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Some more updates. I need to put in my order for a rear axle soon. I'll almost certainly be pulling the trigger on a MWC 9" on Monday, but I am intrigued by the now-available fully independent rear end from Heidts. Since it would be about $3K more, a lot more work, and the results are untested, I am hesitant to be a guinea pig. IRS would be sweet though.
-Wired in electric water pump relay to fuel pump ignition trigger and power and ground
-Rewired MAP sensor adapter harness to clean up excess wiring
-Swapped in new larger steering tilt pin
-Applied brushed/spun finish to steering tilt lever instead of repainting black. It got mangled during extraction due to use of Vice-Grips (even with heavy padding) because it was so tight. It looks fancy, but I just masked the plastic part and spun it in the chuck of a drill with some 150 or 220 grit sandpaper for a few minutes.
-Swapped in the correct oil filter bung to match the LS1 factory oil filter spec.
-Shortened throttle cable at the pedal to take up slack by cutting and crimping an aluminum ferrule (this cable has no adjustment underhood)
-Realized that my throttle would not open up to 100% WOT. Discovered that the dual throttle body return springs for "increased control" were overpowering the traction control spring. Once I removed a spring, all is now functional.
-AirRaid dry cotton air filter (no oil)
-Cleaned and reinstalled my Strano front sway bar
-Greased all zyrc fittings with synthetic grease plus sway bar shackles
-Removed rear axle from car
-Attempting to disconnect rear brake hardlines from softlines. Soaking in Parts Blaster for now. Will probably have to cut them off.
-Rear brake backing plates ready for media blasting and repaint (coming next time)
Thanks. They are the last of the breed, but it's actually shot with my Microsoft Lumia 950XL camera phone. It shoots in 20 megapixel. I think in the widescreen format I use it is actually only using ~16 megapixel of the sensor. Before Microsoft bought Lumia from Nokia, Nokia always had exceptional camera hardware and software--hence why I have this phone and my 925 before it (the very first crate engine shots in this thread were shot with the 925).
Rear Brake Mounting Hardware - media blasted, primed, painted high-impact gloss black
Rear Brake Hardlines - I was right, I had to cut off the soft line fittings, but the hard lines are salvageable. I started using a wire wheel to clean up the threads at the ends. I did not intend to, but I wound up cleaning up the whole thing with the wire wheel. Primed and also painted black, but no pics of the paint.
Shift Boot Install - for 5th gen Z28 or ZL1 shifter. Note that Hawks center console does not match their ashtray color. I tried 3 different ash trays. Maybe they sent me an ebony black console?
Cigarette Lighter Mod - of course, nothing can be simple, so I had to cut it down to fit the new console as the one from Hawks had the wrong connector on the back.
Dash Topper - From my earlier modifications, the dash microsuede (from Joann's Fabrics) faded, now a safety hazard due to glare in the windshield. I tried to use black fabric dye, but that only looked good when wet, so I peeled all of the microsuede back off. I will have it wrapped at an upholstery shop with better stuff.
Steering Wheel Lock Plate Removal - Pulling of steering wheel and lock plate to replace cheap horn anchor part that has been broken for a long time. Also doing some work on the steering wheel, but I think I will save that for another thread.
Ram Air Box - bought an OEM WS-6 used Ram Air box in excellent shape for very little on eBay. Cleaned it up and installed it. Of course, I had to make the same clearancing notches again as I did before for the FastToys air lid and the larger radiator near the cap. Somehow I had thought that the larger base was a myth, but I guess I was searching using the wrong criteria before.
Center Arm Rest - I bought a used center arm rest after finding the Hawks reproduction one to be terrible along with their reproduction lower air box also being so brittle that it broke when they put it in the box(!). The used center arm rest had the foam separating on one side, so I glued it back down using E6000 contact adhesive--the same glue I affixed the leather covering with. The leather wrap was just a hair over $20 on eBay, and while not particularly soft, it is real leather and looks nice and feels durable. I think it came out excellent. It is supposed to be "black" but it matches the interior perfectly.
Oil Pre-Lube Fitting - I used a M16 x 1.5 TIG torch fitting with an 8mm nipple (eBay) which will connect perfectly to the garden sprayer I purchased. Total costs: $5 for fitting, $10 garden sprayer, $1 for 8mm shut off valve. $16 beats almost $200 for a hand-pump one I will probably never use again.
