GMan 3MT

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Moar pictures

GMan 3MT

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Once again, Craigslist to the rescue in finding the parking brake bracket. Texted a guy back and forth a few times to clarify what I was needing. $20, and I was on my way to pick it up. Show up to the kids (parents) house and see the car fairly stripped down in the garage. Only then do I realize he’s not pulled it off yet. If I’d known, I would have brought my own tools. Spent a good 30+ minutes drilling spot welds and prying the bracket out. But hey, $20 right?

robguitargod1

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I had the same thing happen, except it was with an engine! Actually the exact engine that I'm building right now. The guy's '01 Trans Am got T-boned and he wanted $1500 for the complete engine.

I already had a complete f-body LS1, but for $1500 I couldn't get there fast enough! 2 days and a 45 min drive later I show up and the car had not been touched!

I was not happy since I had to pull the engine pretty much by myself, but the price was excellent and when it came out I noticed it was an LS6 block. My aggravation pretty much melted away then! haha

robguitargod1

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Another thing I've done with great success in the past is tig weld parking brake cables together. It'll allow you to use any termination style and length you want. Mig welding the cables is not really doable, but tig is very easy.

GMan 3MT

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Sucks about the engine. Reminds me of when I picked up a donor LT1 camaro that had been in a bad wreck. From the pictures the rear wheels had been sheared off. I asked the owner if I would be able to bolt my wheels onto the fronts to get it onto my trailer and he confirmed.

What he didn't mention was the ball joint was sheered off on the drivers side (not shown in the pictures, that whole side was way worse) meaning it didn't roll worth a damn. Made for a fun few hours getting it on the trailer.

Full story... www.witchdoctormotorsports.com/ch161.htm

The craigslist ad


The other side after loading


I bought a used mig welder that I had intended to try teach myself some basic welding. I must have a leaky regulator or bottle since it's been filled twice and was empty when I'd go to use it. Wire feed jammed last time, and I never got around to fixing it. So for now, I just farm out any welding I need done.

GMan 3MT

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A/C and heater line routing and diverter valve were the next challenge. Heater core was replaced with a new one and even spent the time to actually remove AND replace all the screws, even that PITA one at the top.

Mocked up the A/C lines. Purchased a bunch of fittings and hose (BH8 & BH10) from ColdHose.com. Ended up liking the 45* (BL1317) from the dryer to a 90* splicer (BL6123) to the 90* (BL1323) at the Hawk’s fitting on the compressor. Condenser worked with a straight fitting the best (BL1302 & BL1323). Used the suggested (Gates 28471 & 28479) heater hose lines. They had to exit the water pump and turn up before hitting the A/C line, so that end got the elbow. They kinda do their own thing from there. Figured I can mount the diverter valve (74781 from ‘00 2500 Van) to the dryer to semi-control where the heater lines want to go. The ends at the heater core got the elbow and bend nicely to the diverter valve. I did grind off a nub on top of the a/c box that I couldn’t figure out what it did.

Bad part is the heater hoses now interfere with the catch can. I reverse designed the bracket in AutoCAD to move it up and in a bit. Now to wait for it to get cut.



After taking them to a shop for crimping

GMan 3MT

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Replaced the aluminum tubing on the air inlet with a carbon fiber piece, again from IntakeHoses.com. Fits in a bit better and should hold less heat than aluminum. It’s subtle.

Relocated the “Orb of Power” to the passenger side and ran a new hose to the T at the back of the intake. This allows me to bolt up the 4th gen cruise control module and cable under the “battery tray” on the drivers side. Discovered the clip to the throttle body was broken tho, so I'll need a new cable or unit.

GMan 3MT

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Ran the rest of the plumbing for the steam line and vent line. Steam line goes from the rear crossover to a stainless Y that pairs up with the front crossover. It then tucks under the intake to the upper radiator hose coupler. The Y I believe is for a Coke machine (Lance S33-4XY).

Based on a thread on LS1tech, I took a molded 90* hose then installed a Edelbrock fuel filter (8157) on the clean side vent that then goes to a stainless 3/8” T fitting (Lancer 7007) that splits off to both valve covers. Overkill probably, but LS1’s are known to get oil in the intake. We’ll see if it helps.

Pushed the car outside and gave it a much needed wash.

GMan 3MT

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Installed the LS1 booster and master cylinder. On the brake booster, I wanted to see if I could swap the studs around since the thirdgen studs are larger than the fourth gen studs. I tried to knock out the stud from the third gen one and it completely distorted the booster flange. So that’s a no-go. Fourth gen booster bolts up just fine tho.

IROCgiraffe

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Great thread.... subscribed.

Zane M

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Fantastic build!
Thank You for sharing your progress!

