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Info on the led's ? brand? was a relay needed? etc.
I used this guide for the DRL LEDs https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-f...ete-guide.html
Theres no need for a relay but you do need to swap out your turn signal flasher to an LED capable flasher. I only did the DRLs cause the incandescent bulbs get really hot and ruin the housings otherwise, and just wanted some whiter fog lights.
Well just thought I'd update this since it's been a while. Last year I had the trans replaced with a FLT level 4 4l60e and changed the converter at the same time, went with a yank PT4000 this time around. Later in the year I had the car retuned also by Larry at ASSC in Antioch IL..was still having stalling problems after 2 tunes so I broke down and took it to Larry and he FINALLY got it right. When I got the car back after a dyno session and a few WOT rips to get the shift points right I noticed the valve train was a ltitle louder than it was before, so I changed the oil thinking maybe the oil thinned out or had some fuel in it..and i put some lucas oil stabilizer in it to quiet it down..which didn't really change anything. Well fast forward to this spring, first few times I had the car out I decided to hammer on it and did a quick 1st to 2nd gear pull, and drove it the rest of the way to my destination and shut it off for like 10 minutes maybe. When I fired it back up and drove off I noticed a fairly loud ticking at low RPM (1000-2000 rpm) driving through the parking lot that wasn't there prior to the drive. Well drove it around a little more and realized it wasn't going away so I changed the oil again and put some more lucas **** in there again with no change. drain plug looked clean, nothing in the oil or the filter, pulled the valve cover on the passenger side where the noise was coming from, no broken valve springs or loose or damaged rockers, so I figured it must be a lifter on the way out. Now a couple years ago I had them replaced with delphi LS7 lifters which I now know have terrible reviews for failing. SO I made the decision to pull the intake and heads to see what I've got..and of course..everything looked ok aside from some very faint lines on one cam lobe which i can't even feel with my finger or finger nail, but all lifters appeared to be in good shape..so I'm hoping it was a check ball or something internal causing the lifter to bleed down when the oil warmed up (was quiet when cold).
This was the one cam lobe that had 2 lines on it...talked to a few guys that have built many many LS engines and they said it's fine to run..so im leaving it alone.
The intake was nasty as hell inside which I've heard is kinda normal, so I cleaned it out with simple green and brake clean..which reminds me I need a catch can.
SO I decided since I was already this far into the project I might as well get some different heads for it...so I hemmed and hawed over aftermarket vs ported GM castings and decided to order some PRC as cast 225s with the standard 62cc chamber and .660 PAC springs. Just got head gaskets and johnson 2110 lifters delivered as well as a comp trunnion kit, already installed on rockers and sitting on the work bench waiting. The project is on hold for now until I get the cylinder heads..texas speed said theyre about 4 weeks out..should hopefully get them at the end of the month or early June. Will be keeping the LS6 intake for now and upgrading injectors, waiting to hear back from Larry on which injector to go with. Hoping the stock fuel pump will supply enough..at this power level..we'll see.
cant go wrong with a racetronixs fuel pump and hotwire kit....jus sayin
perfect time for a LS6 valley cover install too !!!
yeah i might just order the pump and hotwire kit and do it in the meantime while i wait...as far as the LS6 valley cover goes..whats the benefit of it even? And dont you have to notch the block for it to fit?
Wow, looks like a lot of things have happened with the car over the last year. Unfortunately, this often seems to be the way that it goes...trying to fix one thing just snowballs into another, and before you know it anything resembling a budget is long gone and the whole setup is redone. LOL. I've been "talking" about doing a new engine in my Nova for 13 years now, but I keep putting it off for this exact reason. I know the project will get away from me, and the "might as wells" will end up stretching out for...well, I don't even want to think about how long. Haha.
Anyway, sounds like you've got a handle on it now, and it should be a great setup when done. Not to add more to your shopping list, but the new setup would probably noticeably benefit from an intake upgrade, especially if you're going to address the fuel system. At that point, intake/TB would become the next low hanging fruit.
You still working in my area? I've been out of touch with some of the guys in our group last year since the shows were shut down, but we had some nice little events on my block over the summer. One of my neighbors has a friend with an LSX454 Procharged suburban, and another with a built C5. They were around a lot, plus my friend with the 455ci Cutlass and a couple of others. Looks like the show circuit is starting up again this year, but we're probably still going to have occasional gatherings here in the neighborhood if you're ever around with the car.
