360Buddy

im running into the same problem with my fuel rails would u reccomend cutting the pump motor?
-Whitney 84 Sport Coupe

battmann

iTrader: (9)

You don’t have to cut the motor itself. The motor can be removed. After that, you can cut some of the wiper cover housing to provide the clearance you need. I glued a piece of plastic over the whole and then painted the cover to match my engine bay. Turned out pretty good

tomsaddy

iTrader: (4)

I did a similar battery location and I like your idea about the Ford solenoid. Do you run a separate, smaller wire to charge the battery?

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Below is a diagram of what I have so far. Battery is in the hatch. I have a large zero gauge wire for the main battery ground and power to the starter through the Ford solenoid. There is a 4 gauge charge wire coming back to the battery from the alternator. The only part I haven’t finished is the solenoid on the starter needs power also. I’m either going to put a jumper on the starter between the main lug and S terminal or split the crank wire under the dash with one wire going to the Ford solenoid & the other to the starter solenoid. Haven’t done enough research on which way would be better.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Finally had some time to work on the car again the last couple weekends. Trying to focus on wiring - since that’s the hardest thing on my to-do list before trying to fire the engine. Today I was able to get the dash housing back into the car. I was pretty excited! Still have connections to make but I’m making progress.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Got the rear hatch back on yesterday. I was a little nervous because I used the Hawk’s billet hatch hinges and saw a couple threads about the glass shattering after installing these. So far so good but I still have to buy hatch struts. The spoiler is an original MSE piece. It’s just test fit on there for now. I need to make some gaskets for the spoiler legs. Got the kindigit driver side door handle installed too. Was a good afternoon.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Door handles look amazing. I am on the fence for my build if I am going to go shaved or something like this.

Great job!

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Finally rolled the car out of the garage today!
Hasn't been off the jack stands since it came home from being painted 4 years ago. I’m biased but the car looks awesome. Planning to clean it up and take some pics in the sun tomorrow. I still have quite a bit to do but I’m hoping to start the engine for the first time in the next 2-3 weeks. Hope it doesn't start on fire! Lol

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Hooked up the battery this morning and no issues (so far)! Wiring was probably the hardest part of the build so very happy that it all seems to be working. Turned the key just to see if the dash lit up - success!

SteelDirigible

iTrader: (2)

Now just turn it a little further 😎

battmann

iTrader: (9)

I still have to fill all the fluids, install the catch can system, finish wiring the radiator fans, install a seat, etc…
I need to focus on getting my other Trans Am ready for GM Carlisle next weekend so probably won’t get back to this car until after the show.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Got the engine ready to fire today but couldn’t cause I had massive fuel leaks at the injectors and a minor coolant leak from the Motion Raceworks steam vent tubes. UGH! Looks like the FITech injectors don’t seat right in the Holley fuel rails I bought. Now I have to take off the top end to fix these issues. This is gonna suck. So close but so far away.
I bought a Melling prelude tank kit which really helped prime the system. I had to take the alternator off so I could access the oil port at the front of the engine.

blackgloves

Detroit Lions? I'm sorry to hear that. Sweet whip btw

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Is that a Willwood master cylinder on a stock brake booster? Just day dreaming of what I want that area of my engine bay to look like.

How is the radiator top hold down held on? Sorry if this explained elsewhere.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Thanks for the compliment blackgloves.

The Wilwood master is on a stock brake booster. I can look up part number if you need them. I bought the Wilwood kit that has a master with proportioning valve. I had to make my own bracket to put the proportioning valve on the PS of the master and then bend the lines to fit the new arrangement. I also needed adapter fittings to connect the brake lines to the master. I'm pretty sure one of my previous posts has part numbers for these adapter fittings. I haven't filled the system with fluid and driven the car so can't comment on how well the brakes work yet.

