here she is...

 

i have hedman lt headers, and a vortec RPM intake to go along w/ it, a new waterpump and balancer. I still need to get a few small things.

here's another picture....

not exactly sure when i'll be able to swap engines, but I'm excited

 

omg you owe me some new shorts....they look A LOT different than in the magazine.

what carb are you going to run? i think they suggest the demon 650.

 

I'm going to leave the computer on there for now. Its a kinda mild crate motor, i think it'll work!

I'm getting DR rods to go w/ my B hanger, gonna tweak the Air valve tension spring.

Of course i'll need an adapter too, square bore to spreadbore.

Brandon

 

I am very jealous!!!!!!!!!

 

haha, thanks

....tomorrow i gotta make a run to town to get the little things...

 

very nice

 

Oh Gawd....a new crate sbc motor. Oh ****z (looks down). There is bodily fluid filling my drawers. That is a kick azz motor bud. Congratulations!!!

 

ya, me and my buddies are contemplating when we're gonna toss her in.

I've got all kinds of ppl volunteering to help me, haha. I'll need some here and there.....

there was some oil in the lifter valleys, i take it that the valve lash has been set and the cam was broken in at the shop. I figured i'd break the cam in anyways just to be safe...

of course, I'll have to do that w/ open headers

prolly gonna **** off the neighbors

Brandon

 

i had a cop come to my house cause i was disturbing the peace when i was breaking my cam in. " your car is too loud". i had to shut it off for them to yell at me:lala:

 

haha, awesome

so far i need to get...

oil filter adapter
oil and antifreeze
vortec spark plugs
intake bolts
bung for oxygen sensor
gasket sealant
oil sending unit and 350 knock sensor
qjet adapter
DR secondary metering rods
3 inch primary pipe to flowmaster

i can reuse my balancer bolts and possibly my intake bolts correct? what about the oil filter adapter off the lg4?

how hards it going to be putting the flexplate on?

I'm possibly looking at starting this swap come next week, i know i'll have all day labor day to work on it w/ some friends.

anyone see anything i might have skipped?

Brandon

 

good thing if it is a roller cam no break in needed

 

no roller, hydro flat tappet.... 212/222 duration and .435/.460 lift

it does have a one piece rear main though....

 

its not hard to put the flexplate on. especially when the motor is out. just make sure you torque them to the right specs, and use Loc-Tite

 

That's one SWEET lookin engine you have there!!

Nice detail on the paint job. If it runs half as good as it looks, then it should be quick!

Good luck with it!

Oh BTW - I went with DR rods and B hangers on my built L69 I had in my car before. It was an improvement.

 

thank you confused.

labor day weekend is when we're getting together to drop her in...wish me luck

 

The oil filter adapter/bypass valve from the LG4 will work.

I don't believe your old intake manifold bolts will be long enough, though.

You'll probably have to leave the EGR solenoid connected as well to keep from setting SES error codes. It doesn't have to be hooked up to vacuum, just the solenoid electrical.

 

thanks five7, I've ordered my vortec intake bolts and carb adapter today.

tomorrow i need to order my dr rods, gotta soccer game though so i don't know when i'll get that in...

sunday starts it all! I'm having a good time tryin to kill the LG4 but it won't roll over just yet...

I talked to unknown_host about the oil pressure sending unit. He said it was on the back by the distributor, but i can't seem to find it. Anyone have any pics of this?

There seems to be a plug right under the corner of the drivers side head, is this it?

 

It's under the cardboard, to the left of the distributor hole as viewed from behind (as in your 2nd photo).

 

Hey - who the h*ll drew the "4" on the front of your block?? That's gotta go!! lol

That "plug" you're referring to is the same one that leaked and caused me to tear off the pass. side head to fix! No other way to get to it.

The rear china wall gasket on your intake curves around the oil pressure sending unit. Has a 1/8 inch NPT pipe nipple on it possibly....

If you take your time with the install, and don't rush.....I don't think you'll need any luck from me. Should run sweet.

Good luck with it anyway!

 

how much is that bad boy and est. h.p.??

