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I broke a rod on my SBC 383 so I decided to go big and update my car to the 21st century with a modern ECU and LS engine. First off here is a pic of the car broken down on the side of the road, and prepped for the swap.
Last edited by 89mulletbird; 02-15-2019 at 11:34 PM.
First order of business was to figure out how to install a FMIC. I decided on the Chinese 31x12x4 that's available under several brand names.
I wanted to leave plenty of room in between the intercooler and the radiator because the car will see some track days and coolant temp could be an issue. Also, I plan to put some vents into the front bumper so I designed the new crash bar to have a large opening in front.
Next order of business was to remove the 16 year old rubber undercoating from the car. Over the years it had soaked up oil and road grime and made it very hard to work under the car without getting black tar all over.
I admit, it sucked. About 16 hours under the car torching, scraping, and wiping. But, now I love working under the car because I don't get black stuff all over my hands and arms
I was able to get the engine bay painted today. I welded and smoothed the shock towers and replaced the battery trays with sheetmetal. I went with gloss black to match the exterior. I used a single stage gloss black.
Starting to install engine bay components. I noticed my Astro shaft had some play where they two shafts slide together. I drilled a hole through the larger shaft and welded an M5 nut on each side. I put a set screw on each side to clamp down on the smaller shaft, all the play is gone. Hopefully this tightens up the steering a bit more.
It is not advised to put a bolt through both shafts because the shaft is supposed to collapse on a front end impact so the steering wheel doesn't crush you.
Engine is dropped in. The holley tall valve covers don't clear the AC box so I'm going to try the Proform covers with relocation brackets. Next up is the transmission/headers.
02-15-2019, 11:20 PM