The radiator hold down has threaded studs on the bottom that align with the factory bolt holes. I have nuts under the core support to hold it in place. It looks good, but not sure if I'll keep this design because it's going to be a massive PITA to remove if I ever have a radiator issue.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

worked on the car some more yesterday and solved a few issues.
for the fuel leak at the injectors, we got a GM o-ring kit. the blue o-rings were fatter and sealed up the top of the injectors at the fuel rails. the part number was AC Delco 217-1588. i found the solution from this video:

next i fixed my oil pressure gauge. i installed the intellitronix digital dash and when i turned the key, the oil pressure only displayed 99. the instructions said i could use a standard one-wire SBC oil pressure sender but that obviously wasn't working. i had to buy intellitronix's special oil pressure sender (part number S8868). my sender is at the back of the engine behind the intake so it was a huge pain to swap them out. i couldn't screw the sender into the block adapter because the underside was too short and was hitting bolts on the valley cover. i had to get some fittings at Home Depot to get the sender up higher. the new sender has two connections - one for the gauge and then the other grounds to the engine. guess the effort was worth it because the gauge now reads correctly. pic comparing the typical SBC sender (right) and the intellitronix one after adding the fittings (left):




lastly, i made the final connections to my B&M Megashifter. almost forgot that i can't start the car without hooking up the neutral safety switch. DUH!
after all this we went to fire the engine and no go. the starter cranks but the gear isn't meshing with the flywheel. it looks like it's hitting the face of the flywheel. now trying to figure out what this could be. i can't find any receipts for my starter, but wondering if i bought an LS car started and need an LS truck starter since this drivetrain was from a 2000 LQ4?? thought shims might work too, but not seeing any LS specific shim kits. sucks to be this close and keep running into obstacles. the car is at my friend's shop an hour away from me so it's hard to coordinate schedules and then get over there to work on it. all this stuff only takes 30 minutes in the TV shows!

battmann

iTrader: (9)

FIRED THE ENGINE YESTERDAY!!!
I bought a new starter for a 2000 LQ4 and swapped out the one I previously installed. The two starters look exactly the same to me so not sure why the new one worked and the old one didn't. Whatever - $108 fix. Score.
Had to make some adjustments in the FITech handheld to get it idling properly. I still have some minor items to address but at least I know the engine works and has good oil pressure (was at 47lbs once the engine warmed up).
The car is currently at my friend's repair shop. Having access to a lift makes working on things way nicer. Here's what I'd like to get finished before bringing the car back home:

• Remove top end of engine to fix the rear steam vent tube leaks
• Drop rear end and fix gas tank venting issue
• Investigate and fix small oil leak on engine. Noticed some oil on the bottom of my oil pan and not sure where it's coming from.
• Install electric cutout and Magnaflow exhaust
• Install catch can setup
• Fill and bleed brake system

Once the car is back home I can start putting the front end back together and then get the car registered to drive it. I need to get miles on the car to set a base tune in the FITech ECU.
Super excited about the progress the last few months. I bought this car as a roller around 2006-2007 but didn't really start working on it until 2014 after I sold my 1972 Camaro. Can't believe it's been that long.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Nice progress. I hear you on the time flies front. My car has been off the road since 2010. Life gets in the way, finally making a lot of progress on mine. Bit by bit most days.
Nice to see you doing odds and ends. Last couple of times I built my car up, that stage took quite a while, mainly cuz you can start going to shows instead of fixing the darn leak!

Good luck. Looks great!

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Did a bunch of work on the car yesterday. I had a running engine before I started. LOL



Took the top end off to fix my steam vent tube leaks. Got that done and pressurized the system. Found a couple radiator clamps that needed tightening. Coolant leaks all fixed now. While the top end was off we saw there was a small oil leak at the oil pressure sender at the rear of the block. Reinstalled that so hopefully fixed that leak too.

Next we dropped the 4th gen fuel tank to check out the venting issue. We ended up cutting the hose under the tip of the yellow arrow in the pic below. Now we can add gas & it pours in no problem.



