I order from ta creations all the time, great bunch of folks to deal with.

 

There ya have it... Its worth giving them a call even if they dont have something listed on the site. They've had things before that werent shown online.

J.

 

just wanted to chime in and say excellent post. Im considering purchasing a wrecked ls car for my 92 to swap all the stuff in, and this thread is very helpful/informative. I'll have to be sure to try to make one as good when i do mine (if i do it) I realize its expensive, and thats perhaps the major hold up.

As for TA Creations, I was down in miami last november, met them in person, they even took us for a tour of their facility. Great group of guys. I HIGHLY reccomend them. Last i heard they were talkin of moving up to Alabama though I think. They have TONS of stuff.

Anyways, great post, I am sure i speak for many here in regards to that, and just wanna say thanks for taking the time to document this all.

 

Thanks for the kind words man! My main reason for even posting all this is so that it can help someone else out in the future. That and I like picture whoring my car out. haha.

Got a good bit done tonight. I worked on it thursday for a few minutes, but it started to rain. Basically getting the console fitted and installed.

Tonight, I finished the wiring. The car now starts at my will. No more hooking wires up and rigging things together to get her to fire. Get in, turn the key I got the console hard mounted, and got all the seats installed. Also put most of the interior trim back together. Couldnt finish, because I have to take the dash back off to change some bulbs around.

Here are some pics. Things are dirty still...I gotta wipe down the console and seats. They've been in storage for a few months.

Ran the power seat harness under the carpet and brought it up under each seat.



Console mounted.



I did alittle work to bring the carpet up to meet the console better. There used to be a huge gap at the front.





Some have issues with console clearance and a 6spd. My trans is in reverse in this pic. Good amount of room. And I still have to scoot the rear of the trans to the drivers side alittle.



I got caught in my least favorite position. Just finishing up the diagnostic connector wiring, and some grounds.



Cont'd....

 

And some pay off. These seats look 10000 times better with the grey interior. I couldnt believe how good they looked once they were in. I cant wait to clean it out, and spend some seat time in there.




Even the console looks better now.



My last mod is going to be bending the shifter back and towards me some more. I already have it tweaked over some...but I want it back and over further.



Thats it for now guys. Tomorrow, pending good weather, Im going to bleed the clutch. About 2 quarts through it. haha. Its not getting into gear easy right now...has me alittle worried. Gonna bleed the brakes. Have to pull the pass. side axle shaft, and see why its leaking. Clean and install new rear brakes. Some other odds and ends...but it'll be close to driveable!!! Keep your fingers crossed for decent weather! Atleast no rain.

J.

EDIT: Does anyone know, why when I clearly only have 10 pictures, I get a message saying Ive included 11 messages, and I have to go back and fix it??? Thats really annoying. haha...

 

Lookin good. Love the 4th gen seats. I bet you can't wait to drive it

 

interior looks great! Boy, you're almost done.

 

Grrrrr...today had some ups and downs. Here was what went down. Got a few pics...but nothing major. Didnt get to drive her...

Bled the clutch more. Bled the brakes. Those two operations went perfect. Then I installed the new plug wires. Made sure I was done crawling under the front end, and put the front wheels on. I wanted to set it on ramps instead of having the jack stands back behind the wheels. Still going smooth at this point.

Got in, went to push the clutch in to start it. Nothing... NO CLUTH. WTF. So I get out, expecting to see a puddle under the bellhousing. All is clean. Go back in, clutch is back and feels fine. Again...wtf. Start the car. Now...with the clutch in, and the trans in 1st, the rear axle spins. My friend mike was able to stop the axle with his hands, but it was hard. I cant get into reverse at all with the engine running. The master cylinder is bottoming out so its getting its full travel. Im not sure if this is something that will sort of fix itself once the car is on the ground? And I start to use the clutch to move the car? Something about the LS7 clutch self adjusting?

