It's been six months since an update, so I figured I'd check in.

I made bits and pieces of progress over the summer.

• The new PS rack is bolted to the new K-member.
• I decided to get a truck starter (with its longer bolts) and 145A alternator with overdrive pulley.
• The LS3 is dressed with its new throttle body, accessories, flywheel and clutch.
• I bought a set of new engine mounts, replaced the inserts with poly from Energy Suspension, and bolted them up to the block.
• The T56 is almost bolted up, but I was having trouble getting the twin clutch plates to align just right with the cheap plastic alignment tool.

At about that point, my house air conditioner failed, and suddenly I was down $5k. Then some other home stuff came up, and the total deficit was closer to 10k. So anyway, the project got put on hold for a bit.

Around the same time, after 14 years at my job, I got fed up and started looking. At the end of October, I started a new job with a ~50% raise. Bonus: I now work from home, so I get to see my kids more and I don't have to commute (saving time and gas money). As I write this we're almost back out of the money hole, and I'll soon be placing an order for a few more bits and pieces:

• A metal clutch alignment tool to get the precise alignment I need
• Dewitt HP radiator -- I plan to get the automatic transmission version and plumb the trans cooler as an oil cooler. Dewitts said this will work.
• Tick clutch master
• Something to plumb my steam ports
• A larger MAF and a coupler to connect it to my throttle body
• Improved Racing oil thermostat
• Oil pressure sensor adapter (it's in a different location on the LS3)
• Serpentine belt w/ correct length

In addition, I've traded the LS1 w/ stock K-member along with my stock 10-bolt, torque arm, and driveshaft. Arriving shortly in trade will be a Moser 12-bolt with 3.73 gears, the correct torque arm (from BMR), and a driveshaft.

I'm not sure how long it will take me to find the time to get everything done, but I'm optimistic that I'll have the car on the road again in 2020 and I can't wait!

 

Time for another update:

The Moser came. Turns out it's 4.10, not 3.73. Seller was misinformed.

I ordered a set of Strano SP4000 hub adapters and Corvette X-Tracker hubs, plus ARP wheel studs and Gorilla forged lug nuts. I'm no longer worried about losing a wheel on the road course.

I got the metal clutch alignment tool. It didn't help -- twin-disc clutches are great, but they make it incredibly difficult to align the trans input shaft so that it will drop in that last half-inch. My new Tick MC has arrived; my current plan is to remove the factory clutch hydraulics, hook them up to the trans OUT of the car, and use them to disengage the clutch. That should give me some wiggle room which will let the trans line up. The last time I pulled and reinstalled the trans, that was what I did -- get it mostly in, then hook up the hydraulics, and use the pedal to disengage to let me get it in that last little bit. With the engine and trans out of the car, that's more difficult, but now that I have to remove the clutch hydraulics anyway, I think I have a solution. Hopefully it works!

The Dewitt radiator has been ordered, but it's not here yet. I decided to go with an external oil cooler, so I didn't get the automatic version.

I ordered this Chevrolet Performance coolant crossover pipe: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12694769. The rear steam ports on LS3 heads are plugged from the factory. My first instinct was to remove the plugs and plumb all four, but I did some research and found that doing so reduces the pressure in the coolant passages, which in turn hinders proper cooling; it's better just to plumb the front one on each head and leave the rears plugged. Just make sure the front of the engine isn't lower than the rear.

I haven't ordered the MAF and coupler yet. Still figuring that out.

I got the correct length serpentine belt, and the entire accessory drive is assembled and good to go.

I installed the Racetronix fuel pump. I did cut a trapdoor; I'm a little worried that this pump isn't quite enough, and I wanted to minimize that risk by making it easy to change again. I still need to make a nice door and seal it up.

I picked up a set of nice seats and harnesses for cheap. They're black leather that matches the car nicely. They're not exactly what I would have wanted, but they were cheap, they're better than factory, and it's a step in the right direction.

Next steps:
1. Get the trans fully mated.
2. Install the Racetronix fuel pump hotwire kit.
3. Get the wiring harness back on the engine, with adapters for the LS3 locations of the oil pressure sensor and knock sensors.
4. Put the engine on the K-member.
5. Mount the headers.
6. Move brake lines to new K. Might be bending and flaring new lines as part of this.
7. Put engine back in car.
8. Put Moser in car.
9. Get everything hooked back up.
10. Tune it.
11. Align it.

