Quick question for anyone with Canton's valve covers: do these cover a rocker-arm girdle? It LOOKS like the passenger side cover (with notch) might have issues.

Thoughts?

 

Just got off the phone with Canton. The tech expects that their valve covers will NOT clear a stud girdle, since shaft-rockers won't clear it either.

I think I'll just upgrade to 7/16 rocker studs and call it good. This motor will never see north of 6,000 RPM anyway.

 

LT1 engine harness ready for installation. Every wire is labeled and I've sorted them between "needed" and "not needed".

Reason number 1 to buy the whole donor car: you can salvage all of the engine harness mating connectors!

 

Reason number 2 for buying the whole donor car: freebies that you can salvage from the engine-bay harness. Power leads, ground wires, fuse/relay box, and coolant fan wiring!

I've also realized that there's really nothing to this wiring job. Allow me to elaborate:
- There are wires that send signals to the gauges
- There are wires that send signals to relays
- There are wires that bring power to the engine

Each wire that controls a relay is providing a small amount of power to close a switch. The switch handles the real power to the injectors, fans, etc - and it should have an appropriately sized fuse on the loop as well.

That's it. For years I was scared of this swap - dating back to my first LT1 attempt on this car back in 2005. But it's really super simple.

That having been said - you may all quote the above when I spend next summer chasing electrical gremlins.

Hopefully this weekend I'll have my short-block components back from the machine shop to start putting together...

 

Another 4 day weekend - and more progress! Finally something to report that doesn't revolve around wires, electrical tape, or cleaning connectors with a tooth brush...

Yesterday I finally installed my proportioning valve and ss brake lines...

 

Also spent some time installing dynamat in the car. The carpet covers up the nice flat areas that were easy to do of course. But you get the idea...

As a side note: the change in tone & resonance if you rap on the side of the quarter is quite noticeable. I'm looking forward to seeing what this car sounds like once she's back together

 

Today I picked up my short-block parts and started assembly. Cannot wait to get this LT1 together. The heads should be done in a week or so!

Cloyes billet timing set, ARP main studs, Clevite bearings, CC503 cam, etc etc. So far I just laid the crank in and got it tightened down. Tomorrow I'll install the rods/pistons.

Probably going to have to order a new water pump drive. Mine is pretty rusted up where the stub sticks out of the timing cover.

 

Nice work TY.

 

We're back in hardware mode.

It's been a while since my last update. So - you ask - what have I accomplished? A lot of nothing. When the cold weather hit I lost my mojo and decided to direct my efforts towards RC Racing and not stressing about self-imposed build deadlines. Turns out I picked up a sponsor to run the 2015/2016 indoor season at my local track, so I ran what they call "short course trucks" in both 2wd and 4wd classes. It was a hoot.

But now the warm weather is here. The GTO is on the road, the Mustang is getting a high-torque starter and new dizzy, and the Camaro demands attention.

I've got this coming Monday / Tuesday off from work - so look for updates over the weekend. With a little luck I'll be showing off a mostly built LT1 in a few days.

...what? Don't act surprised that my race truck is orange and white...

 

Hey, I was wondering about you! Good to see you back here.

 

Good morning TGO! The last few days have been productive. Highlights are as follows...

Piston to valve clearance
- CC503 cam
- Measured using 1.5 stock rockers (will be installing 1.6s)
- Measured w/o head gasket (0.039" installed height)
- Measured w/modified stock lifter so it was "solid"
- Heads & decks have been surfaced (total amount less than 0.020" combined)
- 0.120" minimum clearance on either valve
- The lift increase to a 1.6r is essentially offset by adding the head gasket, so anybody running a CC503 on a stock motor has NO reason to worry about interference. I could get away with a 1.7r if I felt like it...

Quench
- .039 thick head gasket
- pistons on avg 0.005-0.010 'under' deck
- Q height = ~0.045-0.050 which is spot on

Headaches...
- I accidentally installed the timing gear on the crank in the 'retarded' position. Who knew that the "stock" slot in the gear was the one with the rounded top and NOT the slot that perfectly fit the key. Well...I would have if I read the stupid instructions. Anyway, Joe at EEMI bailed me out with a puller and the gear wasn't damaged.

