408trans_am

iTrader: (263)

Alright well i have had pretty much every part for my car sitting here all summer but have been much to busy with other projects to even work on mine once. I am trying to do the entire build in 3 weeks, hoping to get the track the weekend of the nov 5-7. I have one other project that needs to be wrapped up but i am waiting on some parts and more material so that will take a few days away from this to complete when those parts come in.

The build plan is pretty simple for the time being, then go larger over the winter with motor and turbo.

Plan is...

-ENGINE-
Stock 05' 5.3L w/arp 2000 rod bolts
Motorplate/midplate set up
self ported 317 heads, with AES doing the valve job/cleanup
ARP 12pt head studs
ls9 head gaskets
COMP CAMS Turbo cam
Upgraded valve-train
ATI Flexplate
ATI Super damper balancer
Edelbrock 2 piece front cover
ARP every bolt
custom catch can set up -10an

-INTAKE/COLD SIDE-
self ported vic jr intake
accell 1550cfm tb
velocity carb hat
4" cold side A/A intercooler
60mm jgs bov
s76 turbo
Custom air filter
Possibly methanol injected.

-EXHAUST-
1 7/8" stainless custom headers
3" stainless crossover
hks 60mm gate or dual 44mm tials
5" stainless downpipe
5" VIBRANT PERFORMANCE muffler

-FUEL-
E85
80lb injectors
Fast rails
Magnafuel boost reg
BG King sumo pump
-10 feed to dual -8
-8 return
sumped stock tank

-ELECTRONICS-
MSBC-1 Boost controller
Lingenfelter lnc002 2 step
boost/ fuel pressure gauges
stock ecu

-TRANS-
TH400 with all goodies and brake
YANK turbo converter
an lines and large cooler w/fan
quarterstick shifter
BMR trans crossmember modded

-REAR/SUSPENSION-
MIDWEST CHASSIS fab 9" w/3.50's
MIDWEST CHASSIS LCA's / panhard
MIDWEST CHASSIS anti roll bar
MIDWEST CHASSIS Torque arm
currently stock shocks/struts and brakes but possibly drag set up
i will be converting from power to manual brakes as well

-WHEELS/TIRES-
BILLET SPECIALTIES 15x3.5 fronts, 15x10 rear
dont have tires yet


Ok so i obviously have my work cut out for me and im sure i wont get much sleep as this is all going to get worked on after the 8-5 work so this is probably going to be my 6-12 2nd job every day lol. Wish me luck. I will try to do my best with updating this thread with pics daily but might not happen if i am focusing on the car alot.

heres what she looks like currently lol. A shell, no motor, no trans, no rear, no gas tank, no suspension, nothing but front suspension and some wiring.

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

Cool build. I had an 89 with a tpi 350 in it when I was in high school. Very fun car. What are you going to do about the instrument cluster?

408trans_am

iTrader: (263)

Its actually already set up for the ls1, i originally went to an ls1 about 5 years ago, and have had several ls based combos since, stock ls1, cam only, then 408 and 88mm turbo and then solid roller 408 NA. Every gauge works except the speedo as my th400 doesnt have a speed sensor in it. I am ok with that.


here is a pic of what it used to look like, i know many will probably recognize it.

BottleFedZ346

iTrader: (17)

Wow g/l man hope it goes well!

bigti99a

iTrader: (16)

man i like the 3rd gens. i had one in highschool as well. miss that thing. i would love to do a boosted ls in one. keep us up to date!

408trans_am

iTrader: (263)

Thanks guys i will try my best. Well i took off most of today as some of the material for the other project showed up so i worked on that most of the day and spent a little time on my car. This will be a quick update and ill be back out in the garage the rest of the night.

Anywho, heres what i accomplished. may not look like much but i had to do a ton of work to get this 4" dp through a non turbo k member. i have less than a 1/8" all around, not to mention making it able to slide in place with the motor in.



Now for my car.......

First thing i did was weld the 4" aluminum v-band to the carb hat, i forgot to take pics of this but ill add them later. This was pretty tricky since the carb hat is cast and an oval shaped, and the v band isnt cast and is round. But its done.

I am using an accell 4150 style tb and a velocity carb hat, well the carb hat is for a "4 barrel tb" so its supposed to have a center threaded hole to secure the hat to, well the open accell has 2 on the sides. Typical for anything i use, just never can bolt anything together. So i had to make something and heres what i came up with.


