66 Chevelle LSA/4L90E Conversion
 

So......Getting Bored and after selling off a few cars it's time to start another project.....I bought a just restored 66 SS 396 Marina Blue Chevelle Factory A/C car.........It's a decent resto but not perfect by any means.......so....the plans are to do the Brake, Suspension, and wheel and tire thingy to get that Pro Touring look ......and the car will never see a cone course....so...it will be a driver and Power Tour car.........Now for the Interesting stuff..........It's gonna get a 2013 Camaro ZL1/LSA 4L90E drivetrain........The factory A/C will be replaced with a aftermarket system from vintage air and the stock interior will be retained..........I know I'm going to have to cut out the trans tunnel and raise it to fit the trans....the end goal is to keep the stock console and shifter for the stock appearance.........Here are some starting pic's of the car......


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And here's the engine........It's only got 2100 miles on it


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Stay tuned....


Ken

I've been ordering parts and they are starting to show up..........Complete RideTech suspension (Coil overs all around)......Holley Oil Pan.........Aluminum Radiator........Wilwood Brakes....Vintage Air system........and a Rick's vaporworx tank........so far.......When I bought the engine I also got the Intercooler, Pump, Harnesses, Fuel Pump system, Gas Pedal...ECM.............I already sent all the electrical stuff to Speartech for the mod's........ Here are some more Pic's....


All the harnesses going off to Speartech


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The Engine less all the wiring....


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Parts in the garage......


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Ken

Sweet Ken, I always love your builds nice and clean and very factory looking! Can't wait to see this one!!

Sweet project! I love 66 Chevelle SS. Its going to be great.

That car looks real purty in that color:thumbsup:

:cheers:

I received more parts today......since the new Camaros have Electric Power Steering, I ordered a Kwik Performance raised alternator bracket assy along with their Power Steering Pump integrated into the brackets.....I also ordered a complete wire harness kit from American Autowire......The existing fuse panel in the car is showing it's age and is pretty much toast.....So....we are going to rewire the whole car.....The A/C compressor is a slight problem as with the blower belt tensioner taking up the area that would allow the raising of it.....so .......I am going to have to keep it down low and make my own brackets...........The Fun continues.....

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Getting ready to start...........

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Wow, your gonna be a busy man
 

Keeping more than one site up to date could creep into your build time. :tv_happy:

Very nice. Looking forward to updates!!

Gonna be a nice upgrade. Keep the pics coming.

This looks like it going to be a nice build. I love that body style Chevelle.

....... here we go again.....



HAHAHAHAHA



It'll be ready by power tour 2014 huh Ken??

Can't believe I missed this post Ken, though I knew what was up. That's going to be a great build and you definitely picked the good parts for it. Should be a tad stronger than your old yellow 66. :morepower

really nice :popcorn2: i'll be watching :flag2:

It was hard to take a wrench to the first bolt to take this car apart.......But........Got a little bite into it today and the ball is now rolling...........Hope to have the LSA in place by the end of next week......Pic's to follow as things happen


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The Wilwood Brake system will be here early next week and a Ricks Vaporworx tank is also on the way.....


Ken

It should be done by Christmas..............LOL.......This one should be easy......(those famous last words).....:G-Dub:

Now you can drive the Impala on next years Power Tour.........Let me know so I can get your rooms booked.......:headspin:

Great project! Keep the pics coming!

Okay --- that was like 2 hours worth of work.... what'd ya do the rest of the day??



I agree with you on that first wrench! We just finished up Pierre's BBC swap --- and his car is so nice that to take it apart is just heart stopping! I mean his core support has SEMA paint on it! OMG.... one slip of the wrench and you are crying.

I think you got that wrong...the brand is SEM not SEMA...lol!!

Seeing that Chevelle get the move on is giving me some guts to tear into my recently acquired all original (down to the clips) 48k miles 69 Camaro... Everyone says to leave it alone its so nice and original...but thats not what i bought it for and they are just making me feel guilty now!!! The more time i spend back on here the better it looks for the winter projects on it!!!

Lead.

Okay --- that was like 2 hours worth of work.... what'd ya do the rest of the day??



New Survivor Series starts tonight............Gotta keep priorities straight.......LOL



Ken

can't wait to see more. Love the color too.

What are the plans for the old engine? :cheers:

The drivetrain is sold and being re-cycled into another Chevelle...........

Ken

Won't have time to work on the car today ....But....The FedEx guy was still working......The re-wiring kit from American Autowire came in, along with a new quick ratio steering box, and a complete Vintage Air system.....Gonna hit it hard this weekend........


