thats how you learn.

looking good gerno

Steve --- I only asked you - because lots of people read these threads... and sometimes I'm just trying to tickle the thought process for those that haven't done this stuff before or maybe are planning on trying to do it.


Glad you got it all going!

Mocked up a new high tech cardboard idler pulley bracket today. I hope to cut it out of some 1/4" steel plate tomorrow. I'll probably add an extension to it somewhere so I can use a ratchet for tensioning. Once I have it and the more finalized alternator bracket I'll work to use spacers to align them with the WP pulley

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Finally had some time to make some progress on the car. I have a dyne tune appt next Thursday so I have to get off my butt and get to work

Engine is all built.
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I also decided to go ahead with a new clutch. I grabbed a new LT1-S clutch from Monster clutch. They have a billet adapter flywheel to go with the factory LT1 clutch out of the C7 Vette. I believe they say it holds 800hp with a factory feel. I don't need it for the power ability but its also a 9.5" dual clutch that should last a long time.

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I pulled the suspension apart to clean it up, flip the shocks over so the adjusters are at the top and spring buckets at the bottom. I also swapped out the UCA's. Jay and Blake made some small but important changes to the geometry of the arms based on feedback provided. The adjusted their jigs and sent me an updated set. I'm sure the alignment will be dead on this time.

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I also dropped the engine in. There were a few challenges but nothing too major. At the last moment I decided to change to solid motor mounts. The fit wan't very good but after a few change got everything to work. Headers are installed and the ground clearance looks pretty good. I'm very happy with my choice for SW headers. There is also still at least 1/2" between the collectors and the floor even with the 1/2 height body mounts.

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Wow, the ground clearance is amazing.

They tuck up there nice and tight. Nice work.

Cookin' with gas Steve!


SpeedTech is one of the good companies! Everyone has issues once in awhile... how they deal with it is what matters.

Congrats on the new house and "shed"! LOL

Brizio/Hollenbeck/Mumford and a few others are planning to drive our hot rods to GG Lonestar Nats in April. Then Gwen and I will peel off and hit Austin... so get the friggin' car done so I can have a ride!

Lookin good Steve, can't wait to hear your thoughts on the whole suspension and engine!!

I'm pretty happy with what I see so far. Of course the car isn't at ride height yet. Still need to add sheet metal and set the alignment but pretty good so far.

I recall hearing something very similar to this for Oct yet I never got a phone call....interesting.

If I'm not done by April then I need to reassess my priorities big time


Me too. After driving Carbuffs car last week I hope mine measures up.



Today my goal is to setup the clutch, hang the fuel tank, route some fuel lines and maybe route some electrical.

I completed the clutch and don't know how I feel about it. It's fairly stuff and has a very short throw. It's very much like an on/off switch. Perhaps I'm just used to mechanical clutches. The trio is currently 3.5 so I may adjust that or may swap the master. I'll wait until it's driving to figure that out

Nice work, Steve! Those headers do have a lot of ground clearance. Good luck getting it ready for the dyno on Thursday.

I'm about to finish up the coil over conversion for the front of mine. Then off to get aligned. I'm hoping I don't have any issues with my UCA's. I don't have the high clearance pieces though. Mine are factory replacements and work with the factory spindles.

Im not familiar with the clutch set up that you have so i'd like to see what is going on.
When you say on off switch as is in pedal feel? Does it have resistance then no resistance?

How far is the pedal off the floor and at what point does it release?
Do you recall the air gap measurment? I wonder if there is a difference in pressure plates and the fingers are being preloaded.

Your master bore size will change pedal effort. On pedal hole placement I try to shoot for 3" to 3 3/8". Shorten the distance will reduce pedal effort. I will try a mock up at 3.5in and see what I see. Might be your problem.

Let me know before anything gets damaged or fails. shoot me an email please.

Vince, thanks for the response. The clutch actuates well and was very easy to bleed. I think the issue is more of what I need to get used to with the clutch. There is no adjustment needed for the clutch according to monster clutch. I might go to Chevy and test drive a C7 to see what the clutch should feel like since I have zero reference

I put the hole at 3.25". I tried to raise it it the factory hole at 2.5" but the angle was too much. as stated above I think it's just me but I will get you some measurements for your records just to be safe

Pedal RATIO is very important.