Tuner Lug Nuts - The brand carried by all of the major autoparts stores began flaking and rusting only a couple of years after installing them--in Sothern California no less. I was thinking of going stainless, but I couldn't bring myself to spend around $150 for a bunch of lugnuts. These seem to be much higher quality from DPAccessories and only $29--we shall see how they hold up.
Hatch Struts - Bought new AC Delco struts this time. My Monroe struts were barely stronger than the 10+ year old factory ones when I put them in a few years ago, and they leaked fluid, only getting worse since.
Interior - Pulled some interior panels to look into wrapping with leather and microsuede.
Wheels (not pictured) - I am still waiting on the machine shop to widen my rear wheels to 10.5" (from 9.5") so that I can mount 305/30-19 tires out back and measure fender clearance. Once that is complete, I can give final numbers to Midwest Chassis for my 9" rear end and wait for that to get built.
Also not pictured, filled Power Steering, Coolant (will finish later), bled Clutch, and transmission.
@merim123:
The seats are Cipher CPA2001PCFGY in gray with faux carbon fiber fabric backs. They are actually pretty decent seats considering they cost less for a pair than one name brand seat. The vinyl won't fool anyone, but they are softer than the crappy GM leather used in these cars. They hold you in place nicely, and I have done a number of 5-8 hour drives in them with no fatigue despite my bad back. The seat tracks that come with them suck, since the bearing races have paint and ridges in them, you have to move them back-and-forth a bunch of times to wear a path for the bearings to ride on. Other than that, they are pretty great.
-Removed interior plastics for reupholstery: door panels, headliner, hatch lining, gauge hood
-TruFiber reproduction WS-6 hood fitted with factory struts and latch
-Hood does not close (by over an inch!) with factory WS-6 airbox and FastToys lid, does not even close with shorter lower airbox and FastToys lid, just barely clears stock airbox setup
-Clearanced about 5/8" of extra space for airbox by painstakingly shaving down bits of the upper radiator support and test fitting about 50 times
-Clearanced another 5/8"+ by cutting the inner liner of the hood, as OEM hood only uses one layer of fiberglass above the airbox. Used clay to find interference spots.
-Had to redo airbox-to-throttle body connection *again*. Due to the new angle of the airbox pointing down, the outlet must now angle *up* to hit the throttle body. Replaced silicone double-hump hose with a rubber accordion style piece and trimmed the aluminum tube some more. Benefit is that the accordion is much less rigid, so as the engine torques over, it won't break the airbox.
-XXR rear wheels widened from 9.5" (275 tires) to 10.5" (305 tires)
-Michelin PS 4S 305/30R19 rear tires mounted (275/30R19 front tire on right > )
-Test fitting fender clearance with the new tires to finalize MWC 9" axle order width (end verdict is stock width, maybe up to 1/8" spacers later)
-Test fitting new LED clear-smoked CHMSL brake light to replace faded red one
-Machined down the steel shift neck of my MGW shifter to fit the 5th gen Hawks 1LE-style Alcantara shift ****. Machined the diameter on a metal lathe, a flat spot on the milling machine, and a set screw hole with threads tapped in at the end. I'm excited to fit this to the T56 Magnum, as I don't yet know how shift feel will be.
-Still waiting on the rear axle from MWC. I shipped them my rear brake backing plates, which apparently they require for full assembly, yet never told me, so they just stopped working on it.
-While I wait for the axle, I have been working on a steering wheel, but that will only be revealed when complete
That is one ambitious, detailed redesign. Wouldn’t it have been easier to purchase an aftermarket engine harness to adapt GEN4 engine to GEN4 fbody? Like a PSI or? Did you ever figure your final answer for your bobweights of your engine rebalance? 1500 something seems very low. Keep up the good work.
Thanks. The engine harness rewire was just to adapt from the 1998 computer to the newer style 1999+ ECU connectors (mine has the newest 2001-2002 ECU). Yes, that was a royal pain in the ***, and probably would have been easier to just buy a used harness instead, though there are also potential downsides to that avenue (more $$$, is that harness sound?, will it have all the needed connectors?, have to run it all the way back through the firewall, etc.). The newer computers are just easier to tune, so I figured I might as well swap to that--plus it's already programmed for the new manual trans.
