M M Alexander

If anyone remembers my ECS install from this THREAD



Here's the Part Deaux

One day back in October of last year (wow until i just typed that - I had not realized how much time has passed) cylinder 7 decided it did no longer wanted to be a part of the team. It quit about 12 miles from the house - but the car made it home just fine (outside of the audible tap).
While I was not thrilled about losing the motor I did consider it as a sign to upgrade ... BUT the timing couldn't have been worst. Work is always hectic at years end with so many Wind farms trying to get final commissioning in time for whatever Production Tax Credit to take effect. Add into that, I had my house on the market and that prohibited me from digging into the car. So I just put repairing the motor on the back burner and concentrated on gathering parts.
Mid December rolls around and the house has been under contract with 2 different buyers - neither of which get approved for financing. I must say, I will never deal with an FHA Buyer - for a main home sale, again. For an investment property I'm looking to get out of, sure but out side of that - nope. How someone can be looking into buying 185K plus housing - and they can barely get the measly 3% down the FHA requires ??? How in the hell would they ever afford the mortgage? Conventional Financing >20% is the only way to fly!
After much in depth reading/researching engine builders, I went with ERL and their 416 LS3 short block. I appreciated that they also let me leave the block with them until I was ready with the new house (over 4 months it sat at ERL's facility).
Along with the short block, I also decided on a set of CNC ported LS3 heads, a custom Cam Motion camshaft with EPS lobes (stock convertor friendly I might add), 96# injectors, an ECS stage 1 fuel system and their cogged Direct Drive along with 8 rib IW balancer.

January rolls in the New Year and I find a house I like inside The Loop and decide to purchase ... But it did need a bit of work, which again would delay car play time and funds.
I get most of the heavy repairs/upgrades done to the new house and start to settle in. My other house sells (finally) and it's now
out with the old



In with the new



I get in touch with the vendors and parts start to roll in




Yet before any work would commence --- I had to install one of the best items I bought for the new garage (the reason I had to have a 10' ceing)





I have a lot to get done but I'm on schedule to have it all done before the 4th of July

FormulaLS1

What caused the failure from the other thread you were not leaning on it that hard with 9psi + meth.

schpenxel

Sub'd

That's a nice looking house for 185K. I guess that's Texas though!

Z06Brucey

Any leads why cylinder number 7 took a dump?

neverstop

surprised your motor failed? seems like should have been fine from your other thread?

nice house though and life makes me jealous!

M M Alexander

If I had to "hypothesize" on what caused the ghosting of piston 7 - it would have to be detonation. The car had, what can only be classifies as, an exhaust leak sound from the cylinder for months. I even went so far as to pull the header and replaced the gasket - seriously torqued the header bolts on that side - yet the sound could still be faintly heard if you listened for it. I guess it was the piston all that time. I had gotten some random part throttle / transition detonation back in the seriously hot times here in Houston. It was random and never predictable to duplicate.
I've found that to be a petty common issue with LS motors in high temperature areas. Kurt Urban and others make some decent kits to help alleviate the "hot spot" issue on the back cylinders. I'm going to make my own rear crossover steam port lines using these little gems I found online



3/16th NPT threads which makes for more common access to fittings from a vriety of places - Lowes, HD, Autozone, lol - simplicity of sourcing NPT vs AN wins out (though the local Huffco here stocks every fitting/hose known to man - weekends when they're closed is when i usually need the fitting).

Got the lift post stood up and most of the flooring completed





Hopefully I get a enough time over the weekend to get enough completed to get the car back inside and embark on the tear down.

Hey I need to Thank YOU ...
In your build thread you mentioned trying to get away from using/needing air tools. I had been leaning that way for the past 2 years. I found myself less and less likely to pull out my compressor and lines because of the noise and hassle. Not to mention, always adjusting this, oiling that, cleaning this filter that traps moisture and did I mention the noise? I had heard of and seen the Milwaukee M12/18/24 series of tools and even read a bit about the brushless motors and torque ratings. Over the weekend, I was in Northern Tools and they had the M18 1/2 Impact with 2 Batteries, Charger and Case on sale. I found that interesting because just the day prior I was at work looking over the specs and pricing online - I thought it was a sign from above to purchase it (at least that's the line I fed to my girl friend when she asked "You're NOT really buying ANOTHER DAMN power tool ...are you??!!" ..) I figured if I was disappointed I had 3 months to return it. Well allow me to say that it's been fantastic! I've busted nuts off stuff with ease! Had to pull off some tires and I figured the lugs would bog it down a bit - NOPE it barely gave me any feedback. It literally hit em and spit em! I haven't had a chance to put it up against anything larger that 120 Ft/Lb yet but I'm confident it will handle just about everything I plan to use it for.

