Doug's Official LS Build thread

Woot!

Ls1 intake for clearance I'm guessing? I have the 5.3 in the work truck and doesn't seem like it would fit a car too good

JRS9C1 wrote:

Ls1 intake for clearance I'm guessing? I have the 5.3 in the work truck and doesn't seem like it would fit a car too good

I'll tell ya. Having seen it in person, it fits wicked good. I was impressed. This thing will be sweet when Doug finishes it up.

This was a VERY quick test fit, just to throw it on there. The TB lines up, so it looks like that will work. I will need to trim the FEAD right where the idler pulley goes and relocate the idler pulley to under the alternator. Hopefully that is all, but it looks like the throttle mech. might interfere with the water pump intake also...I may have to get creative there... This weekend I will do a more serious fit.

This baby clears the lip at the top of the firewall by like 2-3"!


I may try to get the tranny and a stock rolling rear end installed this weekend, as well as some interior BS that needs to be put back together. Starting to look like a complete car!

JRS9C1 wrote:

Ls1 intake for clearance I'm guessing? I have the 5.3 in the work truck and doesn't seem like it would fit a car too good

Believe it or not, the truck intake only hits the lip at the very top of the firewall, where the back of the hood sits, and it is only about an inch too tall. The LS1 intake is MUCH shorter and looks about 100 times better anyway.

There is another cast area next to your water outlet.
I bet you could get a water pump that the outlet comes out the front
I know you dont want to pull it apart but.....

Pooge wrote:

........I will need to trim the FEAD right where the idler pulley goes and relocate the idler pulley to under the alternator.

I didnt get this. Trim why? I'm just trying to follow you here.

sdstick wrote:

There is another cast area next to your water outlet.
I bet you could get a water pump that the outlet comes out the front
I know you dont want to pull it apart but.....

Pooge wrote:

........I will need to trim the FEAD right where the idler pulley goes and relocate the idler pulley to under the alternator.

I didnt get this. Trim why? I'm just trying to follow you here.

Yah, you can use the Camaro water pump, but you have to space it out to match the offset of the pullies from the motor on the truck accessories.

The FEAD is the big cast aluminum (mine is painted black) block that holds the alternator and power steering. You'll notice the picture shows the FEAD has a little nub with a bolt hole in front of where the throttle body goes (The old idler mount). This needs to be trimmed off and the idler pulley relocated. I did a lot of digging and it looks like if you get a longer bolt you can replace the bolt that holds the FEAD to the block just under the alternator and mount the idler there. This weekend will tell for sure though!

Doug

OK thanks. I thought the pully to the left was the idler

Wouldn't it be easier to find a LS1 FEAD, I read that or a GTO 6.0 one would work? But I know u have done your homework.

No Moa wrote:

Wouldn't it be easier to find a LS1 FEAD, I read that or a GTO 6.0 one would work? But I know u have done your homework.

Well it is and isn't easier, seems all the car FEADs sit close to the motor, they are not offset like the truck, so I would have to adjust them to match up with the crank pulley. I would rather get a little creative and avoid having to purchase anything that I don't "Have to". This is a "budget build" after all

I was trying to avoid NEEDING the Ls1 intake so that I would not have to go through all this, but the truck one just didn't fit, so I want to be as creative and money-tight as I can.

Doug

Ah ok, never thought of that the distance or the truck crank pulley. How about chopping the firewall?










LOL KIDDING!!!

I KNOW you have a sawzall...

toomanytoyz wrote:

I KNOW you have a sawzall...

The FEAD was removed and placed on the bench this evening, perhaps the Sawzall will make it's triumphant return tomorrow night.

Well, there was a flurry of work tonight in the garage. My buddy Mike who has his '57 Chevy pickup project here, came over and helped me with a few things, and of course worked on his truck.

Here she is! No injectors installed yet (Need clips), and a longer belt.


Here is the clearance at the water pump inlet, a little thumping was needed. I will eventually upgrade to the '07+ water pump that has the outlet going toward the front rather than up, other than that they are the same. Until I get the newer water pump I wont be able to run cruise control. No biggy.


Here is the clearance after trimming the idler mount off the truck FEAD.


Here is the clearance at the ABS module. I had to slide it over about half and inch, widening out the bolt holes.


Here is the relocated idler with the belt "installed", it is obviously a bit short, I am holding it, instead of it being on the tensioner, but it shows the short clearances of the belts, but IT SHOULD WORK!


Final shot of the undercarriage, the passenger front heat shield is missing. Does anyone have one?


And here is one of my buddy Mike's LT1 that came from one of my parts cars. He painted it up today; A darker silver block with flat black valve covers and timing cover. Waterpump is going to be a bright silver with a red cover, red distributor, and red plug wires. It should look pretty damn sharp!


More to come, going to paint the tranny up silver and hopefully get it installed next weekend. Also going to shoot for getting the stock rear installed so I can build the gut-less one that is in there now.

Doug

The Bellys looking good.
Do me a favor and make sure you lock up tonite .
I'm coming to get those heat sheilds.

