Install Info: Strano Springs/Bilstein SLP Shocks and Rear End Upgrades.

[New2chevy]

Swapping new 10 bolt in with new Eaton Posi, 3.73's, and Strano springs with Bilstein SLP shocks, all the way around.

Here are some pics of my progress, so far:


Working on getting the old rear out. I disconnected all the brake lines and brackets, ABS harness, from the axle tubes, diff housing, etc. I hung the calipers with coat hangers to get them and the brake lines up and out of the way. I removed panhard rod and shock mount nuts and LCA's at the rear only. Last step, with rear supported by jacks and 2x4's, was removing U-joint straps at the pinion yolk and pulling the drive-shaft forward. I then slowly lowered the rear and pulled it using the jack handles.
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Got it out and put new Bilstein shocks in (half way in)
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Old 10-bolt on left and new strengthened 10-bolt on right. It has the TA Aluminum cover with stud girdle and ARP carrier bearing cap studs, new Eaton posi and 3.73 gears.
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Bilstein shock vs. old DeCarbon shock. Quite a noticeable difference.
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Rear Strano springs vs. stock springs. Align the tops of the springs with the indentations in the upper rubber isolators. My isolators stayed stuck up in the upper shock mount locations.
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GRRRR. I need to swap axles and backing plates from old rear to new rear because the ABS reluctors are on the ends of the axles on current setup. New rear has the reluctor sensor on the diff. housing :( .
To pull the axles shown on bottom: undo bolts that hold sensor plugs onto the backing plates, smack the ends of the axles until the sensors are pushed into the backing plate, which allows axles to go in far enough to remove C-Clips. C-Clips will pull right out with a magnet, as long as the open end of the clips are facing DOWN. The C-Clips do not snap onto the axles. They are held in once the axles are pulled outward and the center pin is re-installed on the posi unit. Pulling the axles without the reluctors is easy...just push them in and pull out the C-Clips with a magnet.
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[New2chevy]

Once I get the rear done, It's on to the FRONT of the car. I'll post pics and info here.

[SchaefZ28]

Looking good! It looks exactly like what I was doing this past fall.. Painted up 10 bolt, TA cover, stud kit, bilsteins.. The only difference being that my rear has 4.10 gears in it, and I reused my stock springs. :lol: I have been really thinking about getting a set of stranos though.... I'll have to follow this and see how you like 'em.

[New2chevy]

Looking good! It looks exactly like what I was doing this past fall.. Painted up 10 bolt, TA cover, stud kit, bilsteins.. The only difference being that my rear has 4.10 gears in it, and I reused my stock springs. :lol: I have been really thinking about getting a set of stranos though.... I'll have to follow this and see how you like 'em.

Cool. I'm sure I will love them. Everyone who has them loves them.

And I hear the 4L60e's really like 3.73's so I went with those.

The T-56 loves 4.10's from what I hear.

I'll keep this thread rolling.

[New2chevy]

Well guys I got the Founders LCA relocation brackets on and swapped in the ABS reluctor axles. The only problem I had with the Founders brackets was on the passenger side. The shock mount hole in the Founders bracket would not line up with the hole in the stock shock mount bracket. I'll show how I solved this problem, with pictures and explanation below. Also are a few pics of the brackets from different angles and a whole pic of the entire rear. It's ready to go in and run, but I need to put some good gear oil and friction modifier in the diff housing first. Eaton says, "Do not use synthetic oil for our posi. Down the road, this type of oil will cause chatter." I personally hate chatter back there in the diff housing, so I'm going with what Eaton says.

Here is the completed rear with ABS axles and Founders LCA brackets.

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To push the axles in far enough to get the C-Clips out, I unbolted the sensor plug inside the backing plate and hit the axle end with a striking hammer to drive the sensor and axle inward, simultaneously (the reluctor wheel hits the outside of the sensor and drives it inward), then the axle went in far enough to pull the C-Clip right out with a magnet. Of course, I moved the pin inside the posi out of the way first.

