JoeK

The Johns Cars (JCI) kit uses stock rubber mounts. Small block Chevy on one side, and the stock LS1 Camaro mount and clamshell on the other. I don’t know about any others.

Thanks for all the great advice so far. My old school tendencies had me thinking dual all the way back was the way to go, but it looks like I'll be returning some parts to Summit.

Upcoming on my build is a new exhaust. I’m planning on a simple 2 1/2” dual set up. I’ve got JCI headers, that a have a 2 1/2” collector, that I’ve welded a v-band to, so that’s my starting point. So far I’ve purchased a Summit aluminized universal kit, which looks like it has way more tubing than I’ll ever need. I also have a x-pipe, and a Flowmaster double 2 1/2” inlet, single 3” outlet muffler. The tubing that comes in the kit has flared ends, so where possible I intend to use the slip joint and weld around rather than use clamps. I’ve never built an exhaust, let alone done pie cuts or the like but suspect I’ll need to do some in order keep it tucked up tight. Tools I’ve got, and welding skills are marginal but I’ve got lots of material. Some have said that adding universal cats can cut down on the raspy sound that you hear often on LS motors. These are pretty inexpensive, but I wonder if it truly makes a difference. And are cheap ones maybe even fire hazards. Another thing I don’t see too often is flex pipes. I know CX Racing includes them on their kit, but I think of all the custom exhausts I’ve seen on S30’s maybe only 1 has had flex pipes. Is this no longer considered needed? And also hangers. What are people using? I never see them in pictures. I’m figuring very few are needed. Maybe just some near the diff, and something to carry the weight of the muffler. I bought some hangers on Summit, only end up with hangers with a 1/2” dia. rod that looks strong enoug the hang the whole car from. If any body has any pictures of where they hung their exhaust, and/or what they hung it with, that would be appreciated. Looking for any and all comments and advice people may have. Thanks for your time...

Glad you got it working. Loose or funky grounds are the most common electrical problem.

Check your wiring pathways. Look for abraided wires, or wires that are near any moving parts. You could have worn some insulation off a wire and are getting intermittent grounds.

As usual with this build, looks great. What will you do for the control arm mounts in the front? The original piece also held the front of the long nose diff, but also seemed to tie the left and right together. Now you've also got a brace across on that front mount. I haven't done the diff alignment yet on mine, but it currently looks like the pinion flange will hit the original cross brace.

Yeah, I rushed my dash wiring, and now thinking I’ll likely spend what time I can get this weekend redoing it.

Still plugging away at this. Took some time off to waste a bunch of time playing Call of Duty but back at the car again. Scratched a couple bald spots getting the car wired but it’s in and tested. Finishing that hopefully this weekend. Picked up my new driveshaft this afternoon, checked it for fit and found I’ll need to remove that ashtray recess in the tunnel.

Cool. I guess it's just another of those little differences between the different years. My car is a late '71. The squirrel cage fit just exactly with no trimming, though I did have to elongate the mounting holes slightly. As far as the wiring, my original fan motor has 2 wires with individual tabs, that I believe went to the housing.the plug from the housing has a 6 wire plug on the end.

Anybody know where to get the proper electrical plug for that fan? That fan right into my housing, no trimming. But need the plug to wire it up. Thanks, Joe

If you want build your own harness with labeled wire for less than the cost of a Painless kit, buy an EZWire kit and cut off the fuse block. EZ kit is good quality wire but less than half the cost of Painless. I think the whole EZ kit is nice, but I think the instructions blow.

Thanks. I’m assuming it doesn’t matter if the car is running.

Can someone tell if the turn signals are supposed to work with the key in the off or lock position?

Yeah, I'm far from the expert on the subject but from the googling I did it seemed like the big difference between the 2 was gains in low end torque with long tubes. And it is all about the torque isn't it, especially when racing

I ordered a rebuilt booster from Rockauto also, showed up 2 days later. Might cancel from your original seller, if they can't produce the darn thing.

Custom is never cheap. But Wilwood rotor discs aren't what I'd call astronomical. I have a pair I bought to do this exact thing, I think they were like $50 each. But yes, the cost of the custom hats made me go another route, which was Odyssey rotors. Even so, I had a hard time finding a machinist who would even touch the job of modifying stock car parts. They were all concerned about liability. If someone made a custom run, it'd be better priced. Maybe even reasonable. I'd be in for a set too. I've got a pair of Wilwood discs just taking up space currently.

Might be better to have some custom rotor hats made. The hats never wear out and when your rotors are worn you just order new ones from Summit or wherever.

