Ch@0s Is Going LSX ... My swap

[Ch@0s]

Out with the old
Tomorrow I will test fit the LSX.
The PO must have taken the car to where Pete had his diff done the trans was on with an impact. I rounded off two bolts. It took me 4 hrs to get 6 bolts out. Then I took a bath in trans fuid.

[Ch@0s]

I worked on it all day couldn't get it in. I realize if I'm going to use the batwing oil pan I will have to put it on after the engine is in.The F-body dampener is not going to work. I ordered some C5 accessories.

[Ch@0s]

I picked up a Powerbond balancer today

[C4fan]

[Ch@0s]

Post #4 is now a parts and cost list.

So far i have made $2705 to offset the cost from sales of my old stuff. I still have a few parts lying around.
I still need a few things.
I may miss some but here is a list of the top of my head.
TB cable
Tuning software
Two O2 sensors
wirring and terminals
IAC sensor
Transmission cooler
Fuel lines and fittings
I might need to get a couple of Dakota Digital boxes
a/c compressor and lines.

[C4fan]

Too bad your not it Dallas instead of Houston. That would be a fun weekend trip to make. In fact we'll be there May 20-22 for the LSCC at the TMS.

[Ch@0s]

Originally Posted by C4fan

Too bad your not it Dallas instead of Houston. That would be a fun weekend trip to make. In fact we'll be there May 20-22 for the LSCC at the TMS.

Cool if I have a chance i may come to say hi. Slim chance tho.

[Midnight85]

It always pisses me off when I think I have a good estimate on what a project is going to cost me, then the little stuff damn near doubles the cost. Am I a poor planner or is this something others run into also?

[Ch@0s]

Originally Posted by Midnight85

It always pisses me off when I think I have a good estimate on what a project is going to cost me, then the little stuff damn near doubles the cost. Am I a poor planner or is this something others run into also?

I think its normal. To be honest I hate to plan it out and write in all down.You could end up talking yourself out of an oil change that way.
I don't sweat the little things in the end you really can't plan for the unforeseen.

The way I saw it my engine was going to be taken apart and taken to the machine shop and my transmission was toast needing a rebuild.
I would have needed,Bearings, cam lifters and a gasket set. With a tranny rebuild this it came close to 3K. So I thought well if I could sell all my stuff for 2k and spend another 2k I could do the LSX swap.

And that is how we the insane rationalize insane ideas.

BTW I still have the short block and tranny if i really wanted to i could sell those but I'm not sure about that yet.

[C4fan]

Originally Posted by Midnight85

It always pisses me off when I think I have a good estimate on what a project is going to cost me, then the little stuff damn near doubles the cost. Am I a poor planner or is this something others run into also?

Yeah, I agree. Also agree w/ Ch@os too. It would be easy to talk yourself out of it if you think about it. I think we tend to put a price on just the big items and not worry about the minor stuff until you have to start buying them and then it becomes obvious how much it costs. I spent nearly $200 in fluids alone w/ tranny, coolant and engine. And another$100 on sealers, engine lube, anti seize, loctite, etc. I also messed up with some of the used parts I tried to get away with. Some things you just need to buy new. And then when your adding hp you get caught up in the problem of upgrading the rest of the drive train. At some point "stock" seems to be just fine.

Oh yeah, since I live outside the city I'm betting I've paid no less than $300 in gas making trips to the parts store. I seem to have a memory malfunction and can only remember to get one thing at a time.

[Ch@0s]

I finally had time to do some work.
I cleaned up the oil pan and painted the engine bay with POR-15 engine enamel.
That stuff works great. It also goes a long way. So far with a pint I have painted my HSR with 3 coats and the engine bay. I used a foam brush previously to paint with it but the engine bay tore up 4 of them before I switched to a regular paint brush. The paint brush made things very messy. I needed to get into a hard spot so used a 6" brush. Bingo!! the brush worked great, didn't make a mess and didn't hold much paint so it helped spread the paint better. I was about 25% done when I switched to the brush.

[Ch@0s]

Ok, I have been waiting on pulley and pin kit all this time. They came in yesterday.
Today I pinned the balancer. I hope to have the engine back in for good within the next few days.

[Ch@0s]

A little more progress, yesterday I put the pan on. Now its ready to drop in.
Also received the Temp sender.

This is an older style sender machined to fit the LS1. This one will go in the Pass head and provide a signal to my temp gauge. The LS1 sender in the drivers side head will feed the ECM.

[Ch@0s]

I worked on the TPI harness today. Here is what I did. I deleted the what is marked with an X and labeled everything else accordingly. I was very surprised when I pulled what I though was a bulkhead to find a pass through. Now I'm wondering whether I should follow the wires in the dash and take them out of their respective connectors or just leave them where they are.

[nutz4c4]

It might be benificial to remove the wires to aid in future troubleshooting...and to eliminate clutter and confusion

[Ch@0s]

Originally Posted by nutz4c4

It might be benificial to remove the wires to aid in future troubleshooting...and to eliminate clutter and confusion

I'm thinking about taking them out of that connector and rolling them up inside the dash. In case I end up needing one or two.

[nutz4c4]

Originally Posted by Ch@0s

I'm thinking about taking them out of that connector and rolling them up inside the dash. In case I end up needing one or two.

Probably a good idea...Ya just never know

[bizaro]

looks good. Can't wait to see the final assembly. (Video)

[Ch@0s]

Originally Posted by bizaro

looks good. Can't wait to see the final assembly. (Video)

You just reminded me how long its been .. I need to get back to work.
It's too hot

[Ch@0s]

So today I finally tackled the Wiring bulkhead. The plan was pull the wires I didn't need out of the bulkhead and drop them inside the car. Later when I redo the interior I was going to follow them inside and unpin. I had already cut the wires I dint need short to make the process easier.

I took the bulkhead apart separated the wires into keeping and deleting. I then started to pull the out of the wire separator that clips in the bulkhead. That's when I noticed allot of the wires had a twin. I remember thinking when I was cutting the wires I dint need out "why would all the sensor wires run inside when the ECM is in the engine compartment". I decided to get my meeter out and ck them.

I learned a lesson today, I could have kept my TPI harness intact and maybe sold it. Out of the 50 or so wires in the bulkhead that come from the ECM 30 are pairs that run in from the ECM go about 5" then loop back out of the bulkhead back into the engine compartment. When I was done only 4 wires went into the engine compartment that I didn't need. I put heat shrink on the ends and tucked them in the harness.

Here is a picture of some of the wires that loop back. You can see the sticky crap they seal the bulkhead with about half way.