Turned the corner.. new engine is in!

So after several months of collecting parts, pulling the old stuff out and getting the new stuff ready, I finally got to install the LS1! Motor is from a 04 GTO with 26k, I'm using the 2pc bell housing and a bunch of Eric's parts. Plan is to go with power steering, hydroboost, and no a/c for now.

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Getting ready to slide her in.. and yes I know the belt routing is off!
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Installed without clutch first to check pilot bearing engagement.
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Added some heat barrier to the drivers side.
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Firewall reinforcement for the clutch master cylinder.
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Auxiliary fuse box in the cruise control case.
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Fuel filter conversion.

Also ran into a problem with my clutch setup.. it seems like the Luk PP I just bought is designed for a 12" clutch and the conversion disc I have from Eric is 11". Also Marc pointed out that he had a clearance problem with his stock Luk clutch and the 2pc bell housing. Does anyone know if the 12" clutch will definitely fit or should I try to return this Luk kit?

Nice work, i really like the aux fuse box in that cruise control unit and the OBDII port location.

Any more info about that extra heatshield you added on the drivers side?

Cant wait to get started on my car but keep getting delays at work.. hopefully ill get home sometime this month!

Dont you just love those hoist rings on the front and rear of the GTO motor? When i picked up my engine i brought all sorts of hardware, hoist straps, chain and shackles with me to figure out how to get it off the pallet. Was surprised to see the two hoist rings to make life easy!

Awesome stuff man! How and what did you use to make the firewall reinforcement?

Thanks for the compliments.. the heat barrier is just two layers of annealed aluminum sheet with fiberglass cloth in between, someone else on the forum had a post about it. For the firewall reinforcement, I just used some 16ga steel and made a bracket, then welded it on and put some seam sealer over top. It still flexes a little on the top portion, I plan to add a separate brace from the top bolt of the MC to the strut tower.

Interesting. I haven't thought about making a bracket for mine yet. I guess I need to huh?

If your firewall isn't cracked and you're using the porsche MC then you might not need it. Mine was cracked pretty badly and I needed the bolt holes moved anyway for my willwood MC.

Looking good.
Also, please check the insertion depth of the drive shaft into the pilot bearing, it looks like it should go in more.

Techno Duck wrote:Any more info about that extra heatshield you added on the drivers side?

As supes6 mentioned.
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948 wrote:Looking good.
Also, please check the insertion depth of the drive shaft into the pilot bearing, it looks like it should go in more.

I agree.

Also, question, about how hot do you all think a drive shaft gets? 200F?

At 200F the DS will elongate by almost 0.1"...

Yeah, I was planning to drop the tranny and adjust the insertion depth then. It looks like I need about 1/4" which seems pretty common.

Does anyone have a picture with the proper insertion depth in the pilot bearing? I may as well get mine right while the tranny and clutch are out.

Arthropraxis wrote:Does anyone have a picture with the proper insertion depth in the pilot bearing? I may as well get mine right while the tranny and clutch are out.

iirc, according to Xschop's drawings, the beginning of the splines should be 0.25" from the face of the PB.

Made some more progress this weekend.. dropped the tranny and tapped my driveshaft forward a bit, I have about 1/8" gap between the pilot bearing and the chamfer where the splines start. Have to reinstall the tranny and drill the new indexing slot in the driveshaft, but I'm going to swap in the N/A 5th gear first.

Also did some work on the hood clearance, shaved a bit from the TB and cut a section from the hood... and it closed! I was amazed, everyone seems to say this is not possible. I've got no spacers and about 1/4" clearance between pan and cross member. I did slot the x-member and slide the engine back a bit but I still have about 1/2" between the head and the hydroboost plate.

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Looks great, I'll have to stop by sometime. I'm planning on taking out my spacers, good to see a few have done it with success.

I think mine would have closed if the throttle body was ground down some more. The hood ribs had to be cut out and .25 in spacers used.

My crossmember is lowered 3/4" and the A arms raised 3/4" via redrilled x member. Xschop's bump steer blocks correct the steering geometry. This gives plenty of hood clearance.

Block of compressed plumber's putty.
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Xschop's bump steer blocks.
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Update - had the first startup this week, after sorting out a few wiring glitches. Just running open headers now (TPC long tubes).. thing is loud! I need to build my Y-pipe and connect the exhaust before doing a longer run.. trying not to scare the neighbors again!

Did some work on the intake today, decided to bite the bullet and cut out the hood latch. See pics below of my new setup. I'm still running with no spacers, the hood closes but seems to touch the intake a bit - not sure yet if this will be a problem. I also ditched the headlight bar and installed the 914 driver's side motor - still need to do the wiring for it but should be easy. And I had to go with manual steering because the power unit was hitting the bottom of the oil pan.

Last thing will probably be the hydroboost install.. which I am kind of dreading for some reason (probably cause I hate working under the dash).


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Looks good, Man. Congrats on the first startup! I had to open up the hole in the hood support a little more than my initial pictures, further forward to where it bends out to the latch mounting area. I see your clutch bleeder and heater routing, all looks great. Oil filter location is nice and I like your fittings at the pan. But I don't see a cooler, are you running without one? What's your plan for hood pins?

Rich

Thanks Rich.. yes I am running without a cooler for now, didn't think it would be needed for a street car. I may add one in the future. I'm going to experiment with either a dual cable latch setup or inverted hood pins that I can access through the IC slot.. if neither of those work I will just go with the aero catches.

Nice, good luck with the latches. If you decide to go with the Aero Catch setup, I bought a set of locking ones that I've not used. Brand new in box if ya want 'em... make ya a deal...

Rich

Getting closer.. almost done with the hydroboost installation. I'm using the prop. valve that came with the mustang HB, along with the 2 pressure lines which I've modified. For the high pressure line from pump to HB, I cut the metal tube on the stock line and installed a 5/8" flare nut. I mated this to a dorman 3/8" fuel line repair tube that came with the 16mm o-ring fitting on one end, and I flared the other end for the 5/8" flare nut. Also had to bend it a bit to get around my header, due to the awkward location on the GTO ps pump. But hopefully it works - this was a lot cheaper than buying custom lines. Still need to do the 2 return lines which will tee into the return on the pump reservoir.

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Drove the car this weekend.. it was a long journey to this point but in the end it was totally worth it! Exhaust note is amazing, top end power similar to my modded turbo motor but the low end torque makes all the difference. There is a bit of popping from the exhaust on deccelerration which I need to sort out. Took a while to brush the rust off my rotors but the hydroboost is working well, no leaks and I'm just running both output lines back to the reservoir. Only issue is the pedal has a lot of travel before the brakes catch, but maybe this is normal for hydroboost systems. Also, I ordered some aerocatch latches for the hood but ended up not using them and keeping the stock front end look.. I'll post some pics of what I came up with. The 914 headlight motor is working great too, had an issue with the wiring but everything is sorted now. Thanks for all the help!

Awesome! I am jealous, you are way ahead of me, and I started so far ahead of you! You should not feel any travel before the boost kicks in for the brakes, it should feel like any normal power brake system. Check for slop in the pedal, what I mean is make sure there is minimal travel when the brake pedal is depressed, it is easy to have excess travel here, tighten up the threaded rod under the dash. It is one of the toughest adjustments we do for brakes!

Congratulations, wish i was further along with my car but just havent had time this year. Car has been sitting under a cover outside the last 6 months about and im not sure the car will even roll without some force due to how much rust is on the rotors .

Get some video when you can!