My brother bought his 91 TA with the driveshaft safety loop welded to the torque arm....something the PO made. IMO, it's a pain in the ***!! I swear it was fine when we pulled the axle out to do a fuel pump....put everything back together just how it should be, and the damn thing rubbed on the driveshaft. With a little tweaking, we got it to clear, but a month or so later, we pulled the tranny out to change the motor, put it all back together, and it rubbed pretty bad, once again! We finally gave up and cut it off all together. Don't know why it rubbed, but it made disconnecting the driveshaft a royal pain too. You could NOT get the driveshaft out without also removing the torque arm. IDK...just personal opinion, but I would much rather have one that just bolts to the chassis under the car.

 

The loops would bolt onto the TA if I went that route

Rethinking the design, Im wondering if a Maxim motorsports style TA would be worthwhile. Adjusting pinion angle would be simple by swapping the front shackles. Exhaust clearance for the drivers side would be opened up

 

I thought about that design when I built mine 4 or 5 years ago. I didn't end up going that route, but it seems like it would work well.
Kory

 

no... not really. may as well reinvent the wheel. a mini ladder bar setup, maybe, but not a funky t/a.

 

Ditching the new TA idea. Main benefit I was after was clearance for 3" exhaust on the drivers side. It will never clear the pan hard bars and i dont see anything to relocate. Stock style TA and single 4" exhaust it is

Tubes are in and welded


Driveshaft CL is the same from 10 bolt to 8.8, but the 8.8's centersection is quite a bit larger and goes into the area occupied by the TA mount. It will have to be moved over an inch towards the drivers side of the tunnel. Eyeballing under the car, there seems to be enough room


The ranger I got the 8.8 from uses explorer tubes, so the 10 bolt tubes didnt slide right in, there was about .035" interference to get over. 3 passes with the grinder made it slip easily. A carbide bit in the drill was needed to take the weld bead on the 8.8 tube's inside from the original manufacturing process. Not my best welds, but they're solid. I like to crank up the heat for better penetration, so I had to jump around. A continuous bead would have warped the tubes. 2 passes with the MIG


For the TA mount, I was thinking something like my buddy built a few months back with an extra support tube welded to the drivers axle tube
http://triadfbody.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5298

 

pocket, why not this for your 8.8?



ps: awesome jig

 

Wow, that is interesting! Going from a torque arm to a ladder bar. I wonder how that is on the structure of the LCA.

I saw this, thought it might be of interest:

 

I have a set of these which I have not run yet. They don't appear to be solid enough to run without a torque arm, but maybe they could give you some ideas Pocket

there is a zoomable picture
http://store.prestoliteperformance.c...y-1982-02.html



Maybe someone else will know if they can be.

 

these things suck...ask five7kid how they worked out....

 

Yep, they bind the rear suspension, not having that. Ill stick to the TA setup

The important aspects of a jig are that the necessary points of interest are accurate. All else is second, so it was built with rusty scraps bound for the scrapyard to keep costs at $0. If this project is a success, I might just build another before junking it since I have one last 10 bolt

 

Just a random thought:

It's amazing how when some people see a finished car, they do not realize the huge amount of time and effort (and usually money) that goes into the thing.

When a swap is completed, it does not look complicated at all. It is deceiving.

 

nice job so far on the 8.8, look forward to seeing your results with the TA mount. That was probably the only thing that stopped me from going the same route (that and a steal of a price for a 9" came up). Always look forward to new updates

 

Ordered the fuel system today, gosh that hurt. Made a few tweaks from the prev diagrams posted in this thread, but the same basic system. I already had the rails, injectors, regulator, strait fittings and a couple adapters and it still was over $700. Suddenly $1,000 for a complete fuel system seems like a total bargain


Heres another TA mount I like. Mine wont be welded to the cast portion or be blocking the fill plug

 

Fuel systems when done properly are probably the most underrated part of a build...especially one thats going to make big power. They are probably one of the most important parts though, and often overlooked! Mine cost me around $800 said and done and I did it on the cheap side. I'm using stock fuel rails and the stock in tank reg but dual walbro 255's and all -8 feed and -6 return....lots of people say big power can be had with stock rails, as long as you have the pump power and fuel line size to keep them fed.

