Question: Since I am deleting all emissions stuff, can I remove these two things?

 

Yes, they can go

 

Great!! Thanks Jon. I'm guessing one of them is the carbon purge, and the other one is...well...I don't know.

 

I got done cutting and flaring my brake lines with the new fittings on them and finished putting the proportioning valve in. A few of the flares came out sort of offset, for some reason. I'll just have to see how they've sealed, when I push the brake pedal.

 

I installed my prop valve and battery tray/coolant reservoir today.

Since I had my entire brake line system out, I wasn't sure how I would need to cut the lines, to make them a straight shot to the "T" and to the prop. valve. The front lines worked out fine with a little bending, and the rear line still has that loop in it. I might cut and bend that one, to make it go straight up to the prop. valve, if I ever feel picky.

 

I also ordered all of my Energy bushings today.

 

Very early LT1s used 3 HO2s, two upstream and one post cat. Later LT1s like yours used 4 from the factory because they had dual cats. Two in front and two behind. With a standard emissions delete tune they will trouble you no longer. Ill be leaving the rears off the harness with the overhaul. Keep in mind the HO2 sensors themselves are different f/r. Fronts are the cheaper 4 wire flat and the rears LS1 style 4 wire square male. Both send the same signal, so pick which you want. Id keep the flat style for cost in replacing them down the road

 

Thanks Jon. I'll keep the cheap ones then. I wish I could get my hands on a free engine hoist to borrow, from a friend or some kind person.

I can't afford to rent one. Yes, I am THAT broke now.

Shoot.

 

I got all my Energy bushings and also a factory AC delete today. I'll try to install all the bushings and paint the AC delete and install it and the HVAC harness tomorrow.

I'm not expecting much of a difference with the Energy components, but I'll just have to wait and see.



Next week I'm finally putting the LT1 on a stand. My shop at work will let me borrow an engine hoist. Sweet!! That'll save me 45 bucks. The Energy bushings and AC delete pretty much broke me, for now.

I'm considering waiting a while longer and building a 396 LT1 and sending my heads and intake to AI for porting. I'd also like to get one of their custom billet cams, to pump some air through the beast.

I'd love to have 500+ N/A horsepower.

THAT would rip up the streets, my tires, and a few Ford egos.

 

Got the AC delete painted and installed. I'm feeling tired and lazy today and didn't start on the bushings installations. blah

 

2 Questions for Pocket:

1) That little blue and black pigtail that comes out of the HVAC harness on top in the middle--is that for A/C?

2) Will there be a wire coming out of the harness you build that connects to that red/blower motor wire right by the blue/black pigtail?

 

Before and Now pics guys. The Now pic looks way better, even though it's a bit dirty from the rain and blowing dirt....better than that blue that used to be in there.

Before



Now

 

The LT1 is a pretty healthy motor with some small mods to the cooling system 160 t-stat and an extra switch to turn the fans on the original setup came on way to late,the stock heads with the small chambers work well with an LT4 hot cam profile the stock cam driven waterpump aint so great but i did this swap last year but carbed the car and after breaking 3 r4 transmissions went with the trans specialties th350

 

Hey, that's cool. Thanks for your reply. The LT1 is a great platform and can be built nicely, just like any other small block Chevy.

I think the 4L60e will do fine, for what I'm going to do--probably around 400 fwhp or so. I may wait until I have enough money to do everything at once--Strange rear end, stroker short block, AI heads, billet cam, tranny, etc.

The problem is that I hate waiting.

At a minimum, I'll probably slap AI heads and an AI billet cam in there, on top of the stock short block, and I'll do away with the high voltage opti, by swapping in an LTCC ignition. I'm going to fabricate some FRC's and mount the coils on them. I'll set the rev limiter to 6,200 and be careful not to hit it all the time, so I might get some life out of my used stock short block. From what I've read, the main problem with the LT1s has been the water pumps leaking onto the optis, causing the optis to fail....that and an occassional spun rod bearing.

The LTCC will eliminate opti problems, since all I'll need is the crank position sensor/low voltage portion of the opti. I may not have worded that right, but anyone who's read up on the LTCC ignition swap knows what I mean.

One day, I'll build a stroker out of it and change the camshaft and have a 500+ hp Camaro. I'll be happy with 400 hp for a while, though.

