K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Hello everyone, the time has finally come for my project to begin. I have spent about 8 months reading, buying parts, following all the threads on here and LS1tech to plan this truck. But this truck, in not just any LS swap.

I am in school for computer engineering and for my final semester that starts in January, we have a project we need to complete. I chose to design voice activated controls (start, windows, wipers, etc.) to be controlled by my voice and my voice only. Don't worry, there are overrides in the case I need it, and everything will still have manual switch controls that override the voice ones.

The interior will feature a custom built dash (similar shape and style of the first gen) out of fiberglass and chrome checkered plate. I think I have 12 gauges going in, with a deck, EQ, maybe touch screen display, and some other goodies like a mini fire extinguisher down the passenger side column (3 pod on my side)

I am going to redo the bucket seats in black leather with red sticking, and the corvette emblem engraved in the head rests. The shifter will come up through the cup holders like others have done (just happened to have that exact consol..score) and 4 or 5 point racing harness seat belts.

The outside will feature a custom black cherry paint job, with chrome front end (looking for phantom grill), chrome c6 wheels, chrome door handles, roll pan with some special graphics on the tail gate for a tribute (will not unveil till its done) and tinted windows. I may get rid of my hard top.

Now forget about all the show, lets get down to what really matters. I am taking out the old CPI 4.3L 4L60e combo and swaping in a custom LS family engine and t56. Due to cost, I will a ford 8.8 rear end until I come across a good 12 bolt (harder to find in the land of igloos). This setup will run around 460rwhp or so until I purchase a custom grind came later on and make a couple changes. It should be capable of 500 at the wheels when its done N/A. I am going with 1 1/7 LT outside the frame headers with 3" stainless magnaflow exhaust back. I will run the blazer gas tank in the rear so I can run a symmetrical exhaust and add weight to the wheels. The frame will be boxed in and all new cross members will be added. I will adding a 3 or 4 link to the rear with traction bars, zq8 sway bar, and leaf clamps on the back half to make these tires stick.

Unlike many of you, I am not a mechanic by any means. I've done small stuff and always try and fix problems myself, but I'm really limited to ever doing anything quite like this. All the work, minus the frame welding will be done by myself, including assembling the engine, rear end, all the paint, wiring...etc. I have a shop with every kind of welder, plasma cutters, torches, presses, you name it, they have it. I have my own bay and some hands around if I get stuck from about 25+ or so hot rodders that are all 3 times my age. Even have our own paintbooth.



Before I get into the parts and the thread, I first want to send out some thank yous, and I know this list will grow.

Lamar Murphy, from LS1 tech, who has pretty much planned my entire motor build and got me 90% of the parts obtained. He runs M & M motor sports in Texas and I will get more contact info for any of you who need a hand with anything. Honestly one of the nicest and most honest guys I've met.

EVERYONE HERE ON LS1tech as well as s10forum and s10planet for all your input, help, and wealth of knowledge. Without all of you, I wouldn't even consider doing anything like this. I can't thank you enough and will always be open to ideas and suggestions from you through out this whole process.

Hopefully when this is all done I'll be able to return the favour. BTW, I plan on having the entire truck running without the voice controls and paint by christmas...yes I know, even the old guys laugh at me. Truckin magazine as well as a few others are interested in this project, and will be going back and forth with me. If it turns out the way I've planned/dreamed it, I should be a featured ad and even a front cover shot once the paint and everything is done. So that gives me some motivation.

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Engine

Obtained:

6L block -sent out for machine work/checks
Crank -sent out to be polished/checked
Covers (rear, valley, valve)
LS3 heads STG 1 Porting
LS3 intake complete
LS7 Cam
Forged Rods (ARP bolts) and Pistons (4.030)
Lifter trays
harness + ecu
Oil Pump (to be ported by Lamar)
LS3 Coil packs/brackets/wires
LS2 HD timing chain/gears
LS7 Lifters
Head bolts
LS9 head gasgkets
Lower gasket kit
H3 Oil Pan kit
front cover with relocation cam sensor
MAF sensor

Need:

Throttle body 4bolt DBC
Rockers (offset ones x8)
Plugs
Main bearings, Rod bearings
Pushrods (length TBD)


Accessory Drive Parts

Obtained

LS3 waterpump & Gaskets
Vette tensionar, idler pully
Vette P/S and Alt bracket with hardware
vette Balancer
Vette AC setup
Vette P/S pump

Need:

Alternator
Missing hardware
Belt



Transmission

Obtained:


98-02 t56 tranny stg 2 build 20K miles
slave clyinder and throw out bearing
Spec twin disc clutch rated for 850HP
b & m shifter and ****
lower boot
BNIB master cylinder


Need

f-body leather boot
clutch pedal
bleeder line
any lines, bolts, or everything else to make this work

Drive shaft (yet to be determined once frame is built)



Rear End

Obtained:

Ford 8.8 95 explorer 3:73 POSI
New bearings & seals
New 1350 yoke
New rear brake setup

Need:

Axle leaf brackets (maybe reuse/flip current ones)



