Stroker's Build (5.3/4L60E in a '69)

[OneOffStroker]

I threw down some sound deadener. It's RAAM mat BXT II. Seems like some good stuff. I covered that with RAAM's PS Ensolite, which really helped. I'm going to be hitting most everything else with this combo, but under the dash needed to be done before I started loading it with wires, dash, A/C, etc. As stated before, my overall intention for this rig is to make it a comfy daily driver.

In the 2nd and 3rd pic, you can see how I mounted the PCM. I just bent up some channels out of 16ga sheet and welded it to the firewall. It fits snug. I'm not going to be worrying about it, that's for sure.

[OneOffStroker]

Uh Oh...somebody got a Hydroboost!!

This is working out great for me so far. I didn't want to screw around with any adapter plates, so I just lined it up on the firewall with the stock pedal assembly, and marked some holes to be drilled so that I can just mount them together. There is some minor drama with the top holes, because they ended up so close to each other. I think I will weld some tabs to the very top of the bracket so that I can use the stock studs that come through the firewall. Another great fitment is that one of the holes for the steering column mount will be shared with the HB plate. Score one for me!

Since I chopped about 2" out of the brake pedal mount because of the smooth firewall, the brake pushrod went together great as well. As you can see, the stock pusher was just a bit too short. I chopped it back to the rod portion, and the stock clevis slid right over it without much wiggle room. I'm going to wait until I get it fired up and operational to weld it together so that I get the adjustment set up just right.

For the hydraulic lines, I'm going to be replacing those busted-ass rusty Astro lines (which are too short anyways), but I'm not going the Earl's powerflex route like everyone else does. I have something else in mind that is about 10x more cost effective and proven to work. Of course, like everything else, I'm not 100% sure it will work for this application. I'm going to keep a lid on this until I can prove that it works or not. If if does work, I'll be into this HB setup for about $80 total, and I'll let the cat out of the bag so that you all can save a few pennies as well.

[OneOffStroker]

Believe it or not, the wiring is coming along very well. It looks like crap, but is almost done.

Here's a quick shot of where all of the wiring for the front end comes out of the cab. It's going to run inside the top of the fender, all tucked away nice and sound.

[OneOffStroker]

I got my floor shifter and e-brake installed.

Shifter is a B&M Unimatic. E-Brake is from an early '90s Honda Civic Hatchback. Cables aren't hooked up yet, but will be by the end of the week. I'll have to do some tweaking under the truck to get them fitted up right.

Ooh, and steering column is back in with new turn signal switch.

[OneOffStroker]

I did a write-up for my Hydroboost setup. Ch-ch-ch-check it out: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...42#post5359142

[OneOffStroker]

I've gotten a lot done since the last time I posted. I got my return line squared away for the HydroBoost, got brake lines fitted up, and the exhaust is fitted, welded, and installed. I also fitted the front sheetmetal so that I could run my front end wiring. I found out that 5.5" of static drop is no joke when you would like to run inner fenders. I will be doing some chopping, that's for sure.

Since I will be running a cold air intake from a silverado, as well as using the 5.3's battery cables, I needed to move the battery to the driver's side. My original battery tray was rusted and crapped out anyhow, so I fabbed a new one. Here's some pics:
1) Measure and draw a scale model
2) Make a full-size model out of posterboard
3) Cut posterboard and make bends to verify fitment
4) Cut out of 16ga. I added kerfs to aid with bending, since I don't have a brake.
5) Bent using a 4" vise, hammer, and ingenuity. Fits OK.

[OneOffStroker]

1) Mounted in driver's side to core support
2) Battery seems to fit
3) The battery isn't fully inserted in this pic. It's a really tight fit, so I won't fully insert it until I'm sure I don't want to get it out again. LOL

Part of the reason I had it wrap around the top is because I'll be mounting distribution blocks to the top of it for power and grounds, in case I add some high-power stuff in the future.

[MAK191]

Great job. I have a similar setup that I am working on now and I'm also trying to keep the wiring low key. Keep it up.

[OneOffStroker]

Well, I was supposed to go to VIR and race my Supermoto all weekend, but Thursday morning, it blew the water pump impeller shaft's water-side seal, and of course nobody had parts locally, so I couldn't fix it in time.

So that left me with an entire weekend with nothing planned. Hrmmm...seems like a legit time to work on the Burb.

I got so much done, it is crazy. I would have been driving this thing weeks ago if I could have had this intensity in the past.

