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LTX and LSXPutting LT1s, LS1s, and their variants into Third Gens is becoming more popular. This board is for those who are doing and have done the swaps so they can discuss all of their technical aspects including repairs, swap info, and performance upgrades.
My build thread is very long but that should take you right to the dash build.
Wow, I'm in for a treat with this gage setup then. Where did you print your PCB board? That's incredibly well done. Hats off to you for that. I will be rereading your thread a lot.
Progress is slow but steady. My Ebay fan shroud fits perfect and was able to easily mount the spal 12" fans. I didnt like the look of the polished radiator so I had it powder coated to match the rest of the engine bay. Turned out real nice. I still have interference between the DSE steering brace and the bottom radiator outlet.
Still moving at a snails pace but I did make progress in a few areas. I was able to mount up the 4th gen brake booster and bolt on the Baer remaster cylinder. I have to thank Qwktrip for his great posts on pedal feel and master cylinder to booster compatibility discussion. I bought the Baer measuring tool to measure the distance from the booster piston to the master cylinder. The Baer kit comes with various spacers and the first one I used set the gap exactly at .006", which is about as close to the .005" gap that Baer recommends. The system bolts in fine but is very close to my shock tower. So close that the remaster proportioning valve will not work in its intended location. I ended up buying a bracket to relocated the prop valve, which should make it work, although not be nearly as pretty.
You can see how the valve is pressed against the strut tower and will not work in this location. So if you buy this master, don't buy the fancy remaster version of the prop valve.
Another view of the interference.
If I rocked the prop valve and only used one bolt i do gain the necessary clearance. This would work but running the brake lines might be impossible. I will mount the relocation bracket and go from there.
You can see the clocking effort here. Ignore the clutch reservoir. That is just there to keep it from spilling over. I will mount that somewhere soon.
When I was on the Hot Rod Power Tour this past June I saw a 3rd gen with the billet specialties coolant reservoir mounted in the nose void on these cars. I liked it so much that I decided to move mine there as well. It is a much cleaner spot for it and will hide nicely under the cover.
Last but not least I am still struggling to find a lower radiator hose solution. There is no room from the lower radiator port for an AN fitting to clear the DSE steering brace and my fan shrouds. I have spent hundreds on trying to make odd ball AN fittings work. This has been so frustrating and I might have to go custom. Not sure if I have a picture that shows the issue. I don't want to have to change radiators and or go to a single fan if I don't have to.
I bought the Baer remaster proportioning valve relocation bracket and it did not work very well. I had to trim a lot off of it and then place my prop valve off to the side. Not the most aesthetic looking set-up but it will allow me easy access to adjust the valve.
Also was able to get the Improved racing oil thermostat mounted to the pan. This is a really well made piece and fits like a glove around the pan. I will be running the lines to the oil cooler in the next couple days.
Low pressure side of the PS system plumbed with Aeroflow PTFE fittings.
The Holley PS pump adapter (961961ERL) would not work as it placed the fitting too close to the PS pulley. The internal threads on the pressure inlet are 5/8-18 and I was able to score an 5/8-18 to -6an adapter off amazon for $5. The picture is below is hard to see but I will have room for a 90 degree -6 hose end.
Simple brackets fabbed up to mount the oil and PS coolers. Lines run for the cooler and the oil cooler lines will be run to the thermostat soon.
I think I also finally found a swivel adapter that will work with my lower radiator inlet and clear the DSE wonder bar brace.
After buying these brakes years ago I was finally able to bolt them up.
OEM C6 Z06 front calipers and a set of stop tech rotors and pads. These rotors weigh a ton. Not a total fan of the 6 pad design but everything went together easy with new pins.
Per Scott at BBU he said I would have to grind on the calipers to get them to clear his C6 adapters. He was right on the money and you can see the inner tabs around the bolts where I had to grind as well as on the lower bosses. Top is untouched, bottom is ground.
Passenger side done.
Driver side done. They also clear the stock C6 front 18" wheels I am using as rollers right now.
Spent some time today revisiting my trans and engine alignment problems. I repurchased the Holley LS swap cross member because I was too impatient with the first one I bought and let a floor mock up make my decision. The trans needs to be in the car to see how it really works with the magnum T56. I loosened the kmember bolts and engine mount bolts (the UMI brackets to Kmember pad) and shook the engine around a bit. I was able to install the holley unit perfectly and everything seems where it should be now. I have a solid 3/8" clearance from my oil pan to the crossmember now and my shifter seems like it is in the right spot (about a half inch toward the passenger side from center) My aeromotive 340 tank finally arrived today and I might tackle that tomorrow.
Shifter in place with small notch to OEM T5 opening. Holley unit with the magnum spacer under the mount. This is about as much clearance as I can get with the fbody pan and UMI setup. Im running solid mounts so thisnshould suffice. Hard to see in the picture but I finally feel this is enough space.
Yeah, I figure I'd have a greater forum for discussion here instead of the appearance board. My build has become more technical and less appearance related. I should have more updates to come. Work + work travel + young kids = time vampires. That's my biggest enemy right now. Although I'm living vicariously through Chucks! build.
