BLKMGK

Not to worry, I'm swapping out NOTHING until I drive this puppy. I'm DYING to drive it too Need rear brakes!

Forged pistons, MAF, that's a good year IMO. Might need rings maybe. Not sure the WC was stock though. Some claim that "all" T5s after a certain date were WCs but oddly enough i'm pretty sure that when you open up an aftermarket WC it's got different stuff in it so.... It ough tto be fine though $1K sounds like a steal to me!

How about this.... Spend a little less on the 355 so that it's streetable? It doesn't need to breathe fire and heck, 400HP ought to be streetable shouldn't it? The LS1 isn't well documented. If $3300 is all you've got for the swap I wouldn't think that's going to cover it either. Maybe I've misread your post but it's going to take more than the motor and trans to make the swap happen. Lot's of little stuf bites you in the rear!

Umm, note that we all had to use aftermarket masters - we couldn't use stock stuff. Couple of adapters, some hose, a tap. Jeg's has all the stuff you need - I wouldn't goto the local speed shops if you paid me. Little stock, act like jerks on occasion, and prices are sky high. Yeesh!

If you read that article note that you do NOT have to grind the fins off. The only cutting on th eT56 I'd advice doping is removing the "spikes" that are near the reverse switch. Other than that I did some light hammering on th etunnel (more like prying) and up by the firewall. It was VERY light and this was a 240 not the wider 280. The real bugger was the JTR trans mount. It's too wide for the T56 and I had to have it sectioned. Pics of this stuff are on my site. The T56 really didn't pose a big problem IMO.

Hrm, I'm running 200 up fornt and 225 in back. Methinks I may be swapping them down the road? I do have some RR tracks to cross to get to the local cruise so maybe it'll be softer an cushy I'm betting I kill my strut carts and have to section though (sigh).

Pthhhh! I'm a pig, I know. Not organized I know. It'll be cleaned up after I'm done and then I'll get it messy again DO actually get things done in there. The buffer really throws crap around the garage though - ick!

I know that NHRA and SCCA require it to be placed on the positive side. However as I also said somewhere here (lol) I will follow their rules up until I realize they don't make sense. In this case you and others have convinced me that their rules, in this case, make no sense and could pose greater risk than doing it your way. Since the tech inspection for this will usually consist of throwing the switch while the car is running to see if it dies - if that - then I feel confident they will not notice. I WILL run a second switch near the driver and would have planned on it before but I saw no good place to mount it. You've taught me that too Master I'd like to know how you ran the cables into the tool compartment though. Did you sink your battery or drill holes etc.? I seem to recall you sank your box, I'm not doing this. I'm NOT running my cables under the car or through the sills, I'm running them from the battery box to the front under the carpet and through a grommet up front. Not perfect but so long as no fool wears golf shoes on the passenger side and gets stupid I should be fine! The seat sliders are nowhere near it BTW. I'm considering drilling a hole into the tool area behind the passenger seat and exiting the wire between the tool doors - sound good? Lastly, I'm using #0 stereo cable for this big run up front. I would use welding stuff but I've not been in one of those shops and the nearest one is a ways away I think. Not sure what that cable costs per foot, the #0 stuff I've got was about $5 and they gave me extra The solenoid is mounted to an existing hole high above the old battery area, has the #0 going to it, and I've got a couple of Taylor braided ground straps on the way for the motor. One side of the switch in back is wired too and extra cable from that run to the battery will be used for the other side of the back switch as a ground. Still need a wire to the starter, still need to final mount the battery box. I'm getting there slowly but surely.

My WEB site has a few pics of it. Basiclly I took off th ecolumn cover, drilled 4 holes in it, an mounted 4 LEDs. One red, two green, one bright BLUE. All form RadioShack. A quick searhc on LED will probabl get yo uthose posts where I had to beat my head against the wall figuring out resistor values (thanks guys!). Here's the Gotcha'... The high beam and brake LEDs have TWO wires not one. The best way to wire them, as opposed to my way, is to have both of those wires going to those LEDs. In my case I joined a common ground for ALL of my LEDs before realizing this - bad idea. Now I must run a set of relays to light the hig beam and brake lites so don't do this Other than that figuring out which bulb was left, which was right for turn signals was an issue - I figure I've got a 50/50 chance and can swap connectors easily Lot's of room in the steering cover, it's visible, and I've got a spare if I decide to change it. I simply ran leads from the LEDs, insulated it all with duct tape (shh, it works), and didn't even have to use hot glue to hold the LEDs in place. I considered drilling the dash since I've got a cap and it's cracked but decided against it. The A/C panel is fine and Pete's idea of using th ebezel is too but mine is scratched and ugly so I'm not going to use it and will have the gauges just stuck in there. Hope that helps! Fire away with questions if you need to...

