Project: Doubler

[out2kayak]

More notes, this time on the starter. It does not look like aftermarket has anything at the moment for the LT4, so here are the GM part numbers:

GM P/N Description
11588711 Heat Shield Bolts (need 2)
12656132 Heat Shield
11610787 Starter Bolts (need 2)
12652772 Starter

[gnx7]

I would stay away from the S60 due to limited gear ratios..... but if you like the few that they offer..... go for it. It also does weigh a gang load!

[out2kayak]

Originally Posted by gnx7

I would stay away from the S60 due to limited gear ratios..... but if you like the few that they offer..... go for it. It also does weigh a gang load!

So, going on a weight conservation diet (gun drilled axles, aluminum hubs, chromoly .250 tubes, disk brakes and aluminum calipers with willwood racing vented rotors) we are looking at ~250lbs for a Dana 60. It looks like a 9" is ~245lbs similarly equipped, as far as I can tell.

A quick check on Summit indicates these are the gear ratios for the Dana 60:
3.54:1
3.55:1
3.73:1
4.10:1
4.11:1
4.30:1
4.56:1
4.88:1
5.13:1
5.38:1
5.86:1
6.17:1
7.17:1

Again, according to Summit, the 9" has:

3.00:1
3.25:1
3.40:1
3.50:1
3.55:1
3.60:1
3.64:1
3.70:1
3.75:1
3.80:1
3.82:1
3.89:1
4.00:1
4.11:1
4.22:1
4.29:1
4.30:1
4.33:1
4.44:1
4.50:1
4.56:1
4.57:1
4.63:1
4.71:1
4.78:1
4.86:1
5.00:1
5.13:1
5.14:1
5.25:1
5.29:1
5.37:1
5.43:1
5.50:1
5.57:1
5.67:1
5.83:1
6.00:1
6.14:1
6.20:1
6.33:1
6.50:1
6.60:1
6.66:1
6.80:1
6.83:1
7.00:1
7.16:1
7.20:1
7.33:1
7.40:1

I'm thinking in the 3:54:1 range. It looks like the Corvette has 3.42:1 for the Z06. Remember, I'm running the 8L90E, which has:
4.56
2.97
2.08
1.69
1.27
1.00
0.85
0.65

I think the bigger issue is going to be traction with the gearing.

So, yes, your correct but I think the Dana 60 / S60 could be pretty close for this application. As well, it has less drive line losses due to its design.

One thing that this does not account for is floater style hubs, dual tapered roller bearings, etc. all desirable for situations with high side loads. I think this comes out about even between the two.

Thoughts?

[out2kayak]

Working on getting the motor mounts all lined up and the engine in and ran into a snag.

If you recall, I ordered a pair of your Dingo Double-D Billet 3/8 Aluminum LT Adapter Plates. I'm trying to mount them on the LT4 and I'm finding that I can't get the passenger side to fit -- there is the metal tube from the oil pan in the way (as shown in the picture).



I asked Dirty Dingo how this is supposed to fit. I'm thinking they will come back and say to replace the tube.

Also, when installing the motor mount on the drivers side (the Chevelle had a 396CI), the back part of the motor mount had a raised line, about 1/2" wide and 1.75" long between the two bolt holes on the top of the mount. This keeps the motor mount from laying flat.

Will need to work through this to get the engine mounted.

[out2kayak]

Talking with Tony at Dirty Dingo, he referenced the article at:

https://www.dirtydingo.com/shop/page...=37&CDpath=4_7

Some LT4 supercharged models use a vent from the oil pan to a baffle box mounted behind the water pump.

You will have to modify the steel line. You can cut both ends and attach a rubber hose between the ends.

This will allow an aftermarket engine mount.

So, yep, need to modify the vent tube (which is what I mentioned yesterday).

Also, it seems they are recommending that I use the Energy Suspension motor mounts.

#3.1114 has a zinc finish
#3.1115 has a chrome finish

Looking at these, they have a plate that is supposed to go between the engine and the mount that has the same raised area:

https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Suspen.../dp/B000CN95AQ

So, I think I'm going to simply take the grinder to the mounts I already have and remove the raised area, as recommended in the book "LS Swaps – How to swap GM LS engines into almost anything".

[out2kayak]

Engine side of the mount:



Screw holes are aligned


The mount does not lay flat

[waynieZ]

I ground A groove for the lump on the back of the mount on my plates.

[out2kayak]

Installed the oil pan over the weekend. Several posts I've seen stated that I need to loosen the harmonic balancer, but I was able to do the swap without doing that.

It's a pity that Holley did not use an O ring around the oil pan. Would be a much better solution for sealing.

Also, I used the Holley oil pan with the hinged door baffles:

https://www.holley.com/products/acce...s/parts/302-22

What I found was the arm that holds the baffle box would not allow the oil pickup tube to be installed -- it was just too tight. What I ended up doing is notching the arm near the tube and I was able to get everything together.

Another note is that there are two sensors on the factory oil pan. One is an oil pressure sensor that mounts on the oil filter boss. The other is on the opposite side and I believe this is a oil level sensor.

The LT4 has two oil pressure sensors, so the second one is redundant. That said, I am going to run an oil cooler and have asked Improved Racing if their adapter will work with the Holley oil pan. It has a sensor port on it, as shown at:

http://www.improvedracing.com/oil-co...tat-p-737.html



For the oil level, I know how to check my own oil level, so I'm not going to worry about that. I hope this won't bite me in the future.

When I dropped the factory pan, I was surprised how much metal particles were in the oil. I would have thought GM would have cleaned out the engine far better than what it was.

[out2kayak]

Finished grinding on the motor mounts. I ended up flattening the top of the line pictured about 1/4" on both.

On the drivers side, I had to trim the front bottom of the motor mount. The block has a boss there that interfered with the mount.

Put the engine in to test fit the headers. Looks like Jim and the folks at Ultimate Headers need to do some tweaks on both sides. I'm not going to post pictures here as I knew these were prototype headers.

Here is what the factory manifold looks like on the drivers side.





Also remember that the brake lines need to run up on this side:



The drivers side would need to have the flange where the exhaust connects tilted at an angle, pointed more towards the firewall and perhaps down a bit. As it sits, the flange just about impacts where the lower control arm bolts to the frame.

As well, the rear bolt on the upper control arm is about 0.25" away from the manifold. For my comfort, I'd trim the bolt just a bit.

Also realize that I did not try the steering column. Some tweaks there may be necessary.

As far as the DI fuel pump and the firewall, with the motor mounts set to put the engine as far back as possible, everything still fits. Looking at where the heater core and the factory A/C goes, it looks like that will fit just fine. Not sure about where the computer bits will go, but that's another day's worry.

[out2kayak]

Anyone use this LED headlight kit? What do you think?

http://www.cjponyparts.com/HLA55/p/HLA55/