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Got registered for Drag Week, so now the pressure is on! Despite the car being snow covered in the morning, I decided to play with some of the cold side plumbing. I think I have where the intercooler can sit. The right side will need a 3.5" hole cut in the core support, but a 90º fitting off the intercooler shouldn't intersect anything and will be a matter of getting the plumbing to where the throttlebody lands. Expecting to get the head and intake on Friday! Yay!

The cold side going under the core support.


The airfilter is just a place holder keeping debris out of the inlet until I know what I'm actually doing for the intake.


Going from ~22gpm to 55gpm, and from a 3 row brass to 2-row aluminum should significantly improve the cooling system. Though the only real cooling issue I ever had was hitting the pump flow limit at highway speeds above 90ºF, and simply slowing down cooled the engine off every time.



As a side note, I'm contemplating building a low budget 230 or high compression 250. A set of cast pistons are $100 at summit, I have a set of checked out good rods. Just get the bores and deck cleaned up, and the crank cleaned up if it needs it. Kind of practice for getting the good engine together since it's been awhile? And have a back up engine ready to go if necessary. I don't know, maybe, maybe not.

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Drag Week. Cool. Where is it at this year?


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65 Chevelle Wagon and 41 Hudson Pickup
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Out waaaay east. Atlanta, Darlington, Zmax, Bristol, back to Atlanta.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/hot-rod-d...oposed-ruleset/

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Intake and head showed up today! I was surprised to find the intake weighs a bit more than my sheet metal one, but I don't have to worry about it leaking or cracking!

Three tubes on my "backup" headers unfortunately hit the intake. Wouldn't take much to clearance them but I'm going to keep them on the shelf for now. I've decided to start on a new set of headers though using 1.75" primary tubes instead of the 1.5" of my currently half finished set. I have a box full of 1.75" U-bend pipe.






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I got the lower mounts for the intercooler and radiator welded on, just need some strap metal for the top. I was pretty happy to see how little I needed to trim off the hood latch support to clear the intercooler.





I also yanked the head off a 230 with 250 head and it appears to still have some hone marks and no rust in the bores. It's a bit carboned up, though too, so I wonder if the rings didn't seat or if maybe the PCV valve was stuck? Don't know, but I think this could be a good back up engine. It's .030" over bored.

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Everyone likes a good mock up. The real trouble with EFI'ing the OHC engine is that #1 cylinder fuel injector wants to occupy the same space as the thermostat housing. I have that issue with both intakes I made and this one is no different. The only alternative is to really lay the injector over and there isn't enough material in this intake to do that. I really wanted to figure out where the throttle body would land so I can continue planning the air routing after the intercooler. Lands about 4" off the radiator, so I'll need a 90º off the throttle body, but that isn't much different than my custom intake, just a bit closer to the engine.







Very similar to this, just a few inches closer to the engine and clear of the radiator hose.


Also pulled the head off the engine that looks rebuilt. It's a bit carboned up but the bores appear to still show hone marks and none of them have rust where the rings sweep by. The oil makes me wonder what the source of the carbon is. If the rings didn't seat, stuck PCV valve or just poor combustion due to fuel/spark issues? It is a 250 head on a 230 short block so the compression ratio is like 7.8:1, so could easliy be poor combustion causing it. I wonder if my '66 230 head is salvagable or if my test/practice porting has rendered it unusable?


L2258 pistons. Same ones Egge sells.

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Unfortunately not as much progress in the last month as I'd hoped to have. A combination of bad weather on the weekends and other priorities coming up.  I did bend some aluminum strap metal for the upper intercooler support. I need to get some matching bolts to the core support, but otherwise it is finished. I also hole-sawed the core support and ran the cold side plumbing through it. I need one more 90º coupler and then to trim down one of the pipes to get it in the right spot for the new intake.   Boy does it tempt me to get a carb hat on it and hook up the turbo to this engine, lol!

I need to figure out where to fit the Mezier water pump and then I can go back to at least driving the car.  It's a monster of a unit compared to the small Craigs-Davies unit I had been using, and the hot side plumbing to the turbo plus 4" exhaust are now occupying the space the water pump once did.  I think I'm really going to be putting the "remote" into remote water pump.  

I need to get some new header flanges cut to start on the bigger header tubes, that actually clear the new intake manifold, but this can be done outside the car.  




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Would it be a option to make a adaptor and "move" the thermostat housing to clear the injector?


