Chevy Impala SS Forum banner
41 - 60 of 62 Posts

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #41 ·
July 28, 2018

Pulled the axle shafts and noticed some significant wear. They were original with over 300,000 miles on them… probably got my money’s worth. Replaced the axles with Dana (P/N 2022652) shafts and the bearings with the USA Standard (P/N 10001) Torrington kit.









 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #42 ·
September 29, 2018

Ordered and got a new set of wheels (Cragar 610G S/S Gray 17” wheels). I had planned to keep the original steel wheels but when I upgraded the front brakes with Wilwood D52 front calipers (P/N 140-11291-R), the 15” wheel wouldn’t clear. So I guess I needed new wheels, right? Other than the wheel clearance issue, the Wilwood calipers are a bolt in replacement and a nice upgrade to a 2-piston design.









 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #43 ·
October 14, 2018

Began test fitting everything on the engine. Headers, starter (Powermaster P/N: 9100), plugs*, dipstick (Lokar P/N: ED-5001), accessories, oil pressure sender/switch (Standard P/N: PS212), oil filter (WIX P/N: 51036), brackets, etc. Started looking for clearance issues to plan how everything was going to fit in the engine bay and be accessible for maintenance.

* Initially I installed NGK (P/N 7397) Iridium IX plugs. They worked for a bit once I got the car started but I seemed to have trouble with them. Later I ended up switching to the ACDelco R44LTS plugs, then dropped the temperature down to the ACDeclo R42LTS plugs, which are working fanstasic.









 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #44 ·
December 1, 2018

Remember those wheels? Well I got some tires put on them. Had to find a tire that would combine with the 17” wheel and not rub. Found a set of Sumitomo 235/65R17’s (HTR A/S P02) that were within a tenth of an inch (diameter) of the 235/75R15’s that were on it originally. Look pretty good too. Had to get the growler filled on the way home….







 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #45 ·
February 10, 2019

Spent the last few months doing more test fitting, trial and error. This is detailed work if you want to get it right.

  • Custom made spark plug wires (Taylor 8mm P/N: 35071), and found routing brackets that worked. DEI makes a nice titanium sleeve (P/N: 010603) which is what I used on the plug wires.
  • Test fit the TBI and accessories to find interferences. The throttle bracket I found that mostly worked was an Edelbrock bracket (P/N: 8032); only required small modification.
  • Worked out my grounding strategy with straps on both heads (rear) and both sides of the block (front/bottom).
  • I made some plumbing changes for the oil pressure sender/switch to avoid wiring getting too close to the headers.
  • Also did some juggling to move the old L03 into the crate the L31-R came in for long term storage. Not sure what I’ll do with it yet.
































 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #46 ·
May 27, 2019

Got the new transmission (TCI P/N: 371000), torque converter (TCI P/N: 242738), flex plate (TCI P/N: 399174), flexplate bolts (ARP P/N 200-2906) and bellhousing bolts (ARP P/N; 129-0901). Thought about installing both the engine and trans as an assembly, but don’t have the clearance in the garage or the lift for it. And unfortunately, the transmission wouldn’t fit under the car with a trans jack under it. So decided to hoist it into place through the engine bay.











 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #47 ·
July 4, 2019

July 4th, a great day to install an engine. Installed the starter for real this time (Powermaster P/N: 9100). No shims required as it meshed perfectly with my 153 tooth flexplate (TCI P/N: 399174). Mated the trans to the engine and bolted up the cross member which I painted with POR 15. Connected this shifter linkage. All in all, it fit pretty nicely.

Sometime in the last year, I replaced the steering shaft but didn’t take pictures. The old one was very worn and the rag joint was loose. I went with a Borgeson setup build out of two stainless U-Joints and a universal steering shaft (P/N: BRG-115252, BRG-154931 & BRG-450024). The shaft is not stainless so I sprayed it with some clear coat to prevent rust. Hardest part of that procedure was making sure I cut the shaft short enough to fit while still leaving room for telescoping during operation. They are pricey parts but the steering feel is top notch with no slop at all. Looks cool too.





































 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #48 ·
August 25, 2019

Had to do some clearancing on the passenger side bellhousing on the transmission to avoid the headers. Luckily there’s plenty of meat on the flange. A little hacksawing and grinding fixes it right up.











 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #49 ·
September 2, 2019

With the headers fit, I started working out where my ground straps would route. I ended up with 5 of them. 1 on the rear of each head connected to the firewall. 2 on the front of the block going to the frame and one mid-way back on the passenger side connecting to the frame. Started routing wiring, plumbing for trans cooler. Installed the narrow band O2 sensor; I used the 4-wire heated sensor to ensure the car will stay in closed loop even if the headers cool down a bit (GM P/N AFS75).