Heck, I'll be glad when I get that darn LT1 out and on a stand!!

Good luck with your new tranny

 

that's too bad about the AC delete........i've been driving mine all week with the ac CRANKED! it makes the car so much more civilized! Hoepfully it's cool where you live.......it's been too hot in NY this week..............

 

The A/C delete was by choice. I like cleaning up the engine bay, and it's way nicer without all the A/C stuff in there. It's also easier to tighten the passenger side headers, without that bulky A/C box in the way.

Up here in Wyoming, it's not too hot, even in the summer. I also don't have to worry about smog junk here in Wyoming.....not yet anyway.

I made it through the Arizona summer with my non A/C Camaro (well, it had AC, but it didn't blow cold air). I can definitely make it up here.

 

The black engine bay flows soooo much better with the red body than the original blue one! Looks good!

 

cool lookin car wouldent mind having a LT1 in my bird.haha
good luck on the swap, hope it goes good!!

 

thanks guys!

 

i know what you mean about the ac taking up room....my next project is a turbo 2.3 liter pinto and i'm leaving the ac off of that........it gets in the way of intercooler piping....so i'll just drive the IROC on hot days........

 

The thing that keeps nagging me is the thought of swapping in just the stock LT1, and I'll have way less power than my little four banger SRT-4. That doesn't please me at all.

If I'm swapping in a larger engine, I kind of want to go all out and build it to the NA max, for the street, pretty much. I really want to do it all before I put it in the car, so I don't have to pull the engine again later.

I definitely don't want the SRT-4's in town to humiliate me (there are a few fast ones here). That would suck. I DEFINITELY don't want any of the ricers to stand an inkling of a chance of passing me, either. Casper is a fairly small town, and when a WRX or Honda or something beats a Camaro or Mustang, it spreads like a wild fire, and it sucks. It causes a motivation for other import nuts to keep buying foreign crap, plus a lot of guys laugh at you, and you feel like punching them.

I don't want to play any part in that kind of nonsense...he he he. I want to humiliate ALL the foreign cars in this town. There is supposedly a 700 hp Supra in town here. I've seen it, and it appears to be very fast. It's hard to tell how fast it really is, unless you race it yourself. I saw it beat a "mostly stock" Terminator Cobra (not really a huge feat), but it beat it bad, and that particular Cobra has humiliated many a Camaro in this town, unfortunately. I definitely want to waste that Cobra, as soon as possible. I should be able to accomplish that easily, on a well built 383 or 396, heck maybe even a well set up 355 that's pushing around 400 wheel hp at sea level.

If that Supra is for real, I'll have to turbo my already built or stroked LT1 or get a 200 shot of nitrous, on top of that, to even stand a chance. I HATE Supras.

I did hear that a Lingenfelter Vette wasted that Supra (there's two of those here, and they're both twin turbo LS1 cars that were built at Lingenfelter's shop). I wish I could've seen that. I hope it was the one that has the American flag painted across the body. I definitely don't plan on beating a Lingenfelter Vette anytime soon. That would be a lofty goal.

I also heard that the Supra guy is going to race some old guy who just bought a new ZR1 Vette. I'd like to see that race, for sure. If the Vette wins, then I'll know the Supra guy is full of crap, or he can't drive.

At least, I'm not down in Arizona anymore...there's a guy who builds 700+ hp "Viper Killer" STI's down there. Those things are fast as heck, and I hate them. There's nothing like that in my town up here, thankfully. The closest thing to that is that supposed 700 hp Supra.

It sucks but is bearable to lose to another Chevy or even a fast Mustang...much better than getting walked by a Honda or Subaru or some junky Talon with a timebomb under the hood.

At least, I finally got a good job hauling oil pipe. I'll be able to build a nice street machine, hopefully before winter starts again.

 

Just finishing rebuilding my LT1 for my 93 TA. What mods are you doing to it before you drop it in?

 

I'm thinking I'll just go with a set of AI 190cc CNC'd heads, with their complete hydraulic roller valvetrain package, and their 226/234 .569/.570 110 billet camshaft (that's their largest cam for stock bottom ended LT1s). I'll also probably go with their street/strip port and polish on my intake--they gasket match the thing and clean it up nice. I'll use a 58 mm throttle body and a custom tune on the PCM.

