69 Camaro Conv. - LS3 Transplant

[Jon69RagTop]

;) Hi Guys

It's been a solid car for the last 7 years, enjoying many miles on various cruises and Power Tours. The 383 stroker and Tremec 5-speed performed well, but I've had the LS bug for years now. Drivability, horsepower, reliability, gas mileage, etc., plus the fact I wanted Air Conditioning for the cruise home. Power Tours are great, but as some point you just want cool air and quiet surroundings. The time has come.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Poster-1.jpg
2009 Power Tour with daughter, priceless.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/09PowerTour075_edited-1.jpg
Stroker before the pull.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Engine.jpg
Thanks to Craigs List, the 383 is going to a new home.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Sep09005.jpg
I know, should have pulled front clip first, but I had to remove the motor quickly for the new buyer.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3001.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3004.jpg
Removed old heater core, and took steel "bolt-in-plate" from Vintage Air package and decided to cut and weld into place for smoothing the firewall. I know many folks hide the lines underneath the fender well, but I decided to go this route. Just going to keep in simpler and use all the hard lines from my Vintage Air kit as they were engineered to by used. First time ever welding so this was a learning experience for me. I can say afterwards I know more now.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3006.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3ab1.jpg

I'm much further along than the photos show, but will have to post more later. I hope you all enloy this as much as I've enjoyed reading all the posts from everyone elses builds. Feel free to ask any questions!

[70rs]

Very nice looking car! It looks like you are well on your way to being on the road again. Are you going to re use the Tremec?:cheers:

[Jon69RagTop]

The tremec is sold to a buddy of mine, and the Ls3/T-56
going in came as a package from Regal Performance in Texas. They installed the Z06 cam, and claim I should have a great reving engine with approx. 500 hp at the flywheel. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[70rs]

Very nice! Please be sure and post up lot's of pictures of it going together.
That firewall looks great! No need to hide the lines, we all know they are there right?:rofl:
I will be doing something close to that with one of the bulkheads from VA and it will be exposed too. I want easy access to it in case of any service issues.

[KPC67]

Very Nice:thumbsup: It's cool to see you updating your car as you go, It keeps it fresh and exciting.

[awr68]

Great looking car and nice upgrade underway....thanks for sharing!!

[gearheads78]

Killer car already you will love the new setup. Ronnie is my neighbor about 1/2 mile away if you want me to put the motor in something and test it out for a little while before he sends it out. :D

[Jon69RagTop]

It's already in my garage, but thanks for the offer. They were great people to work with. Sent them my Autokrafters pan, Sanderson compressor and Kwik Performance bracket. The whole thing came crate ready.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Motor.jpg

[tones2SS]

Very nice. Nice looking car and nice goodies in that crate.
I do love the color combo on your car. Keep us posted.:thumbsup: :cheers:

[Bow Tie 67]

Did you do the long haul? You will love the new engine. nice project

[WILWAXU]

Beautiful car! Love that color.

Heart transplant is very cool.

[MarkM66]

Good deal Jon. :thumbsup:

Let me know if you need any help.

[Jon69RagTop]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I remember second guessing my decision on paint 10 years ago, but I've really been happy with the choice.

Regarding the question on "Power Tour", I've never completed the Long Haul, but this last year was probably the most I've ever completed. I peeled off in Dayton, and based on the wash-out in Somerset, it was the right choice.

My first time welding on sheet metal was a learning experience for sure. Made the mistake of buying .30 wire, and kept blowing small holes on the metal. Panel going in was a little thicker than factory sheet metal, so the holes ususally ended up on the factory skin. Switched to .24 wire and finished her up, and filled any pin holes inside and out with 3M sheet metal epoxy, the stuff they glue panels on with. My cousin owns a body shop so access to the guys at the shop and supplies sure comes in handy. Firewall is in primer now and the subframe is completed with POR 15 satin black.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro001.jpg
Notice the 10 year old Merrills!:lol:
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro002.jpg
Next step was to throw together some DSE stands and move the car for first mock-up with engine and tranny going in.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3ab11.jpg
For motor plates I went the route of Car Shop Adapter plates with 1" set-back and Energy Suspension Mounts. Hooker Headers and Competition Engineering Cross Member kit from summit for $50. I figured the money I save from making it myself helps pay for the new Hobart Welder.:woot:
Besides, welding, cutting, grinding and fabrication is 1/2 the fun.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro012.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro011.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro013.jpg

I'm having a blast on this project!!!!

