jwatts

iTrader: (4)

I started a build thread over on the Team Chevelle website for the work I am doing to my Chevelle. I figured I may as well post it up on here too so I can share the snags I run into and hopefully get some knowledge from some of you as I run into any more hold ups on it. Here's a little background on the car.

I have been wanting a muscle car for a while now, and I am finally in the position financially to have the money to put into one. It has always been a tossup between a 1st gen Camaro and the 66-67 Chevelle. As happens with most things in a married man's life, my wife had to put in her 2 cents. Since we have a 3 year old, and my wife wants to be able to drive it around with him, we decided the Chevelle would be a little easier to get him in and out of with a car seat. I started browsing craigslist and found a decent deal on a 66 partial restoration. The owner had started the restoration, and the shop he was working at closed down before he finished. He had finished the body work from the doors forward. The rear quarters and trunk pans need to be replaced, but otherwise the body is good. The interior is gutted but he had purchased the majority of the pieces to put it back in. My wife, son, and I went to look at it. On the way home my son told me he really liked that awesome car and he really wanted it. Well, that's all it took to convince me to pick it up. Me, a wad of cash, and a trailer headed back to get it the next day.

After going over the car a little better I found that I didn't do so bad. It is a manual drum brake car (for now). The brakes had just been gone through completely. So had the front end. It handles good and the brakes work great. I had a decent driver I could ride around in while I worked on it.

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

First thing's first. I had to worry about a few minor details then get to work on the powerplant. The engine that was in it was brand new when I got it. He had installed a new GMPP 260hp 350 and had the TH350 rebuilt. The drivetrain literally had 1 mile on it when I got the car. Of course that setup wasn't going to cut it. I got the car with every intention of doing an LS swap. After kicking around the idea for a while I changed my mind and started making a list of parts I was gonna put into the SBC that lived under the hood. In my search I came up with an LQ4. I called it fate and picked the engine up. Here it is the night I got it:

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

After getting the engine I had to decide what my goals were for the car. I came up with this:
1- It has to have an overdive trans, and be capable of long trips on the highway.
2- It has to be driveable around town with no issues
3- I wanted somewhere in the 350-375hp range at the wheels
4- I wanted the car to a pretty steady powerband. Not too much power up top, but not something that just fries the tires either. I wanted power throughout the RPMs.

I tossed around several different combos and finally came up with one that sounded like it would work. Here's what I will be working with:
LQ4 with 241 heads milled .025
02+ LS6 cam
Bowtie Overdrives 200-4r, 2800 stall converter
3.55 rear gears. Right now I have an 8.2 10 bolt, but may have a line on a 9 bolt, not sure which I will go with as of right now.
Up until recently I was going to keep the factory fuel injection. I had started gathering parts and getting a game plan together. For some reason though, the factory setup just looks out of place under the hood of the older cars. I have a decided to go carb'd, with the intentions of swapping to an MSD Atomic EFI down the road after I get the body and interior finished, and can stick a little more cash back. I will be using the Performer RPM intake, MSD 6010 box, and Holley 750 4160 carb.

Here's a few more shots:

Getting ready to pull the engine


Making room to work on it


Ready to go


Engine stripped


Painting the engine


Trans bolted up, getting closer to going in the car

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

As of right now I am at a stand still. I am at work for 2 weeks, then I am off to Colorado for an 11 day elk hunt. It will be sometime in October before I can really fool with it. I am having difficulty getting my converter to match the 4L80 flexplate. I am going to separate the motor and trans and get that issue fixed, then start stuffing the motor in between the frames.

Here is a list of the parts I am using for the conversion. I will let everyone know how they turn out, but they have all been pretty well proven on one build or another here on this site.

Trans dapt 1" setback mounts
Holley Retro LSX pan
98-02 Fbody Pacesetter offroad headers
Truck accessory drive

speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

You said you intend to swap to 241 heads. Did you mean 243 (ls6) heads? I think I read that ls1 heads flow about 30 cfm less than the ls6 & LQ heads.

LS1MCSS

iTrader: (18)

What year model is the LQ4? If it's newer than a 99, it may already have the spacer behind the flexplate. If it does, get an LS1,curved, flexplate. Put it on first and then the spacer. You will probably still have to use a dremmel tool on the convertor bolt holes to get them the match, but that setup will work.

rfrankb4

Looks like a fun build. Your goals line up almost exactly with the goals I had when I started my swap.

I am sure you will enjoy the car when you get it done. I know I love driving my Lq4/LS3 combo in my 66. Thankfully my daily commute is short enough that the V8 + stall MPG does not kill me. Only downside is the dings the car gets in parking lots (although that last one did pay for this paint job)

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, I meant 241s. I know they flow a little less, but you can still make decent power with them. I figure this is a 135k mile LQ4, so this setup will be temporary until I can get all of the bugs worked out from the swap. I am holding on to my 317s to do a little work to and have ready for whenever I do end up rebuilding my engine down the road. Plus, I got a pretty good deal on the 241s and they already had .600 lift capable springs, so I may as well use them.

It's a 2005 LQ4. It does have the spacer behind the flexplate. I do need to elongate the holes to match the converter bolt pattern. I am going to see what all else I need to make it match up when I have it back apart.

