gsjimmy

Man, that notch took forever. But its done and painted. Was able to put about 3 hours in and got it finished up. a good 3/8 to 1/2 inch clearance on the a/c pulley.

Yes the motor has been in/out several times to allow for working room in the engine compartment. I was also able to get the cab tilted back and the engine/trans into position. On the hunt for the mounting hardware that seemed to have grown legs and walked off.

Should have the drivetrain mounted up tonight and D-shaft installed. Still no wire harness........

I will need to build the fuel rails soon and get the intake/injectors done. Slowly getting there, I did end up with rust in the lower section of the cab. Will be getting that squared away as well. Then the million other little things that need done!

gsjimmy

Last night I got the trans x-member installed loosely and figured out that I'm a bit close on the oil pan to cross member (engine cradle area) Also maxed out on the adjustment of the motor mounts. Thinking that I may have the mounts on the engine swapped. Gonna try that first anyway.

Next is the torque converter. Still can't get the LS1 converter (2000 Z/28) to mate correctly to the flex plate (1999 5.3, dished flex plate). Been looking at the stock converter v. this one, and the look the same externally. This is creating a binding situation in the driveline. I seated the converter all the way into the trans and made sure that it was moving the pump, have the correct V-8 bellhousing and still can't get things seated and lined up. Ran the bolts in, but stopped before I could get things flush to the block (no air tools, just a 15mm wrench so as not to break stuff).

So does anyone have ideas on what I'm doing wrong here?

(Yes the converter was dropped all the way into the trans. )

gsjimmy

Stopped and spoke to my trans guy. Had a combination of things going to not allow the trans/engine to mate up. So I found a couple of long bolts and slid the trans back about 5 inches to gain access to the converter. It felt seated in the pump, but I reseated it again. Also had a missing locater pin on the block that I replaced.

This time I was able to get the trans bolted up and the converter bolted to the flywheel. Still have a slight bind, but am also missing the lower dust cover on the bell housing. I think that this will take up the slack and relieve the bind. (If I leave a gap of about an 1/8 inch (.125) then no binding).

Cross member - With the change in the bell housing (+.625) I am sitting on the backside of the mounting plate, about 5/8 inch further back. I do have some room to play at the oil pan location without having to notch the engine cradle. This could be all I need to get the engine mounted in the correct location.

Tonight I will see about installing the d-shaft and making the final positioning of the engine. If all goes well, I will be able to pull the old front suspension off, clean & paint the frame and install the new uppers/lowers/springs and urethane bushings over the weekend.

Just got word that the wiring harness has shipped out (in SC right now). Won't see that til Tuesday.

Will try to have everything ready to wire the truck next week!

Jim

gsjimmy

BTW - I did have the mounts swapped side to side, DOH!

rpturbo

iTrader: (47)

When I put mine in, I moved my trans crossmember back. I took the front hole, and lined it up with the back hole on the frame, and drilled new holes for the back, and it fit perfect.

gsjimmy

Great idea! That would save a bunch of time farting around. Hope that the D-shaft has enough play for this to work. You must of pulled off the hanger brackets to get the drill in there.

gsjimmy

Got the D-shaft installed last night. Fought with the motor placement. At this point I will be taking 1" out of the rear of the engine cradle. Not a big deal, should relieve some engine /driveline binding I'm having. Just had not planned for that.

This weekend I will be rebuilding the front suspension, frame painting and maybe even will get the steering figured out (and of course the notch). I should see the wiring harness on Tuesday.

If we can get her running in the next couple weeks I can get ready to paint the box and cab so its all one color again (Rust sux) I'll do more pics this weekend as work progresses.

gsjimmy

Started tearing down the front suspension. Pass side is almost done & driver side is started. Need to know any tricks for removing the bolts in the lower control arm. Have one that is frozen in place. Tried a hammer, air wrench an PB Blaster. Will put an air hammer to it next. Hate to have to cut the bolt and spread the mount.

rpturbo

iTrader: (47)

Yeah that sucks, but just getting after it with heat and a impact/air hammer is really it, until you just get to the point you have to cut and make it come out.

gsjimmy

Got a bunch done this weekend. Was able to notch the engine cross member about an inch and get everything welded up. I also did some repair work on the firewall. What I thought were rust blisters, were holes. (Fun)

So had to clean, rind and prep that for some repair work. Structural adhesive is awesome for doing this type of repair. It beats having to strip out the interior for welding.

