Project "Variable Priority" '71 FS/SB

[DjS71]

You know, I was looking at the pump and i might not have to take it out after all...

[DjS71]

Got the lines ran, inner fender zipped back in, wheel back on, radiator full of fluid and the ol' bucket fired right up after being on jacks for.... let me scroll up for the dates.... 3.5 months.

All in all it sounds great, no more huge exhaust leak, no constant on fan. The serp setup has a bit of the whine, but it might just need some belt dressing, i'll give it a squirt of water tomorrow and see if it quiets down any before I go to the goop.

Power steering will take some getting used to.... almost a little too snappy with the 1980 box I put in it, but it sure is nice to be able to wiggle around at low (or no) speed without getting a hernia.

E-Fans come on @ temp, no coolant leaks so far This part went smoother than anticipated.

Alternator isn't charging... I posted where I'm at on my electrical thread, hopefully my Automotive Electrical for Dummies sponsor VetteVet can pull me out of the fire.. again, he's been super helpful. I'm sure the problem is largely related to me over thinking and over researching it and my brain turning into pudding.

All in all, super happy with it. Need to figure out how to do a driveway toe alignment for now, front end parts are next on the list but the wheels are a little cockeyed

[DjS71]

Few months down the line, everything working well enough so far, put a couple hundred more miles on the old bird... Was in the middle of rebuilding a swing-unit pair of control arms when I up and tripped over LQ4/4L80E to swap in. SO I'll put them control arms on when I have the front end apart for the swap I suppose.

Now, time for a whole new round of questions in the swap forum....

I need to setup a couple cameras in the garage with some sort of image recognition. If they see a wrench move, snap a picture... I'm terrible at taking them myself.

[Low Elco]

OOh,OOOh, can't wait to see this! Fighting off the urge to do an LS swap myself.

[DjS71]

Terrible picture, just need to get a C-Clamp to remove the u-joint from the slip yoke, unbolt the trans mount and pick up my buddy's engine hoist and out she comes.

[mcbassin]

I like your project. That serpentine setup looks nice too.

[DjS71]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

I like your project. That serpentine setup looks nice too.

Thanks! Shame I did all that just to stuff a Gen III in there, but it was the fun sort of pain-in-the-ass

[DjS71]

Hurdle #1: 2x Stripped TQ converter bolts...

[DjS71]

Sweet Christ, it's been a long time. Still not on the road but getting close. Had a second child, which you would think cuts your time in 1/2 again, but its more like 1/4. Little dude sure is cute though.

Took the bed off to work on rebuilding the rear with new bushings, 4in drop springs, 1 in drop block and shocks. Put the bed back on, then found a 3.73 rear end that i need to install still along with nolimit's panhard bar and shock re-locators. I guess I'll get to that when i flip the truck around in the garage to finish the fuel system.

Pulled the front clip off to better install the Engine/Trans. This is pretty much how it sits at the moment. Front clip in the bed, a few more parts back on.


Rebuilt the front suspension with new bushings, 1in drop springs, 2.5in drop spindles and fresh calipers & Discs, and shocks

Got the engine wired up, just need to blow apart and clean/grease the auto column, and run front half of the fuel lines before I put the front clip back on.

Wound up with Carshop adapter plates, CPP sheet metal engine stands & trans crossmember. With that combo I able to use the factory CTSV dipstick and the donor truck's 4l80E dipstick, so that was a nice discovery. Works well with the DT Headers, the mid length ones, i forget the part number... but the O2 sensor on the pass side is perilously close to the frame, the starter wires need some creative tucking and on the driver side the shift linkage I cobbled together made a little bit of room for the exhaust.

The shift linkage was from a late 70's Chevy truck, plus the rod from the lokar kit and one handy dandy piece of uni-strut.



After the clip is back on I have to make trans cooler lines, i had originally planned to do AN line, but I find myself wishing i had kept the factory trans cooler lines as they seem to tuck up the cleanest and would likely work with my radiator. We'll see what happens.

While i wait for driveway space (friend brought home someone else's ****show of a 510 wagon that we can't get running right to save our lives.) I think i'll work on getting the Dakota Digital VHX Gauges wired up and find a place for the PCM under the dash.

Still need to check driveshaft angles and measure for a new driveshaft.

Honestly if I had 3 or 4 days uninterrupted I could probably turn the key, which kind of terrifies me at this point, 3 years later.

If you made it to the end of this rambling recap, the first round is on me