Dakota Digital has a stand alone light dimming module that works with the VhX gauges. You can dim the light levels without going into the programming mode.

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.c...rod/prd404.htm

Nice progress Will.

Hoping to get the motor in the car. Today's goal is to get the slave installed, do measurements to ensure shimmed correctly and move to get the transmission attached and ready to be installed.

Catching up on your thread and spotted this lil gem. I have this kit and will be installing it hopefully in the near future. Been curious about how it all goes together. Thanks for posting these up! Did you go with Keyless entry to?

Excellent! Glad they can help. I can take more if you'd like but overall it was pretty easy. Yea I have keyless. Using the digital guard dawg rfid key that MCB sells.

In other news. Took this last night.

http://i.imgur.com/mJHWvng.jpg

Turbo kit is mostly back together.

http://i.imgur.com/SSJNvxQ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/VcKWSnl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AcnRic5.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9IWtEpJ.jpg

Mind the mess. It has been mostly cleaned now. Got caught up during the installation and putting the turbo kit on. Will spend some time tomorrow cleaning up a bit to make a tidy place to work. May start laying out the wiring if I find a little time.

That's some pretty impressive piping you have there. It looks great.

That turbo setup....so symmetrical and nice to look at! :drool:

Thanks guys. Kevin at M2K motorsports knocked it out of the park on the turbo setup. Took my idea and executed it flawlessly and even better than I could imagine!

It really is motivation to look at those photos knowing its close.

Center force. If I have issues with this spec. You can bet I'll be contacting you or a vendor about the dual disc you have!!!

This speaks to me !!!

Looks good Will, getting close.
I can't wait to see it run!

Twins are good. :unibrow:

Great! We're ready anytime you need us!

Will I have the CENTER FORCE setup for my car I'm hearing good things!!

I think I got pretty close.
http://i.imgur.com/frDYlGk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kFWQNFu.jpg

I ended up making game time decision on adding a 4th button on bottom.

Still need to cut in the AC control then pull it all apart to paint it. Happy with how it's looking so far though!

VERY nice
 

Will, fantastic work ... I'm right behind you on the new dash setup and watching closely. Also, thanks for the heads up on the Modo door popper installation.

Cheers
Steve

Well fuse panel got mounted in the vintage air "shallow" glove box included in the kit.
http://i.imgur.com/b3zQQkD.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/eT6YmJG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/68F81UP.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qgL8zRm.jpg

Prob is there was no room for the massive Holley Dominator ECU.
http://i.imgur.com/5pgLMWU.jpg

So I decided only solution was to attempt to build a mount for the fuse panel and holley ecu. First stab at it i think looks ok, it serves as a new glove box, and was built with very minimal tooling.
http://i.imgur.com/cFq6qQR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/sS97fcK.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MULyLn6.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WGbrwLw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JDhaKIt.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/O7cmman.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/NUUiwa1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ZOF7L6K.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8lcXxkF.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QqH750f.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/cKGH4YY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/hj9sftW.jpg

It looks good Wil, nice job.

More work this weekend.

Took a break from the metal work and decided to modify the tail light buckets for the LED panels. Overall not too bad but the brackets that are included fit like ****.
http://i.imgur.com/Ola3gGn.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5TdFmON.jpg

Then decided to put the glovebox in the car and check fit and begin wiring (you can see rear light wiring already run to the trunk in previous picture.
http://i.imgur.com/63jXgGd.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4NOZCJE.jpg

Also ran the pain power cable. 2/0 welding cable. Pretty intense stuff and a beastly crimper needed to attach the lugs.
http://i.imgur.com/9UwOWaZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4AeJvdV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/zlZDP4p.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/EBZKpFO.jpg

Picked up a product called Shine Seal from the original founder of Zoopseal in an effort to seal the raw aluminum I have in the engine bay. I cleaned all these panels and lightly brushed with a 3m pad.
http://i.imgur.com/Jpk4BVU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BVppvze.jpg

Did the reservoirs also.
http://i.imgur.com/Mjs92ZA.jpg

Lastly I started working on the Holley wiring and making good progress for a short amount of time. I hope to have this harness completed and modified for my setup by this weekend. Hope I can find the time to hit the garage hard this week.
http://i.imgur.com/4hsdXk8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3vK9skR.jpg

Test fitting intake and verifying lengths of harness.
http://i.imgur.com/Y4DGV3r.jpg

William

Wow
 

Great work William, Looking good, :gitrdun:

Some excellent progress there

Hope there is more wiring progress this week. Not too much pretty stuff to look at but it'll be nice to get it all done finally!

Got back after it this past week/weekend and got a few things accomplished (mostly yesterday).

Tail lights Installed:
http://i.imgur.com/v0Z5pZ4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/dEYPGkz.jpg

I have a C6 PWM fan controller, and wanted to find a good place for it that was out of the way. Core support went back on to see if the spot i wanted will work.
http://i.imgur.com/ZONdu6x.jpg

Lots of space!
http://i.imgur.com/kwfwaKx.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/obs9WRZ.jpg

Made me nervous drilling and putting nutserts in the beautiful shroud, but it needed to be done!
http://i.imgur.com/yYPgxED.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/dTjS7m9.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/NzLUsct.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/iBoF1Ok.jpg

Next up was finishing the turbo drains and hooking up the power steering lines.