Lastly we made custom emergency brake cables using a universal Wilwood kit (#330-9371). I have a Moser 9” rear end with a Big Brake Upgrade using Corvette C7 backing plates. This kit has the correct ends that attach to the parking brake hook. I forgot to take pics of the final install. I’ll do that when we go to put the exhaust on.

After all this we went to start the car and the top of the fuel injectors are leaking at the rails again. UGH! I replaced the Holley rails with a new set because I scratched up the first set. Maybe I need to install new o-rings every time I change rails?? That shouldn't be be the case. Not sure what to do. I’m pretty concerned about the fuel leak coming back later. Something isn’t working between the FITech injectors and Holley Sniper rails. I think I have a few options:

1. Install new o-rings & hope that fixes the issue
2. Make new brackets to hold the rails down tighter
3. Get new FITech fuel rails to replace the ones in the kit that I sold. If I do that I’ll need an adapter fitting to mate the 8AN supply lines at the front of each rail.
4. Contact Holley to see what injectors will fit their rails and then buy new injectors.

soloc4

The LS1, LS2, and LS3 have different sizes of o-rings. There are black, blue, and orange. Determine which ones the fuel rails need and which ones the intake needs and you can use any size (length) injectors you like for your setup. This usually fixes most peoples fuel leak issues. Your car looks amazing.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

thanks for the compliment soloc4!
last week we got the fuel rail issue sorted out. i cut down the Holley brackets that came with the rails to fit the height of the FITech injectors. after looking more closely at my whole setup, the customized brackets weren't holding the rails exactly straight - both rails were slightly cocked out. i ended up needing to spin the brackets 180 degrees, make some tube spacers and use longer bolts to properly align the rails with the injectors. all fixed now - no leaks!
also got the 16829 Magnaflow exhaust installed. we added an electric cutout setup where the catalytic converter use to be. just have to add an exhaust hanger somewhere in the middle of the system to brace everything a little better.
lastly we filled the brake system with fluid. took awhile, but we eventually got the front brake lines filled and bled. having trouble with getting fluid to the rear brakes. my buddy is going to buy some kind of vacuum tool to hopefully overcome this issue.
so down to only two items to get done before bringing the car back home: bleed rear brakes and front end alignment.
i keep forgetting to take pics after working on the car, but will take a bunch and post them up once the car is back at my house.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Making progress but still running into issues. All the fluid leaks have been fixed: oil, gas, and coolant. Car sat in the same spot for a week and nothing at all on the floor. That’s exciting! Brakes all working now too. Just have to adjust the parking brake screws and fine tune the proportioning valve.
I tried driving the car for the first time and no go. ☹️
Transmission wasn’t doing anything. Checked a bunch of things and determined there was no pressure in the lines. Took the tranny out and the converter ground down the pump. UGH! I had a tq converter built by Jake’s Performance and it looks like it needs to get milled down to be shorter. Tranny is back at the shop being gone through. Converter will be sent back next week to get fixed.
Figured I might as well replace the stock GM flexplate while the tranny is back out. Was hard finding a SFI certified flexplate for my application. I have a 2000 LQ4 which has a longer crank so the flexplate is flat and not dished like other LS based engines. The only certified flexplate I found is made by JW Performance: #93019-LSC.
It feels like the tranny will be my last obstacle to at least have a drivable car. Unfortunately I’ll have to wait a few weeks to see.





Here’s a few undercarriage progress pics:

battmann

iTrader: (9)

i'm having the worst luck with this car!! i sent the converter back in to be rebuilt by Jake's Transmission (since that's who i bought it from). took a little over 4 weeks from the time i mailed it to when i got it back. this past weekend we tried installing the tranny again and the torque converter just isn't fitting. when we started the bellhousing bolts, we couldn't spin the converter by hand. after a bunch of head scratching, we discovered the pilot hub is too long. if we hold the converter up to the flywheel, we can't get the converter and flywheel to mate. there's about a 1/4" gap. it seems this is all being caused by me having a long crank 2000 LQ4 engine. i stated this when i had the converter built years ago and also when i just sent it back in for repair. the converter was never built right for my application. trying to work with Jake's now on how to resolve. the pilot needs to be milled down. not sure if i can get that done locally or need to send back again. sucks that i could've had a drivable car back in August if this part was made right when i first bought it. UGH!!
since the car was on the lift we installed the rear sway bar so at least i got something done.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

