chocolate apocalypse

Its been a while since I’ve posted on this forum so thought I’d give an update. I actually started upgrading the old girl around 7 years ago then things got put on hold. Finally now I’m able to get back to work on her again. Here’s what was done way back when:

Hotchkis springs and sway bars front and rear
Koni shocks
Hotchkis lower rear control arms w/Edelbrock no hop bars and adjustable uppers
Global West GenII upper and lower front control arms
Went from 4-wheel drums to Baer brakes (13" front on modified B-body spindles, 12" rear)
12 bolt from 70 Chevelle w/3.73 Richmond gears and Auburn posi
Be Cool radiator W/Flexalite dual 13" fans
Quick ratio steering box
All stainless steel brake lines throughout (fuel lines not installed yet)
Custom grey cloth/vinyl interior (nothing special, but looks purdy)
16" Cragar SS wheels wrapped with Yokohamas

The car is blown apart right now but hoping to get her back on the road at some point over the summer. Even though all the parts I put on her are 7+ yrs old, they only have about 500 miles on them at the most so if it aint broke dont fix it. Here is whats changed:

'98 JGC steering box
'05 Silverado hydroboost
Hellwig adj rear sway bar
Rick's VaporWorx tank w/CTS-V module
UMI double adj LCAs
removed the anti-hop bars
HPI Customs chassis brace kit
370" forged LS2 w/LS3 topend, ZR1 cam, approx 9:1, begging for twins
Improved Performance baffle
6L80E - will get built up before much, if any, boost is applied
LT1 Camaro rad w/LS1 fans
Battery w/Ford solenoid and kill switch in trunk

need to get:
Engine/trans harness
2800-3000 TC
a crap-ton of relays
redoing the stock engine bay harness
Ridetech front musclebar
Hotchkis 2" springs most likely
front drive accessories, either VA or Wegner
VA AC
additional frame bracing
maybe power windows, we'll see
TigerCage?
Smoothed firewall
New wheels/tires

And after I climb out of debt from all that I can start on the body/paint and interior work. lol Thanks for looking, James

Here are a couple pics of the motor I just finished putting together:

ent72olds

Looking good James! Glad you painted the LS the proper color!

chocolate apocalypse

That way no one will ever know its not a SBO lol

dutch injun

Looks like a great buildup I'll be sure to follow. How are you gonna get that huge 6L80E trans in there?

chocolate apocalypse

It is a big mama thats for sure, makes the stock TH350 look puny. Not sure yet if I'll do an H cut in the trans tunnel or replace it all together. Once I get the rolling chassis done and am able to get the body back on the frame I'll figure that out

dutch injun

Have you seen this episode of v8tv? http://v8tvshow.com/content/view/502/275/
Here they test fitted one on a 66 GTO, but it requires some surgery so they opted for another trans. I am sure someone out there has done it successfully.

chocolate apocalypse

I havent seen that before but I have a feeling its a few years old. The 6l80/90 have been put into a few A/F bodies already. Does take some surgery but it will fit. If they had switched to a G8 or 5th Gen Camaro pan they probably wouldve been able to make it work without lifting the engine/trans assembly up so much. Though I'm not 100% sure since its a 66. Even with a lower profile pan it still may hang down a lil further than the engine oil pan but I wont have the car in the weeds so hopefully it wont be that big of a deal.

OLD SKL 69

James, nice looking engine! Got any pics of the rest of the project?

chocolate apocalypse

Here's a few pics of when I bought her and the original window sticker:
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Starting disassembly, you can see the original Saturn Gold on the rockers:
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About a month ago:
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Dirty rear end:


Purdy rear end:
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Whoever redid the interior glued jute to the floorpan then carpet to the just, it was such a pain:

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I want to get the frame to a frame shop, it isnt off by much but i'm kinda **** and might as well start out with a good foundation. I can then put in the HPI chassis brace kit and start putting her back together.

oldcutlass

Glad to see your back on the project, look forward to seeing the ol girl put back together.

chocolate apocalypse

Thanks, you and me both! There's finally light at the end of the tunnel

Allan R

That will be a nice car when all done. I was a little surprised when I looked at your original BOS. Your serial number shows it was built likely a week in advance of my car at Lansing. My last 6 are 208783 and was built on April 11. So was yours built during the first week of April?

Does the car still have it's original firewall stamping? I'd be very interested in that because mine was painted over when Ken did the body work on it.

chocolate apocalypse

Duh, I said window sticker when I meant BOS, though I do have the window sticker in a safe place.
Yes, the firewall stamping is original and still has a few painted letters here and there. I can take a pic when I get home from work.

Allan R

I'd really appreciate seeing it. Could you also post it on The Firewall Stampings Thread? Thanks, that will help me getting close to the right stamps for my resto.

chocolate apocalypse

I actually have one pic on me, not that great but will take a couple more once I'm home. The blockoff plate is off now so there maybe something under there, other than the upside-down A, as well.

