SS Camaro - Track trips, build pics etc.

[goat67]

If you have an old laptop and XP software that is what I would do.

[01SSRedA4]

Started with the transmission, pressure washed it, and painted it. You cant see in this pic but the 1/8 NPT temp bung is welded in. I put a little rtv on both sides of the gasket before i laid the pan on.



I also installed a new output shaft seal and test fit the new DS yoke.



The gauge came with a red light cover which i had to light up and try out.



This is a Nelson 60e to 80e conversion harness. You can see it has the wiring for the extra speed sensor that the 4l80s have.



Pushrods came in, so I installed those, torqued the rockers down, installed new valve cover gaskets. The pushrods were an ebay score, new without box, about $70, they are Manley brand. After that I decided lets do something a little more fun......So I got out the air grinder...



The ring is 4.25", this is a 3.5" pipe. I think it looks fine, but most people I talk to think it would look better 4".....



These pics with flash make the car look filthy, of course some of this hasnt seen the light of day since the car was new. Working under the hood I removed the fuel lines in the engine bay, and removed the ABS delete that was install (linelock and proportioning valve), and removed the master cylinder and brake booster off the firewall. It will be replaced with a Strange manual master and a couple of new short lines that dont run around to the front of the strut tower.



Pulled the battery, battery tray, and coolant jug. There is a little rust under there so I'm gonna clean this up and possibly paint, havent decided yet. This is standing at the driver headlight looking at where the battery sits.



I was looking at coolant expansion tanks and really really liked the Moroso aluminum ones. But not being able to justify the $110 I opted for this Dorman for $9 shipped. I like the fact that I can see the level through it. My initial thinking is since Im running the small battery maybe they can share the space? Here's my brainstorming........this is standing at the passenger fender looking straight down.



Circle D converter shipped yesterday and still more parts on the way.....Thorough engine bay cleaning coming up next!!!

[Weldangrind]

Fancy expansion tanks don't build HP. I like your thinking.

[01SSRedA4]

Got a lot done but only a few pics. First, the converter showed up just like circle D promised. I wanna talk about this converter for a second, as its not listed on their website. Here's a link to it:

http://www.circledspecialties.com/p-...converter.aspx

Chris at circle D spec'd this one to foot brake to around 3500 and should give a nice hard launch for use without a transbrake since I dont have one. When ask for more clarity, here was his response:

Originally Posted by Circle-D

There are 3 common stators for the 258mm core. We assign each of them letters. A, B, and C. We generally use the "A" stator in our bigger cube turbo builds or nitrous builds. It's the tightest of the bunch. The "B" stator has been our go-to for most turbo setups as it has a nice footbrake down low for spooling. The "C" stator is one we generally reserve for PD blown applications.

The "D" stator is a modified "C" stator. We throw it in our CNC and machine the fins for max effort footbrake turbo cars. It works great because of it's high fin count (21) and our custom angles made available by the CNC. It's not on our website, but we have been using it for a while now with great results. It's all a bit confusing, but it's kind of meant to be::secret2:

This converter has the D stator.





It has dual x6 patterns, so it works with virtually any flexplate.



So with the converter here I couldnt wait to get it bolted up. So I started on the motor, I did a front cover seal, then installed the crank pulley. I went ahead and painted the water pump and manifolds black and bolted them on. I also added the motor mounts and plugs (gapped at 22) and wires. Then I lifted the motor up off the engine stand and replaced the rear cover seal and rear main seal. Flexplate bolted up perfect. I mated the trans and motor together and called it a day.



You can refer a few pics up to how dirty under the hood was. Well after some cleaning I realized it wasnt all coming clean and the discoloration that was near the battery tray was pretty bad. I had some Duplicolor engine enamel in red so I took a chance to see if it matched, and it did. Also, I started on a sheet metal tray to go where the battery was to hold the coolant tank and shield the heat that will be coming from the bumper exhaust. You can see a small bracket bolted to the radiator support in this pic that holds the top of the coolant tank. More on that when i finish it. Painted both inner frame rails, battery area, and firewall.

[JerryHawk250]

Nice That converter should let the turbo spool up and launch pretty hard. Man I can see it coming, this is going to cost me lots of money if I keep reading. lol

[BlackBike]

How much will all this cost (yes, not polite to ask but, I'm just a robot on the interweb thingy)

This is the best place to document all this in one location. You will always be able to have eyes on what you got from anywhere!

Paint, you are really making time on this for posting!

[01SSRedA4]

I had the original $5k from the sale of the LS1 and 4l60e. I did a rough tally and I've gone 3500 over that budget I believe. But I should have everything at this point.

[Weldangrind]

I'm interested to hear about how that converter works for you when you try launching it. I'm hopeful that it really will footbrake to 3500.
Super-sano engine bay!

[BlackBike]

[01SSRedA4]

If you refer back to a pic of the battery area, there is a hole in the lower part, and I talked about wanting to make something to cover it. Well i traced the area out of cardboard and made a little sheet metal piece to cover the hole. I also welded a stud to it and the framerail. Here it is just sitting in place.