Ok...got tired of thinking about that. So I took my dash apart to put LEDs in my warning lights instead of 194 bulbs. They were getting too hot and melting my "check engine" and "BRAKE" lights. The LEDs suck. So dim they dont shine through. Waste of time. Gotta mess with my wiring too. Too short to pull the gauge cluster away to unplug them.

Next. My rear axle was leaking on one side. So I pulled the shaft, found that the seal that is just inside the flange was crooked. And because of that, the rubber seal was egged out. Called every store I could think of. National seal #41013S. Special order seal. Because of it being a custom rear end (strange) its not a normal seal. Cool...cant put that back together til next week. GRRRRRRRRR.....

Now my dummy moment. With the rear apart, and the caliper hanging, and the motor running, I decided to test the brake pedal. First pump felt good. Second one didnt. Luckily I put the pads in the caliper to keep them oriented correctly, so it didnt pop out. Duuuurrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Needless to say, I didnt get to test drive, didnt get the exhaust in, didnt get as much as I wanted done.

Couple pics.

My bleeder set up.





Front wheels mounted. They look ok. I gotta see it on the ground.







OH...and I think Im painting it. My clear coat is taking a beating. So I think Im going to repaint it. Blue...similar to the original color so I dont have to jamb anything. Not going to be the last paint job it gets, I just want it to look better than it does. A nice dark blue metallic that really pops in the sun. Any suggestions?

J.

P.S. Sorry this was sorta wordy. Not too many pics today either.

 

My clutch was a nightmare at first. Drive it for like a week and it will become normal. I wanted to kill myself at first but it does get better. Its the self adjustment thing. Mine was probably worse at first cause my master cylinder killed itself.

I hope things get better.

Im glad its getting near the end though

 

Geeze, sounds like my paint job, went so smooth right till the end, then a EVERYTHING started going wrong. Seems everytime i work on it, i end up kicking something and saying something along the lines of "YOURE F----ing HOPELESS".... lol. A run here, a chip there, a mess everywhere. But if i keep working at it it gets better.

My only suggestion is, keep your cool. You tackled a HUGE job and went flawlessly throughout (almost), dont let the excitement distract you, or things are gonna screw up. Take it slow, and you'll be fine.

As for the paint, i think you should leave it be for a little while. Looks kinda sleeper, as it sits right now. But if you do want to paint it, have you thought about silver?

 

because you included an emoticon, IE, a smilie that counts as 1 photo for whatever reason

google search pictures of indigo blue metallic. that's the color i'm going with my firebird.

 

least your car isnt in primer!

 

Kubus...I hate saying that your troubles with the clutch make me feel alittle better...but they kinda do. haha. What was yours doing at first? Was it not letting you into reverse? Thats my big fear right now. That Ill drive it, and it wont let me get into gears. One of my thoughts was, just get in, take it for some stop/go driving, then see how it stands. I just dont wanna screw my trans up.

Online170: Thanks for the words of encouragement. Its pretty easy for me to get screwed up. Im still angry about wrecking the last car. And as much fun as you all think im having...Ide rather just be driving the black car all summer. haha.

I want to paint it because the clear coat is going bye byes. The hood, out of nowhere, has several spots that are just getting terrible. Ill have to snap a pic of the rear bumper cover. Its bad. Front cover isnt too far behind. I figure Ide have to repaint the front and rear cover at the least...why not just paint the whole car. Wont cost me much since Im doing all the work. Just some primer/sealer, paint and clear.

mw66nova: Thanks for that explaination. That always drives me crazy!!! And now I know how to avoid it. Thanks for the color suggestion too. Im going to look into it. Im also thinking about navy blue metallic...like the 4th gens.

Orinackra: Nothing wrong with primer. Your car kinda looks cool in primer. My 67 Bonneville was in primer for most of the time I owned it. Sold it still in primer. hehe.

J.