There's a ton of bits and pieces I glossed over, mostly in step 9. It's going to be a lot of work, but it's going to be so worth it! I'm also going to be adding a few strategic pieces of dynamat (actually a cheap off-brand) to quell some road noise in the doors, rear wheel wells, and the flat shelf area between the rear wheels.

 

Any updates on the project at all? Very interesting to read

 

Sure, here's another update:

My friend Dan has been coming over once a week to help me make steady progress. He just bought a new house, and it has a garage building that needs tons of work. I'll be returning the favor by helping out with that, but we're doing the car first.

The radiator came -- it looks REALLY nice:


I decided to sell my Pro 5.0 shifter and replace it with the new one from Tick (supposed to be even better than the MGW, which is generally agreed to be better than my Pro 5.0), paired with a fifth-gen ZL1-style shift **** and boot from Hawks. Unfortunately, the sticks aren't compatible, so I'm going to need some custom machine work. My calipers say there's enough room on the Tick stick (left) to turn down the threaded and get the target radius of the stick on the right. Then just need to machine the flat and drill and tap the hole. So it's a pretty simple job; I just need to find someone with the equipment to do it.

Turns out the transmission mating issue wasn't one of clutch alignment, but a pilot bearing issue. Gen4 LS engines use a different pilot bearing. So we pulled the old pilot (a bit of a trick -- the puller tool I rented from AutoZone wasn't up to the task!), pressed in a new one from Tick. The steel clutch alignment tool was a PERFECT installation device! Just a few smacks with the BFH to drive it in.

Here's the contraption we put together to pull it out:


Using the alignment tool to pound it in:


Reinstalled the ACT 15lb flywheel and McLeod RST clutch:


Trans installed, all the way this time!



I've mounted my Improved Racing oil cooler adapter, my starter, and my knock sensors, then test-fit with the headers to make sure everything clears with lots of room. The AN lines and fittings for the oil cooler are on order, as well as the oil cooler itself -- an Improved Racing MHX-245. When the lines and fittings get here, I'll have to pop that header off and remove the adapter to get the fittings attached. I sprung for Aeroquip StartLite lines, which are among the lightest AN-style lines available. I'm trying to remove as much weight from the front of the car as I can reasonably do, and hanging two quarts of oil off the front isn't exactly helping, so I figured I'd do what I could to minimize the loss.

Test-fitting with the new headers!

 

Looking good. Keep at it ! ! !

 

I hit the ten-picture limit with the previous post, so I'm splitting it in two:

Next, we started looking at the Racetronix fuel pump hotwire kit. The connectors don't match up with what's at the top of my pump, and the kit came with zero instructions. I've done some research and I think I need one more adapter cable. Need to compare photos to be sure, and then I'll order that.

During test-fitting, I found interference between my dipstick tube and one of the header studs. I swapped that one stud out for a bolt; problem solved. I'm considering whether I want to modify the dipstick tube bracket instead so I can run full studs.



I also found that the plastic splash guard between the starter and the block comes extremely close to one of my header primaries. Some people told me to just remove it, but I'm thinking of trimming it down so it doesn't protrude as much away from the side of the block instead.


I have a few odds and ends on order. The steam vent pipe didn't come with bolts, so I had to order those. The new engine didn't come with a coolant temp sensor, and I sent my old one away with the LS1, so I had to order that. Ditto for the bolt that holds the dipstick tube to the block and the bolts for the knock sensor ground straps (part of the Racetronix LS1->LS2 knock sensor adapter harness). I also needed a plug for the oil galley port on the drivers side front of the block. The new starter only came with one bolt, and I sent my stock starter and its bolts away with the LS1 as well, so I had to order a set of starter bolts, too. I'm sure I could have gone to one of the local fastener supply shops and picked up most of those, but COVID, so finding stuff online FTW. I'll have a few extra pieces, and maybe spent a few extra bucks, but I didn't have to leave the house.

Our next move will be to remove the stock radiator and then do our best to clean the engine bay. It's been sitting for a pretty long time!


My six-year-old daughter thinks that the engine bay is a great place to hang out. She says hi!

 

Update: I've had to skip the last two Thursdays, which is a shame, because it's getting cold quickly here in Michigan.

However, there has been some progress anyway. All of those bits and pieces I ordered have arrived, and also I happened across some information that led me to realize that the guy who built the engine for me used the wrong cam sprocket. He used the OEM LS3 sprocket, which is a "4x" design.

There are four kinds of cam sprockets for LS engines:

(taken from https://www.lingenfelter.com/PDFdown...nformation.pdf)

My LS1 had D. My LS3 has B. I need C.

