Hey guys! Well, after patiently piecing together this small build over the past year - I’m happy to say I’m finally ready to get the install going! If I happen to run into any tough patches - that’s what I have you guys for right?? Lol

Anyway let me start by letting you guys know what parts are going into my Vette. Now I did a lot of thinking before pulling the trigger on buying each of these parts and I believe it’s a pretty solid setup so needless to say I’m hoping for the best! I'm not looking for HUGE numbers, I really just want a very stout, fun - "driver's" car


I'll start out with this list and post pictures afterwards

Ride As It Sits Today:

‘99 C5 FRC

Stock Z51 Suspension
MGW Short Shifter
SLP Blackwing
Borla Stingers




Getting Tuned By Frost - Richmond VA
http://www.tunedbyfrost.com/

Parts I Am Installing For This Build:

- PRC Stage 2.5 CNC Ported LS6 Heads Milled @ 62.5 cc

- Lunati VooDoo #60512 Cam (232/238 599/601 113 LSA)

- PRC EHT .675” Double Spring Kit

- TSP Chromemoly Pushrods 7.400”

- TSP Ported LS6 Oil Pump

- JWIS C5R Timing Chain

- GM LS7 Lifters w/ LS2 Guide Trays

- Comp Cams LS Trunion Rocker Arm Upgrade

- PowerBond 25% Underdrive Pulley

- LS6 Intake Manifold - (Evil Performance Ported)
OEM - w-e .965 n-s 2.617
Ported - w-e 1.050 n-s 2.676

- LS6 Throttle Body - (Evil Performance Ported)
1. 2.9750 2.9995
2. 3.3165 3.3255
3. 3.6250 3.6770

- Kooks 1 7/8” Long Tube Headers w/ 3“x 3” O/R X-Pipe (Jet Hot 1700* Extreme Sterling Silver Coated)

- Monster Stage 2 Clutch w/ Billet Steel Flywheel

- Bosch 42 lb Fuel Injectors

- Elite2 Tunnel Reinforcement Plate w/ Thermal Cover

- ECS Transmission Brace

- Pfadt Transmission Mount

- C6 Z51 Front/Rear Sway Bars w/ Pfadt Poly Bushings & GM Metal Endlinks

- C5 Z06 Shocks

- ARP Bolts for the Heads/ Cam/ Balancer Bolt

- Gaskets/Seals (too much to list - see the pics)

- C6 Z06 wheels wrapped in Nitto NT555rII's (not pictured/ waiting till Spring time)


Here's some pics of everything:

























Well, that’s all. I’m planning on starting the build at the end of this upcoming week. And I’m planning on posting pics each day of the progress to act as an aid for myself and keep you guys informed whoever wants to follow (thread will also be pretty cool for future reference). I'd like to use this thread as a note taking resource and a "home" to post questions along the way. I hope for everything to go as smooth as it can. Thanks for watching guys and thanks in advanced in case I reach out for any help! Hope you guys are all having a great holiday weekend.

 

Wow!! Christmas came early! Flagged for follow! Don't let us down, be generous with your pictures. BTW, what was the cost of all those goodies? You can PM me if you don't want to be public...

 

 

Yep definitely! I'll take as many pictures as I can, it'll be something cool to look back on too .

Now for the cost.... a lot more than I wanted to spend but I'm sure I'll forget (almost lol) the first time I fire it up and drive it on the new tune . Not very proud to admit it but I think everything cost me a hair over 10k (shipping included) . Now of course all this was purchased over time - I think I actually started around Jan-Feb this year. It's amazing how much things can nickel and dime you when you are putting together a setup; it's very true when they say you've got to pay to play.

BUT I am very much looking forward to getting it wrapped up. Will be pretty cool when everything is put together.

 

Wow that is a very tall list! It sounds like an interesting project. Take a lot of photos and let us know how you make out.

 

I'll definately keep my eye on your progress!

 

Thanks guys! Just finishing prepping and getting all the small things like oil, and fluids. Then this weekend I will start the process!

 

 

Looks like a really fun setup, it should feel like a new car after it's all finished! Be sure to post up pictures after it's done!

 

 

UPDATE:

Alright guys, I just started tearing into the Vette and it's coming along pretty good. I took these last night since I had the chance to work on the car for a short time.

Got her lifted up onto the jack stands!



Just taking some pics for the hell of it lol



One last look at the stock H-Pipe on the car before it comes off



There is sitting on the garage floor




More pics to come!

 

UPDATE:

Alright I'm not finished yet today - just taking a break so I figured I'd post some pictures of the progress so far.