 

Mine wouldnt let me into gears either. When I changed gears I would have to rev match and I would press the pedal and then put it into the gear when the revs were correct.

When it came to slowing down to a stop, I would have to shut the car off, put it into gear. Start it and get going again. It was torture but after a week all of a sudden it fixed itself. Like out of nowhere. I actually went to a Mazda dealership to test drive a RX8 and it was shitty when I drove there and then I drove the RX8 and then I came back into my car and it was perfect. I dont know if the Camaro was trying to tell me something by that... I dunno (btw, I have no plans of getting rid of the Camaro, I just want a second car which will probably be a VW and not a Mazda but I decided to test drive a bunch of cars anyway)

 

Hang in there man, these challenges make it more rewarding later!

If you want to hold off on painting, then try buffing it with a variable speed buffer and rubbing compound. Depending on how bad it is, you may need to start with a medium grit and then some fine grit. You'll rub off some of the clear coat, so you'll need to keep it waxed all the time but you can delay painting the car for a while.

If you've never done this, then find someone who has or take it to a shop; some detailing shops do this. If you don't know what you're doing then you can burn the paint and it will look worse.

 

Yeah I was originally going to try to cut/buff the paint. However two things changed my mind. One is I learned just how thin the factory clear coat is. Its very very thing. like 1mil in some spots. Ide most likely burn through even just trying to get the orange peel out. And trust me..the orange peel itself is enough for me to want to re-paint.

Two...the clear coat has started to crack down into the paint, and then flake off. At the rate that its doing this, the car will have HUGE clear coat issues in a couple months. If not sooner.

This wont be my first paint job. Ive done a couple bikes, and a couple car parts off the car. My buddy thats helping me has done a couple cars, and even more bikes than me. So its basically going to be a "quick" job for us....but still better than whats on there from the factory.

Again..this'll just be a nice, re-finish to get me by until I can really tear the car down. We'll be leaving the GFX silver, and probably going with a color very close to whats on there. The body is so perfect on this car, it wont even need much work. Couple dings and thats about it. So prep wont take much at all.

We'll see. Im actually more worried about the trans/clutch situation at the moment than I am about the paint falling off. Going to try to locate the seal that I need to put the axle back together today. I want to get the axle shaft back in, and change the brakes on the rear today. Ill be able to get the rear tires on then. Rear tires, exhaust...thats it. Set her down and see what it does clutch wise.

J.

 

I wonder, and this is purely speculation since i am , in no way, an expert on the issue, but you mentioned "self adjusting clutch". Maybe it takes a certain number of depressions for everything to get lined up. Since its a hydraulic unit, it probably has nothing to do with having the engine running. I wonder if you could just shift through the gears, or keep pumping it every few seconds, and maybe it'll fix itself? You could probably even do it with the engine off.

 

A little googling and this is what i came up with on a GTO forum. Conversation on a board just like this one.

Guy 1:
It wasn't bled correctly. In my experience, every GTO clutch replacement has required us to vacuum bleed it to get all of the air out of the line. We wasted alot of time "pump-bleeding" the first one and just gave up and vacuum bled it, and all the ones after.

Not saying it can't be done without the vacuum, but it's a serious PITA...


Guy 2 quoted Guy1 and replied:
There is also a pre-install procedure that must be performed before installing these pressure plates. There is a self adjusting mechanism within the pressure plate itself that must be turned fully counter-clockwise.

To do this the pressure plate is put in a press (plate surface down), apply pressure to the fingers with the press just enough so that you can take two screwdrivers (or similar) and turn the adjusting disk CCW. The self-adjusting disk is recognized by three small springs just outside of the center hole, these must be compressed by turning the internal disc. While holding tension with the screwdrivers, release pressure being held on fingers. Then install pressure plate.

