Project "Leon "

[texasld]

Originally Posted by boynton

I think I will immediately borrow your phone idea with my grill. That is amazing!

Cool! Let's see it!

By the way, did you have to install the heater control valve on your VA system? Ir is that handled inside the condenser kit?

[Xeen]

That Flex Braiding looks nice, I dig it.

[aggie91]

I like the flex braid over the hoses. Looks real clean. Whose braid did you use?, Or rather where did you get it from?

[texasld]

Originally Posted by Xeen

That Flex Braiding looks nice, I dig it.

Thank's man! Maybe I'll make my upper control arms look nice this weekend too!

Originally Posted by aggie91

I like the flex braid over the hoses. Looks real clean. Whose braid did you use?, Or rather where did you get it from?

I actually have several different "brands" but they all seem to link back to Tech Flex. I got most of it from eBay, but I did run to the local electronics store because I needed a size I didn't have. The upper and lower radiator hoses are wrapped with 1 1/2" braid. Most of the other hoses are covered in 5/8". The thing to note when buying this stuff isn't the "normal" size, but the Min and Max size. The Rad hoses are 1 1/2" and 1 3/4" hoses but the 1 1/2" flex is somewhere in the realm of 1" to 3" min and max.

The trans cooling lines are wrapped in split loom that I got for the LS wiring harnesses. I didn't have enough of the regular to cover those as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291372640050...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231407597789...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The heat shrink of 2" or better is a little more tricky to find, but it's out there.

Once you get the hoses covered and the braid tight. Shrink the ends with your heat gun. Something I discovered on accident was, running the heat gun over the flex makes it cinch up a bit more making a cleaner covering. Don't get wild with the heat or it will burn it. I HIGHLY recommend using a heat gun instead of a torch or lighter.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

like the idea on wrapping the hoses in that black braid

[texasld]

Originally Posted by Justin@EntropyRad

like the idea on wrapping the hoses in that black braid

You could always use it as an "Upgrade kit" when you are selling your radiators. If you want to send me a radiator for pictures and such, I would be HAPPY to install it in my truck.

[knomadd]

That braiding looks good. I bet your glad you did it. I know I sure was. It changes the look of the engine bay.

[texasld]

Originally Posted by knomadd

That braiding looks good. I bet your glad you did it. I know I sure was. It changes the look of the engine bay.

Sure am. Thank you big time for sharing the idea! I love the way they look.

[aggie91]

Thanks for the links on the braid. Looked at them and noticed the variety of colors/patterns. Someone could get creative with that stuff.

[texasld]

Did a bit of test fitting, had to find out where to mount my coil packs. If you look closely in the background you will see the wiring harness! That thing is a mess.




I'm happy with the way the exhaust looks so far, too!

[texasld]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Thanks for the links on the braid. Looked at them and noticed the variety of colors/patterns. Someone could get creative with that stuff.

No problem, Karl!

[texasld]

It's a bit rough, no headers. I'm getting an error code related to the gas pedal, so that and the fact there is no tune for the new cam may have something to do with it...

Let me know what you think.

C10 LS 5.3 first start. - YouTube

[jkeating1]

Dadgum--I gotta speed up my watching to keep up with your building!

While you are fitting, bending, etc., power steering lines--consider the placement of the clip that bolts to the top of the frame and holds the metal part of the hose down to the frame. That clip got loose on mine and the metal-to-metal situation ate into my ps hose. You could use a couple of regular line clamps in lieu of the factory piece. With all the detail you're going to on the lines, you've probably already come up with something really innovative to secure them!

Originally Posted by texasld

Had to get a PS hose made due to the lack of hoses options I had locally and a number of other issues, but I got it done. The return line will be remade and replaced because the bend is to high, I'm going to try the pack it with sand to bend it tighter.

Attachment 1373498

[KMC3420]

The end says it all, Haha, YES! Congrats.

[texasld]

Originally Posted by jkeating1

Dadgum--I gotta speed up my watching to keep up with your building!

While you are fitting, bending, etc., power steering lines--consider the placement of the clip that bolts to the top of the frame and holds the metal part of the hose down to the frame. That clip got loose on mine and the metal-to-metal situation ate into my ps hose. You could use a couple of regular line clamps in lieu of the factory piece. With all the detail you're going to on the lines, you've probably already come up with something really innovative to secure them!