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Once the C-Clips are in, then jiggle the ABS sensor plug to push it back in and line up the bolt holes, and use a 10mm wrench to tighten the plug back down and push the sensor all the way back in--or out toward the reluctor wheel (as shown in pic above). I LOVE ratcheting wrenches!!

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Here is the driver's side Founders bracket installed.

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Here is the passenger's side Founders Bracket installed. It looks a bit tweaked, but I think it was the angle of my camera. We shall see how well my LCA bolts in there.

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Driver's side rear angle (if looking toward back of the car with rear end installed. Note the shiny spacer between the stock bracket sides.

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Now for my problem....The passenger's side Founders bracket's shock mount hole wouldn't line up. First I filed some of the metal away from the outside of the shock mount, so the shock mount part of the Founders bracket wouldn't hit/rub against the metal and would hopefully line up the hole better.

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This is where the Founders bracket was rubbing/hitting the stock shock mount on the outside where I filed (as in above pic).

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The shock mounting bolt is almost exactly the same diameter as the mounting holes, and this little bit of the Founders bracket was showing through the stock mounting hole, so I needed to fix this. I massaged the bracket around and hit it with a 2 X 4 a number of times, and I gained a little more clearance, but I just couldn't get it to totally line up, and I tried a bunch of stuff to make the holes line up, then I finally figured out how to fix this.

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Voila! I finally got the holes to line up (see below for how I did it).

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I used my jack handle and a socket extension bar and put the narrow (square) end of the socket extension down into the shock mounting hole, with the founders bracket bolted tightly on, and I then put the jack handle over the socket extension and pulled so as to move/slightly bend the Founders bracket until the holes lined up. Presto!!

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I'm going to reinstall the rear end and then break the new posi in with some 80W90 oil and friction modifier (100 miles or so), then I'll change out the oil again.

I also have my WS6 aluminum driveshaft ready to install. This may help a little bit but who knows. At least, it's lighter.

[SchaefZ28]

Can't see the pictures :(

[New2chevy]

Can't see the pictures :(

OK I went through and re-added my pics. It seems to have worked, for now.

Other threads I have seen claim that the brake line brackets need to be cut, when installing the Founders LCA brackets. I don't understand this because my brake line brackets aren't interfering with the Founders brackets at all.

Weird.

[SchaefZ28]

Fixed!

[New2chevy]

I made some more progress with the rear end swap today. Took 40 minutes, which is all the time I had. I still have to tighten the shock nuts and LCA bolts, but I got the U-Joint tightened on the pinion yolk, at least. I just have to put the panhard bar in and fasten the brake lines and ABS harness onto the axle tubes then put the calipers and sway bar back on. Oh, and I have to fasten the torque arm to the diff housing and fasten the e-brake brackets back onto the two TA cover bolts, just like on the stock cover.

I was kinda bummed because one of the u-joint bolts threaded in fine by hand, at first, then it was frickin' HARD ratcheting in there, but I got it in tight (VERY TIGHT). Now I have an LS1 driveshaft, which I hear is a pretty worthwhile mod.

I am going to center the rear using my adjustable Founders panhard bar. I'll hang a bob from a string at the fenderwells and measure the distance of each tire from each fenderwell using a ruler, to center the rear.

There she is...home where she belongs. A helpful tip for the torque arm is to use some rope (left side of picture) to tie it off to the side, rather than undoing the whole thing from the transmission too, then it will be out of the way when removing and re-installing the rear.

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Driver's side shock. LCA connected to Founders relocation bracket. The Founders LCA ends fit perfectly into the new relocation brackets. Hooray!! Those darn bump stops were $100.00 for a pair (original GM bump stops). I saw them cheaper somewhere, recently, but I can't remember where.

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Passenger's side. I'm going to weld the top parts of the Founders brackets to the stock LCA mounts, on each side, just for added peace of mind.