 

Yesterday I also got the following on order / in work...

MEL M155 - Std Volume Pump w/ 3/4" Pickup Tube
COMP 1418-16 - 1.6R Roller Tip Rockers
GM ROCKER STUDS - Stock GM Replacement
CAN 20-013 PICKUP - Req'd For Canton Pan - 3/4" Pickup Tube
ARP 200-2807 - Flywheel Bolts

So why didn't I go full-roller rockers, ARP studs, guide plates, etc? It's partially b/c I wanted my valves lined up perfectly - and I find guide plates typically are not spot on. Too - I've had to come to terms with the fact that (1) this isn't a race motor and (2) I'd rather make calculated 'simplifications' and actually get the motor/trans in the car this summer.

It's the same reason I'm not spending $200-300 on a performance flywheel. I'd rather have the stock one surfaced and just re-use it. Money saved there can go towards the Canton oil pan I still need...

 

Very nice build so far. I wish I had the time and patience you do!

 

Don't they make self-aligning full rollers for the SBC?

 

They do - I wasn't going to get into this b/c I might get called out on it, but I THINK ARP doesn't make a rocker stud that fits the LT1 if you are NOT using guide plates. The LT1s have shallow stud bosses, so without a guide plate my concern was that they would bottom out or need to be shimmed up.

So that's how I got where I got. Instead of hemming and hawing I just made the call. I want to have parts by Friday so I can button-up the valve train this coming weekend.

...plus, my OCD is appeased by not having 32 additional roller bearings that can fail and put FOD in the motor. haha.

 

Ok, that seems perfectly reasonable.

Do the bosses need to be milled down for use with guide plates? (I woulda just used shims. but, I am just like that. Don't think I have ever seen a rocker fail.......)

 

It's the opposite actually - the threaded bosses are shorter than normal, which means the stud would bottom-out in them before it reached the 'shoulder'. Thus, you either need to place shims under the studs or run guide plates.

Either way - my parts came in today, so more progress / pictures to follow!

 

Lookin' Forward to it.

 

Yesterday was all about parts. After work I headed to EEMI to pickup my rockers, re-surfaced flywheel, valve covers, rocker studs, oil pump, and pickup. Nothing but victory there.

After that I took a drive to the next town over. A fella was selling a "brand new remf'd" opti-spark on Craigslist. It came in a perfect looking Delco box and has all the traits of being legit except 2 things that are bothering me...
1. The front cover is somewhat transparent, you can see the electrodes.
2. The spark plug conductors are aluminum, NOT brass...I thought all OEM optis were brass...

For $150 I figure either I win big and save $200, or I just bought a core valued at $75 if I have to buy another Delco...

I'd love to hear from the opti-experts of the interwebs...

 

This morning I started by checking my rocker-to-valve alignment. When changing rocker arm ratios you always want to make sure your rocker arm "contact patch" is centered on the valve.

Note: having your rocker tip centered on the valve AT REST does NOT ensure correct geometry. Over the course of it's travel, the tip moves in a semi-circular motion, so it actually 'wipes' across the valve.

My rockers are just barely off-center, but well within safe limits. While I was in there, I watched for coil-bind (nowhere close with these bee-hive springs) and also for clearance between the rocker/pushrod and rocker nut/inner rocker body.

So for anyone out there with a stock LT1 throwing these 1.6 rockers on - go for it. It's plug-and-play with stock length pushrods.

 

Once I knew stock length pushrods would work (I'll still order thick-wall upgrade ones) everything else could get bolted up. Rockers, lifters, spider, front cover, and oil pump.

Everything Loctite, everything 3X checked for proper torque.

Nothing to worry about except...CRAP! I need new pushrods. Details, details...

 

The intake was up next. Sadly, even with a good bead-blast, this one wouldn't look 'like new' like the heads. And I hate 'aluminum' colored paint. So it would get cleaned and painted.

