heavy85

... and the ends need to have a bigger footprint to effectively provide the benefit of not using rod ends. The tiny ends on these would tend to pivot IMHO and would be a lot stronger if there was a single plate that connected the two and maybe even if the mounting plate went around to all three bolts. Cameron

Ditto that scale just laughs at 60 grit flapper wheel - even a new one. I cant get a wire wheel to take it off but I dont have a new other either. In fact I cant find anything to take it off efficiently. Cameron

Jon I think the 'wrong' location is the best at least on my car. For one there is a vertical gusset on both side right behind that area (you can see this in bjhines pics) and you can tie into the top horizontal plate of the cowl. Other reason is it's far enough out that you can weld the bars in instead of using rod ends. I think welding would provide a far stiffer structure. Just my 2 cents after studying it for a while. Here's where I'm planning on attaching. It's centered in front of the vertical support and tied into the top plate. Just tacked in temporarily to get the idea and mock up the tubes. And I agree the tabs on the strut tower should be spread out like they are now. Cameron

Short answer is ground clearance. 1x3 and you dont have to cut into the floors (reason I chose this), 2x3 and you need to cut a slot and recess into the floor, 3x2 and you'ld have big bumps under your feet but your right 3x2 would be the best for this application if it would fit. If I had not needed new subframes I probably would have tied a 3x2 or 3x1 or similar into the rockers (see other threads for examples) and left the subframes alone. I am actually confident with the SFC tied into the TC buckets and a tube from the TC area to the rockers (yet to be installed ... need to order some steel) along with a gusset from the TC to the framerail (yet to be installed in pics) that tying into the TC cup is better from a load path standpoint. LS1 and I 'need' a k-member because I strongly believe that to be the most efficient method and will add the most stiffness to the chassis with a side benefit of mounting the engine. No offense as your mount is probably effective to mount the engine but I dont believe does a lot for stiffening the chassis and appears to be heavier. That sucks 'cause if that's the case then plan B may be in order. Hopefully the UPS man will be kind and deliver my headers tomorrow and well see for sure. Cameron

A guy I work with just put a 350 w/ a carb in a 4 cylinder S10. He used the original fuel injected fuel pump with a regulator set appropriate for a carb and so far works good. A FI pump is designed for high flow and high pressure but there should be not reason it cannot work at lower pressures for a carb application. At least something to think about before throwing the idea out. Cameron

I've noticed that nobody I can find pictures of who welded a tube between the rear strut towers used a backing plate to weld them to (poor wording but oh well). Is there a reason for this or rather lack of this? Thanks Cameron

Ran all last season (autox), tore it down in late October, in the middle of LS1 swap (actively working on it), hope to be running again late spring / summer ... of this year I hope. Cameron

Bartman - do you have to remove the entire well to fit it up in there or could you leave a couple inches depth of the well and still fit the LS1 tank under it? Reason I ask is I have to haul my race tires in the car and they BARELY fit with one in the well, one on top, and two where the passenger seat is suppose to be (15X10 rims). If the well were completely flush then I could no longer fit the tires in the car which obviously is a major consideration but if the tire well could stay recessed by even a few inches I think they would fit. Thanks Cameron

Here is why I had to reinforce the swaybar mounts - you can see air between the framerail side and bottom .... enough you can measure with a yardstick. I already showed the top side so here is the finished other side. I split a 1" tube into two 1x1 angles and plug welded through the old metal to the new plate on the bottom. Here's the new plate on the bottom. Overall this is way overkill if it was caught many moons back before the parent material cracked up. But as you can see above there was not much left to work with so this is what I came up with to make sure it does not happen again. Hope people are enjoying the show and if you have personal experience please feel free to chime in with advice or other things I need to be aware of. Need to order some tubing for the strut towers and am anxiously waiting for the headers - man I hope I dont have to start over on the K-member. Cameron

OK so blocking off it is but how? I too have had bad luck with rubber caps at least 'vacuum' type caps as they get brittle in a matter of months. The LS1 has a 3/4" and 5/8" (I think) hose connection to deal with so I'm struggling to figure out without using rubber caps how to cleanly seal them up. Thanks Cameron

That's a whole lotta toolboxes you got there! Cameron

I should know in about a week when my headers are delivered. I dont see any issues with the starter from my initial trial fit before the k-members were installed. We'll see but I hope I dont have to redo them. I've been thinking alot about this. The back side of the TC cups are very heavily reinforced with the subframe (see pics) but there is nothing vertically to really add support where the cups attach to the frame rail. I'm open to suggestions here if you got ideas. Thanks Cameron

Intersting how they filled in under the batter tray - I always thought that seemed like a built in weak point in the factory design. Cameron

I found filling holes in my floors an exercise in frustration so I would drill some holes and practice on something other than your car. Instead of a penny just take a copper water pipe from the hardware store and hammer one end flat. This way you still have a nice handle. I was a little surprised the weld did not stick to or melt the copper. Cameron

Here's the front swaybar reinforcement. I welded 1/2" tube between the top and bottom of the frame rails with 14 guage plates. Haven't figured out the bottom side yet as not only are about 8" worth of spot welds cracked and seperated but the bottom of one frame rail has about an inch long crack. Overall shot of the engine bay. You can see the finished K-member which the engine mounts will attach to, the swaybar mounts, & strut tower reinforcement. The plates on the firewall will weld to the strut towers through a 1" tube assuming the tubes will clear the engine but I think they will. I chose that spot on the firewall since there is a vertical gusset backing it and it also ties into the top cowl plate so it seems to be about the strongest part of the firewall. To top if off there will be a bolt-in tube from strut tower to strut tower. I ordered JTR headers Friday so next weekend I should be able to stuff the motor back in and start fabbing the mounts. Cameron

I'm trying to figure out the best way to plumb the former heater hoses on my LS1 since I dont have a heater. I've read lots of debate on the L6 on looping the line vs blocking it and I looped mine without cooling problems. So does anyone have a water system schematic and / or practical experience on how to deal with the heater ports with the LS1 when you don't run a heater? Thanks Cameron

That's why I dont like these as the T/C rod is meant to to that - take TENSION and COMPRESSION not bending. Can't you just turn the inner rod end and at least get 180 degree? The outboard adjustment seems pointless to me other than for some reason which I dont understand you want to change the relation of the ball joint vs the T/C rod attachment. Cameron

Strickly speaking moving the pivot does not change camber but the end effect is that it will affect camber. Let me explain. I raised my LCA pivot about 3/4" and run 1" spacers. This was an effort to keep a favorable camber gain in bump ... i.e. the front control arms pointing up so that the tires scrub out in bump and gain a little camber instead of losing it if the arms were flat or pointing down. Keep in mind my car is low and this allowed me to lower it even further. At normal ride heights the arms are already pointing up. My point is that the net effect of moving the pivot up was to keep the arm pointing up which narrows the track a little and reduces camber over keeping the arms either flat or at a less steep angle as they would be if you did not move the pivot up. I now struggle to get 2 degrees camber with offset bushings and EMI camber plates (which I dont care for but that's another story). Thanks Cameron

K-member mocked up which will also become the base for the engine mounts. Should both add some rigidity as well as mount the engine. Cameron PS - I actually have a receipt from who knows how many owners ago in the early 90's for a $1500 stereo install followed closely by a repair bill to fix the damage when the stereo was stolen ... come to think of it maybe that's why my dash is perfect. When I got the car it still had fiberglassed in front speakers and a subwoofer box fiberglassed into the spare tire well ... there's still a few lbs of glass stuck back there.