Still working on the forward bolts in the lower control arms. At this point I will be cutting off the arms and then attacking the bushing/bolt area with tools of destruction (OK, grinder & sawzall)

Wiring should be here at lunch time.

Jim

rpturbo

iTrader: (47)

Good times. Been there, done that. Don't worry, before long, it will all be worth it soon!

gsjimmy

Tied up a few more loose ends. Got the upper control arms bolted in place and the engine dropped in. Now fits into the cradle and cross member. I also finished bolting up the torque converter. Still getting to the last 1/8-1/16 before it mates to the block and hitting a bind.

Only thing I have not tried is moving the trans back and running my impact on the balancer to spin over the engine. I'm figuring that this would allow the converter to drop in (???), then it could be all bolted down. Don't want to break things. I've never had this much trouble with a converter before. Done plenty of TH 350/400's, TH700r4 and TH200r4. No issues.

So, what am I doing wrong? Pulled the bell housing back and spun in the converter, did go all the way back to the pump. Am I missing a block spacer (like Ford does). Getting quite frustrated here.

gsjimmy

Made good progress over the weekend. Finally got the lower control arms off. Ended up cutting off the outer leg (towards the bumper) and grinding the bolt head & tail of the bolt off and slightly spreading out the mount to work the slug out of the frame. All in all, it took me 2.5 days of screwing around to get the truck apart!

Started to get it back on the wheels again. Driver side, no issues. Reassembly went well, spring & shock are mounted and knuckle loosely bolted into the ball joints.

Pass side, sat down and grabbed the a-arm to begin the assembly. Had vertical movement on the outer side of the a-arm (the side that the bolt was frozen). Closer examination showed that the hole was egg shaped. So off to the hardware store (again). Picked up 2 thick Grade 8 washers and repaired the holes. Everything welded up fine and the movement is gone.

This was the reason I was wearing out tires on the inner edge. So, problem solved!

Then I started on the sway bar. First issue, my urethane mounts are wrong. I have a ZQ8 sport suspension (33mm sway bar), but the mount bushings are 28mm (standard suspension). So, installed the old rubber mounts.

Then put the driver side together, no issues. Went onto the pass side and....CLUNK. The bar hit the idler arm. Further inspection.......looks like I ended up about an inch low when I welded up the mount location (damn). This was a good place to stop.

Next steps: Cut off the mount location of the idler arm and move it up by 1" with the sway bar installed (Yeah I know, that was dumb). This time I will put a level on the drag link to insure that I have this right. Didn't get as much done as I would have liked, but I am closer

gsjimmy

I have a dumb question on the Jeep steering shaft. When I went to install it the other day I had a mismatch at the stub of the steering column. The shaft seems to be clocked in the wrong position. Goes onto the box just fine, just aligned wrong. Anyone have an idea on this?

Anyway, decided to make some actual progress last night. So I bolted up the sway bar and end links. Then moved onto the F-body exhaust manifolds. Driver side is in, and the pass side needs a notch to clear at the upper control arm. So I got that ready to cut & weld. Looks like I can use the F-body flange (to Y pipe) on the pass side when I build the Y-pipe. Need to take care of a couple broken studs, other wise it does clear the engine & frame.

I will have to pull the engine one more time to reroute some wiring and a brake line at the dr side exhaust manifold/frame. But I'm getting much closer it final engine placement and engine fire up. (seem that there are a million gremlins that pop-up on this swap).

Next project will be a 6.0 or 6.2 w/ 4L80E into my 1969 GS California. I'll have a Stage 1 455/TH400 driveline for sale on that one to fund the build.

gsjimmy

Morning all, was working on the S-10 swap last night and measured the tailshaft angle on the 4L60E I'm using on the swap. Came out to a 6* down angle. This is with no shimming at the mount.

Did this due to the pass side exhaust manifold making contact with the upper control arm.

I put a floor jack under the trans and raised the tailshaft until I had about 3.5* downward angle. This left me with a gap of between .50 and .75 inches (eyeball guesstimation). But it also seems to correct the contact at the upper control arm. My research showed that a 1-3* DOWN ANGLE at the tail shaft and a similar UP ANGLE at the pinion flange (not measured yet) would get the harmonics correct and allow the u-joints to live a long and happy life (new shaft last year).

Does this seem right?