See all that crud in the picture below? That's whats inside a 200,000 mile EGR cavity in your intake. Gentlemen: CLEAN YOUR INTAKES. A run through the jet-wash wasn't enough, so I got inside it with shop-air and picks as best as I could. Luckily all the material was soft carbon, nothing crunchy...but I still don't want my motor eating it.

Oh...and "Chevy Red-Orange" is not LT4 red. Lesson learned...

 

Commin' together. Lookin' GOOD! Going to sand off the ribs on the top of the intake a bit? Give it some contrast??

 

Friday was a marathon. Not a Roadkill-worthy marathon, but a long day by my standards. 9AM to 5PM - and much was accomplished.

First, Brown-Santa showed up with more goodies...

Why is a jumbo sharpie in the picture? Simple - that's what I used to install the water-pump drive seal, and it WORKS! Took 3 tries, but I got it.

 

By the end of the day, the valves were adjusted and the intake was on. I also rebuilt my throttle body. That was another interesting archeological dig. The water and oil passages were pretty scummy, so I'm glad I took it down all the way. It also had a fair amount of oxidation, but a dremel and a wire wheel fixed that.

Now I just need to buy new sensors (or as many as I can stomach paying for) and button up all the controls on the motor. Then it's flywheel-clutch time.

I think in the next couple of weeks the motor COULD be in the car. I'm beyond excited. This thing has sat for TWO YEARS on blocks while I scraped, grinded, painted, and beautified all the parts of the car that used to be neglected.

Really...I'm going to get spoiled. My 2006 GTO isn't even this clean...the 32 year old Mustang is though.

 

After yesterday's personal tour of the car progress, and now getting caught up on your thread, this is impressive. Nice work, well thought out, detail oriented.

Good job. Can't wait to help you put the motor in.

 

Mmmm, let me guess, there's a family association here?
I've seen quite few "UTC Flight" shirts on TP355Z...

 

Only my father gets guided-tour updates of the build.

 

Yeah Mike. You got it.

 

So here's a little backstory for the rest of TGO: MikeZ06 sits a few seats away from me. He's the guy that hired me 2 years ago. During the day we talk about our car projects, trade ideas, and bench race. It breaks up the day and is really pretty fun.

HOWEVER...Mike has now on a couple occasions used some slippery logic to trick me into ordering parts that I was otherwise going to wait on. Example: I was going to wait until the next CC billing cycle to order my clutch. During our Monday chat Mike says to me: "Why wait? You're going to spend that money eventually."

All the education and intentions of frugality go out the window when you're encouraged to pour more gasoline on the fire that is your credit card.

Anyway. More parts showed up today. I blame Mike. If I can't pay my mortgage I'm parking the GTO in his driveway and sleeping in it.

The Canton pan is particularly impressive. The attention to detail inside is awesome. The ARP bolts are for my motor mounts (clam shells) and clutch flex plate.

This weekend I may have a motor/transmission combo...

 

This week was full of some wins, and some fails...

Win! Polished my fuel rails and 36lb injectors arrived from injector-rehab.com. $135 for a full 'rebuilt' and 'matched' set. Will see how they run. They appear legitimate, send each injector set with flow data. Not bad...

Fail! The injectors (which I was told would fit this application) don't have the slot all the way around the top for the retaining clips.

Win! Fixed it with the tool (Dremel). Just had to make sure I didn't drink any coffee first...pretty delicate work.

 

Win! Oil pan installed w/level sensor and temp sensor and lots of blue RTV. Maybe this will be the first small block I build that doesn't eventually leak...bahahahahaha...

Win! 1 of the 3 auto parts stores in my area had a new pilot bushing.

Fail! I had to use the 'hydraulic' method to remove the old one (which was completely demolished - 200,000 miles...) and I managed to gack my right thumb in the process. Owie.

Win! Flywheel and RAM clutch installed. I couldn't find a consensus on the torque spec for the pressure plate (plus I was using ARP bolts). I read 52 ft lbs, 22 ft lbs, and 15 ft lbs plus 30 degrees. I took them to 52 initially, but fearing damaging something I backed them down to 45ish and re-loctited everything.