[awr68]

Awesome!! :thumbsup:

[GregWeld]

Love it!

Had a pair of those once!

Oh -- and the car is killer too!!


:thumbsup:

[KPC67]

Looks good
:yes:

[6D9]

Looks killer!

[mdprovee]

Your making great progress Jon, Keep it up.

[tones2SS]

Keep up the great work.:thumbsup:

[waynieZ]

The motor looks sweet in there, and I love those green headers were they extra??? The car looks great.

[Jon69RagTop]

The crossmember is #3601 Competition Engineering from Summit.
First step to the crossmember installation was to relocate the emergency brake pull cable from inboard side of drivers side subframe to outboard side. Used a Lokar Universal emergency brake cable that originally was purchased for the Kore 3 C5 brakes, but now I rerouted for crossmember clearance. Worked out so nicely I realized it should have been done this way from the beginning.

Area cut from
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3002.jpg
Outboard relocation
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3003.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/ebrake002.jpg
Now for the crossmember. I welded some plates which extend from the frame up to just below the floor. My decision for this was for two reason, 1st being this put the crossmember high enough for a direct exhaust shot rearward from the headers. Should keep the pipes tucked up neatly to the bottom of the car.
2nd, having it up this high gave me access to drilling holes and using 1/2 bolts from the inboard size and while able to access the nuts on the backside of the plates. Should make future installations and removals easier leaving this main part as a bolt in. I'm very happy with how this turned out, especailly for the price.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro017.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro015.jpg

[Jon69RagTop]

YES this is going on Power Tour 2010. One of the reasons I took it off the road so early this Fall was to insure she'd be road-worthy early Spring.

As most of you know, LS motors have an electronic output from the harness to pulse an electronic speedometer and tach. I wanted to keep the original dash though and try to make it look as original as possible. I'm very satisfied with the outcome.

First picture represents the removal of the bezels which hold the gauges in and house the blinkers/idiot lights. Stripped these down and used my dremel to carefully remove just the clear portion of the lens without cutting into the black portion. I also used the dremel to cut out the awkward shapes on the back side of the dash which mirrored the back side of my factory fuel gauge and speedo. I needed to create smooth places for new mounting plates.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro007.jpg
Backside
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro008.jpg
Once this was done, I took my gauges to a buddy with a machine shop and had him trace and duplicate the flat portion of each gauge from aluminum to create new mounting plates.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro009.jpg
Once these were painted flat black and I resprayed the bezels, walla!!!! I'm really happy with the stealth look.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro020.jpg

[70rs]

Nice work on the dash. Ok, the rest of the car too!!:cheers:

[Nine Ball]

Nice progress Jon! I'm also planning on doing another Long Haul in 2010, probably in the Chevelle this time. I bought the 502 out of Rick's 69, along with the 6-spd. Going to convert it to EFI and add some more power.

Tony

[69MyWay]

Dash idea....CHECK ENGINE LIGHT

Here is an idea that we did with our car. I had a donor 1996 Caprice that I was taking all kinds of parts out of - but any late model GM will work. I took the Caprice I/P apart and removed the ICON for the check engine. I then cut it down and put it in the STOCK camaro dash on the right side of the cluster in the stock black out lense location.

I wired the LS check light wire to the 69 I/P. So...when I turn on the key I get the engine ICON in orange/yellow glowing - and when something goes wrong...it glows too.

[69MyWay]

This might work better - I took out one of the idiot light glow through covers and replaced it with the check engine ICON that I took from the caprice dash. However, any late model GM car has the same symbol. This is one of those mods you can do that costs very little - but is very cool. Nothing worse than one of those ugly aftermarket amber lights to let you know the computer is functioning...or having a code stored.

http://mcspeed.homestead.com/mil_op_800x600.jpg

[Jon69RagTop]

Looks very familiar.:thumbsup:

Thanks for taking the picture and posting. Consider yourself "copied".

[69MyWay]

Looks very familiar.:thumbsup:

Thanks for taking the picture and posting. Consider yourself "copied".

Copied is a good thing - and I also hope you can improve on it. While on that subject...I have another suggestion from the "copy me" files. :lol: It drives me nuts that guys go through so much trouble to smooth the firewall, then turn around and leave some things out there without much other thought or consideration.

