Dam, i just like engines!
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Dam, i just like engines!
Every plug on the harness goes to something on the engine or trans. That's what makes it fairly easy - they are all labeled. The engine harness has a right and left side, which becomes obvious when you see the side that has the cam position sensor and engine temp plugs (left side). I had so much extra wire that I decided to remove the plastic conduit from most of the harness inside the car, so I could take the excess wire and loop it into two turns and attach it to supporting steel tubes behind the firewall. No way would I cut and splice about 80 wires.
Finding a place for both the GM fuse panel and the chassis fuse panel may be a challenge, but a lot of other people have done it, so there should be pics somewhere.
Read the instructions for the MAF sensor location - it is critical. It goes in the middle of a minimum 6" length of straight 4" tube. I decided to ignore the instructions and try something different, and paid the price. I wasted about a week, trying two different locations that would not allow the engine to run properly and finally gave up. If the air filter gets hit by air flow from the radiator fan, it's likely to cause problems and require a protective shroud.
Last edited by DaveS53; 01-06-2018 at 12:01 PM.
After looking over the wiring none of the injectors or the coil connectors are labeled, not a problem, easy to figure out where they go.
I was thinking the same, need to coil up the wires. If I had the same pins and a pin extractor for these connectors I'd probably shorten the wires.
I did see the info on the MAF. Think I'll get a 90 deg connector for the throttle body and then a long straight section which I'll mount the MAF sensor in.
I'm going to call Lokar on Monday to see about ordering that shifter that HVACMAN just got.
The GM fuse box has a lot of empty fuse locations to add more circuits. I'm going to see if I can take all of the circuits from the Hotrod fuse box and move them over to the GM box.
Last edited by JimLev; 01-07-2018 at 09:53 AM. Reason: GM fuse box info added
I really like those headers. They definitely look a lot better than the GM manifolds. i'll bet they perform better too. Let me know what you have to do about down pipes.
They do look pretty nice. BBK had a 10% off if ordered before 12/31/17. Ordered mine on 12/30.
Will let you know when the kit shows up, probably won't be here till the 3 week in Feb.
Cardifkid said they fit with no issues, we'll see. (Edit...think he was referring to the engine fit and not the down pipe, as SmokinJoe has mentioned)
Do you have that Lokar shifter test fitted on the tranny yet, any pics?
Edit: BBK website said 8-15HP from these, so I'll guess 10HP is more realistic. If they were long tube equal length headers I could easily see 15+ more HP.
They are a lot lighter than the GM manifolds too.
Last edited by JimLev; 01-07-2018 at 10:11 AM. Reason: Added text
I used these manifolds with the LS3 in my '37, but I also had to build my own stainless steel exhaust system from scratch, so it had no impact on my project. They have 3" collectors.
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tru-R...hed,53711.html
Those look real nice Dave, need some sunglasses on to look at them, lol.
I spoke with Travis Johnson at Lokar today. He sent me some info on the shifter that HVACMAN ordered.
It's a 5 page PDF file, not sure if I can post those here. Anyone know if it possible?
Here's a pic of it. Not shown are the wires for the 3 switches, which are shown in the PDF.
Maybe I can scan the pages and save them as a JPG then post them if any of you are interested in this new shifter.
bumpmode shifter dimensions.jpg
Last edited by JimLev; 01-08-2018 at 08:08 PM. Reason: Added more text.
Never found it there. Even put the p/n ESS64L60EHM in, nothing found. Anyways I have the printed info.
So today I got itchy just looking at the engine/tranny in the garage.
As much as I like black I usually find that black parts under the hood really show the dust and dirt.
On my other car I painted the manifold titanium silver which is the car color.
I had plenty of this color and clear left so I painted the top cover on the LS3. Will powder coat the valve covers soon.
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Last edited by JimLev; 01-09-2018 at 08:26 PM.
That looks great.
