UMI's 1972 Pontiac LeMans- Pro-Touring Project- Lots of Pics!
 

Hello All,

This is UMI's 1972 Pontiac LeMans project. We actually began this project in January of 2013 but since we are new sponsors here at Lateral G we haven't posted anything about it.

I will post a few recap pictures of what has happened in the last two years working on this project. If you would like the full details please visit one of the links below, it would be impossible to repost all those pictures! In the other links there are hundreds of pictures. I also posted our Facebook page link to the album. We will now keep this thread updated from here on out.


Link to Build on Chevelles.com

Link to Build on Pro-Touring.com

Link to build on Facebook

Here is a recap, beginning in January 2013. Us at UMI have and will be doing all the chassis, engine, drivetrain and electrical work. The body work is done by our good friend Buck Struble that does this on the side in his local shop.

As the car started and some of the dismantle:

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Skipping ahead to some of the chassis fabrication and painting as well as the completed boxed and powder coated frame.

Our biggest regret right now is no mini-tubing the car.


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The last few of the recap. LS1/T56 and pretty much how the car is sitting right now as we finish it.

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A few goodies came in.

The Magnuson Supercharger will be a great addition to our LS engine. David over at Magnuson got us the 2004 GTO LS1 kit for this car. Everything works great with the exception of a few small things we need to modify (since this isn't a GTO). The kit looks awesome, well put together and super high quality. Very impressed. More details as we install will come.

http://www.magnacharger.com/

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The blower pulleys in the rear are very very close to the firewall and almost rub. The UMI LSX motor mounts P/N 4008 have the ability to move the engine forward to get the clearance we need. However the factory LS1 pan will now hit the crossmember, and since the frame is already powder coated cutting the crossmember isn't an option. So we elected to get the Holley P/N 302-2 pan that offers around 1-7/8" more clearance over the factory LS1 pan. This worked great and gave us the clearance we needed,.

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UMI's LSx motor mounts, P/N 4008 that were designed off of this build.

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The clutch kit and hydraulic conversion kit with peddle came in as well. We will be using the McLeod RST twin disc clutch with aluminum flywheel.


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Nice color choice on the car. Thanks for posting the pictures.

Nice work the paint looks slick! The mounts look nice.

Looking good.
Nice power plant too. What numbers are guys looking to get with the Maggie on top?

Thanks everyone. Color is spiral gray metallic from the late 90's/early 2000's Chevy trucks.

We aren't a 100% sure but we expect a nice little boost from it. Ideally the engine should have a set of heads and a cam. However with limited time to have the car running for 2015 events we are planning on pulling the engine this next winter to redo that. We will keep you posted.

Magnuson works very well with us and some of their guys even run some UMI lateral-g oriented products. They'll provide great support while we're learning how to use this thing and I think we'll be able to show some good gains between 2015 and 2016.

ramey

We are buttoning the LS engine up and getting ready for the final installation. Double roller timing chain and an SLP high volume oil pump. All our LS engine parts and drivetrain components come from the WS6 Store- www.ws6store.com great guys to deal with!

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Awesome job!
 

Can't imagine how fun that's going to be with the T56 and the Maggie on it

We are excited to get it on the track :)

Getting ready to set the engine in place using our LSX motor mounts P/N 4008.

Passenger side frame. The frame is notched for low mounted AC, the motor mount plate is then contoured to clear this notch if the customers frame has it.

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Drivers side frame mount.

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Passenger side engine mount. Slots allow the engine to move forward a 1/4" and rearward 3/4"

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Driver side engine mount. Slots allow the engine to move forward a 1/4" and rearward 3/4"

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Delphi steering box installed.

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Wait. Who is gonna be driving :peepwall:


haha, looks great Ryan :thumbsup:

We might stick Sam in this one a few times :thumbsup:

McLeod RST twin disc clutch going on along with the transmission.

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Reinstalling the engine we ran into a small issue. The alternator hits the steering box. We are looking at a bracket to relocate the alternator up to the top and we are hoping the hood allows clearance for this.



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Quick update today. Our new wiring harness came in from M&H Electric Fabricators. This is the original Pontiac engine harness. The harness is put together very well and it will replace the original we no longer have.

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REALLY like the mounts. Where can I find pricing?

Scott, We have been having great luck and feedback on the mounts. Below is some information on them, please let me know if you have any questions.

UMI P/N 4008- 68-72 A-Body LSX Motor Mounts

Thanks!
Ryan

The Holley alternator relocation bracket and spacer kit is in along with the power steering reservoir, C5 power steering pump will be coming soon. We also got the LeMans back on the lift to install the fuel system and finish the design of our T56 crossmember.

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A few more things came in. Turn One C5 power steering pump and the Baer master cylinder.

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Here are two T56 crossmember proto-types, not the final product. The tubular design is light weight but could have some flex in it. The boxed design is tough but a little heavier. Our final design will be a combination and somewhere in the middle of these two. We have some cool ideas to make a nice set up with exhaust clearance and movement if the engine is set back or forward. Stay tuned.

