427 engine (part 2) - RHS block

[shakedown067]

Wow, that IS pure sexy...

[Rich Z]

Heck, I can't even LOOK at anything aluminum any longer without feeling a compulsion to polish it........

Been looking over the photos REAL CLOSE looking for flaws and can't find ANY. Hopefully this sucker will all come together now and I'll have my car back on the road REAL SOON.

I was hoping that Chris would get my car onto the lift on Monday, but that didn't happen. Apparently Justin is sick, so Chris sent him home. I sure hope Chris doesn't come down with the bug as well. Or for that matter, hope I didn't pick up a bug while I was there.

Well, Chris said he will have the car on the lift Tuesday afternoon and doing some rewiring for some sensors that are located differently on this engine then they were on my LS6.

I guess maybe when the car is all put together and I hear the new engine crank up for the first time I may not feel quite like a cat on a hot tin roof.......

[Rich Z]

Well, I didn't get out to Xtreme today. Weather was pretty crappy, and Chris told me he was just going to be doing some preliminary (meaning, not video worthy) stuff anyway.

But he said he expects to have the car put together and the engine ready to fire up for the first time by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Barring any brick walls, of course.

I'll be running out there tomorrow and hopefully some major progress will be made putting things back together again.

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by Fatbum

You plan on going up there any other days other than Monday next week? If he doesn't return my stuff by Wednesday I'm going to be up there.

I was under the impression he was going to be prosecuted and that LEO was going to recover your parts.

[Fatbum]

Originally Posted by Bob K

I was under the impression he was going to be prosecuted and that LEO was going to recover your parts.

Those were for the first parts he stole lol, these are new revelations.

But let's not dirty up Rich's thread

[Rich Z]

Chris mounted the motor mount brackets, alternator/power steering bracket, and A/C bracket onto the engine. Some grinding had to be done for fitment purposes. Also had to shorten a couple of polished stainless bolts I got as a kit that were not the correct length for the alternator bracket.

Unfortunately the nuts to hold the windage tray in the oil pan were not provided with the engine so Chris has to find them somewhere.

Apparently some sensors are in different locations on this engine (knock sensors and another I can't remember right now) so Chris had to break out the manuals to see about relocating them and making sure they would be wired correctly. He also found a few burned wires that got too close to the headers and one that looked like it had been chewed by rodents.

He took the cradles over to a paint shop to have them clear coated. He thought that would be a good idea for them and I agreed.

I'll be going back over there today.....

[Rich Z]

I didn't get out to the shop till close to 1 pm. Chris had a bunch of parts he had to get earlier in the day.

I only stayed for a couple of hours. In that time Justin and Chris were wrestling with the windage tray and the oil pan. Again with fitment issues. Obviously this block wasn't made as a bolt on replacement for a LS6 engine. There has to be some substantial grinding done on the oil pan to make it fit. Honestly, if I were doing this all myself, I would already be completely insane. This is why I gave up doing auto mechanics crap YEARS ago.

I'm STILL waiting for the fatal brick wall problem to crop up yet..... I'm hoping it doesn't but I doubt anyone seriously thinks I would be surprised by it at this point. Chris is working his tail off to make this all work, so I hope he can do it...

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by Rich Z

I didn't get out to the shop till close to 1 pm. Chris had a bunch of parts he had to get earlier in the day.

I only stayed for a couple of hours. In that time Justin and Chris were wrestling with the windage tray and the oil pan. Again with fitment issues. Obviously this block wasn't made as a bolt on replacement for a LS6 engine. There has to be some substantial grinding done on the oil pan to make it fit. Honestly, if I were doing this all myself, I would already be completely insane. This is why I gave up doing auto mechanics crap YEARS ago.

I'm STILL waiting for the fatal brick wall problem to crop up yet..... I'm hoping it doesn't but I doubt anyone seriously thinks I would be surprised by it at this point. Chris is working his tail off to make this all work, so I hope he can do it...

When do you think it will be done Rich?

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by Bob K

When do you think it will be done Rich?

Chris is shooting for the end of next week. I think once he gets all the parts fit onto the engine that need to go there, things will go a LOT faster. This grinding parts to fit are really slowing things down.

[Rich Z]

I talked to Chris this morning, and he said he took the oil pan to a machinist to have the metal removed to solve the fitment issues. He felt it would be better this way rather than just using a grinder at the shop.

The cradles should be done, so if the fitment issues can be resolved on the engine, then the drivetrain should be able to be put together onto the cradles, and hopefully soon mated with the body and frame.

Chris said he was just going to work on some wiring stuff today, so I didn't see any sense of running out there.

There seems to be some issue with getting the throttle body in for the engine that I'm trying to get resolved. Not sure what is going on with that, but probably it won't be in when the engine is ready for it. I believe we have another one we can use, but I sure do wish ALL the parts were at hand to put this darn thing back together. Also replacing the 1 3/4 headers with a set with 1 7/8 inch primaries. But that isn't in yet either, from what I understand.

Oh well, it's the weekend, so everything is on hold till Monday anyway...