been trying to think about the plan for my interior lately. hoping to maybe make progress on that over the winter. i really want to purchase a carpet first, but kind of need to figure out the overall design / theme so i don't get something only to change my mind later.
ACC offers tons of colors for our carpets - way more than the handful of stock color choices shown when trying to buy at Rock Auto, Classic Industries, etc... I've been looking at the Cut Pile and Essex options. You can click on these at this link to see all the colors they offer:
https://www.accmats.com/material-color/flooring/
I found a place where you can get up to 5 free ACC samples at a time. You can enter the color numbers from the ACC website under the carpet samples section:
https://www.stockinteriors.com/reque...20221026094633
Next I started looking at leather for the seats, door panels and wrapping the plastic panels. A local upholstery shop recommended Relicate so I went there and ordered some samples. They also sell alcantara which I'm considering for the headliner and some accents. Samples cost a couple dollars each and they charged a small amount for shipping.
https://relicate.com/
My friend had some seats redone in Ultraleather so I checked out that product too. Looks like that is made by Ultrafabrics so I also got some samples from them. They charge a couple dollars a sample and for shipping as well.
https://www.ultrafabricsinc.com/Collections

After getting all the samples, i started trying to create some options. my paint goes well with a ton of colors which is good but also makes it really hard to choose what to do. so far i created three different design options. in each option, the far left sample is the alcantara, the middle is leather and far right are carpet samples. Can't really decide on which carpet color for Options 2 and 3. Maybe I'll make a separate thread with a poll.

Option 1 - this one is pretty much all similar shades of brown. Kind of took the one color inspiration from this Camarowhich used all red. A slightly lighter tan carpet would probably also look good.


Option 2 - this one is a lighter palette. It's more along the lines of a typical theme you'd see in a custom hot rod build. I like it, but thinking it's maybe too light since I plan to actually drive the car and I have kids.


Option 3 - this one kind of mimics the factory look but with modern materials. The two samples that look black are actually a really dark gray (like charcoal).


so what opinions do you guys have??

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

No bad options there.

I like the first and second choices. Of those two, I like the lighter (2nd) choice the most. The first choice is very rich looking though. I'd worry more about going as dark as the first choice, is it can make the interior seem smaller, especially the headliner. But as yours appears to be a t-top car (post #1), that's far less of a concern.

Buddy

Yea, all great choices. But I do like option 1 maybe slightly more myself.

ktthecarguy

I am with the others, option 1

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

From the three, I like option 1.
Would be good to see some other type of pallet, even to just further lock in the option you like. Something out of the box maybe.

Like all charcoals and gunmetal or blacks. Just a thought.

I am in the middle of a similar type of build and have saved the link to the good carpet. Thank you.
I am going all black on my custom interior. All panels will be painted matt with a light texture. Seat are Recaros in their fake leather. Back seats will be re-upholstered to match.
Still deciding on an accent color but I think it will be a vibrant electric blue in some key places. This will then match the calipers to tie it to the outside.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

good idea. i'm sure the interior would look great in charcoal, gunmetal and / or black especially with some red stitching accents. i originally looked at some higher end cars for inspiration to see what they offer with red or copper exterior colors: audi, BMW, mercedes. they all seem to have mostly black or dark gray interiors. sometimes they have an accent color but not always. i was trying to think of something different to make the interior stand out more from other cars. the whole theme of my build so far has been to kind of create a "modern day Trans Am". most of the mods are subtle with a nod to the original car but with modern performance, products, materials, etc... i may still go back to charcoal / black though because it's a safer choice. it's really hard to envision the whole interior and i can't afford to do it twice.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

I def understand not being able to do it twice.