Making a close out panel for the front fender to inner fender is easy. And, there is enough room to hide a perfect cone K&N filter behind the panel to encourage cold air from behind the headlamp and reduce breathing hot air off the radiator...and having to look at the filter. So...we stuffed ours in there.

http://mcspeed.homestead.com/files/camaro_fisheye.jpg

Finally - on the fuel tank, there is no reason to get a $1,000 stainless piece back there...or suffer with minimal fuel capacity on a custom cell. Unless you do the mini-tub, you can (with some creativity) get a early/mid 90's Caprice/Impala tank to fit. This gives you 22 gal of capacity - quiet and smooth built in pump with factory built in tank baffles (makes cornering on a low tank not a problem)....and the black just blends.

http://mcspeed.homestead.com/files/camaro_tank_complete.jpg

[Jon69RagTop]

The mock-up of motor and trans position clarified a few things, both requiring the use of my buddies new Miller Plasma Cutter. Can't remember the model number of the machine, but it's super small and can run on 110 or 220. That is one cool too and if I did this kind of stuff more regularly, I'd have one in my garage for sure.

The convertible has a brace in the floor which directly interferes with the the tail housing of the t-56. I probably could have cut less out, but figured if I ever wished to service the shifter location or upgrade, cutting and notching would be more appropriate. Here is a couple of photos showing the work taking place and the final box-in of the brace after removal of material.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Camaro006.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/firewall006.jpg

The next item which had to be addressed was a small notch in the frame where the alternator was coming into contact. Initial mock-up revealed a slight bit of contact between the alternator housing and crossmember, where maybe some grinding and cutting of the housing would have eliminated the problem. But that darn plasma cutter though, just sitting there looking at me- I knew what I had to do.

I cut a square pocket from the frame, and then proceeded to find a nice piece of curved steel to weld back into it's place. Once this area is painted (see last picture of completed firewall), you can hardly notice the alteration.
Couldn't resist the a few photos my wife took of me in action. Sorry....
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/firewall003.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/firewall001.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/firewall004.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/firewall005.jpg
Once the frame was finished and repainted, moved on to finishing up the firewall. Added seam sealer, cut the hole for the wiring harness, and wet sanded. As mentioned before, I will be using the round plate with four holes which comes with the kit to finish off this spot of the firewall. Hope you like!!!
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/firewall008.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/firewall010.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/firewall011.jpg

[TreySmith]

Looks great! You will love the LS3/T56! It's a blast with my 99 WS6.. 27mpg with gears is great also haha..

Did you use POR-15 to paint the firewall also?

[Jon69RagTop]

For the firewall, I used a product from Dupont, called "Hot Rod Black". Has a matte finish to it.

[Jon69RagTop]

This main reason for modifying the tunnel brace relates to the fact I bought a turn key package of LS3 and T-56, and the T-56 is the f-body generation. My research, unfortunatly after the fact:( , I came to the realization that the shifter is located much further back on F-body T-56's versus the aftermarket styles from Keisler or Hurst Driveline.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/tremec_t56_magnum_select.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Sep09009.jpg

I used the car shop 1" set-back plates, and even reduced the set-back by 1/4" by re-drilling the plates. I didn't redrill just to avoid the tunnel modification, but was trying to eliminate the need for notching the frame as well. Didn't work obviously cause I had to notch the frame ever so slightly. Probably could have raised the motor a little bit, but that makes getting the driveline angles more difficult with a factory tunnel and the height of a T-56.

Another item I ended up having to re-address was the steering box hitting the Hooker Headers. Attempting to drop in the motor in for the last time I came to realize the headers were making too much contact. Contacted Frank and he set me up with DSE's 600 box. This netted me a little more room, but I had to dimple the headers still, but only a slight amount. Frank gave me a quick tip of using a large socket and felt pad between, then struck with hammer on the socket to create a clean dimple. Worked out great, and a big "Thanks" to Frank for the idea.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/firewall017.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Jan006.jpg

[Al Moreno]

Very nice work. I love that color, very elegant. :thumbsup:

[Jon69RagTop]

Watching a little playoff football so I decided to multi-task and throw an update together. Worked on clutch assembly to accomodate a factory f-body clutch master cylinder. First reason is this its about the cheapest method compared to others for a hydraulic assembly, but also for ease of replacement when many miles from home. A buddy of mine a few years ago on the Power Tour lost his master cylinder and had to replace his. With that being said I want to make a "swap out" as easy as possilbe without having to shorten a pushrod while on the road.

