frojoe

iTrader: (10)

I've already pulled the dash apart and unplugged the harness, and there is continuity in the wires from MIL light end to the plug end, so it really seems like there's a fault in the PCM itself that it's just not switching to ground to illuminate the check engine light..

frojoe

iTrader: (10)

Since the stock hood latch area is consumed by the intercooler, had to figure a hoodpin situation. Ended up using a mountain bike fork spring as a way to preload the hood a bit against the hoodpin to secure it without it rattling around..



Happens to fit the stock hood rubber bumper height stop perfectly



Trimmed and welded a washer to mount them..



Installed with some aluminum brackets I made for the pins. With the hood closed I yanked up on the hood and was unweighting the suspension.. definitely strong enough..

mgrm

This is cool.

frojoe

iTrader: (10)

frojoe

iTrader: (10)

Consensus from first drive:

- tires rub a bit near full lock, front has to come up a bit so that when springs sag, front & rear will be right height but level
- car must have some bad bump steer because ride height it has pretty significant toe out, but surprisingly not too darty
- car needs less negative camber and an alignment
- suspensions is firm but takes square-edge bumps very nicely, absorbs but isn't bouncy.. I really look forward to pushing it and seeing how it corners
- engine is a piece of ******* junk. fresh (heavy) oil and it gets 10psi or less oil pressure warm
- loud knocking (guessing rod knock)
- cockpit is perfect: shift location and throw is dead on for my comfort, clutch feels great, good engagement point, brake pedal @ medium-heavy braking is right where gas pedal is for nice rev-matching... all that labour paid off
- VSS signal from computer isn't working either although HPtuners registers the VSS input to it
- didn't push the motor much due to above mentioned **** but in part throttle from 2500-3000 motor pulls as expected but then falls flat on its face, no power.. excessively lean
- once I tried gassing it hard to just say **** it and at 3200 it totally lost all gusto and DBW pedal was unresponsive, AFR gauge spiked 18:1, had slightly high idle and had to shut off, re-flash tune, and restart to get good idle AFR and any throttle response from the pedal.

I think my motor/PCM is haunted.

I'm going forged rotating assembly, engine needs to be rebuilt anyways. I'm figuring I'll do it on an LS2 block while I'm at it.

I'm seriously considering a new PCM, I think this one is physically damaged somehow.

I'm surprisingly not ridiculously pissed about all this ****.. the car itself felt good to drive, just I'm seriously regretting not fully building this engine right from the get-go.

hookemdevils22

iTrader: (12)

well, congrats on getting her out on her own power. I agree on the front - it's going to settle too low. But the stance is dead nuts otherwise! that's real shitty about your ongoing engine/PCM issues. if it makes you feel any better, I fried another fuel pump relay because the asshat who did my harness did a tremendously shitty job. so I have the master cylinder and booster off and am wiring up a junkyard relay/fuse center right now...

BTW, awesome job on those seat belts. I'm going to have to CAD something similar to that shoulder bracket so I can do some junkyard diving and find a set of 3-pointers.

ealvarez11

awesome build with photos. I'm 90% done with a 77 Corvette 5.7 swap and about to start on a 72 nova swap with 5.3...this thread will be added to my bookmarks

geoguy1369

iTrader: (2)

good luck car looks great

Chicago TDP

iTrader: (3)

What about picking up a 5.3 and running that for the time being?
Maybe get a $250 long block to put in place to help put some miles on that setup?
I know a good tune you can load up that will match the turbo and displacement

Marktainium

The DBW shutdown is from the computer going into 'holy ****' mode. I went through this as well. I am trying to remember what parameter I had to change, but it was MAP related. The computer sees boost and can't fuel for it so shuts down everything, hence the 18.1 afr. It happened to me while crossing a bridge. Turned off the ignition and back on and it seems to reset. As soon as I hit boost again it did the same thing. 3200 is about the right spot for you to have boost. It will all be ok... why don't you go with that new Dominator pcm and abandon the GM stuff? Or I could and sell you my E38 stuff? You know mine works...

Email me your entire tune and I'll look it over and see if I can figure it out.

