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So the focus of the weekend was the cooling systems. I worked on relocating the heater hose outlets, beings they would have been in conflict with the body of the car in the stock LS3 water pump configuration. I went over to my friend Jason's from Alper Motorsports shop and used his lath to tune down a few plugs for the LS3 water pump. I have a tig, but really have not welded much aluminum. So I had Jason weld things up.
Beings I was over at Jason's I knocked out the cooling supply line modifications to accept the relocated heater hoses. Again used the lath to build some of the parts and had Jason weld things up. Built these -10 AN to 3/4" heater hose fittings.
Last bit of work was getting the 3rd radiator installed. I had seen pictures of others radiator intakes full of leaves and such. Mine where no different, leaves, sand, wood, ect...
Here is a shot of the car with the nose cone off without and with the 3rd radiator installed. Let me tell you installing the hoses was not a easy feat, these cars are the true definition of 20 pounds of **** in a 10 pound sack.
I also worked on getting the engine bay cooling lines all mocked up, but will have to take some pictures. As I have not received two of the last stock porsche hoses to connect the engine bay hard lines to the under car hard lines. I should get those this week and will have the cooling system all finished up, other then connecting to the LS2 once the engine is mounted in the car. I have some wiring BS to finish up and that should be happening here in the next few weeks.
Made some more headway this weekend, even with the super hot temps that we have had. I finished getting the nose cone back on the car from the center radiator install and then focused on getting the heater hoses installed and got my fuel lines routed, still need to drill and install some rivet nuts for hose clamps. Also worked on battery cable routing and a little installation.
Drivers Side Heater Hose Connection and Battery Post.
Passenger Side Heater Hose Connection.
I used the stock heater hose routing to the hard lines as shown in this picture.
This week I plan on finishing the last of the wiring and get things ready for the engine to be installed the following weekend.
Small Update, With this crazy heat that we have had it has been hard to put any real long hours in out in the garage. I have a swamp cooler, but it has been to humid to use it.
here is a photo of the last mock up on the accessories before things get installed.
I made a change in direction, to save time and clean things up. I re-purposed one of the Porsche X59 engine harness connectors. I de-pinned it and then re-pinned it with the needed wiring. I also made it work as a pass through connector. I really think this worked out really good and clean.
Next step is to finish wiring up the new Porsche sensor harness and finish the last of the cooling system work. I also have some work on the AC lines to finish up, my solution on this will be real clean also, pics will be coming!! Then bolt the engine to the transaxle and install!! Should be ready next weekend!!!!
You are correct, like I stated this was the last mock up. The mount, WP, PS Pump will be mounted, once the engine & transaxle are jacked up into the car. I bought a 1000 lbs cart jack, that looks like it will make the install a breeze.
Update from this past weekend. I had a lofty goal of getting the engine in the car this weekend, but that fell short. But, I was able to get the AC system one step closer to being ready to go. I will just have to get the hoses mocked up and crimped, once the engine is in the car. I ended up converting the stock Porsche hard lines over to #8 & #10 Male Insert O-Ring Fittings and also picked up a conversion block to the same size fittings for the AC compressor.
#8 & #10 fittings I picked up from autoacfittings.com
Conversion Compressor Block, that I picked up off Epay.
I had Jason @ Alper Motorsports, weld these up!!!
Got them Installed in the car, I also worked on the final configuration on the cooling line. I will be posting pictures of the cooling system and final wiring. soon!!!
Heads up... A manual crimper from Mastercool on Amazon is about $150. For me, it was cheaper than having an AC shop build the lines for me - shop wanted $300 and the bulk AC parts were about $50. It didn't take much time, either.
Heads up... A manual crimper from Mastercool on Amazon is about $150. For me, it was cheaper than having an AC shop build the lines for me - shop wanted $300 and the bulk AC parts were about $50. It didn't take much time, either.
Heads up... A manual crimper from Mastercool on Amazon is about $150. For me, it was cheaper than having an AC shop build the lines for me - shop wanted $300 and the bulk AC parts were about $50. It didn't take much time, either.
Looking good, BTW!
Doug
You are correct, the fittings and hose on autoacfittings.com are about $35 a hose. Then $150 for the crimper, has me in the hoses for $110 a hose. Plus then I will own the tool and the next build will be cheaper!!!!
You are correct, the fittings and hose on autoacfittings.com are about $35 a hose. Then $150 for the crimper, has me in the hoses for $110 a hose. Plus then I will own the tool and the next build will be cheaper!!!!
Yep.
Let me know if you can't find the tool and I'll search it out. It was really nicely built and easy to use. I had to put one end on the an existing hose which was threaded through my firewall and attached to my evaporator. In the case, I crimped on the vehicle and used an air impact to get it tight enough.
