Mail-order Viagra!

 

 

This thread "Mod Bender" was very appropriately named. I had no idea at the beginning that it would be this sort of bender. You have inspired me to go on a mini bender of my own. I am just starting to compile my orders. You will probably be done when I start and I may tack my mini-bender on the end of this thread just to keep it going. Everything looks great and I have really enjoyed the progress. I want to see this car sometime!

 

Hahahahah--and it lasts more than four hours too!

Oh? What have you got in mind? Thanks for following along. It's fun to share the work with other Vette lovers. I hope this thread will be helpful over time for ideas or reference to others and I know I'll get a kick out of it myself in a year or two.

Definitely pile on and share your progress if you want. We've already established that we have similar ideas regarding our cars.

I'm in Arizona, so if you're ever out this way, ping me.

Spolier Alert: I'm not close to done. I have quite a bit more I'd like to do.

 

Yeah this mod bender lasts much longer - lol.

I am swapping cams, alcantara and CF (REAL CF) parts throughout the interior, center cap custom job on wheels, sunvisor removal and new stereo headunit mount is the plan for now. Also considering swapping axlebacks.

I am excited about the cam swap as I will be at the high end of N/A builds... but well below your new SC build - lol.

Funny that you are in Arizona, my car is from Surprise, AZ before she moved to North Florida 2.5 yrs ago. I guess we'd need to meet in Bowling Green or some other big show. I want to do that awesome Memphis show one day. Maybe the Texas Mile??? I have a new TBSS to do the hauling of the Vette to the Mile. (My TBSS mod bender is a different story - lol)

 

I haven't decided what else I want to do with the interior. I saw Toque's thread on the sport seats and that really has my interest. Alcantara and CF will be very nice upgrades. Will definitely be on the lookout for pics when you do that.

What kind of power do you expect with the cam swap? Is your engine stock otherwise?

I'm spitting distance from Surprise and I'm from Florida. Went to school @ UF - Go Gators! I would like to make some of those events too..so, we'll see.

 

LS1 bottom end but that is the only thing stock. We are expecting 470 +/- 15 however I am mostly excited with the change in the curve. We are expecting power to be more evenly spread whereas my current cam makes its power way up high.

My wife is a UF grad so I know the Gators thing very well!

 

So heads, intake, exhaust? What have you got? Don't forget to share the dyno results after your cam install.

My thoughts are to play with the SC for a while and get used to the new power level and decide if I want more. If I do, I'll work out a brakes/bottom end/driveline/clutch strengthening strategies before going any further with power. Headers and catted mid-pipe are definitely the next upgrade though.

 

Yep, all of that plus I have most of the foundation for FI had I chosen to go there. Still possible but I kinda want Turbo if I do. One strong recommendation is RST Twin Disc clutch. You can beat on it and it is silky smooth and feels so much better.

 

I talked to a couple of folks about the clutch and they advised to hang tight with stocker since I have such low milage. I already know I want to upgrade it though. Maybe when I do the headers/mid-pipe.

It does sound like you're all set for FI so why not? You're probably already about to spend half that much to put the cam in..? I thought long and hard about TT setup and watch an hour long install video for a C6. I figured the SC is much more easily reversible, requires far less cutting on the car, and has far fewer parts. Since I want to install it myself, I felt it was the right answer.

 

Needed a torque wrench to put that crank bolt back in. My current largest only goes to 150. This one goes to 250. I also test fitted the gauge pod and think it looks suh-weet! I think I'll use some leftover closed cell foam in-between the two to prevent any squeaking.

I found a blue anodized fuel rail to fuel sensor adaptor at Summit and ordered one of those (not pictured here).

 

I agree that the SC vs Turbo is about a 50/50 proposition. Both have good advantages. Regarding my cam swap, no it is not nearly 50% of the cost, closer to 5% of the cost.

It certainly isn't going to hurt anything to ride your stock clutch until is begins to fail so no urgency to do that part now. The biggest plus for me is that the McLeod Twin Disk is so smooth and comfortable as well as no worry about beating on it.

 

$275 installed? You doing it yourself?

Thanks for the recommendation. Added to shortlist

 

Sorry, when I think cost of a SC, I don't think about just the cost of the SC kit but also the accompanying upgrades. At any rate, the cam swap will be about $750-800 after fluids and so forth.