That's an NHRA rule - if you use a rod it must be "push off" for th esafety crews. However to do this and still make it accessible to the driver easily I'd have had to mount it TO the batteyr box which is right between the tool doors. The problem there IMO is that I end up with one LONG rod into the car that sort of distrupts any storage room I've got. Strut bar back there is bad enough! I'm going with two switches. One will be mounted in back off of the ground circuit. The other will be on the hot side within reach of the driver, in the tool tray ala Pete's idea, and will reduce the length of HOT wire run in the car. Where this is sort of difficult is in the realm of trying to sneak a circuit or two out of the switches for an alarm and radio! If I use fuses on both leads then hitting the switch in back while the motor is running will put all of the juice through the fuse and likely pop it. In the case of the car sitting with the alarm on the fuse shouldn't blow and flipping the switch won't disable it. An option would be to run dedicated wires to the alarm and maybe the radio to maintain my stations (shrug). Still thinking this through but I believe it'll be safer unless someone can poke holes in it. Second switch is on the way, these puppies aren't cheap when you buy them in amperage ratings high enough to actually support things properly! Waa!

Pics, want to see pics!

I'm 99.9% sure they ARE the same. Last I spoke ot MSA on the phone Imentioned this WEB site and how we talked about their parts some. I told him their pirce on those calipers was a joke! he told me that they had realized their price was out of line and had lowered it - you might want to check with them to see if it's still that high. If it is I'd hang up and head for the parts store to get Toy calipers. Also, since it only includes calipers and NOT rotors it's the solid rotor conversion. Consider going vented for a little more cash.

And now I feel even dumber! Searched for this thread a moment ago and found the previous discussion on this - and posted to it!I knew we'd had this talk before. Pete, I came to the same conclusion you just posted not 30mins ago - I had missed your last response. Sounds like maybe two switches might be in order. One inside for the positive cable where the driver can get at it and one in back for the negative. I hadn't thought of two switches ($). I had hoped to not have to run a negative cable all the way up... Geez, this could get expensive! I'll go sit in the corner now with my dunce cap on. I think I need more sleep or somethin'

This question of where to put the switch has really been bugging me. I'm in the midst of wiring mine and about 10minutes after picking up the last bit of wire I need to run in order to hook the switch to my HOT side I finally realized why using the negative is better. Duh, I'm an idiot, doubly so since I just bought cable I migth not need! Switch on back of car - good idea. Can be reached by workers in an accident, meets SCCA, NHRAIHRA regs, yadda yadda. However, every foot of "live" hot wire is an accident waiting to happen. IF it ever grounds anywhere it will weld itself and begin sucking amps as it heats to amazing temps - unless the battery explodes first! So, switch on HOT side is bad! It increases the footage of HOT wire. In an accident, worst case, the switch is going to get trashed! If it's on the negative side it will simply ground and become ineffective, if it's on the hot side it will simply end up being a ground and the switch won't work. Still might be a fire but the chances are no worse really than if the switch wasn't there to begin with. Ya', not supposed to pass tech but most tech will consist, maybe, of hitting the switch and seeing if the car dies or not. I must be thick as when we had the conversation above this didn't click. Now I have 10feet of #0 wire to complete this wiring job that I might not need. When you plumb the switch to the ground side you can simply run a jumper right to the body of the car and not all the way to the front of the car (sigh). I think I'll measure and see if I can use this wire as my hot side and then use the old stuff as a ground. It's not as thick but for a ground I don't think that will matter. Run it to a few places off the switch in one run, strip of some insulation in a few spots, ground wherever I want along the run. Heck double it up if I need more amperage handling. If I do it with two pieces in parallel to the switch I can even get a pair of heavy duty breakers in case the car is in an accident and a really heavy load gets pulled from the unswitched run. Make any sense?

LS1s? http://www.lt1s.com/ claims to have them and LT1s too.

