progress on the Camaro and Trans Am builds

[ZTwentyAteU]

Started late this afternoon and just came in from the shop. Pulled the Trans am in, yanked the engine and tranny, and assembled the shortblock for the Trans Am. I have lots of wiring to fix on the TA, and it needs a clutch. It wasnt slipping, but its worn down to the rivets almost. It sucks because it is a 6 puck clutch, and i'm not gonna drop the $ for another one. Looks like a ls7 clutch and LS2 flywheel are my next order. Also, the headers look like **** so i'm having them recoated.

http://dixieautobrokers.com/e2.jpg
http://dixieautobrokers.com/e1.jpg

[Disney Lincoln]

You sir, are livin the dream.

[Sean]

You sir, are livin the dream.

Amen brotha...amen.

[gimpydude]

Did you and your dad install the rods and pistons last night?

[suicideblonde]

MmmmmMmmm GM mmmMmmm

[red1999z28]

<---garage envy!

[turbolover02]

:werd:

[sigurd]

http://dixieautobrokers.com/e1.jpg

damn dude is that blood or assembly lube that fell down on the engine stand :stare2:

[Bob-E]

He's so hardcore, he uses blood AS assembly lube

[matchstick]

That clutch in the TA cost like $200. Ask Michael. He had it built in Nashville.

[QuickSilverZ]

Awesome project. Especially doing it on jackstands. What are your plans for the engine? Forged pistons, rods, etc. I just dropped my new engine in the Vette last weekend. Hope to get it finished and fire it up this weekend. It'll be good to finally get it running again.

BTW if you plan on drag racing, I would stay away from the LS7 clutch. A lot of people have had problems with it sticking to the floor from hard launches. The PP design is just not up to the abuse of drag racing. Save your money for a good aftermarket clutch. I am running a Tex 0Z700. I have my old Exedy twin I'll sell you cheap. It held good up to 500 rwhp, then started to slip at the track.

[Tim99ws6]

Just get a Ram HD and forget about it.

[ZTwentyAteU]

THats good old assembly lube...there may be blood mixed it though, haha. I had dad man the ring compressor and i grabbed the rods, since i'm using ARP Bolts instead of studs, didnt want the rod coming in contact with the cylinder wall.
The engine is just a stock bore, stock rod, stock piston with ARP fasteners. Only mods internally are the cam (228/230 579/581 114+4)and ported oil pump. I'm going for a nice driver with the trans am. It will rarely see the track. I couldnt afford to do anything else anyways..machine work was over a grand, had to be line bored, honed, cleaned up, crank turned, heads done, etc. It should still run 7.50s if I want to go the the track, thats what it would run all day in the camaro with the same cam.

As far as clutch, I have to have a flywheel and disc no matter what, but I think a 6 puck is overkill on a cam only application. I may go to tennessee clutch and pick up another less aggressive unit. thanks for the heads up on the ls7, I hear mixed opinions on it. I just like it because its a factory clutch.

[ZTwentyAteU]

just for fun, check out what it looks like under the windage tray on the motor I blew up
http://dixieautobrokers.com/fdr.jpg

[MikeW]

Ouch that look sugly (the pic above)...

Glad to see the new setup is going nicely :cheers:

[Sean]

BTW, have I ever said i hate you? Cause I do.

[ZTwentyAteU]

BTW, have I ever said i hate you? Cause I do.

don't hate!

I got almost everything ready to go back together, cleaning up the 6.0 tomm and mounting everything up. My new ls1 is completely assembled and is ready to go in after I pick up my new clutch, PP and turned flywheel.
If yall are looking for a clutch, go to tennessee clutch and supply, its my new favorite place..they are still very much old school in there. He said my disc was still ok, but I had it rebuilt for 30, got the flywheel turned for 20, and pressure plate re-done for 30. cheeeeeep. especially for a 6 puck clutch. They had it all ready before 3:30 today, but I just wanted to wait. I'm going ahead and picking up a new slave/throw out bearing, and pilot while i'm at it. Then its all downhill from there. Everything should be running by saturday

[matchstick]

Those clutches grab like a mo fo and are great for drag racing. They are a bit of a pain to drive everyday though cause they have tons of chatter. What's your combo for the Camaro? Nitrous?

