I finally got around to stuffing my new engine in my car last night. I have done it through the top 3 times before but this time I did it through the bottom. if anyone is ever debating about whether or not to do it through the bottom DO IT IF YOU CAN. it is worlds easier. I raised the entire engine up as a completed assembly as opposed to installing all the accessories/headers/etc on the bare long block. on to the pics.



degree the damn camshaft. this was my first time doing it myself (my dad did it before) and I was surprised at how easy it was. stock timing set even had the cam right on the money.

don't be afraid to hack away at stock valvecovers to clearance for roller rockers. I have 1.6:1 comp pro mags and had to do the following to clearance:


a cutting wheel works wonders and a dremel cleans them up.

if you have a chance to powerwash your engine bay with the engine out do it. I was amazed by how clean a quick spraying gets it. degreaser works really nice.
before:


after:


big difference, pictures dont do it justice. disregard all the paint scratches from installing headers and other crap lol.

I didn't have an engine in it when I dropped the original k-member so it made it pretty easy but it isn't much more difficult with an engine/trans on it (did it before with my friend's LS1 car)

there are a bunch of writeups on how to do it so I won't go in to much detail. think of it logically, what has to be disconnected for the whole assembly to drop.



when you do your car looks really bare.


I was even surprised when I got everything down 1) how easy everything came apart and 2) the car isn't that bad for a 15 year old GM lol.

now some k-member pics. the weight reduction for me was NOT 25-30 lbs. I unfortunately did not weigh the difference but in feel it seems to be around 10 lbs difference, maybe 15 lbs tops. the space it opens up is incredible. I didn't think of it at the time but looking at the pictures I may be able to drop the oil pan with the k-member in place.

stock vs UMI:


UMI installed:


after this we installed the engine/trans on the k-member




then we lowered the car on to it. just be careful and it helps to have at least 4 guys looking over the car to make sure nothing snags. we got lucky and got it in to place with little problem. its easiest to guide the strut tower studs in to place and then start the 6 k-member bolts. after everything lines up drop it the little bit more then tighten all the bolts.

some pics showing k-member clearance:






dont be afraid of the wiring harness either. almost everything has its own plug, very hard to get them in the wrong spots. you could label the injectors but even they are pretty obvious when you look at them.

also helps if you can sit in the car and do it

and lastly here is where we ended. it was a little after 1am and we had been working since 5pm. around 8 hours of work and we got the stock k-member dropped, off, and replaced with the new one, put the engine/trans on it, dropped the car on to the new engine/trans/kmember assembly, hooked up wiring harness, radiator, coolant, torque arm, and some other misc stuff.



I really wish we were able to fire it up but we just ran out of time. hopefully we can finish it sunday night so its ready to fire than start it up some time during the week. dont want to wake up the whole neighborhood lol.

 

Your pictures are really large. Try 800x600 or 640x480. Judging by your sig that is one hell of a cam you just put in there. Why did you go with something so large? What's up with the FORD sticker on the intake manifold.

 

i was wondering the same thing

 

2 pictures are really big, the valve cover ones. I have a 22" monitor so its hard to tell which pictures are way too big.

the cam is a custom grind done by ed curtis. I figured he knows more than most people about cams. its not the duration I would have went with had I specced my own cam but I'll give it a shot. I told him exactly what I wanted to do with the car and this is what he gave me. hopefully I'll dispel those "your cam is too big" demons from the stock headed crowd.

the ford sticker on my intake is a joke from my friends.

 

Damn, I have a 22" set @ 1680x1050 resolution and I'm still scrolling sideways for the pics. Your resolution must be insaine! hehehe...

Nice photos though. Curious to see how that cam does. Would you still recommend out the bottom if you didn't have the lift? What did you think of the UMI k-member?

 

Good to see your finally getting that car back together man I know its been a hell of a long time since that things been running. It should really rip for being a stock headed car.

 

its got 350hp and 1 one pete power... so it should go 8's..

its funny how many ford guys were gung ho about it going together..

cant wait to see it beat a turbo cobra....


aaron

 

I dont know how it would go without a lift, I have done it through the top every other time. its so easy sitting on a chair and assembling the engine rather than having to break your arm in 3 locations to reach some things. I was able to grind each header bolt lock to fit perfect and stuck them all on with ease. when the engine is in the car this process is a MAJOR PITA.

as for the UMI K-member I like it a lot. very nicely made. I don't think it would drop as much weight as others but I didnt want something that was flimsy.

I don't like making power estimates. I just hope it revs cleanly to a 7000 rpm shift point. I wanted to push the stock PCM rev limits and make as much power in the 4000 to 7000 rpm range, to compliment my PT4000 converter, 4.10s, and slight weight reduction. I do have a little bit of headwork but nothing major. I wouldn't even say they are on par with lloyd's budget LE1 heads. they are from a reputable shop that has a 383 LT1 running high 10s all motor with their own ported heads, their own spec camshaft, etc. its nice to have a shop in the area that knows LT1s lol.

if the car runs an 11.99 or better I will be ecstatic and if it holds together long enough for me to build a wilder engine to stick in it I'll be even happier.

as for the pictures, I hate small pictures that limit detail. I like them as big as possible so you can see everything. 800 pixels wide is too small when most people are running 1024 or more. most people with the latest web browsers (IE7, firefox, google chrome, etc) can also hit ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel to downsize or upsize the entire page if you want to get the whole picture in view (or at least this is how it works with firefox.)

 

I got it started last night, startup vid:

http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/l...t=DSCF1968.flv

got the brakes fixed today, an alignment, and some other stuff. I drove it around a little bit. it runs and sounds awesome. I know its been nearly 3 years since I had my 383 running but I have very little doubt it wont at least match that combo, probably exceed it. even with 2.73s it'll do a half throttle rolling burnout skating all over through 1st and 2nd gear. I am in love with this stall too. I cant wait to get 4.10s in it. what a great stall, I would recommend it to anyone.

but alas my fun ended when on the way home I got a flat tire. cant win them all I guess lol

edit: from what I can tell this thing even drives better than my old 383 with a cam that is very similar (242/250 112 lsa for the 350, 242/248 108 lsa for the 383). I had it locked up in 3rd gear at 1700 rpm, no bucking under light throttle. 4th gear at 1500 rpm no bucking. it seems like it has plenty of idle vacuum, brakes work good even when idling down a long hill. I am very happy. I cant wait to get some miles on it and some kinks worked out.