So originally I planned on just taking it somewhere to replace the lifters and do heads, intake, injectors, pump etc..which was going to come out to roughly $7-8k..and of the 3 shops I called only speed inc got back to me with a quote..but wouldn't be able to get my car in until mid June which I didn't want to wait for so I just decided to do it myself and save money on labor at the same time. And of course once i had it stripped down I decided i did NOT want to do this again anytime soon lol..so i called up Larry from ASSC to see if he would be able to get me in for a tune if I were to change heads and injectors and he got me on his schedule so I pulled the trigger and bought heads for it. Of course because of COVID everything has extended shipping times and a bunch of **** is out of stock or on back order, so I have to wait a few more weeks for the heads. I thought about changing the intake also but I figured the car would be basically undriveable with new heads AND new intake and throttle body, and I really don't want to have to tow the thing 35 miles to his shop..if i leave stock injectors in it with the new heads he said it will be fine to drive to his shop and in the meantime while I wait for the tune. The intake is no big deal to pull off, so I can do that at a later time if I decide to.
But yeah I still work for the fire department, haven't been down your street lately though..ironically enough I've made friends with a bunch of Lincolnwood area guys, we hang out at the Dunkin Donuts on Devon/Crawford on nice nights, bunch of guys bring their cars out. You probably know of one of the guys who grew up at the house on the corner of Pratt and Nokomis, had a 93 cobra and a Buick T-type.
the ls6 valley cover re-routes/ relocates the pcv system. instead of pulling from the valve covers it has a port on the valley cover as well as an oil separator built into the underside of the cover. getting the air from the valve covers can have an impact on oil consumption so moving it to the valley helps reduce it. Depending on your year though there is a minor mod to the block that is required here is a link to the walk through includeing part numbers cause somethings will have to be plugged.
But yeah I still work for the fire department, haven't been down your street lately though..ironically enough I've made friends with a bunch of Lincolnwood area guys, we hang out at the Dunkin Donuts on Devon/Crawford on nice nights, bunch of guys bring their cars out. You probably know of one of the guys who grew up at the house on the corner of Pratt and Nokomis, had a 93 cobra and a Buick T-type.
Yeah, I think the guy with the Cobra & T-type is named Javi? I seem to remember him moving just across the street on the Skokie side, I would see him around the area once in a while before we moved. He was a friend of a friend so I never knew him too well, but I definitely recognize his cars - I think the plate on the Cobra used to say something like "snake bite"...but that's going back 20+ years, no idea if he still has that. My wife works for Skokie and her parents still live there, so we're in that area pretty often.
I remember the Dunkin Donuts spot being a big deal like 5+ years back, but I didn't know it was still a thing. Good to hear. Actually I still go to an accountant that works at the H&R Block in that same lot.
You're always welcome to come down my way for a visit if you're looking for something to do.
Yeah, I think the guy with the Cobra & T-type is named Javi? I seem to remember him moving just across the street on the Skokie side, I would see him around the area once in a while before we moved. He was a friend of a friend so I never knew him too well, but I definitely recognize his cars - I think the plate on the Cobra used to say something like "snake bite"...but that's going back 20+ years, no idea if he still has that. My wife works for Skokie and her parents still live there, so we're in that area pretty often.
I remember the Dunkin Donuts spot being a big deal like 5+ years back, but I didn't know it was still a thing. Good to hear. Actually I still go to an accountant that works at the H&R Block in that same lot.
You're always welcome to come down my way for a visit if you're looking for something to do.
Yeah those guys have been hanging out there for a while, theres usually always a few people that show up around 9pm on any nice night. The guy with the cobra and t-type is named Hrach, or at least thats what i know him as lol..he said he sold hoth cars but has a different fox body now i think. But yeah once i get my car up and running again ill have to swing by, shoot me a PM with your number.
Finished up the project, got my cylinder heads finally after waiting a month, went with PRC as cast 225 heads with 62cc chambers, same BTR stage 3 cam, johnson 2110 lifters, comp trunnion upgrade, 7.450 pushrods, new head gaskets, intake gaskets and exhaust gaskets etc...injectors are at the shop where its getting tuned and will be swapped prior to the tune.
This was the first start, lifters were a little noisy for the first minute or so then quieted down. I'm super happy with how quiet the valve train is.
^ Car should be quick! I look forward to hearing it in person.
I've been hitting Mt. Prospect every week, except this last Saturday because of the rain delay, I've only had the Nova there once this year but not the Camaro yet. Hoping to get the Camaro out for one or possibly two events this week, Thursday and/or Saturday, depending on weather. We haven't done any neighborhood "shows" this year, but a couple of the guys have shown up randomly.
^ Car should be quick! I look forward to hearing it in person.