schpenxel

Which model did you get? The 2763? If so, that thing is a BEAST. I have one, it doesn't even hesitate on lug nuts. I haven't found anything that it wouldn't take off if I had a straight shot at it.. It was a bit heavy for me to use in tight places though so I bought the 3/8 version, 2654, which is still able to take lug nuts off and is about the same size as a regular 1/4" drive impact driver. It is my favorite. It also has 3 "modes" so you can turn the power way down if you want to

I think the 2763 should have came with 3 modes too.. the "low" mode is too low for me, I think there needs to be something in between low/high, but that's just my opinion

M M Alexander

Actually I got the 2663. The 2763 was nice but as you stated, it seemed a bit large in size. The 2663 is only 8-7/8" in length - 6.75 lbs and offers 450 ft/lb of torque


he trigger is a bit touchy but I don't know how much "fine feathering" I'll ever need it for. So for me, it's full trigger power just about every time I use it, LOL.

schpenxel

Good deal.. I used to always by Dewalt but have now converted to Milwaukee.. very good tools. The cordless ratchet isn't so bad either! I have beat the hell out of mine and so far so good

lol.. yeah those impacts are certainly plenty strong. I don't think I've ever ran the battery dead in mine.. the only thing that runs them dead is the LED Flood light when I use it for hours straight.

JetstreamGS

Sorry to hear about your engine. This is somewhat concerning to me that it went at only 612rw with meth and a good tune. Few questions for you. What was the mileage when it failed? Mileage blown? Driving style? Track time? Thanks.

M M Alexander

My car has about 35k on the odometer - about 10k with the blower. My driving style is pretty tame - I've built Mustangs at least 15 years ago that made over 700, so the Vette is not a "woah" time to go fast! Don't get me wrong, I've used all 600 hp several times - but I'm pretty laid back on using the loud pedal.
One thing I might add is that there are NO guarantees in this car mod game. Manufacturers spend MILLLIONS before a car is ever sold and they still break. NO freakin way any shop, diy'er or the likes can throw a few thousand bucks at the car and guarantee anything about it. It's just luck of the draw a lot of times. While I lost my motor - others have gone years being heavily abused. Its a box of chocolate ...

winters97gt

That's not Houston, that's the burb's of the 3rd largest city. That house would be 1.5 million in my neighborhood, that's why I rent in a highrise.


Looks good, OP. #7 is usually one of the first to go. It's happened to a bunch of us on these cars. Hope you're up and running soon. My car went down in October too and I just got it up and running a few weeks ago. Any changes to the cam/blower?

M M Alexander

Damn, 1 Percenter, LOL!!!!
But for the most part you're right That was out in Katy. My new house is inside 610 though (fork all that sitting in traffic everyday - I'll never live outside the Loop again!).


Yeah, I remember seeing your post on Tech when you picked up the C5. Wasn't the original motor in there forged? Just goes to show/prove my above statement about no guarantees in this car modding game.
On the cam for my car, I got a Cam Motion custom with EPS lobes. It's stock convertor friendly - and inside the 416 - it'll be like a baby The only blower changes are removing the restrictor plate, going 8 rib on and adding the cogged Direct Drive.