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It was fun balancing the rear on it's center and rolling it in from the side, through all the brake lines and e-brake lines and stuff--car wasn't high enough for it to clear the exhaust piping in the back.

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Shot from the driver's side. Once the shock mounting bolts are in the lower brackets and the nuts are on them, and the u-joint is connected to the pinion yolk, the rear is in there pretty good, and the jack only does a little work. I still have to stick the springs up in there, which won't be hard, once I let the jack down a few inches. It's tough for me to put the springs in there at the same time as putting the rear in.

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I'll keep updating on my progress guys! Can't wait to see how the new shocks and springs feel, as well as the 3.73's!!

[New2chevy]

I almost have the rear end all buttoned up. Just have to tighten all the bolts to specs and tighten the stud girdles on the TA cover properly and bolt up the E-brake brackets. Then I have to put some oil in the diff housing. I am thinking about taking my rotors to the bead blaster at work, just so they look nice. Here are some more pics of my progress:

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I'll post pics and stuff of the front end work here, as well.

Also coming soon is a TA rear hatch painted to match my factory color, with the spoiler painted black. I just scored some TA side skirts from Hawks on Ebay, and I'll get the bumpers soon. I want my Bird to look like a frickin' Trans Am.

[New2chevy]

I started the coilover swap on the front end. There is a video at the end of this post that shows me burning the bushings out of my control arms. Burning them out is the easiest way for me.

First, you need to move the master cylinder out of the way to get to the coilover top brace bolts with the torx heads in them. I just unbolted the master cylinder and carefully pushed it aside, keeping the lines all connected.
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Once you take out the control arms, it looks like this. When I unbolted the coilover from the lower control arm, the coilover just hung there. There was no pressure on the control arm at all (keep in mind that my car was up on cinder blocks with 4x4 pieces of wood). Before I unbolted the coilover from the lower control arm, I had supported the control arm with a jack, just in case there was pressure. I discovered that when I let the jack down, there was no pressure at all. Much easier than I expected.
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The coilover comes out in one complete assembly like this, once you undo the top four bolts on the "strut" tower. I'm having a shop take the coilovers apart and then assemble the new ones with my Bilsteins and Strano springs. I don't have the time to mess with spring compressors and stuff. The bolt on top of the assembly is quite rusted, too.
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The coilover pulls right off the coilover support bracket, which is a separate piece that is bolted to the actual "U shaped" control arm. The support bracket is what bolts to the "strut" tower up above in the fender well. Two bolts stick out of the support bracket, and two bolts thread down into the bracket (the torx head bolts thread into the bracket from above).
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Done! Guess I might as well clean the wheel well.
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Lower control arm.
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Upper control arm with the coilover support bolted back in it. I installed the Energy bushings in between these two parts.
NOTE: Once I wire wheeled the inside of the bushing shells (they had some rubber residue in them because I burned my bushings out--See video below), the Energy bushings pushed in by hand fairly easily, but be aware that the bushings push themselves back out once the sleeves are inserted into them. I had very little time to put the coilover support and control arm back "together" before the bushings were out too far to allow the two parts to mesh. Remember to use the Formula 5 grease that comes with the Energy bushing kit, and you'll have to work fast so the spacing is correct to mesh these two parts back together. You'll see what I mean when you try this yourself.
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Here is the video showing me burning the bushings out of my upper control arm. I held a weed burner to the bushings until they caught fire. I had to hold the burner against the bushings a few times to really catch them on fire. Then, they burned into ashes and left a little rubber residue in the shells that I simply wire wheeled out, and the shells were good as new.


http://youtu.be/fD6WimwQIMg

[New2chevy]

Painted my driver's side control arms today. Used Rustoleum Industrial High Performance in Aluminum color.

Waiting on Moog ball joints from Summit. The MADE IN THE USA ones.

