engines. I love the look of the sheetmetal intake and would love to see something like that sitting on top of my GenI TPI car. Looking forward to seeing the completed car...I'll definately be checking back to see the progress.

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OK.....If custom widened rear quarters/custom WIDE rear wheels/custom rear LCAs/a custom intaked/LSX 454 isn't "Big Stuff"..............

I can't WAIT to see what you call is!

Big Stuff III is a stand-alone engine management system... AKA DFI.

somebody should publish your thread.. make it a book or something lol. everybody seems to take the 3 hours out of their lives to read the entire thread haha.

Patrick, the Hogan intakes are custom built for your application. So, any design you can think of, they can pretty much build. They actually have some pretty cool intakes in their catalog for the L98 or TPI engine, I think you can download it from their website.

Yeah, that would be great and condense it down somewhat! Initially when I started this thread I guess I could have started different ones pertaining to the specific build, but that would have been more difficult IMO to keep up with.

I can't believe how many pages this thread has grown to! Soon hopefully I can post some video's! But I keep running into issues that slow me down. For example, the valley cover which goes under the intake to seal up the engine does not fit!!! It sucks when you get a new part from the stealership and it doesn't bolt on, of course I shouldn't complain because I am customizing everything. The problem is the cylinder heads over-hang ever so slightly into the valley cover seal-surface area, so the gasket and cover plate do not sit flush. So, I broke out the RotoZip and thought I would carefully cut approx 1/8" from each side of the gasket and cover plate. Starting with the gasket (the gasket is aluminum with impregnated rubber) I taped it and started cutting.....BAD IDEA! The aluminum got too hot, started to weaken and bend...oh and the rubber started to peal away from the aluminum frame! So, I pulled out the hacksaw and hacked away for about 30 minutes and removed only 1+ inch of material. That sucked so I put it away, closed the garage door and called it a day! If anyone has any ideas to efficiently cut this gasket I would greatly appreciate them, thanks! Trimming the cover plate down should not be a problem since it is much thicker and has no rubber.

Thanks Neil. I downloaded it when I got home and yes....some very awesome intakes to be had. I can only imagine the hard on it gives when you open the hood and there is that sexy intake sitting atop that kickass motor. Better start saving up my pennies now...

bandsaw w/ a metal blade. Keep spraying something like pb blaster on it to keep it cool and lube the blade.

could you use just a razor to cut the rubber? any pics of what you're dealing with?

X2 on the bandsaw method, that should work well

yes Neil,issues upon issues!!lol

I like the complete thread with everything in the bag! Like you said,keeps it simple.

Maybe you can present this beast the same day the 5th gen. camaro hits the market.

Oh wait,bad idea! Everyone there will want to buy your car instead!

Well timmy, hate to burst your bubble but the 5th gen is out as of the beginning of this week.

www.camaro5.com

Anyhow, Cant wait to see it in July at the Bar B Que Neil. Keep up the good work!

July is coming up...... tick, tick,, tick,tick.......

What all do you have left besides trimming the intake valley pan and wiring up the Big3?

Did you setup the TPS and IAC housing yet?

Is there anything that you really need the extra help to finish in order to make the show? Or is the rest small stuff?

Let me know, I'll be up there for a weekend to help sometime in May most likely.

P.S. - I drove mine yesterday!

I am just completely floored. There are no words for this coolness...but this can probably describe my current mood after I saw that engine:

the end resualts of this project are going to be a car from hell it will levae fire where it goes, people will be dumb founded that they have seen the chariot only satan him self could ride in. You are a dream kille because no one can match you in you work dreams of having the best 3rdgen are over the award belongs to you. My only question man how the hell do you have so mutch free time i had to request 2 days off just to pull my lt1 out of a roadmaster.

ps: dam i hope you drive to new york it would be an honor to shake your hand in person in respect because I dont think anyone on this bored can show anything but respect for what you have done and are now finishing.
Im with mr I Rocz my mouth is floored

For the cover plate and alum. framed gasket... Know anyone with waterjet access?? Those things are friggin awesome for making quick clean cuts. They could zip the cover and gasket pretty quick...and probably pretty cheap.

If you could find a big belt sander you could try that. It would help keep it straight...just take your time so it doesnt overheat it.

Alum is very forgiving...but can be a royal pain to work on also.

J.

