love_my_ss

are you still planning on making it for power tour?

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

I hope so. Just depends on how quickly I can get the SBC stuff sold. I can't buy the new stuff until I do.

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

OK, so I sold the GEN I stuff off today, and I'm off to look at a LS1 and T56 tomorrow. Time to start buying parts. Stay tuned.

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

Alright, this build is finally going to get rolling. I picked up an LS1 and T56 out of a 2000 F-body, along with a ton of spare parts. I'm going to try to use a lot of them, but a lot of them I'll just sell off.

I've been working on the engine bay lately, getting it all prepped and ready to be painted. Finally got it all finished up and painted last night, and I thought it turned out very well...



Masking tape is still in place, but you get the idea. Looks a lot better than before...



I started on the interior removal today, and got everything out pretty quick. I have a set of pedals (brake, clutch) from a manual C3 car on the way, so I'll be getting those installed along with the hydraulic clutch master before the motor goes in. I'm also going to be laying down some heat shielding / sound deadener while the carpet and everything is out.

Look closely and you'll see the original color of the car...



And here's a shot of the new motor and trans. I'll start pulling everything off and get it prepped for paint. I'll also be sending the harness off to Speartech (probably) to have them rework it for me. I also have a new LS2 timing kit (chain, sprockets, etc) on the way, and will be ordering an LS6 oil pump to install before the motor goes in. I'm also debating going ahead with a small cam and valvesprings as well...will depend on how the finances look when everything starts shaking out. Anyways...



Much more to come.

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

Been buying parts right and left...

-Clutch/brake pedal set for C3 corvette
-New LS2 timing set for my motor
-New LS6 oil pump
-Dirty Dingo multi-position engine mounts
-LS1 conversion wiring harness from PSI Conversion

And a bunch of little stuff like clutch master cylinder, brackets, EGR plug for the LS1 intake manifold, etc. Now I have to address the trans mount and the fuel system. Also going to modify the radiator support to accept the stock F-body radiator and fans.

I'll try to get some pics this weekend.

513camarors91

iTrader: (5)

nice build....can't wait to see it done

Steve85

iTrader: (5)

Very nice. Also selling a bunch of gen 1 stuff to fund a swap (C4).

So glad you are staying with the sidepipes! I had a set of gen 1 heads made to fit some spread port 18 degree heads and it turned out OK. I'm guessing they'll have to put in some new section to match the huge spread on the LS stuff but it will definitely be worth it.

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

My brother owns his own shop doing fabrication, so it shouldn't be too hard for him at all. Honestly, I don't care much what the primaries under the hood look like...I just want to keep those exposed primaries and sidepipes!

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

I have been slacking on providing updates, and especially posting pics. I have been working hard getting the engine and trans broken down and cleaned up, prepping for paint. I've also started to receive a lot of the parts I ordered, and have sold some more parts lately, so I'm in good shape to purchase most of the rest of the major stuff I'll need.

On to the pics...

Here's the engine and trans with the wiring harness removed, along with the coils, wires, plugs, etc. NASTY



A shot of the brake booster. I gave it just a quick sanding, and shot it with some charcoal gray paint and then a light coat of clear. Just wanted to do a little something different...



Timing cover removed. This timing set and oil pump will be replaced with a new LS2 timing set and LS6 oil pump.



My pedals received from Kevin at vettesbydesign.com. These things look great, and at a steal of a price.



Painted some of the accesory items, along with the exterior of the throttle body. Should really sharpen things up in the engine bay.



Also painted the bellhousing...for the hell of it. I figured a little of it might show in the engine bay...



Here's a shot of the motor, cleaned and painted. I like how it looks...I think I'm going to pull the valve covers and the timing cover and paint them gloss black. Might be a waste of time, since most of the timing cover is obscured by the water pump, and the valve covers will ultimately be hidden by fuel rail covers, but it's the little details, right?



New LS6 oil pump



And finally, my Dirty Dingo motor mounts.



Anxious for my PSI Coversion wiring harness to get here, so I can check it out. Have a few more details to clean and paint, and purchase the rest of my parts. Then I'll have a look at the budget and see about a cam, valvesprings, and new pushrods.

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

Also, the plan is to sand and paint the intake. I'll spray a high build primer, sand again, and then paint with a bright silver, and then clear over it. I'll also paint the fuel rails silver with a shot of clear to sharpen them up.

I think I'm going to get a set of Corvette Fuel Rail Covers, sand and prime them, and then go with a gloss black with a clear coat on them. May go with some silver or even stainless lettering to fill in the "Corvette" letters on the FRCs...

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

Just so you guys don't think I'm slacking...







I got all my fuel system parts ordered, as well as a Lokar throttle cable, the straight water neck and 90 degree bends, and exhaust flanges. I also have an order in for a clutch speed bleeder. Still have quite a few parts to buy, but I've got more than enough to keep me busy for a while.

I'll be installing my pedals and clutch hydraulics next, and then its under the car to do the fuel system stuff.

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

Been working steadily on the car. Finished up with getting everything on the engine cleaned and repainted, and have been fooling around with this hydraulic clutch master cylinder trying to figure out how I'm going to mount the damn thing...

