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If you only do some saw cuts to slightly change an angle, as long as the actual proximity to the engine is unaffected, you should be OK legally. And if said saw cuts are carefully rewelded, the question should not even arise.
It is the linear distance from engine and between converters that is the concern. Getting it to fit right shouldn't affect that to any degree worth worrying about.
Correct, You're allowed to change angles and/or rotate. Its mostly distance from the eng (primary cat) and distance between the two cats. Yes, i have about 3-3.5 clearance from the ground. Yours looks a bit better on that, but id tuck them up as high as you can go. You can cut/reroute/angle the pipes any way you want, so long as the cats stay in the same relative spot.
The black car is my 84z on which the erod was originally installed. The blue floorboards are the 89 vert which now has the exact same eng/trans/cats, etc.
I cut/recut the crap out of my down pipes to get the best clearance. Its tight down there, but no rattles or cats banging into anything. Even going over crappy railroad crossings.
Driver.
Passenger.I had to "notch" the subframe a bit for the secondary cat.
Thanks, guys. Really appreciate the tips and pics. And, yes, my plan is to get them tucked because I'm not at my fully lowered ride height in the front and don't want to scrape on speed bumps.
Also, another milestone crossed today.... First Start. I double-checked all the ground straps -- they're good now -- and also found a loose AN fitting back by the tank when I jumped the fuel pump again. With a smooth 60 PSI of pressure in the system, she starts and idles quite nicely. I think the ECU was killing power to the fuel pump wire when it didn't receive enough fuel pressure to run.
But some bad news... I appear to have installed my aftermarket balancer and pulley incorrectly (it goes with the Holley mid-mount) and it's wobbling pretty noticeably. So I gotta figure out what I did wrong; I do recall struggling during that portion. Ugh, so close. Hopefully not too hard to fix; I'm going to try to bring in a pro to fix this part.
I had to swap mine too for the f-body accessories. I think the torque setting on that bolt is something 240 ft/lb and i had a hell of a time getting to that number. Hopefully no damage done by the wobble.
All good news, just preparing for the next few articles / videos which I want to release back to back.
UPDATES
480 miles on the new setup.
Wiring done.
Dash back in.
Dakota Digital Gauges working great (although the Connect N Cruise harness doesn't share as much data as pulling from a donor vehicle.)
Exhaust in and sounding amazing (I have a loud mode and quiet that I can change with two 15mm bolts in 3 mins).
Alignment done.
Upper rear trailing arms installed (by a shop).
A/C still blowing cold.
Things I'm sorting:
need to tighten a couple of cooler lines
i'm getting an electrical buzzing sound coming from under the car. I think it's the trans. It only happens when the car is warm; always goes away in 1st gear. Sometimes goes away when I change the electrical load (lights or a/c on or off). We did a 'TCC Solenoid command off' test, but it didn't go away.
Almost time for my second oil change (first was at 30 miles)
I think my right-front caliper is sticking ever so slightly; i may have kinked the stainless line during the control arm install, so i'l probably swap a new one in.
The wagon's dirty after a spring outside under a cover, so time for a full detail.
NEXT STEPS
Once everything is sorted, i'm going to
re-do the acceleration, handling, and braking test as well as do friend/family/coworker reactions.
Then a cost breakdown and final review.
I'm sorry for the delay; if I do another build, I'm going to film the whole thing before releasing any of the content as my schedule (and limited wrenching experience) makes it a little hard to keep up. So i decided to take a big break so i could finish all in one go.
However, there will be a quick How To article coming out next week.
Last edited by MPalmer; 06-16-2022 at 10:18 AM.
Reason: updated and added details
Excellent, any audio clip of the exhaust note?
Is it loud? Curious cause mine isn't, even with the Holley blackheart exh. Not that I'm complaining.
Yeah, 4 cats and 2 mufflers is pretty quiet, hahaha. I'll be covering this in detail during my Magnaflow video (i went to their shop AND toured their production facility) where they installed a dual 2.5" system with an x-pipe and Universal xMod mufflers. They're straight-through mufflers that have a secondary output that you can tune to your liking using a J-pipe, turn down, and/or cap(s) for drone cancelation.
With the J-pipe on and capped, I get no drone and it's VERY quiet unless I run it up past 4 or 5 grand. Perfect sleeper mode and for highway trips.
With the secondary output open, the second exhaust exit under the rear passenger doors, so pretty close to my ears. I wouldn't call it loud (in a world where long tubes and Corsa products exist), but it's aggressive with great tone. Perfect for me around town. (And I even set off a car alarm at O Reillys starting it up). The only downside is a little drone at 1,800-2,100 RPMs which, for me, is about 65-75mph.