 

well its roughly 2700 after tax and shipping.

Rated at 330 HP, I'd like anything above 275 at the rear wheels...

I'll prolly have invested 3500 after all the little things to get it in...

budget was 3k, opps...

Brandon

 

thank you

hope no one thought i was gonna use cardboard for an intake gasket...:lala:

 

oh okay. remember though these crate numbers that u have are going to be different when you put them in yer car. knew a guy who bought a 350 from gm motorsport the catolag stated 350 h.p. with the stock components of his car,after it was installed,it was rated at only 275 h.p. on the dyno,so he called themback they played dumb with him and said those numbers on the catolag were for a particular fuel system, so he went out spent almost 3 grand for one ,had it installed and still was rated only at 315 h.p plus he had to drive to another state to get it specially tuned,etc... hope yer plant turns out to be okay.

 

Very nice. Maybe someday I'll buy a truly NEW engine, but I always seem to have an ample supply of good, rebuildable parts laying around (and it GROWS constantly!).

Couple of suggestions on parts.....

Vortec intake bolts- Stainless steel ones from Summit are only $4 more than regular ones and look super-duper on a fresh, shiny engine. Vortec intake bolts are totally different from earlier style intake bolts. I wouldn't trust hardware store bolts for this.

Intake gaskets (if not supplied).... buy GM gaskets. They are the nicest, most well thought-out gaskets I've ever seen. It was a shame to actually put them in the engine where they will never be seen. They have alignment dowels to center them on the heads as you lay the intake on top. Also, no gasket goop required ANYWHERE (except a big bead of RTV on the block end walls, as usual) and believe GM's torque suggestion on the bolts- 15 ft/lbs is plenty. That's like barely more than screwdriver tight. All they have to do is seat the rubber o-rings that surround all the ports, there is no gasket material that has to "crush" to seal up. The gasket is mostly a flat plastic shim except for the rubber o-rings around the ports.

LG-4 filter adapter will bolt right on. Swipe it off your old engine.

Don't bother with the 350 knock sensor. The original LG-4 sensor will function just fine even on the larger displacement engine. Done it many times going to 350s, 383s and even 400s. Trouble only seems to arise when you start to play mix-n-match with parts in the knock sensor system, or if you install the knock sensor itself with incorrect sealant or improper torque.

You'll have to figure out how to mout your throttle/kickdown cable bracket all over again since the stock one uses one of the rear intake manifold bolts on the original engine. A bolt that is in a very different position/angle on a Vortec intake. Plus the stock intake mounts the carb much lower than yours and the cables won't line up.

Make sure you have the right flexplate/flywheel (if not supplied with the engine). Don't assume the old one off the LG-4 will work. Ditto the balancer.

 

1987 LG4 Sports Coupe should have a one-piece rear main seal engine - unless the engine has been replaced with an '85-earlier unit. So, the flexplate should work.

I think I'd go with a new damper.

 

well i already bought a new summit damper and fel pro intake gaskets, they're not gm but they should be ok.

thank u for the suggestion damon about the gm gasket, but i've already got the felpro one

so not buying a brand new knock sensor will save me 35 bucks, so i guess free oil! haha.

yeah, unless the engines been swapped( highly, highly, highly, doubt it) the flexplate will work.

well i got my carb adapter on today, the intake bolts are coming from the nevada plant(why?) and i torqued down the black intake plugs supplied. I still have two more open holes in the water t-stat area, I'll need to plug those too correct?

yeah, I finally found that oil sensor hole tonight

thanks for the info 57 and damon, highly appreciated

brandon

 

If it's the ones I'm thinking of, You plug one, and the other should be a heater hose connection....

What size are the holes? Got a pic?

 

well, right now i'm at school, no pics

they use 5/8's plugs on the top and a 3/8's plug in the front...

you should be able to see them in the first pic

Brandon

 

ok my intake bolts came in today, I have a question.

I have this Permatex ultra rubber gasket sealer. I can just dress the intake runners and water jackets on both sides of my fel pro gasket before slapping the intake on correct?