Otherwise, I'd use a ratchet in a vice (as instructed).
Yes, I saw more builds in my future, too (or even just changing barrier hose and re-using ends in existing vehicles), so the $150 on the tool made good sense.
Andy has a good idea if on a very tight budget, but I wouldn't trust the fellas at my local napa to build the hoses for me. They are not technicians, but more like nice guys with a little auto knowledge.
Look forward to seeing the engine in your car!
Doug
Andy has a good idea if on a very tight budget, but I wouldn't trust the fellas at my local napa to build the hoses for me. They are not technicians, but more like nice guys with a little auto knowledge.
Doug
Yeah, it depends a lot on which NAPA. My local store is more old school than most, and there's only one (older) guy that does all their hoses; AC, hydraulic, fuel, etc. Hope he doesn't retire!
Week nights are hard for me to get things done, I have two rental properties that I do the yard/ pool up keep on. But, I have a goal of getting this LS2 installed and running/ driving by the end of August. So, I have to keep working!!! Like I promised here are a few cooling system photos, I have to get the engine in to complete things 100%.
Drivers Side
Passenger Side
Close up on the connection to the expansion tank. This is my second attempt at this connection. My first was a fail, the hose kinked,so $70 later in AN fittings and things look to work. Not as clean as I would have liked it to be, but it should work.
just keeping things updated. I ended up finishing building the Porsche engine sensor wiring harness, this weekend and also finished the rest of the engine bay wiring. I still have a little wiring to terminate inside the car this week. I was able to get the engine, off the stand and on the lift cart. Installed the KEP adapter, flywheel and clutch. I will get the transaxle bolted up this week and then need to clean my garage, to get ready to install the engine transaxle combo in the car.
Close up on the Alt Cable, I used a fabric wire loom on all the Porsche wiring. It turned out realy nice, but was a pain in the butt to install.
Here is a photo of the wiring harness I built for the Porsche sensors. I re-purposed the Porsche X59 plug and used it as a pass though plug.
Just a photo of both the point where the GM and Porsche wiring harnesses come into the engine compartment.
Shot of the LS2 with the KEP adapter and clutch installed.
Update from the weekend. Finished the rest of the interior wiring, just need to figure out a mounting system for the E38 ECU. I would have put the engine in this weekend, but found that my clutch slave cylinder was bad. So, I had to order a new one from the Local Porsche dealer. They managed to match the online prices, even with tax figured in. Ended up getting the rest of my exhaust parts in, I will have to get some pictures taken. But here is a sketch of the direction that I am planning on going with the exhaust system. I order up (6) "V" Bands, so that things can be built to come apart with ease. I hope to get started on building the exhaust ASAP.
Things have been slowly coming together. I had promised myself to have the engine installed by the end of July, well that has come and past. I had a slight set back, some asshat broke into my garage and stole me stock 8X18 & 10X18 wheels and tires. So I had to upgrade to 19's like most of the conversion guys have been doing to gear up the car. I have managed to get the engine and transaxle bolted together and up under the car. Most of the wiring is hooked up, I just need to get some one to give me about 2 hours of help to get the engine jacked up into position and the transaxle and engine mounts bolted in.
Here are the engine and transaxle, ready to roll under the car!!!
Here are a few photos of the engine rolled under and the wiring being hooked up.
Well, beings my 18's are long gone??? I had planned on selling the 18's and using that money with another $1,500.00 to by new Ruger Mesh 19's and new tires. I had to adapt and over come this situation. So, I started shopping Epay and Craigs List for some used 19's and tires that fit my budget. I ended up picking up a set of 8X19 ET 57 & 11X19 ET 67 Lobster Claw wheels off a 2006 Porsche 997. They came blacked out, like I wanted and with a set of 70 - 80% tread 235/35/19 fronts and 295/30/19 rears. I will most likely end up up sizing the rears to 305/30/19 or 285/35/19 to get just a little more diameter, to help gear up the car. The stock 18's where 285/30/18 at 24.7" diameter, the 19's are 295/30/19 at 26" diameter. So I picked up an 1.3" diameter increase.
Here are a couple photos, showing the 19's mocked up!!!
Well, I finally got the engine and transaxle mounted in the car!! It only took about 30 min, once I managed to get Jason from Alper Motorsports over to give me a hand.
Now, there are only a hand full of us Porsche LS conversion guys that have used the stock water pump and Power Steering Pump. So here are a few pictures to show the fit.
Photo, showing the room on the drivers side.
Photo, showing the room on the passenger side.
I have a few more to add and will get them uploaded in a bit!!!!
06-22-2015, 11:54 AM