So, I ordered the correct sprocket. Now I "get to" disassemble the entire front accessory drive, pull the balancer, remove the timing cover, swap the gears, and put it all back together again.

I'm pretty sure I can get the cam sprocket out of the chain without removing the oil pump, so that's good at least.

 

Last Thursday, the guy who comes over to help me hit a deer on the way here, but I spent some time on my own. Got the front accessory drive disassembled, determined that the pullers I have won't work for the ATI damper, and confirmed that I would not be able to just swing the timing cover to the side without removing the damper. I didn't expect that to work, but worth a shot. While disassembling, I inadvertently damaged the pulley on the AC tensioner.

For tonight: I now have the ATI puller tool, which cost way too much money (almost $200). I also have a new Gates AC tensioner from RockAuto. The plan is to get the pulley off, swap the gear, and get the accessories mounted again. I'm still waiting on some of the AN bits and pieces I ordered to plumb the oil cooler. That's holding up further work on the engine itself, which means we can focus on the engine bay. We're going to get it cleaned up, remove the stock radiator, and install the new Dewitts radiator. If there's still time, maybe we'll mount the oil cooler, too.

 

Welp. Got the pulley and timing cover removed, only to discover that, despite the photos I was sent, the engine already had a 1x cam gear.

It's all put back together now, but that's all we had time for.

More progress next time.

 

Well what happened?

 

Wow, it has been waaaaaay too long since I updated this thread!

My schedule has been insanely busy for the past three years, so I've gotten very little done. But, I got laid off in May, and it took me eight weeks to find and start a new job. I spent a lot of those eight weeks working on the car!

I'm now pleased to report some progress:

• The motor is in the car!
• Also installed now are the cooling system, the air conditioning system, the Tick master cylinder, the UMI road-race K-member, the Kooks headers, the TurnOne PS pump, the new PS rack,
• With the motor in the car, there's a lot more open space in my little garage. 🎉

Stuff I'm working on now:

• In order to mount a throttle cable, I need to relocate the MAP sensor. I have some stuff on the way for that, but I also need a place to mount the sensor. At the same time, I have my EVAP solenoid just zip-tied to a fuel rail, and I hate how janky that is. I've been teaching myself CAD, and I'm designing a bracket that will accommodate both items cleanly. The design is nearly done; just need to wait for some of the MAP relocation hardware to get here so I can take some measurements and then adjust accordingly. Once that's done, I'll send the design out to one of the many manufacturing services (e.g. SendCutSend, but there are >10 options and I need to evaluate them).
• I bought a Tick shifter, and I also bought a more modern-style stick/boot/**** kit. Unfortunately, the Tick shifter stick and the new **** are not compatible, so I need to design a new stick and have that fabricated too. I have that design mostly done as well.
• I am also figuring out the lid-MAF-throttle airway. I have it mostly worked out, but despite what other people's pictures show, my 100mm MAF will not slide into the opening at the back of my Fast Toys 104mm lid, and the accordion-style bellows between the MAF and the throttle just barely has enough flex in it to aim up to the lid opening anyway, which means it'll be at the end of its range of motion already when it has to deal with vibrations from the road and the engine. Not good! I'm probably going to get rid of the bellows and get a smooth elbow. Haven't decided on the lid-to-MAF situation yet, but probably a silicone coupler there as well.
• Buttoning up all the connections (wiring, vacuum, cooling, HVAC, steering...) and getting the PCM back in its home.

Remaining to-do items:

• Build a new front-right brake hard line.
• Press out all my old wheel studs and install the fancy new ones I bought from Strano
• Reinstall front suspension & brakes.
• Install Kooks Y-pipe
• Assemble and install new (to me) 12-bolt with new brakes, LCAs, and swaybars.
• Fill and bleed all fluids
• Start it, figure out and fix whatever I missed
• Measure for and order a new driveshaft
• Add a lid to my fuel pump trap door and put the interior back together.
• Tune it (I bought an HPTuners MPVI3 and a couple credits and plan to teach myself to tune)
• Shakedown testing and fine-tuning
• Align it
• Drive it!!!

And then, probably, find out I need better tires and spend even more money! 💸💸💸

 

Thank you for the detailed description of what you have gone through with this "swap"

I have been considering something similar and this has helped me decide.

Thanks, Ted Platt

 

Another update:

I've got the throttle and intake figured out, I think. Waiting for parts to arrive; will share when that's confirmed. I also finalized my steam vent-to-radiator plumbing.

