LT1 Install Progress

[Bartman]

Here's the latest pic.

http://home.earthlink.net/~570z/images/almost.JPG

The headers are installed, as well as the transmission mount and driveshaft. Basically I just need to finish up the wiring, and add fluids. The wiring is a big PITA:bonk: .

[Tim240z]

Wiring....PITA....c'mon now....all the work is done already

Looks great!! Moving right along, huh.....should be running really soon!!

Tim

[Bartman]

Wiring....PITA....c'mon now....all the work is done already

Looks great!! Moving right along' date=' huh.....should be running really soon!!

Tim[/quote']

Most of the connections on the TH harness (what does TH stand for? ) were pretty easy, but I need to splice everything into my existing wiring (not fun).

 

I hope it will be running soon...I can hardly wait .

[wheelman]

Bart,

All you need to connect is the switched/non-switched power and ground.

 

I grabbed the underhood fuse box from my donor so that part is fairly easy. It has taken me a lot of time to rebuild the harness but I'm getting to the last stages now. I'm starting to rebuild the actual battery connections and tie it into the Datsun harness.

I'm replacing the original fuel pump connection to the ign switch with a connection to the fuel pump relay of the donor harness and using the hot side from the ign switch to connect up the switched power to the underhood fuse box. You can probably do the same thing, that is unless Tim totally rebuilt the LT1 harness to use different connections.

 

Don't get to frustrated with it, at least Tim did most of the nasty work for you.

 

BTW: Very nice looking install so far. I like the way you put the intake track together. I'm not sure exactly how mine will be configured yet but it will be similar to yours.

 

Wheelman

[80LS1T]

Looking good! I will soon be reinstalling my LT1/T56 into my 280ZX with the "new" 95' MAF harness. I dont mind the wiring part but it can get very boring after a short period of time.

 

Did you "warm" up the engine at all while it was out? I know Tim didn't.

 

Guy

[Bartman]

Bart' date='

All you need to connect is the switched/non-switched power and ground.

 

I grabbed the underhood fuse box from my donor so that part is fairly easy. It has taken me a lot of time to rebuild the harness but I'm getting to the last stages now. I'm starting to rebuild the actual battery connections and tie it into the Datsun harness.

I'm replacing the original fuel pump connection to the ign switch with a connection to the fuel pump relay of the donor harness and using the hot side from the ign switch to connect up the switched power to the underhood fuse box. You can probably do the same thing, that is unless Tim totally rebuilt the LT1 harness to use different connections.

 

Don't get to frustrated with it, at least Tim did most of the nasty work for you.

 

BTW: Very nice looking install so far. I like the way you put the intake track together. I'm not sure exactly how mine will be configured yet but it will be similar to yours.

 

Wheelman[/quote']

Thanks Wheelman,

Your right Tim did most of the nasty work, but it's still an intimidating job. I've never done any wiring work, so this is all new to me and I'm trying to take my time and break the job up into multiple sessions to help ease the frustration.

Looking good! I will soon be reinstalling my LT1/T56 into my 280ZX with the "new" 95' MAF harness. I dont mind the wiring part but it can get very boring after a short period of time.

 

Did you "warm" up the engine at all while it was out? I know Tim didn't.

 

Guy

Thanks Guy,

No, the engine hasn't been "warmed up"...yet. You never know what I may do in the future, but for now it's the same as it was in Tim's car.

[pparaska]

I certainly don't practice what I preach on this, but it's refreshing to see people go to the trouble of letting the engine get it's intake air from INFRONT of the radiator support.

 

I always laugh when I see a $10K+ SBC in a $60K+ built up street rod, etc., with a tiny rectangular chrome filter right in front of the throttle body of an LT1 style intake, where the fan is blowing hot air right into the bottom side of it.

 

Nice work!

[Bartman]

I certainly don't practice what I preach on this' date=' but it's refreshing to see people go to the trouble of letting the engine get it's intake air from INFRONT of the radiator support.

 

I always laugh when I see a $10K+ SBC in a $60K+ built up street rod, etc., with a tiny rectangular chrome filter right in front of the throttle body of an LT1 style intake, where the fan is blowing hot air right into the bottom side of it.

 

Nice work![/quote']

Thanks Pete, but the credit goes to Tim. This is Tim's old setup complete with engine, transmission, rear end, intake, etc. He did an excellent job of engineering his setup, and it slipped into my car like a glove:hail: .

[flibuoy]

I think your intake plumbing is just what I need....have similar routing now from bits and pieces of Lowes stuff, dryer hose etc....would you mind taking a minute to detail yours for us? Numbers...source etc? Stuff like this is what makes a driver a driver. John

[Bartman]

I think your intake plumbing is just what I need....have similar routing now from bits and pieces of Lowes stuff, dryer hose etc....would you mind taking a minute to detail yours for us? Numbers...source etc? Stuff like this is what makes a driver a driver. John

Tim,

Do you have the details that John is looking for?

[Tim240z]

I don't remember the name of the place that I got the 3" rubber elbows from, but a google search, or some of the truck (big 18-wheelers) supply places have them. The only tough one to find is the 3" to 3.5" reducer at the MAF sensor. The intake elbow (oval one right at the throttle body), is this one, available from Summit et al:

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?Ntt=intake+elbow&N=0&part=VOR%2D4GH112%2D050&autoview=sku&Ntk=KeywordSearch

 

The tubing is just mandrel 3" aluminized exhaust tubing with a big @ss K&N filter.....

