Project: LS1ick68

[68Stepbed]

Originally Posted by bcubed

Those wire looms are the coolest thing I have seen .. congrats on a great idea.

Thanks, The plug wires came in yesterday, so I went ahead and put htem in the looms. I have to find my other pack of grommets before I can put the last wire in, though. The grommets from NAPA come in packs of 7.

Originally Posted by BR3W CITY

The "ear" on my trans got in the way about the same as yours; I had to trim both the exhaust flange, and the trans piece just a bit to get them to clear each other. I have tbss manifolds, but the exit location is very similar.

These headers didn't come with collectors. Nobody in my hometown carries 2.5" collectors. I can get 3" collectors from Auto Zone. My wife had a doctor appointment last Monday in Knoxville, so I went to a performance shop to get the collectors. I must have bothered the old man there because he was kinda rude, then I got home to find out they were 3" collectors, so I'm hoping to get a chance to get back up there to exchange them soon. The exhaust shop that will connect the pipes said they can build a new flange, so they may be able to route it over the trans. "ear" without making too many mods.

Also, I plan to have the headers connected to the exhaust using flex couplers. There's two reasons for this. 1: To releive stress on the rest of the exhaust from engine movement and vibration. 2: To make things look better. It should look like I intended to have it done that way instead of having pipes welded together and look like it was modified. Yes, that's being picky, but that's why I live up to the name of Slick68.


I mounted my fuel pump a couple weeks ago, but never took pics. I still need to run fuel lines, though.

[funkytechmonkey]

Looking good man. I'd love to see the dyno when you are done.
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[funkytechmonkey]

How much longer do you think you have? I'm going to try and put together a meet at my restaurant next month. Think you could make it?
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[68Stepbed]

I'm not sure if I'll be able to dyno it or not. If I do, it'll be a chassis dyno. I'd like to find one close, but the closest I know of is around Cleveland, TN.

As for making the meet, I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping to have this put in and running by the end of the month.

[68GMCCustom]

Looks great.

BTW....you might find that Carter pump to be noisy. I'd insulate it well from the frame. I just replaced mine with a walbro and it puts it less then half the sound of the Carter.

[68Stepbed]

I'll keep that in mind, Kurt. Thanks.

[68Stepbed]

Things are just moving slow lately. It seems like I just get in a hurry to wait at this point.

I had all my bolts powdercoated. Bad idea!! I've never had anything powdercoated, so I didn't know it was so thick. I've ordered some stripper from Eastwood to remove it all, but again, I'm waiting for it to get here. There's a place up the road from me that does nitriding. I'm going to see what that's gonna cost me before I decide what to do with the bolts again.

I did get the ears trimmed on the trans. to clear the exhaust tubing, then painted it.


Finally got the frame painted and installed the engine towers.


And just because I didn't have anything else to do, I stuck everything on just to see how it was all going to look together.

[gringoloco]

Nice! Gonna look good in there. When will you stab it?

[68Stepbed]

Well, at this point, the Eastwood powdercoat remover should be here, hopefully, by Thursday. I'll let my bolts soak in it and get them stripped by Friday. Then I'll take them to this company up here to have them nitrided. Nitriding is kind of like a hardening process that turns metal to a color similar to black oxide, but it's ALOT more durable and longer lasting. I talked to the guy a few minutes ago, and he said he wouldn't charge me much to do just a few bolts. They normally have a $300 minimum, but since a few bolts won't take up alot of space or interfere too much, he would make an exception.

I was shooting to have it all installed by the end of this month. Looks like I'll miss that deadline. I'm still going to try to get it in and hopefully running to make it to Nashville GoodGuys.

[mooseknuckles]

looks really good man...

[Kim57]

The engine looks real sharp.
I'm sure it's in the thread but what did you use to paint it?
Kim

[mooseknuckles]

68 step are you runnin a x-over pipe?...was it a kit like the flowmaster one?....where did you put it to have enough room?

[68Stepbed]

Originally Posted by Kim57

The engine looks real sharp.
I'm sure it's in the thread but what did you use to paint it?
Kim

DupliColor Cast Coat Aluminum

Originally Posted by mooseknuckles

68 step are you runnin a x-over pipe?...was it a kit like the flowmaster one?....where did you put it to have enough room?

If you're referring to the exhaust, it's an x-pipe that I had a shop install with all new pipes last summer. It was just one they keep in stock.

[68GMCCustom]

Looking good as usual!

Got any pics of the x-pipe setup? I've been meaning to install my h-pipe....as I really didn't think I could work in an x-pipe (tho I like them better) and stay within the frame rails.

[68Stepbed]

Here's the thread I made when I got the exhaust installed back in the summer.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=474405

[68GMCCustom]

OK I see.

