North*power

iTrader: (1)

Just wondering what kind of powder machine you are using and what powder. Looks great so far!

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

Thanks. I'm using the Eastwood dual voltage gun. As for the powders, The black is actually Sherwin Williams and most of the other colors we're messing with come from www.powderbythepound.com. They have a store on EBay.

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

It's really cool seeing a v6 camaro get some 416 LS3 motivation! I'm glad you shared your build thread the attention to detail is fantastic!

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

Thanks bud!


I bought the car from my buddy Loren (themealonwheels) several years ago and it was always the intention to do a V8 swap in it. A couple of years ago I bought the LS1 long block out of his old 2000 B4C cop car. Well, in the intervening time things kinda snowballed from doing a straight up LS1 swap, to a stroked LS1, to what I have now, the LS3 416! I still have the LS1 sitting in my storage shed. The 5.3 in my Suburban has 245,000 miles on it. Maybe it needs an LS1 swap in the next year or so...

64post

iTrader: (5)

What kind of power level (RWHP) do you think it make with a decent tune? Nice detail, the powder coating really looks clean.

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

I honestly don't know. I grew up building old school carbed engines and used to be able to figure it out to within @20HP on those. This is my first LS build, so, I'm going to just say that I'm hoping for between 500-550RWHP. Anything more than that and I'll be tickled pink!




Thanks on the powder coating! This was our first time trying it. It's too expensive to get all that stuff done, so, it was learn quick or stick to painting everything. I wanted the durability it provides, so, I gave it a shot.

79_T/A

iTrader: (1)

Excellent attention to detail. If you don't mind sharing - what's the process to powdercoat a plastic intake manifold?

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

Since it's a composite material (Nylon 8.8), you can't electrostatically charge it like a normal piece, so, you hot flock it. The material starts to get soft in the low 400*F range (I have the exact temp in a notebook at work), so, you have to use a powder that cures below 400.

First thing, degrease the heck out of it, inside and out.

After that, I off-gassed the intake at @300*F for 3 hours. If new, I'd only do it for 2 hours. I kept a close eye on the temp, as it will actually trap heat inside of it and be hotter than the temp you have the oven on. As I was off-gassing it I bumped the temp up every 30 minutes 10* until the temp of the intake was 350* (the cure temp of the powder I used).

If it is really oily I'd off-gas it even more. Basically, you keep off-gassing it until you burn off all of oil.

Pull it out of the oven and spray the powder on the intake while it is hot, being careful to apply an even coat.

Put it right back in the oven, let it get back up to the cure temp (350* in my case) and cure it for whatever time your powder calls for.

Pull it back out and see if you need to apply a second coat and put it right back in and cure it again. I applied 2 coats of blue and 1 coat of 100% gloss clear over my intake.

For the last coat, I let it cure for 30 minutes before I took it out.

The biggest things to remember is to get the lowest curing temp powder you can get and slowly bring your intake up to temperature, constantly checking it with an infrared thermometer to make sure you don't overheat it.

eb110americana

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the break-down. What actually makes the powder stick to the plastic, if not charged particles? Is it that they began to melt to the still-hot surface? Gravity? Or just a careful hand, to prevent knocking the loose powder off before it can melt in the oven?

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

By getting the piece up to curing temperature you are partially melting the powder onto the piece. The process is called "hot flocking". You have to be really careful to apply a thin, even coat because it looks like it isn't going to cover while you are doing it. It looks grainy and thin. I practiced on the beauty cover that comes with the intake on my first time out. I tried to cover it like it would look when you use the normal process on metal (electrostatic) and it came out thick and splotchy, with blobs all over it. It's best to just do a couple of coats hot flocking to avoid that.

79_T/A

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for sharing Sid, it looks excellent. I had never heard of that process before. I love powder for its durability and ease to clean.