I got my headers already...just Hedman shorties--coated ones. I got a great deal on them

58mm TB is a bit large, in my opinion, but it'll come in handy later on, when I build a stroker out of the LT1. I might even swap in a solid roller valvetrain, if the gains would be worthwhile. I'm still researching that, and it's kinda driving me crazy.

Just the top end mods I'm planning should be good for around 425 hp, which will make any third gen (any CAR, really) scoot plenty fast.

 

Blue is AC request from the HVAC head unit in your dash. BLK is blower fan GRD. External red is 12v battery to blower fan relay. Later 3rd gens incorporated the red into the 4 pin connector. The old red inline connectors are a PITA to unplug so Im guessing thats why it was cut and a wire nut used to splice them back

http://www.austinthirdgen.org/mkport...al_V8_vinE.jpg

You wont be using the blue wire for the non-AC swap

Side note, Ive never had a problem with a non-AC car in NC, even in the 100+ summers. Only time I ever want AC is when Ive got a girl riding with who doesnt want to mess up her hair or its just started raining and is still cooking inside

Id upgrade to longtubes over those shorties. Resale of coated headers should lower the cost since you're looking at a performance build

 

Thanks Jon I may do longtubes later on, after I pull it to build a stroker out of it. $$$$

I may just get that double hump crossmember now, so it will be ready for longtubes, when I have the frickin' money to do another exhaust system.

I kinda just want to keep it how it is and slap a GMMG exhaust on the back. That would work fine.

I don't know....we'll see.

Yeah I cut out that plug at the red wire some time ago. I read on here that it really needs to go, so I cut it out and wire nutted it.

 

OK Jon, so will I run a separate power wire from the S-10 power dist. block to that cut red wire and then just ground the black wire?

Or are you going to have a red/power wire coming out of the engine harness for me?

Either way, I'll just run that black wire to the chassis.

 

I can put them in or you can run them external. Function is the same

 

I'd say just put the power wire in there, and I'll ground the darn thing to the chassis from the existing black wire in the HVAC harness. I'd ground it tonight, if I had the energy.

Thanks Jon.

I can't believe the harnesses haven't arrived yet. UPS is slow I guess.

A funny thing: the head mechanic at work today was griping that GM cars don't stay together and that they're pieces of crap. My Camaro has held together quite well for the past 24 years. He likes Dodge and Ford....weird.

 

Finally got my engine hoist today, from a friend. The thing is a beast and a half. The pic doesn't do it justice. There's not a lot of room in my landlord's garage, either, with all their stuff and my Camaro parts in there.

I have been out of energy lately. Moving that hoist felt like moving a truck or something. The dirt/gravel ground didn't help much.

 

Looks like my old hoist. I dont use it because its such a bear to maneuver

Feels like you could jack up a train with it

 

yeah I know what you mean. It was a bear to move off my friends pickup, but it's saving me nearly 50 bucks in rental fees .

 

My engine will pretty much look like this, when it's done. I'm using the polished cast aluminum "Chevrolet" and bowtie emblem tall valve covers and also fuel rail covers with 4 LS1 coils mounted on each one of them. I decided to go with Speed Inc's alternator relocation kit, like the one pictured here. I'm not sure how much better (if any) the electric water pump is, though. Anyone know?

 

Got the LT1 out and on a stand today, finally!!

I pulled the stock manifolds and finally got that darn egr tube side free (PITA), and I removed the driver's side motor mount from the K member because the oil filter was hitting it and preventing the engine from coming forward. The tranny pan was hung up on the K member, too, until I jacked the darn thing up a little. I also dropped the dang torque converter on my ring finger, as I was pulling it off the flywheel. That hurt.

The ground made moving that beastly hoist more difficult than it should've been. I used two 3/4" pieces of plywood underneath, to try to compensate for the gravel/dirt ground and the darn threshold to the garage entry, which you can see is about 4 inches high, from the ground outside the garage.

One of the pieces of plywood suddenly slid, and the entire hoist and engine/tranny nearly fell over. Luckily I'm still fairly strong and pushed the darn thing back upright somehow. Sheesh!!

I'm doing away with the factory accessory bracket and will be going with a PS/Alternator relocation kit.

I'm definitely getting a happy jack or whatever, for when I drop the beast into my eagerly awaiting third gen.