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I've discussed it on other boards. There are a few options out there, even getting someone to notch one to clear probably wouldn't be that hard.

I'm contemplating a few things. With the turbo and exhaust locations it is more difficult to access the frost plug locations I've plumbed into, so may go back to the thermostat housing (by notching or fabricating one) and run the cold water into it and then still have water come out the block in the front.

The bigger reason I'm considering it is I'm thinking I may have to mount the water pump on the left side of the engine and it would be even worse plumbing getting to the frost plug ports on the right side. But I did buy the two port water pump so I could run to the frost plugs... decisions decisions.

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From CFD (flow) modelling that was done on the black opel intake - I strongly recommend moving the throttle body 6-8" upstream from the intake flange - otherwise #1 will not get its full air charge.


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Back up 5 or 6 pages and see where he ran a homemade sheet metal EFI intake of a near identical design for several years with no problems.



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Got a lot done this weekend, gives me hope on having a drag week ready car before the end of August. 

So I bit the bullet and installed the battery in the trunk. Full box, cables out the back and down through the floor of the trunk. I still need to install a power disconnect switch and heavy duty fuse, but the 1 gauge positive cable is ran to the front with brackets holding it in place. The kit came with a short 24" ground cable, so I picked up some 4 gauge ground cable until I get 1 gauge down the road. 

I figured since I have moved the fuel supply to the driver's side, I could remove the stock fuel lines on the passenger side and run the power cables more or less along the path the fuel lines used to go.


I've got three bolts holding it to the floor.  


This should clear all the exhaust pipes going to and from the turbo. 


With the battery tray free'd up, I welded a bracket to the tray to hold the water pump. I looked at options of just making a bracket to the frame or core support, but it was definitely simpler to attach it to the tray. I will probably use that space for power distribution, move the fuse panel from the fender well to the tray.


Sits about 2" higher than the stock pump did, but I do not expect any issues as long as I'm not low on coolant. 


I also started on the flanges for the new set of headers.  The flanges I have were just a bit on the small side, and the end ones needed to be squared up.  So I took a grinder to them and started opening them up.



I'm hoping this week to get a machine shop lined up for the short block and either during the week or over next weekend get a transmission boxed up to ship to a builder that has done a few other Drag Week'er transmissions, so my hope is high the 4L60e will survive behind my little L6.  

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Replied!

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Awesome looking EFI setup! I'm hoping my intercooler just barely fits the hood latch like yours!


69 Buick Special Deluxe. Intercooled Turbo Chevy 250 @ 15psi on a stock long block. It's kinda fast.
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I was surprised how little trimming the hood latch support needed.

Hopefully headed to the machine shop tomorrow! Tlowe should recongize some of those boxes grin


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I ended having to take a head and some valves to the shop because I need about 0.10" worth of valve relief's cut into flat tops to keep the engine non-interference.

This alfa inline engine was sitting in the lobby of the shop. The shop owner says its waiting its turn on the dyno.


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The progress continues. I finished running the ground cable to the front, but I think I'm going to re-do it at a later date. I will see if I have any starter cranking issues first. I ordered a 250 amp fuse and holder to set up on the power side incase the main wire shorts out some how.

Made a simple upper radiator bracket. If I need something more substantial I'll change it, but I think it will do just fine as the upper radiator hose holds it in place pretty well. I also trimmed about 2" off the fan shroud to use my electric fan set up. The 2nd generation F-body radiator is narrower than the 1st gen.


I pulled the turbo off so I can start on the header work. I also started on the water plumbing. Because the radiator has a heater hose port I do not have to do any funny plumbing for the heater core. I'm going to get some heater hose from the parts store today and finish plumbing in the water pump. I need to wire in the PWM controller so I can control the water pump speed, then I should be pretty much ready to put the car back on the road.


The old 3-core was in pretty rough shape. Kind of hand an overheating hiccup a long time ago that bulged out the cores.

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Pretty much have the cooling system revamped.  I need to cut a small section of 1.5" exhaust pipe from my scrap pipe bin to connect the lower radiator hose, but otherwise is all plumbed in.  Now I need to dust off the Jeep solid state fan relay I bought for the water pump and wire it in so I can control the water pump speed. I had the old pump setup as ON/OFF depending on throttle position and coolant temperature, but with nearly tripling the water flow I do not think that method will be appropriate.  If I can slow down the pump down by at least 50% I will be happy with that. 


