hokeplaya05

iTrader: (3)

looks awesome with the c6 wheels on it! what size wheel/tire did you go with on the front?

FlatBlack

Yeah I love the look. They came with 255F/295R BFG Rivals. They're a little stretched.

hokeplaya05

iTrader: (3)

nice! my buddy has a 92 240 that I am trying to convince him to ls swap lol so far I think it is going well

FlatBlack

Took a break on this to get my C5 prepped for B-Street (among other time and money consuming things). PJ (Street Mod S14 "Panda" owner) had a great deal on some Koni Double Adjustables in some coilover housings modified to fit the stock iron S-chassis knuckle. In the pursuit of weight reduction, I'll be converting them back so I can run a Z32 aluminum knuckle at some point, but I have some bigger weight targets (aluminum block, etc) that I'd like to take care of first.

I was a little worried that these wouldn't fit my car. I'm running 18x9.5s so I can run the wider ****** *****, and because of that my car has to be much taller than most 240SXs. Got the setup on my car last night, and I was worried about the back, but the fronts were actually the issue. The unloaded length of the rears matched the Teins that I'm replacing nearly exactly which was a relief. The car's rear ride height didn't change at all. When I went to the front, the unloaded length was much shorter. I went all the way up on the collars and it was still about an inch shorter. I figured for sure it would rub, but I guess the Eibach springs are much stiffer than the Teins. Even with a shorter unloaded length, the car raised about a half inch.

My front wheels hit the new spring perch, and I had to throw on a 5mm spacer (Could get away with a 3mm probably). Once the car is more setup for XP, I'll look at getting some smaller diameter wheels with the correct offset and in 5x4.5 so I don't have to run an adapter.

After having an aluminum 5.3L (LM4) slip through my hands on Sunday, I'm searching for a new block for my car. There are several options locally, but I am hoping to get a mostly complete long block. The new engine will also hopefully get a shorter intake and a Fidanza lightweight flywheel. Not sure when that will happen but probably this winter.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...913_181947.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...913_181934.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...913_193803.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...913_200937.jpg

FlatBlack

The car feels awesome on the new suspension. I drove the AS Z06 on Sunday but had my fiancee bring the 240LSX to race in Doubles. I used my set of C5 base front wheels (17x8.5) that had RE71Rs on them. 245F/255R. Definitely not the size I want to be running, but it worked surprisingly well.

The car didn't feel very straight-line-fast, and I found out why on the way home. My fiancee was driving back in front of me when the car started sputtering and eventually died. I hopped in and the gauges were showing 10V. Tossed a spare battery in and drove it home. The Volts were hoping around 11ish Volts and 13.x when I was driving, and towards the end of the drive it started to sputter again. Should just need a new alternator and it'll be good to go.

The car is getting really good, I can't wait to see what it'll do with a couple hundred pounds taken out of it and a few extra ponies.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=36DcM4vFNik

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...XCOTA11fix.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...Turnaround.jpg

FlatBlack

Went to the junkyard and got a Tahoe alternator and some D585 coils. The battery was actually bad and was the reason that the volts were jumping around.

While I was messing around with the car after I replaced the alternator, I noticed a massive vacuum leak. There was a hole in my manifold, which explains the weird idle and super high fuel trims I've been experiencing since I finished the swap about a year ago. I've got a spare manifold that I'm shaving down to get some clearance for a hood scoop. When I was inspecting the intake, I also noticed my Fuel Pressure Regulator was leaking gas into the diaphragm, so that needs to be replaced too. Figured it was as good a time as any to get started on my winter project(s).

On the truck engine, the wiring harness runs along the top of the intake manifold, and if I re-loom it to run along the fuel rail, I'll get another ~1" or so clearance for the scoop. There's a bunch of garbage still in the harness for the Automatic transmission and unused sensors, so while I'm messing with it I figure I'd trim everything down to just the necessary parts. I was saving this time-consuming project for the winter when I wouldn't mind having the car down, and now seems to be the perfect time.

Got the intake welded up on Friday. I still need to tap the rear for the vacuum ports I deleted off the top, but it should be good to go now. I also removed the TB cable mounting points, I'll need to make another bracket for that.