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[New2chevy]

Hey again guys.

I got the driver's side coilover done and ready to go in. I'm swapping to some new Moog Problem Solver ball joints, before I put it all back together.

All I have to do is get the passenger's side coilover done and get all the ball joints in the control arms, and it's all going to be back together soon!

I am anxious to drive my car with the new suspension parts and 3.73's.

Then, head and cam swap time :)


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[SchaefZ28]

Lookin' good.. I'll probably be going the same route as you and painting the upper/lower arms and doing new bushings and such. Also looking forward to your review on the shocks/springs ;)

[New2chevy]

Thanks Josh

Good luck with your upcoming project.

I just got done with the passenger coilover today.

I will definitely post the results of my swap here on this thread.

I still have to torque all the bolts on the entire rear end suspension, as well.



Lookin' good.. I'll probably be going the same route as you and painting the upper/lower arms and doing new bushings and such. Also looking forward to your review on the shocks/springs ;)

[New2chevy]

These rubber grommets were the last thing that came off the inside of the sheet metal in the wheel well/upper shock mount location.

They had rust stuck to them like crazy. I didn't know rust could stick to rubber so hard.

I cleaned the heck out of them and will clean the rust off the sheet metal as well.

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[New2chevy]

Blasted my spindles today. I may just clear coat them since they look nice now.

I now have my TA side skirts and rear bumper and just need the front bumper.

I really think the TA look will complement the lower stance of my car :)

Will have it all done soon enough.

[New2chevy]

I've done some more stuff. I will include torque specs for the hub assembly to steering knuckle here, and I will provide a complete list of torque specs, after I am done with the whole shebang. This might help those who are doing or plan to do these same modifications on their cars.

-Hub assembly to steering knuckle torque spec is 64 ft. pounds.

I bead blasted and clear coated my steering knuckles (I call them spindles). I liked the way the natural metal looked, after I bead blasted them.
I painted the hub assemblies black. They turned out pretty darn nicely.

I used an abrasive wheel and cleaned off the rust that was on the shock towers. I had to use a screwdriver and hammer to get that flaked rusty metal stuff off of there. Figured I might as well clean it all up before re-installing everything. I painted the shock towers with a black Rustoleum Rust protector paint.

Next I am going to clean and paint the wheel wells black.

I am just waiting for my ball joints to be installed on the control arms. I took these parts to a shop because I do not have the time to mess with this stuff. I did all the work you see here and a lot of the other work, at my place of work, while on break.

For anyone who cares, I hope you are enjoying my little thread here.

Bottom of the shock tower, before the paint dried.


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Steering Knuckles Bead Blasted and Cear Coated.

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They turned out pretty nice.

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Another angle.

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[SchaefZ28]

The spindles turned out great! They look brand spankin' new

[New2chevy]

Thanks! I am pleased. I figured I might as well clean those up, too.

Can't wait to see how different the car feels with everything and the relocation brackets on the LCA's.

I'm going to get a new torque arm, too.

Also, I am very soon going to have some custom stainless steel long tube headers made, here in Casper. Jared Jardine opened a shop here.

He makes KILLER headers. Jared is going to make me some bad ass Tri-Y headers, for even better power across the band. He says he consistently sees over 20 HP and even over 30 HP gains with his headers.

He is also gonna weld my subframe connectors up and install my dual-dual 4" tips for me :)

I'll post pics of Jared's headers on these forums.


The spindles turned out great! They look brand spankin' new

[SchaefZ28]

Sweet! Probably won't be possible.... but before and after dyno numbers would be awesome! Off-the-shelf longtubes vs the Tri-Y's to see how much of a power difference.

[New2chevy]

Josh, A

Actually, it is very possible. I am going to use Jared's dyno and do a run with the shorty's I have on there now, with a Flowmaster Super 40 muffler (I love the sound of the Delta flows), then the only difference will be the Tri-Y headers added on, and I'm going to do a another dyno run with these. I look forward to seeing if their is a substantial difference.

