Air Filter Shroud

Next on the list in the quest to satisfy the engineer... shroud over the pod filter.

In NSW, we need to create a shield around the air filter to prevent any petrol fumes in the engine bay being ignited by the flames of a back-fire.

The Impala (being the tank that it is) had plenty of space to route the intake and to fit the pod filter in the front left corner of the engine bay. So all we needed to do was fold up some gal sheet to enclose said corner of the bay.

Time to get the carboard out...




Then the steel version...




Rivnuts are my new best friends... brilliant for this sort of work.




Test fit...




Then paint (satin black of course) and final fit...





JRD

Speedo Controller

The desire has always been to keep the exterior and interior as stock as possible.

For the interior, rather than go for a dash with electronic displays driven by the ECU, the plan is to keep the original dashboard and have the speedo driven by an aftermarket controller that gets its input from the VSS, controls the speed of a stepper motor which drives a traditional mechanical speedo cable.

Enter the Dakota Digital Electric Cable Drive Speedo Control Unit (ECD-100-1) purchased through Summit.


Controller unit mounted in the glovebox...




IGNORE! WRONG! BAD! The red wire in the photo here is (incorrectly) wired to battery positive, it has since been (correctly) wired to switched positive (ignition-on)...




Calibrating button (switch). Still need to be mounted out of site, but this will do for calibrating...




ECD-100-1 manual.

The whole setup works a treat and is easy to calibrate... highly recommended!

J

LS Starter Solenoid

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John
Date: Mon, Nov 28, 2016 at 12:58 PM
Subject: LS Starter Solenoid
To: JtC

Interesting read...

http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/1579106-5-3-problem-starter-hitting-flywheel-problem-fixed.html

Thinking about the gauge of purple wire from the VZ, I wonder if we are giving the solenoid enough juice?

If the starter problem surfaces again, we could try feeding terminal 30 of the starter relay with larger gauge wire from battery +ive.

J

The Big Push - Day 2 (wiring + fluids + START!)

Yesterday's efforts broke the back of the last leg to start-up, with the only remaining wiring being the interface with the existing Chev circuits:
- wire ignition on (pink 4mm wire).
- wire into the brake circuit (red 2mm wire).
- wire the reverse lights (yellow 2mm wire).

Then it was a case of adding all fluids, holding our collective breath and turning the key!

Nothing.

With "ignition on", we could hear the fuel pump relay click and the fuel pump whirr into life for a couple of seconds then stop. All good. Part of the design.

Then twist to start, we could hear the starter relay click, as well as a loud clack from the starter solenoid... but nothing.

After a couple of twists with nothing, one last twist caught and the engine stumbled into life...

A couple of things... you can hear some lifter tap, so there was a bit of concern around oil pressure. The idle is rough and hunting, plus the accel pedal did nothing.

We killed it and scratched our heads for a while; we needed to know what was going on.

I took a drive to a mate's house (Stu the Aussie champion) who lent me his OBD2 ELM327 adaptor. But on my return, JtC had nailed it!

The plug to the throttle butterfly was loose. A quick click and voila! Smooth idle!

We even had gears. First time in daylight for nine months...

A quick run up the hill showed that the thing was gutless as anything. Full throttle saw the car crawl up the hill... something awry there.

And one final issue, a buzzing from the relay that feeds the fuel pump...

One final video that highlights the baulk on start. The first crank is a no-go and the second fires...

So the issues are:
- baulks intermittently on start-up
- buzzing fuel pump relay
- gutless

Interestingly in the last video, the fuel pump relay is much quieter.

Time to do some research but the issues do not seem insurmountable.

HUGE thanks to JtC for all his efforts! There is no way I could have achieved all this in the time we did without his time, efforts and experience. Well done!

J

The Big Push - Day 1 (wiring)

It has come to this.

Through the week I booked the exhaust for 9/12 and rego inspection for 12/12, so there is a real urgency now to knock-off the last items on the to-do list... the majority being related to keeping smoke within wires.

We had mini working bee Tue night to fit the battery tray and drill through the firewall on the passenger side for battery positive, thermo fan and starter wires.

During the week, various parts were acquired ready for a committed weekend of wiring...
- 25 mm2 cable (battery to starter, batter to alt, ground)
- lugs for 25mm2 cable
- distribution post for feeding battery +ive to various circuits
- relay base (will reuse a relay from the VZ for P/N start conditioning)
- plug for thermo fan connection
- 10mm dia split conduit
- 16mm dia split conduit

So to the weekend: a HUGE double header from JtC, making the trip north on both Sat (wiring till midnight) and Sun in an attempt to get the beast started.

First mission:
- Create new battery/ground cables.
- Wire the battery positive/starter/alternator/ground harness.
- Wire the existing Chev battery positive harness to the existing horn relay.
- Wire constant power source (red 2 x 6mm wires) from EFI to battery positive...




Detailed shot of the battery +ive distribution post arrangement...




Secondly: Wire the fuel pump (purple 4mm wire). We ran the wire under the carpet (down the passenger side of the car), under the base of the seat and dragged it though into the boot using floor board tongue...




