Egalan1966

Ken,

Thanks for getting back to me. I'll definetly reconsider going manual brakes when I get there.

Emmanuel

kwhizz

Got the "Bow" on the package today............Power Brakes "Rock"......should have done that right from the start......Now the car is user friendly.....LOL......I also got 17 MPG with the first tank of gas......but that should be prorated out because the rear tires are smaller in diameter than they were last week........LOL......I also put some Halogen headlights in today........Running out of things to do......

1989GTA

"......I also got 17 MPG with the first tank of gas"

A heavy foot will do that. However that is not bad for around town milage.

kwhizz

41 days till Power Tour............After switching over to Power Brakes......99% of my issues with the car went away.......LOL.....Now after driving it I found an annoying squeak somewhere in the steering column........I'll deal with that later.......I installed Halogen headlights (no more T-3's) and now at night I can really see everything........I took the car over to a friend for the final touch......a wet sanding of the clear and then final buffing...........here are a couple of pic's

ewingr

I did the hydro boost consideration a few years ago, and decided to go with electric power brakes. Here is a pic, but of the original version. I have a newer one now, which looks better. The electric pump is mounted below my trunk.



I plan to use the same on my '61 LS3 poroject.

Oh, they are available here.

kwhizz

Never knew about electric power assist.......Looks neat and compact.......Thanks for the info....

kwhizz

After the wet sanding and Buffing........I have the car all detailed out........and ready to go.......Two things left to do is that I now have a very annoying Squeek in the steering column when turning the wheel........need to take it apart and find out whats going on ......and.....I have a Alarm system that I need to install........Here are some recent pic's

H20cooled

iTrader: (1)

Wow, Chevelle looks great, amazing conversion, great combination of stock and new.

1SMKN99

Nice build!

Jimbo1367

Great job Ken!!!

kwhizz

Thanks..........It was thru the knowledge learned on this site that took away the fear of dealing with the LS engines..........Anything you need to know ......all you have to do is ask, and you will get the info from the Great guys that frequent this site!!!!!!

Thanks to all the members here!!!!

dtharvell

Kwhizz,
By any chance do you still have your ZL1 harness and ECM? If so would you be interested in selling? I do not have a harness for my motor yet and was thinking about going through Speartech as you did but have the modify an existing harness.

Daniel

superdave84

Ah the humble Ken. I bet he doesn't even realize that he's probably one of the top five people on this site people learn from.

Thank YOU, Ken.

kwhizz

Harness is gone............I couldn't use the ZL1 stuff because of the trans change............and.........Speartech is the "Best"!!!!!!........John pieced together a system that worked with all the pieces that I used..........

Ken

kwhizz

The Education continues........LOL........Took the car up to the Wisconsin Dells over the weekend for a trial run before leaving for the Power Tour in a couple of weeks.....A couple of issues popped up........one of the issues was that after putting the vacuum brake system in the car I was having issues with the brake pedal being all over the place ( Low....High...and in between).....and when starting the car for the first time the brake assist was barely there.........I was told that these engines didn't make any vacuum but I thought that if GM ran them this way ........then I could too........LOL........Hydro-Boost is on it's way...........Second Issue was a slight vibration that was in the car.....I thought it was thru the drivetrain but.......I was looking closely at everything today and I noticed that the bolt that holds the brake line "T" fitting on the frame below the master was right against the header pipe and transmitting the vibration thru the frame..........Gonna take the header off and clearance it to eliminate that little annoying issue........anyhow........the car performed perfectly in this 450 mile weekend trip.....the ride and handling are spot on...........and the little extra horsepower is pretty cool also.....LOL......Here's a couple of pictures.......2200RPM @ 80 MPH.........Gotta Love it!!!!

ls1nova71

iTrader: (4)

Looks great Ken! You will love the hydroboost, waaaaay better stopping power than those little vacuum boosters that they sell that are supposed to fit everything.

Amigo-2k

Great car! I walked around it a couple of time when I was at Automotion ... I had the 77 TA with a LS1 swap:

kwhizz

A little update..........Since the Dells trip I was still very un-impressed with the brakes........I had a situation where the Brake pedal would vary where the brake action started.....sometimes it was just off the floor and other times it was all the way at full pedal........keep in mind everything was new and the brakes were bled many times.......I was getting advice all over the place and nothing worked........so......this is just Brakes and not Rocket Science........So.......I get fed up with this stuff as I didn't know what else to do.......I ordered a Hydro-Boost system takes the place of the Vacuum booster and is plumbing into the Power Steering system and uses the pump line pressure as the power source for the power assist...........Well......It shows up and the unit itself ......well......lets just say it wasn't in the best of shape for a Brand new unit..........LOL.....So.....Now I'm going round and round with them to get the new unit I paid for......(this is a Major parts supplier).........After the Dog and Pony show I still am waiting for a new unit........and time is getting short for the Power Tour.........So.......Saturday morning I couldn't sleep and I'm telling myself that this whole situation is getting so complicated I don't even understand what's going on anymore.......So......I decide to go back to basics again and start from the foundation again and pull the front tires off and Bleed the brakes again (for the 127th time)......They bled normal without any obvious air in the system, so I didn't think it would make any difference.......put everything back together and take the car out for a test ride............Bingo.........I guess there is a Brake God and he figured I was tortured enough..........Everything works perfectly..........Damm......That was hard......Hydro-Boost going back...........

I also got my Alarm system installed and changed the Oil and Filter today.........while under the car I noticed that the A/C compressor belt was eating itself up............I ended up talking to Stielow and we determined that the stretch to fit GM belt was not designed to be installed in a system like mine with a turn buckle arrangement for tensioning as they are designed to have a very defined tension..........So......Here we go again....trying to find an aftermarket belt that will fit........LOL.....I can hear it already........Sir......Year, Make, and Model of car please........So........I don't even try Advance Auto parts...........I drive over to NAPA and talk to a girl behind the counter and I explain my problem and what I'm looking for.........she comes back in a minute with a belt......Humm!!!!........I go home and 10 minutes later everything is installed and the car is running with Ice Cold A/C..........LOL.......Go Figure.........Power tour in starts in 11 days..........

1989GTA

I am glad things are starting to fall into place for you. A lot of us have been down the same path. Feels good when things start coming together.

Amigo-2k

I too recently had brake issues ... prior to having my car shipped to me, the rear drums were converted to disks. When I got the car the brakes were a bit squeshy ... my mechanic went over the system and determined the rear calipers needed to be rotated so the bleed valve was higher and then it was able to get the air our of the system ...