I guess I got lucky finding a T-Type 8.5" non-posi for $250 then. Had to drive 5 hours for it, then swapped out the carrier for a Detroit Tru-Trac geared posi. Have less than $750 in mine
BUILD THREAD 86 GP 2+2~Blown 6.0
- Thread starter 81cutlass
- Start date
I finally got back to this car. I am used to MN/ND winters where you can't do anything fun car related until April so I was like yeah I got 2 months no problem. I looked at the weather and it looks like spring comes a month early in IA so back to it! It also provided seing a bit of motivation since my house mate's l67 fiero is like damn near done. Took it for a little tuning drive and its quick! He's got some quirks to work out but I think its a mid 13 car as it sits. I think its got some 12's in it with just corn and good tires for as light as it is.
The interior and cooling system was next up. Windows were all floppy so I decided to finally get windows felt in it. I bought some PUI monte SS repops. Decent but not exceptional. They are definitely for the wide reveal molding but I havnt found the correct chrome strip non molding style for a GP yet. I have to add more screws down the road I think but good enough for now.
Also got the power window wiring working. The previous owner hacked the wiring on the drivers switch when they slammed the door on the switch since they took the panel off and the A piller area on the door was cracked and brazed poorly. I never was able to get both windows to go up and down, turned out the PO moved some of the wires around in the plug and the power was going directly to ground on one of the switch throws. So thats fixed!
Cooling system next. I had to twist the old water pump outlet neck to clear the blower pulley. It must have broke some seal inside the neck but the pump dumped fluid out the vent hole so I had to replace it. Turned out the replacement one (not a delco) is different then a stock GM LS one but mostly close. This time I had my buddy cut and weld the inlet neck 35 degrees. Mounted it and the new rad since the old one leaked and was in rough shape. Bought an intrepid fan and started getting that mounted.
Might get ambitious and put the drivers door panel in once I fix it a bit, and get my master resovior mounted and clean up some of the wiring. Maybe take it on a test drive since its going to be a tropical heat wave and be like 60 this weekend.
I got my start for the brackets for my zr2 G body rear project too. I gotta make the program for a few parts this weekend and get it on my buddys CNC bridgeport in a couple weeks.
The interior and cooling system was next up. Windows were all floppy so I decided to finally get windows felt in it. I bought some PUI monte SS repops. Decent but not exceptional. They are definitely for the wide reveal molding but I havnt found the correct chrome strip non molding style for a GP yet. I have to add more screws down the road I think but good enough for now.
Also got the power window wiring working. The previous owner hacked the wiring on the drivers switch when they slammed the door on the switch since they took the panel off and the A piller area on the door was cracked and brazed poorly. I never was able to get both windows to go up and down, turned out the PO moved some of the wires around in the plug and the power was going directly to ground on one of the switch throws. So thats fixed!
Cooling system next. I had to twist the old water pump outlet neck to clear the blower pulley. It must have broke some seal inside the neck but the pump dumped fluid out the vent hole so I had to replace it. Turned out the replacement one (not a delco) is different then a stock GM LS one but mostly close. This time I had my buddy cut and weld the inlet neck 35 degrees. Mounted it and the new rad since the old one leaked and was in rough shape. Bought an intrepid fan and started getting that mounted.
Might get ambitious and put the drivers door panel in once I fix it a bit, and get my master resovior mounted and clean up some of the wiring. Maybe take it on a test drive since its going to be a tropical heat wave and be like 60 this weekend.
I got my start for the brackets for my zr2 G body rear project too. I gotta make the program for a few parts this weekend and get it on my buddys CNC bridgeport in a couple weeks.
My $40 electric fan setup. $28 for the fan and $12 for bolts/metal strips, and rivets.
I see a lot of people wonder how to mount the intrepid fan. Heres what I have on both my Cutlass and now this.
I cut the side brackets off and chopped them down and riveted them to the location on the shrowd.
Ran 2 1/8 thick 1" wide strips from the lower support that already has J juts and drilled corresponding holes into the cutlass style upper cover
Bolt strips to fan
Bolt fan to core support.
I see a lot of people wonder how to mount the intrepid fan. Heres what I have on both my Cutlass and now this.
I cut the side brackets off and chopped them down and riveted them to the location on the shrowd.
Ran 2 1/8 thick 1" wide strips from the lower support that already has J juts and drilled corresponding holes into the cutlass style upper cover
Bolt strips to fan
Bolt fan to core support.
Very cool, I have an '87 2.8/5-speed daily, does good on gas but I'll probably leave it stock/close to stock for when my son gets old enough (11 now).An my room mate is putting the l67 in his fiero tomorrow I think. Thats kinda the drive for me to get my junk outta the garage.
So I never really knew the details of your 8.5 score... congrats I hate you now... unfriending on Facebook
I really doubt it. The LS engines have the water pump a bit higher up on the block than what a SBC has and the fan blades are such a large diameter on a truck I'm pretty sure it would stick outside above the hood.
I also didn't have the mechanical fan from the car anyways so it was a no brainier.
I did some wiring. Got my electric fans working, tach going, cleaned 30 years of dust out of the gage cluster, cruise is wired up but am missing a wire i think. 3D printed a fuse panel enclosure. Just repin the factory ls pins to wherever you want and add pins as you want. Works good! Might make some more if people are interested. Makes ls swap wiring with a gm harness a bit cleaner.
Attachments
My 30 amp fuse for the fans blew for the 3rd time today. I think i might need to go mega external fuse and a 40 amp. Apparently they take a ton of amps on startup. Its weird since its the same fans as my cutlass and I run a 30 totally fine for years?.
Cruise is all wired up but doesnt work. I might have an issue with the resistance check on one of the wires. There is the center mount cab light wire that it needs to sense 12V to when the brake lights turn on to turn off cruise. Its basically a double redundancy setup where it has to have 0 volt signal to turn off when the torque converter unlocks and 12 V when the brake lights turn on. Wont turn on without both signals.
I also hooked up my oil pressure gage to the stock 99-02 LS oil pressure sensor and it works. I dont know why people bother with putting the factory GM G body one on the oil filter housing, the stock 99-02 feeds the G body gage just fine.
I also put more than 3 gallons of gas in it this time and my fuel gage works too. All i got left is my temp gage.
Still need to get the electric speedo working. Theres a 90-91 G10 van close to me in a salvage yard with a cheap cluster. Might go buy that and do the speedo housing swap.
Cruise is all wired up but doesnt work. I might have an issue with the resistance check on one of the wires. There is the center mount cab light wire that it needs to sense 12V to when the brake lights turn on to turn off cruise. Its basically a double redundancy setup where it has to have 0 volt signal to turn off when the torque converter unlocks and 12 V when the brake lights turn on. Wont turn on without both signals.
I also hooked up my oil pressure gage to the stock 99-02 LS oil pressure sensor and it works. I dont know why people bother with putting the factory GM G body one on the oil filter housing, the stock 99-02 feeds the G body gage just fine.
I also put more than 3 gallons of gas in it this time and my fuel gage works too. All i got left is my temp gage.
Still need to get the electric speedo working. Theres a 90-91 G10 van close to me in a salvage yard with a cheap cluster. Might go buy that and do the speedo housing swap.