TB and HAT(see the predicament) ....



materials....



This would have been the easy route, but i didnt want a flat bar across the tb, so that wouldnt work for me....



Round bar would work better, but i wouldnt be able to bolt it down to the tb....



Cut 2 small flat pieces and bolted them to the tb....



Cut the round bar and notched it to fit in the center of the flat bar....



Welded together....



Now i needed to attach either a nut to it so i could bolt it down, but i thought a threaded stud would be easier to install and take apart, just having a nut to remove on the to of the tb. so 3/8" threaded rod welded to the center it was....



Heres what the finished product looks like.... ready for powder coat



Heres what it looks like with the HAT installed....



Now i dont want boost leaking out so i made a rubber gasket to fit snugly under the washer and nut....



Rubber gasket installed....



I am going to start porting the intake tonight along with some other welding if i have time.

NemeSS

iTrader: (127)

looks like you welded/modded 4th gen motor mounts to ur stock kmember
how did that work out? what kind of clearance do they provide for your turbo hotparts? better than spohn?

408trans_am

iTrader: (263)

They were pretty much the same setup as the spohn swap mounts but free as the original ls1 came with stock mounts, so i cut them up and welded them to a plate that i had bolted to the k member, i then welded that plate in since i knew it was good to go and didnt want it worry about the bolts.

I am going to a motor plate set up and hopefully a tubular k member with no mounts for extra clearance.

jay_rich

iTrader: (8)

awesome, cant wait to see how the hotside looks!

Jay

408trans_am

iTrader: (263)

Thanks, yea its going to be all tubular stainless, i have about $1200 in material alone just for the hotside.

408trans_am

iTrader: (263)

Got a little more done tonight as i am leaving tomorrow morning to go camping with my parents(committed months ago and cant back out on parents lol) so i will be looking the whole weekend to that.

Here are the pics of the 4" aluminum v band welded to the carb hat, again its not that pretty, but welding to cast sucks and it was also a decent gap....





I did start porting the vic jr, typically takes me about 8 hours to port one, this one already was ported from a reputable shop, but it left alot to be desired so i will have probably 6 hours more porting to do. I got 2 runners roughed in before it got dark out....







I also got the oil pan drilled and welded in a -12an bung for the oil drain. Problem was that i already powder coated the pan, so i had to be careful and keep cooling, which is terrible since aluminum welds much better preheated, came out good....







Also got the -10 an bung welded in the front of the valley cover, going to run -10an lines from both valve covers and valley cover to a custom catch can set up. This is the same process i went through with the oil pan, just didnt want to bore you with both....

what i am working with....



hole drilled....



pressed in....




Welded in....



Finished product....



Thats all for tonight and probably this weekend, maybe ill work on it later sunday.

Blown06

iTrader: (32)

Awesome fab work! Car looks good, especially that under hood shot with an ls motor in it.

ReApEr75

iTrader: (4)

You do some sick fabrication work man, looks good so far.

Sluggish

iTrader: (10)

I did the same thing with my valley cover and it would fill my catch can with oil after one outing.

91blowthru

super clean car, cant wait to see it done! i love turbo thirdgens

NemeSS

iTrader: (127)

what brand is your hood?

SSZ

LOve the car. Beautiful welds. Nice stuff. Gives me inspiration.

408trans_am

iTrader: (263)

Thanks very much, yea i loved how clean it looked cam only ls1. went 10.7's too so it wasnt a slouch, also had a 150hp wet kit on it later when it was cam only.


Thanks.


Yea i know that most people dont vent them, but some of the higher hp guys do i figured as long as i am in the process of building from scratch ill try to do everything right the first time.


Thanks, yea this is my first car so i have been around thirdgens and definitely love a clean one.


Its from Ram Air Hood .com, Its the ram air 2, they do have a ram air 1 which is shorter.
http://www.ramairhood.com/photo_gall...ta_gallery.htm

1_bad94Camaro

iTrader: (15)

very nice build you have going on. I wish I had the time and skills you have so I could fab my own stuff.

408trans_am

iTrader: (263)

Thank you very much, i take pride in the work i do and honestly practice a ton. I know it sounds childish "practice makes perfect" but its very true with this stuff as well.