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You can just pull those pipes out completely. Even the short thick upper radiator hose one will come out. Then run a tap through the holes then put a pipe plug in any you're not using. That will last much longer than those caps.. The holes in the water pump once you get the pressed in pipes out are all NPT of various sizes.
Since you asked for the routing:
Here are the heater hose and radiator hose diagrams for 95-97:
So you think if I put some clamps on those caps they will still fail?
They'd last longer. But the cheap, crappy rubber will eventually dry rot and crack and after blowing a pressed in fitting out I'll trust nothing but threaded pipe plugs.
For the steam pipe, Ive decided I'll just drill a hole in my aluminum radiator and braze in a 5/16 aluminum hose barb in the same location as OEM 4th gen radiator. I have the 4th gen radiator and fans out of the donor car but I figure my big alum radiator probably is twice as effective. Not sure how well the stock would hold up. Maybe its good as a backup?
I will thread and plug thosewater pump ports later once I get the car running. Right now Im in a sprint to get her to fire up.
I did find the 1310 / 1350 combination universal joint by Moog so that I can use the 4th gen tranny yoke to the 3rd gen driveshaft. Also got the fuel hoses sorted out.
Got a question about exhaust manifold flanges. Kinda hard to find specific LT1 flanges. My donor had long tubes. So am I supposed to go to a JunkYard and find a 4th gen and cut the flanges off? Its a ball and socket fit right? Muffler shop guy cringed a little bit when I told him what I was doing acting like the LT1 manifold was a "special" thing. Most peeps here probably just upgraded to headers and dont have to worry about OEM connections, but I dont have that option.
Have you tried sniffing out a bolt on catless x pipe on Summit or Jegs?
I looked all anyone has are meow-back systems. I’m just gonna go hit up my fav salvage yard today. Maybe I can score a spare aluminum driveshaft while I’m there. Gonna also talk to a couple different muffler shops and see what they say.
Spark plugs and wires
Fuel line & connections
Power Steering Lines
Still have a long list of items to work through. I did a little junkyard recon and found an LT1 Firebird today and it’s engine transmission and original exhaust are fully intact. Gonna go back tomorrow and strip it’s exhaust O2 sensors, driveshaft, alternator, throttle cables and brackets maybe a few other items.
1995 Impala SS power steering line. Power Steering Reservoir mounted.
The manifolds themselves aren't really problematic, but the factory hardware is nice. They use bolts with spacers so everything can walk without snapping like LS manifold hardware.
4th Gen Throttle cable was not really gonna work, so I did some cutting and welding to the 4th Gen bracket to make a square receptacle for the 3rd Gen cable. Works perfect.
A quick check to make sure it was opening fully.
Also a few weeks ago my wife worked on this project with me. She cut the instrument panel up to install this tachometer and install the light. Perfect. Love it. Never had a tachometer in my racecar before.
Also had to get a longer clutch hydraulic hose in order to reach the T56 slave location. Now the clutch is working. I didn’t even bleed it. Strange.
Got all the gauge senders hooked up and torqued. Coming along.
Absolutely. That’s my go to source. I just don’t know if the ECMs I have are w
frim what year and if the harnesses I have match and what year they are from. But yea, most of what I need is there. Kinda saving it for last I guess….biting my nails.
Absolutely. That’s my go to source. I just don’t know if the ECMs I have are w
frim what year and if the harnesses I have match and what year they are from. But yea, most of what I need is there. Kinda saving it for last I guess….biting my nails.
GM is pretty hard to mess up. While I trace harness connections and pinouts to be sure as a general rule.
Pink goes to fused/switched ignition
Orange goes to fused battery
Lay the bare harness on the engine, connect the connectors, hookup the engine grounds, wires from the factory fuse box as above. It will run.
I have a LS truck harness I trimed down to the bare minimum, no 02s, no MAF, just crank, cam, map, tps, cts, injectors, coils and fuel pump that I use to start engines on a test stand.
GM is pretty hard to mess up. While I trace harness connections and pinouts to be sure as a general rule.
Pink goes to fused/switched ignition
Orange goes to fused battery
Lay the bare harness on the engine, connect the connectors, hookup the engine grounds, wires from the factory fuse box as above. It will run.
I have a LS truck harness I trimed down to the bare minimum, no 02s, no MAF, just crank, cam, map, tps, cts, injectors, coils and fuel pump that I use to start engines on a test stand.
Good to know. I kinda noticed this from pulling the TPI harness from the car. Thanks for solidifying that. I think we will be fine. Take me a day to remove the unneeded circuits and whatnot and then I’ll throw her on.
So you got a spousal replacement unit already? And the LT1 clutch hydraulics are kinda magical. Can't bleed them, but also don't need to. They can be purged just compress the slave, suck the reservoir dry, refill, release slave, repeat many times.
So you got a spousal replacement unit already? And the LT1 clutch hydraulics are kinda magical. Can't bleed them, but also don't need to. They can be purged just compress the slave, suck the reservoir dry, refill, release slave, repeat many times.
Pretty cool. 3rd Gen and LT1 4th gen hydraulics are nearly identical. Only issue is IF you use the 3rd gen pedals either of these slave cylinders produce too much throw for the T56 and will bottom out the fork. To counter this problem you can switch to 4th gen pedals or a 1988 Cavalier slave cylinder. I opt for the easier slave swap.
The cavalier slave has a larger diameter piston which produces a shorter throw.
Sonnax yoke with 1310/1350 combo joint pressed in. Dang press bottle Jack took a crap. Had to buy a new 20ton bottle Jack. Eh well. Got er done. Installed and torqued. Also got the torque arm installed and torqued.
Exhaust manifolds installed and torqued. Alternator bracket installed, Hoses are tight, Starter installed and torqued.
GM is pretty hard to mess up. While I trace harness connections and pinouts to be sure as a general rule.
Pink goes to fused/switched ignition
Orange goes to fused battery
Lay the bare harness on the engine, connect the connectors, hookup the engine grounds, wires from the factory fuse box as above. It will run.
I have a LS truck harness I trimed down to the bare minimum, no 02s, no MAF, just crank, cam, map, tps, cts, injectors, coils and fuel pump that I use to start engines on a test stand.
Quick question:
1. Does the ECM need any of the VSS signals. I dont need/want speedometer so, can I delete the T56 wiring altogether without any issues from ECM????
2. Can i run my separate standalone relays for fuel pump and radiator fans? (I read something about a quad driver module code would be thrown). I dont care about CEL, but will ECM still function normal?
My makeshift wiring desk.
Last edited by 64GunPilot; 11-26-2022 at 10:24 PM.
11-16-2022, 11:04 PM