 

Almost done. Welder was pissing me off so I called it a day. liner must be worn out because the wire speed isnt consistent. Bend the lead cable at all and the speed will drop turning a nice looking bead into bird poop. A good time was had by all...

 

Finished up the axle tonite. Welded the last tube in, ground down the ugly parts, degreased the whole thing and gave it a nice coat of tractor paint. The rear cover is actually aluminum, so I gave it the same treatment as my blower brackets: hit it with some 120 grit and shined it up. Bolted all the extras on and started researching how to adapt the E-brake cables. Im going to try building a simple bracket like this guy did
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/atta...ake-better.jpg

3rd gen sway bar bolts right on, no clearance issues with the larger diff. 4th gen disk brake brake lines fit great with a few tweaks. Attachment clips are gone so a few zipties hold it down. I was sure i had some black RTV somewhere, but all I could find was the high temp red. Oh well. Capacity for the 8.8 is just under 2 qts of gear oil and 4oz of friction modifier




Z51 rotors came in. They're centric PN 121.62086, look and fit great. Ample clearance for the CTS-V calipers under 17" C5 wheels. Just over 1/8" clearance from the wheel weights



Fuel system should be here before the week is out, headers by next week. Project should be wrapping up soon

 

more close ups of the torque arm mount, please!

 

I think this is important for posterity and others future projects.

 

no lie! i want to do this to a gm 8.5" for my little bro's project

 

More pics as requested. Basic design is two tubes with a piece of angle on top and bottom. Some flat stock on the backside to weld to goes across the top of the snout to the flange with bolt holes drilled in it. There is a raised spot on the snout, so cut a separate piece to bolt to and lay the flat stock on top of it. Walk about the bottom of the snout with more 1/4 stock and the TA mount is located. Rear support is more .150" wall tubes welded to the drivers axle tube. One on top and bottom. Its not very difficult to do, just be absolutely sure there is exactly 90* between the yoke flange and the TA mount



Moving on, out with the old. Pinion seal was shot (310k miles its due) so everything was a mess. Just for the record I HATE HATE HATE Ebrake retainer clips. Took longer to unhook those two cables than to pull the whole axle! It didnt help that the balancer bar on the brake handle cable was bent shut somehow. After some words it was bent back open and the cables slid right out. What a dirty job


In with the new. Everything cleared fine and bolted up like stock except the Ebrake cables because I havent fabbed the new bracket. Stock 4th gen guide loops have to be removed. I maneuvered the axle from full droop to compressing the bumpstops. No contact under the chassis, but the wheels did rub slightly. A few love taps to the inner fenders and all is well. I wont be buttoning this up completely until the new fuel pump comes in because it all has to come loose again


Using the 98-02 Fbody axle length I was able to drop the 2" spacers in the rear for the Y2K wheels, too bad the LS1 brakes look so small in the 18" wheels

Next job is SFCs, over the axle exhaust, setting trans angle and drinking beer. In that order

 

Fuel system came in this evening, ordered it monday. Gosh that was fast, Summit rocks

There will be lots of pricked fingers tomorrow

 

know whatcha mean; mine are still a little tender from cutting all my lines last week

 

Honestly, I have used stainless braided line in the past, and hate it with a passion! SO hard to cut and it doesn't bend worth a damn. I used the new nylon braided black line on my build this time around, and it's night and day. Tight bends are effortless, it cuts with scissors, It's simple to get the fittings onto it, and it'll take whatever the stainless stuff will handle. I love it! Plus, it weighs much less which is always a plus.

 

I'm with Whitedevil. The stainless line may be pretty but the nylon will always be my first choice. Cheaper, lighter, easier to work with. But it completely slipped my mind when I used it to attach my in-tank pump to check whether or not it was submersible, guess we'll find out in time.

 

Progress is looking good! I can't wait to see it all done.



Oh on a side note. Is that Summit fitting 220668 ,the one that screws into the 3rd gen radiator for the cooler lines? Looking to do a tranny cooler install soon and might re-do my lines.

 

Ill have to remember that next time. Never used the nylon stuff or heard any feedback

It fits the stock 3rd gen radiator trans cooler lines

 

pocket, i keep checking in on your posts, this thread is an inspiration to all of us garage fabricators!

keep up the good work!

