LS1-Texan

I decided to use the radiator/fan/condensor core from the donor car as well as the hoses. It seems to have fit pretty well and allowed me to use the camaro radiator hoses as well. It seems like everything is starting to come together (finally). After doing some research on the BRP headers I found that they had recieved pretty awful reviews, so that puts me back to the questions of headers. It seems that the motor mounts that I used have situated the engine pretty high, so I'm worried that headers that hug the floor may be a bit of an issue. Maybe someone can tell by the pictures I'm posting if I should be concerned about the engine sitting too high. As far as I can tell, it is sitting high enough so that the altenator clears the power steering pump and my steering linkages down bump the engine either at full turns in either direction. Aside from the headers, I'm getting ready for a few purchases.


1. Air intake system. Seems like the sources I've found online show people making their own, using 1999-2005 silverado cold air intakes, or even the stock intake tube from an early LS GTO (2004?). Perhaps someone can confirm some of this info or make a suggestions.

2. Computer programming. Is it a wise investment to buy software (HP Tuners) or should I just take it somewhere and pay $200? I don't intend on making many significant changes to the car once it is running well, so it's not like I'll be dialing it in on a regular basis for max performance. I guess the question is "Will I have to make programing adjustments multiple times before it run right?"

3. Has anyone ever tried to use the VATS system intead of disabling it? I was thinking of moving the ignition to the dash and using the donor car's ignition switch and key. Flaming River makes a tilt/telescoping steering column without an ignition switch.

It feels like I'm getting closer to getting my chevelle moving. Thanks for your help everyone!

oldgoat69

Many sources offer air intake parts. I used Vibrant tubing and connectors with an Airaid synthmax filter. There are guys that frequent the site that offer PCM mods at reasonable rates. One such is Brandon at LT1swap.com . He can remove the VATS and set up cooling fans and whatnot.

LS1-Texan

Thanks for the info on the PCM tuning. Brandon definately has the lowest prices I've seen so far. $75 is the price that he has listed at the moment. I'll grab my PCM and send it to him next time I'm at the shop.

LS1-Texan

It's been a while since I gave an update on my project. I've been spending every spare weekend and vacation working on the car. I've cleaned it up quite a bit on the inside and have started on some of the smaller body repairs. I recently ordered the lead free body solder kit from Eastwood, so I'll try it out next weekend when it arrives. I have a few small holes around the windshields, drip rails, edges of roof and deck filler panel.

Aside from cosmetic improvements, I have made some good progress on the engine. I have all of the engine components and computer mounted and positioned. I even have all of the wiring done on. The car and mostly integrated with the chevelle's harness. The starter, injectors, coils, fans... Hell even the horn and lights are hooked up but I can't for the life of me located a single available wire to activate the ignition relay from the chevelle's harness.

I tried a couple of black and purple wires that seem to go to the coil and idle stop solenoid but they have 12v in RUN but cut off in start. Then i found a brown wire that used to go to the regulator. It seemed to have power in RUN and START, but the car was struggling to crank. Turns out that its voltage was around 12v in RUN before the starter was engaged, but the voltage drops to 5v when the starter is engaged and stays low even if the engine manages to start. Needless to say, it can't run like this.

Can anyone give me some advice on how to approach this issue? Which wires from your chevelle harnesses did you guys use? Perhaps I have a problem with an ignition switch or something along those lines? I suppose anything is possible with this car :/

Thanks guys!

LS2GS

I have a holley engine harness and had the same issue. If I am not mistaken the constant power is needed just for the fuel pump. I originally tapped into I believe was the purple wire in the column with a one way diode, but the diode ended up frying out one night when I was cruising. So I did rewire my constant power off of the factory fuse block. I would have to go out and check not sure if it is off of the battery or accessory terminal. No more problems, I just make sure the fuel pump primes before I crank the motor.

LS1-Texan

So everything is hooked up now. i ran an extra wire from the IGN fuse... Felt kinda dumb when I came across the solution. Now I have the task ahead of me of disassembly, clean, paint/powder coat as much as possible, a little welding, and then she'll be ready. I was planning on trying eastwoods lead free body solder kit this weekend, but I was hit while riding my motorcycle on Wednesday. I ended up under the van, but I was wearing a helmet and leather jacket, so I squeaked by with a broken collar bone, 8 broken ribs, and a broken shoulder blade plus an assortment of road rash and scrapes. On the bright side, I can use the money I'll get for the motorcycle to finish the chevelle lol. I'm considering anti-theft precautions. Any suggestions?

1981TA

iTrader: (7)

With that lead up to your question, I'd consider a roll cage.

Dunno, maybe a battery kill switch.

oldgoat69

Wow, not a good way to come up with the cash, but whatever works! Take a look at any of the contemporary alarm systems out there. Some even have page alert and GPS. Good to see that you are back on it.

