Chad's 68 Camaro V3.0 build. LS3 & TCI goodies

[67zo6Camaro]

Originally Posted by Chad-1stGen

Well I've been working on the car a little bit each night this week. After failing to get up the motivation to even touch it Monday I made a deal with myself to at least do an hour a night.

So after a few nights I got the tranny pulled and flywheel & clutch out.

Let me just say that trying to pull the tranny without draining it was a bonehead move. I made a huge freakin mess and still have to add fluid. Oh well now I know.

Also, learned that a torque arm and tight exhaust makes driveshaft removal a huge PIA. Luckily I was able to slide it bad far enough to get out of the way without totally removing it. I had a few requests to Magnaflow when I dropped the car off and luckily they did a good job of routing it so I could pull the tranny without totally removing the exhaust.

As far as diagnosing the vibration I did start it up with the clutch removed and just the flywheel installed. Vibration was still there. Today I dropped the flywheel and pressure plate off to get checked and rebalanced if necessary. They won't have it done until next Tuesday at the earliest so I have until then to wonder about the motor lol.

Also found another present from Pomona Valley Customs in the form of a stripped bolt into my block at the top of the bell housing. They installed a totally different thread than the rest of the bolts. What a bunch of friggen yahoos.

Good luck with the Flywheel and Clutch. I hope that the fact you got the engine at such a big discount dosen't have anything to do with a potential crank balance problem.

Anyway, just as a reminder I re-tapped several of those case holes, if not all of them, because they had SAE bolts instead of the metric. And maybe two of them seamed on the loose side because of the prior damage. I purchased all new bolts for you also....So, who else had that trans out after me? You could just re-tap the stripped ones to the next size up and/or thread pitch.

Man, sounds like you just can't get a break with this thing.

[Mkelcy]

Originally Posted by Chad-1stGen

Well I've been working on the car a little bit each night this week. After failing to get up the motivation to even touch it Monday I made a deal with myself to at least do an hour a night.

So after a few nights I got the tranny pulled and flywheel & clutch out.

Let me just say that trying to pull the tranny without draining it was a bonehead move. I made a huge freakin mess and still have to add fluid. Oh well now I know.

Also, learned that a torque arm and tight exhaust makes driveshaft removal a huge PIA. Luckily I was able to slide it bad far enough to get out of the way without totally removing it. I had a few requests to Magnaflow when I dropped the car off and luckily they did a good job of routing it so I could pull the tranny without totally removing the exhaust.

As far as diagnosing the vibration I did start it up with the clutch removed and just the flywheel installed. Vibration was still there. Today I dropped the flywheel and pressure plate off to get checked and rebalanced if necessary. They won't have it done until next Tuesday at the earliest so I have until then to wonder about the motor lol.

Also found another present from Pomona Valley Customs in the form of a stripped bolt into my block at the top of the bell housing. They installed a totally different thread than the rest of the bolts. What a bunch of friggen yahoos.

I never drain the transmission except when I mean to change fluid. Instead I use one of these, which you can get in almost any auto parts store:



They seal really well. I needed to put the tape on mine to fill in the gap between the normal size rear seal and the larger seal in the Viper T56 .

The bolt situation on these cars is really a pain. The M10-1.5 metric bolts are almost the same size and thread as a 3/8-16 SAE bolt. If you have both sitting around, you really need to pay attention.

[GregWeld]

I wouldn't just re-tap the aluminum hole... I'd go with a HeliCoil if you have decent access to it.

My old rule is do it right the first time -- and then you don't have to worry about it forever and ever.

Sorry you're having these issues!

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by 67zo6Camaro

Good luck with the Flywheel and Clutch. I hope that the fact you got the engine at such a big discount dosen't have anything to do with a potential crank balance problem.

Anyway, just as a reminder I re-tapped several of those case holes because they had SAE bolts instead of the metric. And some of them seamed on the loose side because of the prior damage. You could just re-tap the stripped to the next size up and/or thread pitch.

Man, sounds like you just can't get a break with this thing.

Yeah I remember that Brett. Those were the bolts from the trans to the bell housing and in fact I think they are all ok. Have torqued those bolts myself and BOS did with no issues. This new present is from the bell housing to the motor. I don't think you removed that right? I was also assuming BOS didn't remove it though I guess I can ask them.

You aren't the first to raise that question on the motor Brett. I just have a seriously hard time believing the previous owner knew something was wrong. The motor was way too pristine and the dust way too thick lol. I honestly don't think it ever came out of the crate before I took it out. There is a whole list of things I went through that convinced me this motor was never fired after leaving Mast. So if something is wrong with the balance job on the motor I'm convinced it shipped that way from Mast.

Originally Posted by Mkelcy

I never drain the transmission except when I mean to change fluid. Instead I use one of these, which you can get in almost any auto parts store:

They seal really well. I needed to put the tape on mine to fill in the gap between the normal size rear seal and the larger seal in the Viper T56 .