I'll redo the lines going into the head when I actually bolt the turbo back in. I will likely try and find some 1" pipe to use to keep the rubber lines from the exhaust heat. Or a bunch of zip tied rubber line.... 

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A stack of parts showed up this week. I picked up a set of 3" exhaust tail pipes. I want to run the exhaust all the way out to the rear. I'm not sure yet if I want to neck down to 3.5" on the down pipe then 3" just before the rear axle or go down the 3" at the bottom of the 4" down pipe and out the back. Folks say at my power goals I'm likely fine at 3" after the down pipe, but I'm weary.



I mocked up on the left side, but I will be using the right side as I have all the fuel system running out the left, plus the turbo is on the right.


I got a custom harmonic balancer put together. An engineer I know did the fabrication of an outer ring and a bolt on weight for his car to match the OE 4bbl balancer that is near impossible to find (can't even find a picture of one on Google!). But he never got it put on a center hub. I had Dampener Dudes in northern California put it together for me. I need to find the allen bolts and bolt it into place. I may have issue now with my crank trigger wheel. I need to check the diameter and may have to do something different. Worse case I used my 1bbl balancer for the duration of Drag Week. Dampener Dudes did a fantastic job. Lined up the timing marks perfectly.



I also got an LED display to put in the hood tach housing. I tested the LED display in my Skylark. It was reading about 4x more rpm than it was running, so I think I need to make a reference/pullup circuit for it to make it read right. I'm slightly concerned it may refresh too slowly to be of any real use, but I'll reserve judgment until I get the reference circuit complete. It was only $10, so not big loss if it doesn't work perfectly. I'm thinking of wiring it into a 3-position toggle switch and be able to switch it to display MPH as well. I'm also going to put some indicator lights in the housing, like a shift light, check engine, etc.


I also got in a 250amp fuse and case I need to wire in at the back of the car, as well as larger ground cable, so I need to re-run the ground cable. The engine bay looks so empty without the turbo!

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I need to find or buy new bolts for the balancer and get it to the machine shop so they can do the final balancing. Hopefully it's zero balanced or I can ask for it to be.

Chevy2inreno generously is loaning me a transmission shipping crate to send the 4L60e I'm going to have professionally built out to a pro-builder. Hopefully will be shipping it out this week.






In the mean time, after I get the Firebird up and running again, I need to install this older 4L60e that I put a mild shift kit in but is really in unknown condition otherwise. I can "practice" my transmission tuning and setup on this one to make sure I have everything setup right before the good transmission gets back.

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I realized I hadn't posted some of the exhaust pictures from February. I've made a few small changes since these pictures that pull the exhaust a bit more away from the firewall, but gives an idea how the exhaust is plumbed from the engine bay. The big question is do I put a reducer on the down pipe to 3" or 3.5", or leave it at 4" all the way to the rear axle then reduce to 3" to go out the tail pipe. No muffler.

I took about an inch off the exhaust at the turbo flange end. Cut it at the back side of the welded seem and re-tacked it to the flange.




I need to re-make the transcooler lines.


Again, it's about an inch further forward now.

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This is a cool project! Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work.

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Monthly update. I'm still waiting for the short block to be done. Its about 2 weeks overdue. I may see it this week though. The transmission has been rebuilt and will be shipped back to me this week.

It's been hanging around 100ºF, and I miss my high elevation and shop, but making due. I replaced the body bushings and installed sub-frame connectors.




I may mig them to the frame later.


I've since put a protective wrap on the power wires.


Then I moved over to the shed to start work on the turbo headers.


Step one complete, the tubes clear the intake manifold.


Step two, welded the tubes fully to the flanges.





I got the water pump wired in and setup to adjust its speed with the megasquirt. However the frequency of the megasquirt is limited to 250 Hz, and the pump likely wants around 1500Hz. I have an adapter board to wire in that should get me the frequency I want, but I have not yet wired it in.

Hopefully I'll get the engine back this week or next so I can assemble it. This week I'm also hoping to pull the car into the garage and install my first 4L60e transmission to test my transmission controller before installing the professionally built transmission. In the mean time, I'll keep working on the header.

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Been getting work done little by little.

I got the 2004-r removed and the professionally rebuilt 4L60e transmission showed up yesterday and is ready to go in. The Summit discount shelf torque converter I bought for it said it was a 2,500 stall, but the stamping on the converter say its a 3,200 stall! I'll take every bit I can get. It is still a lock up converter so if its a bit loose I can lock it up as early as 2nd gear.