Used some paper and tape to mock-up the angle for the pushrod mounting bracket while in the car, then proceeded to remove and weld while on the bench. Once assembled and back into the car, the actuation is perfect, with the pushrod remaining directly centerd to the piston during the entire stroke.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3012.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3016.jpg
Next project was to finish up the wiring connections to LS prior to reassembly of front clip. Harness is completly attached now, fuel line in place and new tank hung.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3011.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3010.jpg
The inner fenders and back side of core support needed some work, holes welded up etc. I did not wish to completely dis-assemble the clip, so I unbolted the inner fenders from the outers and pryed them down a bit to get coverage up under the outers. Worked great and I bet no-one could tell they were painted while on the car. I'm very particular, so it had to look good or I'd disassemble.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS302019.jpg

[awr68]

Nice progress! I have to weld a tab onto my clutch pedal too. Nice to see a pic of it done! :thumbsup:

[CURVES]

Very cool, I bought a similar ls3 t56 combo from Regal. I can't remember where or how but somehow I figured out the alternator issue with the Fbody accessories, so I ordered it with the corvette set-up, no notch!

I'm fairly quiet but I'm excited about this one. Keep up the good work!

[70rs]

You're making great progress with the car and it looking good.:cheers:

[Jon69RagTop]

I like this first shot of the two halves about to come together.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3027.jpg
The satin black I sprayed on the inner fenders and core support.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3028.jpg
Getting the front back on is a little of a milestone for me, a light at the end of the tunnel for sure.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3037.jpg
Now for the buzz kill, and would sure welcome some opinions as well. After filling the motor with oil a few weeks back, a couple of times I have wiped some drops which were hanging from the bottom pan. I surely haven not come this far to have a freakin oil leak, so I'm a bit bummed. Leaking with out running? Doesn't make sense to me. There are two bolts on the backside of each corner of the pan, and they appear after a few days to have a droplet hanging from them. ARRGGHHH? Anyone else experienced any problems with this? It's a brand new gasket, autokraft oil pan, and the bolts appear to be tight. It only happens when I take the car down off the DSE stands, dropping the rear of the car first, which in theory tilts the motor back. It's only after this procedure I ever notice the oil, so I guess it's a problem at the rear of the pan?
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3029.jpg
I'm not sure what to do next, so I welcome any input or ideas.

[70rs]

Ohhhh, that sucks! I really wish I had some kind of answer for you. I hope someone here can ofer a simple solution to the oil droplets. Good luck.

[GregWeld]

So here's my "fix" ---

Tilt the back end UP -- Remove the two affected bolts -- clean the snot out of them AND the threads in the block -- I use a cotton tip like an ear cleaner - soaked in brake cleaner ---- just twirl in the threads BEING CAREFUL NOT TO LOSE THE COTTON IN THE THREADS -- allow to dry --

Apply thread sealant on the bolt -- NOT thread Locker - SEALANT - silicone or black gasket sealant -- and thread in and allow a couple hours before oil contact.

[Jon69RagTop]

First of all, "Thanks" to Greg for the suggestion on rectifying the oil leak. I did not go the route of replacing the bolts with studs, but did take your advice regarding removal the two rear bolts near the area of seapage, one at a time. Cleaned thoroughly with q-tips and smeared ARP thread sealer on each bolts and torqed back down to specs. Acutally a little thread sealer proceeded to ooze our exactly where the oil was weaping, no more oil leak. :)

Another item which was really bugging me was the radiator core support and the visual "stamping wrinkles" present from day one, along with a couple stamped factory holes in the top of the core. I definitly should have taken care of this earlier, but no time better than the present to get'er right.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/camaroJan233.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/camaroJan234.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/camaroJan236.jpg
Welded a couple washers in the holes and filled the rest with weld. Ground down the balance and used a skim coat of filler to smooth out the balance of wrinkles. Resprayed the core support, taped off the motor side portion and shot the front side by removing the grill. Turned out really nice and very satisfied now with the appearance.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Jan001.jpg