Congrats on the progress Steve. You'll friggen love it when shes dialed. Unfortunately, they come "in and out" of dialment lol, how do i know?

Good call on the headers, mine are a very sore subject right now.

So what do you and vince meen "3-3 3/8"? where/what reference point are you using? I used a LUK 7 iirc, Josh did that part, but its a stock Z06 (older) set up, but works fantastic.

Steve,

Looking good!

Did they adjust the upper control arms just for your car or did they change the entire production line?

Hole from the pedal pivot. Most of the cars we do were right at 3". We did have one at 3 3/8 do to the factor hole, which was worn out. Felt good with a 3/4" master. We later replaced the pedal with a new one. You can use different masters and ratios but its all in preference. Another important thing is you don't over travel. The master has a 1.1in travel and you have to measure and add a stop.
I have found that any less than 2.90 in you start running into master cylinder push rod angle issues and piston bore wear.

Geeze Steve, I have missed a bunch of great progress. It's good to see the guys at ST got things dialed in for you.:clap:

Good luck on the dyno:cheers:

My understanding is they changed the jigs for the whole line on the high clearance arms. You should contact Jay, Blake or Roger for the exact details so I'm not speaking out of place. They also gave the shafts more of a brushed than polished finish, it looks very nice.

I'll work on the stop. I never got around to measuring but will soon. The pedal is feeling better to me. I think I was just used to the long travel z-bar setups. It should be much easier to drive on the track with the shorter travel.

Getting there slowly but surely. I'm not making the dyne this week. I called Monday and rescheduled for Nov 14. Deadline was too tight and I didn't work hard enough over the last week. It wasn't work breaking something to meet the deadline.

When are you finally leaving the Bay area to get back on that Torino????

More progress was made over the weekend. The fuel tank was installed and the line ran to the front. I welded a mount to the frame for the fuel filter and ran the -6 hose as clean as possible. It's really nice running only 1 line from the vaporworx tank.

In hooking up the clutch I decided to expand the size of the clutch pedal to be the same as the brake pedal. I welded on some extra metal and it works great. You can also see from these pics where I drilled the new hole for the clutch rod.

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I went to O'reilly and dug around for a bit for hoses too. The ones I found fit very nice with just a small bit of trimming. I left the PN's on them in case someone needs as a reference.

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I also organized my thoughts for most of my wiring. You can tell from the pics it is not done yet. Original plan was to mount the computer in the engine bay. After laying it out it really looked bad to me. I used the factory 1.5" hole in the firewall for the ECM harness to pass thru once I expanded it to 2". The ECM and fuse panel will be mounted to the heater box just behind the stereo. I think it will work well with easy access and not be visible.

I also decided to go ahead and purchase an alternator mount form LSbrackets.com. I don't want to use it was a permanent solution since I really want it more lower in the car and out of site. That being said the mount is pretty nice. It also works with all the factory 2010 Camaro LS3 components which makes it really nice for a pull out engine swap.

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Yes, and should be soft too.

After you get the stop to limit the push rod to 1" travel, adjust the rod till it releases at 2-3" off the stop. You can do a push roll test to see when its releasing.

Made a bit more progress this weekend. Finally have the top side wiring , under dash wiring , fuel lines fully ran, and the ECM/fuse block mounted under the dash. I had to pull the new harness apart to move the MAF to the passenger side of the engine. I also needed to reduce the length of many of the wires. It took forever but I think the result it not too bad.

I also cut out a piece of steel plate to use as a clutch reservoir mount.

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Tonight I hope to get the knock sensors, main battery and starter solenoid all hooked up. I also want to complete the relay block for the fuel pump in the trunk.

More progress has been made with the car but I've hit a lot of roadblocks along the way. b Sorry about the novel with only a few pics

Last weekend I hoped to have the car started up.... this didn't happen. After getting all the wiring in pretty well (not fully satisfied with my routing/looming) I hooked up the battery to crank it over. Starter engaged but engine wouldn't budge. I then tried to spin the engine over by hand and it was locked solid. I knew the engine spun fine on the stand so it had to be something with the clutch/trans. I backed the bell housing off ~1/8" and the engine spun over so something was wrong in the clutch/trans/pilot/throwout area.