Hard to tell but the turbo drains are in place here, -10 90deg to -10 PTFE to the pan, and a 120deg fitting into the pan. That area is relatively flat but does have a slight uphil right at the end (passenger side mostly, to clear the starter).
http://i.imgur.com/bmkPeaN.jpg

Power steering lines were a PITA. To get them tight on the rack, I had to pull the rack hardlines to have access. They're done and hardlines are back in place.
http://i.imgur.com/MJzbx7r.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ak4tfag.jpg

Decided to tackle one of the jobs I was least looking forward to...Drilling the firewall for the ac bulkhead. I had to pull the AC back out and the glove box to have access to put these in place.
http://i.imgur.com/QixeOCy.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/4cFGtQg.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/pVzscUl.jpg

Since the AC was out, I mounted my bulkhead for the power cable from the top. Kept me from having to remove passenger downpipe to have access to drill it.
http://i.imgur.com/AFw0ipG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ot7UnBy.jpg

After getting those holes cut, I decided I'd take my chances and drill out the hole in the firewall for the wire pass through. I wanted to mount it a little lower, but lower and it would have interference inside, towards middle and it would hit map sensor, and other side had fuel pressure sensor and some difficult structure to work around.
http://i.imgur.com/XfWq7O9.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SNXxfOk.jpg

No turning back now.
http://i.imgur.com/LW7rUk7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LW7rUk7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CaSMC1B.jpg

Pinned all the additional wires in the input/output harnesses for the holley and labeled them all.
http://i.imgur.com/gSKy8WT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QagSgH2.jpg

Now i'll strip the rest of the loom off the original harness, lay these together and put it through the fiewall and start plugging it in so I can make the engine bay side all perfect length.

That's where she sits now.

William

Nice progress man! Some time consuming stuff you got knocked out there, coming together nicely

That bulkhead was a good idea; it looks nice and clean. We're tuned in for the wiring!

Baby steps, small weekday projects.

Trying to make time to get into the garage and knock out small items during the week since I cant dedicate significant time to the garage (usually 2-3hours MAX during the week days).

I got out there yesterday to sort the steam vent concern. The kit I had I made look decent I think.

http://i.imgur.com/I6U2PRI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/IV664ID.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RTtI0Uh.jpg

Plenty of room at the rear of the engine. Sits well under the map sensor/etc.
http://i.imgur.com/XiDbxoy.jpg

Front is a little closer, specifically the fitting by the fuel line crossover.
http://i.imgur.com/RBvc5ZC.jpg

There is a gap, but it's paper thin.
http://i.imgur.com/JgqkSGN.jpg

The line off the tee fitting on the front will go back to the radiator here
http://i.imgur.com/2kOpr9c.jpg

I ordered the 1/4" NPT to -4 AN adapter so I can complete that line and have it follow the radiator hose route. Should be very clean looking once completed.

William

Small update:

Got the fitting in the radiator so the steam vents can be completed.
http://i.imgur.com/MwwlgKg.jpg

Decided I was going to dedicate time to get the wiring on the engine complete and loomed appropriately for the setup I have.
http://i.imgur.com/IEewPQk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vzJWR7m.jpg

All injector wiring is secured to the manifold and as clean as I can make it. When its complete and just before putting intake on, I'll remove tags and add some split loom so you dont see the wires as much.
http://i.imgur.com/C3kgtqF.jpg

Looks pretty good considering in this picture all wires are run basically. Wills till have leads going to each corner for the coil packs and plug wires coming in, but should be able to make those pretty clean/tidy looking.
http://i.imgur.com/3GGTHkd.jpg

Pretty cramped under the intake, but it works.
http://i.imgur.com/CvyIhmw.jpg

Backside isn't the prettiest, but it'll work and is mostly hidden.
http://i.imgur.com/sSanans.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/r1tXvvQ.jpg

Utilizing the factory wiring off the coil pack mounts, and some re-taping, I cleaned up the coil pack wiring on the relocation brackets.
http://i.imgur.com/zYurlMp.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/n6Ijjvz.jpg

Moving on, I picked up my dash from powder coat so I started adding in the pieces. (I still need to paint the ac bezel satin black.
http://i.imgur.com/a4T7LZE.jpg

Wiring was started but on hold till a new crimper shows up for all the pins/connectors I'm populating.
http://i.imgur.com/UJfH4s1.jpg

Aside from needing to re-pin the map sensor for the 3bar map I have, and one Wideband that was damaged by ignorance, the motor is basically wired. I have my work curout for me inside the car with all that wiring remaining but it's close.

I also forgot a couple wires in that loom so it will be coming apart again and getting a couple wires added (AC signal, starter signal).

William

are you going to color match the rear bumper or chrome?

Painter did the rear bumper in orange. When I asked him not too. Plan originally was to have it brushed to match the wheel hoops. Having issues finding a place locally to do that. Contemplating powdercoating it aluminum.

Sick build man really looks great what a sick job.

