T AM

iTrader: (5)

Lookin good! I've heard dash swaps are awful on these cars.. Looks like it's true.

Southtexasplayn

iTrader: (2)

Taking the dash out was the worst. I wasn't sure where all 5718837 plugs, connectors, and screws were. Im 6'1" so wedging myself in the car was a challenge. Oh I almost forgot about the 4 studs that the seats bolt to. Those things don't feel great in the back. Lol

Southtexasplayn

iTrader: (2)

Well I sold the Tbss, so hopefully the build will progress a little faster. I got some work done on it last weekend. Pulled the k-member and broke it down. Cleaned everything up and painted it with Por-15. Cleaned both sets of calipers up. One set I mounted on the car, the other set I broke down for powder coating. I also pulled the motor and trans off of the old k-member and started to clean all the gunk off of it and got it pretty much ready for paint.

Threw the bumper on just to see what it's going to look like.


Up she goes.


Old nasty front suspension.


Cleaned and painted. Don't mind the sway bar, that will get painted.


Looking all purdy.


I don't have an engine hoist, so I had to improvise.


I'm basically to the point where the motor is almost ready to go back into the car. I ordered all new gaskets, knock sensors, knock sensor harness, plugs, plug wires, balancer, balancer bolt, ARP intake bolts, Stage 8 header bolts, ARP water pump bolts, ARP thermostat housing bolts, cam position sensor, injectors, harness, and a few other misc items. I'm also getting the headers coated at polydyn located here in Houston. It's crazy how fast all the little stuff adds up.

Fast forward to last weekend. Between school and work the amount of free time I have is very limited. I painted the motor, and reassembled some of it. Put new knock sensors and harness, oil pressure sensor, cam position sensor, map sensor, plugs, wires, gaskets, and injectors. Pushing to have the motor installed by next weekend.




[/QUOTE]

westxwitesnake05

iTrader: (17)

Lookin good man. Keep it up!

Southtexasplayn

iTrader: (2)

Update! Completely forgot about this thread. A lot has changed since the last update. Long story short, I got the car painted, running, and driving with the ls1.

Took it on a two hour road trip to my tuner.






Took it to get it tuned. Spit out right at 340 on a mustang dyno.

Then I picked up a set of Dark Stars for cheap.





I then got rid of the z06 reps and dark stars and bought some Weld RTS. 17x4 up front and 15x10 in the rear with a 275/60 Mickey Thompson drag radial. I ditched the 4l60e for a used stock t56. I finished off the syncros in that one, so I bought a built t56. I went ahead and did a Mcleod rst clutch, tick master cylinder, mgw shifter, Mcleod safety bell housing, and tick speed bleeder. I put strange single adjustable shocks in the rear along with stock springs. I also put stock springs in the front. It was miserable driving the car before. The UMI torque arm mount would hit every little bump. I ordered abs delete and line lock, but haven't had the time to install it. I also installed a new rack and pinion with new outer tie rod ends.

I took it to the track for the first time. My first pass ever down the track I ran a 14.1 letting off really early (nervous about the car not falling apart lol). I got a best of 12.8 at 109 with a 1.9 60' spinning all through first. I didn't get the tires hot enough, due to lack of burn out experience (hence the line lock). I'm hoping I can get a 1.7 60' out of it and push the car into the low 12s.





Lift was taken, so I was using the frame machine to work on it.


Loaded up for a trip to Austin.


Good photo by Mexico Racing League.


At Hennessy in Sealy, TX.


Jay Chapman Photography here in H-town do a photo shoot of it.







My personal favorite,



Thennnnnn....



Dont mind my phat ***.



To spill the beans on the motor. Its a fully forged 6.0 with ported/ polished ls3 heads. For now I'm going to run it N/A. I'll add the nitrous stuff after TX2K.

My buddy sold me his complete nitrous setup. The plate is a Nitrous Outlet 102mm dual stage with big shot solenoids. I also got his c6 specific stand alone fuel system and a bunch of other Nitrous Outlet goodies.

I just bolted the plate up in this picture. I cant run it on this intake. I plan on painting the ls3 intake Sonic blue. I also picked up some Kooks 1 7/8" headers.




Picked up a fast 92mm throttle body.


Picture of the stand alone.


I ended up trading this for a complete CTS-V brake setup. It wouldn't work on my car anyways. These things are HUGE. Uses 14" c6z rotors.


After sitting for several months while I saved my pennies I got the car back to the shop. Ripped the front end and engine bay apart in order to repaint everything. I started smoothing the engine bay. Worst idea ever, but will be worth it in the end (I hate body work). I also got the engine almost ready to go into the car. I'm doing the 411 pcm swap, so I'm basically redoing much of the harness. I'm going to take the extra time to relocate a few things.

Car is filthy from sitting for so long.


Front end/ engine bay disassembled.


This is a major pain in the ***, but I think it'l pay off in the end. I'm relocating the coolant over flow and battery. Well this leaves a major hole in the apron. I decided to fill it. I started by making a simple cardboard template.


Then, I took an old Camry door and cut the pattern out.


Welded it up. This is as far as I got, before I decided I had enough of this and called it a day. :fool:


Next project was to paint the LS3 intake. I sanded the tops smooth. Next came primer.


Then paint.


Picture of the motor almost complete.


Oh I got my new plates in. (Houston Stock)

Southtexasplayn

iTrader: (2)

Cont'd

Pitbull waiting for its new heart.



I bought a Trick flow coolant crossover. Once I started mocking it up, I realized I didn't like it. Therefore, I bought a Nitrous Outlet crossover from a buddy of mine. Well I start to assemble it and realize I don't like the placement/ looks of it.

Originally the distribution block is located on the passenger side. Its kinda busy on that side due to the pcv lines, catch can, and throttle cable bracket.



Then I had this bright idea to move it to the drivers side. In order to do this, I had to basically scrap the Nitrous outlet lines and build my own using the Trick flow kit.



I then had to take care of the pcv lines. The valve covers I had didn't have a bung in them. Since I dont own a tig welder I just bought a bulk head fitting. I then covered the hoses with some split braided loom. Really cleans up the look.





My next big problem is figuring out how to mount a throttle cable bracket. The ls3 doesn't have a mount for one because the ls3 never came with a drive by cable throttle body.



I also started redoing much of the harness. I'm rerouting many of the wires just to clean up the overall look. I figured I would hate doing this but it was actually quite fun. I guess I enjoy wiring. I finished it up with some braided loom.



You can hardly see the injector wires. They kinda blend in with the steam lines.



I picked up some 65lb FAST injectors for cheap. These are the ls3 style so I don't have to run spacers on my fuel rails.



My new wheels should ship out this week. I'm getting impatient as I want to install these bad boys.



I upgraded my tool box. Its used and not my first choice of color, but I couldn't pass up the deal.



My favorite drawer...PARTS DRAWER!!!



Thats how the car sits today. Hopefully I'll make a lot more progress in the next couple of weeks. I'm going to make a big push to make TX2K15, but realistically I don't see it happening. Sorry for the crappy pictures, not sure what is up with my phone.

This all happened over the course of a year or so. I'm a college student, so my budget isn't that big. I've learned how to do as much as I can myself to save money on labor. My goal is to make a 10 second pass before I turn 20 years old. I don't think I'm that far off with this setup.

Tipnitty

iTrader: (3)

Sexy. I'm wanting that wheels set up so bad.