Another V8 Swap

[all4spl]

How's this thing going Dustin? Did you have some free time this weekend?

[DustinS]

Edit: This post is all over the place. I apologize. I am also going to point out the Fan Relay wiring better later.

Decent update for today. Unfortunately I had a birthday party on Saturday, and Graduation party on Sunday, both of which interfered with progress.

Got all but my Ignition wire ran and installed. I ran the Battery, Ignition, Fan Relay, and reverse light wires back through the factory firewall grommet. Used one of the battery points in the fuse box for batter power. Used the factory Fan relays to control the fans.



Using the factory Relays is kind of a pain. The factory uses Three Relays to run the two fans. Fan relay one runs Primary Fan, Fan Relay Two Grounds the second Fan, and fan relay three controls positive side of second fan. So I removed Fan relay two and attached the main wires together to allow ground to second fan at all times. This allows GM ECU to control Fan Relay 1 as Primary Fan, and Fan relay 3 as secondary fan.

Was pulling the Alternator off to paint the bracket and somehow the alternator took a tumble. It felt like someone shoved it out of my hand once I got the last bolt undone.



Got the Throttle body, Waterpump, and Alternator bracket painted.







Got the positive wire to starter hooked up, which factory wire works perfect.



Fuel Pump Power wire. I just cut the pump off the controller. Grounded the ground wire, and attached the power wire. I did notice the area behind the interior panels in the back get FILTHY. I also ran into the issue of wrapping the wire around the seat belt somehow, so I had to remove that.





Alternator wire. The lugs I got were too large to fit in the factory fuse box, so I attached the new wire at the end of the factory one and may have over taped it... I plan to route it through frame at the bottom front of the car, so I wanted to make sure it wouldn't rub through. I am adding edge trim to the edges as well, so Should be perfectly fine.



I also removed the stock alternator plug. I moved the two unused wires into the fuse box, and routed the "L" wire back into the cabin and attached it to the GM ECU "L" wire for the factory gauge cluster.

Got the Vacuum hose on the FPR, I need to get a better set-up, but this will work for now.





Got the Clutch Master fixed up. There is almost no room for the lid, but it works. Drilled out the factory clevis, welded a nut the correct thread pitch on it, and used another as a jam nut. It is adjusted all the way out until I find out where I need to set it. Will get a picture today.



Engine is starting to look complete (and good).



On to exhaust work... A GIANT Pain. I Figured I could get a bend that was tight enough to clear the steering shaft, I thought wrong. Ended up tacking a bend on the end, and working to get a piece to fit in it.

This is what I came out with:



and a sort of plug/patch. I was still working on it at this point.



That was until I checked to make sure that it was good before welding it up...

It was SUPER close to steering shaft. So I bent it to where it needed to be, and where it would clear the steering shaft and gave enough room for brake lines...



That is pretty much where I stopped. I was able to take a half day today. So at noon I am headed home to get back to work haha.

Still not sure how to go about the ignition wire for the GM ECU. I need/want to find a good source in the fuse box, and most likely use a relay to get a bigger power wire hooked up. That is the only thing stopping me from starting it at this point. Well that and no radiator hooked up, but still working on mounting. Waiting on Drift Bar, hoping it gets shipped this week. Really wanting to get the car Driving by next week. Can Bus device was said to be shipped out end of last week, but I have a feeling it may go out this week as I got no tracking info, not a big deal.

[ILLSMOQ]

Is that some kind of crinkle paint? Coming together buddy!

[all4spl]

Thanks for the updates! Looking good so far. I think the C6 headers will be ideal for this build. Sorry you had to go through all of that mess!

[DustinS]

Originally Posted by ILLSMOQ

Is that some kind of crinkle paint? Coming together buddy!

Yes. Wrinkle Black. Not sure I like it on the accessories. I think just a satin black would have been better. Too late now though. Looks great when applied to valve covers.