Installed a torque converter dust cover (Racing Power P/N: R9587) and needed to hack at it quite a bit to get it to fit. Definitely not my best work and I got frustrated more than once, which is probably why it turned out as it did. It’s in there and thankfully well hidden.

Began routing the transmission cooler lines. I used AN6 hose (Russell Performance P/N: 630273) with Aeromotive AN to NPT adapters (P/N: 15615) with Earls hose fittings.

I went through a few different header bolts before deciding which to use. Decided on ARP (P/N 400-1106) stainless bolts that have been cross drilled for safety wire. I plan to safety wire them once a few more heat cycles are complete. For header gaskets I was trying to find Earls (P/N: 29DC3BERL) pressure gaskets but nobody really had them. Placed an order with Speedway motors in July 2019 and about 6 months later got them. By then I had given up waiting and installed the Remflex (P/N: 2011) gaskets. They are quite thick and have yet to leak.





































 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #52 ·
March 8, 2020

In 2020, I slowed down taking photos so there is a lot of work not captured. Mostly little things like dealing all the location changes on the intake manifold. Lots of small bracket fabrication, trial and error. Plumbing for fuel lines moved around a few times until I found something I liked. The radiator got installed and removed about a 50 times while I worked all the interferences and routing.

The radiator I found is the Liland Global (P/N: 1211AA) all aluminum one. They seem to be harder to find nowadays but a great radiator nonetheless. I sprung for the Spal 12” dual extreme fans (P/N 30102130) which were a pretty penny but are awesome. You can either spring for the pigtails or buy the connectors separately (Delphi Metri-Pack 280 Series 2 way connectors for 10-12 awg) which is what I did. Am pretty intimately familiar with the Metri-Pack and Weather-Pack connectors. If you plan to do any sort of modifications to your wiring, I suggest investing in a kit. Not too hard to work with and I find it strangely gratifying to build harnesses.

The original fan shroud was designed to deal with a manual fan. So I ended up not using the top half at all and cut the bottom half such that it would act as a cradle for the new radiator. Kept the original retainers at the bottom and drilled two holes in the fan shrouds such that the screws work like locating pins. The top mount is from a 94-96 Impala (LT motor, found on ebay), they came with an electric fan. I fabricated two brackets that would screw into the mounting holes in the radiator support. They curve around the mount and I was able to bolt them to the Spal fan assembly.

Unpictured, I pulled new nylon fuel lines from where the fuel filter is because my old stuff was pretty ratty up front and I couldn’t get new fuel line fittings into the old nylon. I pushed new fitting into the new nylon line (had to boil the line in water to get it soften up first), then pulled the new line. Used new quick disconnect fittings at the engine end (OTC P/N: 7628 & 7629). I then converted them to AN with Russell fittings (P/N 640930 & 640940). On the aft end, I used a Dorman (P/N: 800-058) repair kit to adapt to the quick disconnect on the feed line (the fuel filter side) and a brass barbed connector to join the new and old nylon for the return line.



















 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #53 ·
May 23 – June 6, 2020

These shots cover the last mockup / fit-check I did before starting the car.

Connected up the heater control valve and ran heater hose to the intake, the radiator and heater core. Used HPS 5/8” silicone heater hose and protected areas that are exposed to more heat with WISAUTO high heat fiberglass sleeving (black). The original quick disconnect heater hose connections were long gone, but I found that ACDelco makes plastic barked quick disconnects (P/N: 34000) and used those to connect to the heater core.

For intake, I used a Spectre (P/N: 9849) 4” plenum with a single stud (Spectre P/N: 4215) instead of the dual stud intake from the stock intake. I drilled a hole in the back of the plenum and threaded it for the IAT (GM P/N: 25036751). From the plenum, I used a Hiwowsport 90 degree 4” silicone hose and installed a Revotec self-sealing hose takeoff from Murray Motorsport to route a breather hose. Nice little part but very expensive for what it is. (Self-Sealing Hose Take-Off Fitting) From there it was just a strait 4” aluminum pipe with a K&N clamp on air filter (P/N: RG-1001RD). Pictures are further down.

