Restarting my SLC project in West Texas

[Hector]

Very nice progress Hector. Glad the drop gear install went well, that was not something I felt confident I could pull off myself and had Ron do it. We ran into the same issue with one of the gears needed machining.

I know that console was a ton of work and the end result was worth it. It came out great!

Thanks Joel , I had more guts than money on that deal, I learned a lot and I am not so scared of transmissions and gears anymore . It was nice to have an experienced mechanic by my side though. Yes the console was a lot slower and painful than I imagined, but the end result and the experience was worth it.

 

[Hector]

Keep up the good work Hector. You are way to modest about your fiberglass skills, everything is turning out fabulous!

Thanks Kurt, I am hoping I won't screw up the nice leather LOL. Your console is super nice as well and you are much faster !!! But I am getting there , you keep pushing me to stay focused and get everything done .

 

[Hector]

So I installed the transmission cooler bypass hose, thanks Cam for the 120 degree fitting tip, the hose follows the contour nicely.
then installed all the support rods on the transmission late one night, then my friend super Dave came over and asked about the bent bolts and brackets. Whaaat? what are you talking about?. Well he was right, I don't know what I was thinking, then Aaron pointed a quick solution was to move the short rod to the other side of the bracket . Duh!!!. I should have figured that one out, so I will move everything around, will need some spacers. Another thing I will do is make sure all the rods tighten in the same direction, not knowing was a royal PIA. (see the Ts and arrows? )LOL

 

[Hector]

I forgot about the Engine bottom mounting brackets
Frank shipped me the car with the engine installed on the frame, but the rear mounting brackets were way off center and the bottom brackets did not fit due to the uneven gaps.
I though I was going to have to either bend or slot the front brackets , my friend super Dave came over and wisely told me to just loosen the front bolts , without taking them off, we were able to wiggle the engine around jus enough without putting any tension on the form brackets or the engine.
Drilling the holes was a major PIA not enough room on one side and you do not want to come all the way across from the other side of the beam, impossible to get the hole close that way. But we got it done, much happier with the bottom brackets on, Not that I I plan to get airborne or anything but you never know if the engine is going to bounce up on a big bump.

I though about putting rubber inserts, but it was more trouble than is worth for the tiny benefit. since the front mounts are solid.

 

[Joel K]

Hector, glad you got that figured out without having to fab up a new front bracket. way to go!

 

[Hector]

Well I thought the center console work was done, nope!!! it tuns out the shifting cable bracket is too wide to fit inside the center console , I just shake my head anymore . so I had to cut it and weld it, now it barely fits , but it fits, and since I had the welder out I p=welded the bing for the oxygen sensor 7 inches form the exhaust manifold, that is the best placement I can figure fro reading around, Luckily non of these welds are structural LOL!!!

 

[Hector]

I also finished the plumbing on the clutch, then need to figure out how to bleed it without pushing the pedal too far and damaging the fork? I read that somewhere, that you should only push the pedal until the clutch barely releases, so considering that , how do you properly bleed it? probably dumb question, but is lingering in my mind.

 

[Hector]

So I spent my morning cutting dead pal trees from the Texas free with a hand saw!! not fun. Also finished with repositioning all the support rods for the transmission, had to grind the brackets a bit and a few spacers, but I like the way it turned out, no more twisted brackets and bolts. I also mounted the straight through exhaust I got from Fran, now with oxygen sensors in place, I will install the cats and mufflers later , wake up the neighborhood in the mean time, LOL. Finally will start on the electrical stuff. Fun times!!

 

[Hector]

This reminds me how you have to be on your toes all the time on this project, I don't know how serious this would have been , but I don't really want to know LOL!! Do you think out means facing the other way ? duh!!! (look at the stamped letters on the 5 micron filter "out")

 

[Hector]

So I spent my morning cutting dead pal trees from the Texas free with a hand saw!! not fun. Also finished with repositioning all the support rods for the transmission, had to grind the brackets a bit and a few spacers, but I like the way it turned out, no more twisted brackets and bolts. I also mounted the straight through exhaust I got from Fran, now with oxygen sensors in place, I will install the cats and mufflers later , wake up the neighborhood in the mean time, LOL. Finally will start on the electrical stuff. Fun times!!

palm trees and Texas freeze, sorry

 

[Hector]

O2 sensor and oil pressure sensor questions for an LS3 525 crate motor.

