grannyknot Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 20 hours ago, Ironhead said: Good question... My hope is that I can cut some of the sheet metal and fit it into the space where the battery originally was. I have to get the engine in and just see how everything fits up. Sure, there is all kinds of room under the battery/wheel well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLave Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 18 hours ago, grannyknot said: Sure, there is all kinds of room under the battery/wheel well. Agreed, you can move that sheet metal under the battery "down" a long way. Are you going to stick with the exhaust manifolds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 2 hours ago, LLave said: Are you going to stick with the exhaust manifolds? I was planning to....just because they are compact....and I figured it was a good way to simplify things rather than trying to source or build headers. Plus even with them the engine's power output should be more than enough to get me in trouble..... But I was taking some measurements today prior to dropping in the motor, and I think the flanges on the manifolds sit too wide and will hit the frame rails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Got the engine in the car this morning.... Several areas of interference came up. The exhaust manifolds, as I suspected, were much too wide and had to come off. So I guess I am in the market for headers....thinking of making my own. The alternator was hitting the driver's side engine mount base. The alternator I was using is a 140 amp model off of a GTO. The stud for the battery cable was the portion striking the engine mount...not good of course. I think my car would be more than amply served by a 100 or 110 amp alternator, if those are physically smaller I might try one of them. Otherwise I am going to have to significantly modify the engine mount on that side. I just pulled the alternator for the time being to get the engine in. Finally, the front edge of the oil pan was hitting the steering rack. I mounted the rack on spacers, so it could be raised or lowered if needed. I didn't want to significantly raise the engine, so I lowered the steering rack .5", which game me roughly .25" clearance between it and the oil pan. I just have to space the rod end on the steering knuckle downward an equivalent amount, to avoid bump steer problems. So there were a few hassles...but I kind of expected some...and nothing that cannot be solved. I was hoping to get away with using the OEM exhaust manifold....but that isn't happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannyknot Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Ironhead said: So I guess I am in the market for headers....thinking of making my own. Those OEM exhaust manifolds look pretty tight and streamlined, everything but the connecting flange. I guess there is no way to cut off the flange and extend it down, cast iron is pretty weird stuff to weld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLave Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Nice! That is a big step. My feelings on manifolds were similar to yours. The power gain is not really a factor, OEMs are nicely designed and if they fit, run em. I went with the JTR/Sandersons they are ok. Easy close fit to the block, which leaves plenty of room. The are off the shelf, which saves time and expense. In hindsight I sort of wish I had either went with Hawks long tubes, or made my own. Honestly, mostly because long tubes look cool. The turbo guys weld V-band flanges to OEM manifolds all the time. Might be worth considering. I am sure whatever you come up with will be bad ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 2 hours ago, grannyknot said: Those OEM exhaust manifolds look pretty tight and streamlined, everything but the connecting flange. I guess there is no way to cut off the flange and extend it down, cast iron is pretty weird stuff to weld. 30 minutes ago, LLave said: Nice! That is a big step. My feelings on manifolds were similar to yours. The power gain is not really a factor, OEMs are nicely designed and if they fit, run em. I went with the JTR/Sandersons they are ok. Easy close fit to the block, which leaves plenty of room. The are off the shelf, which saves time and expense. In hindsight I sort of wish I had either went with Hawks long tubes, or made my own. Honestly, mostly because long tubes look cool. The turbo guys weld V-band flanges to OEM manifolds all the time. Might be worth considering. I am sure whatever you come up with will be bad ass. I have never tried welding cast iron, but as I understand things, it is pretty difficult and trouble prone to do. My welding skills are marginal, to be honest. I have another car for which I built a fairly complex all-stainless exhaust with V-bands and all that. I think I could do a decent job on a stainless header....it's just that I know it will be very, very time consuming to do. I was looking at the Hawks long tube headers. My main concern there is that my steering shaft is not routed exactly like stock, so there might be issues with that. Also they are significant money....but really...how is it possible for places to make a quality set of headers for much less than that? I figure if I built my own...about $700 in materials and a LOT of time. Or just pay $1400 for the Hawks. If I was sure they would fit, I would probably just do the latter.... Thanks for the comments guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLave Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 