Project funnyz

[englundjd]

alright I'll give a little backround of my car before I get started...

I bought the car when I was 16 just starting my junior year in highschool. I bought it from a college girl, she said that before her a highschool boy owned it. Despite the obvious record of the car it ran and drove pretty well and was completely stock with the exception of an ebay CAI. The body of the car has seen better days, its got a hail dented hood and little hail dents in various other areas. The exterior mirrors were shattered when I bought it and it needed tires BAD. I got the car home and spent some bonding time with it. I had new glass put in the mirrors and got new tires all around before I started driving it.

Fast Forward 3 Months: ignition failure, had a coil that gave out when the car got hot and had a couple plug wires that were bad. Me being the young buck that I was and not having any family support as far as someone to teach me or show me where to start, I took it to a mechanic who replaced the wires and spark plugs but did not catch the failing coil. I got it back and took it for a drive and was pleased till the car warmed up... and it ran like crap again. I took it back and he got it figured out finally and the car ran great.

Fast Forward another month: The bearing in the opti started making noise. I continued to drive it till I was cut short by a head gasket problem... I parked the car and it sat...

Finally at the end of my senior year I started getting the itch to fix it. $7000 dollars and 3 to 4 months of waiting later my car rolled out of Dannull Engine Service under its own power. Getting it out of that place was a disaster; After it was there a month someone backed into it and caved in the passenger rear quarter panel, broke out the tail light and did a number on the passenger rear bumper. There insurance covered it and it was repaired but the tail light doesnt line up quite right there anymore. :frustrated:

What Dannull's did to the car:

Bored the block .030
speed pro hyper pistons
stock resized rods
polished stock crank
new bearing everywhere
new freeze plugs
Comp 304 cam
summit self aligning 1.5 ratio roller rockers
hardened pushrods
ls7 lifters
Alex parts spring package
oem timing chain
new GM opti
electric water pump
BBK shorty headers w/ 3" Y-pipe (I HATE these headers with a passion)
10.5:1 compression

Shortly after I got the engine good and broke in maybe about 2000 miles after the rebuild my transmission started slipping... I just kept driving it as it only slipped when i was leaning on the gas. About the time the trans started slipping I installed a cutout and deleted the cat' converter

Then about 10000 miles after the build the dampners on the valve springs started to chew up the valve seals and the engine started using oil. not bad but it used enough. < still not sure how that happened :doh:

Right after that I had the trans rebuilt. The guy who rebuilt it used the monster in a box rebuild kit, and i coupled it with a Yank ss 3600 stall. I also had a set of motive 3:73 gears put in the rear end at that time.

Then right after the trans and rear was finished up I ordered a new set of springs and valve seals from alex parts, the new ones they sent didn't have the dampners in them.

Then one night i was messing with an 05-06 silver GTO and managed to ruin a couple rockers (to much rpm on SA rockers)... not sure where the pics are from that...
but anyways i just swapped the stock rockers back on and went back at it. So far so good.

So that brings people up to speed on my fun experiences with this car... I think I have all the bugs worked out lol.

now for the new stuff...

LC-1 wide band
LPP long tubes
A/C delete w/ alternater relocation
1.6 ratio scorpion NSA roller rockers
guide plates
arp rocker studs < looking for a sponsor to hook me up with a set
Lunati Dual spring kit
LE .231/.239 cam
arp head bolts < looking for a sponsor to hook me up with a set
.026 head gaskets
58mm nitrous works plate kit good for up to a 175 shot
10 spoke ss rims
Nitto tires all around

So far I have all the gaskets needed, guide plates, scorpion rockers, and 10 spokes. I'm currently waiting on delivery of the cam and springs.

As for the nitrous i still need a nitrous outlet switch panel, guages, bottle heater, ignition box, maybe a new bottle(?) the bottle i have has a dent in it :shiner:










26808268092681026811

its an ugly duckling lol

there might be something to do about a boosted 383 in the coming months... shhhhhh!

[englundjd]

I got after it this afternoon and managed to get the top end pretty close to apart. I also got the crank pulley and fans off..

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This is what I started from, she is a dirty girl. I had to blow all the dirt off the engine before i started.

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This is about as far as I got before i called it a night, I've got the rockers off and pushrods out.

some other random pictures i managed to take:
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These wires go to the a/c compressor, is this stock or is this something someone else has done?

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The thing with the red and blue connector in it is part of the evap system correct?
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[englundjd]

27630

well after pulling the head off over the weekend I found a little carnage, the heads still looked good but this short block has got to come out. The pistons dont look good enough to push nitrous onto them.
I have found a stock long block and I am contemplating my options as far as what to do... will keep anyone watching posted

[dawdaw]

looks good... keep us posted boss!

[shownomercy]

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad86/lts1ow/DSC03069.jpg

Lasted a few passes on a heavy pill before I got it, made a nice scour down the bore too. If you caught it now, you will kick yourself a ton if you reassemble without taking care of it.

[englundjd]

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad86/lts1ow/DSC03069.jpg

Lasted a few passes on a heavy pill before I got it, made a nice scour down the bore too. If you caught it now, you will kick yourself a ton if you reassemble without taking care of it.

niceeeeee lol yea I'm going to pull the engine and rebuild it with a nice set of rods and pistons, but I found a stock block that's hopefully in good shape that i'm going to use for now. I hope it holds up for the summer, or longer

[englundjd]

alright so the guy that i was talking to about the long block hasn't texted me back for quite a while so I'm not sure he still has it which is kind of disappointing... I'll be posting up in the for sale thread that I'm looking for an engine.