A welder I ain't, but a little paint and thermal wrap will make that go away! Finished the rear collector and did basic mock up of the front collector. I need to cut the holes and then really weld it back together.



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Stall speed of a converter is a function of engine torque, i.e. the same converter behind a big block V8 will have a different stall speed than that same converter behind a six. When you get it installed put the car in hi gear (so it doesn't roll) with the brakes on and floor it. The RPM that it stabilizes at is the stall speed. It may momentarily "flash" to a higher speed, so give it a few seconds to stabilize.

Last edited by THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER; 08/03/18 11:13 AM.

FORD 300 inline six - THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN DRAG RACING!
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Yup, typically based on some arbitary Chevy 350 torque rating. With a lock up torque converter I'm of the opinion "more stall the better" because it's likely to come in well under it's rating. The datalog recordings with the EFI system will make it really easy to see what it actually stalls at with just a couple of launches.

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X2, the usual model for stall speed is the most frequent buyer: SBC 350.
In round numbers, torque near stall speed is proportionate to displacement X static CR.
The industry has created a rating factor for comparing torque converters, the “K” factor: RPM = K × (T^.5). Some manufacturers supply this data; if attempting to approximate it remember that the relevant torque output is not necessarily peak torque (although with a very high stall speed it will be close), but the torque at the (probably lower) actual stall speed.
If the manufacturer identifies your converter stall speed as 3,200 RPM, this was almost certainly with regard to its characteristics with a Chevrolet V8 engine developing perhaps 350 ft./lbs. of torque at that speed (which places the K factor value at 170). When installed behind your L6 engine developing perhaps 230 ft./lbs. of torque at that speed, the actual stall speed will be closer to 2,600 RPM.

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Mostly finished the header the other night. I had to go work out of town for the weekend, so I dragged my welder and stuff with me to work on after hours. I am going to cut the collectors down for 90º bends when I have it mocked back up on the engine. I'm going to paint, then wrap it. That ought to hide my welds!


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Originally Posted By: TheSilverBuick
I'm going to paint, then wrap it.

Nice work on the header. You going for a single collector exhaust pipe?

I used the DEI titanium wrap on my head pipes. It's easy to work with (not unlike wrapping the handlebars of a ten-speed bike) - and with a Clamptite tool one gets almost invisible tie wraps to hold things snugly in place.

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Its still two collectors, just side by side. I'm going to run them separately to the turbo.

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Finally got the transmission in and driving. Had some electrical issues when my ground wire pulled out of a connector unbeknownst to me, but got that sorted. I didn't initially believe the line pressure being read by the sensor because it was so high, excess of 250psi, but put a mechanical gauge on it and it confirmed.

The way it works is the Microsquirt transmission computer commands the pressure relief valve to open or close a certain amount, but does not directly command a pressure. So a sensor is needed to see how much pressure it's making at a given opening. Fortunately there is plenty of control on it and I am easily able to bring it down to 90psi in neutral, 150psi under normal driving conditions and 200psi at WOT. This is good for the transmission, transmission pump and for the engine thrust bearing surface.

I have not foot braked the converter, but locking it in high gear and hitting the throttle puts the rpm right at 2,700rpm while the car continues to accelerate. It really does not start moving the car until about 1,500rpm, which is a new experience to me. Fortunately it's a lockup style converter so shouldn't have any issues slipping in the long run. I can lock it up in 2nd gear at low loads. I have a terrible video of going for a test drive at 10:00pm, but photobucket is taking its sweet time loading it up.

I'm using a ~2005 4L60e and its longer than the 200-4r I removed by about 3". This is the second time I've cut the driveshaft and welded it back together, lol. However this time, the shortened driveshaft just has to get me by until I put a 9" rear axle in then the new driveshaft on the left will go in.


Using LS transmissions on old engines is tricky. I read in a few places that I needed a .400" thick spacer, but when I put it together the torque converter was bottomed in the transmission and buried in the crankshaft. I determined I needed a ~.625" (5/8") spacer to pull the torque converter off the transmission by about 1/8". Fortunately Summit sells BOP adapter plates that are 5/16" thick, so I bought two and had one water jetted to clear the flywheel.Then every thing lined up.


I used the same dipstick and tube as I had on the 200-4r, but moved the mounting tab down to account for the different location of the dipstick hole, as well as marked the dipstick for the proper "full" level.