I went ahead and pulled the trans out to start measurements... which pretty much sucked.... I get it out at 10PM saturday because it's a mess with the TA x-member. I have to pull the subframe loose to get the TA x-memenber out since the trans hits it in normal position. Later on I'll have to figure out a way to fix the issue.

Sunday morning I began measuring. I started with the Bellhousing alignment. It was ~.0035 off so it was in spec. Next I checked the overall input shaft length. It was good. I checked the Throwout bearing length fully compressed compared to the clutch. It was good. Finally I checked the length of the input splines compared to the pilot bearing depth....I found an issue. I still had the factory LS3 sealed pilot bearing in the crank. Talking to Monster Clutch I was under the impression it would be fine....it wasn't. The splined part of the input shaft was pressing on the pilot bearing which was loading the thrust bearing and locking up the crank. Thankfully Monster supplied the roller bearing with the clutch kit. I pulled the sealed bearing out and install the roller. Everything was good to go. I reinstalled the trans. By 5PM sunday I was back to where I thought I was Saturday at 5pm. While it was out I also redrilled the trans x-member to pull it forward ~5/8”. At least I made a little progress and the day wasn’t a total loss.

After it was all back together I started on the air intake. I purchased the Air Raid build yourself tube that is basically a big 4” plastic tube with multiple bends and straights that you cut and rebuild as you need. The also sell a ~12” straight section with a fitting for the cartridge style MAF. I mocked up the tubes and cut them out. Sanded the ends nice and smooth. Here is the end product after it was all glued together. I still want to sand it all down and repaint it but for now it should work pretty well.

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Final piece I need was the oil filter and oil them. I scrapped my original filter mount and decided to get one with fittings on the side to mounting would be easier. I also picked up and Earl’s thermo. Final mounts will not be made until the fenders are back on but overall I’m happy with the routing. The filter will go behind the driver headlight area and the thermo in front of the radiator. One issue I do have is with the thermo fittings. It is made of 0-ring fittings. Apparently I bought radios O-fing fittings and they don’t seal at all. Oil is leaking everywhere with only 25PSI cranking pressure. I’m going to head to the local perf shop and find some regular fittings to replace the ones I have

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After all this I was ready to start it. I crank is over and nothing…. It spins just fine but doesn’t even think to fire. I put a scanner on the car and noticed a P0010 code for the Cam sensor and a few codes for the accelerator pedal. I decided to pull the cam sensor to make sure it isn’t damaged. It decides it wants to stay where it is and breaks into pieces. I have to pull the front cover off and push the sensor in but do get it of. Looking at the sensor I also see 1 of the 3 connections is missing so think I found the issue. I grab a replacement sensor, put it all back together and try to fire. NOTHING…..

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I go ahead and check spark and power while cranking. Fuse panel has power while cranking. The spark plugs are also firing. I pulled one out and arc’d it back to the engine.

Next area is fuel. I have 60PSI based on the gauge on the rail but need to see if it’s firing. I decide to pull the rail up slightly to see if fuel squirts when I cranks….NOTHING. I also pick up a NOID light kit (never heard of one before) to test the injector signal. The light never turns on when cranking.

I called PSI to chat about the harness. We go thru the basic troubleshooting and can’t really find an issue. I was worried the DBW pedal may be wrong and causing the issue due to the code since it’s not the exact same PN noted in the instructions. Tech says that since I hear the TB moving with the pedal movement there should be no issue.

Next step is to call the tuner and future out what he put on for a base tune on the ECM. Only thing I can gather is something is wrong with the VATS or some other tuning aspect. Unfortunately he’s tuning another car right now and will have to call me back after. I was due to have mine tuned tomorrow but due to the troubleshooting I still have no exhaust and am not comfortable bringing a car to the dyne when I’ve never cranked it. Until the car runs the dyne tune has been postponed indefinitely. SUCKS….

sorry to hear about that. Strange set of problems.

another problem that arises with using modern drive trains, you gotta have the modern diagnostic tools and knowledge to keep them going.

I bet its a minor issue and it will be the last place you look.

Sorry for the roadblocks. Good luck getting around them. Just take your time and work through them slowly so as to not create any more issues.

Pretty sure I found the issue.

