Thanks guys. I agree with you on the Foose wheels. I'm glad I changed my mind. The other night my wife and I went out for dinner and saw a mid 70's corvette with them on. I turned to my wife and said "see that's why I got rid of those wheels". :D

So I got the firewall stripped again and sprayed it with BASF's high build epoxy primer. When I was stripping it, I decided to get rid of some of the mud that I had put on there and glad I did. I think it looks way better now. I guess it also helps that I got some help with the settings on the gun. Makes a big difference. I'm going to let it sit for a week or so and get to the blocking.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0116.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0117.jpg

This isn't a very exciting update, but it's an update. Here's after about 4 or 5 hours sanding and applying filler. Again if anyone is wondering, I'm using Evercoat's Rage Extreme body filler. I know some people are probably wondering why I'm spending so much time on the firewall. Couple reasons: it's good practice, I've already spend so much time on the car a few extra days on the firewall won't hurt and in the end...it will look sweet.

Onto the pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0193.jpg

And after a few more coats of primer....definitely is looking good

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0197.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0199.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0200.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0202.jpg

Now I need to choose a shade of red for the car. I know I want something that is a deep red but I keep finding ones that end up too maroon looking at night. I might end up going back to the cherry red that I had on it originally. I might throw in some metallic to make it different.

It looks real good to me Mike. Did you ever get the Throw out bearing situation figured out ?

Thanks Wayne. I did get the throwout bearing thing figured out. According to Keisler, there should be no issue using it with the Monster clutches. I ended up ordering a Monster level 3.5. It's good to 700 hp and is still supposed to have very good daily driving qualities. They say their clutches are about 8% stiffer than stock so not bad at all, plus they offer a 12 month, 12000m warranty. I've heard all good things about their clutches so will give it a shot. I thought about the LS7 clutch, but I'm right on the border for it's limits so this way if I do any upgrades to the engine, I'll be fine.

Well I finally got the firewall painted. Overall I'm happy with the way it turned out considering I did it in my garage. There are a few dust specs and a couple places where a dark spot of red came out, but it is only the firewall and when the motor and everything is in there, it will be barely noticeable. Unfortunately I ended up with a few runs at some of the holes in the firewall. I didn't mask them from the inside and ended up with runs. Not sure if I'm going to bother fixing them or not as the fenders will cover them up and will never be seen by the public's eye.

Next week I hope to put the subframe back on and roll the car outside to get some pics of it in the sun.

Here's some pics:

My home made spray booth. I always had 2 litre bottles near by so I could keep the floor wet.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ICT00072-2.jpg

The HOK universal black base coat (BC25 with RU310 reducer) is on.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ICT00082-1.jpg

And finally the HOK apple red (KBC11 with RU310 reducer) with 3 coats of HOK clear (UC35 with RU310 reducer and KU100 catalyst). The lens on my camera was a bit dirty.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00116.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00147.jpg

That looks sweet Mike! Like that red you picked :thumbsup:

That is a really good choice in color! Looks great!:thumbsup:

Awesome colour!

Mike, great choice on the Splitter Wheels. I've seen them in person on Jon's car and they are amazing--they are sure to set you car apart. They are by far and away a much better choice than the Foose wheels. Your car will look the way it should with them.

Car looks amazing and I really dig the detail stuff on the Speetech Sub that you've highlighted.

Doug

cool a little wet sand and you can install that sub frame!!!:thumbsup:

Love the color. I have learned so much from reading your thread about what to do for my 72 Nova. Looking forward to seeing your car with the subframe back on. Keep up the great work.

Thanks guys. I'm really happy with the way the color turned out. I can't wait to see it in the sun.

Thanks Doug. I like hearing that about the Splitters. It's always hard picking wheels that you've never seen in person. Just got a call from Jon yesterday and the wheels will ship out today. I'm glad I decided to get rid of the Foose wheels too. I was never really happy with them from day one.

Thanks Blake. Hopefully on Monday or Tuesday I will get the wet sanding and polishing done. Then to put the subframe back on. I'm hoping to pick up the new wheels the following Monday or Tuesday so will stop by the shop to see you guys and get the new springs and will pick up a steering linkage kit while I'm there.

Thanks. I really appreciate the comments. Glad I've been able to give you some ideas. That's the nice thing about this site, I get ideas from other builds and ideas are created from my build and so on.......

I got the firewall wet sanded and polished today. Tomorrow I'll put the subframe back on for good!!! :D Next week.....new parts!!!

