Since my finals are over with, I had time to take the car to the shop to get the exhaust done. I put the console back in today and buttoned up a few little things (still have a little more buttoning up to do when I get it back), and took it down there. So I FINALLY made some more progress on it. I should have the car back sometime in the middle of next week, and my tuner is meeting me down there and we will tune it while I drive it home from the shop.

 

It seems weird to see outside with no snow :S

 

Down in windsor, i can see all the grass still

 

It was in the 50's yesterday...that is really unusual for St Louis this time of year. Thank God for global warming!

 

Actually yeah it didn't even really snow here until a couple weeks ago which is unusual as well.

 

So far I'm loving global warming. Lets all remove our cats!

 

I'm not running one on my car haha

 

What is the shiny black thing in the bottom and center of the pic(next to the oil fill cap)?

 

that is an oil catch can for the pcv system, so he doesn't suck up all the oil from the pcv system into the intake manifold.

 

Correct-O. It is a RevXtreme catch can. They have a built in PCV valve and come with a mounting bracket with bolts and a short length of hose all for approx. $100.

 

got a question for u there buddy, i have the same car as u and im planing for a 5.7l ls1 swap, and wanted to go with a tubular k member also. with the k member can i hook up a 4th gen front suspension, meaning i want to change the front assembly so that i will have more options for wheels.. cuz we both know that the 3rd gen hubs stick out pretty far and that limits the choice on wheels..

 

the problem is the opposite, the hubs don't stick out far enough. the front suspenion geometry is completely different, and utilizes an upper control arm. you're not going to be able to go over to the 4 then stuff without grafting on new inner fenders with places to mount upper control arms, etc. it has been done before, search for FATAL88, but it's not easy, or cheap.

you can however, do a big brake upgrade with the fourth gen brakes relatively easily. you will have to modify your spindles and make some hubs. press in some longer studs, put a spacer on, and it will push the wheels out further.

 

What he said...I put the LS1 brakes on all four corners on my car, and I am running the 4th gen wheels on the car too. You just have to use a 2" spacer on the car to fit the 4th gen wheels.

 

Looking good Nick. I did the ls brakes also and was one of the best things I have done, nice to stop now at the end ot the track.....

 

I'm sure this has been asked and answered but why didn't you reuse your ram air setup? I am about to start this swap and would really like to keep mine if could.

 

It can't deliver near enough air for my block. Its much too restrictive.

 

I am getting it back from the shop probably on wednesday or thursday!

 

How do you like the 4th gen pedals? also are you using an adjustable clutch master cylinder? Thanks

 

ok thanks guys u saved me alot of time money... again.. lol

 

Ya I really like the 4th gen pedals because of how easy it was to make them work. I didn't have to modify the peg for the master cylinder. And ya I had to use an adjustable master, got a Monster from a friend for $50

 

Sweet, I just bought the fourth gen pedals and was debating on either throwing those in or taking the peg and welding it to the third gen pedal set. I bought a RAM adjustable master so I think I'm going to follow you and just widen the top two holes on the fourth gen pedal set and use those. IIRC the brake switch and clutch switch are the same for both pedal sets

 

You have to widen the top holes for the booster? I didn't have to, but then again I got the pedals from another 3rd gen owner so maybe he did it before I got them. And yea the brake and clutch switches will work on either set. That reminds me I need to get the pigtails for the wiring side so I can finish the rest of the trans wiring. Right now my starter/clutch switch doesn't function.

 

Save yourself some headaches and use the 3rd gen pedals. Just swap the pins and you'll be good to go. The 4th gen pedals dont fit too well... ask Ghettocruiser what he thinks if you want another opinion.

 

Mine fit fine?

 

My 4th gen pedals fit just fine with the 3rd gen booster.

 

Mine fit perfect, like a glove. No complaints here, I think I would have lots of complaints trying to figure out how to mod the peg though.

 

makes me wish I never sold my 91 Nice job with your car, looks and sounds fantastic. I live close to you, I should come check it out sometime. I am looking for another third gen, probably this spring, I would love to do a swap like yours.