GMan 3MT

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My UMI strut tower brace arrived. There are only a handful out there like this. It is the TPI one without the notch for the TPI. PN 2009-B. UMI said they have added to their catalogue, but just haven’t yet gotten their website updated. I plan to modify it into a 3 point and move the mounting point off from the strut mounts like another member here (twigger) did.

GMan 3MT

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Pulled the front bumper off. The passenger bumper cover at the turn signal needed some repairing. Took it to a body shop just outside my subdivision for a quote. $615. Riiiiiiight, no thanks.



Once I do all the body mods and strip it down for a full repaint, I’ll get it fixed right. But for now, it gets the same fix as racecars.

GMan 3MT

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Back when I replaced the header panel, I wedged the fourth gen washer bottle behind the cover. I heated up the bottle to give clearance around the latch.



Now I actually secured the bottle to the radiator support and routed the hose to the washer pump.

GMan 3MT

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Also took this time to drill the holes to mount the GM resisters for daytime running lights. Plan is to use 2 filament bulbs in all four housings. Run the DRL off the low filament of the high beams. Not sure yet if I’ll need one resistor per light or will run in series.



With the cover off, now’s a good time to change out the grille. The original one looked in good shape, but once I started handling it, it starting breaking into a million pieces. Texas requires a front plate, so I drilled holes in the CAMARO grille. If I ever do a trick hidden license plate, I’ll change out to the bowtie grille.



Also went to installed new “GM” turn signals that I’ve had for ages, bought on eBay from a dealer in Dallas. Turns out, they sent me two left side housings and I never noticed until now. Contacted the dealer and they said they’ll exchange it even after it being over a year since purchased. Used quotes around GM because even though these are genuine GM parts, they’re still made in China.

Wasn’t till the bumper cover was fully back on did I realize part of the bumper shows through. I may eventually put some black mesh behind the openings.

GMan 3MT

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Went the thirdgen route for the clutch hydraulics. When tearing apart the SS, we cut the braided clutch line (along with the p/s line). Ordered a McLeod line (139212) since OEM lines are just as expensive and I wouldn’t have to do the ‘drill mod’ on it. The adapter fitting doesn’t quite fit the thirdgen master. Some people enlarge the plastic master. I trimmed down the OD of the fitting to fit. Reused the thirdgen roll pin, and it’s nice and snug. I plan to mount the reservoir back in the stock location. Only issue I ran into was the 4th gen booster pinched the line from the clutch reservoir to the clutch master. I trimmed the nipple of the master down enough so the bend was no longer a restriction. The line is now solely held on with a zip tie since the ‘barb’ is now gone.

GMan 3MT

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Ordered new rear hard LS1 brake lines with the protective coiling from FlyNBye. Fit up perfect with the Kore3 braided lines at the calipers.

Tibo

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Can you explain this more or show some pictures? I may be headed down to Phoenix to pick up a TIG this week...

Tibo

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Bondo, 3M and some other brands make a flexible bumper repair kit. I used it on my rear bumper where it was completely torn and missing a small piece. I didn't really cover it in my build thread but It came out great, seems strong and looks great. Totally unnoticable.

rgauder

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I'm not a big teal fan, but that camaro is looking sexy.

Tibo

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How much room is there between the bump stop and the top of the K member for suspension travel? Or between I guess the wheel and the strut tower cap?

Tibo

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What area are/were you having pinched? I am also using a stock thirdgen clutch master with a fourth gen booster and brake master cylinder and I don't have any pinching.

GMan 3MT

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Thanks, it really has grown on me too. I think the fact that it's been repainted with more flake helps.

I'll definitely repair that tear myself later. Used some stuff like you're talking about on the racecar bumper. It does seem very strong, like really stong, stronger than the original cover. I briefly considered fixing this one now, but figured I'd have to grind a bit into the cover (like stopping any crack) and that you'd see the gray/white epoxy when looking at the front of the car unless I spot painted it.

Not enough! It was less than 1/4" between the bump stop and a-arm. It will get raised a bit. With the spring out, I wasn't really comfortable removing anything from the bump stop seeing just how much even the poly bump stops compress, so that may get left as is and will just deal with it. The rear does already have the bumpstops trimmed down a tiny bit since they came with the spacers.

The rubber line takes a hard right (to the drivers side) when it it exits the clutch master. Maybe pinched was a bit extreme a word, but it definitely wasn't a smooth bend on mine.

Love yours and robs threads btw. Funny tho, two white thirdgen both with stripes and both with tons of fab work. I'm just a guy who bolts on parts.