Today I dropped the gas tank, and scrubbed the entire underside of the car with various wire brushed. 37 years worth of dirt and grime was a real joy to scrape off, but it needed to be done. I'll remove the old hard lines of the fuel system tomorrow, and get to work routing the new fuel lines and hooking up the prefilter, Warlboro inline pump, and C5 fuel regulator.

A few pics...

Got the LS6 oil pump and LS2 timing set in.



The motor mounts...



Finished engine...



And a pic of the gas tank. No tank sticker for me

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

Finally, something worth updating. Got my fuel system mounted and lines run...



I also made a nice sheetmetal piece to cover the prefilter, pump, and regulator and painted it black. I'll mount it once I've had a chance to prime the system and check for leaks.

Ran into slight difficulties with my motor mounts...the stock mounts have a large metal hump on the back side that mates up to the adapter plates on the block. That hump kept me from being able to tighten the bolts all the way down, as seen here...



You can grind the hump down, but I figured this was as good a time as any to upgrade to new poly mounts. No point in fooling around with the 37 year old ones.

Spent the last couple of nights finally getting the engine and trans in the car. Of course nothing can be easy, and I had a devil of a time getting the driver's side mount to line up, but I finally got everything in there this evening. Feels good to see that LS1 between the frame rails...







Surveying the landscape now that the engine is in, it has become apparent that since I no longer have the A/C setup, I'm going to need to get an A/C delete cover. The valvecovers are seriously close to the old A/C box...I'm not sure I could actually get the coils on there. Plus it will just look a hell of a lot better anyways.

Josh at Custom Image had a delay in getting the hydraulic line for my clutch master cylinder, so I won't have it for a couple weeks. I'm out of town next week anyways, so once I get that from him I can mount it and then mount the brake booster and master cylinder, and finish getting my pedals hooked up and squared away.

I'm heading to my brother's shop to give him a hand with his Tempest drag car tomorrow, and he's going to tap my water pump for my new 90 degree fittings, and also tap the plate above the oil filter so I can run my stock oil pressure sensor. Also dropping off the headers and LS flanges to be reworked.

Glad to finally have some progress to report!

dtfa_to_all

Are you going to keep the headlights stock or are you going to get them modified,i am doing the same type of build on a 1977 corvette.

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

Going to keep the stock vacuum operated headlights for now. Might switch to an electric setup somewhere down the road...


Build is coming along. Not as fast as I'd hoped, but still progressing. Started getting the accessories bolted up, and am also working on modifying the fuel rail covers to clear the throttle body cable bracket. Some pics...



You can see the modified waterpump in this pic. Need to pick up a thermostat so I can install the CSR straight water neck. I also have some fittings and teflon coated braided hydraulic line on the way to make a high pressure power steering pump line...





And finally, the driveline part I've been waiting for...modified hydraulic clutch master cylinder. This one is offered by Custom Image Corvettes, and bolts directly to a C3 firewall. Now I can finally finish the manual trans pedal install, and then bolt the brake booster and master cylinder back up.



More progress soon.

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

OK, so I totally slacked on this thread. I'm about 90% finished with the build, so I did want to come back and add a few comments and photos instead of just leaving it hanging...

I got the clutch master in and bolted up, and it feels great. It took me forever and a day to get the thing bled, but I finally did. Really happy with the pedal feel.

For exhaust, I ended up temporarily using a set of F-body Pacesetter LT headers. The fit surprisingly well...really tight up to the floorboard. The collector on the driver's side kicks out towards the frame a little, but I think an exhaust shop will be able to bend something up for me.





I ordered a T56 trans crossmember from Custom Image Corvettes for a C3. The crossmember fits great, also tucks well. I did have to modify my trans mount a bit to get the holes to line up with the slots on the perch of the crossmember, but other than that, it's great.





I ended up modifying the stock shifter console plate to work with the T56 shifter. The shifter comes up right in the middle of the hole, so I just made a shifter boot to fit and put it back on. Pretty happy with how it turned out.





Here's my MIL light...there is normally a **** here used to open and close the vent on the lower driver's side, but I never used it anyways, so I just removed the **** and inserted the LED.



And here's the final version of the engine in its home. I ended up using the stock LS1 radiator and electric fans...just had to modify the radiator support a bit to get it to fit. The hoses ended up working perfectly, and I put a coupler in the upper radiator hose that allowed me to mount the stock water temp sensor there.









Well, that's about it. Obviously there was a lot more work done, but nothing you guys haven't seen before. I do plan to eventually go with a custom set of sidemount headers and sidepipes for the car, and I'll do some other mods like heads/cam/intake as soon as I have all the minor bugs worked out...

Here's some final photos of the car after cleanup. I lowered the rear on 8" bolts, and the front on new springs with one spring cut out. Enjoy!

Mishimoto

So what do you have for exhaust in the time being? This just looks B.A. and has got to be a blast to drive!

-Q-

iTrader: (10)

Well right now its just open headers...lol. It's loud.

Mishimoto

If you weren't putting the sidepipes back on, I'd get some electric cut-outs because sometimes it's perfect to be that loud. Showed this thread to a co-worker and he was very impressed with it.

74modified

Nice looking car Q. Clean build, and I love the color combination.