So, the two dynos will compare run of the mill shorty's with custom stainless tri-y longtubes and ORY:)

I'll post the results on here, whenever I can get my car done and in the shop!

Other plans:

Strano 35/22 hollow sway bars (just waiting for them to ship). These are supposed to be the best sway bars for overall handling.
Rack Doctor manual rack (waiting for it to ship).
Alternator relocation (waiting for bracket to ship).
Energy Suspension motor mount inserts (just gotta tear into it)
Braided steel tranny lines (I'll get to that whenever).
C5 Deep Dish black wheels.
LE2 heads, 219/227 cam from LE, and LE intake (Or I may just swap in my 383 stroker with a much bigger camshaft like 244/252 or close to that)

I got the rag joint eliminator from UE (Unbalanced Engineering). It's a nice piece. It will tighten the steering even more.

It looks like it will be a HECK of a lot easier changing the motor mount inserts, with that rack and pinion and sway bar out of the way. Now is definitely the time to tackle this mini-project.

I removed my entire power steering the other day, all in one glob. I did not disconnect even one line from anything. I broke a tool getting the front sway bar out, too. I took the serpentine bracket off, along with all the other pulleys.

Here are the pics:

All power steering stuff GONE:
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Another angle. You can still see the oil stream coming out of my oil pan. Gotta change the oil, too :)
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Just a pic of what I think is the AC compressor plug (gray plug in front) and the alternator plug.
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No more serpentine/high mount alternator bracket. Yay!! Just gonna be the crank pulley and alternator pulley.
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Power steering and bracket pile, including the tensioner and AC delete pulley kit.
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Unbalanced Engineering rag joint eliminator kit.
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Sweet! Probably won't be possible.... but before and after dyno numbers would be awesome! Off-the-shelf longtubes vs the Tri-Y's to see how much of a power difference.

[New2chevy]

Almost done with the motor mounts. The old ones were definitely bad.

Now is definitely the time to change these out, since everything is out of the way.

It wasn't too bad. Just had to figure out how to work around the angles, with wrenches and ratchets. The worst bolt was the one on the top on the passenger side. Very little room. I got it, though, after scraping my arms and hand up pretty good.

Here are a few pics. I left the comparison pics out, but there was a huge difference between the old bushings and the new Energy ones. Take note of the last pic, especially.


The bushing was moving around very freely inside the clamshell. Not good.
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New bushing ready to go in, once the clamshell is separated.
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Below, the two bolt heads in the top left corner of the pic were TOUCHING, before I swapped in the new Energy bushing.
I couldn't even get a socket on the 5" horizontal bolt head, until I jacked the engine up. Definitely not good.
I recommend using a 31/64" drill bit to drill the bottom half of the clamshell for the new flat head bolts that have the square "biting heads"
on them. Energy's instructions said to use a 1/2" drill bit. The 31/64" actually made the hole perfect and created a much better bite
for the new bolts (the ones with the new shiny nuts on them, to hold the clamshell together). I had to hammer the bolts into the holes, however. I think that's good, though. They stayed put while I was tightening the lock nuts :).

19808

[New2chevy]

Still waiting for my sway bars and steering rack to arrive.

Got my rag joint eliminator installed today. Took me an hour and a half, including the work required to get the factory rivets out of the stock joint assembly. Man those rivets were really in there.

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[firebird_1995]

Looks good!

[New2chevy]

Thank you. Scraped knuckles and sore finger joints are well worth it!


Looks good!

[New2chevy]

Well I got the alternator relocation kit, finally.

19853

Installed the Energy motor mount bushings. Here's the passenger side mount. Instructions for this side are fuzzy on the Energy instructions sheet.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/MotorMount10_zpscd3e9ac1.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/MotorMount10_zpscd3e9ac1.jpg.html)

I cleaned up the K member where the rack and pinion goes.
19854

I finally filled my diff housing with gear oil and limited slip additive and tightened the girdle bolts and fastened the e-brake cables to the housing.