Bent an aluminum strap to go over the battery and it attaches to the studs i welded on.



Looking from the front...You see the short bracket i made for the top of the coolant tank, and i went ahead and bolted it to the car so i could swap it easily if my recovery tank changes at any point.



Looking from the passenger side.



Got the manual master mounted, pulled the pedals out and redrilled the hole 1" higher on the pedal bracket for more leverage. Not an enjoyable job at all. Also, not in the pic, I did bend up new brake lines but wont attach them yet due to the k member needing to come out one more time. I originally cut the center cowl out with the motor in the car....and i could only go so far back. I may go ahead and finish it now.



Got some stuff in, hotside wrap, fuel line clamps, copper collector gaskets, and a fitted waterpump heater delete.



And here's how she sits currently. Couple of things, i do still have the horns on the framerail, so i will be removing those, and a mysterious vacuum canister in the same area, no clue how i missed that over all these years, that's going away also. I will have a chance to work on it again mid/late week so my plan is, pull the k member back out and mount the engine on it. Then finish removing exhaust heat shields and stock fuel lines from the body, and make my cut by the transmission connector for clearance. If all that goes well I may go ahead and roll the motor and trans under the car and bolt them up.....

[Weldangrind]

That is a wee battery; no need to mount them in the trunk anymore.

[01SSRedA4]

Really no need for a full size battery, the car has no AC, no radio, no power seats, no abs, no daytime running lights, no cruise etc. The electrical demand (in general) is super low. My two electrical hogs are gonna be fuel pumps and fans and thats it.

[01SSRedA4]

First thing i needed to do was remove the master cylinder (after bending new lines) and bench bleed it for final install. This is the contraption I made to cycle the fluid back into the reservoir. It took about 20 full pumps to remove all air bubbles.



Not sure what happened to the oil dipstick bracket but all i had left was a tube with no way to stabilize it. I took a washer, and a small piece of (probably) 3/16th stainless rod, bent it, and welded them together to make a makeshift bracket that attaches to a coil pack bracket bolt.



Dropped the motor on the k member



I originally took the wipers out and cut some of the cowl back (under the windshield). I did the best I could with the engine in the car. It was time consuming and I had to make a bunch of small cuts. Now that the engine is out I wasnt gonna waste the opportunity to complete the cut. My focus was the metal over the engine, and since i kept the plastic cowl cover, i have to leave some metal at the ends to support it. Here is what it looks like after we got through. This will make working on the top and rear of the engine so much easier.



Cut the floorboard for the trans plug and put some red paint on the cuts. Red brake lines never hurt nobody. This is required or you wont be able to plug the trans in.



Here is most of the stuff I removed from the car. The red is the cowl, the black brackets are for fog lights, horns on the left, then you have metal fuel line and metal exhaust shields. I threw this whole pile behind my wife's bushes in the back yard.



A few cuss words and a couple hours later.....

[Weldangrind]

I've never seen the K member out of the car like that; it looks like it would be ideal for transplanting into another project, like an old pickup. It gives me new trouble to get into...
I never thought of using tubing for bench-bleeding a master. I figured the only way was to quickly bend up some tube for that purpose. This is one of the reasons I appreciate forums; I often learn new tricks that never occurred to me.
Nice work on the dipstick bracket! I can't see why you'd ever change it.
Is the cowl structural? If so, would it benefit you to weld a strip of solid rod around the perimeter of your cut? I have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm just trying to learn. I'd hate to see that area start to tear when you launch.

[01SSRedA4]

Figured as i STILL dont have the turbo piping i would move to the rear of the car and get a few things done there. I dropped the fuel tank.......you can see in this pic the excess lines and charcoal canister. Yep you guessed it, thats all going away.



Stock bucket, and it has a Racetronix 255 pump installed. I had to remove the float assembly and transfer it to the dual pump setup. I was able to sell this locally on FB in like 4 hours!



Here's all the extra crap gone and the dual 450s installed. They were actually easier then I figured. This is basically ready to go back in the car.....but ah, not just yet, I've got something up my sleeve.



Here is the new PST forged yoke installed on my old DS, with the 4l60e yoke next to it for reference. Quick little mock up under the car seems its going to fit correctly.



Went to home depot and picked up some screws that I think will work on the fuel line clamps, these should go right through the floor and hold well....but we shall see. Also, I drained the rear diff. That is redline shockproof oil I just put in it so I plan on reusing it since its $$.



Here's where I stopped for the day. I also got the brake pedal rod installed, and adjusted so that I can go ahead and bleed these back brakes. Basically I am going to do a quick 4.10>3.73 gear swap. I had bought a new pinion seal but figured out yesterday I had no cover gasket and I'd like to replace the ring gear bolts, so I ordered those two things. Also, you can see the jack under the trans, the stock crossmember is nowhere close to working, and the rear oil port is almost against the floorpan in the tunnel. Since my cooler has 45 bends on it i ordered some 90s which will help, but Im still gonna have to alter the floor for the rear one and completely fab a crossmember from scratch. Stay tuned.