This is why you guys are getting engagement on the floor, and more than likely Lisa's problem as well. But, I'm just a dealer tech, so what do I know.


http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthr...=108341&page=2

 

I believe that is what kubus did to his clutch before install, and if I recall, it caused him more headache. There are more than a handful of guys running the LS7 clutch and most of them havent done a thing "pre-install". They just slap it in and go.

Im going to look into it more though. The clutch set up on these cars is the most annoying thing Ive ever had to deal with. Well...on a swap car anyway. I guess half of the annoyance is mounting the stupid mc...the other half is dealing with making it work correctly.

Thanks for lookin into it though Online! And thanks for the link. I read over those posts, and it sounds like a bunch of those guys went through a couple hundred miles of horrible clutch, then, just as kubus described, it just got better. So I guess Ill get it into first, start it, take it for a shake down spin in the parking lot. If all is well, get in her, and just got for a nice long drive where I wont have to stop a whole lot. See what she does. I just wanna be able to get into reverse. haha.

Cam..youre running the LS7 right? Did you adjust it at all before install??


J.

 

When I helped my friend swap his T56 into his 2000 Camaro we had a similar problem. When we installed it we didn't do any adjustments at all to his LS7 clutch and had a similar problem to you. He said as he drove it, it got a little better but he did buy a Mity Vac from the local autoparts store. He said using that to bleed the clutch a few times made it even better.

When his first went in, it would engage just barely off the floor. You couldn't get it in reverse without the car off and it was just a PITA to drive.

 

Any idea how long it took to settle out? Or how he likes it now? Im assuming he can now get into reverse and all with the car running?

I have a mighty vac. Never used it to bleed the clutch, because I didnt want to risk messing up the seals. So I always used the power bleeder, and it worked good. But maybe Ill give the vac a try just to see if it makes a diff.

J.

 

The only thing about the vacuum bleed that doesn't make sense to me is it says to release the vacuum before removing the hose from the reservoir port. That, it would seem to me, would allow air back into the line, whereas if you just pulled the hose out with a pool of fluid around it, it would suck fluid back into the line.

Maybe I don't understand what they're saying.

 

No clue. I never really had any trouble with my Spec 3 and alum flywheel. I never had a stuck pedal, never had trouble shifting at wot or at 7k. The only reason Im even messing with the clutch is that my spec looked to be pretty rough. I know my throwout bearing was growling. And I just wanted a better clutch. Until it starts to "self adjust" im sure Ill regret it.

Anyway. Napa was able to locate the seals I need for the Strange rear end. Some goofy seals that no one seemed to be able to track down. So Ill get the rear buttoned up tonight. And I think what Ill do before I take the car out to the parking lot, is just pull forward normally in 1st, get it into reverse and back up, then pull forward...do that a handful of times. See if maybe just going back and forth, then goin for a ride around the parking lot a couple times will help loosen things up.

Ill report back with that...doubt it'll be tonight...but def this week.

J.

 

The way I've done them with a mity vac involves an attachment made of rubber that looks sort of like a tapered cork with a hole in the middle of it and a hose (the hose does not extend past the bottom of tool (it's a gm "special tool", probably available elsewhere though), it goes on top of the reservoir in place of the cap, the resevoir is filled with fluid and there is an air gap between the adaptor and the fluid, there is no way air could be sucked down into the line, just more fluid. Does that make sense? I'm not good at describing things..

 

Almost, but that isn't the way it was described on ls1tech.

 

He has been driving it now for almost a year or so now with very few problems. He thinks he needs to bleed it again as every now and then there is a slight grind going into first but it takes a special situation for that to happen. He drives it every day without issue.

As far as I know, he likes it a lot as it has a very light pedal feel. I on the other hand don't know how I feel about it. I drove it within the same time period my old LT1 car was just getting running and it had a Spec stage 3 clutch which is worlds different from the LS7. I would like it for a car I truly had to drive every day but feel indifferent about it in a performance car.

