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Hey Eric yes good progress lately EXCEPT one thing. I have yet to see any oil pressure. I'm on the learning curve here as this is my first LS. Although mine is a new crate motor, it has been sitting for quite some time. I googled and got a gazillion hits on this subject LOL. I'm going to start experimenting on some ideas of my own and will post if I figure out anything interesting.
When you say you haven't seen oil pressure do you mean you started it or just cranked the engine over? If just turning it over you may have to remove the spark plugs to get it to spin fast enough. If it has been started and didn't see oil pressure the first thing I would do is hook up mechanical gauge if you aren't using one already. You can prime the engine manually, A lot of people buy a cheap Harbor Freight pump sprayer and adapt the hose to fit into the block on after removing the fitting on the side of the block. You can see the location in this video.
When you say you haven't seen oil pressure do you mean you started it or just cranked the engine over?
Sorry I should have been more specific I was just trying to prime the motor. Thanks for your info. I followed GM's instructions, but it just took a while to see pressure. I did finally see almost 40 lbs of pressure last night . Plugs out, no fuel, no fire. I poured 12 ounces down the oil galley hole near the pump WHILE spinning the motor over. On the first night the starter got warm and battery was getting weak so I quit. On the second night with a fresh battery the oil pump finally primed. Possible explanations. I'm not sure what RPM the pump actually starts working? Maybe the weak battery wasn't spinning fast enough? Maybe the added oil just took a while to run down through the pump? One of my good friends said "maybe Penny just wasn't in the mood" LOL. Have no idea BUT I'm happy to move on to the next steps. On a side note for Eric (ls1nova71) my oil pressure gauge in the cluster worked in normal sender mode AND Bus mode. I guess I have 2 readings now to compare
Had to convert these MP4's to MOV files - can someone let me know if they work please?
Penny is ALIVE The 2 guys in the video are life long friends and car guys. Both owned mechanic shops their whole life and are now retired, but they still enjoy cars and wanted to be there for startup. I am sooo blessed they made the effort to be there. Hats off to Bill and Larry!!! The event was pretty "uneventful" thank goodness. Everything worked as it should and I just have a few knick knacks to touch up before I move on.
Very cool! Your friend is right though, there should have been at the minimum a fuel leak to fix, and then it shouldn't have started until you made some kind of a statement like "if it doesn't start now, we'll have to tear the whole car back apart to fix it"! That's how you make a TV show.
No power at work today so we got a snow day . I fired up the shop heater and assembled the front suspension. The coil springs are tall as expected, but at least I have a starting point on ride height. I guess I can either let them settle a little, cut some coils, or hunt a weaker/shorter spring.
Have you considered going to coil over shocks? You can adjust height and not effect spring rate.
Not to hijack your thread but since you had asked if I had started a build thread on my 35 I figured it wouldn't hurt to post a couple pics here before I really tear into it and start my own build thread.
So far I figured out nobody makes the correct style fenderwell headers and there is no room for inside the frame headers that left me no choice but to go to a mustang II setup, While I was at it I found the firewall needs to be moved rearward to make the LS engine fit comfortably and will need to go back further yet if I decide to drop my 6/71 blown 408 into it.
The stock X member isn't going to play nice with my 4l80e so it's getting a fully boxed frame and speeway motors tubular X brace. I'm also trying to decide if it's getting a triangulated 4-link or parallel 4-link. I have plans to narrow/tub the rear for a bigger tire but how wide will depend on the engine that ends up going in it.
I know I won't be happy with a narrow wheel and with 500hp to 1,000hp it would be kind of pointless to have that kind power and no way to get it to the ground.
So here is where I'm at today. Frame on the left is my 35, The one on the right is my son-inlaws 32 we are building.
No power at work today so we got a snow day . I fired up the shop heater and assembled the front suspension. The coil springs are tall as expected, but at least I have a starting point on ride height. I guess I can either let them settle a little, cut some coils, or hunt a weaker/shorter spring.
The car is not done and I am sure there are things that will be added that will add weight. I would wait on the springs until the car is finished.