From there we passed it under the car, through a re-purposed grommet (that was used for the old fuel tank vent), up to the fuel pump and terminated.


Third task takes place under the dash (hard to take photos as the wiring is so well hidden!):

Wire a starter relay which is conditioned to feed the starter solenoid only when the trans is in Park or Neutral (managed by the ECU... the existing Chev P/N switch is by-passed).

We grabbed a relay from one of the VZ relay blocks and mounted into a relay base that clipped to the end of the string of relays in the ECU harness.

existing Chev start trigger wire = pin 86
grey 2mm wire from ECU = pin 85 (switched ground).
existing Chev start trigger wire = pin 30 (looped from the feed to pin 86)
wire to starter solenoid = pin 87


Fourth: Wire the thermo fan (green 2 x 5mm wires).



More tomorrow.

J

Intake + Thermo Fan Finalised

The most annoying work is having to do work a second time. This was what was before us in having to remove the Commodore thermo fan and start the mounting process from scratch with the Falcon fan.

JtC made the trip up and got stuck in.

Thankfully, it was more material removal required than making a shroud. The Falcon fan sat well, hard against the radiator core with a slim profile, allowing the intake pipe to thread its way between the radiator and the power steeering reservior...






The MAF/pod filter assembly is supported and held in position by a bracket off the radiator support.

Note the exposed length of alloy pipe at the throttle body inlet.

Clearance everywhere... a work of art!

BIG thanks to JtC in enduring the pain of doing a task twice-over, all the while taking his time to do it right!

J

P.S.
While inlet + thermo fan was happening, I wire-brushed and painted the battery tray ready for refitting.

P.S.S.

The photos above were taken before the steam pipe was connected, but JtC connected it as well <phew>!

New Tailshaft

New thicker-wall tailshaft (80 mm shorter than original to accomodate the longer 4L65E) and new uni joints, packed with grease ready to be bolted-up...




Work done by A&L Driveshafts in Campsie.

UPDATE: exploded on the dyno on Tue 17.04.2018.

The A&L driveshaft was 2.750" OD with 0.083" wall... waaay too small!

J

The small things in life

The steam pipe outlet on the LS needs a 6 mm ID hose.
The inlet port to the top tank of the radiator needs a 10 mm ID hose.
Get both size hoses and join in the centre with this...




One required but bought two in case one snapped ;-)

J

CSI: Radiator Hose Unit

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John
Date: Tue, Oct 18, 2016 at 11:00 PM
Subject: CSI: Radiator Hose Unit
To: JtC

1.

After a bit of measuring down in the garage, the attached "Top Radiator Hose Drawing" is going to be in the ball-park of what we are looking for. Printed out on A3 will give me a 1:1 template I can take with me to a parts store.

2.

Mackay Automotive have put out an AWESOME catalog which lists their hoses by ID, then length...

http://www.mackayrubber.com.au/pdf/hose_ID_listing.pdf

The top hose needs to be 33 mm ID. There looks to be a few which are promising, with CH1848 one of the best (with some trimming to length).

3.

Did a quick search for CH1848 on Supercheap Auto's website...

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Mackay-Top-Hose-CH1848/105856

Now to go have a look!

It just happens to be the top radiator hose off a V6 VN-VR with ABS... did you salvage the top hose off the VR you bought?

J

Other promising ones...

---

Mackay

33 mm ID x 424 mm long as the basis...

---

CH3420

CH3539

CH3730

CH4822

CH1368

CH2552

CH3336

CH4274

CH3900

CH4009

CH1365

CH4954

CH1848 <-- 05-0922 <-- 92046089

Radiator and Thermo Fan Clearance Dimensions

Scratch below! We are deleting the spacer (decided 02.10.2016).

From: John
Date: Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 12:08 PM
Subject: Radiator and Thermo Fan Clearance Dimensions
To: JtC

See here...

So spacer + radiator = 122 mm + 55 mm = 177 mm.

Radiator support to water pump pulley is 245 mm.

That gives an absolute maximum radiator width of 63 mm (which only leaves 5 mm to the water pump).

Now... Summit has a nice search feature where you can search by thickness of thermo fan.

It looks like there are a few options:

2.480" thick (63 mm thick)

2.444" thick (62 mm thick)

2.031" thick (52 mm thick)

2.000" thick (51 mm thick)

The 2.000" and 2.031" versions look like the go.

The other factor to keep in mind is the hose lengths. That will be another factor in keeping/omitting the spacer.

J

Fuel Hard Line

Went into this little project with a degree of apprehension... running the fuel feed hard line from the rear of the car to the front.

I experimented with a length of tube out of the VZ. OK, but a bit tough to bend and the real concern was routing over the rear axle, as well as bending up into the engine bay.

But first, some new shiny bits...



The black hose is for the power steering high pressure line from the pump to the steering box (another story). For today, we are concentrating on the coil of new 3/8" tubing and Speedflow hardline adaptors.