 

Ya you should come check it out sometime. You probably live within 15 min of me if you're in O'Fallon

 

I finised my LSX in My 1990 TA last summer. Nice job on yours. I like how you did things. One question. Where did you get the paint to paint the engine bay? It looks like it matches perfectly. I would like to do the same. My car is the same color as yours.

 

It was leftover paint from when we painted the 1990 hardtop IROC-Z that we owned a few years ago. But when we bought the paint for that car we just got it from a local auto paint supply store, they can match any paint code, which you can find the code in the glove box.

 

Come on guys...They dont quite fit like a glove. They DO work...but you still have to modify them. You still gotta egg out the top hole. And that firewall brace doesnt fall right into place either...not to mention being flimsy. I could see my firewall flexing when pushing the clutch with the 4th gen set...and with the HUGE Tick master cylinder in there now, that would be a problem on the back side of things.

BUT...I was using them for awhile, and honestly, if I didnt have a welder I would still be running them. Because there isnt any easy way of making one of the adjustable master cylinder rod ends fit onto the 3rd gen pedal peg.

But as far as fit and strength of the assembly, 3rd gen pedals hands down. Those two braces that come off of that set to the firewall are pure beef. If you can swap the pins...or even have the thirdgen pin turned down somehow...you are in business.

Again...not putting them down. But the 4th gen pedal set doesnt just fall into place....even though the peg definatly works out better.

Nick....I wanna see that exhaust!!! I really want to redo mine the next time I pull my motor for mods. Going to try to go true duals with a crossover.

J.

 

I used the 3rd gen ones and just popped out the clutch peg and welded on a bolt so I could lock it with a lock nut. Works awesome.

 

I'm running a 4th gen master and did it pretty similar, but without a welder. Drilled out the peg for a bolt hole and drilled a slight recess in the side where a locknut goes on first to hold the bolt in place. Then the MC rod, then another lock nut. Been working great... just didn't have access to a welder at the time.

 

Can't speak for anyone else, but I was only referring to the booster bolts mating with the 4th gen pedal bracket holes.

 

Justin, I can't wait to see the exhaust either lol! You do know it's gonna be a y pipe setup though right? An I was supposed to pick it up this afternoon but the alignment isn't finished so I will be pickin it up tomorrow for sure!

 

five7...haha that could be what everyone was saying. I was bored and just trying to stir some crap up. haha. My car is under a cover, sans current inspection, and running sort of crappy...with no money to improve the situation haha. So Im just trying to keep myself entertained

Nick...yeah I knew you were doing a Y...just daydreaming about what I want to do once I get a place that I can work on the car...and some funding. Ive got a BIG list for when that criteria is met!

J.

 

looking forward to the pics!

ghetto, i recently built a dual 3" x-pipe system...let me know if you want pics. i haven't posted up anything because i had a spare stock 5.3 breathing through it and it wasn't that impressive...the new 370 should be a nasty joker though.

 

Yes please on the pics! The only thing is...would that set up still clear on my lowered street car? I dont wanna hijack Nick's thread so if you wanna post em in my thread or PM me or whatever thats fine.

J.

 

i mean, it's related to this kinda, so i'll post em. if nick has an issue, i'll take 'em back down.

this is with the camera on the ground looking up at the car.


on the ground, with the camera on the ground looking up at the car:


the lowest point is the collector.

 

Is that with the Hawks longtubes? And with what cross member? Is the car lowered at all? I'm sitting on Hotchkis springs so there isn't much clearance under the car to work with. :(

 

they are the hawks headers. the "real" ones, not the ones bought under the GP. they seem like they're a little different based on the pictures i've seen.

it's got a "Walter Racecraft Special" crossmember, lol. i hacked up a stock one and put in humps. one day i'll build a really nice looking one. but this one is structurally sound, and adds ample clearance.

my car is considerably lower than stock. i'm running trimmed v6 coils. HOWEVER, i'm running a 29x9 out back, and a 28x5.5 up front. i'd say that the underside of the car is probably close to the stock height, but the wheel gap is much smaller, lol. i've got some stock 16's with stock height tires on them, i'll be sure to slap them on after i get the motor back in the car and get some more pictures.

 

"real" or not, those collectors hang WAY too low for my taste!