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Allan R

James, Thanks. I'll look forward to seeing the other stamping

chocolate apocalypse

Looks like there was another after all:

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Allan R

Thanks for looking that up and also for posting on the Stamping Thread

garys 68

I built my 5.3 LSx with a 4speed T10 2 years ago. I absolutely love dring it.
You will have way too much fun with yours.

chocolate apocalypse

Well, things slowed down for a bit but I've gotten my frame prepped for the HPI brace kit, ordered a Circle D triple plate torque convertor, engine oil cooler (cant be too careful when its 110+ in the summer), Wegner front drive, Vintage Air Gen IV kit, trans cooler lines, various other odds and ends. Pulling the trigger on a harness, pedal and ECM shortly. My bank account is sad but I'm stoked! lol More to come...

chocolate apocalypse

Some pics of the progress so far:
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Allan R

Looking good. Much easier to run those fuel and brake lines when there's no body in the way.

Those Yoko's look really wide; will they clear the rear wheel opening and inner wheelhouse? Looks like 275/70/16?

chocolate apocalypse

No kidding, half tempted to drop the engine and trans in too even though they'd just have to come back out. Would be strange not having the engine in my living room anymore lol
The rear tires are actually 255/50-16, must be the angle. Thinking about upgrading to some 18s since the tires now are a bit dry rotted. I'm actually surprised the 16" Cragars fit with my 13" rotors up front, its tight but they work.

Allan R

Why do I get the impression you don't have a missus to contend with?

Yeah, I think you're right. The looked pretty huge in the pics. Going to 18's would be cool. That would also give you the spacing you need with the rotors. Saw a couple cars done with 18's and they were wicked! Example from quick google search:



Have you looked at Rushforth Wheels ? They have some nice stuff too.

chocolate apocalypse

Well something has to keep my core support, MIG welder and HPI chassis brace company when I'm not home lol
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I dig Rushforth wheels but they are a little pricey, was thinking more along the line of the Boss 338. Just so much else to spend money on right now, maybe on down the line sometime.

ziff396

I can see that. When I was single (again) in the late 90's, I built a big block chebby in my house during the winter. One thing that I didn't plan for was removing it after putting it all together. Man those things are heavy. I was able to wheel it to the door and barely hooked it with the cherry picker on an angle. Nice job so far!

chocolate apocalypse

I didnt realize how heavy my SBO was until I was bottoming out with my Hotchkis small block springs back in the day. She was much happier with big block springs

Allan R

Wow!
Not being a smart *** here, but honestly? How do you expect to get that engine out the door? The engine stand bases are usually wider than the door frames...Maybe you have a sliding door that's not in the picture?

Looked at the 338's and they're a great looking wheel too. Not bad at 194 each. The super finish gray is uber cool IMO.

chocolate apocalypse

Thats the one I was thinking about, looks cool and the price is right.
Oh it fits, its a tight fit but its been in and out a few times, like just now:
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oldcutlass

I wonder if my wife would let me decorate the house with car parts?

chocolate apocalypse

Made a little progress lately. Decided not to get the trans built just yet, gonna run it stock for a while and let my tuner work his magic on it. Flexplate, Circle-D convertor and trans all installed now. Gonna give the factory Escalade transcooler lines a shot, should be able to use most of the lines. Dont think I'll have room for the stock dipstick, waiting on my new body bushings to get in to start doing some trial fitting/tunnel cutting. May go with a black Lokar one. Installed the Wegner accessories and they look great, hopefully they work just as well Was using short/wide motor mounts but my tie rods were hitting on full steering lock so gave the tall/narrow ones a shot. No more hitting the pan on lock, then had to space up my trans mount (just stock one flipped around backwards) 3/8" to compensate. Gotta put -06 ends on the fuel line and might mock up the exhaust shortly as well.

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RetroRanger

That looks pretty good so far, I like the olds gold VC and water pump adds a nice touch

chocolate apocalypse

Thanks, the oil pan and block are gold too, except for the back, no one will see that. lol I prepped the hell outta everything so hopefully it wont start flaking off after a few heat cycles.

chocolate apocalypse

Well, my body mounts finally came in today so I figured I would try to get the body back on this weekend. Patience is overrated though...


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Its no fun when you only have a couple floor jacks, some jackstands and wheel dollies, just gotta get creative.

oldzzy

Cool build! Keep up the good work!

csouth

Nice project. I was also looking at the HPI kit for my car, but I'll get to that when I finally pull the body off. Just wondering why you didn't wait until you welded that in to get the frame all nice and spiffy?...lol Keep up the good work

oldcutlass

Lets see some front end and underbody pic's.

70cutlass831guy

I see a lot of modern engine swaps and no one ever mentions what they do for a drive line? custom made or stock? Would the orignal drive line work with a 4l80/4l60? .

Maybe a dumb question but I have never seen it come up.

Aceshigh

Do you mean a driveshaft ??

Mine will be a custom made one. Stock just wouldn't be able to handle it.
Old, decaying rubber inside the sleeve, etc etc.....ticking time bomb.

chocolate apocalypse

Aces is right, I had a custom made driveshaft from Denny's Driveshaft whipped up for my car. You may be able to get away with it if you keep the engine completely stock but you still may have to change the yoke depending on if you use a 4l60 or 80 and/or shorten the driveshaft depending on trans choice and motor placement. Might as well spend the extra dough on a new one, especially if you plan on power upgrades.