 

Mine worked pretty decent right from the get go and we pump bled it. I have a tiny friend who was able to get his arm and hands up to the bleeder although I had read numerous posts about bleeding nightmares over at Tech I was rushing things at that point and was willing to try and lucked out I guess. The clutch was a little tricky to get into 1st gear and reverse for a day or two tops and its been fine since... Although as I put more mileage on it I am now having issues getting into 3rd and 4th especially when its cold and down shifting on the highway from 6th to 5th is a pita now so I wonder how much life is left in that clutch? Two seasons of pounding the snot out of it though so no complaints I'd gladly run another one. Mind you this 6 spd has never been "great" compared to others I have driven. My last LT1 t56 was a cherry piece that you could shift with your index finger it was soo buttery smooth. This ones a bit notchy and noisy in comparison.

As for polishing that old clear coat? I'd avoid trying that as Justin said its not likely going to turn out very well.

TAcreations? Great place I've bought stuff from them before and the service was superb.

 

Well...Im convinced the car is possessed. Got home yesterday, took care of the rear axle, and decided to start it and try to get it into gear.

What do ya know...Put it in first, get a tiny bit of spin then it stops on its own. Weird. Release the clutch, grabs where it should, I shift from 1st to 6th with no issues. Oh...and it goes into reverse now. No clue what the deal is. I think its definetly good enough to drive though. Im sure it will adjust more. Maybe air is still working its way out? Who knows.

Anyway...with that excitment out of the way, here are some pics as well as what I actually got done yesterday.

I got my dash back together after changing around some bulbs and what not.

I replaced the leaky seal in the 12bolt, and cleaned things up. Hopefully we dont have any leaks this time. Installed the new rear brakes. Put some more interior panels in...blah blah. Here are pics.













All 4 wheels on...





Here is how my lower panel came out this time. I trimmed a notch in the panel and instead of trying to jamb the wiring up on top of the panel, I decided to leave some of it exposed and just put the panel around it. I think it looks MUCH cleaner than the last go around. There isnt enough room for the wiring on top. Plus there is nothing that holds the rear of that panel up, so it kept falling. She's all buttoned up and sealed up though.





Thats it for today. I wont be working on it again til wednesday. I gotta sort out something with the trans mount. Once thats done, the exhaust can go on, and I can drop her. Do a quick bolt check, install some cotter pins and take her for a spin.

J.

 

Lookin good man! keep it up! im enjoying your progress still.

I really wish someone would have done a thread about wiring with a LOT of photos though. I personally am really thinking thats the only part im worried about when it comes to the conversion in my 92..

I'm hoping i can find a good wrecked 01-02 car too still.. i have a few buddies looking for me at this time so we'll see.

 

There are some great threads on wiring though. I mean all the info is out there, and you can get plenty of help when you run into an issue.

Honestly, the wiring is going to seem overwhelming. No doubt. But once you start picking away, before you know it, its not too bad. Its really kind cool how you pick through it, and have your doubts about whether or not you got everything, and it just works.

LS1tech has some great stickies with all the wiring info. And like I said, plenty of folks, myself included, are happy to help with/answer any questions you run into along the way.

J.

 

I TOLD YOU SO!!!!


Anyway, glad that sorted itself out, but im sure it would have been nice to know what was happening.....


Just go drive it already!!! Skip the exhaust, it saves time and sounds cooler.

 

true. I've been reading about all that stuff, however, with my particular car, before i knew what i know now, i had a guy who at the time had a good reputation do an engine conversion from v6 to 350 carbed.. well he butchered my wiring, and i worry that it will add to the confusion. I will not rush it, and i dont think i can afford the 1000 bucks for wiring from hawks, especially if im spending the 1500 on the tubular setup from spohn, (kmember, torque arm, and a arms.) My saving grace financially i hope to be being able to part out the remaining parts of the ls1 car once i get it. Of course that depends on the condition of the LS1 car i get as well. I'd love to get one that would help the burden of this conversion by parting out what i dont use.