I was hesitant to say anything in your thread (as it obviously appears like you know what you're doing), but I came across your post on the fuel pump access door when I was preparing to do one on the racecar. One thing my father-in-law (who worked in maintenance at TI) was big on was using Swagelok fitting on the pressure line instead of ones from the hardware store.

GMan 3MT

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I want to use the LS1 steering wheel with radio controls. The steering column I have also has cruise control already on it. It’s a no brainer to use the whole thing. I am also installing a modified Astro steering shaft from Walter Racecraft (mw66nova). The ones he usually sells have one end rotated 90 degrees. I have one like that on Knocker. I bought a plain unmodified one from him as well. Normally, you have to grind a little on the steering column for the pinch bolt. I didn’t like that idea when a better solution is out there. I had the ‘clevis’ swapped out for an LS1 end at the machine shop, so that it will bolt up like normal with no grinding on the column.

Upon installing it, I discovered the column sticks out quite further into the engine bay than the thirdgen. Wasn’t a big deal until I put on the steering shaft. The knuckle interfered with the headers. The thirdgen shaft is a good few inches shorter. Obvious solution now is to use the thirdgen column and swap over the wheel, stalk and electrical stuff later. So it all had to come back out. I may send the shaft back to Walter RC to have him rotate the end if the steering is off.

I at least was able to install a steering wheel bearing from eBay (“69-92 GM” from cjsrods73j3) onto the thirdgen column when putting it back in.

GMan 3MT

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I want a clean looking throttle cable, but didn't want to pony up for the Lokar when I could have something more stock appearing. I bought a new non-traction control LS1 cable (12565559) and cut apart the stock 3rd gen cable to use the firewall grommet. Cut the end off the 4th gen cable and removed it’s grommet. Slid on the 3rd gen grommet and added some super glue. Used a throttle cable end from Uni-Link (3153) for the end. I cut off the threaded portion and reshaped the bottom a bit. Since I removed an oh-so-slight amount of cable, this may negate me having to bend my pedal. I’m not sure, but I think there are actually two different lengths of non-traction control cables. It only makes sense since there are two different throttle body cams.

GMan 3MT

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Finalized the positioning of the coils and tightened them down. I ordered ACCEL 8.1L plug wires with ceramic boots (9065C) from Summit since they are a touch longer than stock, required for the valve covers. One arrived cracked. To reduce down time (not that it was needed) they sent another full set out and said to return mine after the second box arrived. Glad they did it that way, because the second box had a cracked one in it as well. I made one good set and installed them.

GMan 3MT

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Engine bay almost finished up, sans all wiring.

GMan 3MT

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Exhaust parts arrived. I was looking for something more on the quiet end of the spectrum and wanted a single exit. Ended up going with 3.5" Magnaflow muffler (12909) and 2.5" cats (59906). I briefly considered the setup from Mufflex, but decided to go splurge and get a proper custom exhaust.

GMan 3MT

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With the engine bay now mostly wrapped up, we put the hood back on. It’s been a long time without it. Discovered that the struts weren’t quite up to the task anymore, so ordered a new pair (Stabilus 309040) from TDS.



Back to the rear end. Even with the fourthgen spring isolators, the car was still on the bumpstops. I will cut them down a little, but right now they’re a good measuring tool. Installed my overly complicated rear spring adjusters, and, at their lowest setting, makes the car sit at what I think will be a drivable height.

Began to remove the carpet to get it ready to weld on the SFCs. This is why you buy a Texas car!

GMan 3MT

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First mock up of the air box out of a cereal box.



Transferred to some abs plastic sheet.



Glued together. Not sure if that’s enough to hold it. We’ll see.

GMan 3MT

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Finally worked up enough courage to tackle the flex fuel line up front. When it comes to fuel and brakes lines, it’s not an area I want to try teach myself. The line is a Fragola 3000 series with the ptfe liner from Summit with an adapter, 45* fitting and a 60* fitting at the fuel rail. It’s a bit of a pain to work with, but I think I got it right. We’ll see if it leaks when I hook up the fuel pump!

GMan 3MT

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Installed LPW differential cap studs along with their Ultimate Cover (201-7.5G). Modified the stock ‘shield’ to bolt back up to the cover along with the parking brake cable guides . Used 2 longer bolts for where the cable guides bolted to.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

The best thing I found was the 2 part epoxy for plastics that was labeled to work with ABS. All of the the quick set stuff and other one part glues didn't hold for me but that 2 part ABS specific stuff was just like welding them together.

GMan 3MT

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You're absolutely correct. The superglue didn't even hold up to all the trial fitting. Ended up using some 2 part epoxy on the corner and some gun holster style rivets for the brackets. Wanted something that looked decent from both sides. Topped it off with some ebay weather stripping. Doesn't look bad, tho may come back later to see if I can fill the gaps where the weather stripping comes together with some RTV or something.