Some stuff I got done:
- Made a fan support/mounting bracket/radiator filler panel
- Fabbed up some mounting tabs for my Cold Air Intake
- Mounted my A/C condenser and trans cooler
- bent up some hard lines for trans cooler and external filter (also mounted said filter)
- cut/hammered clearances in my inner fenders so I can alleviate some tire rub
- revamped the mounts for my battery box to clear inner fender
- fabbed mounts for my fan relay/circuit breaker/distribution block assembly
- mounted all my front sheetmetal (need to remove fenders at least one more time though, as I ordered new lower cab/fender brackets)
- added connectors to rear section wiring so I can plug into stock harness that runs through headliner
- Disassembled taillights to clean/restore them and sort wiring. (a trailer harness was butchered into the stock wires some time ago, so I had to fix that mess)
- replaced fuel sender & license plate wiring beginning at connector
- placed new gasket on fuel sender
- ran wiring to fuel pump
- cleaned interior and began laying down more RAAM Mat BXII

I also cleaned the garage and stowed ALL my tools about 6 times throughout all this, as I have OCD and get pissed when I can't find a tool.

There were a lot of detail things that also got accomplished, but weren't really worth mention.

I am taking Tuesday-Thursday off of work to tinker with the Burb, so maybe I'll get this thing fired up and running by the end of June. I'll take some pics throughout the week and post them as well. Sorry I don't have any from the weekend.

A bit off topic, but last weekend I was putzing around on my Harley and saw a gathering of bikes. I stopped by, and a few dudes encouraged me to enter my bike in the show they were having. They talked me into it, and I took 1st place!!! The bike was all dirty and didn't even have all the parts on it! Hopefully I'll have this same kind of luck with the Burb once it's on the road.

And on a bright note...my supermoto parts come in Monday, so I'll be out racing on Saturday in North Carolina.

[heavy_duty]

great job on your burb.Could you post more close up pictures of how you mounted you gas pedal?Did you make a bracket for it?Keep up the great work.

Ed

[OneOffStroker]

Originally Posted by heavy_duty

great job on your burb.Could you post more close up pictures of how you mounted you gas pedal?Did you make a bracket for it?Keep up the great work.

Ed

I did't really put a lot of thought into the gas pedal, it just seemed to fit right in. I had to drill the holes out just a tad to 1/4" because they were metric, but it fits like a glove. Of course...I have that custom-ish firewall, so that might be why it was so easy for me.

(the pictures look like it's tilted, but it's totally vertical. I must have held the camera crooked...)

[OneOffStroker]

And now some of the pics from the rest of the crap I've been doing to it.

1) External trans filter, because I don't trust auto trannies worth a damn.
2) Trans lines with -6 AN hookups throughout. Also shortened trans dipstick.
3) A/C condenser and 26,000 GVW trans cooler
4) Battery box finished with dual distribution block. Also seen is the circuit breaker and Volvo 2-speed fan relay for Mark VIII electric fan.

[OneOffStroker]

Some pics of my nearly finished custom gauge panel. This truly turned out to be the biggest PITA of the whole build. It's not even close to 100% done, but the gauges sit in there and they are wired, so I'm calling it good for a while. Someday I'll remove it all and actually finish it.

1) The rocker switch on the left of the column is the master power for cruise control.
2 & 3) The 2 pushbuttons are for cruise as well. one for set/coast, other for resume/accel

[OneOffStroker]

And finally some beauty shots of the whole engine bay, about 95% done. I need to paint a few more things gloss white (inside of fenders, fan support, etc.) and then add coolant hoses and fluids, and she will be ready to start!!

Note the absence of most wiring. That took a considerable amount of time to get right.

[OneOffStroker]

I got all the little wiring problems finished up, primed the fuel pump, and was ready to fire her up for the first time. BUT...the starter seemed to crap out on me. It just clicks, but it turned over several times when my fuel pump wasn't primed. I'll get a new one tomorrow and maybe fire this pig up once and for all!!!!

[OneOffStroker]

I started this thing today!! I had a lot of problems with fuel pressure not making it to the rail, and I was past the point of quitting for the week. Then I went back at it, and found out that I plumbed my Vette regulator wrong. I had the pump output running into the return side, not the supply side. Oops. Quick line swap and she fired right up.
This thing absolutely sounds brutal. It scared the $h!t out of my wife. She thinks it will get me evicted from my neighborhood, and we own our house!! Exhaust is stock manifolds into 2.5" pipe with an X-pipe and turbo mufflers. Same setup as the stock 350, but that was so mild compared to this.
I still have a ton of stuff to do before she moves, but today was a big step for her.

