cruizin01

I remember sitting in one just like this one at the Detroit Auto Show the year they came out. I recall thinking how nice the interior was compared to what I was used to at GM. I still think they are sharp cars.

Very Cool.

It wouldn't be how I'd do it but if that's what he wants its pretty doable. Gonna be the easiest and probably least expensive route to get a "new" engine. BluePrint engines has 370hp small blocks, pan to filter long blocks for like $4k. I think they carry about the best warranties available. 30 month/50k parts and labor. Not sure the specifics. That 4.11 and 3 speed is gonna be kinda miserable.

Happy Monday. I was pretty free this weekend so I spent about 12 hours or so in the garage between Saturday and Sunday. Tons of little stuff that doesn't seem overly productive but has to be done. My alternator was a 2 wire PWM unit which doesn't work with the Sloppy Mechanics harness I bought to work with the Terminator. It needs the old 4 wire setup. Supposedly the alternator will charge at 13.8 without anything connected but since I bought the harness I wanted it to work correctly. There are a few guys that said they swapped the regulator out for the older 4 pin and it worked fine. So I found one for like $20 and attempted to swap it. Its not really a direct fit. I had to cut off one a mounting tab and clearance the rear cover but I got it bolted in place. Hopefully it works. There is one small ground pin that didn't meet up where the old one did so Im just crossing my fingers for now. My coldhose.com adapters were sitting against the frame. I should have clearance it before we installed the engine but I didn't know for sure how much room I would have. It was a pain to do with a cut off wheel but I got it handled. I tee'd in my steam vent into the heater hose and got them reconnected. -I reworked and shortened the shift rod as the trans sits about 2" forward of its old position. *forgot pictures* -I routed and shortened the factory engine harness starter wires and attached them. I did the same with the alternator charging wire and A/C compressor clutch wiring. *forgot pictures* I went about installing new plugs, LS1 style coils ( not running the heat sync coils with terminator), some wires and heat sleeves. Cylinder 5&7 are gonna need a couple new 90* boots to clear the downpipe. I made up a brake booster hose. The old one was 3/8" at the booster but the intake it 1/2" so I used an adapter. I started laying out the Holley harness and plugging everything in that I could. Its a nice harness its just significantly thicker, stiffer than my old sniper setup. Obviously there is more connectors and the ECU is a stand alone unit. Everything plugged in as it was supposed to though. Im gonna have to move the fuel pressure sensor though as its up near the throttle for some reason. I need to push the main harness in through the large grommet at the firewall and figure out how to get all the wiring inside the truck. I can't imagine guys using this harness and doing a clean firewall without completing tearing this harness apart and shortening/lengthening everything. Im gonna attempt to just make it as clean as I can without hacking it apart. About to order some parts to try and attempt a 3.5" downpipe. I figured out roughly where I want the waste gate and should be able to merge it back in. I also decided to rework my fuel system and run -8 PTFE supply and -6 return for the ethanol. Still tons to do but I really enjoy this project so far.

I plan to buy the AHP unit David mentioned when it comes to buying a TIG machine.

Last night was pretty successful. A good friend came over to try and help me ram this engine and trans in the truck. We immediately realized the hood was going to have to come off to get the hoist far enough back in the truck to get the engine set down. UGH. What a PIA with 2 people to hold, remove the bolts and pick up the hood all in one. We managed without any damage. The a/c lines I bought are pretty much wedged against the frame so I need to clearance it just a bit. The trans crossmember is now about 2" too far reward so its gonna have to move. Other than that everything seems to fit with no issues. I need to work out lots of little plumbing items but Im excited to get the front end back together so I can plumb all the goodies. Once I get the radiator and fan in I can work out how Im gonna do the air to water setup. Oh and I have plenty of room to route a downpipe inside the frame rail so thats exciting. I think I can easily do a 3.5" downpipe and make it work with a wg plumbed to the crossover.

I dont understand what you did but its awesome, regardless.

haha. Im pretty hard on myself. I follow too many fabricators on social media and expect I can replicate their professional level skills using their professional level tools. :-P

dang. thanks. :thumbup:

Its pretty average for an LS engine. These peak out at about 7-800hp. I dont need that much but it works well at lower hp levels as well. And thanks!