[Coupe Devil]

Is that like the Vendicator cam? My buddies car here is running a smaller cam with ported / shaved 6.0 heads (compression about 11:1) Fast 90/90 intake T/B, Yank 4000, Built 4L60E and he is dipping into the 7.40's and can cruise the car all day long.

[ZTwentyAteU]

Is that like the Vendicator cam? My buddies car here is running a smaller cam with ported / shaved 6.0 heads (compression about 11:1) Fast 90/90 intake T/B, Yank 4000, Built 4L60E and he is dipping into the 7.40's and can cruise the car all day long.

honestly, I don't know how big the vindicator cam is. Mine is a custom grind comp that somebody else put together to spray nitrous on, but I went 7.40s w/ it in the camaro, no nitrous, but its twice as small as the cam I was running everyday in the 6.0, so i'm sure its fine for a street car.

The clutch is a pain to cruise in sometimes, but the good ol extra rev when taking off takes care of it.

I don't really have a set plan for the camaro right now, except see what it goes and then maybe try something. pops hates nitrous, so if it ain't fast enough, its time for boost?

[ZTwentyAteU]

Got the engine/tranny in the camaro tonight, started at about 8, put the engine and tranny on the cradle, got everything in and all wires hooked up, and quit at about 1230. fun times. TA engine is fully assembled and will go in asap, while i'm waiting on the ABS delete for the camaro. Next weekend to race? hopefully
is that one them vette motors ?..
http://dixieautobrokers.com/motor1.jpg

where doin them thangs go man?
http://dixieautobrokers.com/motor3.jpg

its in!
http://dixieautobrokers.com/motor2.jpg

[ReefBlueCoupe]

How many beers did tonight's work require?

[SWIFT]

Great progress! Looks like alot of fun!

[kholt89gt]

carnage ....

[Slovette]

looks like you really Know your Shiot!! good work

[ZTwentyAteU]

How many beers did tonight's work require?

2 for me, I didn't have time to drink beer, I wanted to get the motor in and I didn't stop for anything! I had to re-do a few wires on the harness so it seemed like I was never gonna finish. Plus I got another car right next to it with no drivetrain too, so its motivation time

[ZTwentyAteU]

no one said anything bout the chevrolet orange block...i'm gona tell people its "just an old truck motor"

[ZTwentyAteU]

Its alive! I shot a crappy video w/ my phone but you get the idea. I tried to rev it up but its distorted. I've definately got some tuning to do, it will idle fine but if you rev it up it won't recover and will die. You also have to give it throttle upon startup to get it to run, just turning the key it immediately dies
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=40073697

[StatixNWH]

super sick James hahaha, I wanna ride in it if I see you anytime soon, I might head down there sometime to check it out.

[ReefBlueCoupe]

Kick ass James.. I'll stop by one night this week.

[Woody]

I love the orange block! awesome :cool:

[AllstokHonda]

Man james.. You're gettin done! We really needa meet up sometime so I can get you your sander and stuff back. lol.. it's only been like half a year maybe.. lol.. Plus, I needa let you do some tweakin on my LS2.. see if we can get it runnin good. hollar at me sometime when you're free. later buddy..


-Chad-

[ZTwentyAteU]

well I got all excited and ready to go flog the car at the hill tonight, and while doing my checks, I noticed that when in gear, the rearend did absolutely nothing...so after checking every connector, converter bolts, fluid, etc, I got mad and yanked the trans out. Took 20minutes to pull, i'm gettin good at this, lol. Once the converter was removed I figured out the ears on the pump were broken. Weaksause. The converter was fully seated on the pump during installation, after several checks, so I know it didnt get installed wrong. So I guess It broke during the whole 6800-0 lockup that happened when I blew it up. Stupid me never thought to check the transmission. So now i'm back at square one, and the TA is still not even close to being together. ^$@##%R$%$*&^
http://dixieautobrokers.com/trans.jpg

[Coupe Devil]

What kind of convertor is it? A 6800-0 lockup isn ever good and I figure you would be hard pressed not to break any convertor during that incident. I have a buddy who has a Yank convertor in his SS. Stock LS1 with heads, cam, fast 90,90..He is running a built 4L60E. Nice convertor. Expensive but nice.

[50stangpi]

Sorry to hear about that. Good luck getting it all back together again!

[FORGED346]

What kind of convertor is it?

pink = Vigilante

[2burnouts]

nice quick work u do

[ReefBlueCoupe]

Well goddammit.