For a while there i thought about taking the entire 4thgen dash, doorpanels,etc, but the more i think of it the more i think iw ant to keep the thirdgen interior.. (dash anyways) and go with drivetrain only swap instead of full car like i had thought about.


So yea. I'll definately (if /when) i do this conversion, be posting up wiring questions if i have them, and Im going to try to be good with the camera, and take detailed photos as well. once i figure out what everything is that is lol

 

Well, I can tell you from experience, if you use the 4th gen fuse blocks, you need VERY little of the original engine bay wiring. In fact, this time around, I completely removed every single wire out in the engine bay from the bulkhead connector. Even the light harness. I swapped in my 87's engine bay harness since it was already stripped down and set up for the LS1 stuff.

I only have a handful of wires coming from the bulkhead now. And they are really only to get power from the battery for the other stuff in the car. All the engine managment stuff is taken care of by the fuse/relay boxes from the LS1 car. Its VERY simple how I have it hooked up. Its 100% plug and play just like the LS1 car, but Im not using anything inside. And thats going from and 87 TPI car that was swapped...over to an 86 305 carbed car. So it was the same simplicity from one to the other.

Trust me...if the wiring is botched, rip it all out and start over. You'll be way better off.

Online....Ide love to drop it and drive it. But my exhaust takes about 2 minutes to put on. Less time than it takes to get it back up on ramps later to put it on. Plus...I have the cut out for being loud Taking my time. LIke you mentioned ealier...no need to make hurried mistakes now

J.

 

Darn cam...completely missed that post. Thanks for the insight. Sounds like I should be ok then. My trans always worked pretty well for being and upgraded trans. Im not sure what all is done, but Im pretty sure it has the viper shaft, and all the good blocker rings and what not. Sounded like it was overbuilt for the power levels it was dealing with...fine with me.

Hopefully it clears up after some driving. I have faith that it will now. I need to adjust my pedal down, beacuse its hitting the internal stop and nothing else. plus its not hitting my clutch safety switch. Ive been using my toe to push it. hahaha. So Im going to adjust the pedal, then make a stop that the pedal hits JUST before it hits the interal stop. Not quite sure how Im going to make it yet...

J.

 

I agree completely. In my case the only wires I used in the engine compt area from my stock third gen C100 ( under the booster ) was 12+ feed going in from the battery fused ( I used the nice fuse from the fourth gen box for this ) to power up the box. Brown wire for volt gauge to the alternator, green wire for temp gauge which runs to my stock third gen sender ( I drilled and tapped the head ) and thats it the rest I cut out as they were not needed. It really isnt that hard to wire up these engines as I've said before and Justin knows. Just dive in with some common sense and you'll be alright

 

That's GREAT to hear, since I'll be doing wiring here pretty quickly.

One question I have though - where do you guys suggest getting the fusebox, OBD-II port, etc. from?? (I think I'd prefer new parts...)

Thanks again for the great writeup Justin!!

 

I suggest picking up a used harness...or using the harness that comes with your motor...if it comes with one. You could get a speartech harness if you want new...but you wont really need the 4th gen fuse blocks or anything at that point.

For the diagnostic port, you can pick one up very cheap at:

http://www.obd2cables.com/products/i...hp?cPath=23_25

Im not sure where you can get one with wires already pinned in... But you buy the connector, and the pins, and put it together. thats what I did. The original connector from the donor car seemed to have connection issues. So i made a new one this time around. GM doesnt have one with wires coming off it either fyi...

J.

 

The pictures......are.....self explanitory















Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd........



Ohhhhh yeah

Ok now the words. Came home today and just got to work. Got everything underneith buttoned up including painting the other SFC with Por15. Exhaust is on, cut out hooked up, bolts are tight. I left the front sway bar and air dam off for the project just to make it easier to get under the front. So I installed those.

