The slowest L67 build in history

[dguy]

As some of you may have noticed, I have a new sig with a suspiciously clean-looking cradle cradle featured in it at the moment.  Before you ask, no, I'm not suddenly developing a taste for abstract automotive art...

The truth is that I am finally doing something about that tired ol' 2.8 of mine.

Given that I have to balance the project with something of equal priority and money-sucking ability, this is going to take a while.  Regardless, I'm officially under way.   

[dguy]

First things first, was to prep a cradle.

Some fun with a local car wash's pressure washer, about 10 hours of sand blasting, some fresh paint, and a set of poly mounts resulted in a dirty, rusty old cradle becoming this:

dead imageshack link removed, see attachments


Perhaps worthy of note, is that running a 5 gallon media blaster from an 8 gallon compressor requires patience.  For every 15-20 seconds of blasting, I had to wait an equal length of time for the compressor to catch up.  

[2ML67]

Looks real nice and clean, by the look of the mounts I take it this is going to be a standard tranny 3800SC swap. Hopefully a nice series II. Dan

[dguy]

Looks real nice and clean, by the look of the mounts I take it this is going to be a standard tranny 3800SC swap.

Yep.  The only thing I own which could be considered to have an automatic transmission (assuming that a CVT counts), is my snowmobile.  I'd like to keep it that way. 

Hopefully a nice series II.

Yessir, and a non-stock one at that.  More on that at a later date...  I have a target output in mind, but until I spend some time crunching flow numbers, cam profiles, and a few other things I don't yet know if it's a realistic goal.



Currently on the to-do list, is the transaxle.

I'll be using the 3.65 Muncie, with a fresh set of bearings & seals.  As per this thread, I'm having the differential spider & side gears cryo-treated before installing a Phantom Grip unit.

The transaxle is currently in pieces on my work bench, while the diff. gears are presently in Calgary awaiting treatment.  I managed to find the shim selector tool set required for setting new bearings properly on eBay, and am awaiting its arrival.

[2ML67]

If you are planning on using the WCF front mount I would reccomend also using the A/C bracket mount that I use to reinforce it if not there is way too much movement of the engine under load.
 There are pictures of it in the link below. Dan

[dguy]

If you are planning on using the WCF front mount I would reccomend also using the A/C bracket mount that I use to reinforce it if not there is way too much movement of the engine under load.

Definitely a consideration, providing that I can find an alternate location for the a/c compressor.

After what I just invested in a new condenser, I'll be damned if I render the a/c non-functional after a simple little engine swap.   

[2ML67]

The A/C compressor can still be mounted at that location just trim the mount a bit more and bolt the A/C bracket to it, have done this before and it works just fine. I have also made up an easy to copy bracket for mounting the alt low on the trunk side that works with the newer style alternators or the older style. Keep an eye on the photos I keep adding to the site in the link below. If there is any thing else ask and if I have done it I will put up some photos, gotta love digital cameras. If I am being pushy and you want to do this by your self please accept my appologies. Dan

[dguy]

Ahhh, gotcha.  I couldn't tell from the photos whether there is still room for the compressor in there or not. 

I'm definitely interested in that type of alternator set-up as well.

...and no, you're not being pushy.  I'm always open for input & criticism.

[FieroBUZZ]

Looks great Don.   

However please amend your title to read either 'second' slowest or 'slowest S2'

I believe I may have several years head start on the slowest claim.....   

[2ML67]

Gotta admit the buzz has a valid point there Don but then again I am not the fastest either at this whole engine swap thing.

[dguy]

Looks great Don.   

However please amend your title to read either 'second' slowest or 'slowest S2'

I believe I may have several years head start on the slowest claim.....   

I can fix that, trust me.   

After the transmission and a few other pieces have been cleaned up and assembled in to something which I can easily shove about on a dolly, the project goes on hold for at least a year or two.

Somewhere under a pile of flotsam on one side of the garage, lies a neglected artifact from my pre-Fiero days.  It's time for my teenage attempts at restoration and upgrades to be corrected, and a new home found for the old girl.

[FieroBUZZ]

Somewhere under a pile of flotsam on one side of the garage, lies a neglected artifact frommy pre-Fiero days.  It's time for my teenage attempts at restoration and upgrades to be corrected, and a new home found for the old girl.

Don't be shy......... you can say it
v
























RUSTANG

rustang

rustang

        

[fiero308]

.........snip

Perhaps worthy of note, is that running a 5 gallon media blaster from an 8 gallon compressor requires patience.  For every 15-20 seconds of blasting, I had to wait an equal length of time for the compressor to catch up.   

supercharge your air compressor! Hook up your vacuum cleaner in reverse and make that the compressor INTAKE.......LOL
hey! it should work!!!!
(if you are talking about that small a compressor then this will make a percentage difference    )

LOL

[dguy]

The transaxle is currently in pieces on my work bench, while the diff. gears are presently in Calgary awaiting treatment.  I managed to find the shim selector tool set required for setting new bearings properly on eBay, and am awaiting its arrival.

Ran in to a few delays with the diff. gears; in the mean time I'm starting to have a go at the bearings.

Three of the races are in "through holes" (differential & input shaft head), and can be extracted with a drift.

The other three (output shaft + input shaft tail), are seated in blind holes. The tool which comes to mind would be a slide hammer with an appropriate sized claw to hook the "back" of the race, and pull it out. Is this the best way to go about it, or is there something better?

[dguy]

Behold, the motivation for my post in Parts earlier this week...

I started removing the old bearing races last weekend.

The two for the differential came out easily, got to work on the one at the head of the input shaft, and in one brief, boneheaded moment I managed to wreck the bearing/seal retainer.  

dead imageshack link removed, see attachments


On the plus side, the differential carrier bearings can be yanked off easily with a two-arm gear puller.  I hope to pick up a set of blade-style bearing separators to deal with the ones on the input & output shafts today.

The case halves are at a local tranny shop to have three final races removed, and the replacement bearing set should arrive today or tomorrow.