Samwise 155 Report post Posted December 12, 2021 Mega reply incoming... (excuse the inconsistancy at times, mostly copy and pasted from elsewhere ) ========================================== Another small update from last weekend. Got the new Cam, Timing gear bits, Headgaskets & Refurbed heads back on the LS which was good fun. Took a few hours doing it together with my dad and everything went in smoothly. First off was the Cam which for anyone wondering (And not wanting to scroll back through the posts) is a Texas Speed LS3 Stage 3 cam: https://www.texas-speed.com/p-5762-tsp-stage-3-ls3... This went in nicely with a new timing gear, timing chain & Chain LS2 Chain guide. The original Setup in the L92 was VVT so a big single-bolt setup with a tensioner, etc. Chucked all that away! (not really, might make a lamp out of the old cam) for a good old 3-bolt non-vvt setup. I believe there are now some pretty good ECU configs and info out there for VVT setups but half the reason for wanting to go LS was for some nicely grumbly noises so non-vvt was the way to go for that! The next step on this end of things will be to install the new GM high performance oil pump but before that i'm going to open it up and pack it out with vaseline as a way of keeping it lubricated as well as helping it to build Oil presure when the time comes to start the engine as it will most likely sit for a good 6-12 months after i'm finished putting it together before it ever gets started up. After that the new Headgaskets went on, again just using all OEM quality GM/ACdelco parts for this followed by the refurbed heads and the ARP head studs. ARP's head studs are most definitely overkill in this application but ohwell! Next up will be the aformentioned oil pump bits. I also need to then take the engine off the stand to get the new aluminium oil barbell in and rear-cover on. Front cover will need to go on and then i'll also chuck on the old Oil pan (Rear sump, no good for my application), Valley cover and rocker covers (very mashed, going to replace) to just close it all up and chuck the inlet manifold on to keep it all together, so stay tuned for those pictures! ================================== Another small but exciting update, the engine is now technically "Finsihed" Popped round recently to install the last couple of pieces and close up the engine which is how it will mostly likely sit now over the winter. The bottom and top end parts of the engine build can be watched here on my little youtube vids for anyone interested: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk19Yu4ThvZ_GKqFP... but in these final steps I had to get the engine off the stand to install the new aluminium Oil barbell (had heard it's a nice cheap safety step rather than relying on the old plastic ones to hold up) as well as get the new rear cover on with the real main seal already installed. After that I packed out the Oil pump with vaseline to give it a helping hand when it finally times come to start it up, i'll probably end up priming it with oil as well before then anyway but it was a fairly easy thing to do so why not, finally it was a case of chucking on the final piece of the puzzle for deleting the VVT, the new LS3 timing cover and Cam sensor! And then I just threw on the old valley cover and wonky rocker covers that I painted to tart up a little but i'm most definitely going to replace them with some new OEM or aftermarket items perhaps and then I threw on the intake manifold to close up the intake ports and "complete" the look. The next things to go on will be the front pulley and accessory drive once I buy the latter but i'm in no rush to do that yet. Such a difference from start to finish! Before - Core L92 After - Rebuilt with no VVT, basically an LS3 with 0.5 less compression From here i'll soon turn my attention back to the GT86 itself to start disassembling and removing the OEM Boxer engine and Gearbox, tidy and tart up the engine bay and eventually get the LS mated up to a brand new T56 and at home in there, things are going to slow down a bit now though as it'll require a fair chunk of change for the gearbox and other bits of kit. I'll likely sell on the FA20 that comes out sooner rather than later as they often go on the market in the region of £2-3k =================================================== Expect some fun new updates after this weekend! Gearing up to take apart the front end of the car and lift out the FA20 and gearbox from the engine bay. Apparently quite an easy thing to achieve as the vast majority of wiring stays on the engine itself with nice clean breaks. Here's the last look of the car in one piece today! Oh and I just received the Engine swap kit from Sikky manufacturing today! Very excited as this should cover 90% of the headscratching and guessing that comes with an engine swap. Definitely not any form of ad for them (I wish!) but included is: Engine mounts Gearbox Mounts (For T56 Magnum) Front Oil pan to clear subframe/steering rack /w Oil pickup tube etc Oil filter relocation kit Brake line replacements to relocate them slightly 1 7/8" Exhaust headers And the Drive/Propshaft to bolt it up to the OEM rear diff. One of three hurdles for the engine swap cleared, the next two being the purchase of the gearbox itself and the management/ECU solution but first i'll get the old engine out, tidy up the engine bay (probably have it painted) and start test fitting. ========================================================= So it's a bit tricky to drive my car currently, and the reason for that is well... This weekend the engine somewhat fell out.. or atleast I wish it were that easy! Spent Saturday and Sunday with a bit of help getting all of the body panels off, headlights, radiator, core support & crash structure out, fluids out, Prop/driveshaft & exhaust out and finally the engine & gearbox - quite alot! I've not seen the car in this state for a few years now! Generally a very easy engine to pull out, there's a few fuel lines, coolant hoses, heater pipes etc, 2 big connectors for the entire wiring harness and then just alternator/starter wires to pull off and thats it! A bit of drama getting the centre console out so we could disconnect the gear lever and then we totatlly forgot to take it out anyway once we were done so it anded up tearing up a chunk of the heat insulation on the inside of the tunnel.. ohwell i'll probably tear that out and line it with some fancy gold tape or such in its place. All in all a good fun couple of days of work on the car! Kind of left wondering what to do next, I really really want to get the engine bay tidied up and painted but at the same time.. it looks like alot of effort getting it all cleared out with the brake/fuel lines, wiring, fuse box, etc to get to that point, but i do have the whole winter to mull it over really. Need to start getting a few things sold now like the engine/gearbox and a few extras to get a bit of money together for the next big purchases. Finally with all the new bits from Sikky arriving we couldn't help but open them up and get the LS dressed up with its fancy new headers. For some reason the view of it from the rear gets me all kinds of excited! Think it really needs some wrinkle black rocker covers now to finish it off! 2 MartinT and Hypnosis reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