GMan 3MT

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Other turn signal arrived. It’s amazing how much difference replacing one faded part makes.



Bought the factory pencil brace and passenger strut tower to frame rail brace since they didn’t come on the RS. Don’t know really how much they help, but they certainly can’t hurt. Pencil brace installs easily enough, the other one will either have to wait til I remove the engine or get a right angle drill.

Replaced all the clamps with ABA clamps that have rounded edges. Pricey, but work great.

Tibo

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Did you make that tall enough to where the weatherstrip touches a closed hood? What weatherstrip did you use?

GMan 3MT

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It's pretty darn close. Stuck a flashlight in the engine bay and slowly closed the hood. Lots of test and cut. Left to right was pretty easy to do, but front to back was harder to judge, so there may still be a little gap. I also still need to figure exactly how I want to mount a fuse box on that 'inner fender', so I may end up redoing the air box to make it a little smaller footprint.

Listing says the brand is Trim Lok 100B3X1/8 and LPC 18916 (for when these links eventually die)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Rubber...-/331423168314

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-Black-Ed...hT9iJ3&vxp=mtr

jbenge

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Nice build! I just found this thread today, I enjoyed reading it. Looking forward to seeing you finish it off.

GMan 3MT

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Thanks!

Began to layout all the different wiring harnesses. There’s an LS1 engine harness, LS1 body interior harness and door harness, LS1 forward harness and TBI engine harness. This is not the part I'm looking forward to.

Went ahead and ordered the A/C Delco A/C Refrigerant Pressure Sensor (15-51289) to replace the third gen one.





Brought the LS1 engine harness inside a few days later to start stripping it down.

GMan 3MT

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I found an LS1 build thread on here where they used something other than the 7.3L or Jeep or 4th gen lower. Part number turned out to be for a ’91 4.0L Ranger. I bought the Dayco equivalent (C71280), tried it on, and am very happy with the routing.

GMan 3MT

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Car is ready to go to Vorshlag Motorsports in Plano to get some work done. The carpet has been removed and just a driver seat installed. They’ll weld in the SFCs and LCARB’s, fab a trans mount, flare some brake lines and build the exhaust, mostly welding stuff. I know the owner from a ways back and know how **** he can be. It’s a long haul when there’s lots of shops closer, but with him I know the work will be done right and the way I want.



*RANT* I don’t mind shops making suggestions and working out a plan with me. I hate shops that agree to something when you drop it off only to find they did something different when you go pick it up. The most recent one happened to me when I was getting the exhaust done on Knocker after the LT1 swap at a reputable exhaust shop. Specifically asked for a flange before the axle to be able to drop the exhaust. Went to pick up the car and the guy was proud to show me the slip fit he had fabricated. I got the car dyno’d a week later, and had major fuel issues. It was either a failing pump or filter. Since I didn’t have a trap door, my wife and I had to drop the tank. Spent way too long fighting getting the exhaust off. After it was all back together, dyno’d and race, I took it back and had them add the flange like I wanted in the first place. Now I can drop the trans by just removing the center section of the exhaust. */RANT*

We put the car on the lift and went over my to do list. Sure would be nice to have a lift in the garage.

robguitargod1

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You CAN have a lift! Everyone told me I couldn't too. They were all full of **** because I made it happen all on my own. Standard 2 car garage, nothing special. Fairly cheap too. Brand new $1650 delivered. I say go for it!

Tibo

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Did you do the installation yourself Rob?

GMan 3MT

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Did you lose much space in the garage? My big concern is I wouldn't want to sacrifice being able to keep 3 cars in the garage. One of the guys I race with has a removable one that wheels into place and bolts downs. Doesn't go up as high as a regular one, but gets the job done.

Out-Cast

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You would need at least 10' high ceilings though to get under the car right?

GMan 3MT

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They started with welding in the outer Spohn (503) subframe connectors.





Straightened some of the pinch weld while he was at it.

GMan 3MT

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To save a bit of time, they started with the new Hooker T-56 swap crossmember. (HOK-71222005HKR) If I didn’t have the Alston (102411) subframe connectors, this is what I would have most likely bought. It took some modifying to get it all to work together and still be serviceable.

I provided a new rubber mount from Summit (7731165)

rgauder

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Looks good. What kind of torque arm is that?

GMan 3MT

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LG Motorsports

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...ml#post6141589

GMan 3MT

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Exhaust being fabbed up with 3.5" Vibrant stainless steel. All tig welded up to the Magnaflow muffler (12909) and 2.5" cats (59906) I supplied. Tucked up nice and tight.