Bought the longest dowels I could too. The deep skirt nature of the OHC L6 puts the starter in a lower position than most GM engines, so I had to trim the bellhousing to clear the starter nose cone.




Started back on the exhaust plumbing. Short of going all the way back past the transmission then front again the cross over pipes were going to hang low. So I went under the oil pan for the time being. I bought a few sets of flanges so I can unbolt the cross over, but summit was one flange short for how many I needed so I am waiting for the last flange to come in to finish up the pipes and welding. Then I'll have to plumb in the wastegate. Going to put it on the passenger side and will likely dump right into the down pipe.



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Started the rear axle swap. Pulling out the 8.5" with 3.42 gears for the 9" with 3.89 gear. I need to move the wheel studs from the 5" to 4.75" holes and swap the brakes. Hope to finish tomorrow.




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Finished the rear axle swap. Ended up being a bigger pain than I anticipated because I forgot that the axles had to be pulled to change the brake backing plate. Then the backing plate of the drum brakes had a smaller diameter hole than the disc brake with the 9". I tried purchasing new backing plates but the plates I bought ended up having a smaller hole than the description online stated. So I ended up getting a hole saw out and opening it up. I would have just stuck with the disc brakes except they are on a 5x5" bolt spacing and my Firebird rims wouldn't fit. Then scope creep happened, I put new leaf springs and bushings in too.

Then I started on the exhaust. Finished tack welding the turbo header pipes together and did about half of the finishing welding before the wind picked up. So I switched gears to the main exhaust. 4" from the turbo to the rear axle then 3" over the rear.

3" over axle pipe fit as advertised. I aspire to some day have fireballs popping out of this on the 2-step.





The 4" pipe fit surprisingly well. It does not even hang as low as the 2.5" system I have on the car. I did end up flattening a 12" stretch by about 3/4" to clear the floor board of the rear seat. I need to add two exhaust hangers for the long stretch of pipe. I have a piece of wood holding up the front of the exhaust system because I do not have the v-band flanges welded on yet. If you look close I installed a driveshaft loop as well.






From the other side. Cannot even see it past the 2.5" exhaust.


I am going to need to re-route a handful of wires and fluid lines to clear the exhaust pipes, but nothing too bad, mostly needs good underhood housekeeping. The exhaust cross under is definitely going to be the low point of the car, and I'm sure I'll need to re-visit it sooner rather than later.


Next up is finish welding the whole system up, checking the best I can for air leaks and addressing accordingly, run a large pipe cleaner or such through the system to knock all the crap out of the tubes.

Due to time constraints, and going to the drag strip, I'm not going to put my good short block and head in it until after Drag Week. I do not even have the short block back yet. I have another 250 in the shed I'm going to open up and take a look at the rings and bearings and it may end up being my turbo test mule. If I put that short block in, I may put new NOS valves in my current cylinder head and clean up the ports a bit more than I have to match the intake and header port sizes. I wouldn't worry too much about the exhaust port being smaller than the header, but would want to gasket match the intake port with the intake runners.

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Been busy. Finished welding up the exhaust! Welded all the pipes! The challenge was finding a place that I could put the wastegate that would pull from both tubes. Planning on painting and heat wrapping it all today.

The exhaust pipe coming out of the wastegate isn't welded on, I'll make a final one in a day or two. After Drag Week I'll probably work on plumbing it into the 4" exhaust. I tried to preserve the twin scroll exhaust plumbing as best I could, including running a divider plate to the wastegate valve face. its not a tight seal, but better than nothing. There seemed to be some flex in my turbo mount once I added more downpipe to it, so I welded two pieces of angle iron to the support to be very sure it won't break on me.






Took an intake tube to a weld shop to install the BOV flange and intake air temperature sensor bung.


I had ordered a custom trailer hitch from U-haul on August 2nd with the hope it'd show up with enough time to install it. Their website says it can take 20-45 days... Called U-haul last Monday for a status update and the guy said it was scheduled to ship September 14, which is too late for Drag Week. I told him I was hoping to have it by the end of the month, he said he'd see what he could do. Then last night (Wednesday) it showed up! I mocked it up this morning and looks like it's going to be a perfect fit. it mounts to the license plate bracket, so will sit more flush once I really install it. So relieved, while at the same time now I have to get the trailer ready too! (You can see in the background where I added an exhaust hanger on the 4" stretch of exhaust pipe to take weight off the turbo mount)

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As the deadline for Drag Week marches ever closer getting more things checked off the list.