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Killer PT car
 

Love how you guys get them knocked out so quickly!

Making some more headway. The fuel tank is in and we started running the fuel line and power cables.

We also got the Holley alternator bracket installed along with the Turn One C5 pump. We ordered the correct belt today and hope to fire the engine tomorrow. With the Magnusun and alternator relocation it made the new belt run right through the power steering reservoir so we will need to space that out.

Tanks Inc tank is in.

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Just another look at our part #4008 LSX motor mounts.

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Holley alternator relocation bracket and Turn One C5 power steering pump.

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Baer master cylinder installed. Clutch linkage still needs connected and worked on.

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Good job guys!

I noticed you commented on your engine mount brackets being adjustable for fore/aft adjustment. Were you already at full rear position when you noticed the alternator wouldn't fit in the stock location?
Todd

Hello Todd,

With running the Magnuson we swapped the engine brackets from our LSX mounts P/N 4008 side to side. Doing this allowed us to move the engine 2" forward, we had to do this to gain firewall to pulley clearance with the Magnuson.. it actually worked out perfect! Doing this did move the alternator into the power steering pump and this is why we did the relocation.

So to answer your question, if not running a Magnuson or similar and placing the engine in the intended location *should* not require the alternator to be relocated. The alternator hits the PS pump on our set up, not frame clearance.

I hope this helps,
Ryan

Ryan, Yes that does help. I'm following several builds in different forums before I start mine. Im hoping I can glean enough information to make mine as painless as possible.
Thank you. Great Project. Keep up the great work.

Glad I help Todd! Thanks for following along with ours. It is definitely a leanring process and there is always something unexpected popping up but that is part of a project. We will keep this thread updated.

Thanks again,
Ryan

Mocking up the factory radiator support to the Wizard cooling radiator. Jerry is building brackets to easily mount the radiator in place.

Once the mock up is completed we will finish repairing the radiator support, sand blast it and powder coat it.

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Noticed you're using Afco shocks on this and not Vi-King. Do you offer these as an upgrade to your Stage 5 kits?

Also, can you explain why you would use the boxed lower arms on the rear vs the the rotolinks?

We actually sell both Afco and Viking, we sell more Viking since it is a little more affordable. Viking also came out with some high rebound shocks that help excel their shocks in the PT world. But Afco makes a great shock so we work with them as well and trying t tune some valving. We run Afco on some and Viking on some.

We tell the customer to choose boxed vs. tubular on their preference only, both will work just the same. We will be running Roto-Joints on all ends of the rear control arms.

For a Stage 5 kit we can definitely work with substituting in Afco shocks if desired. We can also upgrade to Vikings new Crusaders shocks which have a much higher rebound range.

Let me know and we are glad to help.

Thanks!

Let me know if we can help anymore.

More progress on the LeMans.

Jerry is tying up all the wiring and making sure everything works. We don't have front fenders painted yet so it is tough to permanently mount everything. Jerry also installed the radiator, electric fans, power steering cooler and Magnuson intercooler. He is getting everything to fit correctly in the radiator support before we finish it and send it into powder coat.

Jerry uses our CNC laser to cut mounting templates for both the radiator mounts and a new tunnel. He uses cardboard as a template to prevent wasting steel.

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Today Brian, one of our fabricators here at UMI is building the tunnel for the T56. We purchased a tunnel replacement from American Powertrain but is was too small, we should have known. So Brian will use the purchased tunnel as a base and then build off of it. We used our laser to cut plates to finish it.

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We are working on the LeMans on a few hours each day, just nothing too exciting to take pictures of. We are working on all the wiring and plumbing the brakes. We can't do a lot more to the body until the fenders and nose are completed. We are also have a terrible time locating wheels.

We did do a preliminary tune on our LS engine with the Magnuson installed and it went perfect. Every wire was in the correct location and the engine started right up, idles and looks great.

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Good job guys.
Keep those updates coming.

Quick update on the LeMans as it gets close to completion.

The car is running and driving but still missing the front fenders, nose and hood. All the wiring is complete along with the brakes. We are waiting on the seats and for Buck to finish painting the front end. Also our cage needs welded in.

I stopped by Bucks (the body shop) and he has the nose fixed, one fender primed and installing the patch panel on the second fender. It is getting close.

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Beginning to install the cage. We are waiting for the seats to arrive before welding it in fully. We also ordered Weld RTS wheels that should be in shortly.

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Seats are in. Corbeau FX1

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Corbeau FX1 seats installed and cage welded in. The car is back at the body shop for final assembly, hood, nose and fenders painted and going on.

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Buck is pumping away at the body shop to get this completed for next week. He is blocking the last fender right now. We had a few small snags on parts, rear bumper brackets and some small misc items holding us up but its coming along nicely.

More pictures to follow shortly. Wheels should be shipping from Weld any day now.

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I'm guessing you used the 1434004 McLeod Hydraulic Direct Fit kit which lists out for 1963-1972 Chevelle. I'm looking at this kit for my '71 LeMans GT-37. Was it a direct bolt in or did it require some massaging for the Pontiac?