Looking forward to more updates on this project.

themealonwheels

iTrader: (20)

Yeah, Sid has it right... hot flocking requires an experienced hand to get a nice even coat if done in one coat, otherwise a steady sequence of thin coats is the way to go to ensure orange peel doesn't happen.

Here's one we did for my upcoming '57 wagon build

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

Well, as always, the weather has played heck with me getting anything done in a timely manner. But, I do finally have updates!


I was finally able to complete the wiring in the engine bay, to include a fabricated box to hide the fuse boxes.





I am currently modifying the bolt down top to fit snug up against the front radiator support.


While finishing up the wiring, I replaced the front turn signal sockets, as they had gotten a bit toasty!





I also got the line lock, proportioning valve, and FPR mounted. All wires have been ran to the interior for final installation of the line lock switch and secondary fuel pump switch. Feed and return lines are connected and routed out of the way. Since I blacked out most everything it does a pretty good job of hiding in the background. Also, yes, the small brake lines are powder-coated (OCD, I know)








Ignore the fuel purge line. I will be cutting it back here shortly. I know some people just eliminate this, but, I have read too many links where people have fuel smell issues with this, so, I decided to keep mine.

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

I also replaced the battery box and powder-coated the A/C drier bracket and radiator overflow tube.





And, of course, powder-coated all of the front brackets and re-installed everything up front.





A word of caution: When using Krylon Fusion to paint plastic pieces - read the instructions. Even though it says it can be handled after an hour, it takes 7 days to become fully hardened and chip proof!

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

This past weekend I was able to get some help from my buddy Loren (themealonwheels). Since I need to get to all of the wiring to switch over from 5 speed to automatic, and I will be dying my interior black, we decided to make it easy and go ahead and remove the interior and get it out of the way.











The lovely Camaro Dash Pad.





Final Result.








The next step is to finish up anything I can under the hood before the motor goes in, finish up my home-made hood locks (removed the struts and supports), prep and paint the hood, finish up automatic tranny wiring, weld in the roll cage, fat mat the interior, prep and dye the interior, jamb out the car before interior re-install, re-install interior, install the motor, finish up final engine plumbing, install tranny and drive shaft, install the exhaust, fluid fill and line purges, prime and paint car, powder-coat rims, figure out where I'm going to get $1k for new tires, figure out how to hide from wife when she figures out how much I blew the budget by...


No problem, shouldn't take but a week or two to finish, right?


P.S. If you don't hear from me again, the wife read this thread and I didn't do a very good job with explaining what happened...

Jimbo1367

Love this build. Great job thus far. What rotator did you go with in the engine? Mind PMing me the cost of the short/long block?

thanks,
Jim

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

Thanks bud! I look back at the pics and, well, it doesn't look all that exciting as far as progress goes. In reality though, it was a heck of a lot of work to tweak and modify all of the little stuff I did get done in the last month. It's a shame that the most visually exciting part of the build, installing the motor, will take less time than I have in the engine bay wiring alone...


Rotator? Not quite sure what you're asking (I have been accused of being dense from time to time...). If you're asking what reluctor wheel, I used the 24X wheel (didn't want to use the box). If you're asking what rotating assembly, it's the forged stroker assembly that comes with TMS's stage 3 short block.


By the way, PM sent.

blk00ss

iTrader: (66)

Might want to rethink that fuel regulator location.

psychosid30

iTrader: (7)

It's funny you brought that up. I keep looking at it and keep thinking that I might want it a couple of inches higher. Even though I am wrapping my headers, it never hurts to play it safe. I've just been putting off removing the bracket, cutting off the section holding the FPR, raising it up, re-weld it, re-powdercoat it, and then put it all back together! Just feels like taking a step backwards rught now (even though it will be much easier to do now, before the motor is in).

blk00ss

iTrader: (66)

I'm not worried about the heat really. Just think about changing plugs or anything of that nature. That thing will always be in the way. I have mine mounted on the cowl between the valve covers and brake booster. And I wish it was somewhere all the time.