LS1-Texan

It's been a while since my last post. I've had my hands full with recovery from the wreck and getting back to work, but I'm back on my feet now. I even taught summer school to put a little extra in the Chevelle fund. I spent most of the past several months cleaning and painting the various brackets and smaller parts from my car. I've also stripped the whole car down to the metal and have recently started the body work. Some of my parts were too rusted to save, so I purchased a new Dynacorn hood and fender. I'll get some pictures up in the next few days.

I also picked up a pair of paintable bullet style mirrors (bulletmirror.com). There are two issues with the mirrors. The first is that the gaskets are WAY too large for the mirrors, so I'm going to have to either trim them down if possible or make my own. The second is that the passenger mirror is not flush with gasket in the front, so I'll have to try to shave the base of the mirror flat on a belt sander. The company offers returns within 14 days if there is a fitment issue, but I was out of town during my window of opportunity so I'll just deal with it. The mirror kit seems to be good quality aside from the things I mentioned.

LS1-Texan

I've also purchased a 2.5" flowmaster H-pipe exhaust kit (FLO-17107), Pypes race pro mufflers, Hooker super comp ceramic coated headers w/ 3" to 2.5" reducers, MSD (PN: 32819) multi angle boot and wires, and a Remflex (PN: 2049) gasket set. I’m going to re-pin the O2 sensors to swap the front and rear cables since my computer programming disabled the rear ones anyway. That should take care of the exhaust. The H-pipe looks to be VERY close to the driveshaft when the car is on the lift. The flowmaster instructions even say that once the exhaust is installed that the car's rear axle should be supported when it is lifted to avoid damage to the exhaust. Other people using this kit suggest heating and squishing the H a little and others have no issues with H-pipe clearance. My headers and mufflers should be here soon, so we'll see what happens when it's all assembled. I'll make sure to take pictures of the final fit. I used the motor mount and transmission crossmember kit from BRP. Hooker says that their headers ONLY work with cars that use Hooker's motor mounting hardware. I guess we will see if that is true. Wish me luck.

Of all of my recent progress, I am most excited about the 2002 Monte Carlo seats that I've found. The leather ones were too expensive (~$800) but I managed to get a cloth set for $150. Once they are installed then I'll have them recovered or ditch them for a leather set if I can locate them at t decent price. I was very impressed with the pictures of other chevelles with these seats. Some pointers would be helpful from anyone who has done this or a similar conversion. My plan is to weld in seat brackets in the factory locations and then adapt my seats to the car so my measurements and process should work or serve as a reference for anyone who has factory brackets but doesn't have over $1000 for factory seats or wants a more modern/power/heated seat while retaining at least a little bit of the look of the factory seats.

Craigmax

I read your whole thread and plan to do the same thing. Kudos to you and hope you make a full recovery as I just finished a 1000 mile ride on my CBR929 Erion Edition. I'm subscribing to your thread. Take care.

LS1-Texan

Thanks Craigmax. I got some work done this past week. The Hooker Super Comp headers came in as well as the Remflex gaskets and MSD plug wires, so my exhaust is all present and accounted for. I installed the headers by dropping the passenger side in from the top and lifting the driver side from the bottom. There were some issues on both sides.

First off, the Hooker headers seem to hug the floor pan much more compared to Edelbrock headers. For example, my collector tubes are parallel if not higher than the bottom of my transmission pan. Good news is I wont be scraping them on anything. Bad news is that the collector tubes are pretty much centered right on the transmission crossmember. There is only 1/8" clearance on the passenger side from the floorpan and at most 1.5" on the driver side. I've ordered a G Force Transmission Crossmember from Summit. We'll see if it helps the crossmember clearance issue.

Also, the brake distribution block is on the interior vertical face of the frame. It didn't look like it was going to be a problem at first, but it became clear as the driver side header was bolted into place that the header was going to swing out as it was tightened and hit the distribution block. My advise to anyone doing one of these swaps would be to get a Wilwood proportioning valve/distribution block and mount it by the brake booster/master cylinder and run custom bent lines. Kst8engineer has one and it looks like it completely eliminates the issue and is probably a worthwhile upgrade for anyone who plans to add a upgraded disk brake system in the future. I've moved my block to the top face of the frame for now, but it may hit the wheel well when I put them back on. Fingers crossed.

The MSD multiangle boots fit onto most of the plugs, but had to be bent on the front 2 plugs on each side in order to connect to the plugs and clear the headers. I'll post some pictures of them later. Overall, they seem to have done the job.

I have a few questions for everyone:

1. How much space do I need between the headers and floor pan so that I don't scorch my interior and so that my headers don't hit the floor when the engine twists to the side under load?

2. I'm looking for a good option for a radiator overflow bottle. Which one are you guys using?