Project Jevy - A sequence of events

[John D]

Hmmm, think that's going to be okay? The temp in that location under my hood is VERY high. If I did that I would be pushing air that was well over 200* through the cooler.
John

 

[the_midwesterner]

Not sure yet, but I have a spare puller fan that is the exact same size I can swap over to if it doesn't do what I want it to do.

Also, I am banking on not having much of a heat issue under the hood since most of the hood is going to need to be chopped out in order to fit all this stuff. We shall see, but ill carry the spare fan on the first wheeling trip I take it on and swap it over if need be.

 

[the_midwesterner]

A little more progress.

I came home from work with motivation and decided to tackle the intake. I bought a 45 from vibrant and had to chop it down 4 or 5 times to get it to sit exactly where I wanted, but after about 2 hrs of messing with it, I "finished" it.

Then I decided to throw something flat on there to see how tall the cowl would need to be. To my relief, it looks like I am going to need only 3-4 extra inches on the top. I was expecting maybe 6-7 and that would have been stupid....

Finally, the updated checklist with the intake crossed off.

 

[the_midwesterner]

Not much to update, but I needed a break from the jeep, so we decided to go camping up in Big Bear for the weekend. It also just happened to fall on the weekend of Forrest Fest. I didn't have a vehicle that I could actually wheel up there, so we just drove to the gatekeeper of John Bull and watched some folks go up.

This is the only pic I took up us coming back down the mountain on Sunday.

That evening, I had some motivation to actually work on that thing, but since we got back a bit late I just started ordering parts. Since I am running a Racepak digital dash, I found that they make a DLC3 to VNet CAN Bus connector to read the available PIDs and use them as data points on the display. Its a bit more than I wanted to spend, but it will sure make my life A LOT easier then wiring up a whole bunch of wires to the already existing sensors.

Assuming that that PCM has sufficient processing power, it should quickly update all PIDs on the display. If it doesn't, then I am back to square 1.

While we are on the subject of the Racepak, I needed a method in which to measure oil pressure off the engine, but I didnt like the traditional LS method of tapping the housing off the oil filter adapter, since it puts my oil pressure line in between two exhaust primaries. I pulled the pressure switch off the back of the block, since it isn't used with the Pacific Fabrication engine harness, and tried a 3/8 MNPT -> 1/8 FNPT brass fitting, which was topped with an 1/8" to -3AN for the oil feed line. I quickly realized that it wasn't going to thread in and after some google, I found the adapter below. The threads for the switch are metric, 16mm-1.5, so this should screw right in and give me the female 1/8" NPT I need.

So i ordered that up and am waiting for it to get here.

From there, I actually started working on this pile and began figuring out how to wire the rad fans & trans cooler fan. I ordered this fuse box from amazon:

Its super Chinese, but after some slight trimming of some parting line flashing and cleaning up the edges from the injection molding process, it'll do just fine. It has 4 traditions SPST relay spots and 2 others that I don't recognize, for a total of 6. What I really like about it is that it has spots for inline fuses inside the housing for each relay. This made wiring it up a bit easier. As of now, it will house only the fan relays, but it gives me options to expand for A/C, onboard air, etc.

Installed and wired:

Basically, this is a long worded post of me working on the boring stuff, so yeah.......

At least anyone who is actually reading this can take pleasure in the fact that this is almost ready to start. All thats really left is the radiator mounting/hoses/fill cap, etc and figuring out the P/S cooler location and install the AN fittings on the trimmed down lines.

I did find out that the whole engine was pushed back far enough that my current driveshaft won't work. I kind of knew this deep down, but was denying to acknowledge this fact since it means just more money to get the rear shortened and the front lengthened.....

 

[trippled]

Fwiw using GM's tech 2 the pids update pretty fast, and that it has graphing capabilities. Hopefully if thats on the can network you should be fine ( it's one of the fastest right now) . Great looking swap so far. Wish I had the money to do this.

 

[the_midwesterner]

Fwiw using GM's tech 2 the pids update pretty fast, and that it has graphing capabilities. Hopefully if thats on the can network you should be fine ( it's one of the fastest right now) . Great looking swap so far. Wish I had the money to do this.