16 hours ago, Ironhead said: I figure if I built my own...about $700 in materials and a LOT of time. Or just pay $1400 for the Hawks. If I was sure they would fit, I would probably just do the latter.... That is the line of thinking that made me end up getting JTR shorties. I didn't place my motor in a "standard" location and I wanted to use a Sander/Vintage air AC compressor. Hawks are a significant cost, but if I knew they would fit and be done, I would spend the money. They should have a beat up set in mild steel or something that they ship to people for mock-up. Test headers. Building a set is tempting. Something super custom and self made is always gratifying. Check out Cone Engineering for collectors. https://www.coneeng.com/exhaust_system_kits.html and Columbia River has good pricing on mandrel bends http://www.mandrelbends.com/mandrel-bends.html Also Speedway Motors has builder kits that might be a good starting point. You can fab it out of mild steel and send it over to Jet-Hot for coating. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/shop/speedway-exhaust-header-pipe-kits~8207-10191-4529-11-524-31037 Ultimately I just opted to get the off the self JTR/Sandersons and move on. They are not my favorite design, but I am certain the will get the job done. https://jagsthatrun.com/products/headers-for-datsun-z-ls1-v8?variant=7943951777835 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 Yeah...I am in sort of a quandary as to what I will do. Knowing myself, when I order something like the Hawk headers....for that kind of money....I tend to find them kind of a let-down when I actually have them in hand. Usually the workmanship is not what I hoped, and I also am not at all sure they will fit my car. I assume they are designed around the Hawk engine mounts, which could cause all sorts of problems for applications that use other mounts...like mine. I am leaning toward building my own. I would like to finish the car....someday....but with projects like this the journey is at least half the fun anyway....at least for me. I tried the smaller 105 AMP GM alternator (part #19244779) today, and it fit without having to modify my engine mounts. I would think 105 AMP would be enough, since I will have no A/C or sound system or any of that. Just another snag sorted without too much hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EF Ian Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Still enjoying your work on this build. That engine looks great in the bay. I'm sure its not problem where you live like it is in my country, but I see you have a lot of bare metal still, is it not worth giving it a quick coat of epoxy primer to prevent any flash rust from forming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpndave Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 I used a set of uncoated Sandersons, added the Cone Engineering collectors, welded on v-clamps, sectioned and rolled the pipes in tighter for better clearance. That was for the JK project on my avatar. Not having those big flanges helps quite a bit for clearance and the collectors did make a difference on flow/power. I also touched up tubes near the ports and blended them with a burr for better flow up at the heads. Someday I'll fabricate some SS equal length tuned headers for it but this worked out pretty well and was relatively quick for a semi-custom install. Maybe something along those lines would work out for you. Nice build, I enjoy following along. I wish I could get some traction on my project. View of the merge collectors HUGE improvement over the regular ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted January 19, 2019 Author Share Posted January 19, 2019 On 1/17/2019 at 12:44 PM, EF Ian said: I'm sure its not problem where you live like it is in my country, but I see you have a lot of bare metal still, is it not worth giving it a quick coat of epoxy primer to prevent any flash rust from forming? I had sort of planned to have to periodically update the epoxy as I finished welding each area, but flash rust really hasn't been a problem....at all. I imagine just because I live in a fairly low-humidity environment. On 1/17/2019 at 2:40 PM, jpndave said: I used a set of uncoated Sandersons, added the Cone Engineering collectors, welded on v-clamps, sectioned and rolled the pipes in tighter for better clearance. That was for the JK project on my avatar. Not having those big flanges helps quite a bit for clearance and the collectors did make a difference on flow/power. I also touched up tubes near the ports and blended them with a burr for better flow up at the heads. Someday I'll fabricate some SS equal length tuned headers for it but this worked out pretty well and was relatively quick for a semi-custom install. Maybe something along those lines would work out for you. Nice build, I enjoy following along. I wish I could get some traction on my project. View of the merge collectors HUGE improvement over the regular ones. I might end up going that route...not sure. I just wish the JTR headers were stainless. I am reluctant to bolt something on that I am just going to want to change out down the road. Thanks for the comments guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 Nothing can ever be simple.... I knew it might be a bit of a challenge mounting the oil tank. A lot of track cars mount it in the passenger compartment, which I didn't want to do...for many reasons. I ordered a smallish tank (1.5 gallon) and figured it would fit somewhere in the engine