LS1 Swap

[Emulsifide]

The fuel tank is up!! Here it is before it went in the hole:



Of course, I couldn't go with just a stock fuel pump. In the tank is a Racetronix fuel pump and attached to it is their upgraded power harness.

For the time being, I've decided not to waste my time making new fuel and evap lines. I had a guy ship me a set of nearly new lines, but he had to bend them up to get them into a box. Thankfully, none of the lines he bent up had any hard kinks in them, so I was able to straighten them out pretty easily. The evap, fuel, and new stainless brake lines were mounted onto the car a few weeks ago. Tonight I was able to hook them all up in the rear:



I also flared the front of the line and attached it to my Wilwood proportion valve:



I'm not sure I like the way SJM bent the front lines. I might redo them and make the proportion valve sit behind the shock tower hump underneath the brake booster. Regardless, the rear brake line is finished!!

Might I also add, the Mastercool flaring tool is by far the best damn flaring tool I've ever had the privilege of using/owning. Here's my first inverted 45 degree double flare:



Perfect every time. It's impossible to screw it up.

That's about all I could get done in the two hours I had to work on the car tonight. I need to start working on the rear end (axle) shortly. I plan on cleaning the nasty thing, welding on the lower control arm relocation brackets, and then painting the whole thing with POR 15. That will probably be tomorrow's project.

[esoteric18]

Jeese lol amazing work so far. This is my bible for when I finally get my 408 fully assembled aswell as all the other work needed.

[Gottork]

[MP81]

Sweet build!!

[Emulsifide]

Thanks guys!

So I got a neat little box in the mail from Jegs, the only place that had the damn thing in stock:





Lots of little parts (96 to be exact). Per rocker, you get two complete needle bearings, a lighter (and assuming stronger) trunion, two c-clips, and a Fuller Metric YFS 12.9 hardness shorter than stock rocker bolt.

I was pretty worried about putting these things together because you do need a press of some sort (I returned the press I bought from Harbor Freight during the PowerDyne project). Thankfully, the previous person that owned my house was an avid car guy as well and left behind a big honkin vice.

Removing the old trunions was a matter of finding the proper size sockets to use in the vice (7/8" and 13mm). The same goes for installing the new trunions (3/4" and 16mm). Here's a picture of the new trunion pressed in:



After a couple of hours (I tried to be super careful), I ended up with this:



Upgrade complete! Now for the snag of the night.......

The new YFS bolts are hex head and I don't have any hex head sockets to use with my torque wrench to install the rockers!!! Gah!! At least it's a good excuse for me to buy more tools tomorrow.

That's it for tonight. I didn't get anywhere with the rear end yet due to feeling a bit under the weather the past 24 hours. Tomorrow, the engine will FINALLY be completely buttoned up.

[ktl711]

You're gettin' there, man! This is gonna be sweet!

[Gottork]

loving it, keep up the good work

[MP81]

Thanks guys!

So I got a neat little box in the mail from Jegs, the only place that had the damn thing in stock:





Lots of little parts (96 to be exact). Per rocker, you get two complete needle bearings, a lighter (and assuming stronger) trunion, two c-clips, and a Fuller Metric YFS 12.9 hardness shorter than stock rocker bolt.

I was pretty worried about putting these things together because you do need a press of some sort (I returned the press I bought from Harbor Freight during the PowerDyne project). Thankfully, the previous person that owned my house was an avid car guy as well and left behind a big honkin vice.

Removing the old trunions was a matter of finding the proper size sockets to use in the vice (7/8" and 13mm). The same goes for installing the new trunions (3/4" and 16mm). Here's a picture of the new trunion pressed in:



After a couple of hours (I tried to be super careful), I ended up with this:



Upgrade complete! Now for the snag of the night.......

The new YFS bolts are hex head and I don't have any hex head sockets to use with my torque wrench to install the rockers!!! Gah!! At least it's a good excuse for me to buy more tools tomorrow.

That's it for tonight. I didn't get anywhere with the rear end yet due to feeling a bit under the weather the past 24 hours. Tomorrow, the engine will FINALLY be completely buttoned up.

I have a set you could borrow, if you don't want to buy them.

[Emulsifide]

I have a set you could borrow, if you don't want to buy them.

Thanks Kyle, but I LOVE buying tools. lol. If I can't find what I need, I'll let you know.

[MP81]

All right - and I agree with the buying tools part, it's awesome!

[Emulsifide]

Update:

Started with this:



After washing it FIVE times including twice with acid to etch it for the POR15 treatment, I finally ended up with this:



Tomorrow I can finish up the rear brake lines and then start dropping the rear suspension into the car.

[ktl711]

Beauty, eh!

[Gottork]

Thats awesome!!!! I am kicking myself for not POR15 the bottom, but will be glad none the less to redo it completely in a few years

[Emulsifide]

Good update!!

First, I finished the rear end brake lines. Screw GM for using standard inverted double flares on the T junction and then metric bubble flares on the hose ends:



Holy crap!!! It's starting to look like a car again!!!





We've got Strano springs, J&M rear control arms, Koni yellows, Russel stainless steel brake lines, ws6store.com slotted/dimpled black rotors, and Herron Performance bump stops.

Nothing is tightened down, but that's ok. I still have to source some decent rear calipers and then paint them. I also still have to install the rear control arm relocation brackets, but I can't do that until the car has a full weight load in it and it's on the ground.

At this point, I need to finish up moving the proportion valve for the rear to be a little more hidden in the engine bay and then I need to fabricate a plate to cover the hole in the firewall where the clutch master cylinder used to go through.

Those are the only two things I need to do before I can drop the engine in!!! I'm shooting for drop in to be this weekend at the latest....

[ktl711]

Lookin' great! The first test drive is just around the corner!