My ECM is a 24x since its an earlier cable operated TB setup. I am hoping you are right though and the cable works. Its going to save me a ton of time. A 58x ECM would be nice to have, but not worth the cost to upgrade the triggers on my engine to use the faster CAN network.

I appreciate the comments!

 

[the_midwesterner]

Got more things done yesterday and today. Believe it or not, updating this thing is keeping me motivated to get these small things done.

This thing finally came in and seems fancy...

Who needs to be able to read an emissions label when you have a pressure transducer that needs a spot accessible with sufficient drain back.

CEL light is wired and installed, along with a secondary red light that I installed, but have not wired in since it doesnt have a purpose yet. I figured only 1 light would look odd, so I put 2 there.

Finished the boot install on the shifter to try and keep some of the crud out.

Then I finally mounted the 3.5mm jack for the last time. Hopefully its a good spot and should not be in the way of the shifter and other things.

Then I put the center console back in. Progress!!!!

And finally..... the updated list.

 

[the_midwesterner]

Got quite a bit done today. Spent the better part of the day doing, re-doing, undoing and doing the radiator mounts. Finally I settled on the following:

The Novak radiator has 2 stanchions at the bottom and I happened to find that old shock bushings fit perfectly on the stanchions and decided if they are good enough for shocks, then they are plenty good enough for a radiator. I then took 1" round .120 and cut 2" pieces. I hole saw'd a hole just big enough and inserted vertically into the core support. Since I was working alone and my helper was only the dog, The driver side came out a little crooked. It still straddles the bushing, but its not perfectly straight. Oh well...

After I got those in, I struggled with the decision as to how I should proceed with holding the radiator up top. After a whole bunch of trial and error and some wasted steel, I decided to go this route:

Finally, the bitch is in!!!! Its not going ANYWHERE. Its held in very tightly and it doesn't move at all. We shall see if this changes once the engine starts.

Then I moved into installing the radiator hoses and tightening up the intake for like the 35th time.

After that was done, I moved onto relocating the P/S cooler. Unfortunately, the radiator doesn't allow me to put anything in front of it since its massive. So after much deliberation and debate with myself, I decided to use spacers and space out the power steering cooler about 2.5" and mount it onto the inside of the front crossmember. I know that during normal driving, the front area right in front of the engine is a high pressure area that will force cooling, but that's not really a time where I will need to cooler to work. Sooo... long story short, we will see if it works. At minimum, its an aluminum cooler so it should act as a heat sink, but I am not sure if heat soak will sufficiently saturate the cooler to make it ineffective, or since the cooler adds an additional 2-3 quarts to the system, the necessary heat soak for the added volume of fluid will be exponentially higher. So here is a shitty picture to offset all the words......

Then I went back to the store and spent a shit ton of money on just fluids... This cost me $170 and its still not everything I need. The LS is a thirsty SOB!

Lastly, I had to post up the updated list of tasks. A lot of the left side is scratched out, minus exhaust and mounting the ECM to a place where I am content. Its mounted now, just not as well as I would prefer.

 

[iluv83vettes]

Pictures in the last two posts aren't working ... at least for me. Tried looking at them on a couple computers and tapatalk.

 

[Anak]

Not working for me either.

 

[the_midwesterner]

well it looks like the pics work on chrome and safari, but not on IE. I've hosted them on a different place and this is a pic dump. I really wish would let you edit previous posts, like literally every other forum I have ever been to.

And apparently only 14 pics per post allowed.....

 

[John D]

Not seeing them on the last two posts using safari.

 

[iluv83vettes]

I was on chrome


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[the_midwesterner]

posted pics again.

Last one:

[/IMG]

 

[the_midwesterner]

Its alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click me

Paid some buddies in smoked bbq and beer, so they came over and helped me get this thing prepped. Had to change the original top hose setup since the previous way I had it, it would just puke the coolant back out. So I cut the hose again and then reoriented the 90 and tighten down the hose clamps again. Then I installed the Moroso fluid overflow tank at a slight 45* and called it a day.