 

Pulled the tank to do the 340 pump. Heres a comparison vortec truck 190lph vs 340. 3rd gens use the 11142 kit thats offset inline. Odd thing is walbro 255 kit included an adapter harness that just plugged into the old harness. The 340 kit send a generic plug with two loose wires. Not a big deal. Also interesting is Aeromotive recommends using a hotwire kit "because the stock wiring isnt sufficient." Stock is 16ga, the aeromotive adapter pigtail is 18ga

 

Swapped the pump and built the fuel system. Originally I wasnt happy with the red fuel rails, but with the rest of the system in place I think they really fit in. Injectors need fresh O-rings then the whole engine will be buttoned up ready to fire. Finalized the axle swap too and put the rear springs back in



Headers should be here sometime next week. Catback will be built beforehand. Not sure what Im going to do for mufflers this round. My powersticks wont fit on the pass side and are too long to go behind the axle. Decisions decisions

 

Can you dump just before the rear axle under the car?

 

I can, but thats kind of ghetto. Id prefer to have a complete exhaust system

 

i used this wire harness for my fuel pump.

http://www.racetronix.biz/itemdesc.a...WH-005&eq=&Tp=

 

I built my own for $0

 

I'm jealous....

 

Now i feel sad because that exactly how a ran my exhaust. True duals, straight-through magna-flow mufflers and DUMPS in front of axle. With power adder in the back ground?

 

It can be when done poorly. I think it is definitely within your capability to do it nicely. Some of the ones I have seen are nice and tight, have an x-pipe, and are on some of the fastest and nicely done 3rd and 4th gen cars in the country.

Here is a nice collection of "wow!" and "ugh!" exhausts
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/exha...l-exhaust.html

Also don't forget, there is oval pipe, or pipe oval'ed by you too.

 

Im not discounting that it works, I know that. Heck I even ran mine like that for several years prior to the LSx swap. I just dont like it, especially when I am perfectly capable of running it over the axle

Besides, I was figuring where I could mount the powersticks (3.5" OD body) and mocked them up a long time ago. Pass side has ample clearance along the trans tunnel. Drivers side was all over the TA and would drag the ground. With the new axle, the TA is moved a little over an inch towards the drivers side offering even LESS room for the tube on that side. That limits me to a single 3" powerstick (choke point) or run 4" over the axle, or strait pipe dump it prior to (not happening). Only thing I havet decided on is what to do for mufflers post axle

 

Well that link has several interesting over axle schemes too.

 

kooks has a nice system to model after. just dont buy theres, its stupid expensive

 

http://www.ourdealsrock.net/aeroexha...x#.TjeM9IJ9mSo

 

i'm still a firm believer in the SpinTech product lineup, race engineered. they sound good, flow great, and are well built.

 

i've seen folks pick up huge mph gains going from a spintech to a freeflowing dynomax ultraflow. zz17iroc on this very board gained like 6mph. spintech is not a performance muffler in my opinion.

 

Hey Pocket just came by to check out your progress. Looks like it's moving along nicely!

 

The biggest I was able to go for my setup was a single 4 inch exhaust all the way back. Went ahead and used the competition Aerochmaber cross flow muffler from Holley. It accepts 4 inch and dumps to two 3 inch tails. This is not ideal but gave me the suspension room I flet I needed for autocrossing. Now with that being said. I have 1 3/4 competition long tubes with 3" collectors. I shortend the primaried to tuck the collectors closer to the car and fabed a Y pipe. Curiosity got the best of me one day and we uncorked the y-pipe fromt he exhaust on the dyno and I picked up nearly 25hp. I now run a cut-out pre exhaust system for when I really want the power and also it is fun for shows and what not.

 

Headers are in. Last piece is a driveshaft, then we get to see if this jumble of parts works

 

Ram air isnt going to work, the hoodline is just too low and the center ridge makes it even worse

Ive got 2.75" at the center ridge and just under 4" at the rest. The nostrils continue to angle down as it moves forward so I cant even fit a cone filter in there. Cant move the filter down behind the rad because the charge pipe is there. No such luck this round




Cowl induction is still a future possibility, but for now Im just sticking a cone over the drivers coil packs. Just want the car moving again, details can be hammered out later

 

I probably got a 4in muffler laying around the shop somewhere I could send ya, but you might have to relocate your gas tank to get it to fit.

 

Just add it to the list for stuff that had to be modified to work. Never ending project

 

What headers you running?

 

SSW