MONTE CARLO My first LS build, first project car, wallet emptying extravaganza

[BuckeyeNewYorker]

Trying to bring the trim back to factory while the SBC 350 is still in the car (waiting for heads to come back from shop, figure out what to do with the harness, etc). Doing what I can when I can. I think a lot of people might crucify me for ruining the black-on-burgundy scheme (which IMO is really well done from the previous owner)... But I want all the trim to look like it did originally. Unfortunately the stripes are gonna have to go too, eventually.. Everything black on the car seems to be plasti-dip or a rubbery paint.

First I started sanding whatever the plate at the bottom of the windshield is called, with brake cleaner and 400 grit, until I realized I was an idiot for putting swirlies in it.

I used some aircraft paint thinner to get the rest of it off.

I'm doing this one piece at time, for now. Need to use a buffer to get it shined up again when I have access to one.

Unfortunately the trim around the windshield, windows, and back window have been glued with that rubber/silicone stuff that seals the windshield... I can't find the clips to pop out the trim because there's that rubbery stuff where the clips should be. Maybe it's not hard to pull off but I don't wanna snap my trim.. I'll probably figure it out.

 

[mclellan83]

I'm not a red guy, but got to say this is gonna be a good looking car. Big fan of all the front chrome being blacked out, you going to run a center console with the T56?

 

[BuckeyeNewYorker]

I'm not a red guy, but got to say this is gonna be a good looking car. Big fan of all the front chrome being blacked out, you going to run a center console with the T56?

For the time being, probably not. I'm going all out on getting it swapped, and tuned for drive-ability. Starting to spend too much haha

 

[mclellan83]

For the time being, probably not. I'm going all out on getting it swapped, and tuned for drive-ability. Starting to spend too much haha

Starting, just you wait. Hahaha, but congrats on an awesome car with a good setup going in

 

[Injectedcutty]

For the time being, probably not. I'm going all out on getting it swapped, and tuned for drive-ability. Starting to spend too much haha

Just don't add up the totals. I just finished my "budget" LS swap on my Cutlass haha.

 

[Turbo Zach]

Welcome. That is a good looking car. I would have to remove the stripes also.

 

[64nailhead]

(waiting for heads to come back from shop, figure out what to do with the harness, etc).

What? A piece of 5/16 fuel line, a cordless drill and some valve lapping compound is what is needed for LS head work - lol.

Kidding aside I understand the 'doing it right', but the LS platform has put me into a 'budget minded' headset. These heads are so unbelievable as compared to their stock SBC Gen 1 predecessors, that good head work just isn't needed. The 421ci Motown LS that resides at my house just got a set of $40 junkyard 706 heads. The previous set of 317's were re-worked and full valve job. I put a homejob valve job on the 706's and the increase in compression from 8.5:1 to 9.5:1 is night and day. And they don't giv up in the 800whp range (which was the previous concern for going with the larger runner 317's).

p.s. Personally I don't mind the stripe - give's it some character, especially with the tall stance. But I also understand wanting it gone.

 

[BuckeyeNewYorker]

I'm trying to find the right balance for doing it right vs saving money. I decided not to port the heads, but I needed to get my heads decked so I sent them to the shop for that. I was thinking about finding a set of 243s or 799s to swap, but decided overall to just build with what I've got now.

I actually started out looking for a 2nd gen F body. I just wanted something to do an LS swap in, and I wanted it to be a classic that I could do light-medium restoration on (not frame off, not rotisserie, no body work). I have essentially no experience with any of this so I figured it would be kinda cool to document my progress on here.

My next step is to rewire the harness. I have a 99-03 LS1 harness w/ ECU. Called some wiring harness people in Erie PA and they gave me a quote for ~450 with an ECU reprogram and harness rewiring, and around an 8 week wait time. Lots of sites online list their harness packages for about ~750 and maybe 4-6 weeks. I'm gonna give it a go rewiring on my own. The whole point of this build is to learn how to do all this, and I think it would undermine the point of the build to send out my harness. Going to take my time and watch a lot of videos on it. LT1swap.com is an awesome resource

 

[Northernregal]

For what you want to do, I would find a set of 706 or 862 heads at the junkyard. They flow enough to put down 500hp at the crank untouched, and the extra compression will wake up the bottom and mid range a lot. Well worth the $40 or so from the junkyard.

What is your goal for power and rpm range?

With you harness issues, look at the price for everything involved in a tune and rework on the harness and compare it to a holley terminator. Definitely worth the money.

 

[BuckeyeNewYorker]

I thought about grabbing a pair of 5.3 heads from the junkyard while we were there grabbing coil packs and a cruise control module the other day, but I decided to just build with what I got.

I am hoping for 420-450 RWHP. My main goal is mostly just to DO a swap, honestly.

I have seen of the awesomeness of the holley terminator kit. Unfortunately my budget is running thin quick.. I already have a list full of, 'worth the money' lol. I don't know how much of a headache figuring out the harness myself might be; there's enough info out there, and I wanna atleast try it.