 

[cleenrob]

damn that sounds good, im doing a 5.3 swap in mine right now as well

 

[the_midwesterner]

damn that sounds good, im doing a 5.3 swap in mine right now as well

Appreciate the kind words and I have been following your thread.

Onto an update:

I was out of town for business, but I was able to order up some items from summit that arrived at my house. Initially I was trying to find a shop local to SoCal to get this work done, but my buddy convinced me that I should give it a shot. I have never done exhaust tube work like this before, so I was a bit overwhelmed going into it, but I am happy to report that I am SUPER pumped as to how it all came out.

List of parts:
-Magnaflow offset muffler @3"
-Vibrant 2-1 collector @2.25" -> 3"
-Vibrant 12" resonator @3"
-Vibrant 304 stainless 180/45 bent x2 @2.25"
-Vibrant 304 stainless 90 plus extension @2.25"
-Vibrant O2 sensor bung x3 - Not pictured
-Vibrant 304 stainless V-band clamp - Not pictured
-Vibrant High Flow Cat - On order

Just a puzzle that needs cut, welded, fit, rinse and repeat like 35 times.

After 1 tail pipe expander from autozone and 3 from oreillys, much cursing, fitting, re-fitting, cutting, welding shitely(not sure this is a word) and much grief, I built this:

What I learned: Stainless is a giant pain in the ass to mig weld. I picked up some 98/2 gas and 308L .025" wire, thinking this would be sufficient, but it wasn't. I fought the welder for a couple of hours and made a ton of really shitty welds. I can take a pic, but basically it looks like bird poop on pipe. Pretty disappointed with this part, but after some google action and confirming the manual on my welder, it recommends .035" and 98/2 gas. Sooo.... I ordered the wire from amazon with 1-day shipping and it should be here tomorrow eveningish. I am hoping to get it running on the muffler and O2 sensors sunday for a a little idle tuning.

Lastly, since the guy who did my cage did a very, very shitty job of making this cage, i will need to have it redone. Been talking to a vendor on here and I am really tempted to chop out most of the roof. There is already a giant hole present from when the previous owner had an aftermarket sunroof put in, so this would also help address that. Just have to find a convertible top shop that would put in the snaps and create a top that would snap in and tie around the cage so that it doesn't flap around while driving.

 

[trippled]

Exhaust looks good! There's a lot of head scratching involved in building an exhaust like that but it's nice being able to build it exactly how you want it. If you use any aluminized stuff, vht makes some nice exhaust paint. Worked pretty well on mine.

 

[the_midwesterner]

Exhaust looks good! There's a lot of head scratching involved in building an exhaust like that but it's nice being able to build it exactly how you want it. If you use any aluminized stuff, vht makes some nice exhaust paint. Worked pretty well on mine.

I appreciate the advice. I decided to go with 304 stainless, so let's hope there is no need for paint!

Onto more of an update:

I got the downtubes final welded after grinding down the bird poop that was on there originally. Who knew that stainless would be so picky and that .035" wire was basically mandatory.

Pic of the welds on the down pipes:

A pic of the fitment on the tubes. Super happy with how the fitment came out. Also was able to put the O2 sensor bungs in super convenient locations for future replacement, if I ever need to. The only concern I have right is the front driveshaft. Hopefully my suspension doesn't compress enough to where the driveshaft will hit/dent the driver side exhaust down tube.

After the down tubes were final welded, I mocked up the resonator and muffler and cranked her over. She fired right up and it sounds mean!!!! The unfortunate part is that the engine doesnt like to idle. I am attributing this to the new cam and not having sufficient base timing to keep it going. So I decided to do some logging while holding down the throttle to understand what was going on.

I also found a slight issue that is super obvious on the graph, but wasn't so obvious to me when I was messing around with it. I will send a cookie to anyone that figures it out.

That's it for now. It just needs to be tuned, the hood chopped in order to fit the rest of the stuff and then I can start driving it around to try and get all the bugs out of it. Then it goes to the cage builder in mid-july to have all the crap cut-off that the previous retard did, to get a new cage and the roof cut out for a convertible top.

 

[trippled]

Bank 1 shows lean, bank 2 shows rich, fuel trims look like they're attempting to correct, but o 2s still look stuck at extremes?