Yeah I agree, but at least I'll have a Formula if I have to sell
my IROC. It would cushion the blow.

I got a very good deal on the Formula.

 

i have the hatch with the ta spoiler from my 93.. u want it?? im sure we can work out a trade for some parts or cash is always gladly taken

 

PM SENT

 

I messed up on this part. I should have had the hubs' diameter machined down to 5.87 inches and then had the front/top edge of the hub machined down a tad to clear the inner surface of the rotor hat.

To my dismay, I tried fitting an LS1 rotor over the the hub yesterday, and the hub was too big and would not fit.

My bad for being sloppy and impatient.

I took the hubs off the spindles and took them back to the place (with grease and bearings and seals and all) who machined them down, and they should be done by tomorrow. What a PITA

It's always something.

Also, I am trying to figure out a way to not have to sell my project!! It would break my heart to sell it now!!

 

Also, the Energy motor mount inserts I ordered were wrong.

I did not know that there were two different kinds. One part number is for the four bolt motor mounts, and the other is for the three bolt mounts.

I have the three bolt mounts and ordered the ones for the four bolt mounts.

I don't understand what the heck the difference is, but oh well.

Then Summit sent me ONE motor mount, for my exchange. WTF? ha ha ha

I called Summit yesterday and asked them what I was supposed to do with ONE motor mount. I asked it in a nice way, though, because Summit is cool.

Jeez. The other one is on its way now, finally.

I am THIS CLOSE to having the front end all back together here.

 

Did a bit more on my front end today. Got the steering bar and sway bar installed with the new Energy bushings, and got the centerlink and one motor mount installed. I had painted the steering bar and sway bar with caliper paint. It looks clean.

That Formula 5 grease is kind of a pain to work with, but it's the best stuff to use on the poly bushings.

FINALLY got the correct motor mount inserts.

I had to do a little more drilling on the clamshells to make them mesh together nicely. I need to get two more large zip ties to hold the other clamshell together, then I'll put it on.

I gotta find the torque specs for the clamshells, so I can torque them down and then put the A-arms in. It's a pain enough to do this with the A-arms OUT of the K member.

Pretty soon, the whole front end will be together, with the LS1 brakes and everything.

Pics:

 

As I still wait for my engine to be built, I am nearing completion of the front end stuff.

Got both motor mount clamshells torqued down to 40 ft lbs for each of the six bolts. I guess that's plenty of torque. I can't find the specs anywhere for the clamshells.

I almost got one coil spring in today (I didn't work on my car for more than an hour and a half today) after I bought an internal spring compressor. As you can see in the second pic below, the hook on the top of the compressor tool is hitting the K member, and this is preventing me from properly indexing the spring. Darn. Off by about an inch.

I'm going to jack up the A-arm some more and then hopefully be able to turn the compressor tool out a bit, then I'll tighten it a bit more and will hopefully be able to turn the spring enough to get it into the A-arm properly, so that only one of the drain/inspection holes is covered by the coil end. It took a bit of "fenagling" to get the darn spring to seat in the perches, even with the compressor tool on the spring. I used a 6" piece of pipe on the thread before the first hook, so the threads wouldn't come out the top of the spring and hit the K member.

I don't like the idea of prying the spring into place without a spring compressor, especially since all my parts are powdercoated and painted. If it was all rusted and dirty, I would probably go with the pry bar and jack method for installing the springs.

Anyway, the front end is looking really clean now

 

the best way to install these springs is opposite from the way you are doing it. take out the rear control arms bolts, then bolt the ball joint to the bottom of the strut....place the spring in there then use a floor jack to raise the inside edge of the control arm up till you can put the bolts back in...you can put some cardboard or a shop towel over the floor jack to keep from scratching the bottom of the control arm...i have never had much success with using a spring compressing tool on these cars...

 

I've read that that method doesn't work with no engine in the car.

 

well that's certainly a good point! do you have any really big fat friends? just kidding!....you are probably right....cant set an engine in there temporarily?

 

I don't have an engine.

I'll get them in there

 

Finally got my LS1 brakes installed. I had to grind some of the steering stop away on the A-arm, where it attached to the A-arm toward the middle of the car. I also had to grind down the banjo bolt.

Now, the spindle hits the steering stop like it should, even with the lower ear cut off the spindle. It actually doesn't hit anywhere near where the lower ear on the spindle used to be. It hits about an inch above that. Weird.

Here are some pics:




I think it is ok that I put some washers between the abutment and the caliper bracket. I guess that is why they came with the bracket kit.





I have JUST ENOUGH clearance between the banjo bolt and A-arm stop now. I guess you can grind the banjo bolt down pretty far before getting down to the hollow part of it. Anyway, you can see toward the bottom right corner of the pic how the stop hits the spindle. Perfect!!

 

Have to take the driver's side hub back and get it machined down a bit more.

Shoot!!!!

 

hows it goin man real nice build been reading on it for a few hours now glad to see someone as picky about the small things as i am def looking forward to seeing how things go and hopefully starting my lt1 swap soon hope ya dont mind but when i do probably gonna be buggin the hell out of ya

 

I stumbled across your thread and never realized the 4th gen reservoirs were a mod we could do! I'm re-routing my intercooler pipes and these two mods would really help open up room and reduce clutter! My only concern with the washer reservoir is whether it'll interfere with a FMIC...will have to get some dimensions on it. The radiator overflow is money, previous owner just had a makeshift catch can off to the side. Any tips or things I need to look out for installing either of these?
BTW, sorry to see this up for sale, looks like you've put a lot of effort into it...heck of a deal for someone.

 

Hey. I'm not sure if the reservoir will interfere with the intercooler or not. I don't think it would because it is mounted high up, at least, on my car.

Yep, I am sad to be selling this car. I am surprised I have not sold it yet.
$2000.00 is not even what I put into the car, and it is not a bad deal at all.

 

OK why is this thread in the recommended engine swap threads read list? Don't get me wrong a lot of things get talked about but no swap actually occurred here.... And I just read 12 pages to basically touch base on having someone else do your wiring and engine building. How make install fuel line adapters and how to install C5 calipers and clean up a front end.

PS New2Chevy... Man that blows sorry the project didn't work out its a shame after all that work and money. On the bright side the firebird is a cool project... Although I'm a bit partial to birds