 

And finally, a fail. I went to install my brand new Pioneer hub and Dorman harmonic balancer, only to realize that the hub was machined WRONG. Thanks CHINA.

I called Summit and explained the situation, they were more than happy to send me a replacement which will be visually inspected before shipping to me. The funny thing was, as I was on the phone with the guy I pulled up their page for the hub, and someone had posted a review the DAY AFTER I ordered mine, stating that the bolt-hole pattern was wrong. HA. Just my luck.

Now - the hydraulic method for removing pilot bushings: A couple months ago when MikeZOhSix told me about it and my father confirmed it - so I gave it a shot. Turns out that a 13mm deep socket is just about perfect for a T56 car. Insert a vacuum cap in the end the socket that the driver goes (so you don't have an open hole) and wrap the inserted end of the socket 1-2x with electrical tape as a 'gasket'. Fill the pilot bushings with grease, push the socket in the hole and wail away. It took a few re-fills before it was out far enough to grab with a pair of vice grips. But it does work. SCIENCE.

 

Ahh, Grasshopper, I'm glad you headed the old/middle aged man's sage advice. The pound the *hit out of it method when it's filled with grease has never failed me when multiple multi-fingered pullers has. You just need to find/or make the right "piston". And, I'd call it ENGINEERING, not science = basic hydraulics. Sorry you whopped your thumb, that's on you.... I'm sure I'll hear about it on Tuesday when we return to work, maybe even see the damage.


A fine job you're doing on the car, makes me think back to the earlier Camaro's and Trans Am's I've had, and miss.


mk

 

The hydraulic pressure exerted by the socket is inversely proportional to the number of fingers between the it and the hammer.

 

Ow! Owowowowow! Been there, done that myself lol. Nothing like having the breaker bar holding the belt-tensioner slip off the bolt and slamming down onto the frame at crazy speed... twice! (Shows I didn't learn the first time lol).

Thankfully, mine came right out with a puller.. both times. I initially used a bronze bushing, but switched to a bearing later on. Tried the grease method, and now I know I wasn't doing it right lol.

Build looks ha-mazing!

 

Slide hammer. Free rental at Autozone, no greasy mess to clean up, and no risk of personal injury.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...ml#post5405374

 

Great read, and build. I was tempted through college to sell my first car- the '87 RS I have.

Later this year I am building a garage so I can join the cool kids with a thread like this.

Anyway keep it up! I love reading threads like this that last years but really tell the story of how many backyard greasers work.

 

Thanks 87TG - and good luck with your garage and Camaro builds. I'm finding there are only a couple keys to success in car crafting...

1. Build what makes you happy, don't build to 'compete' with someone
2. Work when you're motivated, not to a schedule
3. Document the build so you can reflect on the journey
4. Do it right the first time, don't cut corners
5. Drive it like it's a Roadkill car

 

Today was awesome. Period. Big jumps in progress seem to be happening more frequently, which is keeping me motivated.

Started around 9 AM, mostly shuffling the jack stands and car so that the cherry picker could fit under the car. S76 (dad) showed up at 10 and we lowered the motor into position without much issue. I had upgraded to poly-motor mounts, so they needed to be massaged with a pry-bar and 'convinced' with a few raps from the big-frickin'-hammer before the bolts lined up, but everything fit great once it settled.

Seeing the LT1 in that engine bay almost brought a tear to my eye. It's so low and clean compared to a carb install or a TPI setup. Love it.

 

Once the motor was in, the rebuilt T56 followed suit. We spent probably an hour massaging each component into position.

I wish I took a picture, but we had a furniture dolly on my car jack to rest the transmission on, and to keep the trans from getting 'tipsy' my father used various size sockets between the dolly and webbing of the trans to hold it up. Talk about genius.

Now the cross-member is in, the slave cylinder is in place, and I can start thinking about wiring, headers, all that good stuff.