Wow and thanks for the nice comments! All I can say at this point is that I am freakin' glad that this is almost done...of course "almost" is a relative term! As for the amount of time I have to work on the car, usually after work and weekends, and tonight I didn't do a d@mn thing but take a few pics of my hack job on the valley cover gasket. After I get this cover modified, i'll get back to plumbing the fuel rails and installing the hose ends (oh, which by the way are on back order from Summit, should have them the 2nd week of April). The hose ends are the Endura shine Russel -8AN 90 deg swivels for power steering hose which have a teflon inner liner instead of synthetic rubber (Thanks Jim at JBZ Racing!). This hose will work well for fuel and prevent leaching of the gas like the rubber would and thanks John at American Race Components for informing me of this! Anyway, the feed lines to the rails I have figured out, just need to figure out a mounting location for the regulator and how to route the return lines from the front of the fuel rails and also whether to use hard line or flex line off the rail (return side).

Here are some pics of my above mentioned hack job on the valley cover gasket, not the prettiest, but at least I stopped! I have learned that over the years.....I have turned alot of new parts into crap because I just didn't stop, LOL. So, I will try what you guys recommended and see if I can get my hands on a band saw, good idea!

The pic on the right is of the cover itself showing the overlap with the cylinder head.

Here's a more complete view of the valley cover.

BTW, fitments issues SUCK!

keep your head up. you'll be good to ride soon enough. look at all the people you have inspired or WOW'D

Ok guys, got the valley cover and gasket to fit (thanks John!) and tonight I re-assembled the plastic PCV baffling housing which is siliconed and bolted to the underside of the cover.

Finally finished the master cylinder brake connections, I was getting tired of almost poking my eyes out with the long, unfinished brake lines sticking straight up!

more photos of the MC connections....

and a few more.....in case you are wondering, the proportioning valve is built in to the MC, which is what makes this so bulky.

Also, I had to switch camber plates and the unfinshed one pictured is only a mock-up from American Race Components. John will use thicker steel plate on the production ones. The Spohn camber plates have too large of a spring cup which interferred with the master cylinder. Besides, the American Race Components' camber plates look better and stronger!

Sexy car man!

You should put your car into a museum when its done. I know you will want to drive it but...its just too pretty!

Do you have a part number for that MC, Neil?

how much longer do you think before she is up and running and hitting all the shows?

I can just see it now, Neil's Car will be one of those cars that people love to see but hate to compete against...because, well lets face it...How do you compete against this beast!!!

Looking Good...Keep up the good work.

Yeah, the part number from Stainless Steel Brake Corp is A0474-1

Well, I hope to have the engine running next month and hopefully driveable as well....we'll see??? As for shows, probably not for a few months, maybe mid-summer. I will need to finish up the interior work; door panels, stereo, a-pillar fab (still have the passenger side to finish and then i'll have those professionally covered in suede with dbl stitching).

Also, I am sure engine tuning is going to take a while where I can get this thing rode worthy. On that note, the Big Stuff 3 pcm should be shipped from Big Stuff tomorrow

Later guys!

well you sure are doing it right the first time. keep it up.

dude. your car is so freakin sick. i cant even get mine to run. haha. i had that crossfire injection bs, and when the comp died, i decided to go carb'd. now im just scraping every extra cent into getting this thing rollin!

hopefully ill be able to treat my 83 with the same treatment you have bestowed upon yours.

beautiful work man, absolutely beautiful

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it before, but as far as what you want to have engraved in the valve covers- the Aston Martins have a plaque on the engine that states the name of the engine builder and the date it was built. That would be a nice cool touch...that is if the damn thing is EVER finished!!

Maybe just your name and leave the date blank...

Can you post a few pics of the car at ride height now that the engine is in? I understand if you are saving the big reveal until it is all done though.

I would be glad to; however, I won't be able to take those pics until I can get the car off the blocks. Still have to put the oil pan on (John is reinforcing the pan rails with aluminum stock).

Actually, I do have a few pics of the car on the tow truck on the way to the exhaust shop (engine in car) though the hood is not on and the rear hatch motor wasn't installed, so the hatch was not closed all the way.

There are more pics a couple of pages back before the exhaust fabrication begins.

cant wait to see videos of this!

That's not what his car really looks like. All the pics he's posted have been photoshopped to fool the general public! It's really a 1985 Corrolla.

Bigdave, I checked out your thread with snapshots of your build...really NICE!!!! Love your car! Man, there are so many nice thirdgens out there. Once I get mine running we all should get together during one of the big meets or tours, like the Hot Rod Power Tour. Anyway, sick ride!

Yeah, lol, so how about you and I get on PINKS all out and we race for pinks? My '85 Corolla and your bad91Z, best of three and i'll spot you 3 car lengths. Deal?

I would like to have your car especially with those new one-off wheels!