BUILD THREAD You know she's a keeper when...
- Thread starter Wageslave
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I got the manifold siliconed and bolted down today, and all of the heater hoses routed correctly. Even managed to use the factory 4.3 hose bracket. I am a little concerned that the jumper hose will be pretty close to the serpentine belt, but I have a bag of 500 zip ties that says that it will be ok.
Of more concern is the hoses between the radiator and the engine. The lower hose is pretty close to where the water pump hookup is on the block, but the 4.3 uses a larger size inlet than the 3.8 did. I think it is 1.5 inches vs 1.75 - 2 inches for the 4.3. I can probably force the smaller hose onto the bigger fitting, but I would be worried about the reliability. The top is another ordeal, as the FI intake had a special water neck that extended out over the top of the belt to keep the hose safe. This neck will not fit the older manifold, and my SBC thermostat housings all point directly into the space that the A/C compressor will occupy.
Oh well. Progress is progress.
Of more concern is the hoses between the radiator and the engine. The lower hose is pretty close to where the water pump hookup is on the block, but the 4.3 uses a larger size inlet than the 3.8 did. I think it is 1.5 inches vs 1.75 - 2 inches for the 4.3. I can probably force the smaller hose onto the bigger fitting, but I would be worried about the reliability. The top is another ordeal, as the FI intake had a special water neck that extended out over the top of the belt to keep the hose safe. This neck will not fit the older manifold, and my SBC thermostat housings all point directly into the space that the A/C compressor will occupy.
Oh well. Progress is progress.
went back and re-read the entire thread, and didn't realize just how much of it I missed.... definitely locked in again, as I'm getting set to get back on the Regal project, and am thinking about this or what Flemming is doing with the pig.... I do also have the 327 with the vortec heads that I'm unsure of the bottom end on.... I know that you were originally looking at the s-10 adapter mounts, but never stated what you eventually used...
side note: late congrats on the wedding, and if you find your way through my neck of the woods in NC, look me up!
side note: late congrats on the wedding, and if you find your way through my neck of the woods in NC, look me up!
As far as the engine went, 81Regal hooked me up with some cross member standoffs for a 4.3 and I used a set of 1986 Bonneville 4.3 motor mounts with a set of SBC clamshells that I had laying around. I had to cut about 3/4 of an inch off of the top of the mounts to clear the newer S-10 exhaust manifolds, but it went together pretty well.
I had thought about saving the CCC system from the 3.8, but decided that money and time would be better spent just running a 2 barrel and HEI and decluttering the engine bay. I have more upgrades in mind for the future (I have a shelf full of TBI parts), but this should be a nice driver with decent power in the mean time.
Thanks for the wedding congrats! Things are going well, and believe it or not she will be buying a B-Body in a week or two so I am going to be busy for a while.
A quiet day at home allowed some good progress on the Bonneville today. I installed a starter from the junkyard and got it wired correctly, after some issues with the battery cable tang jumping the start terminal and trying to crank the car over as soon as I disconnected the battery. Nothing some tin snips couldn't fix.
About the time I got this resolved, the mail man dropped by with my carburetor.
Unfortunately, the throttle bracket had a large arm that curved under the kickdown hookup that had to be cut off, but it was just a secondary location for a return spring, and probably wouldn't have been used even if it did not cause a clearance issue. What was nice was that the carb came with two sets of manifold, air cleaner, and main body gaskets. The two manifold gaskets, along with one I had bought in anticipation of its arrival provided just enough clearance to allow the throttle arm to clear. A 3/4" or 1" spacer may be in the future, but this should work in the short term.
I will be picking up a universal throttle bracket like my El Camino has and making a bracket to have it at the correct location. Still not sure how to handle the cruise control servo, but hopefully I can whip something up.
As that part is at a stopping point, I went ahead and started reattaching the wiring where possible. The only real hangup that I had was hooking wires up to the positive post on the alternator. The bolt that sticks out of the CS style alternator is a good bit bigger than the one on the SI style alternator that came out. Being too lazy to cut off the ring terminals and replace them with bigger ones, I took a small piece of sheet metal and bent it into a right angle, then drilled appropriate size holes to bolt to the alternator and the ring terminals.
I have some right angle red rubber covers from the old S-10 battery cable that should cover it nicely.
My new distributor should be arriving in the mail this weekend, so hopefully I will be able to start it up and hear that good open manifold V6 sound soon after.
About the time I got this resolved, the mail man dropped by with my carburetor.