My fuel lines come up the passenger frame rail, convert to AN6 then are clamped where the AIR pump used to be. The feed is routed up behind the AC compressor and snakes around the EGR and TBI to connect on the driver side TBI port. The return line comes out of the TBI (on passenger side) and crosses over under the master cylinder to the fuel pressure regulator (Aeromotive P/N: 13301). The line then snakes behind the power steering pump and runs under the front of the oil pan behind the harmonic balancer. The entire engine compartment fuel system is made with Russell Performance (P/N: 630273) hose that’s wrapped in DEI titanium sleeving (P/N: 010603) and, where needed, wrapped in corrugated tubing and taped with Tesa high heat harness tape (P/N: 51036). In fact, nearly all of my electrical wiring is wrapped in this tape. It looks nice and is very good to prevent chafing.

I ran 1/0 battery cable to the starter, alternator and passenger fender junction. Also ran 1/0 ground cable from the battery to the fender ground and 2/0 ground wire from the battery to the block. Battery terminals are JL Audio (P/N: XB-BTU). They were a bit fussy to work with but the results are pretty good I think.

These pictures don’t show my vacuum lines but they are all silicone and I connected the fuel pressure regulator such that it’s vacuum referenced.

My lower radiator hose is just the standard ACDelco molded hose (P/N: 24111L). But the upper needed to be rerouted. I used a bunch of pieces of HPS 90’s and straights to make it work. Used stainless hose clamps and aluminum couplers to hold it all together. It sits pretty tight in place with zip tie holding it to one of the cooling fan brackets.

Originally, the AC compressor bracket had two brackets. One going to a stud on the intake and other going to an exhaust manifold bolt. I fabricated a new bracket going between the compressor bracket and a stud for the EGR valve. The other bracket is tied to another stud on the same bracket where the AIR pump used to be. So far they have held up.

On the alternator side, I fabricated a bracket from a bolt hole on the alternator straight down to the number one cylinder header bolt.

For AC hoses, the main hose between the compressor, condenser and dryer is available for purchase but the suction line is not. I just don’t trust the old rubber hose and so photographed the old one and fabricated a new one by welding on new crimping collars and spending way too much money for a tool to crimp them. Oh well now I can make my own AC hoses.

























 

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #56 ·
November 18, 2020

The car spend a few months at a local exhaust shot getting a dual 2.5” stainless x-pipe system added with dual Magnaflows. The transmission cross member needed to be notched and the guy did a great job. There is a picture of the pipe stock he used to notch the member and you can see he welded on a plate to the backside for strength. I had O2 sensor bungs welded in on both pass and driver side since I wasn’t sure which I might be putting my WB O2 sensor in (it was installed on passenger side). The system exists just aft of the rear wheels and sounds killer.

While I can booger weld and get by with small stuff big exhaust things, especially with stainless is better left to someone who knows what they are doing. A big thanks to Randy’s Custom Exhaust in Arlington, WA.































 

· Registered
Joined
·
11,703 Posts
If you move the vapor canister behind the bumper, in front of the wheelhouse extension, you can free up the space for a cold air box. I used the canister mount from a 94-96, and mounted it in front of the WH extension. I had to extend the wires and hoses a few inches to reach, Make sure you put it far enough forward so that it does not interfere with the WH extension. You must drill 2 holes, to mount it. I used a taper end screw with my impact driver to self thread the hole for the screw.

You should use a heat shield where the exhaust pipes are close to the fuel tank. Header wrap, or a piece of aluminum spaced away from the pipe would work. Did you remove the spare well to get the right pipe to fit?
199222
 
  • Like
Reactions: Caddylack

· Registered
Joined
·
66 Posts
Discussion Starter · #60 ·
If you move the vapor canister behind the bumper, in front of the wheelhouse extension, you can free up the space for a cold air box. I used the canister mount from a 94-96, and mounted it in front of the WH extension. I had to extend the wires and hoses a few inches to reach, Make sure you put it far enough forward so that it does not interfere with the WH extension. You must drill 2 holes, to mount it. I used a taper end screw with my impact driver to self thread the hole for the screw.

You should use a heat shield where the exhaust pipes are close to the fuel tank. Header wrap, or a piece of aluminum spaced away from the pipe would work. Did you remove the spare well to get the right pipe to fit?
Thanks Fred! That's a great idea for the vapor canister. Have been thinking about that could be done to make that space free for putting my aircleaner there. I'll have to try that.

I didn't have to remove the spare well to get the right pipe to fit, that's the main reason the exit is just behind the rear tires. And good idea on the heat shield. It has not been a big deal yet but would rather not have to deal with a melted tank down the road, especially since they don't seem to be available. Will probably go with some header wrap at least for the time being.
 
41 - 60 of 62 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top