Still not happy with the yellow dipstick and the e-brake cable running accross the exhaust. Ordered a few solutions from Lokar, will let you know how that works out!

 

Will finally be getting pics of the exhaust today. There was a resonance in the X-pipe around 2400rpm, so our exhaust guy added an H pipe ahead of it.

 

Here are a couple of exhaust pics....


Ignore the brake cable, it is going away this week.

 

The exhaust looks really nice, thinking about getting that same one (magnaflow). Is it me or is the exhaust tubing REALLY close to the driveshaft on the top pic?

 

That is a trick of the camera. It really isn't close at all, but at the angle, it looks like it is. For some reason, the length of the pipes all came together to tune the system at about 2400 rpm. I don't know about all headers, but the magnaflow x pipe with the S&P headers would resonate. That is why the extra H pipe. It wasn't all that bad to start with, but the H-pipe made it better. The mufflers clear very nicely.

 

Got the Lokar Universal E-Brake cable set in. It is AWESOME! That is a good $95!!!!! We routed it away from the exhaust, and just tapped the clamp block to allow us to use our existing front cable. That worked out well, looks good, adjusts easy, and gives us the peace of mind we wanted.

In other news, we bought a slightly rough 94 V6 Camaro for our youngest daughter this eveneing. It runs and drives, but needs interior work, and body work. Price was right, it had T-Tops, and she can learn to drive with a V6 and add an LS1 later! We may be looking at a 3.8L swap though, have to weigh our options, the 3.4L is pretty tired...

 

Post some pics of the new cables. How is it operated in the cabin? Dash handle?

The 3.4 is a turd and time bomb. Might as well go all out and install and LSX. Maybe a 5.3l or 6.0. Both can be gotten for cheap and make good power.

 

I will get some pics up as best I can on jack stands. The cable still uses the footbrake, and the front cable. The threaded rod on the front cable that attaches to the cable spreader tensioner clamp thing is now attached to a block. The block pulls both cables for left and right e-brake. Individually adjustable. Next on the way back is an adjustment bracket that we attached to the floorpan. From there, two hefty teflon sleeves run back to the brake drum housings. You remove the old tensioner cable and spring (gotta pull the brake apart to do it) and slide a 9/16" box end over the cable in the brake housing. This releases the funny clip that held it in, and you completely remove it. You attach the Lokar end to the hole (really slick piece), and it has a new tension spring. The whole thing took about 1.5 hours, and wasnt hard. We routed the pass side along the rear axle following the brake lines, and then have both lines going up the driver side. Works well, is easy to adjust, and will never touch the exhaust. It also allowed us to more neatly route around the leafspring since we have the traction bars, and couldn't locate the cables under the spring anymore.

As for the 3.4L, it isn't out favorite, and we know NOTHING about the 60* V6's. I don't even know which automatic trans is in it, and if it will bolt to anything else. Learning to do... Maybe we can score a 3.8L from someone swapping an LS1 in, or a 4.8L from a silverado. We shall see, she has plenty of time to make it what she wants before she starts driving (about 2 years!!!!).

 

Hard to get a usefull pic, but here is the tensioner assembly for the Lokar cables...

Couldn't really get a picture of the routing around the axle. Next time it is on a lift, we may be able to get a good picture.

 

CarCraft was a blast! We met and talked with a lot of great people, several of whom were interested in trying a Gen III swap into their cars. Don't know if we talked with anyone from this site, but if we did, thanks for stopping by! That was a great show, and the looks the car gets when people walk by and notice that the carb is missing is priceless. It was a great crowd, we will definately take a car again next year.

We did promote the site a little, hope to see more swaps on here!