The bobweight is particularly low, 1587g. Even my engine tuner noted that--but he was the one who calculated it by weighing all of the reciprocating parts. The reason it is so low, is that I selected the lightest connecting rods and pistons I could find for my application. What I don't know, is if bobweights in general, are a total for the entire crank, or are multiplied times the number of counterweights. For example, is a 1600g bobweight crank 100g lighter than a 1700g bobweight crank? Or is it 400g lighter? 500g? 800g? But that is not specific to my measurements, just to bobweights and crank weights in general. The only reason it matters here, is that I was using the numbers to calculate how much rotational mass I removed from the LS3. I also removed a lot from the flywheel, clutch, and harmonic damper, so I am hoping this will be one lively engine.
Thanks. I'm basically waiting on MWC for the last two pieces of the puzzle. Once they ship my rear axle, I can install the rear + watts link and measure for the new driveshaft. Once that is shipped and installed, I'll finish the last of the fluids (fuel, break-in oil, brake bleed) and drop in the battery--and hopefully she'll start. If I can't troubleshoot any complications, then I'll probably be towing it to the engine tuner for a base tune. Hopefully, after all of the modifications I've made, I will be lucky enough that I can just drive it to him. Compared to all that I've already accomplished, that doesn't seem like much, so it should happen before the end of the year. In the mean time, I'll keep working on my steering wheel project, but I need to call MWC to see when they plan to finish.
Yeah, inline comments with the pics would be nice. As you can see, I did exactly that on my last batch of posts. However, that was after the substantial changes in LS1tech forum coding. Prior to that, the images were only URL strings, and it was kind of a pain to figure out what you were actually commenting on without previewing first. On those earlier threads, the comments are at the start or end of each batch of pictures.
Primed the bump stops after trimming for wider wheels
Fully machined down MGW shift lever to fit 1LE style shift ****
Fully machined down MGW shift lever to fit 1LE style shift **** (1LE aluminum shift lever in foreground)
T56 Magnum tail
T56 Magnum tail
UltraBlack
MGW installed
Lower shift boot marked for trimming
Lower shift boot trimmed
Lower shift boot installed over shifter
Lower shift boot installed over shifter
1LE shift ****
Clearance is super tight, but does not rub
Clearance is super tight, but does not rub - Lower console installed
Console and shifter installed
Console and shifter installed
Console and shifter installed
Console and shifter installed
Console and shifter installed
Console and shifter installed
Poor quality Hawks reproduction console broke when pulling out the ashtray the first time. It was installed in the car for only an hour. Inserted a screw to shim it.
Brake line bracket replacement
Brake line bracket replacement
Brake line bracket replacement
New OEM window felt slides. My old ones (top) were in better shape than I remembered.
New OEM window felt slides. My old ones (top) were in better shape than I remembered.
(Before) Should not have left the battery on the floor of the garage for so long. I charged it from my truck with some jumper cables about a year or more ago, but the car has not run in 2.5 years now.
Finally bought a trickle charger for AGM Optima batteries
After trickle charging for a week
JAAM Ram Air kit (before)
JAAM Ram Air kit (after)
JAAM Ram Air kit (after)
JAAM Ram Air kit (after)
JAAM Ram Air kit - minor trimming on hood latch
Upper JAAM Ram Air kit - I tried to order just the base, but they now only sell the full kit, so I made it work with the TruFiber hood
Upper JAAM Ram Air kit - I tried to order just the base, but they now only sell the full kit, so I made it work with the TruFiber hood
Playing around with the idea of changing up the grilles a bit later on
New OEM 2002 Collector's Edition WS-6 badge for after repaint
New OEM 2002 Collector's Edition WS-6 badge for after repaint
The fuel line and vapor canister purge line are too close together to reach the fuel rail and vapor purge solenoid simultaneously, so this heat shield tape has to come off. Replacement coming soon.
That's it for now. I am still waiting on MWC for my rear axle, so I have been finding little things to tinker with in the meantime. I placed my order with them in Nov 2017, gave them the final width specs on Mar 2018, and shipped them the brake backing plates May 2018 (which they did not ask for until I called to check progress). So they have had at least 4 months to work on it now. Hopefully this does not turn into "a thing," where I am still hounding them for it the next time I post on here. The fact that they estimated 8 weeks to build when I first ordered, and now they cannot even tell me when it will be done has me worried.
Until then, I will continue fabricating my custom steering wheel. I am supposed to get it TIG welded on Saturday if the welder isn't too busy. Hopefully this version will be more structurally sound than the first one I built.
11-15-2017, 11:57 PM