Still waiting for my manual rack and sway bars. tick tock tick tock

[New2chevy]

Relocated my alternator, as I still wait for my rack and pinion and sway bars.

I like the PCM kit. Simple and functional and creates much more room in the engine bay.

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[New2chevy]

Still waiting for parts. I will pick up with the suspension swap, as soon as I get the darn parts.

Got my Spintech muffler today, and I finally relocated my alternator.

I gotta say, that Spintech muffler is frickin' solid as a rock, and I love the polished stainless steel. Well worth the extra $$ for the polishing :)
And I don't know why people say Spintechs don't flow worth a darn because I looked through that muffler and saw the opening on the other side, through all the "Spintech" technology swirls welded in there. Remember, it's not all about volume of flow, it's also about proper scavenging and exhaust velocity. Plus, Spintechs sound sweet.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/spintech_zpsc56c2734.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/spintech_zpsc56c2734.jpg.html)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/spintech2_zps45dccc98.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/spintech2_zps45dccc98.jpg.html)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Alternator_zpsbce492d3.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Alternator_zpsbce492d3.jpg.html)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Alternator2_zpsd3347555.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Alternator2_zpsd3347555.jpg.html)

[New2chevy]

My Rack Doctor rack and pinion finally shipped out yesterday!!

Been on hold for the suspension reassembly, but I tore out my HVAC box last Saturday. That SUCKED.

[New2chevy]

Strano sway bars shipped out today

[New2chevy]

I've been working on my AC delete (while keeping heater/blower fan function). What a PITA this has been :(

Anyway, I finally started putting the front shocks in today.

For those who are wondering about this, the shock can be turned, so it lines up with the holes in the lower control arm, AFTER it's bolted to the tower brace. It takes a little "oomph" but it's totally doable.


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[New2chevy]

Got my Rack Doctor manual rack installed today.

All I have to do is install the lower control arms and the steering knuckles/spindles and the rod ends and then the sway bar.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/ManualRack_zps9988eb9c.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/ManualRack_zps9988eb9c.jpg.html)

[New2chevy]

Made some progress today:

I learned something, as well. I should have installed the control arms BEFORE installing the coilovers. I had to pry the control arm toward the firewall, in order to line up the vertical hole on the vertical bushing.

The forward bushing had about a 1/4" gap between it and the shell edge, and it was too hard to push it back by hand. It was a PITA. Thankfully, I have a big *** construction bar, and it came in handy today. I quit working on my car, after the tornado siren went off.

I forgot how creepy that siren sounds.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Frontshocks12_zps9bac8fe4.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Frontshocks12_zps9bac8fe4.jpg.html)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Frontshocks11_zpsc0d9971e.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Frontshocks11_zpsc0d9971e.jpg.html)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/FRontshocks10_zps38ead2a3.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/FRontshocks10_zps38ead2a3.jpg.html)

[KenyanR1]

Man, nice work ! Any updates?

[New2chevy]

Man, nice work ! Any updates?

Hey thanks.

I got the rear suspension done and the front, too, except for the front sway bars. I'll install them after I get the engine and tranny back in.

My favorite experience, thus far, was pulling the oil pan. The previous owner did not lie when he told me that it is a 4-bolt main block. :)

I have a crap load of stuff to do. Brakes, tranny cooler, new radiator, 3600 stall converter, install new fuel pump and harness, install HVAC box and dash, all interior plastics, finish battery relocation, new brake lines, SJM ABS delete kit, find pushrod length and finish clearancing all my rocker arms, since the sides of the tips of them are contacting the valve spring retainer dish edges.

The list goes on and on.

