SSflyer

Yup, same problem here. Mine are so bad I got to thinking my sugarscoop pieces must be tweaked. There was like a half inch gap on one of them that just couldn't be worked out, so now they sit in a box.

Soon. Very soon. Certainly by next weekend.

I got some self adhesive rubber mat from McMaster Carr and it seems to work pretty well. I may have enough left to do another car, so if you'll pay the freight you can have the rest. (I'll double check tonite after work to see exactly what's there.)

Good news. The referee passed the car! Not a single problem and it didn't cost a cent. So now I have an appointment Friday for a dynotune, and we'll get the emissions fixed and see what sort of power this thing makes. (LS1 with a GM HotCam, longtube headers, and low restriction intake.)

I talked to one of the techs at Autometer and he said to send my gauge in to them and they'll install a reverse mechanism so the gauge will read correctly. There's a $25 charge, but if it works it will be well worth it. I'll repost after the gauge comes back... ps. I tried switching the sending lead and the ground lead on the gauge, thinking that maybe the reverse signal would read correctly, but no soap. I guess the gauge reads only the relative resistance between the two wires.

280Zone was exactly right, as usual. I pulled my service manual and there is no mention of a smog pump on the 75 model. Maybe this won't be too bad after all after I show it to them...

Yeah, go ahead and mock my misfortune! I actually had delusions of flying right through the smog test, but in truth, why should I expect this to be any easier (read that as cheaper) than the rest of this project...

Finally have the car really roadworthy, so first stop is the smog inspection. I pull up to the waiting line outside and every head in the building swivels around to see what's making the noise. The old fossil comes out to collect my paperwork and sort of freaked out when the answer to his "How many miles?" question was 25. Anyway, while they're doing the actual test, every single person working there came over to see about the car and to ask questions. It was like a scene from a comedy movie when I opened the hood. They all took a step back like they were peering into the portals of hell or something. Got alot of compliments, but in the end...... no pass. The computer was set pig rich when it was re flashed, so that's no big deal, but they also failed it because it doesn't have 1975 Datsun smog equipment (specifically an air pump). I told them that the LS1 in the car didn't come with an air pump, but their answer to that was that this installation was 'so radical' they couldn't make the call. So now I have to go downtown to some sort of referee station to plead my case. Now I'm starting to have those 'what if they won't pass me' thoughts. Wouldn't that be a fine ending!! The good news is that since I have a 3 day temp tag, I took it out and really drove it for the first time. Man, what a kick in the pants! I got on the freeway and loafed up through the gears and this thing pulls like a freight train, and there's no shakes or shimmys at all. After it's tuned it should really fly. Anyway, either wish me luck with DMV or wish me a way to turn this car into a really expensive ashtray...

No, but it sounds like something I might do. The whole float sender unit only fits one way.

Got a gauge question for you LS1/Camaro gas tank guys. The resistance reading from the sender in my tank (from a 2001 Camaro) is 251 Ohms full and 40 Ohms empty, and I was told that the correct Autometer fuel gauge to use was number 3516. (Their literature says that gauge is for 33 Ohms full and 240 Ohms empty, but I bought it anyway.) So now the gauge reads just below half full when the tank is empty, and below empty when the tank is full. The wiring is correct and the grounds are all good. After hours of screwing around chasing down a non-existant mistake, I had the idea to use my spare sender/float assembly (from a 2002 Camaro) wired directly to the gauge and I got the same result. I don't see any gauge on the Autometer site for the resistance readings on my senders, so what are you all using, or what have I done wrong?

What do you mean by switched the headers from side to side? I don't follow...

The guy who built my headers builds the prototypes for new Corvettes and Vipers for the proving grounds outside of Phoenix, and he used Permatex on all the downstream connections. You can see just a bit in the joints. I don't know if he did the same with the header to block junction because the seam is so tight. I wonder how Permatex would stand up to the compression right at the inlet to the header...