I don't even have the clip. It was missing when I bought the truck. I haven't put a lot of thought into it yet because... well, just because I haven't. Thank you for the heads up though. I may cover the lines in heat shrink or something to make some type of barrier.

Originally Posted by KMC3420

The end says it all, Haha, YES! Congrats.

Thanks man. I was shaking like a leaf in a Texas tornado with fear, anxiousness and overall happiness!

[Xeen]

Awesome!
It doesn't get more motivational than that, I see a fast paced thrash over the next couple weeks in your future. LOL

[texasld]

Originally Posted by Xeen

Awesome!
It doesn't get more motivational than that, I see a fast paced thrash over the next couple weeks in your future. LOL

You called it! I'm looking for a way out of work for the next few days!

[sduckworth13]

Nice job getting it fired up, it sounds mean.

[texasld]

Originally Posted by sduckworth13

Nice job getting it fired up, it sounds mean.

Thank you Mr. Scott! Need to get the exhaust finished up. Open headers are pretty loud!


Spent most of my time last night playing with wiring. I fixed the gas pedal, it was pretty easy, forgot to connect the 12v+ for the TAC (Throttle Control Actuator) Module. That will do it every time! Doing some work on making the harness pretty, I think I'm going to stash the ECU under the dash on the side of the brake pedal bracket. I'm moving my fuse block to the upper part of the kick panel on the driver side and run all the chassis wiring through the fender. I really like keeping wiring clean!

The pictures don't show much, but It will get there. I'm laying it all out and taping it up, then I'll pull it all off and loom it in split loom. I'm concerned about the termination of the flex at each connector. I don't want to pull every connector to install heat shrink, and I'm afraid black E-tape wont give me the look i'm going for.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Before




After Dosent look like much happened, it looks worse, actually. But it's in the details, check the valve covers. .

[mcbassin]

Congrats on getting her running! Sounds great. I really like the relocation of the coil packs and the sweet valve covers. I hope to do that on mine some day!

[texasld]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Congrats on getting her running! Sounds great. I really like the relocation of the coil packs and the sweet valve covers. I hope to do that on mine some day!

Thank you, sir!

Really happy I did them. Not really all that cost effective, but does a number on engine appearance.


More wiring re-working. cut, shortened, soldered, and heat shrinked about 30 different wires. I got all of the engine wiring done, Transmission wires are next. I love making wires look pretty! I used E-tape, and it doesn't look all that great, but it gets it nice and tight. Then I'll go back over and cover with the split braid sleeving. I think one more evening working on it, and I'll have it whipped. Takes more time than you think.

I have to go over to my buddy/painters shop tonight after work to get his two post lift working. Been doing side work for him in his shop to do some horse trading on a nice black paint job! This just adds to the tab.

Before






After

[trkfrk]

Your motor sounds great! Cool video, nothing like that initial start-up keep the updates coming.

[texasld]

Originally Posted by trkfrk

Your motor sounds great! Cool video, nothing like that initial start-up keep the updates coming.

Thank you, Mark!

I wish I was as close as you are!

[texasld]

Spent more time on the main harness over the weekend... what a workout.
Dressed up my coil pack wiring friday night. I like the way they turned out. I mounted the coil packs last week to the tow board on the cab. Finally got some pictures of that. Over the last two nights I have worked on the exhaust. I really like the u-fit kit, but the way I'm going about it is very time consuming, but it's like a super puzzle, with angles! I like Puzzles!


On the coil pack harness, they were covered in a fabric style tape that was IMO pretty ugly. In conjunction with the rest of the wiring, I wanted to wrap it in the flex braid split. I also shortened one of the leads to make it sit better with the new coil pack brackets.

Before


During


After


Also finished up the looming of the injector/TBA/MAF leads and the transmission wiring.





I really like this split braid stuff!

[texasld]

Here are some pictures of the exhaust. It's just tacked together. I don't know about the mufflers, they may end up being way too loud for my liking. They are Flowmaster Outlaw series.... we shall see. I need to add one more hanger for the PS and then onto the other side.

I'm concerned that the trailing arm is going to hit the exhaust. I'll see about that too. What do you guys think? I placed the v-band clamps just after the center trailing arm, this will allow me to remove the transmission w/o cutting the exhaust.





I need to wash this thing...