CVOBill
MK2 #???? Delivered 11/2002, Finished and Titled 6/2003 5.0, T-5, 4-Link, Sold 3/2005
Hot Rod #304 purchased 5/28/2017 from original owner Unassembled . Titled and plated 8/24/2017 Coyote,
TKO, 3-Link, Heat, A/C, Electric Power Steering, Convertible top
MK4 #9524 Picked up 1/18/19 306 Blueprint, T-5, 4-Link, Gas-N Pipes, Heater
That will photograph well at the shows. Black wrinkle is one of the worst. I looks ok in sunlight, but holds dirt and is horrible to photograph.
Most people opt for covering the valve covers and the ugly coils. The GM wiring harness will also look pretty nasty, once all of the wiring harness is in place. There are quite a few magazine articles on making covers that hide the coils and wiring.
I opted for a one piece aluminum cover for the entire top of the engine, but it also provides support for my intake snorkel and covers the power steering pump.
Last edited by DaveS53; 01-22-2018 at 06:04 PM.
I'll make some small covers just to hide the coils. I'm not big on complete engine covers, gotta see the engine at car shows.
I think most of those "beauty" covers are there to keep the owner from touching anything, bring the car to the dealer and let them do whatever is required.
The shifter arrived on Saturday. I haven't had time to play with it yet, but it looks fast even in the box.IMG_1007.JPG
HVACMAN, thanks for the pic. How long is that shifter rod that goes up to the knob? Looks pretty short, which is what I want.
When I was talking to Travis at Lokar he said the shortest rod was 6".
I'll order the shifter in the next day or 2.
I bought an MSD DynaForce starter the other day.
Still have another 3+ weeks to wait before the kit shows up.
In the meantime I've been painting the garage walls and epoxy coating the garage floor.
Last edited by JimLev; 01-22-2018 at 11:10 PM.
Thanks, I'm thinking about making a cutout in the trans tunnel and boxing it in to mount the body of the shifter a bit lower if at all possible. That would depend on the amount of space above the tranny and the bottom side of the tunnel.
I'll order mine today.
update: This shifter isn't on the Jegs on line catalog yet. It's Jegs p/n 625-ESS64L60EHM and ships directly from Lokar.
Last edited by JimLev; 01-24-2018 at 06:56 PM. Reason: Updated info
Here is the URL for the shifter. If you search for the shifter on Jegs it does not show up, but if you search with Google it does. Go figure.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Lokar/625/ESS64L60EHM/10002/-1
The wait is over, the FFR semi showed up at 9AM this morning. I had 5 guys over to help with the unload and check off list.
Spent the rest of the day doing inventory on 1/2 of the boxes and laying some suspension parts out for install, hopefully will install the suspension tomorrow after I finish opening all the remaining boxes.
Already making a list of missing parts. Dave at FF said they know what's missing and will ship them as soon as they come in.
Will post some pics tomorrow.
I really like the detail on the engine cover. You might consider relocating the coil packs so they are under the headers with the wires run to the plugs from beneath. That would really make your clean look pop. I love that Lokar Shifter
Last edited by wrp; 02-27-2018 at 10:54 PM.
Let the true fun begin, you probably have packing paper all over the place now as you unpack
Figured I'd start assembling a few parts until I found out what I need was on backorder.
So I decided to do some powder coating, front suspension pieces and the calipers.
Will do the rear calipers next.
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Forgot to add pics of the car delivery.
From this
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To this.
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And he's off to drop off a Daytona to someone in Utah.
Still has a Cobra and 818 to deliver after that.
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You have a nice lot of room there!
James
FFR33 #997 (Gen1 chassis, Gen2 body), license plate DRIVE IT says it all! build thread
My build: 350SBC, TKO600, hardtop, no fenders/hood, 32 grill, 3 link, sway bars, 355/30r19
Previous cars: GTD40, Cobra, tubeframe 55 Chevy, 66 Nova, 56 F100
Nice garage!! Have fun with the build.
33 Hot Rod (Gen 1) Stage 1 delivered on 4/27/2017, Stage 2 delivered on 9/21/2018
LS3 495hp/480 lb. ft., 4L70E, Electric PS, Classic Auto Air, Lokar electronic sport shifter, 13 inch Wilwood front and 11.68 Cobra rear brakes, Ford 8.8 w 3.73 w 4 link, Billet Specialty Legend Series MAG wheels and Mickey Thompson
Sportsman S/R 26x8x18 front and 29x18x20 rear tires.
