themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Thank you, sir.

Work has slowed significantly due to school restarting, but I got some work done yesterday. I was worried because I couldn't find the MAP pigtail on the new harness. Turns out I had accidentally stuffed it down the trans tunnel while sending the trans harness down... DEFINITELY can't fit a hand between the firewall and that big ol' mailbox of an intake I've got on there. I spent a couple minutes fishing it out with a hooked prybar, what a pain!

I got a driveshaft cut and installed, threw some trans fluid in the tranny, installed the coils and plug wires and took care of some general wiring. By pure luck, I had previously bought a coil relocation kit that grouped the coils and moved them forward on the valve cover. Turns out they helped clear the brake booster, which definitely would have been on coils if I hadn't used it! I believe the harness is all hooked up aside from the IAT sensor (waiting on the placement of the intake tube), coils and injectors (unhooked for oil priming). Today I'm planning to reassemble the front end, then this weekend I'll attack the heater core and wiring of the new gauge cluster. Almost there!

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Man, that radiator sucked! I bought an aluminum fabricated radiator by Superior Radiator on eBay under the premise that it would allow me to run my stock condenser without hood latch modification. Not only does it interfere with the condenser, the ports were random sizes, there was no cap included, the hoses he recommended don't fit worth a damn, the fans are cheap (wiring may be 16 gauge), and it required pretty serious modification to my core support to fit. Not cool, that set me back a good deal. But now the radiator is in, I build a bracket to mount the fan relays and fuses, and wiring is nearly all done. Unfortunately, due to the poor radiator design, intake tubing has become somewhat more complicated. Have to step back and figure out how to run the tubing.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Well, the project has slowed to a crawl. I had issues routing an intake tube to the throttle body with everything in the way, so I panicked and ordered brackets to move the alternator to the driver's side with the PS and put the AC compressor up top on the passenger side. So while I wait for that equipment to show up, I took the dash out to replace the heater core since I know the previous owner ran green coolant and the HC is 15 years old. I got it all out only to find Rock Auto sent me a core that's 180 out on the line directions! Not even repairable/bendable, fully 180 out. WTF. So I ordered another heater core from eBay.

I'll work on the radiator hoses and gauge wiring while I'm waiting on that and the new accessory brackets. Dang, waiting on parts sucks.

DavidBoren

Keep fighting the good fight, sir. It will all be worth it.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

I didn't get a lot done this weekend, but the new new heater core arrived Saturday afternoon. A friend gave me a great idea of putting compression elbows on the lines behind the intake to turn away so I don't have to get elbows welded on. I did some research, this sounds like the way to go. So I ordered a 3/4" and a 5/8" 90 degree compression elbow to get towards the Passenger side without hitting the intake.

I got the radiator hoses figured out, the hoses the radiator manufacturer told me to get were all wrong. I ended up getting one of those flexible green line hoses for the top and cutting up another hose for the bottom. I also got a power steering cooler mounted on the core support and moved the alternator and PS to the passenger side. I'll tell you, the Speedway Motors bracket is much nicer than the LSX Brackets bracket, and a fraction of the cost! Now I can run AC once I get this thing going.

I also blew off some steam and plastidipped my bike with their chameleon kit, a great way to get my mind off the truck!

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

We got the exhaust welded together, I'm really pleased with how it came together. It has stainless 3" dual pipes with a wideband bung after the DS header, two flex connections before the magnaflow muffler (with an integrated x-pipe), then dual over the axle to the passenger side exit with twin turndowns. We braced it with scraps of stainless left over and added two hangers on the muffler, one on the tailpipes. We will have clamps on the exits of the muffler and on the header collectors. I'm looking forward to hearing it, I'll get more pictures when it's up in the air again for O2 sensor installs.

The compression elbows FINALLY arrived (Prime membership is a scam, 2 day shipping my butt!), so I'll get those on today after work and hopefully start throwing the dash back together with some fresh gauge wiring. We are at a loss for intake plumbing, there's just no good way to avoid a cowl or ram air looking scoop. Now we have to figure that out. I had an idea of running a 3" pipe, which appears to clear. It's just a shame with that big ol' 102 sucking through a straw. I'm going to look into brackets for Corvette accessories, pretty sure I can sell these F-body accessories.