Saturday I trimmed down the truck alternator and power steering bracket. I decided to drop the alternator as low as I could get it while still using the stock upper bolt hole. The alternator is much lower, and it also changed the geometry of the serpentine belt route, so I'll need to find a shorter belt. I've got a 6PK930 right now, I'm thinking something in the 915-920 range would work. (*EDIT* K060919 fits perfectly, the K060910 fit but the tensioner was fully collapsed) The truck intake manifold will foul the hood still but after it got shaved down, the alternator is the highest point. Now that I don't have the clearance issues, I ordered a 2.5" scoop http://www.racecomposites.com/c372.htm .

New Alternator geometry: (Stock the bolt holes are parallel to the ground)
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...009_133037.jpg

Valve cover clearance:
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...009_133118.jpg

Trimmed bracket: (I was still able to use all the mounting bolts)
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...009_133136.jpg

*****

My fingers are trashed. I've got about 6 hours in this harness at this point and I'm not done. Getting close though! The truck's ECU is mounted in the engine bay and for many reasons (including intake clearance and CAI routing) I needed to get it into the cabin. It'll sit in the stock ECU location in the passenger side kick panel.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...g?t=1476124204

*****
Finally done with the intake mods and it's ready to go back on. There are several videos on how to shave these manifolds and one of them had brass fittings tapped into the back of the manifold which I really liked. Tapped into the plastic but wasn't happy with the seal so I hit it with some RTV around the threads. Had to move the throttle cable bracket and installed a Tahoe fuel rail with the updated type of FPR (My FPR was leaking through the diaphragm)

Also replaced the o-rings on the injectors, they were hard to reinstall and I was worried about ripping them.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...013_202128.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...013_202151.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...013_195758.jpg

FlatBlack

Winter projects complete!

* Intake is shaved, vacuum lines relocated, TB cable bracket moved, new gaskets on injectors and intake
* Alternator bracket is modified and shorter belt installed
* ECU/Fuse block are relocated into the kick panel (harness extended and re-loomed)
* Engine harness connectors added for ease of removal
* Interior switch panel wired and installed
* Yukon D585 coil packs are installed
* Koyorad aluminum radiator installed
* Hood scoop installed







Not sure about how the scoop looks on the back. I may trim it up a bit so that it can vent some more and doesn't look so 'flat' on the back.

DavidBoren

That is coming along very nicely. The new hood scoop/cowl looks good.

How is that NV3500 working for you?

FlatBlack

Thanks!

The NV3500 isn't horrible, but it doesn't like high RPM shifts. I'm told the short shift kit works really well. There is a guy on ebay making replica Hurst shift kits for them, I'm probably going to buy one and make a proper heim jointed shift kit for it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Core-shifter...item41abe3e30f

The NV is much lighter than the T56, so if I can use it instead of the 6 speed it would be ideal. I have 4.08 rear gears though, so I don't use first. I start in 2nd so it's basically a 4 speed. 75 MPH is about 3,000 RPM on 285/35/18s. My truck normally cruises around 1900 at that speed.

Painted the scoop. Really need to wash the car

FlatBlack

Got everything back together and the stock truck water pump started leaking. Figured if I was spending money on a water pump I should get a car pump as my plan was to slowly start converting to Corvette/Camaro accessories to facilitate an intake swap if I ever want to go that route.

Parts:
Dirty Dingo 3/4" water pump spacer to use the Vortec (truck) crank. DD-LS-WP-SP1
Dirty Dingo Idler Relocator (moves the pulley out of the way of the car intake throttle body) DD-LS-IRB
Gates K060980 (longer belt for the idler relocation and using the small case alternator on the trimmed alt. bracket)
Gates 21959 - perfectly sized OTS hose that reaches from the KA radiator to the car water pump without kinks. I had to trim the long end a few inches, should work with a car accessory drive/crank balancer as well.



Idler relocation (original tensioner boss needs to be cut off):

DavidBoren

Just a thought, but would the 3.357 ring and pinion out of a G35 sedan differential swap into your diff? That should help with the transmission gearing.

