Prepping for my LE2 upgrade
Picked up an oil pan gasket this afternoon, so I believe I'll be replacing every single seal and gasket in my motor...(even the rear main since I'm doing the clutch too.)
I dropped my car off at the shop this evening - good thing I only had to drive 1 mile. I already have my new tune so it ran like crap with all the stock parts! I could barely keep it puttering along.
I'll be sure to get some "before" pictures Monday morning before I get started. (I'm terrible about forgetting to take pictures)
Pulled the shifter, disconnected the harness, y-pipe, fuel rail, brake lines (not sure how they will wiggle around the rest of the brake lines to drop free...)
And was working on the A/C power steering pump when I stopped for lunch.
I'm having issues with the A/C and bracket - not sure how to get it out of the way - the power steering lines run between the A/C compressor and rear lines, Looks like I'll need to disconnect one of them? Anyone familiar with this??
After that's done I should be about ready to put the motor and tranny on jackstands and lift the body up!
Tomorrow I hope to get the motor on the stand and disassembled, get the K-member back in the car, and roll it out of the shop.
Here are a few pics. I tried to get a picture of how fouled the inside of the intake was, but my shop camera wouldn't focus well enough.
The only surprises I found:
The oil pan was pried on in the back, I guess the original owner had the rear main replaced? anyway, now I'll be putting a new pan and oil pump in.
And both headers were leaking from every cylinder! Not sure if that was from not torquing it correctly, if my headers are warped, or if the gaskets were defective. I'll be checking the flanges tomorrow with a straight edge.
Got the cam in, timing set on, and heads on.
Tomorrow I will measure for my new pushrods, then finish putting the heads together, put on the new flywheel, clutch and pressure plate, and transfer everything over to the new intake.
Here are a few pics!
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Today:
Clearanced the stock valve covers
pushrods installed
valve lash set
old oil pan removed
oil pump replaced (no oil pump drive shaft with the new pump, so a trip to the parts store)
rear main replaced
front cover seals installed
front cover re-installed
new MSD cap/rotor installed, Opti re-mounted
My new oil pan (Moroso) has some interference with the pick up, so I need to clearance the pan about 1/4" at the elbow on the pickup so it will drop in.
I had to clearance the inside of the pan for the moroso brand oil pickup, then clearance the inside of the pan for the oil level sensor, then clearance the outside edge of the pan where it was touching the knock sensor. And tomorrow I'm going to have to do a BFH mod to my ORY so it will fit around the pan.
So I got the pan on, all the front stuff on, all the way up to pressing the hub on, when I saw the reluctor ring sitting on over on the bench - I forgot to put it on before I put the front cover back on. So, off with everything to put the reluctor back in, then buttoned everything back up. I got all the way up to the distributor back on.
Tomorrow I need to clearance the ORY, put the engine back on the cherry picker, install the clutch and tranny, then I should be able to put it back in the car and the fun of re-connecting the harness begins!
I'm hopeful that I can have it running by late tomorrow...
Got the motor back in yesterday, I had some delays with all the final clearance for the ORY around the @#%#@ Moroso oil pan. Had to do quite the BFH mod to it. Then to top it off, the welded-in collector bolt on the drivers side header snapped off when I was doing the final torquing of all the exhaust bolts (of course that bolt was the absolute last bolt I torqued!) So I had to pull the ORY and header back off and grind the old bolt out, re-tack a new one in, etc.
Got all the hardware re-attached and started on the wiring. Had some issues with the brake lines - forgot how they pretzeled together as the K-member went back in. That took a couple hours to fix! I had to unhook the entire rear brake lines so I could slide them back in/around the front lines.
The EWP notching wasn't too bad, I had to take it in and out a couple times test fitting it.
The biggest pain in the front was getting the dang A/C and P/S set back up. I can't believe how they ran all those lines. The hard P/S lines definitely don't help moving things around.
Tomorrow I should be able to finish connecting the harness, install the last few odds and ends, fill er with fluids, and crank it up!
I couldn't bleed my brakes because my ABS light is on (I think I cooked an ABS wire last year because of my headers) - So I thought I'd try to run it and see if that would let me bleed them... Well, she wouldn't start again. She'd turn over and cough, but not start. Checked all the plug wires, etc. then put a fuel pressure gauge on it - 17 PSI KOEO! Even cycling the ignition on and off several times didn't bring the pressure up.
?? My fuel pump has been fine (original stock pump), and I can't see how the pump would have died in 10 minutes. (full tank of gas)
I haven't troubleshot the fuel pump/wiring/injectors yet, has this happened to anyone else? I'm thinking it's time for a racetronix fuel kit... (Doh! More costs with this H/C/I project!)
. And if it is i have to wait and save for a new one. Did a little troubleshooting of the fuel system today. I'm sure I have issues with the pump - I cranked the motor over again today, and it started right up, then started stalling out. Put the fuel pressure gauge on it, could only get 10 PSI KOEO.
Started the motor back up and the fuel pressure immediately started dropping from 10 PSI towards zero - I think that can rule out the FPR and injectors. Cycled the ignition several times to prime the pump - no fuel pressure.
Jumped the fuel pump primer lead, zero pressure increase, couldn't hear the pump run.
I didn't have time to put it back up on the rack to check the power at the pump, but I'm guessing my pump crapped out somehow.
Does anyone concur or have different ideas?
My plan is to replace the pump, then track down the shorting ABS wire and wrap the harness with some heat tape after I get the short fixed...
Hopefully I'll have it running this weekend.
Got the racetronix pump and wiring harness in last night - It runs! Now to track down the ABS wiring issue and get the brakes bled, hopefully I'll be able to get it back on the road next weekend...
That tank was a pain to drop! I had to chop off my muffler and rear pipes to get it out. (Good thing I'm putting a new muffler on it as soon as I can get it to the muffler shop!)
By the time I got the tank totally out of the car, I was seriously re-thinking the cut the hole it the trunk method. But, once I got it back in the car I was glad I didn't cut the sheet metal all up!
The racetronix kit was pretty easy to install - the only gripe I've got is their instructions seem to be in the middle of a re-write and have several steps in there that are no longer valid. (they tell you to cut the quick connect fitting off the old pump and install it on the new pump, but are now shipping pumps with a new version of the quick connect fitting already attached.) Nothing too major, but enough to make you scratch your head when you are looking at an assembly you are not familiar with.
More to follow next weekend...