Checkmate

iTrader: (2)

66 was my favorite year of the Chevelle, cool swap keep us posted.

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

I will keep the thread updated as I go. I also have a few more pics to upload to photobucket as well. When I get them loaded I will put them up.

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

One other thing I did to the car was completely rewire it front to back. I used an American Autowire Classic Update kit. It is a complete kit that uses OEM connectors. I replaced every wire in the car. The good thing about the kit is it comes with all new connectors for everything, including all light bulbs. It also has enough extra wire to route the wiring like you want it. Here are a few pics under the hood I took while O was rewiring the car. I used Techflex split braided loom. It looks a lot like the original cloth style loom that came on these older cars.

87caprice318

iTrader: (1)

Hey Jwatts....im over on the chevelles site also.....With your engine all you have to do is enlongate the original flexplate holes to match your converter..I have the same engine in the back of my suburban but 2004 LQ4 that was in front of a 4L80 with the spacer already attached..Just make the holes slightly bigger and you're good to go. Cant wait to get mine painted up this weekend and somewhat completely assembled hopefully installed next week..

badtomatoes

Subscribed! I too have a 66 with an LQ4 waiting to go in. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

I had a little time to work on the car the past few days. I took an old SBC dual bolt pattern flexplate and used it as a template to elongate my torque converter bolt holes. I also found some 5/16 shims to put between the converter and flexplate. I feel better about the converter being seated in the pump good now. Before I had about a 1/2 inch of slack between the converter and flexplate.

I got the engine and transmission mated up, and was able to drop them in the car today. It went in pretty smooth. I had to drill a few holes for the transmission crossmember, but other than that it was just a drop in deal. I did have a wheel fall off of the lift when sliding the engine in, but that was fixed pretty quick. The only snag I have right now is the exhaust. The F Body headers aren't anywhere near fitting as is. I can lift the engine about a half inch, and the passenger side will bolt up. The driver side isn't even close. If I were to slide the engine back another inch they may work, but that would put the engine back too far for my liking. I am weighing my options now on what I want to do as far as headers go. Here are a few pics from today.

Going good til the wheel fell off


In the frame


From the front


Firewall clearance

71Fakes

iTrader: (2)

I used the Pacesetters on my build also. There was a lot of work necessary to get them to fit (still working on it now in fact).

I am not sure if I have updated my thread with those pictures yet or not. Basically I took about a 1" section out of the #1 primary tube near the collector and moved the whole pipe back. That solved the driver's side issue.

On the passenger's side, I needed to move the outer pipe in closer to the rest and flatten it a litttle. It was hitting the frame as I tried to slide it in.

It is possible to make them fit, just be patient!

Troy

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

I'm not completely giving up on the Pacesetters just yet. I am going to try a set of Fox Body SBF headers, as well as a set of BBC headers over the next few days to see if they may fit a little better and be easier to modify.

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

I got to work on the car again some today. I removed the motor mount plates that were on it, and swapped them for a set of 1" setback mounts. When I ordered my plates originally, I ordered the wrong ones. After I initially got the engine in I saw that I was gonna run into some clearance issues. I put a set of 1" setback plates and everything sits just right. I will have to change to a different trans dipstick since mine was hitting the firewall and holding the engine off the mounts. Once I got that out of the way the engine slid right in. I was also able to use the F body Pacesetter headers. I had to dent the #1 primary some to clear the frame, as well as the #4 primary. After a few test fits I am satisfied that I have good clearance on all of the tubes. My next step is to paint the headers, swap the heads, and start bolting everything else to the engine. I have a pile of parts stuck back, so I am going to get everything I currently have installed before I pick up my carb and ignition. Anyway here's a few pictures.

Drivers side



Drivers side header fitment. You can see where I had to dent the primary some. I had to dent the driver side of the tube (where it is discolored) for a section about 1.5" long. I also had to make a dent close to the same spot, but on the forward facing side of the tube.



Passenger side



Pasenger side header fitment. You can see where I had to dent the #4 primary. I had to dent the side passenger side of the tube to clear the frame close to where the lower A arm mounts. The #2 primary is pretty close to hitting the frame, but is clearing it.

jwatts

iTrader: (4)

I have been working on the swap off and on lately. Most of the progress has been tedious work that you really couldn't see (mounting and adjusting the shifter, getting the trans dipstick installed and calibrated, a lot of bead blasting and painting, etc.). I have done a good bit of work the past few days that you can see though. I got the majority of the accessories for the engine blasted, painted, and installed. The heads are on, headers painted and installed, intake on, and a few other odds and ends in place. Of course things were going too good so I had to run into a snag. I went to my storage building I have on my land up the road to find everything I had aluminum in there had been stolen. That includes a few accessory brackets I had, my water pump which had one aluminum idler bracket bolted to it, and my brand new radiator. I am going to call Hagerty's and see what my spare parts insurance deductible is and try to get some replacements on the way. In the meantime I still have a lot left I can do. Here's a few pics of the progress under the hood since the last post.

tta656

iTrader: (5)

awesome....have your wife call mine to convince her that she wants to drive one of them around.

LS1 pwrd NOVA

iTrader: (2)

I got a 66 also. So many 66 swaps going on, sweet. Nice swap but why not fuel injected?