Z28_Demon

Believe me, I have appreciated all the info that everyone has supplied on this thread. It is like a golden thread for me to help my build. I need to find a way to save/archive/print it so that I'll always have the info just in case anything ever happens to it.

I figure to probably go with the HP Tuner's setup. I think it was just under $400 for one credit, the plug in itself and the software to do the tune and reading. That's about how much it would probably cost for my first and/or second tune, so I'm already benefiting after the first time I use it. Like you said, I'll just have to do searches on here for tuning help (and hopefully some YouTube videos as well). If I get stuck on something, I'll just have to ask for help and see if someone responds. But that is going to be a bit away. Won't be until after I at least install the converter and rebuilt trans and/or after the cam/heads/intake swap. Just depends on what I"m going to do first.

I'm leaning towards pulling the trans and rebuilding it along with putting the new higher stall converter on it and the trans oil cooler and then do the cam/intake/heads option next spring. I won't really be moving it much over the winter, so I may just pull the engine and trans anyway and leave it out until next spring when I can do the engine work and then put it back in.

Question I have for myself is how to take care of painting the engine bay. Do, I try and get the new paint and clean and paint the engine bay (if I get a warm couple days over the winter/early spring/late fall) the new Bright Purple Metallic color, so taht when I go to put everything back in, I'll be all good. Or, so I just say forget it and leave it alone and have a body shop deal with it after I put everything back in?

It makes way more sense to pull the engine trans and find someone to tow me to the body shop so they can do all the body work/paint work and then tow it back to the house to put the engine/trans back in and be done. But if I do that, it is going to sit a lot longer (like till Fall of 2020) before I can afford to have it painted. That means I'll miss the entire next summer of driving it because I'm waiting to paint it. Again, decisions, decisions. LOL!

In a perfect world, I would drop the engine/trans, send the roller to the body shop to be cleaned up and painted while I'm installing the heads/cam/intake and rebuilding the trans with the new converter and cooler. When the body is done, bring it back home and re-install everything from the bottom as to not mess up the paint. Done. But, this isn't a perfect world...at least not for me. LOL

Z28_Demon

Iroc - No...I wish I could. I don't have the money to do it all at once. That is why I'm trying to figure out what to do when.

I'll have about $3100 in October 2019 to get part of the build done then.

I'll then have about $3100 in March 2020 to get another part of the build done.

I'm HOPING (doubt it) that will cover the trans rebuild, new high stall converter, aftermarket heads, cam, lifters, springs, pushrods, intake, and intake (and tuning it myself).

Then I will have to wait until an unknown time (maybe October 2020) to do the body work and paint because I'm sure that will be at least $3k to have it done decently.

Meanwhile in the months in between, I'll be doing smaller stuff like buying rear gears and having them installed and such (about $600 all together) and any little things I can do during that time.

ddnspider

iTrader: (26)

Can you find that color in a a rattle can through Dupont or someone? I've done several F body engine bays in an afternoon by lightly sanding any junk off and masking most stuff with painters tape. Rattle canned the color and clear under the hood and it was a HUGE improvement, 1 looked like it was done from the factory. Just an option to save some time and money.

Z28_Demon

Bammax - Thanks for the info and heads up. I can lie to myself and say that the CNC'ed 243 heads would be fine, but I know that I'll eventually get used to the power delivery of them and want to go more. Then I would end up spending even more money to buy a set of the TF "fast as cast" heads and even more money to have them ported and polished.

So, might as well go with the TF heads first, get excited about all of the power and later when I feel like "inching faster", I can then pull them and take/send them to a reputable shop to have them worked further. But, as you said, it's all about money.

I don't know the price difference on a set of 243 Z06 heads CNC'ed vs. a set of stock Trick Flow "fast as cast" heads.

The couple sets of 243's (and I don't know what they came off of) that I have seen advertised locally around me are asking anywhere from $700-$950 for the set. Then it depends on how much CNC'ing costs (plus shipping if there is no where around here that I trust to do them). Plus, honestly, I'm always sooooo paranoid about getting a set of heads that are cracked or warped or something and the person doesn't say it and I find out and lost all that money for nothing. I've had that happen long time ago when building my SBC and BBC. I've had internally cracked heads that I bought and got screwed and another externally cracked between the valves that I missed, but, of course, the seller "neglected" to mention that issue. So, I'm really gun shy on that, even though I'd like to save the money and possibly go with a used set of good heads. Who knows.

Z28_Demon

LOL...that's what I'm afraid will happen. Especially when you get used to the power and say to yourself, "this used to be fast...what the hell happened?" LOL!!!

Z28_Demon

Damn! high 11's with basically nothing on it. Very impressive. :-D Give me hope. LOL! And I'm considering a tubular K-frame when I pull the engine, so that would lighten me up a touch. Hmmmm...

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (14)

I would download efilive and hp tuners to demo both. I tune with efilive i like it better. Imo the scan tool is the most important part of the software, without datalogging the tune tool is useless. I like the licensing better with efilive. Custom operating systems from efilive are also free where with hp you have to pay for them.

