Dakota W.

Is the engine in yet?

kmcn47

nope, been pretty broke lately, haven't made much progress on making a harness or finding a 4th gen tank either

Dakota W.

Why do you need a 4th gen tank?

kmcn47

i don't "need" it but I'd like to have it, i mean it would already have the right pump, and i wouldn't have to worry about it rusting because its plastic, some minor weight savings too, that and its cost effective, i could probably get a complete tank for the price of a brand new pump in my 30 (almost) year old tank

Dakota W.

I'm planning on dropping mine and cleaning it out. I can get a fuel pump through work for around $35. But the plastic tank would be nice. I'm debating on getting a fuel cell or not, and just sticking it in the trunk or something, it would make a back half and 4 link much easier

kmcn47

well if ya go that route make sure its done good enough to pass spec, i want my car to stay driveable/trackable at the same time so im kinda going for stockish? performance upgrades, oh i do have a build thread update, i switched all my cluster bulbs to green, i have to say getting the cluster in and out wasn't bad, but de-tatching and then re attaching the speedometer cable was a PITA

Dakota W.

Got any pics? I was thinking about putting red ones in mine.

kmcn47

i'll have to take some, the bulbs are just cheapo blazer 194s from autozone for all 14 i bought it was like 20 something dollars, i did the PRND12 and my hvac bulbs too

kmcn47

well the 305 is gonna need some love if its gonna make it until i can swap the 5.3 in, its got a tick and its been burning oil bad, also could use a new power steering pump and a part i only just discovered today lol, so far parts i'd need to get it atleast mechanically trouble free again is around 170 so im saving that up for a bit

Dakota W.

I bet it's killing you to be waiting on money for parts so you can swap in that bigger, better engine. I don't know if you've checked my build thread recently, but I'm so close, and OMG it's killing me.

kmcn47

not really, i know at this point i'm a long way off and it doesnt really bother me, i am more concerned about keeping the car running right now, it is still my daily driver, so i decided to put the 5.3 on the backburner and budget some time and money for fixing the cars issues to make it a nice daily driver

86_irocz-28

What are your plans for the 5.3

kmcn47

clean it, paint it, put it in the car, cheaply as possible, was gonna use stock intake/ accesories under either anl88 hoodscoop that i was gonna put on, or a harwood pro touring hood that i planned to buy later, also its my birthday guys, hooray im 20

86_irocz-28

same age here lol ls1 intakes can be had cheap on ebay or ls1tech

kmcn47

i looked into that, still too expensive for a "basement budget build" lol

Dakota W.

Congrats man! You've got 2 years on me lol. I parked the 305 because I was getting 6mpg, and having to add oil every 400 miles. It was costing me more to drive it than buy parts for the 350. 6mpg isn't fun...I'm still a little worried about you not replacing the head gaskets.

86_irocz-28

hows your 5.3 intake look?

kmcn47

a bit muddy, but hey thats a 400 dollar junkyard engine forya, the gaskets are good enough to re use on it, it'll clean up fine, i think i should be alright with not doing a full rebuild on this engine hell my dad bought a 99 silverado with the same engine and its got more miles then this one and runs fine

kmcn47

i am gonna replace the oil pump though as per everyone's suggestions

86_irocz-28

theyll run into the 300xxx range easy i got really lucky with finding my 92xxx one for $335 are you going with ac?

kmcn47

nope, i say to hell with it, tried last summer to get it working spent like 500 bucks, didn't work more then a day, don't need it i have ttops

kmcn47

still really waiting on money to make progress, sadly whatever extra i had aside form the insurance/rent/phone/bills was spent on a few ER trips that where quite unfortunate, one of them engine related lol but i am kinda torn now, i have it primed and then a coat of white on it so that whatever color i decide to go for (definitely not white) will pop out more, i had originally planned on red but lately the very few grabber green ones i've seen and my lifelong love of green makes me wanna do that, also should i paint my heads/intake/valve covers, did decide on keeping the hood stock and just looking for an ls1 intake. do any of them come with a cable style tb rather then the electric one on mine :/ i need some opinions guys....... not that i'll listen i usually do whatever i decide on anyway haha

Dakota W.