[BigDan3131]

Originally Posted by 68Stepbed

Thanks, The plug wires came in yesterday, so I went ahead and put htem in the looms. I have to find my other pack of grommets before I can put the last wire in, though. The grommets from NAPA come in packs of 7.







These headers didn't come with collectors. Nobody in my hometown carries 2.5" collectors. I can get 3" collectors from Auto Zone. My wife had a doctor appointment last Monday in Knoxville, so I went to a performance shop to get the collectors. I must have bothered the old man there because he was kinda rude, then I got home to find out they were 3" collectors, so I'm hoping to get a chance to get back up there to exchange them soon. The exhaust shop that will connect the pipes said they can build a new flange, so they may be able to route it over the trans. "ear" without making too many mods.

Also, I plan to have the headers connected to the exhaust using flex couplers. There's two reasons for this. 1: To releive stress on the rest of the exhaust from engine movement and vibration. 2: To make things look better. It should look like I intended to have it done that way instead of having pipes welded together and look like it was modified. Yes, that's being picky, but that's why I live up to the name of Slick68.


I mounted my fuel pump a couple weeks ago, but never took pics. I still need to run fuel lines, though.

Have you ever used one of those Carter pumps before? I find them very noisy without any insulation to isolate them from the frame. Will your exhaust be in that same place? You should just fab up a mount to place it near the tank but on the inside of the framerail away from heat because you really don't want to boil your fuel do you? Sorry to seem like a pest but, do you not have a large fuel filter like this: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MAA-3140/.

[68Stepbed]

I actually have on of these, but there is absolutely nowhere to install it. There's nowhere else to install the Carter pump either. Also, the pump is farther away from the exhaust than it looks in the picture. I searched for quite a while for a place to install the pump, but it would interfere with something or be even closer to exhaust anywhere else. Keep in mind this is keeping it close to the tank as recommended. I have plenty of room under the cab, but then it's too far away from the tank. If this pump bothers me too much, I'll look into this one or one of these and run a regulator.

I also plan to pick up some haybale conveyor track from an implement store and mount it between the bracket and frame. The haybale track is reinforced rubber, but it's flat and can be cut in whatever length you want.

I'm really new to the electric fuel pump world, so I really appreciate all the advice.

[68GMCCustom]

Thats about where I put mine and it worked fine. I installed a canister filter too, just ahead of the pump. 1st w/rubber hose...then s.s. hose and AN fittings

pic removed

now there's a Walbro pump in place with a homemade bracket and insulator from radiator hose.
pic removed

[68Stepbed]

Kurt, other than the noise, how well did the Carter work overall?

[68GMCCustom]

seemed to meet the needs of the motor OK...and never had a hiccup. Had I floored it from a slow roll and ran the flying mile who knows, might not have kept up...then again might have done just fine.

when I replaced it I did go bigger (and a different design), tho it never got installed. I kind of wish I had installed it for at least a few days so that with the new Walbro I could have commented on the 3 designs and their noise levels. The Walbro is quiet. The Carter is supposed to be engineered for the long run, maybe thats why its so noisy.

[BigDan3131]

Ok, is there anything right in front of the tank? I see a cross member for mounting your bed wood to. If there is enough space directly below that member can you weld a plate in there? I would make the mount from angle iron just big enough to mount both filter and pump on and then weld it on but leave holes in it to get to your bed wood bolts.

Then again was your tank ever setup for an in-tank pump?

I have an older Holley pump that has a return right on the pump so its a straight shot right to the top of my tank. It was rated at 160gph for street use and I used the mallory filter I listed. I usually go for overkill in my vehicles so no matter how much power I want everything will be ready for that next upgrade. Since were on the fuel subject, are you going to use existing hardlines or go all AN?

[68Stepbed]

I thought about mounting it in front of the tank on the crossmember, but I still didn't have room for both the pump and filter together without interfering with moving suspension components. The tank wasn't initially setup for an in-tank pump.

As for the lines, I'm running hard lines along the frame, then switching to -6AN line to the carb.

[68Stepbed]

I've made a little bit of progress.

Got all my accessory and engine bolts nitrided. The nitriding leaves the metal with a durable finish. It's a really dark gray color when done. I got an LS2 timing chain to replace the stock LS1 chain. I also finally assembled the engine last night.





Here's some closer shots of the coil pack bracket.



I have no heater in my truck(for now), so the heater hoses are pointless. So I pulled out the hose barbs, and tapped them 3/8" and 1/2" NPT. Plugs will do for now, but if for some reason these need to be connected, I'll get some -12AN adapters and connect them with a 180 deg. fitting.


More stuff installed(for good, at least this time).



Transmission set in place.


I'm working on finishing up my steam line fittings, need to install the balancer, and power steering pulley, then she'll be ready to drop in. I'm shooting for setting it in this Saturday.

[VA72C10]

looks awesome!