DavidBoren

I probably get a little too excited when I see updates on this truck. I don't know why I like it so much, but I'm really rooting for you.

That exhaust system looks pretty snazzy. Hopefully it sounds equally good.

Are you looking for 'vette accessories so you can tilt the radiator back and use a corvette over the radiator intake/filter?

SenorThumpy

Awesome build. Front end is pretty ugly but thats just this *******'s opinion

DavidBoren's suggestion about the vette snorkle would be really clean if you could fit it. The guy that did that project thunderbolt miata used one and it came out really nice.

You've already relocated your battery, is there enough space to get between the alternator and the rad support? You could have the filter pull from the inner fender or duct down to behind a fog light opening. If there isn't enough space around the alternator, you could relocate your washer fluid bottle and do the ducting i mentioned on that side.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

I was considering Corvette accessories for the fact that they pull closer to the engine which would give me more room for an intake. But I scrapped that idea after putting a list and some rough prices on paper. I'm looking forward to the exhaust note, should be pretty mellow.

Her name is Kelly, and she doesn't appreciate the ugly comment! ... But yeah, she's pretty ugly up front. She's got a nice back end though!

No space on the battery side due to the upper radiator hose. Driver's side is obstructed by the radiator fill neck.

But I made some progress on Saturday and got an intake routed! It's tight, but there's more clearance than the pictures tell. The only thing I hate is that I'm feeding this 102 LSXRT by a 3" pipe. I'll data log it and if at WOT it's got pressure drop, I'll revisit the intake. Maybe just put a massive hole in the hood and run it vertically, LOL!

Here are some promised pictures of the exhaust and the intake routing. The short list is putting the dash back in, wiring the gauge cluster, add fuel, do something for a shifter boot, add the tune for the motor (injectors and such), fill the cooling system and try it out! I've got a test Tuesday, so maybe sometime this weekend... I think I've been saying that the last few weekends, this time I mean it!

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Well damnit, go figure I still have a short list before firing it up. Got a 92 on my test and went right back to it Wednesday. I got a pinout of a 2000 S10 cluster harness and used the wires for my gauges. I'm not 100% positive on the use of each wire due to the unusual wire names, but it shouldn't be too hard to pull the cluster back out and try again. I got the speedo, tach, oil psi, fuel level, voltage, water temp, shift light, wideband and WB controller wired up along with two turn signal LEDs and an LED for a CEL. You may notice in the picture the air bag cover is missing... new cubby hole for the wideband controller, the USB port for the stereo and other miscellaneous wiring. The cover will be velcro'd back in place.

I might have been able to start it Saturday, but a friend's kids 1yr birthday was at 2 and you know you have to put the tools down when the wife texts "Are you coming?" Whoops... I filled the coolant, but a small leak at a steam line fitting forced me to drop the level and do a little work to fix it. The dash is nearly completely installed, very few items left but I have another test today so I won't be able to work on it again until Wednesday.

North*power

iTrader: (1)

Looks like it's coming together nicely, you're doing a great job of paying attention to details!
What kind of stereo is that? Did you have to modify anything to get it to fit?

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Thank you, it's a Pioneer 4700 double din... can't remember the part number. There's some modification to be done, you have to get a double din bezel from a "newer" (2003) Blazer or something, you have to take a dremel to some pieces in the dash and you have to "make" a mounting kit from a universal double din install kit. There's a decent write up on S10Forum.

Yesterday I put fresh fuel in it, wired the VSS signal and Fuel level signal, put a battery in it and saw everything light up for the first time! I didn't bring my HPTuners yesterday so I wasn't going to fire it up. I did bring my laptop and HPT for today's session and the weather looks to be decent. If all goes as planned, I'll throw a tune in it, calibrate all the gauges except the speedo, pressure check the fuel system, crank it up and let it get to temp in the shop to check for leaks and maybe even take it for a quick 5 mile trip (speedo requires a known 2 mile distance to calibrate). We shall see!

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Yesterday was a good day for the truck. I calibrated the wideband and set a tune in it from the car I had pulled the motor from. The injector and VE tables were transferred over along with a few other parameters, even though the intake has been upgraded to this mailbox of a 102 LSXRT and the cam was swapped for something a little less subtle.

