^^^ thats exactly how I did mine. I used some metal a/c duct tape to cover the hole for a while till I got the metal piece made and installed.

 

I might have to pick some of that tape up. This fuel pump is a little louder than the stocker.

 

Starting the install this Saturday. I will take a lot of pics of the progress. I am planning on having everything done within a couple of days, so we shall see.

 

I got to work on everything at about 9 this morning. I set the car up, with backing it into the garage on ramps and then supporting the front with jack stands. I set-up my work station and am using ls1howto on my laptop


Here are a couple of pics of the heads. These things are a work of art.



Everything went very smoothly for the first part of disassembly. The coolant gets everywhere, as it comes out of the water pump and other hoses. With that out of the way and the radiator it was time to set aside the power steering pump. This was a little bit of a PITA but it wasn't to bad. At this point I decided the remove my hood which I did by myself like an idiot. I would not recommend doing this as I slightly fucked up my paint, right on the edge of the front quarter where it meets the hood. I can hardly notice it but still, lol. I also removed the plastic that's around the cowl area and windshield wipers. I couldn't figure how to remove the damn wipers so some cusing and grunting i finally got that plastic removed. This just gives me more space and also less scratches on my hands and arms from that plastic.
Out came the intake mani which was very easy to my surprise. At this point I decided to take a break and get something to eat.


I am going to watch the Sharks game and then head back out in a little bit to finish the rest of the tear down and to hopefully have everything completely off, we shall see.

 

After the game I was able to remove the exhaust, rockers, and heads. I am beat and will be back at it in the morning.

 

It seems like I hardly accomplished anything today. The first order of business was to clean out all of the head bolt holes. It took almost two hours of using the air compressor, rolling up paper towels to soak up any additional water, and chasing the threads for a good clean.
I then pulled off the pulley which was giving me a little hassle at the end. I used a little engineering and came up with using a 1/2 drive 3 inch extension and a 27mm socket. This would almost act as the bolt, since at the end the bolt can only be threaded by a couple of threads. Below is a pic of what I am talking about.

After that was completed, the front timing cover was removed along with the oil pump and cam. New cam was installed.
Now onto the fun part of the day, lol. Since I am installing ARP rod bolts, the motor had to be supported and the k member dropped enough, for the oil pan to slide out.

Removing the motor mount bolts was pretty easy, but removing those damn clamshells was a PITA. The passenger side was ok but the drivers side, WOW. After more than an hour or maybe even longer it was finally off. With the motor supported and all the necessary suspension disconnected the K member was lowered. This took a little bit of time to make sure nothing was snagging and that I only wanted to drop it enough, for the pan to slide out. With that all said and done the deflector plate was removed and there is the lower part of the motor. At this point I was asking myself, what the hell am I getting into, but I chugged along. I was able to remove and replace 4 ARP bolts and called it a night.


Tomorrow should consist of finishing up the rod bolts, install new motor mounts, re secure the K member and suspension, and hopefully install the heads. Lets just hope tomorrow goes more smoothly.

 

Well Monday was by far the absolute worst day. I started the morning with installing the rest of the rod bolts which went fine I hope, haha. I then moved onto installing the timing set and oil pump. First, was the timing set, everything all lined up.

Pump installed

There are some little clearance issues with the timing set and pump since the oil pump has to be shimmed outward due too the beefy double roller. I used my cut off wheel on my air compressor to remove some material from the front cover. I thought this would be a PITA but it wasn't bad. The pic shows the area that required some shaving.

The front cover was installed along the the pulley.
Now onto the fun part. This part started sometime around noon, so I thought I was doing pretty well at this point. With the K member still slightly lowered and the oil pan all buttoned up I decided to replace my motor mounts with new Polyurethanes from summit. Since the stock mounts were already out, I had to drill out the fasteners and clean out the inside of the clamshell, no biggie. Here are the new ones all done.

I installed the driver side mount first which took really no time at all. I move onto the passenger side and the mount is off by about 1/2 inch to 3/4's at the most. Unfortunetely I don't have a pic as I was very pissed and frustrated at this point. I was trying everything from yanking, to using a ratcheting tie down tied off to one side of the car to just cusing. At this point I was ready to give up and sleep on it. I knew I couldn't, as I would be thinking about it all night. I remember coming across a thread where a guy used his stock scissor jack and layed it sideways in the engine bay to push on the motor. Since I got rid of mine I had to use my moms from her car. After 5 hours later since the whole thing started, the damn thing finally lined up. The pic speaks for itself, lol

The K member was all bolted down along with the front suspension and steering linkage. I called it a night after this, and was hungry as all could be.

Tuesday I took things pretty slow with the Sharks game on which they won, and still being exhausted from the day before. I installed the driver side head along with doing the trunion upgrade for my rockers. This upgrade was pretty easy to do. I used a 1 ton arbor press from our local Harbor freight which was $42 bucks. When you punch out the old needle bearings they get all over the place. Here is a pile of all the old stuff.


Wednesday consisted of a slow day too, with only installing the passenger side head, shims, pedestals, pushrods and rockers for both sides.

I got the grounds rebolted down in the rear of the heads and things now are looking like it's getting somewhere. First mock up with the intake manifold.


And today I drove up to Synergy Motorsports to get my computer programmed for the first initial start which I am hoping will happen tomorrow. If it does, I will post up a vid first thing when it happens. Stay tuned.

 

Keep us posted. Looks like you've done great work. I'm excited to see what she puts down. I've done a lot or research on the TRaK cam and know that cam with AFR heads puts down in upwards of 450 rwhp, so I think you'll meet or exceed that. Keep up the good work and make sure to post up a video.

 

im also following this closely... i have the same build but with AFR225's @59cc... i have not had mine on a dyno yet!

I lied...i dont have the fast intake and TB either...ls6 for now

 

She is alive and kicking. First Start, enjoy.

http://youtu.be/8N3DWsC1pDM

 

Yep! sounds about right...i though something was wrong with my car when i heard all the ticks, claps, and squeaks coming from under the valve covers.

 

any new updates?

 

tuned yet? im ready for some numbers!!

 

Yea, it's been 3 months and no updates.

 

numbers number numbers!! maybe ill have some to add to the party some day, dyno's are not cheep around here but im sure a dyno and some tuning would help me out some, over just a wide band.

 

Bad *** build, would love to see some numbers also!

 

Waiting for numbers.

 

Nice write up! Is the RapTR XFI/LXL lobes?

 

X-ER i believe

 

Very nice build! Numbers?