Here's some pics:

After wetsanding

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00208.jpg

After buffing

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00244.jpg

And of course the reflection shots

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00235.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00253.jpg

Looking Good.

Thanks Wayne.

I got the subframe back on. This time for good!!!! I also decided to polish the firewall again with swirl remover/polish. Hard to tell in the pics, but it did make a difference. You may notice that one of the front shocks are missing. That's because the ones I had in there were for a small block and now that I'm going with the LS conversion, I need some lighter ones. I'm also going a bit shorter as there was no room for adjustment on these ones.

Onto the pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00315.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00324.jpg

You can see where I was practicing before I painted :D

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00357.jpg

Beautiful. I love this car. I'm glad you are getting rid of the Foose wheels.

Andy:hail:

Thanks. I'm glad I decided to get rid of the Foose wheels too.

WOOHOO new parts!!!!!!!! :D

Speed Tech steering shaft kit for the rack and pinion. It will be used with the headers that Stainless Works and them built for their subframe.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00325.jpg

Since I sold the hyrdaboost, I decided to go with an 8" dual diaphragm booster, polished stainless of course

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00226.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00245.jpg

When it came to choosing a clutch, I know a lot of guys recommended going with the LS7 one. From what I understood, it was rated to 500hp at the wheels. I hope to be around 560 - 570 at the engine so would be close. I finally decided to go with a Monster level 3.5 clutch. Monster is fairly new but have nothing but good reviews over at www.ls1tech.com And they offer a one year, 12000 mile warranty. They guarantee it will find the weak links in your drive train. The level 3.5 is rated at 700hp at the wheels, but is designed for daily driving.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00087.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ICT00092-2.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00109.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00117.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00158.jpg

I know I could have gone with a stock LS3 intake, but this one was so tempting. Especially because where I bought it from had it listed on their website for $100 cheaper than it was supposed to be going for and they gave it to me for that price. I plan on getting a Nick Williams 102mm drive by wire throttle body, or if FAST come out with one I may look at theirs.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...PICT000510.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...ICT00062-2.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00078.jpg

And finally....the new wheels and tires. Overall I'm very happy with the wheels. The only thing that will take a little getting used to is that I have always liked the really shiny chrome wheels. These are brushed aluminum in the centre and polished around the outside. They are then clear powder coated taking away some of the shine. Other than I wish they were a bit more shiny....I really like them. For those that don't know which wheels they are, they are New Gen's Splitters with Nitto 555's.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00316.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00027.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00039.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00018.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00336.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00349.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00358.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00365.jpg

Nice wheels and tires . I like the brushed centers, with polished outers. I wish they made those 555's in 345 -19's When are you painting the rest of the body?

Thanks Wayne. My plans for paint were to try and get as much of the car done as possible and leave the paint pretty much to the end. I'll paint the jams before then, but the outer will be done later. With my luck, I'd end up scratching the up with every part I put on so thought I'd wait.

Hurry up and put those wheels on and take some pictures! :thumbsup:

Firewall came out great, nice work.

Nice choice on the wheels! In fact, nice choices on all of your parts!
:cheers:

Thanks guys.

Well I decided to atleast put the rear wheels on today. I had to take the rear brakes apart though as I had the rotors on backwards. I'm getting pretty good at installing the safety wire :D I hope to have the fronts on next week as I go into my 4 work days starting tomorrow.

Before I got to the wheels, I spent a bit more time reorganizing the shop. I've put in a few shelving units to make more room. If any of you have ever wondered what you could do with your air tools, here's what I did with mine. I had them under a cupboard before, but the cupboard went to the dump so I made a new shelf. The initial cost isn't cheap as all the female air ends are not cheap. I plan on adding 3 more still for a total of 15.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00384.jpg

So now with the 305's, I still have about 2" clearance inside. I think once I wear these tires down, I'm going to send the wheels away to be widened (I can get them done for $150 each where a lot of the wheel companies want $400 each) and look at some even wider tires. Now that I have the wheels on the car, I'm really happy with the way they look. Here's some pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00505.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00436.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00446.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00455.jpg

WOW Mike! They look great on there. And the brakes really stand out nice too. When you get the color on the whole car it sure will come together nice!
:cheers:

Looking great....really nice job on the firewall and I like those wheels much better :yes:

Thanks guys. I'm really happy seeing them on the car. I agree..I think they will look really good once the entire car's painted. I hope to have the fronts on later this week and will post pics.