YES YES YES YES!!!! I had the EXACT same problem myself I didn't know if that darned bracket was easy to take off or not until I spotted one at my friend's shop. It comes right off! I used the Phantom shift lite tach with the BIG lite stuck on the outside on a little pod. The pod is on there with good double sided tape, the mounting bracket drops right off. I switched to the smaller lite and yanked the big one off. Small lite is mounted where the VIN tag is (no holes) and I used an extension cable from Autometer to reach - you can wire this yourself if you want. To mount in the dash I yanked the stock stuff (wing nuts in back) and then set the new one in the hole. It was loose so some double sided tape and black silicone goop (thanks Lone!) were used to mount it. Once the silicone set it was sturdy! Lastly, I wanted peakhold AND a shift lite so... Summit sells a nice little black box that will peakhold ANY tach for about $30. I'm wiring that in too so I'll have the best of both worlds. Mounting the switch is proving to be a pain but I'll live. I'll take a pic and post it when I get a chance. I'm waiting for Autometer to send back my speedo with an LCD now for final install and then ALL gauges will be done. Are you replacing any others while you're at it? Lastly, be aware that you'll be removing the turn signal lites when you yank the tach. My site has pics of the LEDs I used in the steering cover. Pete and I have also discussed the wiring needed to replace the high beam and brake lite indicators on the dash, if you want to replace the speedo' and keep those too you'll want to read up on that and ask questions. Brake and high beam are wired a bit weird - beware.... [ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

Wow, I like it! I've seen VERY few Roadsters and the one I got the best look at apparently had bondo for a floor (sigh). Nice job on the tailights and doorhandles. You do the machining yourself? The handles will look REALLY nice on that car. Keep it coming, love to check out the progress

Agree with Pete! I darn near tore my hair out trying to pull that panel out. I finally took someone else's advice and disconnected them as a unit from the ends where the activate "stuff". It was MUCH easier this way - even working around the rollcage. I then found out that all the stiffness I'd been experiencing was on the far end not the control end. I hope to never have to hook them back up and go Vintage but.... Wonder how long the heater core would last with 24lbs of pressure Boom! [ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

East Coast Electric has a NICE piece. This may be the winner. Jegs sells this one - something between $75 and $88 and it might flip from side to side too. Not flashy but looks solid. Cheaper than March and probably closer to the block. Pry to adjust, I'll live Just not sure what the difference is between the two of the mounts, Jeg's doesn't say. Guess I'll hunt up another source and see. Fun 'n games!

Yup, I figured as much If the tolerances are that tight though it's probably a pretty good unit. If that's what's on our Impalla it's lasted about 100K with no rebuild in sight. I'm looking at the Transdapt lower mount, the Vintage Air mount which isn't pictured anywhere but my Chevy mag, and the March mount. I believe the March mount can be used with a V-belt. Wysco pullies from Jeg's in brushed aluminum w/nose cone are about $100. The Transdapt piece is $40 - FWIW Racesearch was HIGH on ALL of these parts. I'm tempted to just order this tonight but am going to sleep on it. I think any of those three mounts will work but for a bit more the March piece sure is purty. If the TD piece was just $20 I'd jump on it and switch up later if I didn't like it but at double that cost it's not so easy to discard. Ross, is that piece even very visible? Sturdy? It looks like flat stock and not much to it. Pry on it to adjust? Again, I appreciate the help on this guys. Yes, I sweat the little stuff sometimes. I DID finally get my bolts for the valve covers and get my throttle cable installed. Carb studs are too short for use with my carb heat shield though - TD sells taller ones cheap

Ross, is this th eTransdapt unit you're talking about? -> javascript :popup1('http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=6904',650,450,'TRD9758'); If that doesn't work it's Transdapt #9758. $39 from Summit (shrug). Their pulley's aren't too hateful in price and while looking for this I think I might have found another part I needed [ June 06, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

Ah - you're doing a ZX? In that case you've NOT got setback plates. You do have motor mounts though so perhaps it's 6 of one, half dozen of another. The March 20215 setup comes out to the side 12.5 inches. That's getting close to the frame but I may have as much as a half inch to "spare". That sucker is $137 from Jegs with NO pulleys though (gulp). I may just go for one of the other two other sets - they have pulleys, brackets, etc. but won't mount A/C that I can tell. I'll check out their prices if I can find them. Prices on V-belt pulley sets sans brackets from Jegs (March) are as high as $200. I think I'm back to the $300 mark but I get to keep my pump The smartest move may be to forget the nice billet stuff, get the Transdapt unit, buy a couple of decent V belt pulleys for water and crank and sweat this after the car is running! If the Transdapt unit won't fit I won't be out much if anything. Swapping pumps is still an option if I must. P.S. I think Pete must have one of the CS130 style alternators. Mine may be "small case" but the CS130s are tiny! Check this out -> http://www.marchperformance.com/pg52.html Polished instead of chrome, I like it. Want to bet it costs a ton? I'll measure my alternators case when I get a chance but there's almost no chance it's one of the 6inch units. [ June 06, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]