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Ken

Got the old drivetrain out and we are getting close to starting with the "Fun" part of the rebuild........Gonna find out what fit's.....and what doesn't......Then make it fit.........Everything will be documented here so as to help others in the future.......or.....If anyone has been down this road, feel free to help with any advice.........My biggest concern right now is with the 6L90E trans.........I'm not concerned so much with cutting the tunnel.........But by how much will be sticking down below the crossmember as this thing is huge.......I also did some rough measuring and it seems like the top of the supercharger will be about an inch too high for the hood to close.......But....I'll know more when we get a little further along...


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Ken

Got a little more done today............Time to clean and detail the frame and get the new suspension and Brakes installed....then get the engine installed.....


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Ken

Looking good Ken!! :thumbsup:

awesome build, awesome engine!

my dad and i are putting one of these engines in a 66 nova, (look for overdos build thread). they take a little bit more planning to plum and fit everything nicely, but the engines are awesome.

not sure what your plans are for a heat exchanger, but edelbrock has some nice ones they sell seperately from their supercharger kits, and afco has nice ones they sell for cobra mustangs and lightening pickups, snow performance also makes some. thats one hurdle for you that i hope i could lend a tip on, hopefully with the bigger chevelle it isnt as much of a challenge to fit it all.

ill be watching this one very close, 66 is my favorite year chevelle, and this is an awesome combo going into one!

:gitrdun:

I've got all the stock Camaro intercooler and pump.......I'm planning on the Intercooler first......Then the A/C condenser, and Radiator........The way I have it figured everything "Should" fit......( I Hope!!!!)


Ken

that would be awesome if you can make all the stock stuff fit, save a bunch of coin and hassle.

looking forward to your next update, should be running by then right?
:headspin:

A couple of things happened today.........The original drivetrain is now gone and on it's way to be installed in another Chevelle and to live another day................And.....After looking at the 6L90E trans and measuring everything.....I'm just not comfortable that the trans pan will be high enough for me to drive the car comfortably worrying about that pan hitting something as the car will be a couple of inches lower than stock with the Ridetech Coil-over suspension.....So.......I'm going to buy a built 4l60 trans that will fit without the trans tunnel surgery and pan issues......I need to resolve some issues but John at Speartech has said there wouldn't be any communication issues with the computers .....so....looks like that's the way I'm going to go......(That's today's plan anyway.....LOL)



Got some more boxes today also..........Christmas in September..........Dakota Digital VHX Gauges........and a "Real" set of brakes.......



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Ken

Gotta love it when a plan comes together.


BTW --- I would have gone the route of opting for another transmission too... rather than modding the floors. The "fusible link" is going to be the small rear tires anyway -- so you're not going to tear up parts... like you would if you were tubbing the car etc.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :G-Dub:

Started to open up the Ridetech boxes to get everything organized and ready for assembly............How did they know these boxes were coming to me.......LOL......Look closely.........Gotta love it!!!!


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Ken

I usually toss that out. LOL

Im dissappointed that you wont be using the 6L90. I understand that you want to avoid tunnel surgery but there is a shallow option for the trans pan. I had a G8 GT 6L80 pan modified to work with the 6L90. It increased my ground clearance by 1.5". I am amazed that the 6 speed autos have not become more poopular. I am very glad that i went through the trouble to do the trans tunnel surgery and get through other issues when i switched from a 4L60 to the 6L90 and i still havent tuned the car to take advantage of the manual and sport modes.

Made some progress today......First.........I ordered a built 4L70E trans to replace the 6L90E........John from Speartech is going to make the harness mod's to suit the different trans and said it's actually much easier now......... So.......I took the trans off the back of the engine and brought the engine home to meet the car for the first time......LOL.....The new trans will be delivered in a couple of weeks so while waiting I'll get the new suspension on the car......then continue with the engine install.......If anyone needs a 6L90E with 2000 miles , let me know...........Here are some pic's from today.....


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Ken

LOL......I took the stock steering arms to the shop today for glass beading and painting......got that done and when I got home I installed the upper control arms and started to install the disc brakes and the steering arms.............As soon as I started to install the parts I knew I had a problem as the kit bolts wouldn't go thru the arms..........Hummmm......I read the instructions and ......LOL.......I don't have a drill big enough at home to drill the holes out to 1/2"..........So.....I had to stop for the day and finish then up at the shop tomorrow..........Dam Instructions......


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Ken

What wheels do you plan to go with?

I was thinking about 17" steel wheels painted car color with poverty caps......But........now I'm leaning towards Forgelines or something in that style..........I thought it would be cool with the 17's and redlines......But.....then maybe it might look funny with so much of the rim around the hubcap.........Opinions.......

Ken

That's the one area I'd go with a modern look.