1980 Grand Prix LS swap

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Injectedcutty

G body LS mafia
Nov 24, 2014
6,057
22,807
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Louisville, KY
I think that brings me up to date. Next moves are to finish the trans cooler lines, block the hole in the intake where the EGR pipe went in, get the driveshaft shortened, pick up the new tires, sandblast and paint rims,
I'm enjoying this build, the GP looks really well taken care of. We are fairly close in progress on the LS swap. I'm working on the cooling setup this weekend hopefully...just ordered a trans cooler so that'll be up soon.
 
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Winkernod

Greasemonkey
Sep 13, 2018
139
259
63
London Ontario
I'm enjoying this build, the GP looks really well taken care of. We are fairly close in progress on the LS swap. I'm working on the cooling setup this weekend hopefully...just ordered a trans cooler so that'll be up soon.
Thanks Injectedcutty . Glad your enjoying my build. I looked in on your build and mine looks very sad compared to the awesome work your doing on yours. My GP was well enjoyed as well as looked after. It saw only a limited number of winters and garage parked a lot of the time.
 
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motorheadmike

Geezer
Nov 18, 2009
8,976
27,522
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Saskatchewan, Truckistan
Great progress! I would have definitely gone with Holley's swap headers - they are super sweet and the collectors align with their trans x-member. I get the impression you are Canadian.
 
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Winkernod

Greasemonkey
Sep 13, 2018
139
259
63
London Ontario
Great progress! I would have definitely gone with Holley's swap headers - they are super sweet and the collectors align with their trans x-member. I get the impression you are Canadian.
motorheadmike Thanks, it is coming along. heat and dollars was the reason why I went with manifolds. It might have been better but..... So how did you guess I am Canadian Eh?
 
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motorheadmike

Geezer
Nov 18, 2009
8,976
27,522
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So how did you guess I am Canadian Eh?

We can smell our own. 1. Oiled under-carriage (it is a very Canuck thing). 2. The way you write (works in junkyard, has the spelling and grammar of a teacher). Your engine crane looks like a Crappy Tire special (I have the same one) 4. The speedo goes to 140... and that ain't in MPH (this was the dead giveaway).
 
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Winkernod

Greasemonkey
Sep 13, 2018
139
259
63
London Ontario
We can smell our own. 1. Oiled under-carriage (it is a very Canuck thing). 2. The way you write (works in junkyard, has the spelling and grammar of a teacher). Your engine crane looks like a Crappy Tire special (I have the same one) 4. The speedo goes to 140... and that ain't in MPH (this was the dead giveaway).
Thats funny and I thought it was the pic of the front end with the Ontario plate
 
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motorheadmike

Geezer
Nov 18, 2009
8,976
27,522
113
Saskatchewan, Truckistan
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Winkernod

Greasemonkey
Sep 13, 2018
139
259
63
London Ontario
A little more progress on the weekend. Trans cooler lines, more wiring, exhaust adapters installed,(modification worked perfectly). Dropped off the driveshaft for shortening.
 

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Winkernod

Greasemonkey
Sep 13, 2018
139
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63
London Ontario
Yippeeeee !!! Its alive!! So got my driveshaft back, finished up the wiring for the cooling fans topped up all the fluids mounted the OBD port. Cranked it over without power to the ecm or fuel pump and got oil pressure in about 20 seconds. Powered up the ecm and fuel pump. Cycled the key several times and quickly realized I missed tightening a fitting. With that fixed I went around and checked all the fluids again. and turned the key. It kinda popped but not enough to run. Cycled the key 3 more timed and hit the starter and it lit right up. Within 15 seconds it idled down. and was running decent. But the excitement was kinda shorted lived as it started to load up. It was running so rich I could not even get the cooling system to temp to burp the system. To make a long sorted story shorter after some discussions and 2 brand new O2 sensors I discovered that I goofed up and had the wiring switched side to side so bank 1 was actually reading bank 2 OOps!! Changed that and ran it long enough to have the cooling fans cycle twice. My neighbour came over to see how I was progressing and was amazed at how easily it broke free and do a little smoke show. Now on to the exhaust shop to get it cop friendly. Not going to be much else for this car other than the bumper fillers for this year as the budget is pretty well empty.
 
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Winkernod

Greasemonkey
Sep 13, 2018
139
259
63
London Ontario
So after driving this for awhile (actually not long at all) I realized that the rear end definitely needed a different gear set. (I still have no idea what the ratio was and really don't care, just now it was sh*t) Running at 100 kph and the torque is barely staying engaged, and shift points were wonky as hell. The schedule moved up dramatically. Looked around and searched for a 8.5 diff to build but i could find nothing within a day round trip. and I had a prime 7.5 at work. so grabbed it and sent it out to be built. Eaton locker and 3.73 gears c/w all new seals and bearings and axles. Got it back and did a big push to clear my garage and schedule to put it in on Saturday. With some swearing and lots of water breaks, got it in with plenty of time to take it out and leave a couple black stripes out in front of the neighbours house. I kinda mad at myself as I didn't take any pics as I was going along, but my focus was to get this done. This thread will continue as this Grand Prix is becoming more of a build now than just an LS swap.
 
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