Thanks RoadRacer and Andy. Missing front suspension parts will arrive on Monday.
In the mean time here is my latest question which I posted on the Roadster forum, as there are a lot more of them than hotrods. They must use the same calipers unless they upgraded.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...589#post315589
Love your garage, looking forward to your build
Thanks wrp. Totem on the roadster forum had the info on getting the caliper apart.
Last night I assembled/installed the rear upper and lower suspension arms, made up a host of new words as the spacing between every mounting point was too small for the arms to fit into. Had to spread them apart almost 2mm to get them in.
You will have developed an entirely unique and new language by the time you finish. Most of us will understand it, even if we cannot speak it exactly.
And today was no exception. Only 1/2 of the front control arms showed up today not to mention wrong hardware.
Any of you with the IRS diff have trouble mounting it?
The 2 front diff mounting holes get drilled out to 5/8" which I did. Can't get one of the bolts thru the bushing and into the diff mounting hole. The spacing of the frame front mounting holes is slightly off a good 1/8".
I'm not taking the diff out again, it's a bear to get back in by myself. Maybe I'll use a smaller size bolt. I've tried to force the diff to get it to align, no go.
Had to use a mirror at a 45° angle to get the pic.
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Also does this diff look like the pinion angle is a bit too high (pointing up)?
The front sticks up more than it looks like in the pic.
This is the first FF car I've done so maybe it's OK. It's just not like any other Chevy or BMW diff's I've done in the past.
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Here are a few pictures of my diff, and yes it was a bear trying to mount it but what you need to do is (looking from the rear of the car forward) get the back left/right bolts in, then the front left one, and leave them all loose but engaged to allow for some movement. Then you need to use the floor jack very carefully to roughly align the height then using the bolt carefully tap the last front right one into the front of the bushing sleeve until it engages the hole in the diff and slowly tap it in, once its more than a 1/4" in then you can tap it through and then "snug" it up along with all the others. If you have any of them tightened before they are all in then it will not work. You can even loosen the back right one more and then push the bolt in, to slightly twist the diff to align the front right hole, it does not take much to be honest, just slow and easy.
Here are a few pics of my install and the link to my build when I encountered the same thing. It will go in however you need to allow it to move within all four bushings to do so, don't use a smaller bolt.
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https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...Rod-1028/page2 Post #51
Last edited by AJT '33; 03-06-2018 at 09:34 AM.
Thanks for the pics. Does the front of your diff angle up like mine??
I tried it every way I could. The spacing for the front holes in the diff and the frame hole spacing is not the same.
I have the 2 rear bolts only threaded in about 1/4" and the front left bolt into the diff mounting hole about the same.
I have a 2 foot crow bar trying to shove the diff over to get the hole close, it's not moving.
Still off enough so the bolt won't slide in. Might be time to pull out the die grinder.
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I will take some measurements tonight of the bolt spacing to see if it may match yours. I remember only needing to nudge it a bit and not ream the diff hole. Drop an email off to Tony at FFR maybe he can give you the tech spacing in the meantime and advise on elongating the hole. He has been an immense help to us in this build!
Tony and I emailed and spoke on the phone, still doesn't fit.
He said the spacing is a compromise between the cast iron diff and the aluminum diff.
He didn't know the center to center spacing. He suggested grinding the tips of the bolts down and then driving them in.
Don't think I'll do it this way.
What I got for the front frame mounts ctr to ctr was 12 3/4", the diff front hole ctr to ctr spacing is 12 15/16".
At this point I have the diff unbolted with the urethane(?) bushings pulled out.
I'm going to grind some of the OD off the bushings on one side, this will allow the bushings to spread a little further apart. This should let me get the bolts in.
Will let you know how it works tomorrow.
Last edited by JimLev; 03-07-2018 at 07:16 AM. Reason: Fixed measurement typo
The diff is in. I ground down the edges of the bushings to adjust the spacing to match the front diff holes.
Took all of 30 min to do everything. I spent pretty much the whole day trying to get that diff to bolt in.