Pulling the 350 from the 4th gen was more difficult than pulling my 305 from my 3rd gen. It didn't go too smoothly, but I got the sucker out, so oh well.

It was way more muggy than usual here today, too, and I was pouring sweat for five hours.





You can see how the hoist shifted in the below pic-which was after the whole darn thing almost turned over:

 

wow i wish the LB9 in my trans am looked nearly as clean as that!

 

Wow your LB9 must be filthy if it's dirtier than my LT1

 

Well it's got a lot more surface rust than yours... Massachusetts and New Hampshire winters weren't very good to it. At least it runs good! *knock on wood* lol

 

That's what matters most. I plan to really clean up the LT1 and make it look brand new, since I did my engine bay like I did.

It'll all look pretty nice when it's done. I hate waiting.

 

woohoo glad thats finally on a stand. have fun cleaning it up and tweaking things around- im curious to see the accessory relocation pieces.

keep it up,

Steven

 

Thanks, Steven.

It's turning into a way bigger project than I had originally planned, but that happens all the time. MORE power!!

I'm actually probably going to go with Speed and Performance's relocation kit....it's quite a bit more money, but it puts the power steering pump on the driver's side of the engine, and it includes a brand new pump and small alternator and nice idler pulleys and stuff. It'll look way nice, and my P/S lines won't be as long as the stock ones.

Now, I'm going to start the FRC fabbing, so it'll look nicer and also provide a place to mount the LS1 coils. I can't wait to get those finished.

 

Jon, in the pic, I can delete the plug that is circled, right? I think that went to an AC component before.

Also, that black wire goes from the plug (the one with the blue AC wire also) back to another plug and then another black wire comes out of that plug and goes into the relay.

Q: I only have to ground the relay to the chassis, right? I don't think I have to worry about plugging that plug into the second stand-alone terminal that was fastened to the motor housing before, right?

Thanks!

 

Yes, the plug circled can be cut out. The green wire at the HVAC head unit is part of it and the blue wire at the black/blue connector is the other. Cut it out completely or just enough to hide, it makes no difference

The relay/fan motor can be grounded to anything steel. Engine block/heads or chassis. Just be sure theres atleast one large ground strap connecting the two when you're done

 

Thanks Jon.

 

Still working on my hood (I keep finding spots I missed dang it!) and trying to find the motivation to install the Energy bushings. Some day soon

 

I decided I'm going to build a budget 355 short block with AI ported heads, cam, and ported intake resting on top.

It'll be a great street engine, with the stock crank and forged pistons and rods.

The Speed Pro forged pistons at Summit seem hard to beat, and the same goes for the forged Eagle 5140 rods. Both seem like great parts, for the price.

They'll be better than what's in there now, so that's all that matters, and they should be more than fine for 400-450ish horsepower and less than 7,000 revs.

I WANT Wiseco forged pistons and Callies forged rods and forged crank, but whatever. The Eagle rods and Speed pro pistons can be had for what the Wiseco pistons, alone, cost.

It won't matter, once I feel another solid 200-250 horsepower, over my old 305, beneath me. It should be very driveable and very fun when the gas is stomped.

 

I am thinking a 355 with a lot of air pumping in and out of it can be pretty darn mean.

 

Dont punch it out unless it needs to go bigger. Remember, you bore it to clean up the cyl walls to get back to a true round and generally you do this in .010" increments. No reason to jump strait to .030" unless you got some serious damage in a cyl

 

I see. Thank you for your input Pocket. It's much appreciated.

I figured with a cast iron block, the cylinder walls would be plenty strong still, even boring it 30 over. I'll have to see the condition of the cylinder walls when I disassemble the block. I imagine they're pretty good, since the oil in the engine was clean and at the proper level, and the thing turns over smooth as butter.

Every guy I ever talked to said, "Yeah, I bored it 30 over....blah blah blah." This made it seem like boring 30 over is a pretty standard thing on a 350.

 

It's very common in all the wrong reasons. People think of it as a way to make some extra power. It's not, it's to fix a problem with the block

 

The more I prime and sand the hood, the more flaws I find. Seems like it's never gonna get done. I'll want a nice hood to protect my new engine

 

The Speed Pro forged pistons jump in size from 4.000 to 4.020. Looks like the smallest bore will be 20 over, or I might only need to get it honed out.

That'd be cheaper, at least.