1 Jul 06
Test-fitting of the engine/tranny.

Today's plan was to get the engine and transmission mocked up in the car. I'd bought a 9 inch grinder last month and a cutting disk to make short work of cutting the sheet metal. It worked like a champ. The plan is to cut some 1 inch strips and use them to raise the top of the tunnel to clear the T56. Not sure how well that plan is going to work yet though.

I also replaced the missing mirror on the Camaro, and put a quick tune on it to try and fix the fuel-trim issues I think the ported MAF is causing. For now, I just adjusted the MAF by 5% and the trims immediately went from a range of +4 to +11 to a range of -2 to +5.. it looks like a linear 5% isn't the right way to go about it, I'll need to increase the higher ranges a little more (the big + numbers now are the high vacuum high rpm cells, it looks like). Got good gasoline too, Rockwall county doesn't have the 10% ethanol gas like Dallas county has, so I filled up with Super. Not that anyone cares.

Anyway, off to the test-fit in the El Camino, since that's the car people want to read about.
I think I've reached the point of no return on the tranny swap here. At this point the transmission is vaguely in - the engine is still about 1/8 to 1/4" too far forward and 1/8 to 1/4" too low (it's resting on the crossmember) and the tranny is too high in the back, but it gives a vague notion of where everything will be when it's all said and done.
Looks to be roughly three inches clearance on the driver's side between the head and the firewall.
Oil pan is sitting on the crossmember right now. It needs to come up and go back a little.
The AC lines are going to be a problem. Here the back of the compressor is within 1/8" of the engine stand, and the lines add another inch or so to the length. I may have to get rid of the front mounting bolt and drill a new mount hole a little further back after I notch the frame.
There's a couple of inches or so clearance on the passenger side, but I may have to adjust the AC box to clear a little. It shouldn't take much, anyhow.
Here's what I mean on the engine needing to move backwards a little, I don't like it being that close to the rear edge of the crossmember.
Different view of the engine-firewall clearance.
If I feel motivated on Tuesday (4 Jul) I'll get started on the plate mounts to adapt the LS1 to the stock 350 frame stands. I'll need to just drill the holes for the LS1 side, and let the engine tell me where the rubber mounts need to go. I also need to measure the tranny angle to adjust it correctly - but not until the engine is in the right place.

Go back to the previous day (10 Jun 06)