Fuddle converter is in
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 528
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From: Warrenville, IL.
Fuddle converter is in I have new respect for those of you doing this swap on your back. A good friend of mine helped me out, fortunately he has a lift in his garage. It was still a pita and took us about 5 hrs, I can't imagine doing this on my back I'd rathar pay to have it done-lol. Main problem we had was breaking the trans loose from the motor, it was stuck on the dowel pins and even after putting a jack under the engine and lowering the trans they wouldn't seperate. We had to use prybars between the block and bellhousing (carefully) and it took us around 45 mins to finally seperate the 2.
http://nick.vettextc.net/FuddleConverter/Trans.jpg
Before re-installing we cleaned out the dowel pins and holes with sandpaper and put lubricating grease on the pins. The other problem we ran into were those stupid allen head tq converter bolts , had to use a pipe on the end of the ratchet to break them loose, I threw those pos away, the converter came with hex head bolts. What the hell was GM thinking ?
The only good thing was we didn't have to drop the exhaust, we unbolted the cat back from the Y pipe and slid it back about 2", I have headers and and ORY which is obviously why were able to do this. We also replaced the rear output shaft seal which was leaking. The only thing I did not do yet is get my cooler installed. Any tips on a good location for this ? I was planning on putting it in front of the condenser.
I was planning to take alot of pictures of the install but was so busy working just didn't have time. I got a 3400stall/2.1 str and so far (street driving only) I'm really impressed. The Nittos definetly have to go they're useless. I've had 2 Vigilantes on different cars in the past and I have to say so far this converter is every bit as good as they were. I should have some new times next wek, going to the track this coming weekend. My previous best was a 12.9@107 I'm hoping to drop into the mid 12's.
http://nick.vettextc.net/FuddleConverter/Trans.jpg
Before re-installing we cleaned out the dowel pins and holes with sandpaper and put lubricating grease on the pins. The other problem we ran into were those stupid allen head tq converter bolts , had to use a pipe on the end of the ratchet to break them loose, I threw those pos away, the converter came with hex head bolts. What the hell was GM thinking ?
The only good thing was we didn't have to drop the exhaust, we unbolted the cat back from the Y pipe and slid it back about 2", I have headers and and ORY which is obviously why were able to do this. We also replaced the rear output shaft seal which was leaking. The only thing I did not do yet is get my cooler installed. Any tips on a good location for this ? I was planning on putting it in front of the condenser.
I was planning to take alot of pictures of the install but was so busy working just didn't have time. I got a 3400stall/2.1 str and so far (street driving only) I'm really impressed. The Nittos definetly have to go they're useless. I've had 2 Vigilantes on different cars in the past and I have to say so far this converter is every bit as good as they were. I should have some new times next wek, going to the track this coming weekend. My previous best was a 12.9@107 I'm hoping to drop into the mid 12's.