So the plan is...
GM female 3/8" QD on the filter output...
-> Speedflow GM 3/8" EFI adaptor to male AN-6 (716-06-06-BLK)
-> Speedflow male AN-6 to female AN-6 3/8" hardline adaptor (619-06-06-BLK)
-> Speedflow 3/8" hardline
-> Speedflow female AN-6 3/8" hardline adaptor (619-06-06-BLK)
-> Speedflow GM 3/8" EFI adaptor to male AN-6 (716-06-06-BLK)
-> fuel hose from the VZ.

Time to get JtC on the case...

Without seeing the job, there were no concerns.... easy!

Once on a creeper and under the car, the bend over the axle and the bends into the engine bay weren't looking so easy.

The decision was made to butcher the VZ fuel hose and make our own EFI rubber hose with the GM quick disconnect fittings to run from the engine, down to the chassis rail. Then it would be hard line to the axle where we would swap back to flexible hose for the axle bend.

A plan!

For a bit of laugh, JtC thought he would have a quick try bending the Speedflow hard line up and over the axle.

We shouldn't have been concerned, the new hard tubing was a lot more flexible and easier to work with than the original Holden lines.

Next minute... hard line routed over the axle, over the trans cross member, even clipped into the original Chev retaining clips...








We were able to un-spool the coil of tubing up and into the engine bay, retaining the tubing with P-clips...




A thing of beauty!




Because we butchered the VZ fuel hose to the engine, we had to recreate it with EFI rubber hose. Here it is waiting for two more EFI hose clamps (what a time to run out)...




BIG thanks to JtC for weaving his car whispering magic once again!

J

Pity the Fuel!

New parts coming in thick and fast...






...time to install.

The pump outlet/return ports are female 1/4" NPT, so a couple of 3/8" barb adapter fittings will go there with Gates Barricade 3/8" EFI hose double clamped to the barbed fittings.

I have gone with a Corvette regulator/filter which takes care of regulating the fuel pressure, as well as the return to the tank, so only one 3/8" line needs to be run to the engine.

The filter/reg has a male 3/8" quick connect entry and a male 5/16" quick connect return. Feed to the filter uses a Dorman 3/8" quick connector double clamped to the feed hose.

Because I have a heap of 3/8" hose, I wanted to use that for the return as well so used a Dorman 5/16" quick release to 3/8" barb adapter.

Not sure what the result will be, clamping hose to a nylon fitting where normally nylon hose would be used... we'll see.

Anyhows, running the lines is to come. First: mounting the filter.

Waste not, want not: the VZ Commodore fuel filter bracket was resurrected...




...and pushed into service...





Plumbing to come!


Ooo... almost forgot! Fuel tank went in with the rubber-lined straps...



J

More fuelling around...

During the week, more bits turned up...



More tank liner material, as well as some other bits that are for a later post.

JtC made the trip north to see what damage I had caused with the tank install.

First task: clad the tank straps with rubber liner.

As is so often the case, reproduction parts don't quite fit and for us the new straps were a smidge too wide for the strap liners.

Angle grinder time...




Voila!




Next: mounting the tank vent/roll-over ball valve.

Bit of scrap gal steel bent into a z-bracket...




Bolted in place, on the brace that the rear shocks bolt to...




Finally: fitting the in-tank fuel pump and sender...







J

Tank Goodness

There are few options to go EFI in a '65 Impala...
1. Keep the existing fuel tank and feed the engine from an external fuel pump.
2. Keep the original tank and modify it to take an internal pump.
3. Purchase a new tank that mimics the original, but is modified to take an internal pump.

I went with option three, a new EFI-ready fuel tank from Tanks Inc, ordered through Summit....



The way to go is to order an EFI tank conversion kit which comes with pump, sender and other required bits and pieces. There was a bit of a story (see here) around what was purchsed vs. what was supplied, but Summit came good and all is sweet!


First: remove old tank.




New and the old...



The Tanks Inc product is (so far) excellent; beautiful powder coated finish, recessed area for mounting the pump/sender and baffled sump under the pick-up to reduce fuel starvation during corning/braking/accelerating.


Second: A quick tidy-up of the underside of the boot floor.

Before...




Wire wheel, wire wheel, wire wheel, prime, paint. After...



Sooo much satin black on this car!

Third: butcher the boot floor pan...






I contemplated not cutting the floor, but access to the fuel pump/sender will be sooo much easier with a hole. It is a pretty simple decision. Do. It...




Four: Fitment...



I also purchased tank lining material to avoid damaging the tank surface finish - you can see the black strips on the top of the tank - however there wasn't enough to line the straps as well so I ordered more rubber lining material and have left the tank hanging by occy straps until the rest of the rubber liner arrives.

J

Transmission Linkage

I want to keep the standard column shift, so picked up one of these:
Lokar Column Shift Linkage ACA-1800.

Nice bit o' kit!

Very adjustable, so it took a while to get right with JtC under the car making the adjustment while I shifted gears.

Installed...




Don't be scared to put a bend in the link bar...

Initially we tried with the link rod straight from the column to the trans, but the angles were too severe for our liking. The arrangement in the above photo seems to work  treat.

J