Got her on the ground, put some air in the tires and fired her up. Decided to just go back and forth for a little. Then upgraded to up and down the driveway. Then over to the storage place which is basically next door. Then I decided I wanted gas...so I had someone follow me to the station. Good thing I went. The tank took 15.6 gallons!!!! I was pretty low its safe to say. On the way back home, I felt the car was doing good so I just kept on driving for alittle. Took a nice cruise around the local reservoir.

She performed without a hitch. Let me say this... I LOVE THE LS7 CLUTCH!!!! Its engaging about an inch off the floor...maybe alittle more. Its very consistant feeling and has an awesome engagment feeling. I can actually let the clutch out and the car will get goin. Its night and day difference from the alum flywheel heavy pedaled spec set up. So far...I love it. Shifts seem good. Alittle notchy, but I suspect that'll clear up. And...while drifting backwards, I can actually put it in first, and start going forward. Couldnt do that before.

Down to the nitty gritty! I have a few little odds and ends to clear up as well as just giving the car a good cleaning. My wipers are still screwy. I might just transfer the entire wiper motor assembly from the 87 to see if I can get it to work. I gotta swap some wires around on the inside. Otherwise she seems good to go!!!! Oh..and in the pics, it was just put down. The suspension needs to settle quite a bit. Thats why it looks alittle upset. If it doesnt settle to where the 87 was, Ill make adjustments as needed.

This is not over. Im going to keep updating it with the work I have left. Ill also include the racetronix harness upgrade...and possibly the pump swap if I get a pump. More pics and videos to come!

J.

 

Awesome news dude. So glad you drove it. I love my LS7 clutch too. Feels so excellent to drive.

Is that the Turkey Hill? If so, I got gas there once. Loved that gas for some reason

 

haha... Yup thats the turkey hill. Gas is pretty cheap there. Regular is downt o 3.55...and I think I paid 3.83 for high test.

I was so happy to drive it. Im heading home today to check things over in the day light, do a bolt check, few odds and ends, then taking it back out.

I was able to keep the alignment pretty close by using the tape measure on the other car. So I feel like its ok to drive for alittle bit anyway.

Here's a question for you guys running the LS7... What should I do/not do for break in? I know about 500 miles...but what should I avoid doing. Just not launch real hard? How about rolling into WOT? Can I do that? I dont think I can resist. Haha.

J.

 

Well it's about time...j/k
Glad you finally got it running.

edit:lol I looked back at my post on page one of this thread and noticed I was asking about stuff and hadn't even started my swap at that time.

 

Yeah... the 18th was exactly 4 months. Moving killed it. If I wouldnt have made "improvements", and replaced my clutch and all, it would have gone quicker...but Im glad I took my time and did things alittle different. The car should be more enjoyable now.

Now...for the third time around.....

J.

 

Woot congrats man! I cant wait to feel the same

 

Took a few random engine bay shots today. Im pretty much finished out there. Here's what transpired today.

Got home, checked the torque on my wheel spacers and lug nuts. Put all the interior paneling back on the drivers side. Buttoned up the console and got the wiring cleaned up. Tried to wire my radio up...but I either did something wrong, or there is a problem because Im not getting any audio out of the rear speakers, and when trying to push it into the pod I got a spark. Im going with I screwd something up. So Ill redo it.

So, my buddy comes over, and we decide to go for a short shake down ride, then come back and check it over, and go for a longer drive. Well right out of the driveway, it shuts off. Luckily I could swing into a parking lot. I see zero fuel pressure. My buddy sees fuel coming from the engine bay. TUrns out the russel fitting popped off the fuel rail. After getting a new insert off of a new fuel filter, it snapped on all the way, and we were good to go. By the way...the LS1 will on only 4 cylinders...haha. Forgot to hook up the one bank of coils after fixing the fuel line.