Brakes (front) c5 setup

Obtained:

blazer spindles
flex lines
Rotors and pads used (for mockup)
LS1 calipers and PABs

Need:

brackets (custom made)
13" rotors and new pads



Steering

Obtained:

Jeep u-join steering shaft

Need:

Zq8 s10 steering box
tie rods
custom steering wheel



Suspension

Obtained:

Zq8 leafs
Zq8 coils
blazer 2wd spindles

Need:

New Control arm bushings and hardware
New ball joints
leaf clamps for rear
traction bars
rear sway bar
zq8 front sway bar upgrade + bushings + links
Rear shocks

Frame:

Obtained:

1/4" flat bar (i know its overkill but it was free) to box in frame and create notches
1/2" pieces for caliper brackets
random pieces of scrap for brackets and misc.



Heating and Cooling

Obtained:

Current performance rad and dual fan setup



Wish List & Misc

Need:

Wiring supplies
Connectors
Gm harness connectors



Lines, hoeses, fittings

Need:

lines and fittings for tranny, p/s, A/C
Brake lines and Fittings
Fuel lines and fittings



Fuel System

Obtained:

walbro 255 fuel pump

Need:

Sender (may come with custom guagues)
fuel filter/regulator
Blazer gas tank



Exhaust

Obtained:

s10 LT headers 1" 7/8 ceramic coated
14249 magaflow mufflers brand new


Need:

x-pipe (or might run an H)
stainless tubing
Tips? depending if I run past axle


Rims & Tires obtained

Chrome c6 19x105 285sr's currently on it and 18x9.5 245s
305/35/19 SR for back (maybe)
I need 2.5" wheel spacers for front


s10 trim & Interior needed

Chrome billet grill
Chrome bumper

I'm either modifying the current dash or building one from scratch, was planning to get
all new custom guagues, I have some sketches for how I want to design it


2x (5x3) speakers for dash
2x (6x9) speakers for behind seats
Mini equilizer
GPS nav possibly
Amp

4 point racing seat belts



Extra stuff to sell

LS1 coils/brackets/harness 150$
S10 shorty headers 1 5/8 coated black 250$
6L truck intake complete with TB
6L rods and pistons (great shape) 60K miles still assembled.

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Went to the machine shop, they bored it and painted the block after the hot tank. They also polished the crank and ordered me coated race bearings. I just need my cam now shipped and they will install the cam bearings and its ready for assembly.

The rods were designed pressed fit, but I had them go with a floating setup and they assembled them for me.

This was the spacer they removed on the crank, I believe if I am running a flywheel/clutch then it needs to be removed, correct me if I'm wrong?




PICS

Here are some shots of the reluctor wheel, it shouldn't need to be replaced I assume, they said it was fine.





Block, pistons, and crank

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Tore apart the truck more on the weekend.

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

PARTS

Got some parts in, complete tubular front setup, by the time I bought knew bushings and balljoints, these only costed me 150$ shipped. Going to blast them and paint them red or silver, when I get to that stage. They also have grease nipples for the bushings. Going to love these things.



LS7 cam/valve train and twin disc spec clutch, has wear but will hold 500hp np.













what once was a truck now is




I got forged pistons and rods dirt cheap thanks to Lamar again, awesome guy to deal with.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ML...0F04/?rtype=10

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Stg 3 port work by Lamar on my LS3 heads.

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

De-greased and powered washed the frame on Sunday








Only bad spots on frame are these



Is there somewhere you can buy a direct replacement? If not i'll fab my own

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

How it looks like dry, and progress of sandblasting. I only got about 2 hours in last night, and I spent most of it cleaning up sand and figuring out what I'm doing. Never used this before, had to mess around with the mix and stuff.






After some blasting. Keep in mind I was working at night and had really shitty lenses on the mask. I missed a few spots but I'll get everything by tn and tm.

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Due to lots of rain this past week (sandy) I haven't be able to finish sandblasting the frame. Also, I wish I never used that rubberized undercoating **** when I changed my fuel pump because its a nightmare of work compared to the rest of the frame to take off.

Got the front half done and the outside of the driver side rail cleaned up. Still need to remove the rear suspension and sand blast underneath. Should be done by mid-week if weather is good and I stop taking long breaks looking at how much work I have to do lol


Front suspension removed



old brake/spindle setup



leaving the rear suspension on sure makes it easy to move around by myself (had a helper for the night pictures were taken)



Inside the pockets look good



Just setup shop outside then it started to pour...wasn't stoping me from working outside to sandblast. Surprisingly my make shift fort kept out all the rain and I was able to save and reuse most the blast. But it ate up alot of time, only did the cross member mostly





Progress from yesterday was noticeable

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

veryyy slow progress on sandblasting due to Sandy. I got so fedup I built a booth inside the shop so I could get more done. I should have the rest of it done this weekend, along with my A/C, oil pan notches and some of the boxing tacked into place.

I did manage to get a free set of frame stands, which puts my frame up about 3 feet off the ground, and removed the rear suspension completely.