The bolt situation on these cars is really a pain. The M10-1.5 metric bolts are almost the same size and thread as a 3/8-16 SAE bolt. If you have both sitting around, you really need to pay attention.

That's a cool gizmo. Live and learn!! I was reminded of using a spare yoke trick but never seen anything made for it. I will be looking for one before I reinstall for sure.

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I wouldn't just re-tap the aluminum hole... I'd go with a HeliCoil if you have decent access to it.

My old rule is do it right the first time -- and then you don't have to worry about it forever and ever.

Sorry you're having these issues!

Thanks Greg. I've got until at least Tuesday before the clutch and flywheel will be ready. At first I had a bit of "sticker shock" at the turnaround time but then realized I've got PLENTY of other stuff to work on lol! I plan on spending some of that time checking all the threads on the motor as well as pulling the pan so I can check the oil tube o-ring.

[67zo6Camaro]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I wouldn't just re-tap the aluminum hole... I'd go with a HeliCoil if you have decent access to it.

My old rule is do it right the first time -- and then you don't have to worry about it forever and ever.

Sorry you're having these issues!

HeliCoil ? the only ones Im familiar with are the spriral type, Which is actually just putting a wound up piece of wire in the hole to make up the difference in the thread gap. Am I thinking of something different? because those work like shiat.

FYI, my advise to re-tap actually means drill larger hole and... well re-tap to the next size. It's basically the same as a new hole, just bigger. I don't recommend re-tapping to the next size by just the means of putting a larger tap in the stripped hole.

Anyway, got any pictures of the HeliCoil system you are talking about?

[67zo6Camaro]

Originally Posted by Chad-1stGen

Yeah I remember that Brett. Those were the bolts from the trans to the bell housing and in fact I think they are all ok. Have torqued those bolts myself and BOS did with no issues. This new present is from the bell housing to the motor. I don't think you removed that right?

Chad, just went back and looked at some of my pictures of your car. I think you may be right, I did not remove the bellhousing to start cutting the tunnel. I forgot you have an OEM aluminum bellhousing, and I remember re-tapping aluminum.

[GregWeld]

Yeah -- HeliCoil is a "thread repair".... not a complete drill and re tap.

I've had great success with the several that I've used and keep them "in stock" in the shed for those occasions when they need to be used. Never once had an issue with them.

The problem for most guys ----- he's drilling into the block not just running a drill through a bellhousing hole.... and he won't have a bottoming tap... and access might be an issue etc.

[rsk68]

In aluminum helicoils inserted correctly are as strong as threads with no helicoils , they are designed for holes that will see repeated dis assembly, you can buy a helicoil repair kit for any size hole from mcmaster Carr delivered next day!

[Chad-1stGen]

Mini update from work over the weekend.

I got the oil pan off the motor. Decided it was easier to take the hood off and hoist the motor up a few inches than drop the rack. However, my confidence in the cheap/easy fix is shaken. The oil pump pick up tube o-ring looked to be in perfect shape and installed correctly. Just to be on the safe side I picked up two new o-rings from the dealer on the way to work this morning.

GM makes 3 different sized o-rings. My online reading has shown that all of the oil pumps are the same size but that the pick up tube itself has different sizes and you match the o-ring to the pick up.

Stolen from a 2009 Ls1tech.com post:

They are color coded for a reason, like stated above, if the pickup tube has a recessed area where the o-ring goes you need the thicker RED o-ring. The trucks use this design.

GM Oil Pick-Up Tube O-Ring (1st Design)
12557752

BLUE SEAL
Specifics:

* Oil Pick-Up Tube O-Ring ea.
* Chevy/GMC Pick-Up (1999-2000 LS V8) 1st design
* F-Body (1998-2002)
* Cadillac CTS-V (2004-2007)
* Corvette (1997-2008)
* Thickness = 3.55mm (0.140")
ID = 23.60mm (0.930")



GM Oil Pick-Up Tube O-Ring (2nd Design)
12584922

RED SEAL
Specifics:

* Oil Pick-Up Tube O-Ring ea.
* Chevy/GMC Pick-Up (1999-2000 LS V8 engines with 2nd design pick-up tube)
* Trailblazer (2003-2008 With LS V8 engine)
* Hummer H2 (2003-2008)
* Hummer H3 (2008 With LS V8 engine)
* Chevy/GMC Pick-Up (2001-2008 LS V8 engines)
* W- Body (2006-2008 With LS V8 engine - Impala, Lacrosse, Grand Prix)
* Thickness = 4.20mm (0.165")
ID = 20.69mm (0.815")

The green I believe is even thicker than the red design but can't find those specs right now.

My Autokraft pan came with the blue o-ring but I bought both a blue and red o-ring today at the dealer. The fit with the blue o-ring that came with my pan just doesn't feel that snug when playing around with it this weekend. So tonight I will try both the red and blue o-ring. My online research showed some folks and shops/dealers using the red o-ring even in fbody/corvette applications with better success rates.