M M Alexander

It's been a while since I've updated this ... But it's been a while since I touched the car. Put some time in working on a 10 x 12 shed and got new fencing installed



Added storage decks and started building work benches and drawers






Buried some PVC and ran the electrical to it last weekend (which totally sucked - forgot how much I hated doing that type of labor, LOL).
Got most of the electrical outlets and lighting done and moved onto getting some more work done in the garage itself.
I got the lift bolted down and since I was already wiring the shed, I decided to tackle the garage at the same time. I was able to get the lift operational and ready to rock
Did a few test runs, bled the lines, oil the chain and got ready to put the Vette in the air. I say "got ready to..." because if you've never placed a Vette on a lift (as was the case for me) it's not the normal affair. I struggled with placement, lifting points and the like for about 20 minutes. Finally got the spacing (Vette sit pretty darn low) and arms situated and got that be-eye-itch in the air. Having now done it - I can repeat the lifting process in under 10 minutes time, without working hard




As of now, I'm limited by my garage door opener being centered in the ceiling. I'm moving that over this weekend. But as it is now, I can lift 47" door open or closed. Once the opener is moved over, I'll be able to lift 67" door closed. If I can ever find a garage door specialist/company to come out and add in 24" of track, move torsion bar up 24" put in new barrels/cable (I've had NO luck finding someone to do the work) I'd be able to lift it that high door open or close. The high lift garage door is not a project I want to add to my list but I will do it though - if I can't it done within the next 60 days or there about.

Parts have continued to roll in
Cam Motion custom spec'd Cam with EPS lobes, FIC 92# Injectors and LS9 gaskets


8 rib 10% OD SFI balancer, Engine Valley Plate (heard they were worth using in pulling motor from Vette) ARP Crank bolt, head studs


Visited BTR's site and ordered IWIS chain, 3 Bolt cam kit, springs, retainers and roller rocker conversion set-up


Waiting on a Flip kit and ECS Stage 1 fuel system and that will about do it for the major "hard parts" purchasing.
Who knows, it may actually run again this year

C U IN REARVEIW

I just got my car supercharged....how do You identify detonation? I hear people talking about noticing it.....what is it?

CI GS

Cool thread!
This sounds familiar to me. The problem with being a real DIYer is that you end up "having to do" a hundred menial tasks before actually getting to the one you enjoy: working on your car!
That Vette will be a real animal when your done though!
BTW: which balancer is that? What diameter is it? Is it an 8" or slightly bigger?
Keep us posted.

M M Alexander

It's literally a "ping" type of metallic sound. If it's really bad - when you see people say "it rattled the motor" ... It sounds like chains rattling together.

Yeah it sucks! I seem to always have a project (in various stages of completion) going on. With work, family/household, more work and at the end of the list is ----> car.

Power bond balancer - 8 rib 8.25" (10% OD)
I don't think it'll be much of a monster ( not by Houston standards anyhow). I'm hoping to reach mid 7's for power. I Could go bigger blower and all that to chase 4 digit numbers but it seems those guys who have that - are constantly fixing/repairing and or replacing parts as opposed to actually driving the damn money pit. And if it's not broken, they are trying to sell it. Neither one of those scenarios interest me, lol. I just want it back to how it was before I lost #7. It had no real issues, I was able to drive across the country (went home to Chicago in it last Summer) and nary a hiccup. Or just cruise to work on nice days.

M M Alexander

So I got out in the garage a bit this afternoon. Moving the garage door opener was way easier than I expected.



Doing that allowed me to lift the car over 5 feet - I'll get about 7" more once I put the recessed lighting in ( yeah - another Project ).



I prefer to do most work sitting down so anything over 38" is plenty

CI GS

I hear you and feel your pain!
Now, imagine adding to constantly having innumerable unfinished projects, doing all of that whilst living on an island where you literally have to order and import everything, deal with shipping errors, customs, import tax returns, etc.
Late last year, after importing my lift and installing it myself, and using it to change my differential and converter, Summit Racing called me to tell me not to use it until I heard from the manufacturer, who never called and when I called them they said I should return the lift as it may have been from a batch that had not been welded properly! I lost the plot on the guy, because it wouldve been a nightmare to do that! Luckily, they later verified that it was not one of the bad batch.
On the Harmonic Balancer, do you have a part number fior that? I can't seem to find it online?

M M Alexander

Funny you mentioned being on an island ... About 6 - 7 months back I was searching for "corvette on home lift" and a thread with a picture of your lift was (it's out back or on the side of your home). There was a guy debating how the base of it would quickly succumb to rust - he was an idiotic tool.



I found it at Colorado Speed. If you don't need communication they are good to order from - if you need any form of communication (they suck) I'd be patient waiting on a response or order else where.