Spent a couple hours in the garage last night working on the crossover. I forgot the challenge associated with exhaust tubing when you dont really know what your doing and don't do it often. It didn't turn out half bad though. I had been wanting a cold saw to replace my junky abrasive saw. I kept my eye on amazon and found a "used" one for $160. It was brand new just missing the original box. Its super slick. Like freaking awesome! It cuts this exhaust tubing like a hot knife through butter. No/minimal sparks and just tears through it like nothing. Such a nice tool. I do wish you could adjust the fence a little more quickly but Ill take what I can get for the price. Anyway, just a couple pics of the crossover. Its 2-1/4 tubing adapted up to 2-1/2 on the passenger side to meet up with the manifold. I cleaned out the pipe the best I could before welding the 2 halves together. Im a bit nervous about anything small metal pieces getting into the turbo so I ordered a metal brush to try and clean it up. I still have to weld the wastegate flange on but Ill wait until its in the truck so I can make sure the location is good. And then Ill wrap it. I think the engine is ready to go in the trunk now. Maybe this weekend..

Initially I thought who the heck keeps a vehicle that long... Then I was like wait, I do I guess. Ive technically had my C10 for 21 years so that counts. Its definitely for fun as well as the BRZ. I dont have many real life responsibilities so I can have/drive whatever. I had an F-body in 2001-2002 and cant imagine still having one... no offense but even when it was new I didn't think it was that great.. Maybe as a drag car only?

Spent most of yesterday in the garage on the truck. Didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped. My goal was to bolt the trans up to the engine so I could work on building the crossover pipe. I didn't even think about whether there would be an issue with the flexplate, etc with the new torque converter and transmission. Come to find out the ls flexplate that was on the engine was just a 3 bolt. And to mount the 4l80e you need to space it rearward. So I researched around and found out that Advance carries the correct setup. And its only $60. So I hopped in the car and ran down to the nearest store that carried it. A comparison of the original converter to the new one. About half the weight it seemed. I hope it works decent. Ive never had anything with an upgraded converter so Im not sure what to expect... Anyway so I had nearly a .25" gap between the converter and the flexplate when the trans was bolted up. Everything I read says you want roughly an .125". Ugh. So Jegs sells some spacers so I ran over there. I didn't really have any washers thick enough and I need 6 of the same. Anyway so its bolted together now. A pretty big pain to do by yourself. I test fit the turbo supply line and mounted the dakota digital sender. I guess I should have checked whether the holley has an oil sensor or not. I dont think it does. I spray bombed the Tejas engine mounts and bolted them up. Worked on making up the turbo oil drain. At first I didnt think the timing cover location was going to work. After massaging the fitting a bit it clears the belts fine and fits up to the turbo with no issues. I hope it drains well enough. Its a -10 line so.. My next goal is to build the crossover so I can get the engine and trans shoved in the truck. Hopefully this week/weekend.

Yeah I figure Ill forgo that for now. Maybe do it after the fact if the look bothers me. I only plan to wrap the crossover pipe. And yeah I'm leaning towards putting the wg in the crossover. The turbo manifold is cast iron so its not something I can really do myself so I'd have to pay someone. From what I read it will work fine on my mild setup. And it will be easier to plumb for me.

I got the big block pulled last weekend and transported to work. I had a friend with a fedex engine pallet so I snagged that and got it crated down. It should be picked up today and headed off to WY. I dont plan on having any regrets selling it. My VSRacing 7875 came in last night. Its just their gen1 billet wheel unit. For $500 it should be plenty for what Im doing. Its pretty compact as well. Im considering researching painting the cold side black.. Not sure how feasible that is. I also got my Tejas engine mounts and a few other nick nacks. I hope this weekend I can put the new torque converter in and bolt the 80e to the engine so I can work on building a crossover pipe. Have a good weekend everyone.

That upgraded B58 is nice. Its super rowdy in the 3er. And they sound so good straight piped.