Okay, try #2! #$@!! computer! Firstly, thank for the advice on the low mount. I had thought that it would NOT work due to the setback plates. I also appreciate you telling me I got a small case alternator, I think Pete's might be even smaller though IF low mount will work the some of th eMarch billet stuff should work too. http://www.marchperformance.com/pg9.html has 3 setups that are nice. The Vbeltserpentine one looks good and could take A/C later on maybe. It doesn't include pullets but I think I can deal I will eyeball this again tonight, not having any pullies it's tough for me to know how far back the alternator will go. (sigh) If I can figure it out I'll try to flip the alternator to the passenger's side. Thanks for bearing with me. I've been a little lost here and 99% of my friends haven't a clue about SBCs. The one friend that does got me the bracket for high mounting - right where my oil filter is mounted. It also used one of those long arms that I've seen flapping at idle at so many car cruises. I'll still post alternator dimensions and post how it works out in case anyone else is frustrated. I still think Pete's solution rules

Yeah, but for $200 you can have one with EL lighting that will change colors if the temp gets too high and is probably peakhold some of those things are pretty awesome IMO and if th etachs didn't look liek such junk and htey actually HAD speedos for them I'd have probablt considered them more seriously. Oh well!

Okay - size of case I'm NOT sure about. It's the ProForm unit that Jeg's sells. It's a one wire unit and 100amps. The links I put up are indeed fairly high mount - YUCK - but Pete's is darned nice! Lone's mount would work too actually and I'd be happy. Part of the problem here is I'm DIRT ignorant on the darned SBC stuff! I haven't worked onowned a SBC in about 6 years and the accesory stuff is a mystery to me. Heck, I thought the difference in LWP and SWP as simply the length and that JTR specced the long one to fit the fan in the shroud. I thought a SWP would give me more space and went with that. I did NOT know, 9 months ago, that the LWP was the more standard one or that there were multiple sizes of alternator case. I knew 3 wire, 1 wire, and external regulator. (sigh) CSI wasn't in my vocabulary unil today when Pete clued me and researched. Even knowing that not many sites are mentioning it - Powermaster being one of the few I've seen that were real clear. I've looked though the PowerMaster site and I'm going to compare their pics with my alternator to TRY and figure out which case it is. I'll also look at the alternator on our Impalla (and how it's mounted!) to try and get a clue. I pop the hood on that sucker as little as possible - it's the woman's and woe be me if I tinker with it - she wants it STOCK. Hence, I dunno' too terribly much about it an like it that way. Ross, mounting it way down low next to the damper would be FINE with me. BUT I had thought that the setback plates got in the way. No? That would be wonderful news! I'd held the alternator up down there and it just didn't look like it would work but I'll try it again and eyeball it. Low on either side, preferably the passenger, would be great. Lot's o brackets ou there to do that like the old Chevy II (apparently). Like this-> Middle of the head on neither side would also be great ala Pete. I will measure my alternator case and post it. IF it turns to to be the right size case I'll Snoopy dance and try to build brackets like Pete's. What are the chances I'd be that lucky with a $100 alternator?! *cough* Swapping pumps is no big deal but returning this one won't happen - it came with the motor. As I said before spacers are well good and fine but the pics I've looked at, including Pete's and others, show a boss on the long pump that I do NOT believe is on my short pump. I might be crazy but I looked last night and didn't see it near the heater hose outlet. That boss is used in several LWP setups - simply extending my SWP doesn't give me that boss so extending may NOT be an option. Hell, if I just had a couple of SWP pulleys laying around this would be easier to eyeball but if I might have to swap pumps there's no sense in buying any. Frustrated? Moi'?! I'm past that. This and final mounting of the darned fan are some of the final things I need to do. [ June 06, 2001: Message edited by: BLKMGK ]