compartment. But it really didn't. It "might" have fit between the radiator and front of the engine on the driver's side, but I can't be sure as I do not yet have a radiator. It would be close at best, and kind of lame in terms of weight distribution and all that (not that a gallon and a half of oil is all that heavy). So the only decent solution seemed to be more cutting/grinding/welding. I made sort of a "perch" for it below the OEM battery location. My plan is to install a bulkhead fitting in the drain hole at the bottom of the tank, to protrude through a hole in the bottom of the "perch"....to make it easy to drain the oil when needed. The bottom plate is .10" so it should easily support the tank's weight, and then I will just use one mounting bracket to hold it against the firewall. Mocking everything up it seems like this will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannyknot Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 Sweet, and you still have room behind it for one of those small Braille batteries if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EF Ian Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Nice solution, I like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLave Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Looking good. It is amazing how quickly you run out of space. 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag, that is what I say about my car. Especially in the interior, where I make up much of that 10 pounds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, LLave said: Looking good. It is amazing how quickly you run out of space. 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag, that is what I say about my car. Especially in the interior, where I make up much of that 10 pounds... LOL...Yup....I have my seat slammed on the floor....as far back as it can go (until the sloping roof starts to take away the headroom), and my pedals adjusted as close to the firewall as possible. I mean, after all this, I fit Ok, even with a helmet on....but there is NO spare room. Edited January 24, 2019 by Ironhead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 On 1/22/2019 at 3:10 PM, grannyknot said: Sweet, and you still have room behind it for one of those small Braille batteries if you want. I do have a Braille, but sadly it doesn't quite fit. It might have worked if I went with a really small Braille, but I wanted one that would reliably start the car....and it is a bit too large to fit in the space left over. I planned all along to put the battery in the rear next to the fuel cell anyway. I am probably going to run the wiring harness through the firewall in the area just outboard of the oil tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironhead Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 (edited) I got the oil tank bolted in. Clearances are tight, particularly between some of the fittings and the rear coil, but I think it is enough unless a motor mount fails or something. This is the drain at the bottom of the tank. Hopefully will make things easy at oil change time: Most of my experience in the past tinkering with engines has been on four cylinder motors, and I am continually surprised how much heavier all this V8 stuff is. Most of the steel flywheels I looked at weighed in the 35# range, which seems really heavy. So, I went with a 12# aluminum one. There were so many clutches available for LSX engines, it is kind of mind boggling. I ended up going with this one from Centerforce, because it had good reviews for the sort of use I have in mind. Also, because it was orange. But I think that goes without saying. Here again, this clutch was so damn heavy it made me wonder why I bothered with a lightweight flywheel: I am getting the transmission ready to go in. I removed the weird (to me anyway) GM hook-ups for the hydraulic line to the clutch slave, and just used standard AN4 fittings and hose. I also rigged it up for a remote bleeder valve, so I don't have to crawl under the car and work my fat hands into the trans tunnel to bleed the clutch. Small bit of work now should make things easier down the road. Only other "development"....I took some measurements and found the shift lever on the T56 is going to be about 4" too far forward to protrude through the stock opening in the trans tunnel. I don't know why I was assuming this would just line up perfectly (why would it?), but I think I was. I have no real problem welding up the existing opening and moving it forward, but that is going to put the shift lever very close to the dash, and probably also a bit too far forward ergonomically speaking. So I did a bit of searching and found this: https://www.sikky.com/product/t56-magnum-4-shifter-relocation-kit/ I am generally not really a fan of "short shifters", but aside from being a bit overpriced, it seems like this would otherwise solve my issue. Anybody here used one of these, or heard anything about them? Thanks for looking. Edited January 26, 2019 by Ironhead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLave Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Interesting, your shifter seems quite a bit further forward than mine. Are you using a TR6060? I am using a F-Body T56 which I believe has a longer tail section. You can convert tail housings, but the you linked is likely more cost effective. I have not personally used the sikky shifter, but they make nice parts and it looks really solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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