Here are some pics of clearances after the engine was bolted down...











The headers clear everything, and ground clearance looks to be excellent. I'm not real pleased with how close the head and header is to the A/C "suitcase", but nothing is touching. It's a royal pain to get to the last couple of header bolts and spark plug, and I'm concerned about what header heat will do to the suitcase. With the passenger fender installed, I'm not sure if it will be possible to reach some of the bolts.

 

That vacuum looking hose is the vent for the transmission, they put a hose on it so if the trans were to get hot, or puke fluid for any reason, it can be routed away from the hot exhaust pipe.

The cooling line fittings are quick connects. If you don't have the lines or a tool to make the special quick connect ends, I would get some of the old style double flare fittings and replace them, they'll fit your trans.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll get a hose to route the vent line somewhere safe.

I was able to figure out the tranny cooling lines. I'll talk about that in my next post.

 

I had a heck of a time getting the tranny filler tube into place. I couldn't pre-install it because there wasn't enough clearance with the firewall to move the engine into proper position. Long story short, I found that one of the ridges on the tranny was preventing the tube from rolling into position - and I do mean *roll* because the tube will *not* go straight down into place. I ended up grinding about 1/8 x 1 inch strip off the interfering ridge, and the tube rolled in without too much trouble...



Tranny cooling lines came with my dropout, but I had no idea what they were at first because they weren't attached. After some study, I figured out what I had, and where they needed to go. The 4L60E has push-in connectors with clips that hold them in place.

You have to use something like this or similar to pull the clips from the tranny fittings...



And this is what the clips look like...



I ended up having to remove the tranny crossmember and drop the tranny several inches to reach the fittings. They were tucked in behind the filler tube, with very little clearance to the tunnel...



From there it was a royal pain to properly route the lines up front toward the radiator area. I would have thought the lines would drop right into place since they are being re-installed on the exact engine and tranny they came off of. But for whatever reason they required a good bit of bending and persuasion to fit just right. The ends of the lines didn't want to line up with the tranny fittings, and the lower portion of the lines were hanging down way too low under the bell housing. Anyway, I got them bent into proper shape and position, installed, clipped in, and routed up front between the motor mounts and the oil pan. I'll deal with whatever bending is needed to fit the radiator at a later time.

Tip: Install tranny cooling lines *before* dropping the engine into place.

And, finally, I got the passenger header installed, both headers torqued into place, the oil dipstick re-installed, and the tranny filler tube bolted to the back of the passenger head. Clearance with the tranny lines was good, so I was happy with that.

Next, I guess, is re-installation of the intake and fuel system, after which I'll post a "done" photo.

 

rquad,
I did this swap (in a First Gen Camaro) last year. I can help you with the wiring if you want. I used the GTO harnesses on the engine and trans and had to research a TON of data to hook things up. I'll do what I can for you, and I can supply you with all the appropriate schematics and diagrams that I have.

I didn't read every post in your thread yet, but as far as your alternator goes, were you not able to use Dirty Dingo or some other engine adapters? Or did you place the engine in a completely different place than typical? I may have missed why you had so much work getting the alternator to stay in the factory position.

I only had to cut a small notch in the k-member to clear the alternator and still used the LS2's alternator bracket(s). I used the first generation of Holley oil pan (of course the new one came out a couple months after I finished the swap!), and used Energy Suspension engine mounts, but I had to raise the frame stands off the frame .025" or so for extra clearance.
The first Holley pan didn't require any windage tray mods.

If you're looking for ideas, swap the fuel rail around 180 degrees so the inlet is on the passenger side. That way the fuel line(s) doesn't have to run across the car or engine to get to the factory position in front of the brake booster.

 

Hey hwystarjoe. The new Hooker engine mounting bracket kit that rquad is using with the Holley 302-2 pan places the engine lower in the frame than the typical swap plate/frame stand arrangement such as you used does (the Holley 302-1 pan will not install on the new mounts due to its front profile being too tall to do so), which is why the alternator clearances he's dealing with are different than what you encountered during your swap.

 

Gotcha...
Lower is never good when it comes to these X and F body frames.
I can weld (somewhat) so I notched the frame myself. I only needed about an inch of clearance or less once I raised the frame stands, and I didn't want to hack to far into the frame so I was conservative. I ended up with 3\16" of pan clearance. And I meant to say I raised the stands .25", not 25 thousandths.

 

If you're building a car to get back and forth to the grocery store or a car show then having a low center of mass height isn't going to be a major concern to you. It will be however, if you intend to build a car that has optimized handling characteristics and minimized U-joint working angles without having to hack up the tunnel of the car and rebuild it. It isn't a problem placing the drivetrain lower in the chassis as long as the oil pan, headers and exhaust system are all designed at the same time to optimize ground clearance for that configuration of parts, which the Hooker components do for this application. The sump of the 302-2 pan is 3/16" shallower that of the 302-1 pan and the Hooker long-tubes tuck up higher under the car than just about any other headers.

 

Yes - please do send me any and all info you can on the harnesses. You can do it here, or send me a PM. Thanks in advance.

In addition to the info that Toddoky gave in the couple of posts prior to this one, I had my frame notched "blind" several months in advance of even buying my swap hardware. As it turned out, the notch was placed too high in the frame for the hardware I bought. If I'd known up front what hardware I was going to use, then I probably could have had the notch created for a perfect fit with the stock LS2 alternator. I had a choice of re-notching the frame (which someone would have to do for me), or of going with the F-body alternator. It was a fairly cheap and easy conversion to the F-body alternator, so I went that route. I don't plan to have all the electric and electronic doo-dads that come with a GTO, so dropping from the 140 amp alternator to th 105 amp one shouldn't be a big deal.

Again, thanks for your offer of supplying some info on the harness mods!

 

No problem.
There really aren't any mods to the harness... just knowing what is what. I relocated my battery so that added a little to the wiring I did.
And I put a 7-circuit auxiliary fuse block under the hood to tie everything to main power. Probably should have gone with a 10-circuit.
I'll put the schematics and drawings together and post them up here.

 

Nice to see someone saving a Hatchback. Or did they call them liftbacks? They're very rare.

There's a Pontiac version in the wreckers by me, just like the one in the movie The 7-Ups.

 

It's officially a "hatchback" - there are emblems that go on the sail panels that say so.

I tell everyone the rear glass (for the hatch) is worth a million dollars because nobody makes them, and locating them used is about like finding a 4-leaf clover - on the moon.

I love the lines of the hatchback Nova. I wouldn't have any other style.

 

How'd it turn out?

Tipsy

 

I took a 5-month break to build a 24x30 storage building for all my outdoor toys. I just got back to the car recently, but it's been going kind of slow. I finally got the front wheels glass blasted and the new front tires mounted. I'm in the middle of putting the braking system together - every piece is being replaced.

I've talked with a custom builder about taking over soon. I'm about to hit 3 years on this project and I'm not getting any younger. I'm ready to get this thing on the road.

 

Nice work !!!

 

love this car! awesome build, was wondering how much clearance is there between the front of the oil pan and the crossmember? Ive had my nova swapped for three years with the autocrat pan, and the worst hooker headers I've ever seen. Changing to the new set up as they look like they've finally figured out clearance issues and made a beautiful set of headers. Id like to keep my oilman but am wondering clearances? thanks so much man keep up the great progress!!

 

Quad
what car did the transmission come out of?
I need a trans dipstick & tube for my 74 SS Hatchback.

 

Tipsy

 

Thanks Tipsy,
Completely missed that