Got the Air Intake Assembly and the Throttle Body off



Disconnected all the water pump hoses



Got the water pump off - tried to catch as much coolant as possible in buckets but I soon realized that it was no use lol



Here is a picture of the beautiful pump



Alright... now I need you guys to take a look at this picture. I know everyone says it's beneficial to have a friend and I believe it but I figured I'd be able to get it done alone (and I did) but man.... that thing was painful lol.



Here is the assembly out of the car. I took the time to go ahead and clean both the radiator and the fan and the ac condenser in front of the car.



Unbolted the Alternator. Very simple:



Here it is waiting patiently to be reinstalled at the end of this surgery:



Unbolted the power steering cooler line brackets. I also uninstalled the front sway bar while I was down there



This power steering pump assembly was really a pain in the *** to get out. I tried unbolting the two 18mm bolts for the hydraulic connections on the steering rack with the whole assembly still installed. All I can say is there was no way... I unbolted the entire bracket, lifted it up and moved it over like in this picture below and it made my life so much easier.



Finally got it out after working on the bracket little by little.



Picture of my PS Pump assembly (yep got a little PS fluid on my boot lol)



Unbolted both of the tie rods



Unbolted the steering rack from the cross member and the abs controller block bracket for extra clearance



Victory! I got the steering rack out. Here it is poking out of the passenger side



And at this moment, here is my organized area where I am keeping tracking of all my bolts and stuff



Just taking a lunch break now and then I'm going to head back out there and try to get everything else out of the way so I can start taking those heads off! Seems to be coming along good guys!

 

So why did you take the rack out of the passenger side? It must have been a pain as its hard enough to get it out the drivers side but I guess if you removed enough stuff beforehand it would be a lot easier.

 

Are you leaving the hood on while you do all this?

 

Believe it or not - I found it easier to get the rack out of the passengers side. All I had to do extra was unbolt 4 bolts on that ABS controller bracket which took very little time since the bolts are easily accessible. I would say it took me maybe 5 minutes total to get the steering rack through the passengers side once I started working on it. I simply lifted it up out of the brackets, turned it slightly (around 90 degrees), lifted the ABS controller out of the way so the gearbox would clear, and that was it. But hey no matter which way I went... it is still out of the way lol and that's the most important part.

Yep, my hood has been on so far and I plan on leaving it there. I actually have a lot of room and don't really notice it. (The only time I did was when pulling that radiator/fan out ). Other than that, it's fine.

 

Very good progress! Good pics too, keep 'em coming!

 

UPDATE:

Ok guys, I'm back in the house (dinner time ). Here's some pics of what I did since last update. I feel pretty good like I'm making decent progress.

Unbolted both AIR tube fittings on both driver side and passenger side



I got the coil packs off



OK.... I attempted to disconnect the fuel line. What a huge pain in the a$$ ... I unscrewed the fuel pressure test port and everything went fine. Then I stuck my plastic 3/8" fuel line disconnect tool on the line and got ready to release... I pushed the line in and then I push the tool out (into the line) and then I pulled the line but it was a no go. I honestly played around with it for an hour .. I wiggled, turned, lifted, squeezed.... everything. And no luck. Which leads me to think that maybe one or more of the tongs/springs inside the fuel line is bent.



No worries - time to improvise . I went ahead and left it connected and laid down towels on the windshield and just flipped the fuel rail upside down. It is now successfully out of the way and I don't have to screw with the fuel line anymore .



I finished up removing my intake mainfold



Here's a shot of it with the coolant pipes



And last but not least I removed the exhaust manifolds



Here's a shot of them



Now next I'm going to be removing the Heads which really isn't difficult. And then my favorite part...... cleaning .

Thanks for watching guys!

 

Thanks - I'm trying to finish her up this weekend!

 

lovin' the FUBU brand work boots!

And get that fuel line off; bending it like that could damage the inner lining, causing a rupture..bad.

 

Thanks man.

That fuel line is difficult as hell to get off (in my case anyway). I've disconnected fuel line's on a few different cars and it's simple you just have to feel it out - BUT I feel like something is wrong, possibly the tongs/springs because it's seriously not budging. After screwing with it for an hour I decided just to let it lay on the windshield. It's really not bent that bad - maybe it's just the angle of the picture but it's not bent much more than it is when the rail is on the manifold. If you look at the picture I posted with the coil packs off; you see how the fuel line connects right before the 3rd injector (or cylinder 5) - imagine if the fuel line is connected in between the 3rd and 4th injector (between cylinder 5 and 7) <-That's how much the line is bent. But since you mentioned it I think I'll move the rail over more so it bends even less - then I think it should be fine. Thanks for the input man! Advice is always welcome!