JAX04

iTrader: (17)

agreed, looking good evo!

TheLS1Lover

Looks good man! Really like that Hotside.

KFK

iTrader: (9)

In for updates, like this, want to see how it turns out!

evo462

iTrader: (27)

Short update - trying to finish up the wiring of the A4 shifter and pedals. The last couple weeks have been a little busy and I haven't spent as much time in the garage as I wanted.

I ordered a Tick battery relocation kit that should be here this week...got a catch can setup headed this way. Finally got the right fittings for my fuel rail setup today. Received a new internal wiring harness for my 4L80 to replace the one I busted the plug on by jacking the trans up too high.

Found out I got a T78 instead of a TC78 when I mocked up my turbo plumbing...still trying to see if that'll work out or not. I will need to notch the radiator cross support for it to fit.

So lots of new parts, lots to do this coming week.

That's about it! Other than the larger compressor housing causing fitment issues...the turbo plumbing fits great and I am very happy with it. I should have some braided power steering lines for sale soon as I can use the stock ones with this setup.

evo462

iTrader: (27)

Got a bunch of parts in this week...Tick Performance battery relocation kit / BMR battery tray, MIGHTYMOUSE catch can setup, the right fittings to complete my fuel rail setup, and probably some other crap I'm forgetting about.

I got the battery relocated and 75% of the wiring ran from the Tick Performance kit. The instructions they included are very easy to follow...it was nice not having to piece everything together myself and figure out the ins and outs of it. Definitely worth the price, IMO.

Tomorrow I'll finish up the battery wiring, mount the catch can (I'll figure out all the vacuum stuff later), and swap out the 4L80e wiring harness. That'll just leave finishing the shifter/pedal wiring, which will be much easier with power running to the car, and I can get the interior put back together. Oh yeah, and trying to see if I can modify the radiator cross brace to accommodate the larger compressor housing of the T78. Lots of little odds and ends to do under the engine bay but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

evo462

iTrader: (27)

Got one of these JL Audio stealth boxes brand new in box for $122 on ebay, so I figured what the hell. Super easy to hook up an amp and sub when the battery is right next to them in the trunk. The carpet color is a little off but it isn't as evident without the camera flash.



Got my alternator power wire ran down the driver's side of the car. It was a pain in the *** drilling the hole behind the brake pedal for it...had I known I'd be relocating the battery when I made the firewall blockoff plate I'd have pre-drilled a hole in it for the grommet. So now I just need to run the main power wire down the passenger side, terminate the ends, and hook em up and I'm done with all that nonsense.

I think I'm going to take a few days off work so I can dedicate them to working on the car. I want to try starting it the first time no more than 4 weeks from now so I have time to work out any bugs before a cruise I'm determined to go on. Seems like a reasonable goal... sigh

Burken01

iTrader: (88)

nice, I've been watching for a long time.. I cant wait to see it finished, I need motivation...

RedRocketZ28

iTrader: (19)

Everything is looking good man. We will have to try and meet up down in KC during the meet. Wouldn't mind getting in a friendly run with you. Our builds have quite a few similarities.

evo462

iTrader: (27)

I'm just hoping it's ready by then! Might need to hire some help if it gets down to the wire. I've made quite a bit of progress over the last few weeks so I'm hoping I can keep up with the momentum.

RedRocketZ28

iTrader: (19)

If I was closer I would lend a hand. Good luck finishing it up.

LSx64Chevelle

^^^Do this, You deserve some time off work

evo462

iTrader: (27)

Well...it's time off "my job" to do "more work", but I suppose there's worse places to be than the garage...though I'd much rather be driving the damn thing!

I got the rest of the battery cabling ran tonight. The passenger side was much easier than the driver's side. Just need to reinstall my starter and alternator so I can measure the length of the cable and install the fittings on the end.

I'm making a list of everything I can think of left to do and will try to power through as much as I can in 4 days. I *think* I have all the parts I need now, it's just a matter of putting it all together.

