Another V8 Swap

[DustinS]

Well some not so good news. Went for tuning this past weekend. Ran into a few issues that the tuner was able to sort out, but largest issue being the car wasn't liking timing. On what I consider to be decent 91 (never had issues with any other cars) the car knocks even at only 15 degrees WOT, I am also seeing quite a bit of tip in knock and transient knock. Going to run this tank out and change to see if it was a bad tank of fuel as well as mess with the exhaust a bit to see if it's false knock from exhaust hitting (which I don't think it is).

Next step is to double check the crank trigger has been installed correctly on the crank. We ran into an issue with crank position throwing a CEL even after learning the crank position a couple times. This code was turned off from the beginning and tuner turned it back on. This was causing issues with Power Enrichment enabling and not sure if that got fixed, or just turned back off.

[wooly35]

That motor is cursed! Time to trade it in for a 427. lol

[spitsnaugle]

Originally Posted by DustinS

@Zero

Got the tunnel cut. I took a video instead just pictures, but I will toss some pictures I stole from the video until video is finished.

Used Grinder with cut off wheel to make the side cuts, and dremel to make the top cut. Bent it down and used dremel to cut the opposite side top from back side.

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Cleaned it up, hammered everything down and painted it (not cleaned or painted here)

Just went to install my driveshaft, car is ready to hit the road other than that, and found this exact same obstacle. Ugh.

[DustinS]

Car goes on the dyno tonight to further the tune and get numbers. Hopefully we figure out the knocking.

[DustinS]

[ame="http://youtu.be/SA728dNIJYw"]http://youtu.be/SA728dNIJYw[/ame]

[toast]

Ha! So I guess things got sorted out...

[DustinS]

Originally Posted by toast

Ha! So I guess things got sorted out...

He messed with timing and fueling to get it around the knock at peak torque. Still not convinced the reluctor wheel is on the crank correctly as final timing was around 17 degrees (if I remember correctly) before it didn't really make any difference in power and would be more prone to knock.

He said with e85 he could probably pull the torque up another 10wtq but I am not sure the car needs any more torque haha.

He said that is about where he expected the car to be from the street tuning with the factory LS7 manifolds on the car. So Either custom longtubes or wait for Vorshlag to get theirs re-released.

I was told I wasn't allowed to buy an intake manifold for the car as the owner of the shop was going to build one for me to hopefully make a set of custom ITBs. We will see what happens there.

Also trying to cure my RPM dependent vibration with some new pressure plate bolts. No idea if that's actually the issue or not, but I hope it is just so it's an easy replacement.

[DustinS]

Not much going on other than driving it. Coolant leak is getting worst as it goes. I try not to drive it as it's gotten colder, oil pressure sits at 5psi for a good 5-10 seconds due to how thick the oil is (Even in the 30'sF). Transmission is getting noticeably low on oil from the leak I can't find. Slowly getting the garage ready to be able to use it. The cold weather has kind of halted that progress.

I have mentioned some weird expensive AWD plans using a R35 transaxle and front diff, but I think I have found a solution that may work for cheaper and I think I am going to progress towards it. (or at least collect parts for it)

- Fuel Cell in trunk - Gets rid of current fuel starvation issues with the stock tank and frees up tons of room.

- Remote mount a transfer case where the factory tank would be

- TCase I have been looking at will require a custom adapter to run a driveshaft input. More research needed.

- Double CV joint driveshafts between transmission and TCase then TCase to Rear diff

- Custom 2 piece driveshaft between TCase and Front diff that hopefully allows enough movement to clear steering shaft (Room in the Chassis and the steering shaft are my biggest concerns so far)

- Requires me running that tiny Bride fixed back seat and cutting drivers side tunnel to clear front driveshaft.

- Either run the AWD LS pan which is a tiny bit too tall and will require slight modification to the front subframe, or custom clearance the GTO pan for the transfer shaft for passenger side front axle. Though I suspect a full custom tube subframe will be required.

- TBSS 4.10 Front diff. Correct gearing and can be built with a upgraded LSD. Also built to mound directly to the LS AWD Oil pan.

- WRX/STI front uprights or figure out if I can modify the front hub to accept an axle.

- Custom Axles (Maybe modified WRX front axles?)

- Twin Turbo the car because AWD.