 

eh, whatever...this car is not my daily, and has lots of motor to push through those pipes, so they'll stay...and they do have better clearance than some of my previous 2.5" duals, so i'm happy.

 

Mine don't seem too bad (no side view yet).

 

He also doesnt have ground effects, which most everyone here does. Thats about 2" there

 

here's a side view. this picture was taken with me crouched down. the camera was probably 2 1/2 feet off the ground, taken from about 10feet away:

 

Ok, I got to drive the car home tonight with my tuner in the passenger seat. Man I have to say it was the most exciting feeling!

I have a few issues I need to resolve before we got out and do some WOT tuning... I'm hoping some of you can chime in and help me figure out what to do:

1- The brakes are horrible. They've been bled twice now, and are not leaking anywhere. The funny thing is, when the car is not running, they feel firm. When I start the car and drive it, it will still stop like normal, and won't roll on an incline with me pushing on the brake pedal, but I do have to push in the pedal much further than I used to, and they just feel flimsy. I'm thinking maybe the booster is bad now, but it's kind of random that it just stopped working out of nowhere?

2- The transmission to driveshaft angle is way out of wack. The guys at the shop showed me how the bolts holding the motor mounts onto the Spohn pedestals have a washer on the nut end of the bolt, and these two washers are keeping the tabs on the GM mounts from sitting flush with the pedestals. This is causing the motor to sit about 1/4" too high in the engine compartment. On top of that, I need to make about a 3/4" spacer to put on top of the transmission mount on the cross member. When you look at the angle of the output shaft going to the driveshaft, it's inverted from how it should be. The trans is angle down, and so the driveshaft is angled down going forward to the trans. It caused a slight vibration to start occuring from 70mph+

3- When I got it home, I had it sitting in the driveway for a few minutes while I went to open the garage door. When I pulled it into the garage I noticed a pool of oil! I'm hoping it's just the filter or something that is loose. I can't imagine that it would be a rear or front seal because the block literally only has 30 miles on it from me driving it home tonight. I'm gonna check on it on Thursday and post my findings.

4- My left turn signal isn't working. I'm not sure what should happen if one of the turn signal bulbs burns out, but what is happening is the turn indicator in the gauge cluster is staying on constantly, and the bulb in the front bumper won't blink, it just stays on on the regular driving light position, not bright as if it were flashing. The rear amber bulb will just flash and stay on constantly when I hit the left turn signal. It's really wierd. I may have to get a short video to show you guys what I mean. Is this a bad bulb, flasher, or? The passenger side turn signal seems to be in good working order.





Now onto the positives:


1- It pulls like a bat out of hell. I pulled out of a QT in first gear, just easing into it making a right hand turn. Once I got out on the open road in 1st, I romped on it and it spun loose and went to the rev limiter in the blink of an eye, something I'm not used to with the old 305.

2- It is getting a lot of attention. I drove it home without a hood on it, and between stopping at an AutoZone and a QT, I had 2 different people recognize that it was an LS1 and their reactions were priceless.

3- The exhaust not only SOUNDS totally awesome, the install job looks incredible. It's all stainless, goes into a y-pipe and into a single 3" Magnaflow bullet. What I am pleased about is there is ZERO raspiness like you hear on a typical LS1 fbody. It sounds incredible. I can't wait to get some driving videos for you guys.

Here's how the exhaust looks, sorry for the crappy cell phone pictures. I'll get better ones later this week/weekend!

 

Friggen awesome, I dont have a solution to your problems because I am not a guru...yet. Im liking the whole setup, if I had the money Id do the same

 

i always had little electrical issues. usually ground.. burnt fuses or the flasher..

that y pipe looks pretty nice !

 

Excessive brake travel sounds like air is still in the lines. A bad booster will give excessive firmness of the pedal at different times/conditions

Post a pic of the motor mount washers, that doesnt sound right
Shimming the trans is a common issue with aftermarket crossmemebers. 3/4" is rather excessive though

Is it oil or brake fluid?

The signal light being solid means a bulb or flasher is bad. Luckily the bulbs are around 30 cents each and the flasher tops out at $3

Congrats on the first tuned drive