Check out my huge bulge!!!!




































Looks like a little side project for me Thanks for the suggestion Brad! The picture does not do justice to just how big the bulge really is.

Pooge wrote:

Check out my huge bulge!!!! The picture does not do justice to just how big the bulge really is.

Are we still talking about the hood.......... or something else.

I hope you are only thinking of the hood, Bill.

Did a little work on the hood tonight! A quick test fit and believe it or not the stock hood would work without insulation! HOWEVER, it is close enough to the alternator that it would not make me comfortable. I went ahead and blazed a hole with the help of a whiz wheel and my trusty SawZall.


I then went ahead and cut out the Eclipse hood bulge and threw it on top of the hood to see what we were looking at... The eclipse hood has a bit more of a natural curve to it, but not by more than 1/4 inch, so I think it can be worked out. The primer on the bulge makes it look a lot worse than it really does. I need to trim the Eclipse cut-out section down a bit as it sits right on the natural hood line of the Impala. A quick trim should solve that and we might be into some welding this weekend!




I think it is going to look a bit different, but I doubt anyone else will have one, and I like that.

Doug

I like it. Now people will think you've got a turbo in there

Sorry Doug
I try to always give my honest opinion. Even if it works, it just looks out of place on that big hood. Maybe hit the scrap yards for some kind of bolt on scoop until you can aford to buy a cowl hood or something. There is a company the makes metal cowl scoops that get welded in. For the amount of metal work involved in grafting that bulg in, it would be just a bit more for a real cowl induction scoop.
http://www.restorationperformance.com/servlet/the-129591/No/Detail

Thanks for the honest opinion Billy, trust me that it looks a LOT better in person. I am still going to give it a shot, it was a spare hood and a quick tack weld this weekend after some trimming will give me a more "honest" idea of what it will look like. If after the tack welding I don't like it I can just zip it off and try something else.

Doug

Here is an updated pic of the bulge after some trimming and a few spot welds. I covered the cleaned weld line in electrical tape and then spray bombed the bulge in black to kind of uniform the hood to give an idea of what it will look like....I'm thinking I am going to go forward with it, hope to weld it all up this weekend and maybe get a coat of bondage on it too.

pics look like hell, too much crap in the air i guess...







Doug

I knew you had a ricer trapped somewhere deep inside of you, Dougie.

I like it. It looks pretty cool Doug.

toomanytoyz wrote:

I knew you had a ricer trapped somewhere deep inside of you, Dougie.

I tried to keep it a secret, but I did have a built 1994 D16Z6 Civic coupe. I still think that generation civic coupe is the best looking little car out there. I painted it myself with a single stage bright blue with heavy flakes.....

Ok, sorry back to the big cars! This weekend should bring the rear end, tranny, and gas tank install.

Doug

Maybe Doug can paint my car for me in his new shop once the quarters get patched

Single stage urathane silver. Then the top dyed black

great! hopefully I can come over and see it this week!

LS conversion harness came today, incredible build quality on it, can't wait to install it!

I have all of Sunday reserved for working on the car, so hopefully we see some serious progress.

Doug

Transmission installed, rear end installed, STOCK DRIVE SHAFT FITS!!!!!

Put the power rails on the Summit seats I snagged from Drew before he sold his car. Also gutted the interior, time for a new carpet I think.

Did I mention the stock drive shaft fits?

Doug

I can't believe the stock driveshaft fits! That's awesome!

Where are the pics???

Thats awesome Doug!

You MAF shipped at 9 am. you should see it tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. This busted ankle is really f'in me up.

No Moa wrote:

Thats awesome Doug!

You MAF shipped at 9 am. you should see it tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. This busted ankle is really f'in me up.

No problem man, thanks for hooking me up. I was telling Crovo today that I have another 6-8 hundred bucks in things I still NEED to buy for the swap, and more than I can count that I WANT, so there was no huge hurry

Doug

Well this update is about 6 months overdue, but life happens, so here you go....

Just as an FYI: The car is now fitted with an H3 oil pan which easily clears the cross member, but sits about a full inch lower than the crossmember, for a DD I would not care for this, but this will be a weekend cruiser, so I can be careful.

What has been done:

-After fit issues with the mounts and oil pan, kit manufacturer has resolved them and the motor is bolted back in
-Carpet was the only weak point in the car, a power washer and some dish soap did absolute wonders, looks brand new
-Al came over this past weekend and helped me bolt the 4.11 rear in the car, so that is all hooked up
-Rear calipers have been replaced with the originals from the 40K mile car with new pads and rotors
-A MINTY set of SS wheels are mounted on the car with good rubber
-All fuel related parts are done minus the aux.power lead for the heavy duty fuel pump


Plans for this weekend (after I finish my taxes):

-drill new holes and bolt up tubular tranny cross member
-Run lead for fuel pump
-bolt up the intake manifold that was taken off to remove the engine again (hopefully for the last time)
-reinstall TQ converter bolts
-reinstall drive shaft
-final boltup of headers
-Put a "T" in the front steamer line under the intake
-move ABS unit over about and inch to clear power steering tank
-Figure out power steering hoses

If there is time:
-install harness
-Bolt up all under hood accessories (power steering, coolant tank, etc)


Trying not to rush myself, but boy is it getting close! I'm planning a half day tomorrow and a half day Sunday at the least.