I wish I known your write up for this car was in this forum, it'd saved a lot of questions I've asked you on FB and IG...

Nice build, way nicer than my grocery getter will be.

I do have another question. I ask out of ignorance b/c I really don't know.

*Why are the waste gates routed back several feet to tie in to the exhaust behind the firewall instead of dumping into the down pipe right after the turbo. It looks like it would cut out some tubing.

Again, really nice job... Everything looks well thought out.

No worries on facebook / IG messages, I check those more regularly.

I asked the same question to the turbo fabricator out of my own curiosity. He said there is a minimum distance you want the wastegate dump to recirculate into the system to avoid getting too much turbulence on the backside of the turbine housing. He said typically he does 12-18" away. If you look at the distance of mine, it's about 20" and that's about as clean as he could make it with the space constraints.

It was an option initially to have the wastegates dump to atmosphere but I was worried with the boost i plan on running and the size of the turbos that the gates will be open pretty regularly, and was worried the additional noise would be annoying.

William

So what engine did you end up going with? I read were you started off with a 402 in mind, but I think you changed to a LSX block with a 427? Which turbos are you running with that bullet?

I ask b/c I kinda swapped gears with mine. I was going to use the 5.3 with the single BW S476 turbo and 4L80E out of my truck. But I have since acquired a RHS block with a 4.0" crank that I'll build into a 427. I sort of wish I stuck with the 5.3 and S476, but it spools just a little slow with the small engine.

Started as a 6.0l based iron 408. Then a 402 ls2 based and ended up as a 427" lsx. Turbos are twin TiAL GT35r units. Won't make HUGE power but it'll make it quick!

Sorry for the delay. Finally put in a solid weekend in the garage and knocked out a LOT.

• Fuel system wiring completed
• ECU wiring completed
• Engine Wiring Completed (aside from Plug Wires)
• Catch Can mounted and started plumbing
• Coils mounted
• Turbo Oil Feed complete
• AC condenser re-installed c/w heater hoses (need to get A/C lines built)
• Heater hoses run from firewall to waterpump

Remaining items to start it:

• Run the keyless start wiring and mount the box
• Complete plug wires when correct terminations arrive
• Complete PCV system when additional fitting arrives
• Hook up and bleed clutch line
• System test on fuel system
• Mount battery
• Make Startup Tune
• Install Radiator and hoses
• Temp wire fan

Only a few pics, I didnt' take much tim to take pictures this weekend. Need to do a serious clean on the garage after this wiring. It's filthy...

p.s. You wont see the coils with the fenders on and those hoses will run in the fender and out the front so not as noticable. I plan to start it without the front end on so we can closely watch for leaks.

http://i.imgur.com/VT9hz0X.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JBm6uae.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/fYdq02F.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/x9wJy0i.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0ghTPZc.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yshXdiL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/fYdq02F.jpg

Looking great, Will. Getting close!

Looking Slick Will. Nice Job!

Been taking a brief break from the heat and the car. Garage got to be such a mess it was demotivating.

Lady decided to give me a hand and push me to clean the work space, and what a difference it made. Cleaner work space makes for more productive attitude.

I took the day off yesterday and got after some work on the car again.

March Pulley's customer service sucks. They have wrong belt size in the instructions, blamed it on the brand belt I had (not even close). Ended up making several trips to the parts store and finally got one that works.
http://i.imgur.com/zcV7NLa.jpg

They call for a 76" belt...This is a 90.5" (yes the routing is correct for the size they recommended)
http://i.imgur.com/Ihsb4ac.jpg

Decided to finish up the clutch line by installing the 1/8"NPT/-4AN adapter. Well, my torque sense is off and wasn't paying attention...SNAP. New master cylinder is on the way. (see the small crack above the thread sealant)
http://i.imgur.com/RFhTckc.jpg

MOVING ON!
Lower radiator hose is a bitch to get in there. Chipped a little Pcoat but it's not visible so leaving it as is. May touch it up with a little bit of paint pen. It's damn close to the turbo drain pipe, and that's what chipped it.
http://i.imgur.com/5moZwvV.jpg

Upper radiator hose on as well. Much easier than bottom.
http://i.imgur.com/TdEsoHw.jpg

Radiator in.
http://i.imgur.com/UqHhJhi.jpg

Made the vent hose to the PCV catch can to try and eliminate the crank case pressure boosted motors tend to see.
http://i.imgur.com/zl4FtMV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DTYI5W4.jpg

Added the filters on next. Temporary as I just want them on for initial start.
http://i.imgur.com/bUPnRjv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/2w4ivDl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Vwf2K9q.jpg

Putting IC on for now. Will likely have to remove passenger side as it's nearly impossible to access the AC connections behind it. Luckily it's only 3 bolts in this condition.
http://i.imgur.com/kqEeOdS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0TDiECK.jpg

Finished up with a little wiring. Didn't make much progress but got the two modules mounted for the remote key and push button start.
http://i.imgur.com/ipuF9Kl.jpg

More to come on this. It feels like it could be starting soon...Not driving but starting at least.

William

impressive build, the wow factor under the hood is incredible.