FlatBlack

The car hasn't felt right since I re-loomed the harness and installed the shaved intake and tahoe fuel rail/FPR. Bought an Innovate LC-2 wideband and found that my AFRs were lean all over.

One issue was that the Tahoe FPR was about 10 PSI lower than the '99 Silverado FPR (I replaced it because it was leaking). I also found some vacuum leaks - one, my brake booster is toast and it was leaking from the drain slot under the BMC (That was hard to find - planning to replace the booster with an Auto trans car because they're bigger and should help the pedal feel). I also found a bunch of tiny leaks around the plastic-weld areas of the intake. I sealed up all of those areas with black RTV yesterday, hopefully when I test it today it's all fixed up.

I got on HPTuners and we bumped up the MAF table about 15% and my AFRs are back under control. Around 13ish at idle and 12.5 WOT.

Still can't get the car to go into fuel trim mode, something is weird in the O2 circuit. I've traced the ECU wires back about 15 times - the sensors are on the correct pins and both sensors are reporting voltage, but my OBD2 reader just reads a constant 0.4 Volts on B1S1. B2S2 seems to be reporting fine. When I put the 240's ECU in my 2002 Sierra, the O2 reads fine and it immediately goes into fuel trim mode.

I'm not super concerned about running in Open Loop since it idles great, but it's really annoying to have that issue stump me, especially since it was working fine before I cut the harness up

We also finally cleared all the 4L60E and emissions DTCs/MILs so when I read codes I don't have pages of DTCs.

Not sure - Also I wonder if it's even worth it to 'fix' the poorly geared trans. Might as well put that money towards a T56 IMO.

That being said, it is cool to have options - did the G come with a shortnose R200? I thought the G/Z diffs were different after the Z33+

FlatBlack

Found my unicorn engine!

A local-ish junkyard had this L33. They sold it to me for basically scrap because three of the A/C compressor bosses are broken off from a hard front impact. It's the best of the Gen III engines and it's the last aluminum truck engine that didn't come with AFM/VVT/DoD or any of that bollucks. Internet rumor says that it has the Gen IV rods and floating pistons and is basically an LS6 block with 5.3L liners instead of 5.7. Either way, it's 100 pounds lighter than my current LM7 engine.

The L33 is higher compression (10.0:1), has a better cam, and 799 heads (same casting as the 243s on the LS6). It'll be stock for now but will eventually have a big cam and some ARP hardware. I'd like to spin it up to ~7K RPM

Going to clean it up over the winter. I'll be putting a Fidanza lightweight flywheel on it and upgrading the valve springs and rocker arms.

FlatBlack

Productive week/weekend!

Bought HPTuners, and unlocked the L59 ECU. Got the TB and Flex Fuel injectors installed and the car is now running on the DBW harness. I'm back to having the ECU and fuse box in the engine bay, don't have time to modify the harness right now though.

I made a bolt-in setup for the truck DBW pedal using the stock 240SX pedal mounts. It has a much stiffer spring but I was able to set the pedal height so it feels just right for heel/toe.

Today I welded up a bracket for my new remote shifter setup. I bought a C5 6 speed shifter housing and made a base for it to sit where the 240's shifter goes. The bracket works but it flexes a little under the left/right movement so I'll weld in an additional bar to tie into the shifter boot hole on the other side of the shifter area. I like using OEM parts, and I can upgrade to a short shift kit later if I would like. I haven't finished the shift rod yet, I will need to find a heim joint that will work. The shifter works backwards, but it actually will work out with my NV3500 since I don't ever use first gear. The traditional "first" gear position will actually be second gear, but that's what I normally use to get the car moving. Going down and over for "second" (third gear) might take some getting used to.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...203_164459.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...204_160046.jpg

FlatBlack

Been busy the last month trying to get the car roadtrip-ready for the Roadkill Zip Tie drags in Tuscon in Mid-January.

Extended and re-routed the DBW harness so it's sitting in the cabin again, and spent most of this weekend tuning in Speed Density mode. I have the fueling pretty close but I'm hitting resolution issues with the MAP sensor. It's flat after ~97 KPA at WOT but the MAF is reading increased airflow. I'm still playing around with Power Enrichments in case I want to run in SD mode but it's looking close so I'm hoping to switch back to MAF sometime this week.