The car is not done and I am sure there are things that will be added that will add weight. I would wait on the springs until the car is finished.
Andrew
Originally Posted by kwhizz
Been there...... Get rid of the 300# springs and get 250#..........Ask me how I know.....LOL
Ken
Decisions, decisions.... I think I would hold off until you get it on the road. Like Andrew said, the front end is going to weigh it down, along with coolant and everything else. Plus, it will likely settle a small amount, and since you're putting it together and going to drive it a bit before making it pretty, I'd just go with what you have for the time being. My $0.02
Thanks for the inputs on the front coil springs! I'm going to hold off for now and get the rear axle set up, install the front clip, and just see how it looks. If the ride height is close enough for me to size some wheels and tires I'll definitely wait a bit and see what happens on the front springs. I spent the day making some lowering blocks (upgrading the wooden ones LOL) and spring perches for the rear axle. I'm not sure how most people do this so I just came up with a design that gave me some flexibility. I made mine in pieces so I can tack weld them together for mock up and take them apart to change the height, and I can even move the locating pin front to back a little bit if the wheel isn't centered in the fender perfectly. THEN weld it all up.
Here is all the pieces. I still need to finish the spring perches, but the hard part is done.
Assembled.
It's chassis month . Got the spring perches finished and assembled the rear axle with the lowering blocks. I have one mock up wheel I came up with when we widened the factory rear wheel tubs. I was just curious what it would look like.
Did some front end alignment good enough to get me to the front end shop. Made the toe plates with shop scrap. I just laid it all the way back on caster for now. I really like how the TCI Mustang 2 design allows for washers to set the camber instead of shims. Seems like that'll be more solid than T bolts that can loosen up.
Spent the week making some brackets to get some really good measurements off the factory frame. I cut some notches in some EMT conduit 6' apart then used the notches to hold the string on both sides of the car. I got the strings exactly the same from several points along the frame on both sides which made me a nice square box to check dimensions from. I couldn't believe how close everything came out. Rear axle shows to be within 1/16" or less parallel with the frame. Rear axle is also 1/8" off center toward passenger side so I'll move it 1/16" over when I set the pinion angle. Cool!!
Thanks to Bill and Donna Arnold for the use of their wheels and tires for a trial fit. I have some chassis work to do but the sizes are at least in the ballpark. I'm leaning toward some wheels made by Schott's. Anyone have any experience with Schott's wheels?
Requested post for Jason .......here is my weekend work. Chassis needed much work to make the wheels and tires fit good and have a good stance with a little rake. Here is prep work for round 2 on the wheel trial fit. Sent the rear housing to Moser to narrow a bit because the fit was just too tight going around the calipers and I believe the tires were going to rub for sure. I needed to buy some axles anyway so I can get all that done in one wack and get the backspacing right on the money. Also did all the bracket work to move the housing forward in the car, and changed the lowering blocks to raise the back just a little bit. Then moved to the front. My Mustang 2 kit had some extremely tall coil springs for my application. Not sure how much less an LS3 weighs than an old style combo, but the front fenders were at least 3" above the tires. Took the nose down 2" and still have room for the springs to settle and can fine tune that later, but at least it looks more like a street rod now instead of a gasser LOL. And the angle on the lower control arms looks sooo much better/flatter. As soon as my housing and axles get here I can assemble and see what I I have to work with.
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. Plugs out, no fuel, no fire. I poured 12 ounces down the oil galley hole near the pump WHILE spinning the motor over. On the first night the starter got warm and battery was getting weak so I quit. On the second night with a fresh battery the oil pump finally primed. Possible explanations. I'm not sure what RPM the pump actually starts working? Maybe the weak battery wasn't spinning fast enough? Maybe the added oil just took a while to run down through the pump? One of my good friends said "maybe Penny just wasn't in the mood" LOL. Have no idea BUT I'm happy to move on to the next steps. On a side note for Eric (ls1nova71) my oil pressure gauge in the cluster worked in normal sender mode AND Bus mode. I guess I have 2 readings now to compare 
