49 ls1

[_Ogre]

nice fab skilz, dash, firewall and brakes all self made. i like self made
i don't understand why you can do all this fab work and then you buy a kit for the trans.
they look cheesy imo, plus they cost a lot more than you can make them for.



i took this pic of a tf dash in a ad truck, just a little incentive for you
he did the same as you are with part of the dash welded to the doors.

[skymangs]

Got a little bit done today. Used some 1/8th strap to replace the factory firewall braces, and give some structure to it again.

Spent the rest of the day working wiring. Wound up shortening/lengthening EVERY damned wire in the red plug. Also had to loom up my O2 sensors and MAF.

Now I have the Blue connector to work on tomorrow.

Terribly tedious!

[skymangs]

here's the obligatory "rats nest" shots

I'll be back on Sunday for more work!

Happy Thanksgiving All!

[skymangs]

Thanks all. It's the first time I've used a kit crossmember. Speedway had a $7.99 flat rate shipping deal if I spent $150 when I bought my radiator. Since the rad was $110, and would have been $24 shipping, and the crossmember was on sale, $39.00... I think my cost analysis made it cheaper than making one. Rad and crossmember for $157 next day shipping included. By my calculations, that crossmember cost me about 24 bucks, and with the 5" drop it leaves me maximum room for exhaust. Oh, and I did make the ends and the mounting plates. It only came with the center section.

[oldman3]

Happy Thanksgiving to you also Chris...Jim

[vht]

Question on your eng placement, why did you move it back so far? I'm thinking about going this route with my 51 and was just curious. Can't really tell, but it looks like valve cover is back in the firewall a ways. I'll be watching your build, going to be a nice 1.

[skymangs]

Right valve cover is about 1" into the firewall, left is flush. I placed it back there to maximize clearance for the electric fan setup.
I am using the truck accessories, so right now I have 5.5" between the wp pulley and the rad. If you used F-body accessories, you could gain that two inches without recessing the firewall. I just had a hankerin' to cut some steel and make it my way on this one. Besides, doesn't it look tough all notched into the firewall? LoL

[99 to Life]

don't know I missed this, man I hope they don't have a subscription limit on here. I'm liking the direction your going with this. Hey if you haven't tossed that OG dash PM me. Wish I woulda caught that break a while back. I got about 50 hours in a dash right now for my 49' I'm doing. Its def amazing how much LS engines are coming down. I think finally alot of those earlier bodies are just being done away with, its flooding the market pretty good. Nice truck and nice work.

[torchlight]

Yeah I think it looks really nice the way it is notched into the firewall. You know that the further back the engine is, the better handling characteristics your truck will have! (theoretically) It is also nice that you have enough clearance now between your pulleys and the radiator. I've got an LS in my 53 but didn't do a firewall notch or tunnel like you did. So, I had to swap out and use the CTS-V front drive accessories to get enough clearance for my electric fan to go on the radiator.

[skymangs]

Thanks 99, unfortunately the 49 dash provided repair panels (around the radio) for one of my customers trucks. not a whole lot left of it now.
I happened across a complete uncut 2002 Tahoe in the pick-n-pull a couple weeks ago. compete un-cut harness, even had the ducting and air filter housing on it still. Unfortunately It was tit's cold and raining with a 30 min window before they closed. Took coil packs, throttle body, and some little stuff. Felt bad leaving such an opportunity.

Torchlight, I build rock-crawlers too. We always try to stretch the front axle forward a few inches, or place the motor farther back for center of gravity and roll center. Weight distribution is everything. That being said, I don't see this truck on the slalom course any time soon.

[vht]

Eng looked back farther in the pic, and I can understand more room. The farther back the better it will handle and hook up. That's a old drag racing trick. They used to say the front spark plug needs to be even with the spindle. Real good build, I'll be watching.

[skymangs]

Thanks vht.

Got the PCM wiring finished up. Started drilling spot welds in the inner kick panels... Sucks. She's got some pretty good rot around the lower kick panels, but I think I can save her. Will be doing inner/outer kick panels and braces. probably some small patches in the toe board, lower hinge pocket on the R side, and inner/outer cab corners. There's also some rust on the upper A piller (drivers side) to adress.

Pics this evening.

[skymangs]

Well, rust repair... Lotsa pics, nothing too impressive. Need to go to the city for patch panels from Classic...

[oldman3]

Hey Chris, nice repair work. Is the date on your camera off 4 months, cause down this way we got freezing rain, sleet, and about 10" of snow. Was finally able to get out of my driveway on Sunday. My driveway (gravel) is about 200' long. Anyhow, nice job...Jim

[99 to Life]

diggin it, luv seein patch work

[TheBlueBomber]

That looks great.

[2 Pop]

I've done the same dash but I just squared the ends and made a fill plate. I didn't do anything on the doors like you did but I'm wishing that I did after seeing yours. Nice Work!!!

[skymangs]

Thanks all. I think my patchwork looks kinda ghetto fab, but it works. Jim, the date is really off 4 months. We had a little snow, and it's been cold as a well diggers ass here. That's why I've been kinda slow on the work.
2_Pop, I started out intending to square the ends... but I get some crazy ideas every now and again. Thanks.

[solidaxel]

Thanks for the tip on the shorter front drive units.
I may have to change the truck set up for clearance.

[Kabwe]

skymangs,

I really enjoyed going through your build thread. Nice work man nice work.

[skymangs]

Thanks Solidaxel and Kabwe...

Picked up a huge stack of patch panels from Classic last week. and scored another 5.3L 101K motor for 3 bills... can't walk past that! It came sans harness and PCM, but I think I'm gonna experiment with that MSD LS ignition controller and a carb on the next go round. Just for grins.

[ghettoluxury]

You will love it. The Edelbrock kit from Summit is easier than a Small Block, and peps up a 6.0/5.3 with just a 600 CFM carb.

[STOCKISH]

Amazing work on the rust repair. Cant wait to see more.

[vht]

Keep it coming, this is a great build. I got a 2000 6.0 for mine, think I'll go carb with a 6010 MSD.

[skymangs]

spent the day cutting out more rust. Kept finding more, my cab to floor brace looks like swiss cheese. guess I'll be heading back to the city to pick both up. Lot more rust under here than I had hoped for. I wound up welding bracing in to keep the door opening square, once I realized just how much needed to be cut out.

I started another thread, but does anyone have an exploded view of what that under floor sheet metal should look like? I think the rocker should extend forward past the door opening, and tie into the inner/outer cowl brace, but there was nothing there to use as a template, and none of the repro sites show a good pic of the rocker panel.