Stitching would be a nice touch. I am keeping it simple since I plan to go to shows, but also drive it a ton (power tour). All black with some a accents is riskay enough for me!

I also will be linking my rins to my steering wheel. Same design from Billet Specialties. Same finish too.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

FINALLY got the car to move under it's own power!!
All that was preventing me from driving it was an incorrectly built torque converter. I had to send the converter back to Jake's again so they could install a conventional length pilot on the converter. Because of the long crank in my LQ4, the LS length pilot was too long. Got the converter installed over the weekend and it now fits without any issues. Sucks that we now have snow here in WNY. Wanted to drive it some more before putting it in the garage for the winter.
Here's a short clip of the maiden voyage back into the trailer:

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Looking good! Once step closer!
Can't wait to be that far along.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

A guy I work with does 3D printing so I modeled up a custom center cap for my wheels. He printed a test one today. I’ll have to sand the top smooth for paint but it turned out pretty good. Need to decide if I’ll leave the arrowhead black or paint another color - gold to match the rest of the cap & wheels or red like the body color.

stuartswede

Hey Battman,
Awesome build, I was not getting any updates to your thread, guess I never replied, only liked, hopefully this will trigger new posts my way. Great job!!

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

If that print is ABS, you can use acetone fog to smooth that out a bit before going to work with filler and sanding.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

The car is finally back at my house! Now I can try to put more of this thing together before next spring. Weather cooperated - was 50 degrees and sunny out on Saturday. Paint looks great in the sun and it’s not even washed. I only drove it a couple miles around my neighborhood. Tires have no traction. My neighbors are gonna hate me next year. Lol

battmann

iTrader: (9)

How’s everyone’s winter going? Good I hope.
Been trying to come up with a plan for my interior so I can at least buy a carpet and get the seats redone. I’m going to be using a set of recaros but without the headrests. Was sketching some stitch patterns and think I like this one best.



I was originally thinking about using a leather that’s like a baseball mitt color. The upholstery shop I’m working with recommended a dark brown. It wasn’t what I had in mind but it really does look good with the car’s exterior color.



Sun actually came out today for a little while in WNY! It was still cold but I was motivated to try and make some progress out in the garage. Started working on template for my catch can mounting bracket. It’s being a PITA cause I’m trying to mount this to the PS curved inner fender. Might be easier to just cut a strip of metal and start bending until it fits right.



Since it looked so nice out and the roads weren’t full of salt I really wanted to drive my car down to the gas station to fill up the tank. Only thing holding me back is I didn’t want to get pulled over since the whole front end is still off. I ended up temporarily mounting the front blinker lights so I felt a little more legal. Zip ties FTW! Car drove great. Good thing I was wearing my glasses cause it gets pretty windy at 30MPH with no windshield. Lol. Suspension is very stiff. I may have to make some adjustments in the spring. Guy at the pump in front of me yelled “Nice car”

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Looking good!
Must feel great to hear it running and driving. Can't wait to be at that stage with mine.

blackgloves

my vote is option 3

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Got the catch can bracket pretty much figured out. I ended up just cutting a piece of metal and then lots of trial and error cutting, bending, hammering in the vice, etc… I need to smooth it out and then paint it. Not sure what color would look best - black, engine bay color, maybe cast?? I’ll probably use bolts & rivet nuts to mount it. Installing the catch can is one of the last engine related items to cross off my to do list. Pretty excited about that.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Got the catch can bracket smoothed out pretty good. Now have to figure out what color I’m going to paint it.





Also dropped off my seats at the upholstery shop yesterday. Seats will be redone in a dark brown leather with a black suede stripe in the middle. They’ll also have black double stitching for accents - see rough sketch below. I wanted to use alcantara for the stripe but the shop said it doesn’t hold up well over time and requires more cleaning / maintenance than other materials. Alcantara is also pretty expensive. Hope to get the seats back in a couple months.