Here's my engine plus my finished rear plus a few pics of a rocker arm, which is one of THREE that I have finished carefully clearancing. Only 13 to go :(

Was about to check push rod length and noticed the rocker arm tip sides hitting the retainer. Shoot.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/CamSwap45_zpse05d0497.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/CamSwap45_zpse05d0497.jpg.html)

Cloyes true roller timing set installed. Changed the water pump gear, too (timing set came with it).

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/CamSwap29_zps3416b66f.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/CamSwap29_zps3416b66f.jpg.html)

Rear suspension finally done and torqued to perfection.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/rear22_zps6f2855c3.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/rear22_zps6f2855c3.jpg.html)

Passenger side.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Rear19_zpsa1e65b99.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Rear19_zpsa1e65b99.jpg.html)

Driver side.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/rear21_zps797ed75f.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/rear21_zps797ed75f.jpg.html)

Used a file to clearance the rocker arm. Good times.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Rockerarm2_zps5901ba1e.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Rockerarm2_zps5901ba1e.jpg.html)

Turned out pretty nicely, and the sides no longer touches the valve spring retainer.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/rockerarm3_zps3282fc26.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/rockerarm3_zps3282fc26.jpg.html)

Oh, and I got my ignition wire looms engraved, to match my TB plate. Frickin' they turned out AWESOME!!

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/BirdLooms_zpsf99d7820.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/BirdLooms_zpsf99d7820.jpg.html)

[Epro]

Nice build :)

[New2chevy]

Thanks Epro. Just got my pan, front cover, opti, and crank hub on. I THINK I got the hub on all the way. I used the threaded rod method.



http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/WPSSeal6_zps87604d8c.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/WPSSeal6_zps87604d8c.jpg.html)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/WPSSeal8_zps12159b58.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/WPSSeal8_zps12159b58.jpg.html)

Does this look like it's on all the way? Also, there is just around 1/4" gap between the back of the pulley and the optispark. Any feedback from folks would be appreciated.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/HubInstall_zps9e8b6a59.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/HubInstall_zps9e8b6a59.jpg.html)

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/HubInstall2_zps0ce9c720.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/HubInstall2_zps0ce9c720.jpg.html)

[jlo]

Nice..Like the whole set up and the pics.

[New2chevy]

Thanks jlo

[New2chevy]

This thread sort of swept into my engine build. I should have titled this thread "95 Formula Makeover." My makeover thread is on LS1LT1.com

Determining pushrod length.

I made a solid lifter out of an extra hydraulic lifter. Even with a test spring, the lifter was still collapsing some, even after priming the oil system. I used packing material that I use at work, to make valve handles tighter. Worked like a charm!

I took the lifter apart and bent up the retainer quite a bit taking it out, using a small pick. It didn't matter because the retainer straightened out again after pushing it back in with a socket. By the time the retainer seated properly, the guts of the lifter were pushed in really really tightly.

I finally was able to order my pushrods.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/78dd39f7-9acc-4104-9271-d91c4c754cd2_zps276ac791.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/78dd39f7-9acc-4104-9271-d91c4c754cd2_zps276ac791.jpg.html)

I discarded the spring before assembling the lifter.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/pushrods3_zpse246a225.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/pushrods3_zpse246a225.jpg.html)

The retainer was not quite seated all the way here. With some serious pushing using a socket, the retainer snapped down all the way and also straightened out almost perfectly. The important thing is that the plunger was at the correct height and was SOLID.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f363/t3turbo/Firebird/pushrods_zps7b5134e0.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/t3turbo/media/Firebird/pushrods_zps7b5134e0.jpg.html)

[97Z4CZ28]

New2chevy I really like what you are doing with your ride! I have been redoing many many things over the last year and a half on my 97 Z, and will be done by spring. As anyone knows time, money, work, family, and life are the factors that slow progress down...I tell my Wife I am slow but sure lol! A lot of folks that have never went into anything to this extent have no clue, and most never will, about what is involved, but that end result is well worth it in the the end. Enjoying this whole thread and have subscribed to keep up with your progress. I absolutely love stuff like this, not just because I am doing basically the same in many aspects that you are but this is what it is about many times beyond just washing and waxing and looking pretty. Good Job!