 

Discovered an annoying and potentialy dangerous problem during CarCraft. We thought the brakes were having lockup due to poor lubrication on the caliper slider pins, but it turned out to be a more serious (though simple) problem. The brake kit we bought from Inline Tube did not mention this problem, though they are very familiar with it. Turns out they do not mate the booster pin length to the master cylinder they send with it. For some units, they include several pushrod lengths in a baggie, and you pick. For the chrome booster we got, the pushrod is adjustable, though you wouldn't realize it! If you have ANY pre-load on the master cylinder, every time you use the brake, pressure will build up in the lines that cannot be returned to the master. Eventually, you will be driving with your brakes applied (burns rotor, smells terrible, and acts like the engine is hesitating). The simple cure is to make certain that you have about 1/16" of clearance between the booster pushrod and the master. In our case, it was 8 inutes with a few wrenches, and solved. In some cases, you need to either replace or grind the pushrod. You do NOT want the pushrod too short though, or it may not track correctly and could cause further brake problems. Just passing on something we had never thought of. Always assumed there where two lengths, and that was that. Turns out it is more complicated than that.

On another completely unrelated note, watch out for 'sluggin' in your air conditioning compressor. Problem turned up in our 02 suburban, when running at higher RPM, the tensionaer for the air conditionaer would slap out and strike the transmission cooling lines, it sounded awful, and took forever to figure out. Obviously, you need to deal with it as soon as possible, and the cure is expensive. Replace compressor (slugging kills them) and add an in-line filter. At a GM dealership, it is about $1300. Turns out it is a common problem on the 99-04 GMT-800's. Just a heads up on that one....

 

think I just saw your car in someone's pics from the Car Craft Nationals

http://www.chevythunder.net/showpost...37&postcount=2

 

Does that problem occur in the 2005 models? Or did they put an inline filter in to fix it?Where does that inline filter go? Yeh, I've got a 2005 5.3 I'm working on ac lines right now. Thanks.

 

Rodder, your link made my wifes day! We had a lot of foot traffic, and a ton of questions, but it is awesome that someone thought her car was worthy enough to post pics! Thanks!


The TSB didn't mention 05 and newer vehicles. I have NO IDEA where that filter winds up, but I do know we are still having a slugging issue, and are worried the tech has too much oil in the system. It is going back on Monday. No chances on that one. They changes the orifice tube, compressor, tensioner, belt, and added the filter. Oh, and a new charge. While it isn't as bad as it was, from a cold start, the first time the compressor kicks, it still does it. Hoping there isn't too much oil in there now. I would check with your local GM service dept. on the TSB's for the donor vehicle. If it doesn't mention the slugging issue, you should be fine.

 

Thanks for the reply. I just got the final hose back from getting brazed up. Going down to the shop to install and hook up vacuum pump. Wish me luck. Guess I'll find out if I have that slugging issue soon. Hope you weren't affected by the bridge collapse up there. That was something.

 

The filter looks like they added it right before the expansion tube. It did take 140K miles for the problem to occur, so I don't know if it will be an issue for you. We are fortunate that no-one we know was involved in the bridge collapse, though my brother wife had crossed it 5 min beforehand. It is a tragic event, and will have an impact on the region for many, many years. Been stuck on that bridge a million times, it is horrible to see that wreckage.

 

Our cheif shop supervisor passed away this afternoon. She was almost 3 years old, suffered from severe epilepsy, and loved everything in life. She was a good friend and a great helper. We miss that annoying little brown dog. Rest in peace Coco.

Instead of responding to this statement, please go out and spend a moment with your loved ones.

 

Glad to hear nobody you knew on the bridge, sorry bout the shop dog. They grow into being part of the family. Got my hoses on and evacuated. No leaks. Got 2 cans of freon in also. Had to run a garden hose on condensor to keep it cool. Don't have ac wiring figured out yet. Just ran it jumpering the clutch.

 

This is going to be a silly question, but does anyone else have a car from the 60's that the taillamp sockets keep falling out of? We bought all new sockets, and they still fall out. They just push in, no twist-lock or anything. Anyone have a decent solution, this is driving me crazy, and I don't want to epoxy them in.

 

MY 70 Nova does the samething new light and new sockets!