There are two main things left that I'm kind of clueless on, which are finishing the transmission swap wiring and figuring out the catch can routing/vacuum/boost system. I removed EGR and AIR and a bunch of other crap, so now I have all these holes and plugs and what not I can't remember what they were for because I pulled those parts off two years ago.

evo462

iTrader: (27)

Made a good bit of progress this weekend, but I'll be taking a couple steps backwards tomorrow...more on that later.

I got all the wiring completed for the battery relocation. Can't say enough good things about the Tick Performance F-body battery relocation kit...made it just about as simple as a battery relocation can be with easy to follow instructions and all the cables properly cut to length. I had to make a different ground cable on the passenger side where it connects the block to the frame, as the routing of my turbo plumbing would not work with the included ground cable. Luckily there was several feet of leftover cable that I trimmed from one of the positive battery lines, so I was able to make do.

Went ahead and got an amp and new head unit wired up while I was at it...hey why not, already had the sub mounted and I had to try it out. It sounds great for a single 10, and it's an older JL Audio 10w1 at that. I suppose not having a trunk or anything to go through helps.

There is some work on my "to do list" of things I needed to go back and check/verify, as it'd been nearly 2 years since some of the work was performed. I couldn't remember how much, if any, gap there was between the torque converter and the flywheel. I'd read that anywhere between 1/8 and 3/16 was acceptable, but I definitely didn't put a shim in so I wanted to verify that it wasn't required. I had to use Hulk strength on the torque converter bolts...that loctite that I put on them worked.......well. Checked the gap on the converter, a hair wider than 1/8th so I called it good and bolted it back up. Figured better to check/verify now while it was easy to get to than have issues later that cost me $$$$.

I nearly completed the work on the interior of the car. My dad came over and helped me figure out some of the questions I had regarding the A4 shifter wiring. Turns out the way I'd wired the brake and reverse lights was correct. Took me a few minutes to realize the reverse lights would only come on with the ignition in the "On" position, so that threw me for a loop. Only issue I have is that my shift lock solenoid appears to be malfunctioning. I can take it out of park without the brake pedal pressed...not sure what's going on there. I suppose the solenoid could be bad. The shifter I received in a trade for my M6 stuff was in pretty poor condition, which I'm not too happy about as my parts were mint, so it wouldn't surprise me if the solenoid was bad.

Other than that, everything seems to be working so I put all the interior trim back together and am ready to put the driver seat back in....except I can't find the hardware for it. My garage is such a mess that it could be right in front of my face and I wouldn't see it.

Now on to the "step back" thing...I was going through all the labeled bags of bolts I still have, and found a "misc" bag that has three head dowel pins in it and I'm second guessing myself as to whether or not I put them back on the block after installing my head studs since it's been so long ago and I can't remember. I don't know why I'd only have three, it's entirely possible I didn't reinstall any of them and just lost one. I also had a used set of 317 heads in my garage at one point, as well as a disassembled 5.3L, so it's possible those dowel pins are from that. However, I decided it'd be best to pull the heads back off the engine and verify, as they're still relatively easy to get to at this point because all I have on it is the intake manifold, valley cover, and exhaust manifolds. I'd rather be safe than sorry when I go to fire up the car when it's 100% put back together and have an issue.

So made progress, and am regressing at the same time. The engine was out of the car when I installed the head studs and LS9 gaskets and were very easy to get to so I don't look forward to doing it in the car...but oh well. I'm hoping I can have them off and back on in a few hours. Maybe that's being too optimistic, I dunno. But having the interior back together is huge for me as that's been the part I've dreaded and procrastinated the most.