Now since the seat design & color was figured out I was able to order my carpet today. I ordered 810 Brown ACC Carpet with mass backing from https://www.stockinteriors.com/
The carpet is slightly darker than the brown leather. Should look good. I ended up adding an extra yard of carpet and matching floor mats to my order. This site seemed to have the best pricing I could find. On top of that they emailed me a 5% discount code because I requested carpet samples before ordering. They didn’t charge me sales tax either. Between the discount & no tax I saved about $80. Woo hoo!

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Nice carpet order. I actually just got my custom carpet too!
ACC with the added mass backing and also the loose insulation. Think you got a great price. Good job.
I had never heard of that website you linked to.

Mine is made by ACC as well. I went thru Hawks for mine. Looking forward to seeing what yours looks like.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

I’m pretty sure all the replacement carpet for our cars is made by ACC now. Seems like that’s what all the websites sell. My order came to $708 including shipping and I got the following:
front & cargo area carpet with mass backing
an extra yard of loose matching carpet
front and rear floor mats in matching carpet
one yard of jute padding
I’m gonna have to wait to install it when it comes. There’s some dash stuff and wiring I want to finish first before I start walking / laying on a brand new carpet.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Why did you get the extra material?
I haven't thought of floor mats yet. Something else to add to the list. I am in parts acquisition mode these days.

Looking forward to seeing how your interior comes out.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

I got the extra carpet because I want to put a subwoofer box in the rear well & want to carpet the top to match. Also needed some in case I decide to put carpet on the rear hatch panels, door panels & kick panels like stock.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Went to the junkyard today to find a part for my wife’s van. They had a couple thirdgens that were pretty picked over but I found t-top sunshades, some accessory wiring and headlight retainers for $14.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

My ACC carpet arrived today. I thought it would take a few weeks since they make the carpet as people order them. Only took like 5 days. I just put the rear carpet in for now to see how it looks. I laid out the front carpet in my basement to install later this spring. Everything looks pretty nice. Really happy with my purchase.

dennisbernal91z

iTrader: (2)

Looks great. I will be running my battery in the same location. What battery terminal block did you go with?
Wondering what I want to account for. MSD sells a solid state relay battery connection that seems cool. A nice way to reduce the amount of relays that need wiring and it acts as a battery terminal hook up.
Not cheap, but no moving parts in the relays.

Sorry tangent...

Carpet looks great. Mine had some mold release in a couple places. Cleans up ok, but a bit annoying. Yours have any of that?

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Yeah - mine had a pretty bad spot on the passenger carpet. It mostly came off but not completely. Luckily it is under one of the rear seat bottoms so not gonna worry about it.
How do you get all the creases out though??
I just searched for the MSD relay block you mentioned cause I wasn’t aware of the product. That’s a nice unit but like you said kinda pricey. I’m using a bus bar I got off Amazon (link ). I painted the cover to match my car and repurposed the factory relay bracket on the firewall near my brake booster to mount it - pic below. I have relays / fuses on my circuits elsewhere. I might have bought the MSD unit to simplify things if I knew about it earlier in my build.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Been working on random things as weather allows. It’s been fairly cold in the garage lately. Got my Pioneer AVH-2550NEX double din radio installed in the console. I used brackets from Screamin Chicken but needed to modify both the brackets and my console to get the head unit fit to my liking. I’ll need to have a custom bezel made now.



After that I started messing with how to add turn signals in my side view mirrors. At first I was going to use some aftermarket LED strips. After looking through reviews for some I found, a lot had a high failure rate. I don’t want to do all this custom fab work and then the China LEDs burn out on me. I had a spare front side marker and figured maybe I can modify and use that somehow. I separated the lens from the housing and then used a heat gun start bending the lens to the side mirror housing.





Looking kinda good but the lens size seems too big so I cut it down to be skinnier. I think this is looking better. The plan is to cut a hole in the mirror housing and make this lens flush. Next I tried to see if I can use the side marker socket connector inside the mirror housing for the light. I think I can fabricate a small box to make this all work and then glue it in place. The nice thing about this plan is I can just remove the mirror and swap out the stock bulb if I ever need to.