The ECM was from a junkyard truck. The tuner was supposed to wipe the ECM file and load an LS3 config and set it up for a standalone system so I could start it. He never did that. I think he simply pulled the VATS off the ECM. Makes sense that an ECM from a 2011 truck with a 5.3 won't fire off an LS3 from a Camaro.

Sucks that its an hour drive each way to get it reflashed again. Sucks even more that I spent the last 3 days chasing the issue rather than finishing the car. Good news is I primed the engine very well while trying to crank it up and found a leak in the oil fittings before firing it off. Hopefully by Saturday I can post a video of it running.

Are you still using your original harness or have you updated your fuse panel and harness to one of the new style harness like the AAW classic update type?

I hope he get it straight for you this time.

I'm running a painless harness on the chassis and a PSI harness for the engine.

Will find out tomorrow.... I hope so.

I had a similar problem and it turned out to be that the switched power that I used to go to the computer would lose momentary power when I turn the key to start. Kinda like when your wipers stop momentarily when cranking the engine. The power was an interrupted signal. Just a thought.

Certainly something to check first. When wiring I used the wire that previously powered the coil to ensure constant power. I also confirmed the power was live during cranking. The fact that I have spark proves the EFI harness has power as well. Goal is to get the ECM reflashed today. Hopefully the car will be running shortly

Hope you get all the issues sorted out, and have the car running soon.

IIRC the 67's didn't have IGN + power during cranking. They have an updated switch that has a second IGN + feed at the switch during cranking.

Im hoping its just in the software.

On my original harness, one of the 2 switched sources wasn't interupted that is the one I ended up using and it solved my problem. I ended up using a AAW update harness so that is all in the past. Sounds like you have figured it out. Good luck

No luck... Tuner flashed the correct program into the ECM. Got home and car is still dead. The cam code is now gone but that's all. It is still throwing the accelerator pedal code.

I hauled a** to Chevy just before they closed today and grabbed the Vette pedal they recommend. Apparently the pedal I have that i thought was for a Vette is from a Monte Carlo and has the 2 wires with a reverse pinout. Got home, plugged it in and still nothing. I'm at a total loss here.

I'm headed to the hardware store to get a decent volt meter to check the pink injector wire voltage. I'm told it is positive and the other colors are the ECM grounds to fire it.

Any other suggestions?

I would start with the connections that are related to the codes thrown.

But lets start at the beginning.

Are you leaving the main bat power connected? We had an issue with main power being disconnected then the pedal would have to relearn all over again...it would run in limp till the pedal learned then we would get pedal response.
We left the battery wire on then cycled the ignition power several times.

Are your fuses ok? Are your grounds tight? Have to watch out that your ground bolts that are too long and bottom before putting pressure on the eyelet.

Pull the connectors and inspect the PINs.

I have been turning off my master battery disconnect because over time it drains the battery. Sounds like I need to fix the battery drain the switch is causing.

Fuses have been checked many times. I just rechecked them again.

Grounds have been checked. I also added a jumper cable from the battery neg to the ground to make sure.

All ECM pins look good, I inspected them. The ECM connectors also look good but it's hard to tell if a connector may have pushed thru. I'll go thru and check the other connectors.



Since the issue seem to be with firing the injectors I check the voltages on the wires. Between the pink wire and a ground I have a solid 11.9 volts with ignition on and under cranking. On the other wire I tested from the injector to a positive source straight off the starter that power my fan relays. Ignition on it read 10.9v. When cranking it gradually dropped 9,8,7,2 until it was at 0v. After cranking it held at 0 for a few moments then went back to 10.9v Makes me think the ECM is either not grounded correctly or the injector output on the ECM is not working correctly.

It's a junk yard ECM that I was told was tested before they pulled it but perhaps not...Maybe I'll get another from a junk yard and see if it works.

Ok, how are your DVOM leads connected?


Another reason I don't like pull out stuff. You just never know.

I used a small piece of 22ga wire in the injector and wrapped the test lead. For the positive injector side I used the alternator housing to ground. FOr the neg injector side I used the 10ga wire coming straight off the starter the feeds the pos side of my cooling fan. I could double check using the power terminal on the alternator

Today I'm going to try grounding out terminal 52 on the black connector. This is the starter enabler. I found a couple threads on LS1 tech noting this helped when using EFI live (which is being used to tune)

Neutral safety switch wired up?