Got some miles on the car since the shifter and DBW pedal swap - the pedal is too stiff after I hacked up the stock truck pedal arm so I will probably do a 2006ish Truck pedal or maybe a Corvette pedal after a while. Shifter is working great for the middle gears (3rd/4th) but getting over to 1st/2nd and 5th/Reverse is a bit of a pain. I think that will only be solved once I go with the replica Hurst short throw shifter for the NV3500.

I also had to clearance the truck DBW TB, it touches the hood scoop when the hood is fully latched. I ground part of the aluminum housing down but it's still too tall and I don't want to hack into it too much. I need to do some research to see if there is a 3-bolt DBW TB that has a little better clearance that will work with my 2004 truck TAC module. I was looking at my 2000 Corvette TB and it's got two sensors instead of one big one so I don't know if that will work.

After driving around with OBD2 gauges since I did the swap last year, I read that the LS1 PCM outputs a 4 cylinder tach output and you just need to run a wire to the 240SX dash. That was an awesome easy job, and now I don't need to have the tablet hooked up to see the speed on the interstate (3,000 RPM in 5th is right at 72 MPH).

Bought some AM$oil fluids for both cars after reading that the Corvette T56 likes the AMSoil ATF. Got some Severe Gear 75-90 for the 240SX diff and the Syncromesh for the NV3500. The parts store syncromesh oil came out pretty dirty so I'm hoping the nicer fluid helps out.

Haven't done anything with the L33 yet but once I get back from the Tuscon trip I'm hoping to start buying stuff for it. Need the Aluminum flywheel before I swap that engine in and I'm going to convert to Corvette accessories . And, since I'll have the front cover off I might as well put a cam in it... Just need money for it at this point.

4EyedTurd1

iTrader: (1)

When you lowered your alternator did you end up using just one bolt to hold it in? I might need to lower mine and I like your idea.

FlatBlack

Yeah it's tight with one bolt (It doesn't move) but the body of the alternator rests on the bracket. It gives a decent bit of room.

***

Couldn't find any information about the R33 GTS-T axles I have. Ripped a boot and slung the grease everywhere. Disassembled them tonight for new boots and measured everything for posterity.

These things are heavy and stout, no doubt they can hold 500+ HP

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...240SX/axle.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...228_212508.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...228_212846.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...228_213014.jpg

FlatBlack

After reading Greg Banish's Advanced Tuning book, I decided I needed to work on my MAF placement and make an air box to help lower IATs that were getting a bit out of control.

Got an AEM 4" mandrel bent pipe to get rid of the sharp transition at the throttle body, and put a length of pipe in between the MAF and the filter to help straighten the airflow.

Went junkyard hunting today looking for something that would work as an airbox. The filter used to sit by the headers and would pull in super hot air. It was really bad in the summer, sometimes I would see >150* After looking at a number of airboxes, I found a Mazda 3 battery box. It fit perfectly around the filter and was just about perfect to fit in between the wheel well 'bump' and the radiator core support. I had to trim it a bit to clear the belt and MAF connector though. It looks ghetto as hell but it should do the trick. I plan on making two brackets to attach to the radiator core support where the zip ties are now.

Still need to weld the pipe together but it's looking like it's going to work. I hope I can stay under 100* IAT.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...102_174739.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...102_174818.jpg

FlatBlack

Got the airbox finished up and made some aluminum brackets. It was cold out (40* ambient) but my IATs were around 55* (much much much better than when it was near the headers). After I fixed the MAF placement and added the airbox, the tune was off again so I went back to the stock PE and MAF scaling and it works great, just a little rich at WOT. The car felt really quick in the cold air yesterday.



http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...108_140539.jpg

Installed some aerocatch hood pins, They look a little odd with the scoop but I prefer these to having to unlatch the hood from inside the car

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...107_133728.jpg

Azryael

Another cool swap just up the road!

What are your plans for the LM7 when you switch to the L33?