Xschop's 5.3 LM7 build

You will need about 1/4 inch thick of washers between long bracket and the 944 headlight swingarm pivot. I used Spectre brand part# 42563 and the carbon fiber hood protectors from a cheapy Chinese made Ebay hood pin kit.... The smaller bracket bolts to the long bracket end and swivels for a perfect contour match of your hood.....
The 1/2" hole diameter can be changed to suit any dia. hood pin......

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


I unbolted only the 2 top M6 x 1.0 bolts and installed longer ones..... No need to readjust the swingarm mechanism with a 2-bolt design and it is plenty strong..... (thanks for the reference pic Luke)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

haha, no problem. Looks good. The post cut off your diagram and I can't follow a link to see it full size anywhere.

Right click with your mouse and choose "view image"....

Good idea for hood pin placement! I have seen some ugly and downright dangerous hoodpin placements on rennlist, but i think you've really got something there!

It passes the xschop design module....you can beat on it with a hammer and she stays put, LOL

If you can't do this mod in less than an hour.5 then you have issues

o she sounded sweet!! cant wait for a vid of her!!

What sort of hood pin kit did you order. Obviously you ditched everything below the hood, but I know nothing about installing a set.

Can't wait till Monday when I set off all the alarms in the parking garage

Spectre part# 42563.... IT is easy to install with the posted dims. My camera went to $hit, so no pics yet.
Autozone has them for 9.99 plus tax...You do not need a mill to make the brakets, I used 90 Degree brackets from Ace hardware (.69 ea) and some 1/4" alum. bar I had laying around....
The whole set-up is adjustable and I just epoxied the carbon fiber hood protector on and didn't even screw in the 4 sheet metal screws....old skool meets new....

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Friggin relay G2 (fuse box states ign. relay) runs the factory gauges and the warning light stays on after I turn the key off and pull it out. If I hit the horn button or turnsignal switch, the gauges turn off and the warning light goes out?

I removed G14 (another ign. relay) and the Warning buzzer/catalytic converter warning relay as well....
Anybody else have this situation?

She starts and runs perfectly, I just hate the fact that it seems the relay needs to be called to ground after the key is pulled.....
OH yeah, the 5.3 pulls like a mule on roids
It's hard to keep my foot out of it, the neck snap is addictive....

I have my 2.5" Magnaflow (18" length) installed now with no CAT and love the sound....It's not thumpy like the Flowmaster mufflers and gives strong pull at higher RPM's. I didn't realize it was straight thru until I pulled it out the box at the exhaust shop.
Thanks again to Eric for a tip..... as I took the beast to Autozone and had them flash the PCM....it read "open Fuel injector circuit"...so took it home pulled all the injectors and took a 9-volt battery w/leads and some acetone/gas mixture in a syringe and actuated the injectors while applying pressure from the syringe to the injector inflow...Sure 'nuff one was totally clogged and the acetone mix cleaned it right out. The others were dirty but not clogged. I reinstalled and took it for a spin.....I love this engine. I drove almost 150 miles this weekend and looks like I'm almost getting 30 mpg. I will do a full tank experiment as I daily drive it and report back.
But the real fun is 3rd and 4th gear roll-ons on the hiway......Like my Streetfigher, only with 4 wheels.
I 'm glad I decided to keep power steering as the 18"s would be a bitch with my small diameter steering wheel. I do however have the infamous "click" in the rack pinion and will be getting a rebuilt one if I can't find a good used one.
The short shifter mod....love that too as it is needed from 1st to 2nd. I have gotten onto it but no clutch dropping going on until I have my transaxle built. IMO the NA tranny can handle the 315 horses without worrying...
Onto the cooling system,....The NA radiator (with no thermostat) has handled the 100+ temps these last few days in stop and go traffic. My digital gauges finally read 190 after running it hard and the low fan finally kicked on. I have yet to see the 2nd fan kick on so I'm not sure what temp SSP programmed that at....I will report anything else I find later.....Off to "get some groceries"

My wiring is complete. I found that pesky 4-pin connector that's in the electrics schematic. When I got the car the DME was already pulled and the red plastic 4-pin connector was hanging in the passenger footwell all the time.....

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

At 60mph hiway cruising in 5th gear (NA tranny) I am spinning 2300 RPM. Does this sound correct to you guys?

Almost forgot to mention that I jumped the 2 wire leads that were originally connected to the brake fluid reservoir and jumped the brake pad sensor leads....No More warning light

The VSS sensor that is in the swap manual is $70 even at Rock Auto...
I redesigned the flimsy metal VSS bracket to use the INEXPENSIVE $19 Autozone part # SU-1089 which crosses with GM part #24225896
The slotted 3/8" diameter transaxle bolt holes gives it plenty of adjustability with a turn of the allen wrench and the sensor comes with a 1/4" bolt down hole that makes installation a snap and has a debris protection shield built in too....
With the bracket design, you can cut half the diameter of the CAM reluctor gears off for rotational weight reduction as well.....
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

are you making one of these for me 2?

No, just a 1-off billet bracket on this one.
You can weld together 1/4" plate and get the same outcome. Just posting for the DIY crowd, save $50 over the other sensor and buy some beer....

ok btw did anyone buy ur other alt bracket and powering steering pulley? i love mine that i have

I sold one and have another left, but haven't bought another March Pulley to mod for it. You need a spare?
My VSS kit is done, I made the bracket even lighter/compact and by just doing a 5/8"x4x4 thick billet plate. I test fitted the plate and it fits perfect.
I spent more time on the 944 Cam gear to get rid of a whopping 400g of rotational weight..... the trick is to slice it in half radially.....
it now weighs only 330g....

Can't wait to see what the MPG's do after I install it.....

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

what this? you can take pic of your parts but not one of the car?

Thinking about paint scheme......
If it only had a V8......
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

hey hey, chop you know all 4 b****** got to be at *********.com now it be nice for a v8 but they to high and mighty for that

Oh man.
So the front end they pretty much just tried for a Camaro...
And the back end they just tried to make as ugly as possible.

It's a shame it's not a V8 car, that way they could have gotten it up to a pretty good speed before launching it off a cliff into the ocean to put it out of its misery!!

Installed my Billet VSS bracket/944 Cam Reluctor .......
The strange deceleration behavior is gone now and my low fan doesn't kick on when cruising the hi-way when the water temp reaches 180*.....
And I walked all over a WRX with a couple of 2x4's and a bag of cement in the back coming home from Homie Depot

I wanted to post this up before I forgot dims....
85.5 NA axles are @ 21.25" (I only measured passenger side and was told that the driver's side is the same length on the 944 trans boxes, correct me if I'm wrong)

Here's the kicker.....the 944 axle shafts are 27mm Diameter.....and I found that 930 axle shafts are 26mm Diameter and 18.9"

Laid waste to another victim today.....350z all show and no go......
I have ragged the piss out of the $40 Autozone clutch disc (CP4018) and NO slippage. It does sound a little scratchy upon take of when feathering the clutch. With the NA tranny, I can launch hard in 2nd gear with a little vibration, but have learned to feather it smoothly. I have lit the tires up in 2nd and third roll ons even. 4th is the most fun, nutty acceleration on the Hiway and 5th is getting me right at 30mpg's (100% petro/Acetone 640:1)
In the past couple of weeks I've put @400 miles on it...... Wish I had done one of these sooner....
Hood pin mod is awesome too....got rid of a few extra pounds and looks mean....

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]