this is amazing.....keep up the good work man.

 

I just finished the revised trany cross member I put up in my last post. It just goes frame rail to frame rail. There is plenty of room for the exhaust above the cross member on the drivers side. On the passenger side I am going to cut the old transmission cross member mount off the floor board and there will be tons of clearance then. I may tie the new cross member into the original mounting point on the drivers side, not sure yet. It really dosen't need it, but if there's room when the exhaust is all built I'll probably add it.

The drivers side header is coming along nicely but we need to run to summit tomorrow night to get 2 more bends. After the headers and exhaust are done the engine/ trany comes back out so I can notch the engine craddle and move the steering rack down about 3/4". After that it goes back in for the measurements for the custom pan. I changed my mind and I'm going to be doing a rear sump pan since I think I can make enough room for it. I don't like the idea of a front sump pan with the SBC's oil pump location, even with the higher profile 66 Nova pump.

The exhaust is going to be 2.5" Y pipe with (2) spiraflows into single 3" all the way back with a dynomax bullet somewhere in the 3" section. Shouldn't be tooooo obnoxious until you get on it

 

looking very good.

 

keep the pics comin bro

 

Well to make room for the rear sump oil pan I am moving the pinnion forward and down a little. This would have meant I needed to hack up and reinforce the stock engine craddle.... So I just decided it would be easier to start from scratch. I didn't get a whole lot done last night since we had to go to summit to get more exhaust bends and the stuff to make power steering lines.







Still needs lots of work but it's coming.

Sorry for the smoky pics, it was either put up with the smoke or open the doors and put up with the cold. I chose the smoke hah.

 

sweet man good luck

 

insane custom fab work. That's alot of work, but the progress is good. Good LUck.

 

It's gotta be so badass having Summit within driving distance. That must be nice and very helpful. They ship fast, but if it isn't coming from the GA store I know I have to wait a few days.

 

Yeah summit is about 50 minutes from where I live. It's not real convenient but I have been there so many times the trip feels like nothing lol.

We got the headers finished, I relocated the steering rack, and we got the outline of how the pan needs to be shaped since the last update. The engine cradle and steering rack work still needs finished welding, I didn't want to jump the gun if it wasn't going to work once the engine was in.

Tomorrow should be the last day the engine comes out. Pan will get finished, headers will get coated, accessory brackets finished etc. Then the completed engine will go into place and be ready for wiring/ plumbing. Driveshaft should be here monday. WE NEED ONE THING TO FINISH THE SWAP, A LT1 T56 SLAVE CYLINDER. If anyone has on please please call me at 724 456 7710 and I can shoot you paypal for it. We need one ASAP and I really do not want to have to by the whole assembly at the dealership.

Last but not lease, more pics.

New engine cradle.







Before


After






Oil pan so far...

 

Misc. pics, notice how flush the bottom of everything is with the frame rails. Way more ground clearance than the previous setup.

 

I didn't realize it would take some much fab work to get that motor in there !

 

Yeah it could have been done with a little less fab with the use of a 66 nova oil pickup/ pump and a custom front sump pan but i wanted to stay away from a front sump. I might bring the headers to summit and start pulling down headers and try to get a pair close that just need modified. That would cut down on a lot of fabing.

 

this is some incredible imaginative fab work.... keep it up!

 

Engine out for the last time. (crosses fingers)


Engine craddle done.




Headers. Bead blasted, heated up with torches, cleaned with acentone, then coated with the 1st coat of POR20.




And my best invention ever.... Cold pizza? I think not.



Tomorrow the oil pan will be finished and the 2nd coat of POR20 will go on. Then the engine should be ready to go in by thursday.

 

Those headers look really good.

 

Are those Volk wheels?

Well whatever they are I bet you could sell them for a pretty penny
They are just what those import guys like, big lip, and crazy color.

 

Not sure on the wheel brand but they are staying on the car.

 

Very nice thread and some good work on the car.

 

cool swap
lots o fab, should run hard

 

It runs....

It has some wiring issues that need addresses and a fried coil/ ICM (long story) But even breaking up above 3000RPM it's still a monster.



Notice the POR20 bubbling, for the life of me it always does that, in the spots it dose'nt bubble it WILL NOT burn/ flake/ scrape off for the life of the car, but where it bubbles it's screwed. I llways try different prep and some work out better, this time wasn't so good. I think it would work 100% if I had an oven big enough for headers. The second coat is what seams to bubble.

It needs a nice intake, what you see is temporary. I will be finishing up the exhaust tomorrow. Look for a more in depth update this weekend/ early next week.