LS1/T56 into a 68 Camaro
04-21-2015, 09:40 PM
#121
Oh two other things, good news bad news.
Good news - I don't think my clutch is leaking from the remote bleeder connection. The floor was dry, the reservoir was filled and the clutch pedal was firm. I pumped several times and waited all weekend and no new fluid on the ground. It must have been fluid that ran down the line like I originally suspected.
Bad news - No way the 4th gen brake master cylinder was clearing the hood. Even my original master cylinder wasn't going to clear with the dual diaphragm booster. I tried a 3rd gen disc/disc master, but its counterbore wouldn't fit in the booster (too big). I bought some full size chevy booster brackets that have a 6 degree vs 17 degree angle but they were twice as long and would have put the master too far forward. I didn't want to shim the bracket or modify it, so I bought a single diaphragm 9" booster and will probably go with my original master cylinder. Oh well.
Good news - I don't think my clutch is leaking from the remote bleeder connection. The floor was dry, the reservoir was filled and the clutch pedal was firm. I pumped several times and waited all weekend and no new fluid on the ground. It must have been fluid that ran down the line like I originally suspected.
Bad news - No way the 4th gen brake master cylinder was clearing the hood. Even my original master cylinder wasn't going to clear with the dual diaphragm booster. I tried a 3rd gen disc/disc master, but its counterbore wouldn't fit in the booster (too big). I bought some full size chevy booster brackets that have a 6 degree vs 17 degree angle but they were twice as long and would have put the master too far forward. I didn't want to shim the bracket or modify it, so I bought a single diaphragm 9" booster and will probably go with my original master cylinder. Oh well.
05-08-2015, 03:18 PM
#122
Received my air intake piping today and created my cold air induction. I will have to lengthen the MAF wiring to make it to the MAF, but that should be simple once I get my wiring from Wiring products. You may also notice that the heater hoses are installed now also. The passenger side of the engine bay is getting a little crowded, but excuse the mess as I am still wiring stuff up. Once I get everything wired, I will loom and zip tie everything to make it look neater.
05-11-2015, 11:52 AM
#124
Finally this weekend, I had a chance to bolt the front wheels on and drop the car onto the ground to see if everything would clear. I was nervous since Art Morrison recommends a 5 1/4" backspace wheel and I have 4 1/2". To me it looks like the clearance is better than it used to be. I included an old picture for comparison.
06-17-2015, 11:40 AM
#127
I haven't made a lot of progress over the last few weeks, life getting in the way. I have finished all the wiring in the engine bay and finished most of it under the dash. I could hook the negative battery cable up now and the engine would crank and fire if I had all the fluids in and fuel. Speaking of the fuel, my idea of using a short piece of the original fuel line to connect the original flex line from the engine didn't quite work out. Where I flared it to connect to the fuel pressure gauge tee there is a internal parting line that creates a leak path at the flare. Luckily, I found this using my test fittings and air rather than fuel so there was no mess. I ended up buying 3 feet of flex hose and two hose fittings and I will plumb from the engine to the tee fitting using that. No pictures this time around as there isn't much to show.
07-03-2015, 08:39 AM
#128
Well I plumbed the new hose from the engine to my pressure gauge tee and that part of the line is tight now. I am still getting a leak from my original 3/8" stainless line where I flared it. Upon closer inspection there is a slight raised area on the ID that is causing the slow leak. To remedy this, I bought some compression fittings to adapt to the AN fittings. I know some people are against these, but everyone who has used them say they work great so I will give it a try.
I finished all my wiring and used some neat four pin plugs to hook the tachometer and gauge panel to the dash harness. The attached pictures are my gauge panel and how it looks just sitting on the tunnel. I will make up a temporary bracket to hold it in place for this year until I get the new console.
I filled the engine with fluids yesterday, yanked the plugs and pulled the ignition and fuel relays and cranked the engine to prime the oil system.. After a few cranks, I got 30 psi on the gauge so I am good there. I also connected my scanner to the ALDL connector to verify that the computer was initializing and talking to the scanner and all was good there. All the other wiring appeared to be working as it should, so as soon as I can seal up the fuel system and flush it, I will be ready to fire.
I finished all my wiring and used some neat four pin plugs to hook the tachometer and gauge panel to the dash harness. The attached pictures are my gauge panel and how it looks just sitting on the tunnel. I will make up a temporary bracket to hold it in place for this year until I get the new console.
I filled the engine with fluids yesterday, yanked the plugs and pulled the ignition and fuel relays and cranked the engine to prime the oil system.. After a few cranks, I got 30 psi on the gauge so I am good there. I also connected my scanner to the ALDL connector to verify that the computer was initializing and talking to the scanner and all was good there. All the other wiring appeared to be working as it should, so as soon as I can seal up the fuel system and flush it, I will be ready to fire.