Seems like those starting instructions may still be relevant for the new power pack . And the seat covers look good too. Making me rethink buying new seats.

Your memory is fine, it is 2 circuits but I'm pretty sure that all happens after the switch. The 12v+ goes from the battery to the switch to the fuse box, where it then splits up on it's way to the each head light. The high/low selector determines if high or low has a completed ground. Go brighter headlight and you are drawing more amperage. Plus I'll be combining both sides on one fuse, since I'm using a new wiring kit. The new wires are much larger, but the switch is the same size so I think its a weak point. Also I'll be running 12v+ through the high/low selector, and ground will be constant at the headlight. But I'm a carpenter, not an electrician let alone an automotive electrical guru, so take it all with a grain of salt (or a salt lick). This all just how I understand it and am hoping someone smarter than me will read this and tell me I'm an idiot (nicely please).

They will still be grounded, just at the headlight. Right now the 12v goes through the switch and off to the headlight while the ground goes through the selector. Instead the 12v will go through the switch then through selector and off to the headlight. I think its simpler really, or at least I want think that 😁. I will definitely run relays, the contacts in the switches look tiny to me so I want to reduce the load on that side while also upgrading the headlights (likely to projectors with HIDs)

I guess I need to figure out which bulbs I'm going to use, then find out how they are supposed to be run. I'm flipping the ground, so that the high selector will choose which gets the 12v, rather than the ground. The EZ Wire harness is set up this way, it doesn't even have any grounds, you have to supply your own. Thanks for the insights, keep 'em coming.

Maybe this is a dumb question, but I’m having a hard time figuring out my wiring. When you have the low beams on, it is just a single filament in each lamp. When you turn on the high beams, should the low beams filament also stay lit, or are they separate? I’m rewiring my ‘71 with a new EZ Wire kit, and want to use the existing headlights and dimmer switches. As I understand it, the original setup not only uses a ground interrupt system but seperate fuses for each left and right headlight. Of course the ezwire kit isn’t set up for this, nor does it come with headlight relays. I don’t think I can use a relay kit made for the 240z because of the of seperate fuses per side in the original setup. Plus the ground interrupt makes it more complicated to my already confused state of mind. If the headlights should be all on when the high beams are on, that will help me to figure how to wire up a relay setup in some fashion.

Looks clean. You mentioned you used the same EZ Wire body harness as I’m using on my build. Where did you mount fuse box? Any pictures would be helpful. Thanks,

Maybe it’s user error, but this iPad takes kinda crappy photos. At least compared to my Samsung phone.

It’s been 6 months since my last update. I’ve been getting stuff done, working steadily but still no leaps or bounds. Until last week when the family decided to visit family on the other coast and was kind enough to leave me behind. I was able to really tackle and complete some loose ends. Got the engine harness worked out. It had trunk lines that seemed long enough to put in a truck, and I wanted to move a few things around. So pretty much took it apart, sliced and diced it, a little shortening here and lengthening there and voila. A harness I sure as hell hope works. I made a boxed mount for the ECU and got it tucked up nicely next to the blower motor. I restored the entire HVAC system, and got that reinstalled. Rebuilt heater core, fresh paint, upgraded blower motor from a Kia. Radiator and fans mounted. All hoses run. Went through a lot of hoses finding what would fit. What worked for others didn’t seem to work for me. Ordered 3 different 45 degree thermostat elbows, and they all showed up with 60 degree angles. Still not sure if I like the location of the steam fitting and vent in the upper hose, might move down so at least it’s horizontal so I can get the air out of the system (if I ever get to that point). finished the majority of the cold air intake. Still need to mount the air filter, which arrives tomorrow. I have an adjustable stiffener arm by Spectre that I hope will work to hold the filter up. It just doesn’t seem like it will be that stable otherwise. Made a shifter boot out of neoprene and a retainer ring out of sheet metal. Had to hack a substantial amount out of the center console to make it fit over the MGW short shifter, and will need to figure out an interior boot at some point. Restored the dashboard and am really happy with how it turned out. We’ll see how long it lasts. 5 new Speedhut gauges, with new Millhouse pods for the smaller gauges. Sound mat on the entire interior. Used Rattletrap extreme. Great bond, same thickness as the big well known stuff but half the price. I don’t really know effective it will be, but certainly can tell the difference when knocking on the panels. Camaro tank installed, plumbed and wired. Just need to get fuel gauge worked out. Next up is the body harness. Have a 20 circuit EZ Wire harness and am trying to get my mind into it. Electrical is kinda my kriptonite, it makes me weak in the knees. Then I guess it’ll be time to throw some fluids into everything and see if she’ll start.