Putting Camaro front in 55 second gen

[Dave0]

Originally Posted by Trucker79

Hey DaveO, I just logged on today and was looking at nothing in particular and ran across your thread. I like what you have done to yours. I have a 56 that I have been playing with and its slow because of money and time but I think we have the best hobby in the world. Keep up the good work!!!

My income is hit and miss, I think the big key is get stuff done that doesn't cost much when you dont have the money. Stripping stuff, rebuild hinges, fitting panels, welding patches, making a list of stuff you do need... Thanks for the kind words!

Couple recent pics....

All of the A/c lines are made, boxed back up along with condenser, dash, heater hoses...

[Trucker79]

I like it! Looks awesome. I am worried mine won't be low enough. But I really don't want it so low that I can't get around. I have 5 to 6 inches figured at the rocker.

[Dave0]

Originally Posted by Trucker79

I like it! Looks awesome. I am worried mine won't be low enough. But I really don't want it so low that I can't get around. I have 5 to 6 inches figured at the rocker.

Mines at 7 1/2, still working on that too

[Bobbyh68]

DaveO, What LS oil pan are you using? I have the same front end you do and my TRUCK oil pan is hitting the ground when I compress the suspension. I have Dirty Dingo 2300 engine mounts. My engine sits LOW. Had to trim frame for A/C to fit. I have been pricing oil pans and they are pretty pricey, around $250-450. Thinking about Making custom motor mounts and raising engine like yours. Are you using the stock truck pan also?

[dsraven]

if you use a Camaro pan, baffle and oil pick up tube you should miss the road high points at least. they come in a kit from lots of places, even gm high perf.

[dsraven]

http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums...d.php?t=208618


try this site for some oil pan info, or pirate 4x4 has a good write up on ls engines through the years.
the gm kit comes with dipstick as well, forgot to mention.
try ebay as well, it has been a few years since I bought mine so more would be available by now.

[Dave0]

Originally Posted by Bobbyh68

DaveO, What LS oil pan are you using? I have the same front end you do and my TRUCK oil pan is hitting the ground when I compress the suspension. I have Dirty Dingo 2300 engine mounts. My engine sits LOW. Had to trim frame for A/C to fit. I have been pricing oil pans and they are pretty pricey, around $250-450. Thinking about Making custom motor mounts and raising engine like yours. Are you using the stock truck pan also?

Stock truck pan, I have the engine sitting up high! It does hang down about a half inch below the cross member... I probably will make a skid plate...

If you know someone really good with a TIG you can modify it...

[Bobbyh68]

Thanks for the advise DaveO and dsraven. I'm going to raise my engine a little with new ebay mounts. But not to high, I see you had to cut a crossmember on your frame. Also I might cut down my truck oil pan.
Thanks again for the advise, Your Truck is looking KILLER!

[dsraven]

DaveO, you may want to fab up some sort of scoop to direct air across your trans cooler and/or space it away from the frame a bit for air flow. gm diesels run a cooler on the frame behind the trans but it is sideways to yours so air can get through the fins. just wondering if you will have some overheat issues on hard runs. could run a fan as well I guess. a trans temp guage would be nice, at least for the first little bit, just to keep an eye on things if you have some hard runs. the ecm monitors the temp but running hot can be a trans killer.
looking good so far. fast work too. I wish I had some time to spend on mine.

[dsraven]

the fit on your new panels looks pretty good, what brand are they?

[Dave0]

Originally Posted by dsraven

DaveO, you may want to fab up some sort of scoop to direct air across your trans cooler and/or space it away from the frame a bit for air flow. gm diesels run a cooler on the frame behind the trans but it is sideways to yours so air can get through the fins. just wondering if you will have some overheat issues on hard runs. could run a fan as well I guess. a trans temp guage would be nice, at least for the first little bit, just to keep an eye on things if you have some hard runs. the ecm monitors the temp but running hot can be a trans killer.
looking good so far. fast work too. I wish I had some time to spend on mine.

I am putting a 7 inch fan on it... Pics when I get to it.