I've been hitting Mt. Prospect every week, except this last Saturday because of the rain delay, I've only had the Nova there once this year but not the Camaro yet. Hoping to get the Camaro out for one or possibly two events this week, Thursday and/or Saturday, depending on weather. We haven't done any neighborhood "shows" this year, but a couple of the guys have shown up randomly.
Yeah hoping to get the car back tomorrow or friday from ASSC, we'll see what it made compared to the last time it was on the dyno. I went over to MP last saturday for 20 minutes or so, only a handful of cars were there though. Is the car show in your neighborhood just an informal thing on your street or something?
Yeah hoping to get the car back tomorrow or friday from ASSC, we'll see what it made compared to the last time it was on the dyno. I went over to MP last saturday for 20 minutes or so, only a handful of cars were there though. Is the car show in your neighborhood just an informal thing on your street or something?
I was at MP the Saturday before, with the Nova, and I would have been there again this last Saturday but I didn't think anybody would show due to the rain. So instead I went to look at a C5 at a dealer in Bensenville. I didn't buy it though, just not the right car. But I'm definitely looking to add one more car to the collection.
There is a relatively new event on Thursdays, at Harlem & Foster. I haven't gone to it yet, but some friends reminded me about it earlier this year. I think it started about 2-3 years ago but I completely forgot about it. I often have Thursday night free so I was thinking about checking it out, maybe this week if the weather holds up.
The neighborhood "show" was really just an accidental sort of thing that ended up happening a few times. My neighbor across the street has a couple of friends with LSx vehicles, they came around for several parties last summer so I invited a couple of my local car friends as well. Nothing formal, nothing really planned, it just sort of worked out because most of the other events were cancelled and everyone was looking for something to do. Harder to make this happen now because many of the regular events are back up and running, so everybody just goes there. But I'm certainly not opposed to getting a few of us together again if there is interest at some point.
Well this has been one **** show of a year for this car. Started with lifter ticking problems in march, so replaced the lifters, bought new PRC heads while I was at it and got it all back together in june, got it tuned. Car drove pretty well aside from a weird starting issue when cold, was never really able to diagnose it but I'm thinking it was just something in the tune. Drove the car for all of maybe 500 miles from mid june through august, then the rear end started howling bad, turned out to be a pinion bearing that was on its way out..kicked around the idea of buying either an S60 or ford 8.8, but didn't want to wait months for it to be shipped..so I had a buddy that still had his low mile 3 channel 3.42 10 bolt out of his Z28 that he swapped for a 9" so i bought that off him and tossed it in..so after a couple weeks being down from that it was back on the road. Then literally a day later after getting the rear end in and all buttoned back up I had the car out and did a 1st to 2nd gear rip on the street and as I was decelerating I started hearing a ticking sound AGAIN..sounded like lifters or top end noise. Tried changing the oil, adding some marvel mystery oil...no change. Only made noise once warmed up, otherwise silent when first started and cold still and it always maintained good oil pressure 60 when cold and 40 hot. So I checked the rockers, none were loose, pulled the pushrods, none were bent. Cut the filter open and found a bunch of **** inside, tons of glitter and bits of what looked like bearing material...GREAT. So that basically spelled the end of season for this car. Car sat for a couple months before I decided to pull the motor...So here's where I'm at now.
What is most frustrating is I haven't found the source of the metal shavings and glitter yet..tore it down to the short block, pulled lifters and cam out, cam bearings look ok, nothing that would cause the metal in the oil, lifters and cam lobes/journals all look good, took apart the lifters and cleaned them up, found nothing inside that looked abnormal. The only thing I found so far is there's 4 intake valves showing wear on the tips (pictured below). When checking the rockers and pushrods months ago to see if anything was loose or bent I found a few spongy lifters like they had minimal oil in them (less than an hour after driving it)...so the only thing i can think of is there was some oiling issue where certain lifters weren't getting enough oil pressure to fill them and pump oil up to the pushrods and to the rockers causing excessive wear on the valve tips. So i'll have to address that before putting these heads back on. Haven't pulled any of the rod caps yet..doesn't really matter anyway since I'm not reusing this short block. An aluminum 383 from Thompson Motorsports is on order, and sould be here in a month or so hopefully, so the plan is to reuse my old BTR stage 3 cam, Johnson lifters, and PRC 225 heads, once it's running and broken in, I'll find a FAST 92 and put it on before getting it tuned. Long road ahead still, but should be done by spring/summer fingers crossed.
Sorry to hear about all the troubles, it really sucks that you haven't been able to get a full on-season without the car being down for something. Do you think the earlier ticking that led to the top end build could have been something with the bottom end all along? Odd that it would have been OK for the last ~500 miles on the new stuff though, maybe it's just two unrelated bouts of bad luck. Plus the rear end failure inbetween. Damn. This car has not been nice to you, but your luck is due to change! On the upside, it should make great power & torque with the new setup. It's going to be a blast to drive when it's done.