[all4spl]

Originally Posted by ILLSMOQ

Is that some kind of crinkle paint? Coming together buddy!

Should be "wrinkle black"

[ILLSMOQ]

Originally Posted by DustinS

Yes. Wrinkle Black. Not sure I like it on the accessories. I think just a satin black would have been better. Too late now though. Looks great when applied to valve covers.

I like the finish is it a high temp?

...and yeah I think satin wrinkle would look better than the flat black. You could hit with a satin black top coat.

[all4spl]

No it's not very high temp. It's decent but I had it on my corvette valve covers and its flaking off.

[DustinS]

Yeah it holds up decent for a bit of time. Hoping all the heat wrap on exhuast, and a vented hood will help it last a bit longer.

Got more work done yesterday, though It really doesn't look like it. The exhaust took a long time. I though I had it perfect, and it turned out it hit the steering shaft -_- So I had to modify it and needed a flange. No One in town had a good priced flange, so I had to order some. Anyway on to the few pictures I took. Worked on the car from 12 until almost 8:30

Made a new exhaust plug, Fit pretty well with very little mods:





Clearance at the steering shaft and Brake Lines. 3" would be crazy close. Not sure how much the engine is going to move (I assume very little) but that may be an issue.





Got the belt on. So to delete power steering you need the extra ribbed pulley and it needs a spacer and bushing. Spacer moves it away from engine to align with the belt, and the bushing centers the pulley on the bolt. I wasn't looking forward to making that up. Turns out the CTS-V Drive kit I bought puts a Smooth Pulley in the place I needed my ribbed one. Had the bushing in it from the factory. Tapped it out with a hammer and a 1/2 extension and tapped it into the ribbed pulley. For the spacer I used two washers. Super simple and very solid. No A/C for now as I need to find out what to do with the Dip Stick. The A/C Compressor bracket hits the dip stick and I can only imagine the compressor does as well.



Can see the Chipped pulley on the alternator, I smoothed the metal where it broke off to stop any wear on the belt. It is only temporary until the new pulley comes in.



Radiator mounting... Ended up being a lot more simple for the time being. I wasn't expecting the bash bar anytime soon as they are made to order. So I just made a simple mount till it comes in. I got notified of a package coming in from Kentucky tomorrow, not sure if it is the drift armor bar or not. No info on who it's from.



I used my Spencer Fabrications relocation brackets as the top mount, much easier than making my own.





Poor Dark Photo. Passenger side a/c condenser seems to stick out further than driver side, but I am not worried. I may raise the top a bit anyway.

Car is super close. Waiting on the rest of the exhaust parts so I finish that up. Need to get the coolant hoses routed. Depending on what local auto parts store has, I may get that done today. My Plan is to get the car back to DD Status by Monday.

[Dialkyl]

Cherry limeaide?

Also, this is looking great, seems like everything you're doing is requiring some creative engineering to get working. Always fun to see your solutions.

[DustinS]

Originally Posted by Dialkyl

Cherry limeaide?

Also, this is looking great, seems like everything you're doing is requiring some creative engineering to get working. Always fun to see your solutions.

Chocolate Vanilla Dr. Pepper...

and Thank You!

[NOHOME]

Is the amount of belt wrap around the water pump going to be enough to not slip? Asking because I may have to design a serpentine system for my project and have no guidelines for stuff like this.

As to crinkle paint, I love the stuff until it collects all the grease and grime in the folds. Hard to clean.

[DustinS]

Originally Posted by NOHOME

Is the amount of belt wrap around the water pump going to be enough to not slip? Asking because I may have to design a serpentine system for my project and have no guidelines for stuff like this.

As to crinkle paint, I love the stuff until it collects all the grease and grime in the folds. Hard to clean.

Yes it is. This is not an uncommon configuration for swaps or cars that don't need power steering.

Yeah I am hoping it stays decently clean. I think a satin black would have been a much better choice.

[ILLSMOQ]

Damn! You're moving on this thing!! Super close!