The past weekend I tackled the exhaust. I reused the Dr. Gas X-pipe from previous exhaust, but had to modify the front 45 degree bend on one side to to match the spread of current headers. Did I mention laying on your back under a car re-doing exhaust kinda sucks. I really pleased though how the modifications worked out. If it wasn't for the opprotunity to play with more tools, I'd probably have jobbed this out.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Exhaust003.jpg
After the transmission area and outlet of the x-pipe, I wanted to get the exhaust piping closer to the floor boards, so I ordered a "u-bend" and messed around with the some paper templates. First I traced the bend on some poster board and used them for practice to determine exaclty where I should cut. Keep in mind guys I've never even welded prior to this project, so I might be proud here of some pretty trivial stuff compared to what you all can fabricate.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Exhaust001.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Exhaust002.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Exhaust004.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Exhaust005.jpg
After having every joint "tacked" for routing purposes, I proceeded to remove the entire exhaust system. The planned "ball and socket" joints right before the mufflers made this easy an easy removal, took less than 10 minutes.
Placed pipes on work table and finished all the welding, added O-2 bungs and painted with VHT "Flat Aluminum" for protection from rust. I'm very happy with the end result.

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Exhaust006.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Exhaust007.jpg

I'm probably going to attempt to reuse the tail pipes which I cut from the old system, but if this is too big of a pain in the ***, I'll probably drive it like this it's under power and head over to an exhaust shop. Who know, one weeke removed from this past weekend and I'll probably be motivated to finish it myself, back under the car we go.:lol:

Here's the engine bay after a little more work.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Jan009.jpg

[GregWeld]

Good job Jon! I knew you could do it!! :rofl:

Keep on keeping on... a little here - a little there... next thing you know - you'll be motoring!

[70rs]

The project is looking GREAT! I like what you did with the core support too.

[Jon69RagTop]

Not sure how many of you have thought about or used the Spectra Tanks, but I ordered mine through Rock Auto. Anyway, as you can see by the photos, they indexed the fuel feed line and return line pointing at a 45 degree angle towards the rear of the car, that’s issue number one. Issue number two was plumbing, and since I’ve read so much about today’s fuels and how they break down rubber lines, I knew I should be using PTFE spec lines which have an inner Teflon core. This obviously necessitates the use of AN fittings now, and I’ve never worked with making my own lines before. This stuff from www.pegasautoracing.com (http://www.pegasautoracing.com/) is top notch. Very easy to work with in comparison to my first attempt, “Push Lok” from Summit. I could never recommend that product again, and Summit must have loved that return.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3038.jpg
I bought 3 Swagelok fittings, two of SS-600-6-6An for the 3/8” feed lines, and one SS-500-6-6An for the 5/16’s return line at the tank. These are not cheap, but neither are gas leaks above hot exhaust. I did not want to get cheap on this part of the project, and ease of installation was very easy. Quick note if you ever try and source the SS-500 on-line, it won’t come up as a valid part number. Find a Swagelok dealer and call them, because they can get it. Plan for 5 days lead time.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3039.jpg
My feed line from the engine bay was ordered through Tube Tech, and he offered to take care of the pluming needs for the rear of the car, Corvette filter and everything. Just didn’t believe after all I’ve read that Braided Stainless Lines consisting of hose not made of PTFE material would be a good long term solution. I’m quiet please with the results and chosen path for routing along inner rear frame rail.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3041.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3049.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3050.jpg
The engine bay, air conditioning, radiator hoses, wiring, etc., all done. I completely rewired the charging system as well, and I can say with strong conviction this should be a very reliable system. Mark from MADD Electrical, www.madelectrical.com (http://www.madelectrical.com/) California is a great guy whom I’ve used in the past. We elected at this point in time to rewire the headlights too with relays, reduces the stress to the wiring and eliminates sending voltage all the way from the fuse panel. I’m excited to see the results of this.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3051.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3052.jpg
The ECM which came with this harness and engine (Regal Performance) is an odd looking duck, and there is no real quick way to mount this *******. I fabricated a bracket as seen below and mounted it upside down above the glove box. See pictures. This will require me to make a new inner glove box of course, but to me it seemed the best location. Harness had plenty length for routing to the passenger side of interior as well.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3043.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3044.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3047.jpg
Need to finish up the balance of wiring in the interior compartment, dash/gauges etc. I’m getting very close to driving this puppy, hope to fire it up by the end of March. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

[KPC67]

coming along nicely:thumbsup:

[XcYZ]

Awesome, I hope you fire it up soon, Jon! :cheers:

[waynieZ]

Nice work. It looks great nice and neat. Don't forget the video of the start up.