 

A&A has a great PDF for the gauge install. I used their guide for most of this and improvised in a few places.

Everything laid out for install. I have Glowshift Fuel Pressure and Boost Gauges. Autometer 2 gauge pod. Permatex #14 Thread Sealant for the FP sensor. Heatshrink, solder, 18g wire, a test light and volt meter.


One last look at my recently re-assembled interior before I tear it apart again.


Tip: Install the vacuum tube on the boost gauge before this step. Installing the tube with the gauge in the pod is a huge PITA. Put a little spit in the tube to help it slide on.

Before soldering up the wires, test fit the gauge pod and inserting the gauges to line up for horizontal. These things fit very tightly and it's not something I'd want to try to do with everything assembled. Just rotate the gauges until you're happy.


Pod and gauges back out. Pair up the switched, constant, ground, and headlight wires and cut to fit. Next, solder ~4' extensions to run down under the dash. The single green wire up top goes to the fuel pressure sensor.


Here's what I mean about pairing up and soldering on an extension. The red wire to the left runs down the side of the dash and underneath to the wiring harness. Do this for each pair of wires.


Heat shrink after solder.


After everything is soldered, wrap all the wires together for about 24" to protect against chaffing and keep everything organized. You can also install the vacuum tube now. I slid my gauge back out, connected the tube, then put the pod back in the car to re-align for horizontal on the gauge. It would have saved time if I connected the vacuum before the first alignment as I mention in the tip above.


Ok, this is a little brutal looking but there is no gap for the vacuum tube and wire harness between the gauge pod and OE pillar cover. When I first ran the wires, the pod pushed away from the pillar cover and didn't line up against the outer/upper edge and it did not correctly align with the AC vent. On the inside, the pod bowed when I tried to press it to fit. This wasn't satisfactory to me, so I took a dremel to the OE cover and made some space for the vacuum tube and wire harness. I know these are available on the auction site for ~$50, so I didn't sweat hacking the cover up. I have to drill holes for push pins to hold the pod to the pillar cover, so the OE cover will be damaged anyway.


Now there's some space for the harness and tube, and of course, the pod slid right into place.


This is what it look like before notching the OE pillar cover. Pressing/pushing only deformed the pod and made it bow on the inside.


This is what it looks like after notching the OE pillar cover. Much better.


Ok, pod and gauges are roughed-in. Time to start connecting the gauges.


DIC/HUD Led Install

Since I had to remove the knee bolster and my cigarette lighter power plug fell off the center console bezel during install, I figured this would be a good time to finally install my white LEDs for the HUD and DIC switches and get my cigarette lighter working again. I didn't take any pictures of the removal process--sorry. Here's the cluster on my bench.


This is where the wire harness connects on the back of the cluster. It's a little bit of a pain to get it disconnected because you can't pull it out far enough to see what's going on without getting on your back under the wheel. If you feel around the back, there's a clip where I'm pointing. Squeeze that clip and pull the wire harness straight back.


This is where the HUD connects on top of the cluster. No clip, just carefully pull straight up.


Remove the 6 screws holding the cluster beauty ring and switches to the cluster, flip it over, and you can finally get to the bulbs for the switch panels.


I hate installing LEDs. You have a 50/50 shot of getting polarity right. All the lights on the DIC switches came on the first time. None of the lights on the HUD side worked, so I had to rotate them 180 degrees. Unfortunately, while rotating, one of them broke. So I just ordered a replacement. No way I'm re-installing all of this and taking it back out again so the dash is out until the replacement LEDs show up.

So....Back to Gauges

There's a four prong plug mounted below the steering wheel. The yellow wire in the pic is a switched 12v source. The hole in the wire is from my test light.


I pulled the gauge wires over to the area below the steering wheel to start making connections.


The circle on the top left is a good ground. I crimped a terminal on the harness ground wire and attached it here. The circle on the right shows the splice to switched 12v from the gauge harness. The circle on the bottom is the harness running to the fogs/trunk. I used the purple wire on this harness for headlight power and the orange wire on the left for 12v constant.


