The LS1 Studebaker is ALIVE!. Today I finished up my intake plumbing, got the plugs and wires installed, tied up some loose wires, checked and double checked everything then called my wife to come out and shoot some video. I crossed my fingers and held my breath and turned the key. She fired up on about the third rotation ran up to about 2000, then settled down. Oil pressure was about 60, was charging 13.8 volts, everything was good! I had a noisy lifter but after idling for about 10 minutes, that quieted down. The motor had not been run in about 2 years. I shut her down and added 3 quarts of tranny fluid and it backed out of the garage under her own power. I need to get more tranny fluid, and have open headers so I did not drive it except in and out of the garage. Idle is dead smooth, no leaks at all so far. I had set my Sun tach to 4 cylinder setting and it was reading high, after changing it back to 8 cylinder, it looks to be dead on. I let it run until the temperature came up and the fan came on at about 195 just like it should. I gotta say this is one of the best feelings ever. The project has taken 5.5 months from the time I pulled the hood off on October 23. I want to say thanks and give just a bunch of credit to John Spear at Speartech. His products, custom harness and ECU program, are right on, and he has answered every question I had, usually within hours of my sending an email. His support to his customers is the best! I also want to thank all the members of the forum, you guys are so generous with your info and time, without you this project would have been a lot more difficult. So Thanks Buds! If you are ever in Northern CA, I hope you will look me up, or if you see my car at a car show or cruise, please say hi.

Here are a few pictures of the engine. I am waiting for a new A/C compressor so had to pull the S&P brackets off for now, you can see my A/C hoses tied off to the side. I'll be driving to the muffler shop on Tuesday, it is going to be tough to wait that long! I probably won't..

I have uploaded my videos to the http://www.putfile.com video site,

http://media.putfile.com/LS1-Studebaker-Start-up

http://media.putfile.com/LS1-Studebaker-Start-up-2

Now I think I am going to go have a cold beer!

Pat

 

WOoohoo! congrats!

 

Hey congrats feels good doesnt it,motor looks great also.

 

link!... Link!....link!

 

Thanks! If you know of a site where I can post my videos without the long wait that Google has, let me know. I will post the link as soon as I have it. Though the videos are really nothing to special. Except to me of course .

Pat

 

Congratulations! It's such a cool feeling when it cranks over for the first time. You did a super job, the attention to detail is obvious, a show winner for sure.

 

Ok, Put videos on the Putfile site. Links are in top message of the thread.

Thanks Shawn!

Pat

 

SAWEEET! that's a beautiful car (secon vid) I hadnt seen the whole thing before. sounds good.

 

sounds good

 

congrats........I can imagine the joy

 

Good Job Pat it looks great!!! maybe one day Ollie and I might be in the same boat right Ollie? !!!!

 

Sounds good without the exhaust. I like the white walls, they look period for the car.

 

Congrats!!!

 

Congrats! Happy to hear of another "Convert's" success!

 

Congrats dude!!!! What an awesome feeling it must be!

-Matt

 

I gotta say great job stucool!!! Your stude is awesome although I noticed you might have room for a t76 turbo under that hood.

 

Thanks everyone for the great comments, my head is definitely swollen

Today I got the exhaust hooked up, just had to connect the headers to my existing Flowmasters. Since ground clearance is an issue I am only using 2 1/4 inch pipe, and that's what the mufflers are too. So now it has true duals. I thought about adding an H pipe to connect them, but for the uses planned for this car it really is not necessary. I also took advantage of the sunny day to take some pictures of the engine compartment out in the sun, instead of inside with the flash. I have some clean up to finish, but I am pretty happy with the way it looks for now. I will try to make another video so you can hear the Flowmasters, it's nice and quiet till you rev it, then she roars!

Pat

 

Ground Clearance problems? I wish!

Looks great. Simple yet Nice under the hood!

-Matt

 

congrats I can't wait to start mine up I have about a month to go.........................................I hope.

 

Awesome Pat!! A fine job!! We may be in the area sometime this year as we cruise around Calif.......I'll be sure to look you up for an "in person" look at your car. Again...congrats on a job well done.