Bolted up the trailer hitch. Only took about 20 minutes and went smoothly. Now I need to re-pack the trailer wheel bearings and do the trailer wiring.


Hiding my questionable welds, I've painted the engine bay exhaust parts in flat black and have started to put thermal wrapping on them. I didn't have long enough ties for both pipes so zip ties are standing in until I pick some up today.


Then because my good engine will not be out of the machine shop in time I looked around at my stash of engines and had two options. One is a 230 short block that still shows cross hatching on the cylinder walls and the other an un-opened 250. A 250 head on the 230 short block would put the compression in the 7's, so I pulled the oil pan off the 250 for a peek.


Looked clean enough. If the chevy rebuild orange wasn't obvious enough it had markings on the rods to indicate a rebuild at some point.




But things went downhill from there. Pulled the head and the pistons all had a bunch of trash on them. So I vacuumed it out, sprayed a bit of WD40 around the cylinder walls and gave the crank a turn, and it turned easily, and other than looking well used the cylinder walls looked surprisingly decent. So flipped it back over to check bearing clearances.




I pulled all the mains and they all showed copper, with the #1 main being a little rough, but figured I may be able to polish it up for a short term engine. Plasti-gaged them and the clearances were pretty consistent 0.004", which is out of spec but all the bearings were worn too. Then I moved on to the rods, and thats when I found #1 was completely trashed. Rocked loosely on the journal. The journal was just scar'd enough that even I wouldn't try to polish it at home and run it. The good news is it looks like all the bearings were standard size so the crank is salvagable for future use. Also the bearings are all dated 11-77, so its been a long time since it was rebuilt. I checked the clearance on two of the other rods and they too show copper and came in at 0.004".
https://www.facebook.com/randal.burns.3/videos/10215704167850869/?l=3136731384087063048




So my plan is now to use the engine that is already in the Firebird. I am a bit concerned about the oil pressure so I'm going to double check it with another gauge on it to verify the reading and probably run a very thick VR1 oil. Good news is it just free'd up time to work on the trailer. Plan on doing the battery disconnect switch, yanking the intake/exhaust manifolds off the car and finish wrapping the exhaust today.

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So moving back to the engine in the Firebird. In good news, I put two different mechanical oil pressure gauges on it today and they read 8-10psi higher than the gauge in the car, so the engine is probably not wounded like I thought. I'm feeling a lot better about using it.

I wired up the battery disconnect switch. It's a 4-pole one so it not only kills the main power wire, but also the dedicated power feed to the ECU which inturn shuts off the fuel pump/engine. Don't have to worry about the alternator keeping it running.
https://www.facebook.com/randal.burns.3/videos/10215711480233674/

Then started on removing the manifolds from the engine to mock up the intake and header to make sure there weren't any surprises.

The 2.5" exhaust with glass pack has served me well, but is now replaced with a 4" pipe.


Intake manifold fits. Of course its not port matched to this head, its about 1/8" off.


I do like how this is looking!


The headers clear everything!


However, there is only about 1/8" clearance between it and the alternator. I have a 3/4" spacer on the alternator that I think I can remove as well as use a shorter belt to pull it down and away.


Then I finished wrapping the exhaust. If I have time I'll make some tin heat shields as well. Thermal management I think will be important.

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Originally Posted By: TheSilverBuick
However, there is only about 1/8" clearance between it and the alternator. I have a 3/4" spacer on the alternator that I think I can remove as well as use a shorter belt to pull it down and away.


You will be quite surprised at just how effective the DEI wrap is in keeping heat inside the pipe . . . so tight clearances are not an issue.

Nice work all around! The build is really coming together.

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Thanks! Just to be sure I've removed the spacers on the alternator brackets and moved the alternator closer to the block and with a shorter belt it'll be further down. Still close, just not as close. I'm hoping the DEI titanium wrap does it's job. If time allows I'll make a tin heat shield as well.


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Soooo close! I was hoping to fire it up yesterday, but I didn't have the correct adapters for the fuel line to fuel rail. I also need some fittings and hose for moving the cooling lines around the exhaust. Hopefully get that taken care of today or tomorrow. I will then start on cleaning up all the wiring, but it will be minimal because I plan on making a new engine wiring harness to go with the new engine.

The turbo and hoses are not clamped down yet as I plan on cleaning out the intake tubes before running the turbo, and I plan on removing the turbo for first fire up to blow any remaining crap in the exhaust header out first.

8 days until I head out on a 3500+ mile journey!






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