 

BTW: JTR also has the rubber intake elbows: https://shell7.tdl.com/~jags/Pages/Parts_AirClean_Ducting.html

 

[Bartman]

BTW, how should I splice my wires together? Should I use heat seal connectors like these:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/showCustom-0/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2007739/c-10101/p-2007739/Ne-600002086/N-111+600002086/tf-Browse/sct-body/s-10101/th-StoreCatalogDisplay/ss-10101

 

Thanks,

Bart

[Tim240z]

I did two methods.

In places where I thought I may need to disconnect them in the future, I went to the JY and got some nice weatherproof plugs from newer vehicles and soldered and heat shrunk, or taped the plugs on.

Where I just needed to permanently join, I soldered and heat shrunk, or taped.

Tim

[wheelman]

I'm using the same method Tim used. Weather pack plugs are easy to come by in JYs and all autoparts stores have heat shrink and tape. Use heat shrink more than tape is possible but both are good.

 

I'm trying to make it possible to totally separate the LT1 harness from the Datsun harness by putting plugs at all connections between the 2. That way if there are major wiring issues I can disconnect them and track from there.

 

Wheelman

[80LS1T]

While those heatshrink connectors are ok, I would recommed doing exactly what Tim said and use JY weather pack connectos where you might need to disconnect the harness and solder everything else and use heatshrink tube over the soldered connection. I personally dont care for using electrically tape when I dont have to. It is a PITA when you want to remove it(IMHO) and it just doesn't look as nice as heatshrink tube does. Thats just my personal preference though!

 

 

Guy

[Guest 73LT1Z]

If I'm reading this right, you are adapting the OEM LT1 harness into the Datsun harness? After re-looming the harness & repairing a few damaged connectors (donor car was in a front end crash) on my 383 installation in my TA, I feel your pain!

 

After re-wiring the harness, do you think it would be worthwhile to go the Painless harness route instead? The harness on my old motor is somewhat damaged as well & this is what I was thinking about doing. By using the T56, it looks like I could buy the less expensive harness & there is a place that will custom tune the PCM for like $50, which I think can disable the VATS.

 

Great website & your car is turning out beautiful.

[Tim240z]

& there is a place that will custom tune the PCM for like $50' date=' which I think can disable the VATS.

 

Great website & your car is turning out beautiful.[/quote']

 

Why not just spend a few bucks more and buy TunerCat and a cable and delete all the stuff you want, plus reset codes, read codes, tune etc etc

[wheelman]

For the price of the painless (?) harness I'll do it myself.

 

It really isn't that bad once you get a wiring diagram and trace out the leads. The biggest head ache for me was that I relocated the PCM to the opposite side of the engine bay from where it was in the donor so I had to lengthen half and shorten the other half. The circuits that weren't needed were pretty obvious other than a couple I had questions about (oil level sensor and water temp guage sensor). My questions were answered here or on ls1tech.com so it wasn't really a very big deal.

 

I agree with Tim about getting TunerCat or LT1edit except it doesn't necessarily give you the knowledge of which values to tweak in order to get it setup the way you want. I plan on having the major changes done by someone who knows what they're doing and then fine tune it myself.

 

Wheelman

[Tim240z]

I agree with Tim about getting TunerCat or LT1edit except it doesn't necessarily give you the knowledge of which values to tweak in order to get it setup the way you want. I plan on having the major changes done by someone who knows what they're doing and then fine tune it myself.

 

Wheelman

True, however, it does give you the option to email your file to a tuner, and then get it back and download it to the PCM.....

[Bartman]

If I'm reading this right' date=' you are adapting the OEM LT1 harness into the Datsun harness? After re-looming the harness & repairing a few damaged connectors (donor car was in a front end crash) on my 383 installation in my TA, I feel your pain!

 

After [i']re-wiring[/i] the harness, do you think it would be worthwhile to go the Painless harness route instead? The harness on my old motor is somewhat damaged as well & this is what I was thinking about doing. By using the T56, it looks like I could buy the less expensive harness & there is a place that will custom tune the PCM for like $50, which I think can disable the VATS.

 

Great website & your car is turning out beautiful.

Thanks for your positive comments:) .

 

Actually, the job isn't winding up being that difficult. I unwrapped the Datsun wiring harness in the engine compartment, to separate out the actual wires for the engine from the rest of the harness (headlights, turn signals, etc.). I'm doing this process the way it is described in the JTR manual. Tim has already cleaned up the LT1 harness, so it should be relatively easy to connect the two together.

 

I'm not sure about the Painless harness, I guess it all depends on your abilities and desire. I know some people at this site have gone that route (especially with the LS1 swaps), but they are rather expensive. The JTR Chevrolet TPI & TBI Engine Swapping manual does a good job of discussing the pro's and con's of getting an aftermarket wiring harness.

 

My problem is my lack of experience with wiring and engine electrical. I'm use this as a learning opportunity and therefore I want to do as much of it myself as possible.