Marktainium

Oh, and btw, your hoodpin brackets look awesome!!!

-TheBandit-

iTrader: (1)

So sorry to hear about the oil pressure & knock after all the work you've done. If it's any consolation you totally nailed the stance and wheels.

frojoe

iTrader: (10)

Thanks for the comment guys. After a couple days passed, I'm actually excited that i'll be building the motor I've known I wanted to eventually have anyways.. a badass indestructible motherfacker. Just sucks I can't puttputt it around in the meantime.. but I've been daydreaming the last couple days about the experience being in the driver's seat even for that short testdrive.. it's got me so stoked back on it, the cockpit was perfect and I can't wait to log some serious distance in it with a badass motor powering an otherwise refined and tight feeling car..

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

Before doing anything radical, I would get another PCM. From reading your thread I think your PCM has been fried a long time. As cheap as PCM's are, I would try that first. I've never had a car lose or not take an update and the only people I've heard of with similar problems had bad PCM's.

Your car looks really good, with some time you will get the details ironed out and have a very nice ride.

-TheBandit-

iTrader: (1)

I share your sentiments exactly! Good luck with your research. I'm sure you'll have a well thought-through combination that will happily and reliably destroy the tires by the time you finish. I know I've had a lot of fun researching and completely overbuilding my engine.

I recommend picking up the SA Design book "How to rebuild GM LS-series engines" by Chris Werner. While I'm sure you'll find minor differences in opinion on some subjects in the book, it's a very helpful photo-guide to assembling these engines. It doesn't talk a lot to selecting components or building a well matched combo, but if you read it over a few times you will learn all kinds of tricks and things to watch out for.

Another article I've found helpful is this one, written by the same guy, but this has a few better photos on the machining processes. Take special note of part 2 of the article where he only briefly mentions a main bearing failure during the first dyno pull. That kind of stuff scares me, but it reinforces the need to take careful measurements and work with a good machine shop.

Do you have any tentative plans for the new build? When you say forged bottom end, are you also including the crank? Standard or stroker? You might want to keep the iron block to handle the boost.

Oh and if you want to just throw the current engine back together, I have some factory floating rods you can have.

frojoe

iTrader: (10)

I'm getting depressingly good at this...



Plan is to keep the iron block (mainly because I have it and upgrading to aluminum is just too expensive and not worth the trouble realistically). Go K1 crank, K1 h-beam rods, Wiseco offset pin pistons. Patriot springs, possibly hardened pushrods, and main/head studs, along with some other gaskets, etc. Looking at a total rebuilt cost of ~$3,000 (reusing block, heads, valves, everything else new) and approx $600 in machining/balancing labour.

First step is to pull the heads off to inspect the cylinders, that'll tell me if I need a 4.005" overbore to clean up the walls or even a 4.010", then order the pistons, tear down the block in the meantime, and we're off to the races.

LS1NOVA

iTrader: (12)

Good luck getting it back together!! Stance is killer.

-TheBandit-

iTrader: (1)

Glad to see things underway. My advice is to wait until the block is at the machine shop, cleaned up and they have a chance to measure things before you buy pistons. I know it's hard to wait, but there's no point in putting the money down on pistons that may end up in the classifieds if there's a problem with the block or you need to go with a different size.

If you are planning on main studs, you may have to line hone the mains. From what I've read, sometimes the bores come out fine, but sometimes they distort with the added clamping force. You need to measure to know for sure. Also the shop I'm working with really likes to line hone all LSx blocks because they say they aren't straight/concentric from the factory.

I will send over my spreadsheet so you can see what parts I'm using and the cost of machine work. I hate to say it, but I think your $3k figure is under the mark.

Rybar

iTrader: (11)

Joe sorry about the motor, I guess it wont be running for the 17th then hey? At any rate, new motor sounds like a good plan and should take alot of boost.

frojoe

iTrader: (10)

Forward progress? I think??



Not very much when you cram all the bits together...



I'm pleasantly surprised with the bores, I honestly can't see them needing more than a 0.005" bore and hone to clean em up.

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