I was tired of the project after 3 years. How you holding up?
You've taken on a BIG build, way beyond what I did. Way nicer too.
I've had project cars before but I wanted to do this car "perfect". Part of the journey is figuring out all these issues that I have to engineer a solution too. I dont want to look back and think I compromised on anything. Except displacement. Ha, I intentionally went smaller to hopefully have a more manageable power plant. Honestly my biggest victories will be integrating this vintage air system into the OEM duct work as well as having a car that I can take to 7700 rpm every day.
Also, what are you going to do with those ROH's when you're done? Assuming all four are 17x9 with 5" backspace? I might take those off your hands.
I sold those some time ago. I am using Chucks! C6 wheels as rollers until I buy tires for my Cray wheels. Going to run 10.5 wide rear and 9.5 front, although second guessing of I should go square. DSE made it look so simple.
Hey, I was looking at your oil pan clearance to K-member and I'll bet anything that a Holley 302-1 pan will fit. Dimension comparisons are in my build thread. It will allow you to run a full-length windage tray and the sump will be further back from the K-member.
Really I'm just hoping you'll try it so I can find out what happens, instead of me buying a K-member to find out what happens. LOL!
Hey, I was looking at your oil pan clearance to K-member and I'll bet anything that a Holley 302-1 pan will fit. Dimension comparisons are in my build thread. It will allow you to run a full-length windage tray and the sump will be further back from the K-member.
Really I'm just hoping you'll try it so I can find out what happens, instead of me buying a K-member to find out what happens. LOL!
When I was fighting pan clearance I almost bit the bullet and ditched the F-Body pan for the 302-1. However, I had so much invested in this pan with the Improved Racing sump baffling along with their crank scraper. I basically have about $1k in this oil pan set-up. The 302-1 isn't overly expensive, but repurchasing the baffling and crank scraper would make it another $1k hit. If I had to do it over again i would have started with that pan, however, if I did i wouldn't have truly aligned the drivetrain like it is now. I do know that Holley says you cannot use the 301-1 pan with their trans cross member. Why? I have no idea other than it must hit the stock K-member with their mounts.
Here is my attempt on fabricating (by that think Frankenstein) the stock HVAC duct box to adapt it to work with the vintage air system. This will either be a roaring success or a complete waste of time. I won't half **** it so if it doesn't work I will go to plan B (Plan B is yet to be identified).
What i tried to do was retain the stock vents and plenums as much as possible. Once the dash was out I removed the entire HVAC box thingy and stated chopping it up. I cut the entire lower portion of it off and then used sheet ABS to weld/glue up the plenums that I had cut. I was left with a box that retain separate plenums for the main vents as well as for defrost. It is really hard to test fit since everything is hidden under the dash. After a mock-up I was able to locate where I would need to cut into the newly formed plenums to connect the VA hose to the VA unit. I am pretty sure this is going to work. If it doesn't I will fabricate new plenums from said ABS and mount them directly behind the OEM vents. I probably should have gone this route to begin with. With the HVAC duct system out of the dash there is a ton of room. VA unit as it sits in dash. I will make new brackets since the ones they provide are flimsy.
Defrost outputs of the VA unit, plenty of room to run hose to the defrost plenums
You can see the three main VA outlets and above it is the flat surface of the plenum I created. That is where I will place holes to connect the hose. They will be super short lengths. (not secured/glued in place yet in case I have to trim them down).
Holes and ducts fabbed into the plenum. Bought these for $3 each on CARid.
Last edited by ShiftyCapone; 02-26-2020 at 09:05 AM.
Everyone has been living in 2020 but my car has been in 2020 for 18 years. Some resemblance of normalcy is return my household and I am able to work a little more on the car. I have been mainly focused on getting the rest of the car wired as well as getting the Vintage Air set-up dialed in.
abandoned my approach in the previous post because the plenum I created was still too large and interfered with the VA unit. There wasn't enough room for the vent tubes. I went crazy on the OEM duct work and finally found what I think is going to work. Basically, I had to really cut down the OEM duct work into the smallest possible sections while still retaining the basic form of the duct. After a ton of cutting, plastic welding and bonding, what I have now should work. I cut the main side to side duct work out and instead will bridge the AC ducts via tubing. Likewise, I cut through the OEM defrost duct and will utilize the VA defrost ducts but placed in the OEM location. It will work just like stock and appear just like stock. Below is my Frankenstein and is uglier than most of my prom dates of past, but it will hold and is air tight.
I took the driver and passenger side vent ducts and capped off then ends, I then epoxied in the VA hose connect. I had to buy these separately. The stock defrost was hacked but I was able to screw in the VA defrost vents. I then capped off the opening on the odd chance that air would flow downwards. Final left and right vent ducts The final package. She's a beaut Clark.
I am going to get this into the car in the next couple of days which will allow me to reconnect the fuse box, C100 and finally start to integrate the wiring.