Ok...we drove it, checked it, and then headed out for a longer drive. Just took it about 20 minutes down the road to autozone where another buddy was working. I took it pretty easy, but rolled into 3/4 throttle a couple times. Feels REALLY good. Im totally loving that clutch. Still a tad notchy in certain gears, but I tried to shift fast a couple times and it seemed to go easy.

Everything works good! Im still not 100% clear on what Im not allowed to do for 500 miles on the LS7 clutch....Im guessing just no hard launches or really beating on it. Im assuming what I did tonight was ok. haha.

Here are the pics.









Someone PMed me about my remote bleeder on another board. So i figured Ide show where I sto it.



Thats it guys. Im gonna go home a few more times and just tool around in it and tinker with it. THen Ill bring it to my new place and start to daily drive her again. Cant wait for my first commute to work with t-tops out.

J.

 

Nice work J! Glad to see it out and running.

You just shouldn't beat up the clutch too soon; don't pop it and avoid hard launches. 500 miles will go by soon enough when you start driving it every day

 

CONGRATS!!! I know how nice it feels to be rolling after down time and stop whining for crying out loud 4 months STILL puts to shame my 2 yrs.... but thats an old story now LOL.

Anyways as for the LS7 clutch? I read just about every post out there on that clutch and the only real issue that it suffers from is glazing from hard launches ( WHO ME??? ) lol and improper break in. I actually did take it rather easy for the first 500 miles or so just lots of stop and go no hard launches or power shifts but once its engaged you can nail it that wont hurt anything its only when its taking off or between shifts you risk damaging it.

In fact LS1's will run on ONE CYLINDER haha yup I started mine on one and thought the engine was toast on the initial fire up. Turned out the injectors were seized but again thats on old story and i can assure you mine runs much better on 8

 

Check..got it. Ill take it easy on it. But there is no way I can NOT get on it alittle. I just cant control myself that well. haha. Clutch seemed to hold good for a 2nd gear WOT run. Like I said...so far Im really happy with it.

Its funny....my biggest concern right now is why the radio isnt working haha. Im really hoping something didnt happen to the head unit while it was uninstalled. It wasnt a cheap one (Pioneer PEH-P980BT). Im hoping that I just hooked something up wrong or shorted something while bundling wires. Guess we'll find out. Im going to check the wires to the rear speakers to make sure I didnt pinch them or ground them out during my mods.

Now I have the pleasure of putting suspension and a rear under the 87 So atleast its a roller and I can move it, and hopefully sell it to someone thatmight want to do something with it other than scrap it.

Updates when I get back to it after the weekend...

J.

 

Both of those sound like there is still air in the lines. I must have bled my clutch 4 times over a 3 week period when buttoning up my swap. after the 4th time it felt great and has not given me any issues driving at all. Car has been on the road since June. Btw, great looking swap. 2nd time you get to correct all the little things that went wrong the first time.

 

Yeah...I have a feeling my air bubbles worked their way out over night. Thats why mine startd working better. While it feels good now, I plan to bleed another quart of fluid through it just to be sure. Its not a big deal especially with the power bleeder and remote bleed line that I have. Makes the whole process take only a few minutes and completely clean.

J.

 

Took her out today for some more driving time. There is a weird noise sometimes coming from the rear of the trans or maybe even back further. Its a vibration but it seems to be speed dependent. One thing Im going to check is the e-brake cables. One has evidence that its touching the driveshaft, and I think it might be making the noise. Car is too low to just look under, so ILl have to jack it up this week.

Anyway...gave her a bath today and finished putting my stereo in. Got my wires straightened out and it works and sounds great. The previous owner installed pioneer 3-ways...yeah yeah i know, not the best...but they do sound pretty good. And since the head unit has high pass filter settings I can keep the speakers from being "over bassed".

Here are a couple pictures...some look like repeats. But I couldnt get many good shots before.

Exterior. You can see one side has the sticker stripe and one doesnt. Im definetly sold on the no stripe side...what do you guys think?















Cont'd...