I got the front end bolted back together with the shorter coils. I also got the front wheels on. Thought I would hang one fender and door to see how it's going to look. I think I like it :D

Next on the to do list is to get the tranny mated up to the motor and drop it in. I'll pull the subframe back out to put it all in at once instead of risking dinging up the firewall. I will need to check the clearance on the clutch as well as the scattershield.

Onto the pics:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00544.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00565.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00575.jpg

Those wheels really make the car kuddos:thumbsup:

Thanks...I'm really happy with the way they look.

I started doing some work on the engine today. I know the LS conversion is becoming almost the norm, so I thought I be quite detailed in what I'm doing. Any area where I had any questions, I will post more pics. Hopefully there aren't too many to make it boring. Onto the pics:

First thing was to take off the stock oil pan

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00644.jpg

Yep it's definitely a LS

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00626.jpg

Replace the stock oil pickup with the one included with the Autokraft oil pan. After talking to another member who did the L92 swap, I decided to leave the stock windage pan on also.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00655.jpg

The stock oil pan gasket is metal so there's no reason not to reuse it

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00665.jpg

To get the stock gasket off, I had to drill out two rivets holding it in place

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00674.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00684.jpg

Gasket in place

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00693.jpg

Autokraft pan on

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00723.jpg

When using the Autokraft pan, the stock oil pan bolts are a bit too long. You can either put washers under then or get new bolts. I decided to get new bolts as they look way nicer than the stock one. They cost me about 4 bucks for all of them with washers. Torqued to 80 inch/lbs as per GM specs.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00733.jpg

I also put on the Autokraft LS conversion motor mounts. I've seen them put on several different ways, but after confirming with Autokraft, these are the proper way of mounting them. The driver's side and passenger side are both marked, so unless you can't read, it's pretty straight forward. Also, they are designed that when the engine is sitting in the car, you should be able to read the writing on the side of the plates right side up.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00744.jpg

This is with the motor upside down

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00753.jpg

Next came getting rid of the truck intake. If anyone is looking for one with drive by wire throttle body, I'm wanting to get rid of this one. Brand new, never been started.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00763.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00773.jpg

Taped off the heads.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00783.jpg

Next was to get rid of the ugly accessory bracket

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00823.jpg

Looks way better already

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00833.jpg

I then took the engine off the stand to start hooking up the scattershield and to dial it in.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00852.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00862.jpg

The stock flex plate (also for sale if someone wants them as well as the stock exhaust manifolds)

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00872.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00882.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00922.jpg

You'll notice there is one bolt missing, that is for the dialing in process

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00972.jpg

That's where I got to today. I started to dial in the scattershield, but didn't have all the hardware to properly secure it to the block. I'm going to get the nuts and bolts in the morning and will hopefully have it dialed in. I will post pics of how to dial in the scattershield/bellhousing when I'm done.

It's looking great Mike! I like the look (with the door and fender mock up).

Do you not re use the stock TB off the factory intake? I thought you just transfer it over to the new one.

Thanks Eric. I could have just taken the stock throttle body off and put it on the new intake, but I thought that since I have the 102mm intake, I'm going to get a 102mm throttle body to match. I'm waiting until spring to get it as that's when I hope to get more parts. By then, FAST may have a drive by wire one available. Right now I believe Nick Williams is the only one that has one. It's really nice.

Looks good . That Fast 102 intake is nice .

Thanks Wayne. I think I'll be happy with that intake.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments. I can't wait to get this motor in, it will look so sweet against the apple red.

So a little update, a very frustrating one for me, but hopefully someone will learn from my mistake. I started dialing in the scattershield. First I had to buy a dial indicator and a magnetic base. Some write ups I read said you could use a 3" bolt and a c-clamp, but for $18 I thought the magnetic base would be easier. The dial indicator cost me about $20. You can also use a test indicator for this.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0098.jpg

I hooked the dial indicator up to the magnetic base and put it on the flywheel to give a good picture of how it looks without the scattershield on.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0100.jpg

The scattershield went on and I put the dial indicator back on the flywheel. Here's some pics of how it looks

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0106.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT01073.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT01162.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/PICT0114.jpg

After posting several questions on another forum, I found out this was not the right way to do it

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT01082.jpg

It needs to be as flat as possible like this

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT01102.jpg

Once the dial indicator was in place, I turned the engine 360 degrees and found the high and low points. My high point was at about 7 o'clock which put my low point around 2 o'clock. Your high point should be almost across from your high point. Once you get your high point and low point numbers, you take the difference and divide by 2. Then you get the off set dowels accordingly. For mine, I needed 0.0021 dowels.