Ok, the other door is on now. My buddy who was taking the pictures said the car looked like something from the Mad Max movie without all the panels on. It is amazing how much smaller the car seems inside with both doors on!

Here's a couple of test drive vids taken Saturday morning....

Is it normal for new coilover springs to keep settling. I mounted mine per the instructions (on the rear) and set them to a good ride height, and reset them again last week, but now the car has settled back to almost the same height as before. I'm wondering if I should move the sleeve up some. The adjusting screw is about 3/4" from the top of the sleeve and I still need to gain a little more clearance. If so, does anyone have an extra pair of mounting rings they'd like to sell? (The coilover kit came from Modern Motorsports and has 10" springs).

Ok, here's my contribution to the 'All Time Stupid Question' contest.... Where/how does the hood release handle mount under the dash? My car has been apart for so long that I can't remember how it went together. The handle has a goofy little bracket on it that goes back at about a 45 degree angle, and I can't see any holes on the dash frame that line up. Did I loose a bracket??

Yup, I got the whole deal. PM your address to me and it's yours.

I think I have the power steering stuff. I'll check and get back to you later this evening.

I mentioned the Camaro tank because my LS1 engine requires approx. 55lbs of fuel pressure, and all of the communication wiring between the PCM and the gas tank sending unit and sensors remained stock and functional. I'm not familiar with LS2 engines, but I suspect they're very similar. It's such an easy install that it may be easier than figuring out what engine controls in the PCM are affected if the stock wiring is eliminated. An added plus is that the filler tube lines up pretty well with the stock opening and the plumbing can be indexed to allow the fuel lines to run right up inside the drivers side frame rail. I'm not necessarily advocating this change, just offering a suggestion. Jeromios' web page has a good write up and pictures if you're interested.

Would a 98-02 Camaro gas tank work with an LS2? I used one with my LS1 installation and the tank fits like a factory installed part. May solve the fuel pump type problems...

I'll try to get a new video done this week. The car sounds pretty good (in my obviously unbiased opinion!). It has a GM hot cam (nice little lope to it) and a set of custom made tri-Y long tube headers going into a pair of Flowmasters. My stealthy little drive last night was at about 11pm, and the exhaust sounded good in a quiet neighborhood!

After years of reading about how jazzed other guys are on the first drive, I got my chance tonite! Three years of work for a drive to the end of the block and back. Man, I thought my Camaro had some power, but this is a whole new level. The engine pulls this little body around like it's nothing. Tonights drive was without a hood, drivers door and seats, (eyeballs just peeking over the bottom edge of the windshield), but what a rush anyway! Now the goal is to get it ready to drive to the MSA weekend. I can hardly wait to get this thing out on the street for real!

Maybe this is old news, but there's been a few posts about finding or making an adapter that will allow Autometer sending units to be used with an LS1 engine. Checker Auto has a package of various sized adapters called a Metric Adapter Kit, and it has the elusive m12 x 1.5 adapter threaded for that fine pitch Autometer sender. The kit is part number 6848. I've been asking at auto parts and hardware stores for months but nobody had even a 12mm brass plug in stock. Just be cautious when torquing the adapter into the cylinder head. It's got a real thin wall thickness and it's REAL easy to twist the head off.

The shape of the fender liners is so smooth it seems like it would be do-able to make a set out of aluminun sheet stock. It wouldn't take much work to segment the top edge to take the curve of the body shell. Maybe try cutting a set out of stiff cardboard to see if it would work...

In my case I kept the whole Camaro wiring harness and modified it to fit the Z-car. The only place I had to splice in Datsun stuff is at the taillights. Otherwise it was just a matter of extending or shortening wires to make everything fit, or removing wires I was no longer going to use. The down side is that I had to buy all GM parts, (fans, horns, wipers, steering column, power seat, etc.) and that got a little expensive. The's lots of guys here who used only the LS1 engine controls and stayed with the Datsun harnesses.