[GregWeld]

Looks good! You made the right decision not using any rubber hose... I wish someone would have told me that - the first time around... would have saved me a little effort but, oh well...

[Jon69RagTop]

Yes, I will video the start-up.

And Greg, I beleive it was one of your posts about fuel lines which gave me the direction.

As always, great web site for sharing project info.

[waynieZ]

Your contributing with your update too.. Nice job on the bends on your exhaust.

[Jon69RagTop]

First let me address the question about gauge size. The gauges I installed were 3 3/8", and it looks like a 4" gauge would fit perfectly. Oh, well live and learn, and now someone gets to learn form this if you try and improve on the idea.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3056.jpg
4" circle for fitment test.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3059.jpg
Dash Lights and gauge lights on. I like how this turned out.
sorry for the fuzzy picture
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3061.jpg

And now for the drum roll, today the motor came to life. Man these LS3's are cool technology. Unfortuanatly the cold air intake routing is not complete so the microphone pics of more from this giant sucking sound of air that any exhaust note, but once this is buttoned up this huge air pump is gonna put some HP to the pavement. The Z06 cam sounds mild now, but can't wait to hear the roar when I take it for a spin. Since she started up now it's time to finish up the interior re-install.
Nothing like the nervous energy from a first time startup, and then she comes to life.:woot:
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/th_LS3055.jpg (http://s590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/?action=view&current=LS3055.flv)

What a great day!!!!

[WSSix]

congrats on getting it running. I like the gauges.

[frank]

Very nice upgrade..... looks real nice!!!! I was wondering if u could tell me where did u get the fuel fitting on the feed side(out) of the fuel filter/regulator you showed on a pic. The fitting that is a push-on(3/8) on one side and a male -6an on the other. I am installing an LS3 motor I bought from Fesler on a 68 camaro but with an automatic tranny and can't find a fitting for the regulator. Thanks, in advance!:thumbsup:

[Jon69RagTop]

Russell makes them, do a search at Summit and keyword adapter.

For blue ones here's the part numbers. I still have these and need to return.
640860
640850

Somewhere in my box of receipts are the part numbers for the black ones, but I'm afraid to start searching that box.:lol:

[firstgencam]

Congrats on the successful install! I appreciate all the detail on the project as I am about to get started on this portion in my car. I also got a LS3 and a fbody 6speed!

[Jon69RagTop]

Well, now I'm tweaking the little things on the interior side which have annnoyed me for some time. Reworked the drivers seat by moving it back some from stock position. 6'2 doesn't work so well in the factory position.
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3007.jpg

The money shot for me, something about having it back together and so close to getting her done. :)
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3008.jpg

The bigger money shot. Finsihed the air intake with components from Spectre, 4" diameter. Rubber 90 degree boot from the intake, one straight piece and two 35 degree elbows put the air filter nicely in the drivers side corner of the grill. I'm really happy with how the routing took place, am considering getting the two 35 pieces wleded together to reduce a set of clamps, and then painting the aluminum a matte black color.
Something about the black stealth look I just kind of like.

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3009.jpg
http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/LS3010-1.jpg

Now onto the driving impressions. Super smooth on the highway, shifted into 6th gear around 65mph, hit 70mph and noticed the tack at 1600 rpm.:woot:
I must have nailed the driveline angles becasue theres not a vibrtion to be had anywhere, I'm so excited. Motor is 3 degrees down and rear end is exactly up 3 degrees, perfectly canceling each other out. Still taking it easy on the break in, but must confess I got on it around 30 mph and this sucker just flat hauls ass now. I was grinning from ear to ear.

I'll get another video made of the car running now with the hood back on and intake complete. The Z06 cam and dual Magna Flow exhaust sounds great IMO.

[radrambler]

:thumbsup:
I like the idea of welding and painting your intake tube ... sounds like you nailed the install....HAVE FUN !!

tOM

[Chicken Louie]

Awesome Thread!! Job well Done:thumbsup:
Overall were you happy with the motor from Regal?

[Jon69RagTop]

Really pleased with the motor and transmission package, and great customer service too for my novice questions at times.

I would do it again without hesitation.

[WILWAXU]

Beautiful work! :thumbsup:

[70rs]

:thumbsup:
I like the idea of welding and painting your intake tube ... sounds like you nailed the install....HAVE FUN !!

tOM

I agree with Tom. Welding and painting the intake would look great. But I have to say the entire car is just soooo cool! I really like how it turned out and the instal you did looks like it was born there. Very nice!:thumbsup:

[MarkM66]

Great Jon!