Doug

First mod day at Doug's place to see it start!

Can't wait to see how this works out for you. I think I'm excited!

Way to go, Doug! Almost there!

I really want to see this thing done!

Then get right to work on the diesel caprice lol.

ok,late update, and as usual, not as far as I wanted to get...

-Power steering is hooked up
-4.11 rear is fully installed
-Rear brakes are stripped, waiting on picking up some wheel studs today to finish bakes tonight
-Intake is on, but not bolted, because we need to cap a bung and pick up a pcv sensor or whatever one that is on the back.
-Aux. power for fuel pump half run

Pathetic I know, but I am down to such simple, time consuming things, that it is hard to keep myself motivated! That and we just got a new puppy, so I am trying to spend as much time with her as I can, training and such.

Doug

Pooge wrote:

.......... That and we just got a new puppy, so I am trying to spend as much time with her as I can, training and such.

Doug

Ya so.....
Dont piss on the wheels....thats easy.
Go take mumma for a walk...again....easy
Fetch....
Bud Light....not so hard, it's opening the fridge thats tough.
It CAN be very challenging to teach it the difference between a 3/8 & 1/2 drive.

What kind of puppy??? Pics????

ok, a couple updates... Seems I only get myself motivated to work on this thing if I think someone else cares if it gets done...LOL...So let me do my updates and you guys can ignore them till something actually interesting gets done in the build.

Last night I got a few things done:

-Installed tank straps on gas tank
-Ran the Racetronix harness
-installed new rear wheels studs
-Resembled brakes and installed SS wheels
-Installed torque converter bolts

Tonight I should have some more time, we will see what kind of trouble I can get into.

Doug

Dudes, I got some serious work done today!

-hooked up tranny lines
-installed cruise control module
-installed coolant tank and wiper tank
-painted PCM cover (will be installing some SS logos on it too)
-installed heater hose (Al talked me into keeping heat)
-installed radiator hoses
-installed fender supports
-installed complete wire harness minus a couple plugs Im still trying to find
-laid out the Blazer console, no good way to install it in the 96 without some work, so I'll likely just install the shifter and deal with a console later

It's looking like I need to pick up a couple small things like a map sensor and antifreeze and I might get lucky and fire this bitch next weekend

A quick link to the engine bay picture I took this afternoon...SO CLOSE!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=7011167&l=40c9eb8079&id=508206315

Doug

Sure does look nice in there!

I can't wait til you hit the key! Nice work!!!

Hooked up the last of the plugs last night, hooked up the starter, and made a list of what else I needed.

This morning I picked up new U-joints, trans pan filter, MAP sensor, and some vacuum caps. Tonight I plan to close off the PCV system and change the u-joints and tranny filter.

Tomorrow: Install headers for good.

Friday/Saturday the o2 sensors will be in along with a couple valve cover breathers to finish off the PCV removal.

I REALLY want to start the car this weekend!

This is proving to be a better indicator of spring then the Farmers Almanac.
Must admit...
When I saw the full page write-up in the Secret Society newsletter, my interest peaked.
Is this car going to Epping this year?

Holy freakin crap. I cant wait to see that thing going.

sdstick wrote:

This is proving to be a better indicator of spring then the Farmers Almanac.
Must admit...
When I saw the full page write-up in the Secret Society newsletter, my interest peaked.
Is this car going to Epping this year?

Yes, plan is to have it running long before then and have all the bugs worked out for the drag day.

Cadet57 wrote:

Holy freakin crap. I cant wait to see that thing going.

You have no idea! I am tired of looking at a beautiful car sitting in my garage knowing it needs work to be on the road when I want to drive it.


Sorry if the updates are boring, but it helps me catalog just how much work and time there is into it. It is getting to be a bit of a nickle/dime ordeal finishing it off.


Another update I forgot: I also dropped the bulge hood and driver mirror off at the paint shop and should have those back in the next week or so.

Doug

What stall is the torque converter?

JRS9C1 wrote:

What stall is the torque converter?

Currently it is whatever is stock on a 2002 Sierra 1500 2WD.... :shrug:

We will see how it does, a T56 swap is planned for next winter, so I'm slushing it up for this year.

Doug

Didn't get to start it, still need to figure out the negative battery terminal, since the car had a custom setup.

Here is how the engine bay looks right now... (BTW, the wiper fluid container is not a structural leaning spot)
Is VERY, VERY dusty.



Because Im trying to make this look as stock as possible, I modified the stock PCM holder to accept the LS PCM



View from out back



Just picked up the hood and mirror, loving the hood bulge better now that it is painted.



Loving taking the time to do all the little stuff, but so antsy to get it started!

Doug

Hey, we've all cracked at least ONE reservoir! lol

Lookin badass, dude!

Even with the silly ricer hood.