My opinion? Turbo.

kmcn47

BUDGET! build

kmcn47

welp, don't know what to do, bittersweet news that by the end of august i'll be moving myself to charlotte and going to NTI so idk if i should rush my swap or just sell off what i have so far and use it to make the l69 dependable for the trip, it'd need a valve job and new o2 sensors and a carb rebuild, kinda hard to do to your daily driver, opinions? thoughts? anyone?

Dakota W.

How far are you from getting the new engine together, in the car and running?

kmcn47

pretty far, so im probably gonna sell it, that being said there isn't much to sell, a high mileage 5.3 thats no longer complete and some 4th gen shorty headers

83Z28/L69

The black things in the valley pan are your knock sensors. You get a 98-02 Fbody LS1 intake with cable TB. You might be lucky to get 250 for your LS stuff, but every little bit help toward getting the 84 dependable. Good luck with her.

kmcn47

**** ill probably end up keeping it then, who knows what the future holds, might end up finished at some point

kmcn47

well started into the old l69 today, couple observations, i now believe it is an original low mile car (had 23,xxx when i bought it) because inside the engine is well, not clean but clean for a used engine, question though, should my rocker arms be loose enough that i can wiggle them back and forth? i mean all of them are, my dad said they should be snug enough that i can't move them with my hands but it always seemed to run fine before minus the tick and bad seals that make it burn oil. also whoever said you can easily get the valve covers off with the engine in the car is a ****ING LIAR oh yeah you can do it, but it aint easy, and idk how in the hell im gonna get them back on honestly, removed my ac, didn't work anyway why leave it in

Dakota W.

I have loads of room in my car, not sure why you're having issues. Are they the tappet rockers? pushrod play up and down is what you want to check for.

kmcn47

loads of room? you ever changed your spark plugs kid? yeah i thought not, haha no really with two heater hoses 100 vacuum lines and a wiring harness all tucked in on top of the valve cover and behind the alternator but without room because of the a/c i had a bitch of a time getting them off, strangely they went back on easy as can be, car runs good now, no more tap, no more smoke either, i don't know if the rockers were loose or not but everything was tightened back up a little over spec so hopefully i didn't do any damage. doesnt seem like it

Dakota W.

The stupid factory exhaust manifolds were the only hindrance when changing plugs. You're a kid too Shorty plugs and headers are easy as pie though.
And yes, loads of room, but now I'm just bragging lol.

kmcn47

first time ever my car vapor locked on me this past weekend, out at about midnight with some friends (its a bitch to find Yeager around here lol) and sitting in the supermarket parking lot i had to stand on it while cranking it and then finally after about 55-60 seconds the car finally sputtered to life, must have finally got enough pressure in the fuel bowl to start, funny i thought i had the in tank helper pump to keep that from happening 0.o and its never ever done that before, only thing i did recently was replace the thermostat with a fail-safe 180 (the one i took out was factory) seems to run better now, when i get paid friday im gonna do 02s and check my plugs and look around for the cheapest tires i can get (im showing some cords) and that just isn't gonna get me from Mooresville NC back to Bridgeport OH every weekend, also am i insane for even thinking about putting that many miles on what (the more i work on it i believe) is a 46,579 original mile car?

kmcn47

if anyone was following from earlier i finally found the correct ported vacuum switch for my car (that thing in the tstat housing besides the coolant temp sensor) turns out its for a non G code 305 (lg4) the G code 305 (l69) only lists the ported vacuum switch that doesnt even go in the tstat housing but the intake manifold, funny that my car has both, tomorrow or maybe the next day i'll just change both. one of the old ones is ripped almost completely in half lol

Richboll

That's your call. You can drive it or make turn it into a garage queen. I prefer the driving part... at least when the weather is nice.

kmcn47

Big lawlz. Garage queen it ain't. I was mostly asking whether or not the expert opinions here thought it would hold up to the amount of miles its gonna be seeing. Granted my only mechanicla issue is some burnt oil. I hope it will. I mean how hard is it to kill a pretty okay running stock 305?