[MCTeeJ]

Originally Posted by DustinS

Not much going on other than driving it. Coolant leak is getting worst as it goes. I try not to drive it as it's gotten colder, oil pressure sits at 5psi for a good 5-10 seconds due to how thick the oil is (Even in the 30'sF). Transmission is getting noticeably low on oil from the leak I can't find. Slowly getting the garage ready to be able to use it. The cold weather has kind of halted that progress.

I have mentioned some weird expensive AWD plans using a R35 transaxle and front diff, but I think I have found a solution that may work for cheaper and I think I am going to progress towards it. (or at least collect parts for it)

- Fuel Cell in trunk - Gets rid of current fuel starvation issues with the stock tank and frees up tons of room.

- Remote mount a transfer case where the factory tank would be

- TCase I have been looking at will require a custom adapter to run a driveshaft input. More research needed.

- Double CV joint driveshafts between transmission and TCase then TCase to Rear diff

- Custom 2 piece driveshaft between TCase and Front diff that hopefully allows enough movement to clear steering shaft (Room in the Chassis and the steering shaft are my biggest concerns so far)

- Requires me running that tiny Bride fixed back seat and cutting drivers side tunnel to clear front driveshaft.

- Either run the AWD LS pan which is a tiny bit too tall and will require slight modification to the front subframe, or custom clearance the GTO pan for the transfer shaft for passenger side front axle. Though I suspect a full custom tube subframe will be required.

- TBSS 4.10 Front diff. Correct gearing and can be built with a upgraded LSD. Also built to mound directly to the LS AWD Oil pan.

- WRX/STI front uprights or figure out if I can modify the front hub to accept an axle.

- Custom Axles (Maybe modified WRX front axles?)

- Twin Turbo the car because AWD.

Holy shit!

[DustinS]

Super simple Illustration



TCase



Inspiration for angled driveshafts:



Another Possible option... Instead of exhaust clearance, use it for a driveshaft tunnel. Definitely need a good driveshaft loop though.







Also looking at the TSS Fab front subframe to buy and modify.



Edit: Sent an inquiry over to Parts Shop max about a possible front hub with splines for an axle. Hope to hear back soon.

Engine height might become an issue as well, but I am going to do my best to work around it. I need to raise my car a tad as well anyway as my current oil pan has marks from hitting speedbumps.

Some dimensions:

Current



AWD



Possibility of just modifying the one I currently have.

Diff Mounted to oil pan:



Parts Shop Max got back to me and said they couldn't do the 5x114.3 hubs with provision for axle but found out another way to go about it. So that is somewhat easy.

[Zer0]

I like where your head is at. I thought about this using a ppg sequential gearbox for a gtr with a bell housing for my V8

[DustinS]

Didn't have any luck at the junkyard last night. Though my friend brought up another set of vehicles that may have a TCase that could be useful. More research and I am going back tonight to see if they have one for me.

My only issue still stands with the input to the TCase. Due to being a normally supported shaft input. I am running around the idea of cutting a groove into the input sleeve and using a cv joint w/ splines with a C-Clip. Need to run this idea around a few people. I am not sure it can handle the weight/forces of being unsupported.

[Swift]

Funny how much we think alike on certain things. I have that same oil pan pic from the trailblazer, but for...drumroll...longitudinal mounted front wheel drive with diff mounted on side. long story short, i like challenges and may provide more reliable horsepower per dollar in my other ride.

[DustinS]

Not much of an update, but vibrations in the car have been getting worst. I have one starting at 45mph now, and the one at 2500 RPM is getting really bad. Still waiting for some good enough weather to get room made in the garage to get the engine/transmission out. Plan is to replace the oil pump, radiator, and possibly the clutch kit. If it looks alright, I'll have the current one balanced. Have the transmission gone through and checked to make sure the vibration isn't coming from the trans, as well as try and figure out the leak.

Wife bought me a 3d Printer for Christmas so I have been playing with that. Designed some 1 7/8" mockup parts to design my own header. Need to print a crap ton of them so I have enough to mock up the headers haha. Hopefully finish those up before spring time.





Had to change the design from what the rendering shows to what the blue parts are. Made the locating marks larger and easier to see. I also made the snap system a little easier to remove as I broke the original two trying to take them apart. Have those 4, printing another 8 currently. Should be done by the time I get off work.

I plan on making some fiberglass molds to make a better intake box and some covers for the grill. In the future I want to see if I can design some flares and print it in pieces to use as a mold.

Got the renderings of a new set of LS3 ITBs my old boss is making as well. Not sure it will fit under the hood, but we will just have to see.