Oh, and my tach wouldn't work at all. I'm going to try to add +12V and a 680ohm resistor into the signal wire to boost it. If that doesn't work, I'll probably have to scrap my custom dash, and that sucks.

Also, my oil pressure dropped to nearly zero at idle and my CEL was on the whole time. Like I said, still have some bugs to work out, but I'll get her on the road soon enough.

[OneOffStroker]

Well, I had to pull the motor due to the oil pressure failure I was having. I've been crazy busy with a motorcycle ride out of state, work, finals week at school, and the wife's Birthday, so it's taking me longer to get stuff done than I wanted.

I started putting the motor back in on Sunday afternoon after I installed a new Melling oil pump and checked some other stuff out inside the motor. I had it started Monday evening, but shut it down because there were a lot of strange noises coming from it.

This afternoon I topped off the coolant and power steering fluid, both of which I lost some of when I yanked the motor. This seemed to quiet down most of the noise I was having. It still has a bit of a tick to it in the valvetrain area, but I'm sure that's fairly common on these motors.

Oil pressure holds steady at 20+ idling, and other than an exhaust leak I found, it sounds good. Now I just have to bleed the brakes and I can take her for a spin around the block for the first time. I'm excited finally.

I might get some real work done to her this weekend...after I finish prepping my supermoto for next weekend's track outing, that is.

[502ms]

that's looking great!

[OneOffStroker]

Well, I've been driving this POS for the last few days. It runs good, but throws a DTC once in a while - P0171. I'm going to do a few things to get rid of that if I can, and then start on the rear suspension and interior. I'll snap some pictures sometime next week and post them up here.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Nice build.... Those guages are not my cup o tea but the rest of it is..

[OneOffStroker]

My Burb is getting driven daily now. I've done a ridiculous amount of work to it in the last few weeks, but it's been cold out and I've been fighting daylight everyday to make progress, so I haven't taken any time to stop working and take progress pictures. I'll take some pictures soon and post up do that my handywork can be noted.

Since my last update:
-Figured out the error code, it was a bad O2 sensor. I replaced them both.
-Had a leaky fuel tank, at the sending unit. I got a new o-ring and some permatex, and no more spills at the gas station. lol
-Fabbed up new inner fenders because there was too much rubbing with the static drop.
-On the drop note...I had to swap out my front 3" drop springs with some 2" drop springs because the tire rub was too much while turning.
-New inner fenders required moving my battery tray to the only place it would fit, so now it's on the firewall. This kinda ruined that smooth firewall look I wanted, and now some wiring is visible, which is also not what I wanted.
-A/C Evaporator/heater installed and vents mounted under dash with some 'custom' hardware. It looks ghetto chic, but will be better once I powdercoat the brackets.
-I made some new door panels, since I had none to start with. Home Depot and Ikea. Don't judge me.
-Fixed about a half-dozen rust holes in the floor, all of which bordered the rocker panels, which will be replaced someday.
-Installed new window seals and runners, and driver's side door weatherseal.
-Finished my RAAM Mat and Ensolite, then laid down 3/8" padding, then some grey carpet. Finished door sills with carpet trim from Home Depot/Lowe's.
-Deciphered the seat wiring for seat motor and heaters. This is probably my favorite part of the build besides the engine. Heated seats are wonderful.
-Installed 3-point seat belts with height-adjustable shoulder points.
-Finally, I started fabricating some speaker kick panels to house the Polk MM6501 components that my wife bought me for Christmas.

Next up is padding & carpet for the rear floor and a complex seat bracket/seat belt mount/speaker pod assembly for the back seat. Back seat is of little importance to me, as I don't anticipate ever having more than one person with me anytime in the next few months. Biggest thing is the speaker pods that will be incorporated in the mounts...

I also think I will swap out the gauge cluster I made for something more functional, like a 2003 Silverado cluster, since it will talk to my ECM better and provide more functionality. But to do this, I'll have to change my fuel sending unit, and to do that I'll just use an OEM silverado pump/sending unit. This means tank modification, which means a new tank because I'm not into cutting a used gas tank. So after I save a few more pennies, I'll get that project started.

I'll take some pics after the Holidays.

[bowtieguy79]

Nice build!