Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

I need to set my sights a little higher..

Build Update:

Rear Assembly - Built the rear end. Mounted the Getrag in the subframe, A-arms back in, hubs with new bearings and seals, rear sway, new beefy axles... all back together. Just need to torque stuff and it's good to go!






Painted Stuff - Second coat on the front hubs, front strut mounts and front baby teeth.

Research - Need to figure out how to mount the getrag vent. Pretty sure I read somewhere that the vent is mounted remotely, but I can't seem to dig up the info. If someone has a lead on how FM/V8R typically does it, please point me in the right direction!

mkvamso

iTrader: (2)

fuzzy dice?

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm.... and pay a little homage to the long-gone Dungeons and Dragons days...



Nah, can't do it. Sort of the right vein of thought, tho.

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

What about some of those goofy looking chrome "nuts" on the back of pickup trucks.

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

Hell, no! The car is lowered! My nuts-would-be-a-draggin! (it's disturbing there is a "ridin' the sack" smiley.. and more disturbing I was able to use it appropriately!!)

I'll post up once it arrives.. along with the new license plate (got a birthday approaching in 3 weeks, so time for a new one anyhow)

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

Build Update:

Since we are getting "a blizzard" (yeah, whatever) I'm working on the engine.. cleaned all the pistons, and the gasket surface.. removed the carbon rings at the top of the cylinders as well. I sprayed the pistons down with PB Blaster, softened the carbon up so I could scrape lightly with a razor blade and it came right off. Cleaned it all up and taped paper over the cylinders to keep crap out.

Unwrapped the front hubs, my tape screwed up the paint on the brake shields, so that is drying with a new coat right now. Baby teeth and front strut tops are done.

Second head gasket came in today, also.

Still working, test fitting the rad shroud on the rad for Mike who had some questions on it..

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

Build Update:

Engine Cleaning - PB Blaster, a razor blade and brass brush yields some nice results.




The motor all covered up.. for now.



Radiator Shroud - Primed and painted 'aluminum'.. first coat.



Front Hubs - Black is done, "chrome" needs a clear coat to finish it up.

RedVertTA

iTrader: (9)

Radiator shroud looks good.

jetttstream

iTrader: (7)

Coming along, looking great.

Hartje

iTrader: (1)

did you use tin-foil to cover the areas you didn't want painted? interesting but i bet it works pretty good, no?

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, tip from a buddy who has restored a fair share of cars. Works awesome for wiring harnesses and other PITA to wrap items. Plus it's cheap (dollar store is perfect), doesn't stick like tape, and if you chew it you hear aliens .. fun!

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

On top of all the other fun going on, I managed to kill the beater truck.. lost 4 of 5 forward gears, and reverse. Only has 4th gear now.

Build Update:

Engine Reassembly - FINALLY.. putting it back together. Very happy to see it returning to assembled. 27 days after I started the swap, the new cam is IN. Heads are on, and torqued. Will put pushrods and rockers back on tomorrow.

Rear Subframe - Torqued some of the bolts, will finish up when it gets mounted int he car hopefully tomorrow/Sunday.

blkjck

and if you have fillings it electricutes you!

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

More detail on the Cam Install for any noobs looking for it, I used this guide:

LS1GTO Cam Install Guide

Torque sequence on the head (since I had the heads off), scroll down and look for the drawing:

LS1HowTo Head Swap Guide

That was it. The Cam Install guide was 95% spot-on and had almost all the info needed outside of the fact I had the heads off as well and needed the torque sequence. The only comments I have:

1 - The cam retainer was held in by 4 torx bolts, not 10mm head bolts.
2 - 1/4 dowel is small if you use that method to secure the lifters, I would go up to 5/16 size. I ended up removing the lifters since the heads were off, was easier.

Otherwise, my first cam swap and it went "smooth as buttah", as my girl would say.

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

I forgot one..

3 - Couldn't remove the cam timing gear without removing the oil pump (not enough slack in the timing chain), so that came off as well. Given it is just 4 bolts and it makes it dirt simple to align the timing marks, I think it is a no brainer to pop off.

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

Some photos...

Timing cover removed, stock cam still installed.


Timing alignment marks, with oil pump installed (very hard to see).