I found a "Shim Kit" from JTR (Jags that run) that would address a .75 (3/4 inch) down angle. Kit has the shims to align the trans, center bearing and pinion angle ($80). I hate to spend the money as I can make the trans & center bearing plates cheap enough.

Any input would be great.

Jim

gsjimmy

Finally made some real progress.

1. Engine is now in its new home & bolted in place.
2. Shop got cleaned up (needed to find stuff)
3. Exhaust manifolds fit and read to start the exhaust work
4. Wiring harness - started to get this plugged in. But the builder didn't mark the connections or include a diagram to let me know what's what. This is going to slow me down.
5 Front accessories are on
6. Power steering pump is on & plumbed
7. Jeep steering shaft is on (final connection when I drop the cab down.)
8. Fuel & trans lines are on. Need to make my connections yet.

Right now I'm about 2 weeks out on the initial engine fire up. I still need to finish up the radiator support and get the radiator in. I also need to install the fuel lines from the compression fitting (S-10 lines) to the intake. I see that I can get replacement lines with a quik disconnect that are cut to fit. Will need to get the compression fittings (5/16 & 3/8) to make the connection work.

Starter needs to go in yet, but the wiring has to be run first. Still kicking around the idea of cutting off the emissions tubes on the exhaust manifolds (F-body) as well as the EGR fitting. Need to know what guys have done to fill the hole at the intake (Dorman plug?) and if they have used the EGR bracket thing to hold the plug in place.

I do have to fab up a bracket to hold the idler arm. Will do this with some 1/4 inch plate I have laying around. This will cure my over zealous cutting and welding (DOH!).

Couple pics of where I'm at now.

gsjimmy

Got a little more done. Way more time consuming than just sticking in a SBC.

Was able to get the injectors in, rails on and a few more connections made. Need some new O-rings for the fuel rail between the injectors (over the manifold). Then I went on a shop tour (again) looking for my new fuel regulator, put it away and can't seem to find it now.

Made more connections on the wiring harness to the transmission and then modded the pass side coil rail to move the rear coil up by .875 of an inch. Clears nicely at the a/c suitcase now.

Next up is the pass side exhaust manifold. Have to inspect the welds for any pinholes. If that goes well, I will bolt up the pass side tonight, starter, manifold and maybe the fender. Stopping tonight to get those O-rings and the fuel line kits (5/16 & 3/8) to start the build of my fuel lines to intake. Will also need the compression fittings to the stock S-10 fuel delivery.

Side note on the exhaust, I was routing around for the small parts and cam across an old Monte Carlo Y-pipe. It has the correct flange to mate to the F-body pass side manifold. So I may use that to start the build of the new Y-pipe.

gsjimmy

More odds and ends done yesterday. Figured out the missing sensor, Evap Purge, $28.00 at O'Reilly with Military discount. Also figured out the fuel delivery. Got the cut ends of the original lines removed, then built the high pressure lines to the new quik disconnects. I'll be using the original S-10 hard lines cut down and grooved with the high pressure lines/clamps. Will run the hoses down about 2+ inches with sealant to have both a chemical bond and manual bond. May double clamp in this area.

Anyway, lots of connections & bolts installed/torqued. Front suspension is done. Ordering the tie rod kit (inner/outer, sleeve & center link). Mine looks perished and had weird tire wear on the pass side (due to the frozen A-arm bolt). Drive shaft went in for good, no adjustments needed to length.

Wiring is still on-going. I did speak to the builder, no diagram, but he suggested that I lay it out over the engine first. Still have a couple connections I can't find.

Fuel rail crossover - was able to find the missing o-rings and regulator. Need the screws yet. Little Torx guys, spilled my tray of parts into the carpet.....

Starting to gear up for a couple spring projects. Check these out!

gsjimmy

Our group restores the M60A3 Tank displays here in WI. Have 2 on the plate for this spring. Last year we did the tank at Sauk Prairie Airport, took almost a year to do. Interior & exterior. Going forward, we just do the exteriors to cut down on the time commitment. No they do not run or move, can't do an LS swap in to one either. (I should do a shameless plug for donations, LOL).

If anyone in the area wants to check them out send me a PM. Tank is near Madison, WI.

simman22

iTrader: (25)

Looking good. I love these S10/Blazer swaps. I'm working on a turbo build for mine at the moment but even N/A they are a blast.