krwyellowZ28

iTrader: (10)

Wow, that is a little scarry. What pan are you currently running and what are you planning on going to?

twotone64

It is the truck pan that came with the engine. I really have no idea yet, but for the time, I am going to go 4WD style and create a steel skid plate. I havent decided if I want to cut and reweld this pan and pickup, go with an aftermarket pan, or maybe the H3 pan.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

I would say the get a pan ASAP.. it is no fun hitting thing and losing your pan and oil out in the middle of nowere or even downtown ! worse yet. in front of a car show or drivin...

next best pan is the LH8, then the CTS-V and mod'd F-Body pans.. or go aftermarket. I am using the CTS-V

twotone64

How hard is it to mod the truck pan by cutting out a 2" section, then shortening the pickup? I have a friend who has a mill and can TIG pretty good. Bryan, can you send me some pictures of your pan clearance? and how much room did you have between the back of the cross member and your pan. I am only about 3/4" further back than with my stock sbc. in that I had to move the cross member back 3/4" to align with the trans mount. I will check to see what kind of clearance I have as well, between the back of the cross member and the front of the oil pan sump.

I will be taking it to a cruise-in this friday, and then will probably get to work on the front springs putting the stock springs back in. The ones I have currently are 70-77 f-body which are about an inch an a half lower and have lower spring rates. That will help some with ground clearance but not help with protecting that oil pan. If it raises it enough I may just stay with my previous thought of making a skid plate and staying with that...

fast400

iTrader: (1)

Pay $500 for a pan now...or regret it later. I'm with bczee on this one.

HTh3r0

you really turned that car around.
looks great man. good work.

garretthes

This is very similar to my project. My 59 Suburban had a lot more space for the engine though. I welded on a skid plate to protect the pan. I also used a couple of screw in spacers until I can get the right springs. I remember reading somewhere about a cheap pan swap.

Very curious about your air intake. Can you elaborate? I tried the hardware store too but couldn't get the pipe to fit.

Beautiful car!

markarleta1

how are you runing your transmission cooling lines?

Killer66

iTrader: (4)

Can you give me some info on the gas tank and fuel pump you used? I'm in the process of aquiring all the parts I need to install a 5.3 in my Buick. Thanks your post is awsome!!!

cutlass_455

iTrader: (2)

Your car rocks man, nice write ups and pics. A picture is worth a thousands words for sure man.

Im with everyone else, that pan is terribly low, do something about it ASAP. My 4.8L into my Gbody, I tried the truck pan and it didnt fit well. I then got a LH8 kit and that thing hung about as low as yours does. It was about 2.25 inches too low. I ended up with a Moroso pan, the only crappy thing with those ones is that you have to remote mount the filter, which Im struggling with that now.

Id like to know some info on your air intake/filter assembly. In the one pic its going to the drivers side and in all the others its going to the passenger side and back. Why the change. What did you finally use to build the tubing?? What is wrapped around the tubing??

twotone64

I replaced the front springs with big block A/C Chevelle springs. It brought the front end up almost 2.5 inches. The front is a lot stiffer now, the old springs were just shot.

I have put over 800 miles on it now and in my first 500 miles I was getting 25MPG, and I have to figure the last tank of gas. The first 500 miles was mostly city driving. The last tank was 95% freeway driving. I haven't had a single problem except the fuel pump presurized line popping off of the pump due to a defective clamp. Ive even been continuously monitoring the computer with my hand held scanner and it has given nothing but great information.

I now cant wait get my cruise control set up on that bad boy because my friggin @$$ cheek falls asleep and cramps up.

I still need to create the sheetmetal cover for the trunk/gas pump.

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

x2

That's low. How would a F-Body be?

djsanchez2

iTrader: (14)

I got my GTO pan for 150 including the sump tube and dipstick &tube. An f-body pan should cost no more than 250 i say you invest in one, even sell the truck pan after to make back a few bucks.

Cool project btw, i have given up on my 63' nova wagon project as it simply needs too much work to even be road worthy. There is a 65' 4dr near my house that i have been thinking about picking up for my LQ4/TH400 set-up, once i sell off the nova.

neal64ss

iTrader: (1)

What are you doing for gauges? Got any low cost ideas here? Best idea I have so far is one of those blank dashes with autometer electronic gauges, which is about $700 total cost, just for functional guages. Planning a 5.3/4l60E 64 chevelle.

bartduren

looks great i have a 1966 chevelle im swaping a 5.3 2004 ls where do i start i have the motor please help and do you think this motor will fit into my 66 chevelle bartduren@gmail.com

twotone64

Currently the only real gauge I have is the mechanical oil gauge. I use my hand held scanner for temp and Speed. I am going to start working on a gauge set using the original dash abandoning some of the wires behind the dash. I just cant see spending so much money to try to adapt or change my tail shaft so that I can use my OEM speedometer.

I dont see any reason you should not be able to use my build and others' builds on here to put it in you 66. No matter what you do there are this that will and wont work for you that did or did not work for my build.

leon phelps

Hello,

I am considering a similar setup in a 65 Impala SS. Am I correct to see that you used home made engine brackets and made them so that the engine is as far forward as the oil pan will let you?

Are you satisfied with the engine/trans setup? I plan on using my car as a driver doing mostly cruising and no racing. What is the fuel economy like? My donor is a 2007 Tahoe. I have a 4l60e from another car and it should be a simple bolt up. I know I will have to relocate the transmission brackets (I already have moved the welded on brackets to the frame).

twotone64

yes, I made my brackets after the BRP style (same measurements). and yes that is as ar forward as the Tahoe oil pan would allow. I love the setup, it is sooooo nice to just get into the car and turn the key without having to pump 2 times, hold it to the floor, and crank it then stop and pump it a few mroe times... Fuel economy is between 20-25mpg. You may be able to get better as well because your donor may have the multi displacement where the computer can shut off some of the cylinders to conserve fuel at highway crusing speeds. Performance wise it is great, if I wanted a little better get up and go id swap out the converter to a higher stall maybe 2300rpm and a little higher gearing in the rear end, and possibly a cam swap.

goatcrazy

I'm working on an LQ9 (6.0 H.O.) truck motor + 4l60E in a '69 LeMans, and I'm strugglung with a lot of the same issues that you are, and I was wondering what is the final driveline angle that you ended up with with your setup. I'm working on trying to locate the motor where I need it to be, and I'm finding that I need to move the motor pretty far forward to allow me to bring up the transmission high enough to even get 5 degrees let alone 3-5 degrees.

Have you measured your driveline angle? Would you happen to have some pics of where your tranny tailshaft sits in reference to the trans tunnel?

Thanks a bunch!

twotone64

My transmission sits up against the tunnel with very little to no wiggle room. I tried measuring the output pinion and input pinion and got 0*. I have no idea what my outcome will be but it is what it is and cant change it with the room I have in my engine bay.