I also spend a lot of time on the headlight harness. I basically stripped it down and removed the airbag wiring. I simplified the OEM clusters and rerouted it in the front of the nose. I will be running connecting this to the normal C100 port albeit inside the fender (DSE style). Same goes for the other side. The passenger side will have my relocated washer fluid wiring along with my fan wiring for the ECM. It turned out really well. I have to extend the harness since relocating it requires extra length. Was finally able to install my reproduction headlight chassis. It needed a lot of "fab" work to be considered truly an OEM replacement. Lots of flash and unfinished holes. Powdercoated headlight buckets.
I'll have to shorten the headlight lead. For now I am going to run the Sylvania Silverstars. I need to see more HID and LED systems in person before I convert. Tucked up out of the way.
Another big hurdle was my lower radiator hose. I read almost every thread on this site and tried two different Jeep Cherokee lower hoses. I was able to find the sweet spot between my AN fittings and the curvature of the hose. I cut out a middle section that worked perfectly. I ended up going with a Mr Gasket thermostat housing and a 90 deg AN fitting coming right up from the lower radiator hole. It is not as pretty as an AN set-up, but there just wasn't room for -20 or -16 hose ends here.
I also tried out my new hand brake and made this radiator shroud. Again, not the best, but for now it will work. I eventually will custom fab a better one, possible with some detail features in it.
The vent ducts are installed into the dash along with the main center defrost/AC duct. After a test fit I think this is going to work perfectly with plenty of room to get the hoses attached to the VA unit.
The 5 main OEM vent ports will attach perfectly to the VA units 5 outlets.
Also scored a NOS front bumper from the local Chevy Dealer. They ordered it but I didn't have to pay shipping. Shipping is $300 for a nose cover, I scored this for $294.
Thanks for sharing 355SS!. I've seen only a handful of VA installs in these cars and everyone kinda ends up in the same boat when it comes to duct routing.
Also, I'm glad I'm not the only one whose dash is barfing wires.
Man those VA systems seem to be a pain. A/c is one of the big things I never got done with my swap. The compressor is mounted, all the boxes are in there, but never did the lines out of the compressor, kinda afraid it wouldn't work right. It's been so long since I did it that I don't know what sensors I would need/have. You guys look like you'll have a nice hidden system at least.
Man those VA systems seem to be a pain. A/c is one of the big things I never got done with my swap. The compressor is mounted, all the boxes are in there, but never did the lines out of the compressor, kinda afraid it wouldn't work right. It's been so long since I did it that I don't know what sensors I would need/have. You guys look like you'll have a nice hidden system at least.
This is my first VA experience and everything has been easy so far minus the duct work. Now that I have it figured out I could do another car in a fraction of the time.
Also scored a NOS front bumper from the local Chevy Dealer. They ordered it but I didn't have to pay shipping. Shipping is $300 for a nose cover, I scored this for $294.
Was molded in 1998.
Wow. I had no idea there was any GM stock left. The price is more than fair, as well! I'm going to have to get to my local chevrolet dealer right away!
DR.K.
Wow. I had no idea there was any GM stock left. The price is more than fair, as well! I'm going to have to get to my local chevrolet dealer right away!
DR.K.
Yes. I had been looking online forever but shipping was outrageous. I picked it up at the dealer, all wrapped in a foam blanket. Looked like a body! Said it came out of yipsalanti MI. Doubt it could be a reproduction.
Yes. I had been looking online forever but shipping was outrageous. I picked it up at the dealer, all wrapped in a foam blanket. Looked like a body! Said it came out of yipsalanti MI. Doubt it could be a reproduction.
Either way, the price is great! The high shipping cost is what has kept me from pulling the trigger on replacing my front cover. Thank you for posting that!
DR.K.
Either way, the price is great! The high shipping cost is what has kept me from pulling the trigger on replacing my front cover. Thank you for posting that!
DR.K.
It is a 91/92 model so I'm anticipating some lower mount holes to be different. I've also read that it's the exact same. We'll see. I'll be doing a test fit soon.
The VA system is in! I will only have to get in there once more to hook up the AC feed lines. I might try to get those pre-made since the under dash portion is pretty straight forward. All of my vents hooked up and I had enough tubing from the kit. A couple different hose clamps on everything and the dash went in smoothly. For those that are wondering, the stock dash is held in the #8 sheet metal screws (non self tapping) at the cowl and #14 sheet metal screws for the ends.
Hoses cut to length vent hoses attached and I also added another bracket to help prevent side to side motion. The brackets they give you are weak sauce and can be bet by hand. The dash is finally back in. Time to figure out the rats nest of wiring and getting the fuse block back in there.
Good deal in the second to last picture it was still open. Didn’t want water from the cowl getting inside
Actually I think I am misunderstanding you? Are you referring to the open parts on the side of the passenger side that the back end of the fender would cover? I am going to put the OEM wire block back in there to plug the one. I haven't even looked at the other access points yet. However, there are a few that I running wire through now that will need to be sealed up. I want to make sure I get them all though.
12-24-2018, 11:00 PM