07-06-2015, 10:54 PM
#129
Well, I got within seconds of firing the car this weekend. While waiting for my compression fittings, I bled the brakes. This became a little bit of a nightmare as one of the lines I bent and flared was FUBAR'd which caused brake fluid to leak all over the garage floor. I finally gave up andwent to Pep Boys to buy a premade line to replace it. All I had to do was bend it and it was immediately leak free. I had to crank down a few of my other flare jobs to get them to seal, but I finally got it and got everything bled and tight. With nothing left to do until my fitting showed up I started to tinker with a few other things, radio antenna, passenger side kick panel. Then I figured I might as well loosen the fuel line so I was ready when the fittings came. Once they were disconnected, I had the bright idea that maybe I could clean up the inside seam with a fine stone on my die grinder. I tried it and it seemed like the seam disappeared, so I said F it I am going to see if it works. I flushed about a gallon of fuel through the line by jumping the fuel relay in case there was any debris in there. Then I connected everything up and primed the fuel to see if I had leaks. Sure enough the two problem areas were holding fuel at about 50 psi. At this point I said F it, I am cranking it up to see if it starts. About that time I started smelling fuel so I looked under the tank and the top of it was wet with fuel. AAARRRGGGHHH. I never expected a leak there. It was getting late, so I stopped there, but now I am away on travel and have to wait to fix it. So close yet so far.
07-06-2015, 11:46 PM
#130
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (7)
Well, I got within seconds of firing the car this weekend. While waiting for my compression fittings, I bled the brakes. This became a little bit of a nightmare as one of the lines I bent and flared was FUBAR'd which caused brake fluid to leak all over the garage floor. I finally gave up andwent to Pep Boys to buy a premade line to replace it. All I had to do was bend it and it was immediately leak free. I had to crank down a few of my other flare jobs to get them to seal, but I finally got it and got everything bled and tight. With nothing left to do until my fitting showed up I started to tinker with a few other things, radio antenna, passenger side kick panel. Then I figured I might as well loosen the fuel line so I was ready when the fittings came. Once they were disconnected, I had the bright idea that maybe I could clean up the inside seam with a fine stone on my die grinder. I tried it and it seemed like the seam disappeared, so I said F it I am going to see if it works. I flushed about a gallon of fuel through the line by jumping the fuel relay in case there was any debris in there. Then I connected everything up and primed the fuel to see if I had leaks. Sure enough the two problem areas were holding fuel at about 50 psi. At this point I said F it, I am cranking it up to see if it starts. About that time I started smelling fuel so I looked under the tank and the top of it was wet with fuel. AAARRRGGGHHH. I never expected a leak there. It was getting late, so I stopped there, but now I am away on travel and have to wait to fix it. So close yet so far.
Andrew
07-15-2015, 08:46 PM
#134
It's alive After2 1/2 years the heart is beating again!!!!!!
The fuel leak at the top of the tank was the pipe thread adapter going into the pump housing. It seemed like the female threads weren't tapped deep enough, so I ran a tap into with grease on the tap to catch any shavings. Put better pipe dope on the male threads and everything sealed up.
Then I turned the key and within 1 second the car fired and ran. It is super rich right now, so I can't really run it long, but I know it runs. I saw no leaks or anything else that looked like a problem. The check engine light came on, but that is probably the open headers and super rich mixture. I am trying to figure out how to load the video, so bear with me.
The fuel leak at the top of the tank was the pipe thread adapter going into the pump housing. It seemed like the female threads weren't tapped deep enough, so I ran a tap into with grease on the tap to catch any shavings. Put better pipe dope on the male threads and everything sealed up.
Then I turned the key and within 1 second the car fired and ran. It is super rich right now, so I can't really run it long, but I know it runs. I saw no leaks or anything else that looked like a problem. The check engine light came on, but that is probably the open headers and super rich mixture. I am trying to figure out how to load the video, so bear with me.
07-20-2015, 03:33 PM
#137
I made some more progress over the weekend. I had a baseline tune flashed into the ECM by Complete Street Performance based on the engine specs. This allowed me to drive the car on the street for the first time in 2 1/2 years and start a punch list of issues to resolve. I had to tighten up one of the brake line connections and clean up one of the power steering fittings, but I seem to be leak free now. I have a few other things to resolve, but nothing that will keep me off the street once the exhaust system is installed and I get the final dyno tune done. Speaking of the exhaust, my Pypes 2 1/2" mandrel bent stainless steel exhaust system appears to be very high quality and I think it will fit outstanding once it is done. I am just starting to fit it up and make adjustments and once the weather cools a little, I will take a day off and finish it.
I also evacuated the AC system, and the system held vacuum for over 4 hours without budging, so I put in a can of Freon. I will not finish charging the system until I finish the exhaust, but all indications are that the AC system will work like a champ.
I also evacuated the AC system, and the system held vacuum for over 4 hours without budging, so I put in a can of Freon. I will not finish charging the system until I finish the exhaust, but all indications are that the AC system will work like a champ.
07-30-2015, 11:47 AM
#139
Well I have the exhaust system all cut to size and mocked up under the car. I had to add two hangars to the back of the tailpipes right near the wheels to keep that part from moving around too much. I had some nice hangars I had bought at Carlisle that you cut and bend to fit and then weld on the pipe. Next I temporarily clamped everything and removed it from the car to start welding it. These pics are when I am just starting to tack the pipes together and remove the clamps. You can see one muffler is removed because I didn't clamp it tight enough and it rotated, so I had to redo the mockup after all the other connections were tacked.
08-03-2015, 07:22 PM
#140
Got the exhaust finished this weekend and I think it sounds great. My tune is scheduled for Aug 17th so until then I really can't get on it.But anyway here is a short video of idle and a little revving.
I spent a lot of time trying to get the clearance at the back, thought I had but ended up using heat and a BFH to get clearance between the tire and pipe. Oh well.
I spent a lot of time trying to get the clearance at the back, thought I had but ended up using heat and a BFH to get clearance between the tire and pipe. Oh well.