The Camaro Club (UK)

Those splayed caps look pretty chunky.. Can't see the crank going walkies too soon....

Any reason you didn't fancy a manual conversion to go with the new turbo motor, rather than the work on the new autobox. ?

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Thanks Stu. Yeah they are pretty solid chunks!

To be honest I don't know of a manual box strong enough for the power I am planning on making.... Certainly if there is one it will be ridiculously priced.

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Made a start on cleaning up the engine bay and making room for those turbos. First job on the list was making a pair of tanks to replace the washer bottle and expansion tank.

So I got some 2" stainless tube and knocked up 2 of these things



Turned up some aluminium caps for the filler necks and fitted them in the space between the core support and the radiator. They don't hold a lot of fluid (about 1 litre each) but its more than enough for the purpose

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Tasty....

Ta

Some minor progress - been and picked up another head for mocking up the headers and ordered some new 1/2" thick stainless flanges from a friend who does water jet cutting. As soon as they have arrived I can crack on with getting the headers made. I might have a rethink on the turbo positions as well.

I spent most of the weekend acid cleaning and filling my block - it's now filled with Moroso Block Filler up to the lower edge of the water pump holes. Next job on the block is getting it line bored but that's going to wait until after Christmas to give the filler time to set up properly.

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Kind of messing around with various parts on the car - ultimately all modifications for when the turbos are fitted. While the original engine is still fitted it makes an ideal mock up and test bed for brackets etc.

I needed to clear some more space at the top of the engine bay to allow for routing of lots of hoses etc so I decided to go with an electric water pump then move the alternator low down on the block. I've also got a power steering pump off a 5th gen camaro (type with the remote reservoir) to make some brackets for.

I'm going to use the current fuel pump feed to power the water pump as I'll be replacing the pump feed to cope with 2 pumps later on anyway.

Today I've got the alternator mounted up in a place I am happy with. I'm making a double poly vee crank pulley with a trigger wheel as well (alternator and PS pump will run off seperate belts), I just need a lump of 7" diameter aluminium...

Need to also hook up the bottom rad hose, which will route between the alternator and the bracket neatly out of the way.

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

I remember reading somewhere that those electric water pumps didn't cope well for road use, and are more for drag cars..
How 'bout an electric steering pump from a modern car (Saxo one is popular in TVR circles apparently) .. could mount it where you like, and save loads of space..

_________________
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Read mixed opinions on them to be fair. Seems like the majority of people have found them to be OK, and a few people have had problems with them.

Not sure if the Saxo pump would be man enough for the job as it's got the demand of the hydroboost on it as well - the stock Saginaw pumps are only just up to it?

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

What size harmonic balancer do you have, I read an eight inch should be used on a 350 ?

If I get time I´ll swap out my six inch for an eight inch, which arrived last week.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/hrd ... ck-chevys/

Its a 6.75" one - it was the one that was fitted on my 305 to be honest. I might invest in a larger one when I finish building the new engine up. But for now that one will have to do.

Today I spent around 4 hours turning this big lump of aluminium:



Into this - and a whole heap of swarf.



Just need to drill and tap a few holes in it, fit the trigger wheel for the EFI and it'll be done. Might think about getting it anodised at some point.

It's got grooves for a 5 and 6 rib belt, one each for the alternator and PS pumps. I would normally have figured it out to run a single belt, but with the electric pump there wasn't really a good place to put an idler and keep everything mounted at the bottom of the block. Either way - hopefully this will fix the annoying PS belt slip...

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My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.