Other misc stuff done - wrapped turbo plumbing with DEI Titanium wrap and modified my radio/HVAC trim by installing a small LED light that is activated by the Hobbs switch when the second fuel pump is on. I don't know why I wanted that, I guess if power doesn't kick on for the second pump under boost I'd know.

evo462

iTrader: (27)

Here's how my engine bay looked 2 days ago:



Here's how it looks today:



It took about 3 hours to get to this point, not too bad. Sure enough, I left the cylinder head dowel pins off when I installed the head studs. I thought...assumed...I did, but thanks to Skinnies for inquiring about the three dowels in a leftover bag of bolts I had that got me second guessing myself. Otherwise I might not have bothered to pull the heads...hard to say. Also found a stud that might not have seated properly (as seen missing on driver side) so I pulled it and am waiting for the ARP assembly lube I overnighted before reinstalling.

I have a feeling it's going to be a lot more difficult to torque the heads back down in the car than it was when I had the engine out of the car. I suppose it'll give me the opportunity to make doubly sure the studs and nuts are torqued properly.

Went ahead and got new LS9 head gaskets...I know a lot of people said they can be reused since the car hadn't been started but it wasn't worth $80 something to take the chance I'd have to pull the heads again. I want this thing to run right the first time I start it and be done. I feel pretty stupid leaving those dowels out but I'm probably not the first to do so. At least I was at a point where it was relatively easy to tear it back apart...no coolant, no mess. Just a 6-8 hour setback.

Depending on how long it takes to get the heads torqued down tomorrow, I'm hoping to have it "back to where it was" by Wednesday. Then I will be in pretty good shape to fire it up within a few weeks, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Burken01

iTrader: (88)

how much shipped for the used ls9 heads gaskets? or if you wanna sell just one so i can use it to check for pushrod lengths and not have to use my new ones..

evo462

iTrader: (27)

Got it mostly back together...just need to throw the accessories and fuel rails back on and I'll be where I was Sunday.

Hope to get that and the transmission harness replaced tomorrow and I'll be in pretty good shape for a productive weekend.

evo462

iTrader: (27)

Well I got everything back together last night to the point it was on Sunday before I tore it down. Took longer to put back together than I expected...all the torquing, checking, rechecking, etc. But I think I've memorized the socket size, torque spec, and torque sequence for the entire upper half of the engine.

It finally thawed out here so I rolled her out of the garage to wash all the dust and dirt off...there's still a good looking car under there. I'm hoping I can measure the time until it's running in weeks, not months or years. Probably time to remove that Hurst badge too...the weekend is blocked out for car work so I'm hoping to put a large dent in my "to do" list.

Burken01

iTrader: (88)

I'm about 1 month behind you if i had to guess, good to see its going well..

evo462

iTrader: (27)

Didn't work on it as much as I would've liked this past week, so I knocked a bunch out today. Finished up all the fittings and braided hose for my fuel rails to connect to the stock fuel lines...it helps when you have the right fittings......and don't lose others...



The interior is all back together, aside from hiding a few wires.



Got my 4L80e slip yoke and u joint installed on my stock drive shaft this week. I need to adjust my rear suspension as the rear end isn't centered front-to-back or left-to-right, so once I eyeball that I'll probably try hooking up the drive shaft to see if it fits.

I have an interesting problem, in that I'm missing some parts. They're probably in my (messy) garage somewhere, but I usually have a problem with "extra" parts leftover. Can't find a couple hoses for the A/C lines, it looks as if there should be (?) a bracket for the A/C compressor to hook it to the block, couple bags of bolts that I can't find, etc. So I need to pull everything out of my garage then clean/organize it and hopefully I'll find the parts I need.

But other than that, the list of things left to do is getting relatively small. It's finally starting to look like a car again. I have 6 weeks, minus 1 day, until the cruise I want to go on happens so it's getting down to the wire. I want to leave 2-3 weeks to "work out bugs" before that...so really, I have 3-4 weeks left to finish up everything and give it the first start.

Burken01

iTrader: (88)

good for you, my car is in pieces... just to think about putting it all together is a little overwhelming to say the least... But I need to make a big to do list and stick to it...

I'm glad you got it looking like a car again, your so close!

I wanna see it running already and hear it..