Another V8 Swap

[DustinS]

Back to thinking about fuel cells and side exit exhaust:





Spare tire well is ~7" tall. Which doesn't leave a ton of wiggle room. Though not having to deal with an exhaust helps.

[DustinS]

Pulled a rod cap. Going to grab some plastigage and check clearances on the rod bearing and a main bearing tonight.

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by DustinS

Back to thinking about fuel cells and side exit exhaust:





Spare tire well is ~7" tall. Which doesn't leave a ton of wiggle room. Though not having to deal with an exhaust helps.

UGH, I hate to admit it but a finished side exit would look pretty cool. Top it off with a functional rear diffuser for the missing exhaust....

[DustinS]

Originally Posted by Summerwolf

UGH, I hate to admit it but a finished side exit would look pretty cool. Top it off with a functional rear diffuser for the missing exhaust....

That was the plan.

Depending on what the rest of the bearing look like. I may be re-evaluating the directing of the car. I have a 2j and a K20 in the garage. Leaning towards K20 as the 2J is a heavy iron block and I am missing just about everything for it.

Nothing with the LS3 has been right since the beginning and it's really starting to get to me. Constantly putting money into a car that I originally put way too much money into so I wouldn't have these issues is getting extremely stressful.

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by DustinS

That was the plan.

Depending on what the rest of the bearing look like. I may be re-evaluating the directing of the car. I have a 2j and a K20 in the garage. Leaning towards K20 as the 2J is a heavy iron block and I am missing just about everything for it.

Nothing with the LS3 has been right since the beginning and it's really starting to get to me. Constantly putting money into a car that I originally put way too much money into so I wouldn't have these issues is getting extremely stressful.

Yeah, but.... spintech makes a 90 degree outlet muffler that would work well with side exit and those sound alright with a cammed ls.....

[DustinS]

Double checked clearances with some plastigage and found they were all within spec. So I torqued everything back up and I am just going to run it.

Took the crank pulley off and instantly noticed I had an issue. New Fluidampr was significantly longer. I soon realized my mistake - Ordering a pulley for an LS3 instead of a CTS-V. Already started the exchange process with Summit, hopefully get that back soon.

Started taking off the front cover to replace the oil pump only to run into an issue with the garbage stainless hardware TSP uses. Stripped out without any major pressure. So trying to figure the best way to extract a stainless button head bolt. Will replace with ARP hardware.

[Zer0]

If the head stripped Craftsman made a set of socket type extractors that were made to cut into the head, and grab the fastener. If you end up having to drill the bolt low speed high pressure otherwise stainless likes to burn up bits, and anything else trying to cut into it. Heat doesn't travel well in stainless so it stays concentrated where your working and builds up.

[DustinS]

I ended up cutting a slot in the heads with an angle grinder, heating it up with a torch, and hitting it with an impact driver and it came out. Replacing with some ARP bolts with anti seize.

Got the crank scraper/windage tray and oil filter relocation kit in today.





*Filter Mount Picture coming soon*

Once the front cover was off I noticed something weird...



Seems the woodruff key moved while I was installing the front pulley and split, Embedding itself into the lower timing sprocket/Crank Pulley. I am surprised it didn't cause any other damage. Will be replacing the woodruff key.

Without key:







I also made a decent change. Switched from the Fluidampr to the ATI. Talking to a local builder and they think it is a worth while change.

[Zer0]

Nice progress, glad you got that bolt out.

[DustinS]

Got a decent amount done last night. Crank Scraper and windage tray (which needed a bit of work to fit with the Sikky Pan.









Got the oil pump installed properly by taking the cover off and aligning the gears/casing to the crank with feeler gauges. Also got a new woodruff key.



Oil Pickup Brace installed along with a new O-Ring



Got the oil pan on. Hardest part is a low clearance area next to the oil fitting. I think this button head (slathered in anti-seize) should do well here. Just waiting on clutch and crank pulley and can start installing it.

[DustinS]

Got the shipping notification for the crank pulley. That will be here tomorrow.

Got to work on the car for a bit and knocked out the radiator mounting.











I have a feeling it will need to move upwards on the brackets once the engine is in, but that is simple enough. I was going to use rivnuts, but having a hard time getting them set because I can't get my tool in completely. I also only have m6 rivnuts. I think I am going to weld an m8 nut on the back side of the brackets once I have the location finalized.

[DustinS]

Nice updates today. ATI Balancer came in yesterday. Only issue being it requires a Torx Plus bit to assemble, which is quite difficult to get ahold of apparently. Ordered one on amazon and will be here Friday along with some ARP assembly lube. Local Oreillys stocks a full (expensive) set at the warehouse so I was able to get it today. Got all the fluids while I was there.



Clutch came back and they definitely had to make some changes. Hopefully they were correct.

[Axis2011KR]

Originally Posted by DustinS

What was the reasoning behind swapping radiators were you still dealing with heat issues? You were on the FBM and 1328cfm's before right? Or did you just feel like running a VMount style setup for other reasons?

[DustinS]

Originally Posted by Axis2011KR

What was the reasoning behind swapping radiators were you still dealing with heat issues? You were on the FBM and 1328cfm's before right? Or did you just feel like running a VMount style setup for other reasons?

Full Blown Radiator was leaking. I was using factory fans and had 0 cooling issues with the setup. I just wanted a slightly shorter radiator.