Unfortunately, the throttle bracket had a large arm that curved under the kickdown hookup that had to be cut off, but it was just a secondary location for a return spring, and probably wouldn't have been used even if it did not cause a clearance issue. What was nice was that the carb came with two sets of manifold, air cleaner, and main body gaskets. The two manifold gaskets, along with one I had bought in anticipation of its arrival provided just enough clearance to allow the throttle arm to clear. A 3/4" or 1" spacer may be in the future, but this should work in the short term.
I will be picking up a universal throttle bracket like my El Camino has and making a bracket to have it at the correct location. Still not sure how to handle the cruise control servo, but hopefully I can whip something up.
As that part is at a stopping point, I went ahead and started reattaching the wiring where possible. The only real hangup that I had was hooking wires up to the positive post on the alternator. The bolt that sticks out of the CS style alternator is a good bit bigger than the one on the SI style alternator that came out. Being too lazy to cut off the ring terminals and replace them with bigger ones, I took a small piece of sheet metal and bent it into a right angle, then drilled appropriate size holes to bolt to the alternator and the ring terminals.
I have some right angle red rubber covers from the old S-10 battery cable that should cover it nicely.
My new distributor should be arriving in the mail this weekend, so hopefully I will be able to start it up and hear that good open manifold V6 sound soon after.
It has been a lot of tedious stuff being lined out the last couple of days. I have the fuel line from the old 3.8 that I have rebent to get over the drivers side valve cover. I have not totally decided on where to put the electric fuel pump yet, but it is probably going to end up on the frame rail somewhere. I did manage to find a Spectra electric pump from NAPA that looks almost exactly like a fuel filter, and is not nearly as loud as those plastic Mr. Gasket ones.
I was going to start hooking up my throttle linkages and bought a universal throttle bracket to set it up with, but found that there was almost no chance of making that bracket work since it would have to more or less float over the valve cover to work. I did find a 4.3 TBI throttle bracket out of an 88-94 Chevrolet truck that looks correct for what I need, but I am too cheap for fast shipping so it will be a week before I find out.
I also ordered a 2 piece thermostat housing that I can adjust the direction of the hose barb on. This should allow me to run the upper heater hose behind the space where the A/C compressor will go and avoid the clearance issues with going over the top of the serpentine belt.
I also bought the dumbest looking air cleaner for this thing, because finding a factory GM 2 barrel air cleaner base is nearly impossible around here. It is like 8" around and chrome. It will be sandblasted and painted black before this thing ever sees the road.
I am slowly getting the vacuum system figured out on this thing but this carburetor came with zero documentation, so figuring out what all of the ports do has been a bit of a challenge.
Slow progress is still progress I guess...
I was going to start hooking up my throttle linkages and bought a universal throttle bracket to set it up with, but found that there was almost no chance of making that bracket work since it would have to more or less float over the valve cover to work. I did find a 4.3 TBI throttle bracket out of an 88-94 Chevrolet truck that looks correct for what I need, but I am too cheap for fast shipping so it will be a week before I find out.
I also ordered a 2 piece thermostat housing that I can adjust the direction of the hose barb on. This should allow me to run the upper heater hose behind the space where the A/C compressor will go and avoid the clearance issues with going over the top of the serpentine belt.
I also bought the dumbest looking air cleaner for this thing, because finding a factory GM 2 barrel air cleaner base is nearly impossible around here. It is like 8" around and chrome. It will be sandblasted and painted black before this thing ever sees the road.
I am slowly getting the vacuum system figured out on this thing but this carburetor came with zero documentation, so figuring out what all of the ports do has been a bit of a challenge.
Slow progress is still progress I guess...
Sorry, I'm a little late with this, but here's my thinking on the heater hoses: once, the engine is up to operating temp, most of the coolant flowing around is the same temp, no? That being said, the heater core is just an extension of the coolant loop; the heater control valve will block flow if it is hooked in with the HVAC controls. So, couldn't you just put a pipe plug in the manifold, and just run the hoses to the water pump as originally done? Or, put a sending unit in that hole for a gauge. I think the heater is run off the pump so that it acts like a little radiator until the thermostat opens, creating a little warmth inside the cabin until engine temp rises.
I ended up routing the heater line through the manifold, mainly because I was afraid that if I did not the heater would be stone cold until the thermostat opened. Plus both lines on the water pump were 5/8", and the manifold gave me a good spot to put a 3/4" hose barb.
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