Z28_Demon

Spider - That's exactly what I'm going to look into. When I lived in California and painted one of my other bikes, that is what I did. I went to an actual paint shop, looked at the paint chips and selected the color I wanted and they then actually mixed the color and put them into spray cans for me. I thought I bought like 3 cans of color and then 3 normal cans of clear. It wasn't the cheapest option because of them putting them in cans, but it worked out very well.

I do have a compressor, but I don't have the sprayer and would need to get the water trap and all that jazz. Otherwise I could then technically shoot the engine bay myself. I keep looking into the Eastwood sprayers, but have never pulled the trigger on buying one yet.

But I agree it would be the cheaper option while I'm waiting on engine/trans parts while it is out to then clean up and spray the engine bay. Less work for the "real" painters to do when I take it to the shop.

Z28_Demon

I'll have to check into it. I admit that the only thing I have compared thus far is price. I think it was like $899 for EFILive and $299 for HPTuners. Big difference. However, you do make a good point and I probably don't know enough about tuning to consider all of the options to compare each to each other. Plus, I'll also have to buy a wideband for the tuning as well (for either of them). So, if I end up going with the more expensive of the two, that pushes off one of my updates even further. LOL (at least that is how I think of it)

I'd love to get it back on the road by next summer, even if it isn't painted yet. That's why I'm hoping to do the mods in the two major "money steps" I have...Oct and Mar. This way it would be good to go for next summer for some of the Camaro events, LS fest, etc. Just for fun.

SLP IROC-Z

iTrader: (14)

I think you could keep it on the road most of the time if you plan it out right. I couldnt see taking my own car all apart and not being able to enjoy it and i was a mechanic for 10 years. I like to do things little by little so i can still enjoy it in the mean time without getting over my head/overwhelmed. I say do all supporting mods first. The trans and converter would be first on my list. Then boltons and suspension. Save the major engine work for last. Youll also be able to test each mod on the dyno/track to see your gains.

You can get single stage automotive paint in spray cans from an autobody supply place. Id highly recommend using epoxy primer on the bay. When i did mine i used SEM self etching primer and i regret it the primer lifted in a few places and now it really bothers me when i open the hood. I even use high quality base coat and clear. Going the cheap route on the primer screwed me. Or have the bay done at a body shop at the same time they spray the car.

Z28_Demon

Iroc - I was thinking the exact same thing. I figured even if I had to pull the trans and replace it twice (maybe), I was thinking it would be smart to start with the trans/converter first. Even with the stock LS1, the 3800 RPM converter shouldn't hurt things too badly while I wait to do the cam and such later. Plus, I figured the heads/cam/intake all rely on me pretty much having a bigger stall converter anyway, so if I save it for last, I would probably have big drivability problems with the stock converter until I could do the trans and converter.

Good tip on the primer, I appreciate it. I figure when I pull the engine and such, then I will clean up and shoot the engine bay with high temp primer and then see what I can do about the color coat and clear.

My dad always used to make fun of me on my old cars because I would pull the engine and paint it nice and shiny and put all this chrome on it and all this stuff and was too dumb (usually I didn't have enough time because I had to put the engine back in over a weekend to get to work on Monday) to clean up and paint the engine bay. You'd open the hood and see this nice, clean, shiny engine and the rest of the bay looked like complete ****. LOL!!!! So, for once (or finally), I want to do it right. So, when the engine gets pulled, that is when I'll clean up and paint the engine bay.

I also agree with you that I really don't want the car "down" for a year or more. I would just keep looking out at it sitting in the drive way and pout because I couldn't drive it until I could afford more parts. Not fun.

So, looks like my ultimate steps will probably be:
October 2019 - Full trans rebuild, 3800 converter, rear gears (if I don't get them done over the summer, but I believe I will), and cam kit (I'll hold the cam kit install until the spring)
March 2020 - Heads, Intake, cam kit install, rocker trunions, tubular K-member (might as well when the engine is out)

During the summer/winter/rest of the time, I'll try and work on upgrading suspension parts, etc.

That's my plan, anyway. Then again, you know what usually happens with plans...as soon as you see something else you want to do, it goes out the window. LOL!!!

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

3800 stall works great even on stock LS1's...I ran one for years(2011-2015) with just bolt-ons and it went low 12's on the street. I did heads/cam/fast later on(2015) which woke it up enough to beat a HC Charger 4-5 runs all from rolls.

Z28_Demon

Work's for me! LOL Then it makes sense for me to rebuild the trans, install the higher converter and the trans fluid cooler first during my project.

I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't burn up the new higher stall converter on the stock LS1. Not that I'll probably drive it a ton in between the trans re-do and the heads/cam/intake re-do, but you never know, so I wanted to make sure.

Now to research where to get the best deal on a solid 4L60E full rebuild kit that will take the new HP being pushed through it. Ideas anyone? Better to go with a full kit or piece by piece?