66 Chevelle LSA/4L90E Conversion

[kwhizz]

So......After driving this Beater all summer......Here are a few observations.......Starting with a #'s matching restored car was one of those should I or shouldn't I deals.........In retrospect, I wouldn't change a thing........The time and aggravation of doing the Body/Paint/Interior thingy was well worth the little extra cost at the start of the project........It might have been a little different story if there was shoddy workmanship involved, but...........that wasn't the case here.....Driving the car has been a blast.......basically it didn't miss a beat all summer (5500 miles).....as far as I'm concerned, It's the perfect blend of "Old" with the drive ability of all the "New" stuff (that's also what the GM guy's on the Power Tour thought and why they did the Feature on the car........ https://theblock.com/news/ken-tibor-...ur-feature-car The car never gets hot.....even with the A/C blowing ice cubes......Did I mention Torque.......LOL.....Now I know why Charley is always smiling while driving his Camaro..........

http://vid13.photobucket.com/albums/...OV_3844MOV.mp4




After the Power Tour was over........one of the regulars we travel with for the week is Steve Kranick who just started a Hydrographics business [email protected] ...........Between Steve and my son Chris they worked behind the scenes and did a new engine cover to surprise me with as they hated that red cover
.........The finishing touch.......


Before




After




The ride, comfort, handling, and power in this beater is awsum......Looking forward to the Muscle Car Adventure Event in a couple of weeks with Stefano............

[syborg tt]

Ken,

I agree it looks way better and it's awesome that your actually driving and enjoying the car.

My motto, Build it to a "8" drive it to a "4" and don't save it for the next guy to enjoy.

[kwhizz]

The Season is just about over here in Wisconsin........Overview of the year since the completion in May......7276 miles of trouble free driving this year......There is still a few "Tweaks" needed to make the car up to the standards ..........The first issue I will be dealing with is the Oil pan / Drivetrain angle issues.........again......on the initial install the Holley 302-2 pan was not available so I used the -1 pan........I had to raise the front of the engine to clear the tie rod ends, which gave me a little more angle than I wanted.......to get the angle more in line I have the rear of the trans shimmed up as high as it would go to help out with the angle issue......In doing this the trans is hitting inside the trans tunnel and giving a slight vibration ........So....even though mechanically the angle is now dialed in.....I am going to change the -1 pan out for the -2 pan so I can lower the engine slightly to alleviate that issue.......

The second issue is the reproduction dash Pad in the car........Repro Dash pads are Junk in my opinion and don't fit worth a crap......I've been looking for a OEM one for months to send to Just Dashes for restoring........I finally found one and sent it off to them for restoring.......they have a twelve week lead time so that makes the timing about perfect.......I also bought a DSE wiper motor assy so when I take the dash out for the pad install I can change around the wiper switch and wiring.........

All in all it's been a real treat to drive this car around the Country this season......The Torque and Power these engines make is just Crazy...........along with the average for the season of 20 MPG are just outstanding .............











Stay tuned........

[waynieZ]

Glad to hear you got to drive it as much as you did. You did a beautiful job on the car and the install of the engine. Did you drive the car before you put on the ZL1 lid? I was wondering if you noticed a difference?
When I saw the red cover on the motor I said to myself it looks good but when I saw the next picture Wow what a difference . They did a great job on it. It makes a big difference.
Nice job.

[GregWeld]

When I rebuilt my Brother in Laws '69 Camaro - I had the upholsterer just do the dash in leather. Otherwise you end up using this nasty plastic looking POS that never does fit right. It wasn't a big deal back in '69 if they didn't fit well -- nothing fit well back then!! LOL

But when you have a nice interior it (the re-pop junk) just looked horrendously bad.

[Winmon]

Love the car Ken! Been following the build for awhile and you have done a great job. I even picked some ideas and tips from it for my upcoming LS2/T56 swap...

[kwhizz]

So........Winter is here and it's time for the "Tweaking"..........The OEM Dash Pad should be coming back from Just Dashes in a couple of weeks........so after installing it I won't be tortured next year looking at that piece of crap reproduction Pad with the ends flipped up because it's too narrow to fit.......sheesh.....you would think by now the aftermarket guy's would have figured Mold Shrinkage into the picture......Just Say'in......Now to deal with the Driveline angles....... After loading the Tremec driveline app on my phone (you use your smartphone as a level and hit the Engine.....Driveshaft....and rear end housing ....and it compares the results and let's you know if everything is good...or Bad) and seeing Red... I decided to get around to starting the process of changing to the -2 pan.....so....After double checking everything....... it ended up with the Drivetrain Angle at 5 Deg down ....... Driveshaft 2 Deg up....... Pinion -1......The car rode well without any Vibration.....But.....at 70 MPH when I let off the gas I could feel where the universals were fighting themselves.........after calculating how much I would have to drop the front of the engine to get to 3 Deg ......It ended up that I would have needed to drop the engine mounts down 1 5/16.......Even with the -2 pan it would be problematic..........so.......After seeing another persons purchase to deal with this issue with parts available from the Driveshaft Shop .......... I called Frank there and we discussed my concerns.....Gave him all the info and he is building me a 3 1/2" Aluminum driveshaft with the trans end having a CV joint and a conventional universal at the rear end........Should be here in a couple of weeks.........Again.....The car drove perfect, but.....I just knew the I didn't hit the "Sweet Spot" with the angles.........This should be the final fix that will let me feel 100% about the Chevelle..................After thinking about it a little more..........everything was built around the engine sitting where it is and lowering it much would have really opened up a can of worms.....This seems to be the simplest and best way to solve that one little issue that was O.K.......But not up to standards........So.....That also means if anyone is going to do a LS swap and will be needing a Holley 302-2 Pan....Baffle system and Oil Pan Gasket.....I just happen to know where there's an extra one for Sale......LOL

[kwhizz]

Just a little refresher on what is going on.........My drivetrain angle wasn't the best in the Chevelle.......I had to raise up the front of the engine to clear the Tie Rod Ends.......It ended up that I had a 5 Degree down engine angle and a 3 Degree up driveshaft angle to the rear end (due to the car being lowered).........this gave a 8 Degree working angle at the Transmission U-Joint..........The ideal angle is 3 degrees.......so......Even though the car rode and drove well, It just wasn't right.....So.....I took the easy way out and talked to Frank at the Driveshaft shop and he built me a CV Joint 3 1/2" Aluminum shaft to eliminate these concerns.......It showed up today and I put it in already..........Now I'm Bored again....That took all of ten minutes.........The Dash Pad is supposed to be finished at Just Dashes some time in February.......Gonna have to drop the Dash down to get it in........But, at least I won't have to look at that piece of Crap repro Pad the original owner put in with it's flipped up ends.........Sheesh.......If you are going to Repro something.....at least go thru the effort to make sure it fits.......How many years have we been talking about this Crap............

[WSSix]

Nice piece! glad you're enjoying the car!

[GregWeld]

That all ya got?


Looks good Ken and that's a great fix!