For the video, my goal is to get cold start, revving, and drive-by sound clip comparisons.
He had vacuumed out and recovered the refrigerant back in December pre-TBI removal. So once the car was running, and before I drove it down to Magnaflow for exhaust, I showed up with a new A/C dryer and a Vintage Air Trinary Switch bc I was moving from an R4 compressor (with a built in high side pressure switch) to this Sanden SD7 unit in the Holley kit.
Earl then flushed the entire system, made two custom hoses, and wired in the trinary (the original low-pressure switch remains). Funny enough, the trinary didn't consistently trigger the fans to run when the compressor engaged. So, per the article, I wired in the Dakota Digital fan controller and set it to turn on the fans anytime the compressor engages (Earl says that A/C systems are more efficient and will last longer with the fans on.)
Nope, just an editing/schedule issue. And I don't always get comment notifications.
My sincerest apologies for the delays. My initial plan was to get where I'm at today before sharing any of the footage and build progress, but I let other people in my department talk me into sharing at the end of last year, and here we are. But what's coming next is this --
I have to review 3 more vehicles (2023 Lexus RX, 2023 GR Supra Manual, and 2023 GR Corolla) over the next 2 weeks and then I can finish this project --
I have 300gb of video to turn into the 3 next episodes...
part 6 will be installing the motor
in part 7, i went to Magnaflow HQ to get a custom exhaust
and in part 8, i sort out little things and get the car smogged
in truth, in addition to my schedule, which involves reviewing 2-3 new vehicles per month and traveling to events, I've been holding back a little bc i experienced three issues i wanted to get clearer answers on before finishing the videos --
a buzzing noise from the transmission area -- this, per Chevy Performance, is normal for Supermatic (aftermarket) 4L65E transmissions (but not other units). Since i wasn't sure if i should believe them, I asked around a lot. And an LS-swap shop in my area, one that installs these exact kits frequently, concurred. It is my least favorite part about this kit by far.
slight damper wobble, as mentioned before, there is a very slight wobble at idle -- in this case, I'm still documenting the experience in case i need to make a warranty claim. i had my initial work checked by a shop that builds Corvette race engines, and it was done properly. I also had this same shop install a second/new damper, and no change. They advised me, based on their experience, to just enjoy the engine and drive the hell out of it. A second LS-swap mechanic took a look and agreed. It also turns out that the vibration goes away above idle.
my oil is still break-in-oil dirty after 3 oil changes. Changed at ~30, ~500, and ~975 miles. The first two oil changes were done per the Chevy Performance instructions. Out of an abundance of caution, I did a third oil change recently. And it still looks like the first break-in oil change (dirty with some sparkle, no chunks). I've read a variety of reports on the topic, but two LS swap shops have told me not to worry just yet, but to document. Still, I've started collecting samples (again) just in case there's a warranty claim to be made...
But generally speaking, the car's running really well, despite some rattles and squeaks I've been chasing on the suspension side, and gets a lot of attention. Here it is a Ritz Carlton Valet stand in Santa Barbara. Valet's dad owns a shop; he told his son, the valet, to buy it. I declined to talk numbers.
Other updates
1200 miles traveled on the motor (just did 230ish this past week)
Smooth idle, always starts
Cruises at 190-200 degrees depending on temp; Sitting in traffic with the a/c on, it hovers at 210.
a/c still running cold, although on a couple of hot days, my blend doors didn't work right after a re-start (In B-Bodies, the normal fix for this is running up and down the temp settings from full H to full C, or restarting the car) but both times i got it going and drove through 90-degree days.
passed smog for the first time in California (one does NOT take E-ROD systems to a Referee despite what many will argue)
It's MUCH cleaner than the previous TBI emissions
I'm still fighting drone at about 75-80mph (even when i have the noise-canceling J-pipes on the Magnaflow mufflers) so may make some changes
After fixing the pinion angle and raising up the rear a little, my rear sway bar STILL rubs my gas tank (ah!) and my new driver's side exhaust (whoops) so I'm probably going to forgo it since it handles pretty well without one. i bought a second rear swaybar that clears the tank but not the exhaust so maybe someday i can get the exhaust re-routed. (but i just hate firing the parts canon and learning i guessed incorrectly)
More soon. As soon as I possibly can. You're welcome to follow up, but just know there's nothing more I'd rather be working on. It's just that most times I have to do other things.
04-12-2022, 10:50 PM