[englundjd]

got headers ordered today after a long wait and doing a lot of nothing!

[englundjd]

Yesterday we finally made a little more headway. The project has taken way longer then I intended; between my girlfriend moving in and me working a lot of Saturdays its been real slow going. I should also mention that I enlisted a beer drinking mechanic friend to help me when we have time... :cheers:

29178

finally got the other head pulled and the heads are at the machine shop.

also a few build changes. I decided to get rid of the .026 gaskets and just get felpro's. The mr. gaskets were fairly expensive and the gasket material stuck to the packaging which made them worthless... I will just get the heads milled to make up the difference.

my car needs a freakin bath... wow

[englundjd]

got the heads back from the machine shop, They said they could only take .010 off which isnt enough to bump my compression much at all... any ideas? Also I got ahold of the shop that built it... said the pistons were a mismatched set which is why the one had that chunk missing... i cleaned up that piston and it looked ok.

[MoeHorsePower]

Using that piston with Nitrous is a recipe for diaster..

[englundjd]

that indention is from the factory, some companies do that. How is it a disaster?

[englundjd]

MoeHorsePower I am really curious as to how thats a bad idea, I am no piston genius but I'm also not spraying a 250 shot...

On another note I didn't hit my personal goal to have the car back together for the biggest local cruise night. We werent even close lol... O well. I am going to go ahead and put forged rods and pistons in the engine, as well as add a tubular K member into the mix.

1. What do you guys think about Spohn k member?
2. I'm looking at scat rods, should I go I-beam or H-beam? What wrist pin style?
3. The bores on the block still look good, should I just get .030 pistons or should I have it bored out another .01 and get .040 pistons?
4. Forged pistons obviously, but what material should I use?

looking for suggestions guys, thanks!

[firebird_1995]

There is reason for concern on the piston for a few reasons. First, any sharp edge in a combustion area surface will create a hot spot that may cause predetonation.
The chunk missing is on the ring land surface which is already weak enough without additional material missing.
And lastly, while you may not see it, there are most like stress fractures originating from the pit. Thermal expansion, especially under the higher cylinder pressures when used with nitrous, could cause the pinion to continue to crack and fall to pieces. I know the knick that you're talking about that comes from the factory but what I'm seeing in the pic is that a some more has come loose at some point.

To answer your questions,
Scat h beams all day. Get the 7/16" arp2000 bolts and you're good to 1000 hp.
Pistons, as long as the bores are not out of round and clean up with the proper finish required for whatever rings you use and are still under .030, go for it. The low expansion 2618 alloy pistons are nice but pricey. Most run 4032 without issues

[englundjd]

thank you sir, that was very informational! and also thank you for the suggestions on parts. I'll probably get the H-beams as they aren't much more then the I-beams. As far as pistons I'll probably run the 4032 alloy. When I go boosted down the road I'll probably be swapping pistons anyways.

[englundjd]

Will these rods and pistons work together?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wis-pts506a3/overview/make/chevrolet
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sca-6570021a

[MoeHorsePower]

As said, edges will create hot spots, and the piston could have stress cracks and that would be a disaster if it let go at wot..

[englundjd]

rods: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sca-6570021a
pistons: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wis-pts503a3/overview/make/chevrolet
rings: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/wis-w100f8-40305/overview/

I hope to have these three things bought within the next few weeks... hopefully I'll be ready to assemble by the time I get these parts!

[englundjd]

Anyone want to donate money to the cause? :D

[englundjd]

I've decided that I want to turbo this car instead of going with nitrous. I have decided this for a few reasons, the biggest one being the lack of filling stations in my area, and another notable reason; I've always wanted a boosted car.

With this being said the camaro project will most likely stay on the back burner for a while as I get the firebird running and driving. Once that is done I'll get a set of turbo headers and go from there. I will most likely run twins on a 383cu lt1 with a 4l80e behind it (hoping I can control it with the lt pcm somehow)

[englundjd]

Bump for the turbo idea, been talkin to Jon @ lt1boost about a turbo hotside. looks like things are moving forward in that aspect. We have come to an agreement on a hotside he has sitting around thats made for a single 88mm.

[Ryan Stout]

He's still around?!

[95albinobird]

now that's dedication.....i love my foamy but b4 i put 7000 in the motor i would look for a a different car.
prolly a LS car :yikes:.

[popo8]

now that's dedication.....i love my foamy but b4 i put 7000 in the motor i would look for a a different car.
prolly a LS car :yikes:.
Lol... really. 7k into a motor (esp a boost build) isnt hard. Hell my heads were 2500... shaft mounted rockers 1200... etc etc etc.

[95albinobird]

Lol... really. 7k into a motor (esp a boost build) isnt hard. Hell my heads were 2500... shaft mounted rockers 1200... etc etc etc.
I heard that.
and ya know you can't put a price in sentimental value. i read his post,he had that car through high school.
i wish i still had my high school car! a 68 impala fastback it had a 300 horse 327/powerglide.
i would pay big $$$ to have it back.the actual car not 1 like it. mine was mint green.
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[englundjd]

yea i've seen my fair share of ups and downs with this car, and its something i've always wanted to do with this car. I am looking at Ellwein Engines for a short block and I will probably have Lloyd Elliot work up a set of Trickflow heads and a cam for me.