Ok guys, I am stuck a bit on the oxygen sensors and oil pressure sensor, I read not to put the oxygen sensors facing up and about 6-7 inches after exhaust comes together from all 4 cilinders on each side, I am not installing an oil cooler YET. So I got the oil adapter plate Alan suggested that has 3 1/8 NPT holes ,
Questions: Is that location of the oxygen sensors OK? should I have just used the hole on the exhaust manifold (it is right in the middle, technically where the exhaust comes together, so which one should I plug? and what plug and gasket I(f any) should I use (pretty hot in there).

Is it OK to use an adapter from the oxygen sensor thread to an 1/8 NPT thread so that I can plug it into the oil adapter plate? Will the extra space caused by the adapter and the smaller hole mess up the oil pressure reading?

Thank you very much

 

[Hector]

sorry, use an adapter from the oil pressure sensor thread to an 1/8 npt thread (not the oxygen sensor) the picture is the oil pressure sensor that plugs into the engine wiring harness.

 

[Kyle]

You want the O2 sensor in the second pic location, ideally it should read mixed gases from all 4 cylinders.

As far as the oil pressure, an adapter should be fine. I’m not sure if you’re tracking the car, but somehow oil coolers have come to be a fad on the forums. Oil needs to get hot and if you’re not tracking the car then an LS3 is in no danger of getting to critical temps.

 

[Hector]

will it be better to just drill and tap an M16 1.5 hole and plug the oil pressure sensor directly into the adapter plate? Just thought about that option

 

[Kyle]

An adapter like this.... https://www.amazon.com/Engine-Adapter-Pressure-Sensor-551172/dp/B015NFNC10

Or a 1/8 NPT sensor

Pressure Transducer Sender Sensor for Oil Fuel Air Water, 1/8"NPT Thread Stainless Steel (100PSI): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Pressure Transducer Sender Sensor for Oil Fuel Air Water, 1/8"NPT Thread Stainless Steel (100PSI): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

 

[Hector]

You want the O2 sensor in the second pic location, ideally it should read mixed gases from all 4 cylinders.

As far as the oil pressure, an adapter should be fine. I’m not sure if you’re tracking the car, but somehow oil coolers have come to be a fad on the forums. Oil needs to get hot and if you’re not tracking the car then an LS3 is in no danger of getting to critical temps.

Thanks Kyle, I wonder why they put the thread on that location on the stock exhaust manifold, I assume the only thing that will go in there is an oxygen sensor. I wonder if anyone used the oxygen sensors on that location before,
No I don't plan to track the car , that is why I am holding off on the oil cooler.

 

[Hector]

An adapter like this.... https://www.amazon.com/Engine-Adapter-Pressure-Sensor-551172/dp/B015NFNC10

Or a 1/8 NPT sensor

Pressure Transducer Sender Sensor for Oil Fuel Air Water, 1/8"NPT Thread Stainless Steel (100PSI): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Pressure Transducer Sender Sensor for Oil Fuel Air Water, 1/8"NPT Thread Stainless Steel (100PSI): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

or tap the adapter plate to the right size M16 1.5 , LOL . Lots of options . Thank you

 

[Hector]

Do you guys know if the front wheel drive output shaft of the Graziano will be a good place to put a sensor for my traction control system? the system uses a sensor on of the front wheels to calculate vehicle speed and then needs another sensor for rear wheel spin, (if it detects a difference will pulse the rear brakes at a desired setting from 0-100%) but obviously you don't want to use a single rear wheel. The system only has 2 sensors, one for the front and one for the rear. Thanks.

 

[Hector]

Well, my SLOW wiring journey continues,
for an ls3 crate engine what pink wire did you exactly use to get the tach signal,? I have the msd 8913 tach driver, the instructions are quite vague, based on what I read, you can connect to a single coil (some posts state that this does not work ) or to the main coil harness wire (pink) , but I am having trouble identifying it.
Also may be a dumb question but why could you not use the bulkhead signal wire (white) position C and the pink wire , position L on the bulkhead.

Thank you

 

[Mark B.]

Hey Hector, aren't you going to be using the AIM dash? If so, you just pick up tach with the OBD2 channel. If you do still need a separate output, tyen yes you can use the Bulkhead connector, position L wire. I used that with the KOSO gauge before I changed to my AIM. You may need a pullup resistor depending on your use.