For now, I'm going to button everything up, install my sub-frame connectors, then work on cutting the tunnel, getting a shifter in the car, and the center console.

 

Totally impressed with this car. Of course my opinion is tainted with bias, but even still this car is nice. The attention to detail and the execution are spot on. Helping put the trans in I found the bottom is detailed as nice as the rest of it.

Keep digging. Your almost there.

 

Absolutely stunning.

 

That's the money shot right there - Congrats!
I know how great it feels to get the motor and trans in. Lots of fiddly stuff ahead of you, you knock them out one at a time. The next big one is when you fire it the first time.


You certainly know how to do things right, I'd like to come over some time and see the car and meet S76 - of course I might ask for a beer to toast the project and the project manager!

 

This car is the reason behind the Camaro getting brakes and suspension mods in addition to the motor.

At first glance you'd think this was just a stickered-up tuner car with a big wing.

But if you looked closely, you'd realize it's a race prepped M3 super-lite with full aero and 400hp. There's lots of Vette and Shelby drivers in New England that have been humbled by this car.

Yah. Little brother doesn't mess around.

 

Not particularly happy right now.

Just brought my Alston SFCs into the garage and decided I'd mock them up to see how they fit. I'm not impressed. Calling them "bolt in" is a big stretch of the truth.

I don't see how it's possible to use the bolt holes for the front pockets on the driver's side. The cup is too shallow and really doesn't follow the contour of the frame. The passenger side looks "OK" if you're going to weld it in.

Oh, and if you're using a T56 cross brace there's a good chance they interfere with it too.

I was hoping to bolt them in and call it good, but it looks like I'm going to have to weld them, and I'm *pretty sure* I'm going to end up modifying the driver's side forward cup so I can get more than a 2" bead of weld on it.

Remember that post where I said the aftermarket doesn't care about the quality of your build if you don't?

 

I have thought for a while now that stuff just doesn't fit as well as it used to back when these cars were popular. Probably the same case for about any old car, I suppose.

I assume you're going to have to lift the car in the air to install the subframe connectors. I know you are interested in racing so make sure the frame is square and level before you weld. You want the suspension pivot points on the frame to be as square as possible. Now is the time to take the time to plumb-bob and measure that sucker.

 

Good advice QwkTrip. For now I'm going to set them aside - at some point later this summer the car has to go for an alignment and exhaust, so from there I'll just drop it with my buddy Don and have him put them in.

Still, annoying.

On the plus side, by Friday a bunch of goodies will be here..
- AC delete pulley
- New coil
- New coil module
- Oil filter adapter
- Header gaskets to see how Hedman 684XXs will fit

And I think I'll cut the tunnel and get the shifter in too. If I can prove that the Hedmans will fit using the gaskets as a template, I'll order them asap.

 

Why are you paying for exhaust work? Is there not a bolt-in solution?

I see from a quick search that a small block 1-3/4" primary header will fit the D-port head of the LT-1. My ZZ4 had D-ports too and I had a set of Hooker Super Comp long tubes with 3" Y-pipe that bolted up to any 3" cat back. I just lopped off the AIR tubes from the headers and welded the holes shut.

 

For a few reasons actually...

1. I want flanged or bolt-up connections for the y-pipe, no horseshoe clamps. So that requires some fab work.
2. I need a total of 3 O2 bungs welded in.

It looks like I'm going to be ordering Dyno-Don headers. I bought a set of Hedman gaskets for their 68470 shorties and I'm not encouraged. At a minimum, the Hedman gaskets can't be used with their own headers. They cover the head ports fine, but I'm worried about the amount of flange that will meet the head.

See attached. In the bench picture I offset the LT1 gasket until the port just-barely was visible under the Hedman gasket. If you look at the offset in the bolt-holes, that's how much of the Hedman flange would be in contact with the head. Not great...

I guess guys have gotten away with it, but I don't feel like risking it. The way I look at it, the extra $300 for the Dyno-Don shorties gets me...

1. Ceramic coating
2. Bigger primaries
3. Peace of mind