Key parts, while the fenders, doors fit pretty decent. The hood to fenders fits like CRAP!

[47 Fasttoys]

A comment on the pan issue: A few months ago I helped a friend do a LS swap on his '50 Olds Rocket. In his case the F-body pan would not clear the cross member but the truck pan hung to low. To solve this issue we modified the original truck pan. I wish I had a picture of the finished product but alas I don't. We used piece of 1/4 inch aluminum plate in the same pattern as the template shown. We also added the drain plug section. The conversion now has over 2000 miles on it with no problems. Oil capacity is now 4 .25 quarts so no real issue there.
Rob

[mygirlz55]

The build is looking great.
I have a question about your radiator. What vehicle (model and year) is it from and are you using electric fans? If you are using electric fans, what are you using for shroud.
Thanks

[Dave0]

I bought a 55 rad from champion and moved the inlet and outlet. The outlet was hitting the sway bar so I put a curved one on it, in the right diameter...

Someone probably needs to recommend me a image hosting site... Im so done with photobucket... Posting a image then re-posting it here is getting tiresome...

[Kim57]

Radiator fix looks good.
As far as pics you can post directly to the site from your computer. That's what I do.
Kim

[Dave0]

Originally Posted by Kim57

Radiator fix looks good.
As far as pics you can post directly to the site from your computer. That's what I do.
Kim

Thanks!!!!

Took me long enough to figure that out! LOL

[Dave0]

Last 2 pics before I peel this thing back apart... Steering and shifter all hooked up. Dropped the front another inch or so...

[Dave0]

47 Fasttoys, awesome fix! Last pic, you can see my pan hanging down a 1/2 to 3/4 of a inch.... Now that I dropped it some more, I think I will do the same.... How did it weld?

[dsraven]

daveo, do you have a spare engine block laying around? it would be good to bolt it up before welding to help with possible distortion issues.
do you plan to fit the gaps before the tear down or are they good as is?

[Kim57]

Stance looks real good.
Kim

[Dave0]

Originally Posted by dsraven

daveo, do you have a spare engine block laying around? it would be good to bolt it up before welding to help with possible distortion issues.
do you plan to fit the gaps before the tear down or are they good as is?

Good idea on the block... But the only one I would have is a older 350 (mid 70's)

Im going to get the doors fit to cab and the fenders to the doors. I am going to work on the hood to fender fit later.... Its a big can of worms!

Lokar shifter linkage, best 50 bucks I have spent!

2nd pic, I need to work on a mount for the column, I'd like to keep the collapsible mount point.

3rd pic, someone beat the cowl down on the rt side but no damage to factory hood... Not going to be fun getting it back up.

[Dave0]

Originally Posted by Kim57

Stance looks real good.
Kim

Thanks Kim!

[dsraven]

check inside the doors for cracks. lower hinge mount area is known problem. mine were off a farm truck and there were cracks and broken spot welds all over the place inside the door structure. that sure makes door fitment tough because you don't know exactly where things will shake out once the cracks are welded up. a little bit off on the fitment of the crack, before welding, makes a big difference on how the door fits.
good luck on the hood fitment. seems like the aftermarket stuff all fits poor, not that the original was a whole lot better. I have a couple of sets of original doors and they fit like they are from different vehicles completely. you would think they would be sorta close, at least fit the hole without rubbing somewhere.
how do you like to fit the doors, fenders off and centre them on the bottom of the door opening for "front to rear" as a starting point, then fiddle with them for top to bottom and in and out? leave the hinge bolts a bit loose so you can have an inside guy tighten the bolts when the outside guy says it fits ok?

[Dave0]

I have them fitting as good as this stuff will fit. I did weld a few things before I started fitting and rebuilt all the hinges...The top and back of each door needs a disc grinder and welded up. The left cowl to door is the worst. I will add something to fill it in.

[Rude Dude]

Don't forget to check if you need to add or remove shims on the cab to the cab frame mounts sometimes this affects door alignments and is often overlooked