Oil pump and cam gear bolts removed (note lack of slack on chain)


Timing set removed, water pump bolts in end of cam as handles.


Cam retainer plate removed.


Stock LS2 cam (top) and new VRX4 cam (bottom).


All lifters removed (I just set them next to their respective holes rather than take them out of the engine completely).


New cam installed.


Timing set reinstalled, dot to dot with ARP bolts.


Oil pump and timing covers reinstalled, both heads installed and torqued to spec using ARP head bolts. Valve covers are just set on to keep crap out until I put the rockers and pushrods back in (tomorrow).

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

Build Update:

Taking a dinner break.. some progress to report!

Started the day by cleaning the garage.. a dirty workspace is an unhappy one. I have before and after photos but, sadly, it doesn't look like it changed. Sooooo... I'll spare you all. Managed to consolidate a bunch of parts into less boxes, picked up all the tools, etc.

Rear Assembly - Finished up the vent tube. Tapped the Getrag with a 1/4" NPT tap, and used some modified 1/2" conduit one hole straps to secure the vent line. Vent cap ends up behind the axles, on the passenger side.



After that, put it up on a jack using a piece of plywood as a stability platform.



Rotated so it would roll under the car down the tranny tunnel:



Rotated into position, and lifted up to approximately the right spot:



Lifted, and secured, and everything torqued to spec.




Note the vent tube, you can see it routing towards the passenger side. There was enough clearance on top of the cradle to allow it to route to the back.



Engine Assembly - Installed the stock rocker arms, torqued to spec.




Intake Painting - Cleaned the intake off, going to paint it black satin. Using the writeup found here: Do It Yourself Paint Job Intake. Hope to start on that tonight.

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

Parts Ordered - Bought a new alarm/remote start, Refurbed Viper 5701. Long range 2 way, with all the usual features of a DEI product, should be good.

Fuel Rail - managed to order the wrong one, dang it. Bought a 10612 (LS1/LS6) instead of the 10614 (LS2). Sooo.. that sucks. Sent a note to the vendor I bought it from to see if I can swap it. If not, I'll put it up for sale and buy the right one. Also, looks like I need 45* fittings out of the back of the rail, the 90*s won't work like I thought.. going to wait until I have the new one in case it is longer or fits differently.

Intake Painting - Sanded the intake down, 120 then 150 grit. Going to paint the adhesion modifier and see how that goes. Time to stink up the basement!

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

Build Update: (Lunch Edition!)

I want to check a bunch of stuff off the to-do list (currently 237 items!) so I'm tackling the piddly stuff to see some progress and to get some crap out of my way in the garage.

Shifter Swap - Done! Converted GTO tranny to F-Body tranny.. easy swap, really, once you have the parts.

Starting point: GTO tranny with GTO shifter


1 - Remove the 4 star bit bolts


2 - Unbolt & Remove Stick, slide plastic cover off, exposing offset shifter


3 - Remove offset shifter (4 allen head bolts), exposing shift lever


4 - Drive out roll pin, swap shift lever cup to F-Body unit


5 - Comparison of the GTO shift lever (bottom) and F-Body shift lever (top)


6 - Comparison of the stock GTO shifter (right) and B&M F-Body shifter (left)


7 - Install F-body shifter, and the final product is a GTO Tranny with F-Body shifter - That's it!


Rocker Panels - Pulled the Racing Beat rocker extensions off for body work.. cracked the driver's side but it's easily fixed. Going to have to find a good "helicopter tape" product to put back on to protect the leading edges, whatever was on there worked very well.



Intake Painting - About half done: adhesioned , primed and sanded.

Initial Sanding, 120 followed by 150 grit.


Adhesion modifier sprayed, 3 coats (you can't even tell really)


Three coats of primer..(you can see it's a little rough)


Sanded with 400 grit and ready for final color..smooth as silk.


Debating color, but... dunno. Going to surf while I eat lunch and see if I like red or balck better. I am trying to limit the red stuff to accents only and was planning black to match the rest of the engine bay stuff.

Wallyman

iTrader: (1)

I think Silver intake...

https://ls1tech.com/forums/13787916-post553.html

I like the look, with red coils and black mountings. Think that is the look I am going for.