Dakota W.

"What can go wrong, will go wrong."

kmcn47

funny thing about that,murphy's law, i have mcneal's law anything that can go wrong will go wrong and random bad **** will fall out of the sky and ****up your day even more so anyways, **** trying to fix maintain or repair factory smog equipment (most of it anyway) had a hell of a day today, long story but....
okay, get done with a long day at work running on 4 hours of sleep now 36 hours ago, decide to chage things up, get a breather filter instead of a pcv, cant find the right ported vacuum switch, just brass plugged the hole, deleted some emissions ****, car runs absolutely perfect for about 15 mins then all hell breaks loose when it warms up and goes closed loop, no ***** at all, check engine light is on, power steering goes awol to the max, i can barely drive it (thank god i have no power) runs like **** until i can pull off, get out ****ing put everything back to stock (always keep your **** people) except the brass plug, thats staying, still no power steering i can see it moving atleast 3 times what it should be (hopping, wobbling) crazy ****, drove home (anyone who knows my road, my hill, owes me a beer for that) no power steering, 3400 lb car 40 mph max, get home takes 2 and a half hours to get the old pump off (now i checked all my fluids tis morning) all fluid in the pump is GONE da fuq right? anyways new pump on the way, 31 year old fuel filter has been changed (ever seen a tampon used by satan, its this old fuel filter) car runs pretty good now, no idea on mileage havent gone anywhere (**** my arms hurt) i didnt really lose today, i mean i didnt win either, well i know for damn sure my knees lost, im way to young to be this old

kmcn47

pump changed, new lines, fluid, steering box is bad (theres that law again) new steering box on the way from RA love that site, and some somber/good news i guess, my dad lied to me and spent most of the money from selling my grandfathers house so now i probably wont be attending nti anytime soon, so i guess ls swap is back on

Dakota W.

That's okay, cars are more important

kmcn47

yeah i know, but i could have gone to NASCAR technical institute, my best friend works in Hendrick Motorsports engine shop right now, I'd kill to be doing that

Dakota W.

I'd like to go to UTI and do either the Ford dealership program, diesel or nascar. Yes, I said ford. Since Fords always break, I'll always have a job! Know the enemy.

kmcn47

find a campus near you its crazy expensive though

kmcn47

my steering box came from rock auto, not only is it not an ac delco brand new part as advertised, it looks like ****, what is it with re-manufacturing parts that they think oh yeah we have to cloak it in this black tar **** paint to make it a good part, i swear i'm about to hack their website out of frustration.........jk of course.

kmcn47

cleaned up, smoothed, and then re painted in something nicer and more permanent


did my ls engines valve covers int he same thing, they both look great, pics don't do it justice

kmcn47

i will say i feel like a pretty big dumbass though, when wire wheeling everything tonight it skipped and i was only one handing it and it ended up right in my chest and left me with a pretty painful gash of scrapes from m y neck to my chest, also ripped my shirt, that ***** no fun

Richboll

Well the steering box looks great.

Sorry about your scrapes. Mark Twain once said "A man carrying a cat by the tail learns something that he can learn no other way"

I think that applies to using a wire wheel with one hand.

Good luck with the rest of your build.

kmcn47

that about sums it up, thanks, looking to get back into it and make the whole engine look that good

68Strat

iTrader: (3)

Nice job! I can't believe I hadn't subscribed to this thread yet. Last night it took 5 minutes of wires flying off the wheel for me to realize I should probably be wearing safety glasses. Happy to say that no eyes were lost during the process of prepping my intake.