Here's where I made a big mistake. It was recommend that I get some dowels from http://www.robbmcperformance.com/ but I thought "they're all the same and I can just get them in Canada and not have to pay the duty". So I had a pair of Lakewood ones shipped to me. They cost $19 for the dowels and $15 shipping. The Lakewood ones are supposed to turn using a screwdriver......I call bulls$*t. I'll get back to that in a minute.

So I finally got the new dowels

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00019.jpg

And it was time to take out the old ones. This was quite easy. I took off the exhaust manifolds as they're not being used anyways and used a long bolt. I then tapped them out with a hammer.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00284.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...PICT000412.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00079.jpg

Now you want to put some grease on in the dowel holes and on the dowel and tap them in.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00098.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00118.jpg

Before putting them in, look at them and find out where the high point on the dowel is, for both. You want to have them parallel in the block.

Here's where I was/am getting confused. My high reading was at 7 o'clock and my low was at 2 o'clock. I wasn't sure which way to point the dowels. After watching a video by Keisler, I found you want to point the high side of the dowel towards the biggest number you got with the dial indicator. This is because that number is telling you that it is 0.0035 (for example) away from the center. I think this is correct, but please if someone knows...correct me and help me figure this damn process out. I want to do it right.

So I went to try and turn the dowel with a screwdriver, like it said to do, and I'm not sure who was doing it, but there is no way in hell those things were moving. So I grabbed some vice grips and was able to turn them with those. I kept turning the dowels and remeasuring but ended up no farther ahead. The annoying thing is everytime you need to turn the dowels, you have to loosen all the bolts holding the scattershield, turn the dowels and then tighten them back up. On the passenger side I had no problem fitting the vice grips but on the driver's side, I had to cut out the mechanical linkage bracket. Good thing I'm going hydraulic.

Before

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d...9/IMG00050.jpg

After. I'm going to grind it down smooth and put some red paint on to clean it up.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00263.jpg

That last picture gave a glimpse as to why not to use the 'screwdriver type' of dowels. You can only clamp them so many times before they end up looking like this

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00219.jpg

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00159.jpg

So basically I wasted $40 on dowels when I was told to get the good ones to start with. Take my advice....get the good ones to start with!!!

Yesterday I called RobbMC Performance and they will ship me a new set on Monday. The new dowels run $28 and the thing that pi****es me off...I paid $15 to have the first ones shipped from a place that is 3 hours away. RobbMC is charging $10 to be shipped from Nevada. The difference between the good ones and the Lakewood ones are that once they are in place, you can use a open end wrench to turn them. They also have a screw down the middle that allows you to loosen the dowels so they turn. Once in final place, you tighten the screw and they are locked in place. Here's a link to the good ones: http://www.robbmcperformance.com/products/dowels.html

Another thing I found during all the trial and error runs was that my magnetic base was not sitting completely flat on the flywheel. I could lightly touch the shaft on it and it would rock. I found out why. When it was sitting on the flywheel, the lip on the crank that comes through the flywheel (hopefully that makes sense) sits slightly higher, causing there to be a ridge. Also, the magnetic base would not sit flat between the two bolts as it was a little bit two wide. Nothing a grinder can't fix.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/d.../PICT00295.jpg

So today I am no farther ahead, but actually down $40 and a few frustrating hours. Hopefully next week I will get a chance to put the new dowels in and get this done once and for all. I just hope that I have all the kinks worked out and it goes smoothly.

Please if anyone has any suggestions or advice on dialing in the scattershield, please feel free to join in. I want this to be as informative as possible for anyone reading this.

Hey Mike,
I don't have any experience with what you are doing there so I can't help. But I can give you tons of credit and a huge thanks for posting all of this. It will without a doubt help me and I imagine many others when we go to tackle the same task.

It looks like you're on the right track now!:cheers:

It's been a while Mike. How are things coming along?

Did you have to remove the factory windage tray on the L92 when you used the Autokraft oil pan? There was a question from another member on that exact issue. :cheers:

Mike, what accessories are you going to use since you are keeping the VVT? I know the wegner setup gives you the option running either one. I am in the process of trying to decide whether to keep the VVT or remove it and make it an LS3 oon my L92.