Someone showed me how to use the plasma cutter and mig welder the other week when we built a shelf unit for our paintbooth to hold the new air filter system. I was pretty for my first time. The plate I welded is the stuff I have for my frame at 1/4" to stuff that was about 1/8 which is closer to our frame thickness. So it was really good practice and I feel confident enough to weld my own frame now. I know I have to watch heat and only do little stiches at a time, I'll have a few people watching me the whole time.

Also, I picked up an entire C5 Z06 brake take off for 100$ :o including next to new pads, and highend rotors. I think for the time being i'll go with the ford 8.8 factory discs on the back since I am running out of time to fab some stuff up to make the c5 stuff work. I'll either sell the rear stuff, or save it for a project down the road. If anyone is interested in it let me know, I also have LS1 calipers/rotors/pads used for sale now since I got the official z06 stuff.






I also was welding to some rusty surfaces so he said I did pretty good. First weld, followed by one after 3-4 tries. We have a cheap welding mask and he said its not very good for seeing the puddle (cheap princess auto one, self switching lense)

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Got the carrier out and all the races/bearings. First time doing it so I was being careful. She was in there pretty good, but I put a bar through the pin slot and pried against the housing. Everything was good in it, but for 100$ I'll have some piece of mind when throwing 500 ponies at it.

One thing that was a major PITFA was the carrier pin retaining bolt that broke. 2 drillbits and a easy out later,








I kept track of the shims

Finally finished blasting the frame, rear end, and main leafs. The spindles/coils/smaller leafs ill tackle in the inclosed booth. I can finally take down this booth and start boxing in the frame today.

BEFORE:







I should have the entire frame boxed in and the notches done this weekend with the motor assembled with heads/oil/pan/ac compressor/headers to check clearances. I'll then bring up my tranny to bolt it up and come up with a idea for the crossmember.


On a partial side note, I tried to sandblast as much as I could see in and down the coil pockets/engine mount underside, but theres a good portion of the frame I just cant get to. I guess the only way to remove that paint/oilspray is an acid bath, but that aint going to happen. They quoted me around 650-750 for the cab and another 750 for the box :o def not paying that.

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

I was at the shop last night and started cutting out some of the welded in bushing holders for the rear that the previous owner hacked in to lower the truck with no success. I may just box in over it.

Theres a few questions spread out through the thread I'll just keep shifting as I post cause its easy to lose track of them.

Evap... (flawless your inbox was full)
-Does anyone know where to run all the hoses for it, and a wiring diagram ? I was just going to use a setup off a newer s10 and mount it near the blazer tank at the back. I think a hose comes from the intake somewhere and one port off the sender unit?

Rear end:
-there is a shreader stem coming off one of the axle tubes, it looks like its on the bottom, not sure what thats for on my 8.8

Wideband:
I've read these are a must for tuning, If I have two regular 02 sensors before the cats, where should I weld in a bung for the wideband?

Transmission:
-I bought a low mile fbody master with the drill mod done, but did not come with the hose and resivior, cant really seem to find a place that just sells that?
-Does the s10 clutch pedal mount seperatly or is it one complete unit with the gas and brake pedal? I need to find one of those, I heard DBC fbody pedals will work? I assume the brake pedal will hook up to our trucks the same or close? I've read where to find some hydra-boost units, I may go to a wreckers and get one if its cheap



I have tons of pics to snap of parts and stuff I will get up tonight to amuse you guys.

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Been way to long since I posted updates in this build thread.

Grabbed the plasma cutter, mig welder, and a grinder last night and went to town on my frame. Slight gaps between the plate I boxed in at the back and the frame made it a little tricky for me to try and tac weld (havent dont much welding but seemed good at 90 degree angles when the steel was touching). I'll have to get one of the guys to come up and help me out a bit and show me a few tricks. But I got the job done and I can remove the cross members now.


Yes I did go a little overkill on the oil pan notch, but it will be strong when boxed in and I wanted lots of clearance for breaklines and such.








The stupid rear leaf bushings that the previous owner moved back instead of buying some drop blocks....I'll just plate overtop and she'll be good as new






This is what I will make the entire frame look like before I POR-15 it. Grabbed 2 quarts for 120 yesturday from a local place. (In Canada)






Box work

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Sorry I just mainly updated my other thread. Lots of happened since I was here last. I got the time to be active online now so you'll see me here more often.

I am no longer running these headers, they are for sale. But here the progress I made.






frame pieces cut





A/C notch 4 hours later






Oil Pan notch

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Box back from sandblasting, idiot bent my fenders in and now created more work for me. Not impressed, he left alot of areas where he could of blasted. Can't complain about price for what was done.







Soda blasting on panels



Wheels & Tires

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

bump stops were hacked off before but they left an 1" all the way around of jagged steel so I took it all off with the die grinder and cleaned it up

K11PER

iTrader: (8)

Could not believe I did all this work just to move the stupid mounts a half inch. 38.5" was my measurement from center leaf holes. I had 39" on the diff. Cut the old ones off, for 20$ i got these for a set, ordered another set to use them for my sway mounts.

K11PER

iTrader: (8)