[ZTwentyAteU]

pink = Vigilante


yep vig 3600 or whatever. I'm having the trans looked at tomm. and the converter

Oh well, the TA is almost back together now! Last night I spent a few hours on it. i hope to take it to the hill Tuesday. Its possible

[ZTwentyAteU]

took the camaro to BB. It weighed 3378 on the scales w/ a half tank of fuel. It ran like garbage though. It overheated about 6 times. My golf cart launches harder. Fastest I could go was 11.63@116, 7.41@94. 1.65 60ft. It went faster or just as fast w/ the other motor. getting a 4500stall this week, the cam is too big for the vig, which only lets me stall to 26-2700. Then its more wasted tune passes and maybe I can get it to run 10.90s

I had to buy some parts for the TA and i'ma finish it up tommorrow hopefully. Last time I started it it was running on about 3 cylinders because of a bad crank position sensor

[ZTwentyAteU]

well I guess the wires leading to the crank position censor are broken in the harness or something, it runs on 4 cylinders- 4, 6, 1, and 7 don't fire at all. F, and its all put together now.

[ReefBlueCoupe]

Cars are a constant ****ing.

[BIGOLECHET]

I've gotta say, after looking at all your pictures. It's amazing how clean your garage stays, with all the engine and transmission pulling going on!!! I'm usually rolling around in tranny fluid and oil/grease and kitty litter during any drivetrain swaps. Not to mention the hundreds of mis-placed sockets, wrenches, air tools, spit cups, and beer cans scattered about on the ground. I'm impressed! :up::lol:

[Keiths2KGT]

I've gotta say, after looking at all your pictures. It's amazing how clean your garage stays, with all the engine and transmission pulling going on!!! I'm usually rolling around in tranny fluid and oil/grease and kitty litter during any drivetrain swaps. Not to mention the hundreds of mis-placed sockets, wrenches, air tools, spit cups, and beer cans scattered about on the ground. I'm impressed! :up::lol:

:lol: so f'in true!!

[ZTwentyAteU]

I've gotta say, after looking at all your pictures. It's amazing how clean your garage stays, with all the engine and transmission pulling going on!!! I'm usually rolling around in tranny fluid and oil/grease and kitty litter during any drivetrain swaps. Not to mention the hundreds of mis-placed sockets, wrenches, air tools, spit cups, and beer cans scattered about on the ground. I'm impressed! :up::lol:.


ohhh trust me, I roll around in it too, but pops comes out and cleans it up while i'm trying to work. I'm not scared to pull a tranny while the floor is covered in atf and get it in my hair and clothes and knock over spit bottles and scatter tools.
I've gotten better though, I drain as much as I can, and at least gather up my tools around the jackstands. I still can't even change oil without making a huge mess and rolling around in it.

[danhr03]

messy mechanics.... tsk tsk.

I'd get ratchets thrown at me for letting a garage get that dirty.

Good to hear that you got your problem fixed.

[SWIFT]

I have **** laying everywhere anytime I work on my cars. I normally have to clean the garage the day after its done so I can back the car up and find half the sockets that I kicked under it. Beer bottles, sockets, wrenches, oil, zip ties, and rags every damn where. Hell one time it took me 2 days just to find the keys to the car:lol:

[ReefBlueCoupe]

I go ape**** when I can't find tools I know I have. I keep stuff fairly organized when I'm working on something. I usually have rows of tools organized by size or at the very least category/ratchet drive size on my workbench and folding table. Every night when I'm done I'll do a quick cleanup and at least get all the tools up off the floor, clean up any fluids that spilled.

Usually you can walk in my garage barefooted and not have to worry about fluids/metal shavings.

[Tim99ws6]

I go ape**** when I can't find tools I know I have. I keep stuff fairly organized when I'm working on something. I usually have rows of tools organized by size or at the very least category/ratchet drive size on my workbench and folding table. Every night when I'm done I'll do a quick cleanup and at least get all the tools up off the floor, clean up any fluids that spilled.

Usually you can walk in my garage barefooted and not have to worry about fluids/metal shavings.

I am with this guy. Unless my Dobe has ripped something to pieces while i wasn't looking, my garage tends to stay pretty clean while i am working on the car. It makes things SO much less stressful if you have the right tool in the right place. :)