[SSlowBoat]

Nice ride, nice work, very informative thread.

One question plagues me, and im not sure if you said it or not, but why are you keepin abs if youre deleting everything else? You are already there set up to have a badass handling car, why not go a little further and delete it?

Also, keep an eye on the poly caster bushings, they have been known to crack quite quickly with street miles

[95albinobird]

I made some more progress with the rear end swap today. Took 40 minutes, which is all the time I had. I still have to tighten the shock nuts and LCA bolts, but I got the U-Joint tightened on the pinion yolk, at least. I just have to put the panhard bar in and fasten the brake lines and ABS harness onto the axle tubes then put the calipers and sway bar back on. Oh, and I have to fasten the torque arm to the diff housing and fasten the e-brake brackets back onto the two TA cover bolts, just like on the stock cover.

I was kinda bummed because one of the u-joint bolts threaded in fine by hand, at first, then it was frickin' HARD ratcheting in there, but I got it in tight (VERY TIGHT). Now I have an LS1 driveshaft, which I hear is a pretty worthwhile mod.

I am going to center the rear using my adjustable Founders panhard bar. I'll hang a bob from a string at the fenderwells and measure the distance of each tire from each fenderwell using a ruler, to center the rear.

There she is...home where she belongs. A helpful tip for the torque arm is to use some rope (left side of picture) to tie it off to the side, rather than undoing the whole thing from the transmission too, then it will be out of the way when removing and re-installing the rear.

17870

Driver's side shock. LCA connected to Founders relocation bracket. The Founders LCA ends fit perfectly into the new relocation brackets. Hooray!! Those darn bump stops were $100.00 for a pair (original GM bump stops). I saw them cheaper somewhere, recently, but I can't remember where.

17871

Passenger's side. I'm going to weld the top parts of the Founders brackets to the stock LCA mounts, on each side, just for added peace of mind.

17872

It was fun balancing the rear on it's center and rolling it in from the side, through all the brake lines and e-brake lines and stuff--car wasn't high enough for it to clear the exhaust piping in the back.

17873

Shot from the driver's side. Once the shock mounting bolts are in the lower brackets and the nuts are on them, and the u-joint is connected to the pinion yolk, the rear is in there pretty good, and the jack only does a little work. I still have to stick the springs up in there, which won't be hard, once I let the jack down a few inches. It's tough for me to put the springs in there at the same time as putting the rear in.

17874

I'll keep updating on my progress guys! Can't wait to see how the new shocks and springs feel, as well as the 3.73's!!

never understood why gm skimped on painting the rear

[New2chevy]

Thanks guys for your positive comments!

I've been out of the game for a number of months. I started doing the Racetronix fuel pump/harness swap today.

I got the bucket apart and will work from there.

Realistically, I hope to get the car on the road by summer.

[New2chevy]

Guys I finally got my car back on the ground and ready to drive and tune. My TPS plug wires were bad, and my voltage and % readings were totally messed up or stayed stuck at .04v and 23%. Not good.

I actually checked for a hole in my gas tank after driving it like this for 15 minutes. Wow how it drank the gasoline.

I'll post pics and stuff here and on my other thread(s).



Thanks guys for your positive comments!

I've been out of the game for a number of months. I started doing the Racetronix fuel pump/harness swap today.

I got the bucket apart and will work from there.

Realistically, I hope to get the car on the road by summer.

[Not Dave]

Just found this thread yesterday, it's been informative. Thanks for documenting what you've done. I'm looking at going the Strano/Bilstein way also in the near future. Not going as drastic with all the other upgrades you've done. One great thing about my car living its entire life in Texas is there isn't much rust or corrosion after 18 years.