Received payment for the BBC with all the accessories this week. The guy is in Wyoming so Ill to ship it, which sorta sucks but he paid asking price plus my time to crate and the shipping of it. I have it ready to pull except for the trans mount and driveshaft. I labeled all the Holley parts so it should be a pretty simple install for him in his K30. I went ahead and ordered the majority of all the parts for the rest of the build. Sans the VS racing stuff. Still waiting to see if they do a BF sale for the WG and BOV. The turbo is already 10% off. I received my turbo manifold last night so I hung it just to see how it looks. The casting is a little rough so I need to clean it a bit. Im pretty happy with it for $250. Im hoping I can have someone help me weld a wastegate flange to it without any problems. I ordered a Holley DS manifold so I can work on getting my crossover built once I swap the trans over. I did order a converter from a shop out of Chicago. Its a budget converter that some Sloppy guys have used with success. Should be perfectly fine for street use. Looking forward to getting this mounted in the truck so I can start plumbing.

500+ whp in the C10 and burnouts to follow.

Thanks for the kind words guys. More minimal progress this week. I installed the MAP sensor in the back of the intake. It didn't fit in the hole nor did the mounting tab fit correct. So I opened up the hole and hacked off the tab and bolted it in place. The IAT sensor I decided to use the... evap hole? So I shaved the sensor down and siliconed it in place with a hammer. Hope it doesn't rocket out under boost. Probably the last picture of this engine in this truck. I spent an hour or two taking the front end apart. I think I can remove the rad support and remove the engine that way. Versus removing the hood and still fighting the engine and trans out of the truck. I have a guy supposedly coming to look at the engine today from Grove City. If not I have a guy in Wyoming wanting to buy it. I'd just prefer to sell it locally if I can. Save me the shipping hassle.

Ive followed the whole build. For some reason Chris rubs me wrong. I think he short cuts too many things. (youtube life?) And with this build I feel like Oscar did everything aside from Chris making small brackets, etc. I get he puts in a ton of work on everything. Maybe Im just being a hater in a sense. Cool end result on the build though. Be interesting to see if it ever performs like he thinks its going to.

I havent watched this yet but this guy always has cool test and he just posted one for jump starters.

Had the worst commute Ive had from the east side in the 4 years Ive lived there. 1.45 hr to go 8 miles. I just dont get it. Roads were slightly slick I guess but I just don't get how people turn into mummies when they get out there. And roundabouts turn into the biggest $hit show ever. Its like ground hog day and they've never seen one or used one.

Spent a few minutes last night trying to remove the broken exhaust studs. Worked out awesome. About 20 minutes to remove both broken studs. The 2nd one (not shown) I was worried about because it was broken off flush with the head. Luckily, the weld stuck to the washer.

Not too much to note this week. I got the new p/s pump and belt tensioner installed. Belt I had was a bit too short so I had to order another one. I moved it over to my main garage so I can try and weld some nuts onto the broken exhaust studs to get them out. DONT ever try and move an engine on a stand across the yard.. It does't roll...lol I think at this point Ill start removing pieces and parts from engine in the truck. Ill have to remove the hood which Id rather not do but I dont have a choice. I need to order the new mounts and probably the torque converter for now to be able to get the 5.3 bolted in.

Got the balancer installed. I got the torque angle on the new bolt pretty darn close. I was worried about pulling the engine over on the stand.. I hacked away at all the extra stuff on the intake I didn't need. This was after I rough cut everything. I did sand it mostly smooth. I should have spent a little more time sanding off my grinding marks but it looks fine for this build. Spent some time cleaning and painting all the accessories and hardware, etc. I painted the intake, valve covers and throttle body to match. Got most of the accessory drive stuff mounted. I realized I need a camaro tensioner to work with the wp so I ordered that. I decided to order a new ps pump as mine was severely corroded. eBay fuel rails and Snake Eater Performance 80lb injectors installed. Im pretty happy with how the motor looks. Doesn't look new but a vast improvement over the wait it looked when I got it. Pretty close to being ready to pull the engine from the truck so I can get this sat in place. I drove the truck yesterday maybe for the last time with the current setup. Ill post more in the coming weeks.