Yesterday, I hammered out the old studs on the Moser 12-bolt, then found that there's not enough room to get the new longer studs (ARP 100-7708) in. That meant I needed to remove the C clips and slide the axles out a bit. So, I positioned the rear end with the cover facing up (so no fluid comes out), pop the cover off (great smell), remove the locking pin and the main pin, and then try to push the axles in so I can remove the clips. The first one wouldn't go by hand. I smacked it with a big rubber hammer a couple times -- no good. I smacked it with a 3lb BFH -- nothing. I put a big C-clamp on it. Still nothing. So, off to Google I go. At first, everything I'm finding says that I'm doing the right stuff, until I remember that it's a Moser and add that to my search. Turns out the Moser 12-bolt doesn't use C-clips -- they use a press-fit bearing just behind the flange. Okay, fine. I unbolt a bit of hardware near the flange, get out my slide hammer, and pretty quickly have the axle removed. I put the studs in the holes loose, then put the axle back in its place (just took a few hammer hits on the flange). Then I used the impact+lugnut trick to "press" the studs into the flange. (I actually tried using an air hammer first, but I have a relatively weak air compressor and was unable to make this work.)
In the process of doing the passenger side, I discovered that if you remove the wheel speed sensor (it's a 4-channel / traction control car), you can insert the studs through that hole; no need to pull axles or anything. So I did the studs on the driver side much more quickly and with a lot less work! There was one trick to this: I filed a small flat spot on the side of the wheel speed sensor so that it would slide out easily. I took pictures of this which I'll post later.

I wasn't sure if I had 4.10 (41-tooth ring gear / 10-tooth pinion) or 4.11 (37/9) gears and was curious. With the cover off, I was able to count ring and pinion gear teeth. It's 41/10. Mildly disappointing, as fewer teeth -> larger teeth -> stronger, but I'm not worried about it. I was also able to confirm the presence of an Eaton (spring-style) LSD.

Since I had the cover off, I realized I'd have to scrape off the sealing surfaces and re-apply fresh RTV. The Moser is used, and there's a bit of rust on the polished diff cover. After failing to remove it with a mild abrasive wheel, I decided to spring for an aluminum stud-girdle-style cover. After cleaning both surfaces, I lightly reinstalled the original cover just to keep debris out while I wait for it to arrive. Once it's here, the axle will be ready to install. I'm probably going to pressure wash the outside once it's properly sealed up, just to remove some road grime and get it looking nice. (BTW, I ended up flipping it over and draining the fluid to make sure I didn't accidentally leave any dried-up RTV in there -- so now I need to grab three quarts of 80w90. I already have a bottle of friction modifier.)

 

Cool! Did I help you decide to do it, or not to do it? And what is "something similar"?

 

Got a bunch of stuff done this week:

• The throttle cable bracket stuff came, but it didn't fit -- the bracket interfered with the throttle lever/cable guide part. So I ordered and installed a different bracket and adjusted the throttle cable. It's close to where I want it, but the adjustment is maxed out. I think there might be a small bit of dead travel at the top of the pedal. We'll see if it's a problem. I had to cut away part of the LS3 intake's beauty cover (which I'm told is there for sound deadening) to accommodate the bracket. I would have removed the whole cover, but with the engine in the car, that'd be a lot more work than a few minutes of cutting with my oscillating saw. Right now I'm prioritizing getting the car running.
• Un-relocated the MAP sensor, as the new bracket does not require that modification.
• Installed the aluminum diff cover
• Pressure-washed the axle housing
• Discovered that I need tone rings for the rear wheel speed sensors, as the 12-bolt didn't come with any. I've ordered a couple. When they arrive, I will need to remove the axles, have the axle bearings pressed off, the tone rings pressed on, then the axle bearings put back in place.
• Found the original front-right brake line. I thought I had sent it away with the LS1 and K-member! Now I don't have to build a custom line. Kinda wish I had found it before I put the engine in; snaking it into place is going to be "fun."
• Mounted my UMI torque arm (the rear of the arm is just hanging there, held up by a jack stand)
• Reinstalled the PCM and restored all of the harness routing and connections in that general area.
• Installed my Tick shifter.
• Added a Metripak 280 connector on the custom wiring for my passenger window hotwire setup, which will simplify future engine removal if that's ever a thing again. (I hope not!)
• Bought a battery and the gear oil.

I am suuuuper close to being able to turn the car on, at which point I can read the tune from the PCM and get started in HPTuners. I'll also be able to verify fuel pressure and lots of other stuff. Should be within a week!