Next, I removed the dead pedal, peeled back the cover over the hood release cable and drilled a 1/2" hole about an inch below the cables. I stuffed the fuel pressure wire and vacuum tube through the hole. You have to have a coat hanger or fish tape to fish the tube and wires out from where they come through the firewall. No other way. My fish tape got it on the first try Tomorrow I'll seal the hole around the tube and wire with silicone.


Remove the plastic cover from the end of the fuel rail and depress the schraeder valve to release fuel pressure in the rail. Next, remove the schraeder valve. I just stuck the end of the pick in and rotated it counter clockwise (like pedaling a bike). The valve unscrewed and slid right out.


Time for some permatex on the fuel sensor and the adapter.


Adapter and sensor wired up. Cover the fuel pressure sensor wires with 1/4" wire loom and run the loom all the way down to the hole in the firewall. The other end of the loom stops at the pressure sensor. Zip tie the loom to the alternator harness. Put a terminal on the ground wire and run it to the ground stud just below the hood strut.


Finally put the key in the ignition and check the pressure sensor fitting for leaks. This pic is with the engine off. No problems so far. After starting the engine, the pressure climbed and I had a small leak. A few more turns of the wrench fixed it up.


The push button on the bottom right of each gauge changes the backlight color. Pretty cool. Top is blue, bottom is white in this pic.


Close-up of the FP gauge.



I couldn't find a vacuum line for the boost/vacuum gauge, and didn't really care as I'll be t-ing the brake booster line when the blower gets here and I'll get a tap then. So I just tucked the vacuum tube away until then. For now, it'll just read 0.

Just need to get the replacement LED for the HUD switch and I can button the interior back up. I also still need to drill the holes for the push pins on the gauge pod to the OE pillar. I think I'll leave that until after the blower is installed and the car is tuned to make it easy to remove just-in-case.

 

Well, the glow shift gauges lasted about a day and died. I'm going to take a hammer to them later. I ordered Autometer Z-Series gauge replacements. I made the mistake of trying to save a little scratch with budget gauges and an old lesson was reinforced: "Buy the best, cry once."

While I wait for the A&A kit, I ordered and installed Strong Arm 4066 Trunk Lift Supports. Took all of 10 minutes to install, and 8 of those were spent opening the envelope they came in. If you've struggled with the infamous 1/2" deck lid opening issue, get these. My decklid pops open about 2" now and opens itself the rest of the way after a touch of upward pressure. Added bonus--it doesn't fall on my head if I don't manually prop it up to 90 degrees. $30 bucks from the auction site.

I've also ordered the Kent Moore Flywheel locking tool J-42386-A, a new set of GMPP Red Plug Wires, a 36" crow bar to tighten the belt, and a 12 point 1 1/16" socket for the arp bolt.

I think I have everything I need either in-hand or on-order. Fingers crossed for a ship notice on the A&A kit any day.

 

This is the fastest rise from stock C5 vert to Supercar that I have ever seen

 

A&A Kit is on the way! Look for install pics this weekend.

 

My kit showed up this AM. Gotta hand it to A&A on the packing. Everything was very secure and protected. Can't start working on it for a few hours, but couldn't resist taking a look inside.

Total weight with packaging is 104lbs.


Intercooler.


There it is...It had a sturdy foam pad on top to keep it secure in the box.


Other side.


BAP


6 rib belt


Mounting brackets are all wrapped up.


Air filter.



Work starts tonight. Lots more pics coming.

 

Decided to go out Friday night instead of starting the install. Figured one more time around the block as an NA car.



Saturday morning, everything laid out and ready to go


Spark plugs first. No trouble getting the old ones out. New plugs are gapped to .035 and the threads are coated with anti-seize. New plug wires too. Glad I got them, a couple of the old ones didn't survive removal.



Radiator shroud, fans, belt, and tensioner all out. Good opportunity to clean leaves and dead bugs out of the radiator.


Time to start on the steering rack.


The steering rack is a royal PITA. Had to take a break and get in the pool to cool down a little. It's been about 100 degrees all day. Also sent daughter to auto parts store to get 18mm wrench for hydraulic lines. NONE of my wrench sets had an 18mm...what's up with the hating on 18mm???

Time to stop messing around and get back to it. More later tonight.