Finally got the LS1 and T56 bolted to the frame and pulled the engine hoist off for the first time in almost 4 months, I think? Pictures of the work start here:
http://satellitehead.com/gallery/thu...album=9&page=5
When I laid the tall hump onto the cab floor, I noticed that they had bead-rolled pattern on the floor that matched up perfectly with what needed to be cut out, so I had a factory pattern. The hardest part was working through the body seam. Took a combination of a pneumatic nibbler, sawzall and a jigsaw with a metal bit (sawzall only cuts good in a straight line).
Basic process: I placed the high-hump on the cab floor and measured where it should be. Spraypainted the bolt holes to have a visual of where they will be for reference. I used a ½" drill bit to drill my pilot hole, then used a nibbler to nibble out the rough square of the primary hole. Once I nibbled up to the body seam, it took a pair of tin snips to cut it loose (should have used the sawzall, hindsight is 20/20 ). The top arch of the tranny hump was the worst to cut out and will take the most cleanup. I still haven't cut or tapped any holes for the high hump, won't get that done until I'm on cleanup.
Once both pieces were out, everything lifted and bolted up perfectly and you can see the end results below. Need to take an angle grinder to everything tomorrow and smoth it all out, then sand and primer with some rustoleum (paint will come once drivetrain and suspension are done). Still not sure what to do about the body seam I cut through, if anyone has advice, I'm all ears
I also notice that the tranny xmember doesn't fall into any of the stock holes . It's going to be a real pain in the ass to try to drill the framerails with the cab on. I hope to hell I don't hafta pull the cab off, I don't have the resources for that in my garage and the truck ain't moving. I'm going to square it up tomorrow and try to get it tackwelded in the corners to see what I'm looking at for more work.
I also noticed that I forgot to put my e-brake cable OVER the tranny xmember, so now I need to figure out how to disassemble the e-brake cable so I can mount it over the hump and tighten it back up.
It's so nice to have a cleaner garage again ... now if I could just get rid of the stupid inline engines, I'd be good to go
Anyway, everything else looks good. Gotta figure out this week what all I can take off the top of the engine for emissions. I'm still not sure. Need to order blockoff plates for those items too and send off my harness for some hacking - don't want to pay $400+ (minimum) for a Painless kit.