Yeah.........I feel sorry for you...........LOL

 

I have a 65 Chevelle I am trying to do a resto mod on. When you did your dyna mat on the firewall is it as easy as just buying the dynamat in a roll on sticking it to the inside of the firewall on the cabin side? Did you do the same thing on the floor pans, or is their an intermediate product b/t the metal and dynamat?

 

Yep!!........It's really that simple!!!

 

So what was your rational to go with the Vintage Air system over trying to get the factory air system going? I ask only because I am trying to figure out which direction I need to go.

Also on your wiring harness did you send the old one to SpearTech, or did you just purchase an aftermarket one from American Autowire?

 

The factory A/C just took up too much room and it didn't work........so...I decided to go with a clean look with all new stuff.....

Speartech supplied all the wiring and controllers for the engine.....American Autowire supplied replacement for the factory wiring

Ken

 

Just spent my morning going through this build... AWESOME!

 

So I purchased a replacement wiring harness from Painless Performance Harness to replace the wiring harness that came with the motor. I thought once I got the harness from Painless or another aftermarket supplier I would then be able to take the harness with the OEM computer to a tuner to get it all dialed in.

Am I missing something here? Why did you need to use Speartech?

 

I don't know anything about the Painless harness..........But....Just for what it's worth with the little bit of understanding that I have ......there's a little more to the story than just buying a replacement harness.....I can only speak from my experience and depending upon what engine and transmission you are using......everything needs to match and the ECM needs to be reprogrammed to eliminate some of the functions......when you get the package from Speartech, everything is blended together and modified to fit what you are doing........John is the best......
In the Chevelle build, I had all the stock ZL1 parts that came from the car......but......because I didn't use the 6L90E transmission........I couldn't use the factory Harness, ECM, TCM or fuel system module..........I went to Speartech and John built me a system from GM parts and made a harness that blended everything together.........from then on it was just plug and Play.......Too simple.......

 

So........Winter is here and it's time for the "Tweaking"..........The OEM Dash Pad should be coming back from Just Dashes in a couple of weeks........so after installing it I won't be tortured next year looking at that piece of crap reproduction Pad with the ends flipped up because it's too narrow to fit.......sheesh.....you would think by now the aftermarket guy's would have figured Mold Shrinkage into the picture......Just Say'in......Now to deal with the Driveline angles....... After loading the Tremec driveline app on my phone (you use your smartphone as a level and hit the Engine.....Driveshaft....and rear end housing ....and it compares the results and let's you know if everything is good...or Bad) and seeing Red... I decided to get around to starting the process of changing to the -2 pan.....so....After double checking everything....... it ended up with the Drivetrain Angle at 5 Deg down ....... Driveshaft 2 Deg up....... Pinion -1......The car rode well without any Vibration.....But.....at 70 MPH when I let off the gas I could feel where the universals were fighting themselves.........after calculating how much I would have to drop the front of the engine to get to 3 Deg ......It ended up that I would have needed to drop the engine mounts down 1 5/16.......Even with the -2 pan it would be problematic..........so.......After seeing another persons purchase to deal with this issue with parts available from the Driveshaft Shop .......... I called Frank there and we discussed my concerns.....Gave him all the info and he is building me a 3 1/2" Aluminum driveshaft with the trans end having a CV joint and a conventional universal at the rear end........Should be here in a couple of weeks.........Again.....The car drove perfect, but.....I just knew the I didn't hit the "Sweet Spot" with the angles.........This should be the final fix that will let me feel 100% about the Chevelle..................After thinking about it a little more..........everything was built around the engine sitting where it is and lowering it much would have really opened up a can of worms.....This seems to be the simplest and best way to solve that one little issue that was O.K.......But not up to standards........So.....That also means if anyone is going to do a LS swap and will be needing a Holley 302-2 Pan....Baffle system and Oil Pan Gasket.....I just happen to know where there's an extra one for Sale......LOL

 

Ken,

I am eager to see the outcome of this. By your measurements, it sounds like your present front operating angle is 7 degrees (engine down 5 to the rear and driveshaft up 2 to the rear). Incidentally, that is exactly what I have for the front working angle. Did you tell Frank you want the non-plunging CV in the front?

I got my scoop, so you will have a package coming your way soon!

Andrew

 

Frank is basically building what I need........He said when it shows up .....Just bolt it in........LOL......


Ken

 

Do you think that the Holley 302-2 pan would have helped much? I have that pan on my LSA block in the hopes of being able to mount the engine pretty low and still clear the steering linkage. The CV joint up front sounds like the sure fire solution to drive line angle mismatches. I guess that means that there's a CV joint beefy enough to handle all of the supercharged torque.

 

Yes.......I'm sure the pan would have gotten everything pretty close.......It's just that I've got everything built around the engine in the current position.....and the CV joint seems to resolve the driveline issue....so....I took the easy way out........LOL.....


Ken

 

Remember, those CVs were originally designed to go on the drive axles that see 3-4 times (depending on R&P ratio) torque than the driveshaft.

Andrew

 

Understood! And I read some background info on the Driveshaft Shop's web page. They beef up even the already beefy CV joints.

 

Yes Sir. I would suggest doing a dual CV shaft. The pictures above are from my Cougar build. I am using a T56 and the pinion CV yoke is for a Ford 9" rear.

Andrew

 

Phews. I thought so. I started second guessing my memory. lol

 

Just a little refresher on what is going on.........My drivetrain angle wasn't the best in the Chevelle.......I had to raise up the front of the engine to clear the Tie Rod Ends.......It ended up that I had a 5 Degree down engine angle and a 3 Degree up driveshaft angle to the rear end (due to the car being lowered).........this gave a 8 Degree working angle at the Transmission U-Joint..........The ideal angle is 3 degrees.......so......Even though the car rode and drove well, It just wasn't right.....So.....I took the easy way out and talked to Frank at the Driveshaft shop and he built me a CV Joint 3 1/2" Aluminum shaft to eliminate these concerns.......It showed up today and I put it in already..........Now I'm Bored again....That took all of ten minutes.........The Dash Pad is supposed to be finished at Just Dashes some time in February.......Gonna have to drop the Dash down to get it in........But, at least I won't have to look at that piece of Crap repro Pad the original owner put in with it's flipped up ends.........Sheesh.......If you are going to Repro something.....at least go thru the effort to make sure it fits.......How many years have we been talking about this Crap............

 

Ken,

Looks like Frank did a great job for you. Was the front CV plunging or not?

Also, did you adjust your pinion angle?

Andrew

 

I left it up to Frank and it is a plunging joint at the front and the pinion is set at 1 degree down just where he said to put it........thanks for showing us amateurs where to go and how to resolve this inherent problem with swapping the LS into the "A" body.....


Ken