When I went to crank it up, I was pleased that everything spun freely and the motor started easily once it cleared the air in the rails. Unfortunately, it ran ridiculous lean and wouldn't clear 400 RPM. When I gave it throttle, it just dies. After some tune tweaking, I opened the scanner and started it... MAP never went below 80kPa and reacted as expected with throttle. That could be a problem. I suspect the IAC, though I didn't think to look at the IAC counts. Even so, I made sure the vac lines were all connected/plugged and that my PCV was routed right.

So I didn't get to run it long or down the road, but hopefully this weekend I'll get to troubleshoot the air issue and get it running. Autozone wants $120 for an IAC valve (LOL) so I ordered a couple from eBay for $100, one being an ACDelco. The waiting is the worst! I attached a teaser of the cluster lit for motivation...

North*power

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info on the stereo. I have a 2001 Xtreme do I should have the right double din space. I'll delve into that once I get the motor running and everything. After looking through some of your photos I can't believe how clean the truck is underneath! I really need to buy myself a southern truck when I start the next project, the rust and road salt wreak havok on the trucks up here in New England!
Keep it up!

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Thanks, just don't go too southern... When I dropped the gas tank and coolant overflow tanks, both had a level of sand in them! That's the disadvantage of getting a truck so close to the Gulf I guess.

Still trying to figure out the air issue. I plugged the opening at the back where the MAP was for the previous issue and no change. The truck will only run 15-30 seconds at a time, at about 300-400RPM. The MAP logs 80kPa and you can hear it sucking it all through the intake tube, so it's not a vac leak. Problem is I can't figure out what to adjust on the tune to cut back on the air allowed at idle. I ruled out an IAC valve issue by swapping the valves between my white Camaro and the truck with no change. Camaro started and idled fine with the truck valve, and the truck did the same thing as always with the Camaro valve.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Success, the truck is on the road! I have about 18 miles on it, the starting/idle issue was that I wasn't properly configured for SD since the source of the tune was MAF based. Set it to SD and heated it up, felt pretty good. So I'm headed down the driveway to my 2 mile mark to calibrate the speedo and wham, everything goes dead all at once! Don't even have brake lights! I looked under the bed, my 150A primary power wire fuse had blown! Holy crap...

After some investigating, we hauled it back to the shop. Sure enough, one of the wires ground on a header primary. Thank goodness I had a spare fuse and my father in law had a 2GA splice lying around. We got it fixed up and put a new fuse in, recalibrated the wideband and set out on the road. I've got a coolant leak on the rear PS head where I put the sensor for ECT for my gauge, I'll try to work on that this afternoon depending on my schedule. Now it's time to log and tune, and start addressing the little things like hood latch, ebrake, a center console, etc. I'll keep this updated!

DavidBoren

Great to hear, man. Get the little bugs worked out and drive the hell out of it.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

I've put about 80 miles on the combination, but unfortunately it's been parked for quite a few days now. I discovered an increasingly bad coolant leak at the back of the motor, seemingly from the top. I thought it was the ECT sensor for my gauge, but I tightened it up and it didn't improve much. Either the crush washer is destroyed or the leak is actually coming from the rear coolant crossover. I used a Savannah 4.8/5.3L crossover for the rear to keep the ports venting, but I had to bend it a decent amount to get it to clear the cam position sensor. I suspect that in bending it, the ends may have created a leak path. I bought another one to install, but when it arrived, I had second thoughts about trying again.

So I bought some plugs for the rear. The mail man is taking his sweet time with those, should be here today.

In the mean time, the IAT measurements concerned me. It seemed like when I gave the truck a little more throttle, the IAT would increase rapidly, to the tune of as much as 140 at times! I've concluded that it was partly because the tube was behind the fan on the driver side. So I bought parts to make a 3.5" intake out to the passenger side, now that I know the hood has clearance. I put it together last Saturday and ran it in the driveway, less intake noise, it incorporates the MAF I had from the donor car and it looks better IMO. So that's taken care of, now I want to drive the thing!

DavidBoren

Sucks about the coolant leak. I hate to hear about those rear steam vents being plugged, but I understand your logic.

Good job on the intake routing, both form and function appear to have improved.

SenorThumpy

I lost track of this project, glad to see its hit the road. Good luck on that coolant leak, man. Awesome intake placement btw
Vids when you get the coolant issue sorted please