Haven't posted in a while, but don't worry it was worth the wait! I know i need to lower front and rear now to get the stance right, but I finally installed the C5 front brake kit and wheels/tires! I don't think I've seen any other members with these wheels. I love the stance so far, and the braking is far better than the stock brakes! I think lowering the car, a nice window tint, and my new 3.73 rear gear will give me many "smiles per gallon" this summer

 

^^ for reference, they're 285/35/18 rear and 255/40/17 front Nitto NT05

 

Nice job! Love the look! May be an inch down in the front.....

 

Finally got a week off of work, took the opportunity to start swapping a 3.73 ring and pinion set with a 2001 torsen diff. My old auburn unit was pretty well burned out, plus the gear bump should make for fun times on the street. Since its a 3series carrier, i also got 28 spline axles from the ~89-92 thirdgen for an upgrade. Here's a few pics of the old stuff for now:







Also washed/clay-barred/waxed it last weekend for about ~5 hours before a car show.....it turned out fantastic, so I snapped a picture. Turned a few heads at the show as well due to the LS swap.

 

Posting for documentation. Almost done with building up the rear end, hope to have it on the road by next weekend. Posted a thread about pinion bearing preload and drag: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...nion-drag.html for reference.

 

Enjoyed reading your thread, would love to check out a video of how it sounds. Looks good and keep us posted.

 

Thanks art! I'd like to make a little vid sometime so everyone can hear it. I think it sounds great, not raspy but still aggressive!

 

Quick update! I finished the 3.73 torsen swap just before the end of summer, flashed the pcm and put a few hundred miles on it. Everything is great! Really helps make the stock LS1 more fun on the street. As the car sits for winter, I'll be rebuilding a T56 (in my living room...), then I can swap that in next summer. Things are coming together!

 

Time for an update! Finally got my hands on some ground control adjustable perches. Ordered 800lb front and 175lb rear springs. You can see the comparison between factory and rear springs below. I'm also going to measure the deflection on my factory springs to really understand what the rate was...since there's a ton of different info for 1985 on this site.

Also I have a few pics of the front lowered and the rear factory springs, it had a pretty sweet rake

Stock front spring comparison: Front springs.
Stock rear spring comparison: Rear springs.
Front lowered only: Here and here.

Here is the height I thought looked best(unfortunately not the best geometry). Please excuse the crappy quality pic, and I haven't had a chance to wash and wax yet this summer:


So far I'm incredibly pleased with the ground control adjustability and ease of install! They've worked out great. I've went back and set the front control arm geometry so they're parallel to the ground and in the center of travel. May need to adjust sway bar and trim the stock bump stops. I've also got some work to do on the rear suspension. I'll plumb the chassis and center the rear axle since I have an adjustable panhard bar. Also if you notice, my rear trailing arms now have a decline angle from axle to chassis pivot. I've got to tuck my fuel lines up for better ground clearance now:



I will be ordering LCARBs soon to remedy this issue, and combat the wheel hop that comes with it. But so far so good and the car feels great! More to come...cheers!

 

Looks like the bushings are totally shot in yours LCAs

 

the y look like johnny joints almost

 

Hey Pocket, they are in fact UMI roto-joints! They're sort of like an inverted rod-end. They have an internal ball with 2 piece grease-able delrin races. You can tighten them down if they wear out as well. I like that they provide more angular movement without binding. Check it out:

https://umiperformance.com/catalog/i...age=roto_joint

My rear control arms and panhard bar have these joints.

 

Okay, that's pretty awesome. Definitely bookmarked for future reference!

 

In that case rock on!

I noticed no rubber/poly bulging out and the LCAs at a wierd angle and thought no bushing left! Danger teh manifold!

 

nice build man! hopefully ill get mine mostly set up this weekend. anychance you can post that diagram of the fuel an fitting diagram? cant seem to find it

 

Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have anything drawn out, but I read a lot of information regarding the stock 4thgen setup and swap stickies here on TGO. Check out:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...on-answer.html
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...third-gen.html

In general, I used the 3rd gen fuel tank with a walbro pump wired with the factory style pigtail. The pump pressure line goes to the filter/regulator body (it functions as both filter AND regulator together). Then the return from the filter/reg goes back to the tank as low pressure. The high pressure outlet of the filter/reg goes to the front of the car and into the fuel rail. That was it!

 

LOL! yep that would be bad news! It does look awkward since they can rotate.

"I don't always tune...but when I do:"