Does it need to be tuned, or is it good to go?

[awr68]

Great Job!! :thumbsup:

[Jon69RagTop]

Mark - I guess it runs so well some folks might argue to drive it and have fun. With that beig said, it is throwing a code for crank-shaft sensor, and for some reason the Auto Zone reader won't clear it. Mike over at Norris Motor Sports indicated I might have created that problem initially attempting to start the engine. Secondly, I'd like to verify Air/Fuel ratio, adjust if need be and get a dyno run recorded.

I'm taking it the first weekend in May.

[David Pozzi]

Your computer looks like the 24 tooth reluctor type like an LS1 would use. LS3's are 48 tooth. I'm no expert on this by far but do the LS3's use the wide narrow harness plugs like yours?
David

[waynieZ]

The car looks great. Nice work.

[dlouie87]

Great intake piping. I was trying to figure mine out but I might just do what you did. Did you just order all the parts from a local parts store?

-Dan

[Jon69RagTop]

David - Good eye, that is a 24x tooth reluctor, Regal gives you the choice of either, and the number of 24x ECM's out there to support kept the cost down. The wiring harness they provided came prepared as you see it, total turnkey.

Dan - for the intake I ordered directly through Spectre in California. they've got a great web site.

[69MyWay]

Mark - I guess it runs so well some folks might argue to drive it and have fun. With that beig said, it is throwing a code for crank-shaft sensor, and for some reason the Auto Zone reader won't clear it. Mike over at Norris Motor Sports indicated I might have created that problem initially attempting to start the engine. Secondly, I'd like to verify Air/Fuel ratio, adjust if need be and get a dyno run recorded.

I'm taking it the first weekend in May.

This is an issue on first start up with a new system. It has to learn the crankshaft position sensor. You need a guy with HP tuners/EFI Live...or a GM Tech II computer to clear that. There is a quick procedure for allowing the PCM to read/learn the crank position - then the light will go off.

You should be able to get your local chevy dealer to do it for you if you find a service writer that is cool and will hook you up with his technician.

[AALynch]

The car looks great, love convertibles! I underwent the swap post-restoration like you...

I've got my clutch pedal set-up just like you, with a tab welded on just like yours...what did you use to tie the clutch pedal to the master cylinder rod? I have a bolt in mine, and don't like it. It seems the threads on the bolt would cut into the bushing/washer on the master cylinder, and tear things up. I would like to get something with a smooth portion on it for the clutch rod, and then a spot for the nut on the end...any ideas?

[Jon69RagTop]

Adam

Use a partial threaded bolt as opposed to a fully threaded bolt. This will give you a smooth shank under neath the hex head and keeps the plastic bushing from wearing prematurely.

I also ground down the thickness of the hex head in half for clearance, it was clicking on the clutch/brake housing mount.

Hope that helps you.

Jonathan

[Jon69RagTop]

Decided to cost justify the welder a little more, ordered 3 more "U-bends" and fabricated the exhaust over the axle. Was able to re-use a little bit of the old tail pipe run as well, almost a necessity to fit the the tail pipe between outer body panel and leaf springs. Very pleased with how this all turned out.

A bonus as well, the exhaust drone was eliminated. Nice sounding exhaust now, very happy with the Magnaflows.

Refined horsepower with "raspy note" when you get on it.:twothumbs

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Dyno001.jpg
First cut and weld of the "u-bend"

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Dyno002.jpg
This is the same piece but opposite side, heading for the dump over the leaf spring.

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Dyno003.jpg
Final joint and placement of exit.

As promised, now onto the results. Drove the car from St. Louis to Indianapolis for Mike Norris to perform the final tune and Dyno. Overall the car was set-up fairly close, just a tickle lean. Mike completed his adjustments prior to the first pull, made a few more adjustments and competed two more pulls.

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Dyno007.jpg
Dyno shot. The cleanliness and organized shop says a lot about how Mike goes about his business. Highly recommended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfX5v4-WIBA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfX5v4-WIBA)

Not sure how else to post a video, so hit the link. Sorry!

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss348/Niezing66/Dyno009.jpg
Final numbers.

We have a small hesitation to remove from cruising speed/ acceleration, otherwise very impressed with the results.

[waynieZ]

Very Nice! it sounds sweet.