It says to use a rtv high temp silicone sealent on the gasket and the end seals. Isn't this the same thing?

Second guessing myself again

 

The "end seals" are the ones on the front and back "walls" of the block where they have to seal against the bottom of the intake manifold. This is different from the faces of the intake where the intake gaskets go.

I HIGHLY recommend you do NOT use the supplied end seals. Simply run a 1/4" bead of RTV along those walls making sure you smear it up against the edges of the intake gaskets where they intersect on the 4 corners of the intake. Do this LAST, after you have already put the intake gaskets in place. Let these thick RTV beads tack-up for about 15 minutes before you drop the intake on. This will help them resist "smearing around" so much when you drop the intake on. Just make sure you drop the intake on straight and don't move it around any more than you have to once it's in place. Square it up, get it straight, drop it on and pu the intake bolts in- don't move it around any more than required to line up the bolt holes.

Even the factory gave up on end seal gaskets years ago and started doing it with a thick bead of RTV. I have installed a LOT of intakes and this is how I have always done it- never had a leaker yet.

I don't know about the Fel Pro gaskets needing RTV. I know I put none on the factory GM gaskets. If the Fel Pro gaskets don't have the rubber o-rings around all the ports like my GM gaskets did then put a very thin smear of RTV around the water ports ONLY- not around the intake ports. RTV is not built for sealing up things that regularly see gasoline- oil and water only. Leve the gasket's intake ports dry- no sealant. Make sure Fel Pro calls for the same torque specs on the intake bolts as the factory gaskets require.

 

:werd: great post.

Another 2 things you might look into:

• Use a punch (automatic centre punch works well) and dimple the block and intake where the intake end seals would normally go. Texture helps RTV stay leak free. Smooth will let it leak. Sounds like BS but it isn't.
• Also, you can pay a little more and get some RTV called "the right stuff" or something like that. Permatex makes it also, but you won't find it at Pep Boys or OtterZone. It is going to give better results than Ultra RTV. If you don't plan on having your engine apart any time soon for a cam or whatever, that is the way to go.

 

thank you guys

 

ok, I got the intake on a few days ago, properly following the directions, but i used permatex gasket sealer thinking it was the rtv hi temp silicon stuff. (realized the next day it wasn't the same stuff, dumbass.)

can i just clean up the end seal walls between the intake and the block and then fill it in w/ the rtv hi temp silicone or do i have to completely remove the manifold?

the gaskets are all lined up and sealed, but theres that 1/8in open area between the block and the intake.

I figured if i left it as it was, it'd leak oil as soon as the sealer melted off....

I've tried to use a hammer and a block of wood to budge it lose but it won't move. If i remember correctly i wouldn't want to use a screwdriver because that'll mess up the smooth sealing surfaces right?

If i get it apart do i need new intake gaskets or can i clean them up and reuse those?

well... if it takes me getting something wrong the first time to learn how to properly do something the second time around, thats cool.

how about bolting the intake to the engine hoist and pulling it off?

 

I'd remove the manifold.
You're talking about shoving RTV in the end gaps??
I'd remove the intake manifold and get another gasket set- and basically start all over...
If the gap is not filled and sealed with RTV, then do what I said above. Now's the time to get it right while the engine's still on a stand!! Genlt pry around the perimeter of the intake to brak whatever seal you have. I've never had to use a hoist to pull a intake off.....unless you accidently used "JB Weld"...lol

 

will do.

 

I got it off, I cleaned up the flanges with engine degreaser, looks brand new!(again)

time for bed.

thank u confused, hopefully this thread'll come in handy for someone else in the future. Learn from my mistakes...

 

Hey.....don't feel bad, we've all been there.

 

just finished cleaning the flanges and reinstalling the RPM intake. I used rtv hi temp sealent along the end seal walls and the 4 corners of the gaskets, including the water jackets, then torqued it back down.

we shall see.

After work I'll need to pick up an oil pressure sensor(had dummy lights) and some antifreeze and a few rent a tools, call my buddies, and i should be able to tear into it.