On a side note, we never ended up doing any neighborhood "shows" last season. I think everybody wanted to get back out to the old spots. I did find a new location in Addison on Sunday's that was a good show, and it ran until the end of October so it's nice to have a place that doesn't wrap up so early like most of the other events. It's on Lake St. by Addison Rd. Good lot, good location.
Sorry to hear about all the troubles, it really sucks that you haven't been able to get a full on-season without the car being down for something. Do you think the earlier ticking that led to the top end build could have been something with the bottom end all along? Odd that it would have been OK for the last ~500 miles on the new stuff though, maybe it's just two unrelated bouts of bad luck. Plus the rear end failure inbetween. Damn. This car has not been nice to you, but your luck is due to change! On the upside, it should make great power & torque with the new setup. It's going to be a blast to drive when it's done.
On a side note, we never ended up doing any neighborhood "shows" last season. I think everybody wanted to get back out to the old spots. I did find a new location in Addison on Sunday's that was a good show, and it ran until the end of October so it's nice to have a place that doesn't wrap up so early like most of the other events. It's on Lake St. by Addison Rd. Good lot, good location.
I still had the old filter from before i changed the heads and lifters the 1st time so i cut it open and found the same glitter in the oil..so something either clogged the lifters or had a low oil pressure issue to the top end. Although it never showed low oil pressure on the gauge, but i dont necessarily trust the factory gauge which is why this time around i'll be installing a mechanical gauge in the car and tap into the oil filter housing. Luckily the cam is still good and the lifters dont show any major wear..a couple mars on a few of the rollers but i cant feel it with my finger nail so they should be good. Also took all of them apart and they all look good inside..so thats $600 that i shouldnt have to spend again thankfully.
As far as shows go, i didnt mske it out to many this year aside from Sycamore in July, and our usual hangout at rand red hots in Des Plaines..they have a show there every tuesday through october even into november if the weather is nice..you should come out to that one..pretty good turnout usually.
I still had the old filter from before i changed the heads and lifters the 1st time so i cut it open and found the same glitter in the oil..so something either clogged the lifters or had a low oil pressure issue to the top end. Although it never showed low oil pressure on the gauge, but i dont necessarily trust the factory gauge which is why this time around i'll be installing a mechanical gauge in the car and tap into the oil filter housing. Luckily the cam is still good and the lifters dont show any major wear..a couple mars on a few of the rollers but i cant feel it with my finger nail so they should be good. Also took all of them apart and they all look good inside..so thats $600 that i shouldnt have to spend again thankfully.
As far as shows go, i didnt mske it out to many this year aside from Sycamore in July, and our usual hangout at rand red hots in Des Plaines..they have a show there every tuesday through october even into november if the weather is nice..you should come out to that one..pretty good turnout usually.
So it's a good thing you're doing a whole new bottom end now, something was obviously going on even if the OP gauge wasn't indicating the typical signs of a main bearing issue. Overall pressure usually seems to read a bit lower on a mechanical gauge (tapped where you plan), so you might notice this when you get everything buttoned back up. But then you might be using a different oil pump as well, so more than one variable there. Good to hear that the top end stuff wasn't damaged.
Rand Red Hots is such an easy drive for me, I feel bad about not going but I'm always so busy on Tuesday nights. I should try to shift things around in my schedule and go to this show. Several guys from my Mt. Prospect group go there pretty often, they are always trying to get me to come. Most of them have older stuff, but you might know Phil. He has a silver '85 Monte SS with a turbo 5.3L, but then also a '72 Chevelle in Yellow/black stripes with an EFI 468ci. We actually went to high school together in the early/mid '90s, he's had that '72 Chevelle since way back then.
Got the short block a few months ago, sent the heads back to texas speed where they replaced all the valves, after reading a bunch about rocker arms i decided to buy TSP 1.72 roller rockers to limit valve tip wear and guide wear. Using the same BTR cam 231/242 .617/.593 112lsa which should be slightly more lift with 1.72 rockers. Dissassembled all of the lifters and cleaned them out with solvent and didnt find anything wrong with them, reassembled them and put them in. Measured and ordered 7.275 pushrods from BTR, put it all together and primed it using a garden sprayer..should be going back in the car soon.
Bought a couple gauges and drilled a hole in the firewall today before dropping the new engine in, got the gauges mounted and wires ran for wide band and mechanical oil pressure gauge. Going to start the process of putting the engine back in tomorrow.
12-23-2019, 07:30 AM
