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The engine bay is all done now. Painted the cowl satin black to match the windshield frame and hardtop and put some new undercoating on the tunnel. I also touched up the paint inside that I had to strip off for widening and welding. Should be done with paint now :D
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8...255BUNSET%255D
On to setting up the rear end.
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So many skipped steps, need more documentation.
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Setting up the Getrag diff is pretty straightforward. Bolt on the V8R adapter, bolt that onto the stock mounting points and then set the new front mounting bracket. Level out the subframe all around the then push down the front of the diff until you get the pinion angle to 1.5 degrees up so it will match the angle the trans output was designed to sit at. Clamp the new tabs, tack them, double check the measurement and then remove the diff so it can be welded up. I don't trust my welding for something this critical so I'm having someone take care of that for me later in the week.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-P...255BUNSET%255D
So with that waiting to be finished I had a moment to start replacing the rear hubs and bearings.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A...255BUNSET%255D
Press or slide hammer out the hub and then remove the snap ring in front.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-E...255BUNSET%255D
Press out the bearing with your favorite large socket whilst mangling the dust shields. Oh well, they're not very useful anyway. Plus these won't fit big brakes, off they will come.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-O...255BUNSET%255D
All disassembled and ready for new billet hubs, which I of course didn't have time to install. I forgot to freeze the new bearings and hubs to help them go in anyway.
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Still looking good man! And your avatar always reminds me of pringles.
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After an almost 4 month hiatus I finally found a couple hours to sneak into the garage. The rear uprights are assembled with the nice 1/2" billet hubs and ARP studs, so hopefully no failures in my future.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7335/9...acd01930_b.jpg
If you've seen other V8R builds before using the Getrag diff you may have noticed mine looked slightly different. I was looking for one of the newest one possible because of the issues with the early ones blowing up and I found this one from an 08 STS-V. I noticed the pinion flange looked different before I bought it but I found some pics of the CTS-V diff with the same flange and knew that some people were using the ctsv so I went ahead and bought it. Of course it doesn't fit. It appears that this diff doesn't use the adapter to the driveshaft that the others use and V8R recently did away with their machined adapter and changed the driveshaft to bolt directly to the diff. The old style could have possibly worked and bolted right up to my diff but I was able to find a flange kit on eBay for cheap so I could just keep my new style driveshaft.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7333/9...93055e75_b.jpg
Difference between the flanges
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3823/9...884e8ebe_b.jpg
Use a slide hammer to get the old flange off.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7412/9...10b59015_b.jpg
New flange and nut on and torqued to 250 lb/ft.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7299/9...d9d5f82b_b.jpg
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Can't wait to see a video of it on the road!!
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You need a murakami trunk lid. the car will look crazy
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What I imagine your Miata to look like in the future.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7390/9...362c7b1c_b.jpg
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A bit of progress this week, I got the brake and fuel lines plumbed. As I showed long ago, I decided to make a new hard line 3/8 fuel line instead of braided like most use. A couple reasons, braided gets expensive fast and it still can have issues with vapors. So I took a little time with a bender and a measuring tape and made a new one.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-o...135607_474.jpg
Using a Mastercool 71200 hydraulic flaring tool I put nice factory style push connect ends on the line. This does away with need for a variety of adapters needed with SS.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q...135859_285.jpg
I'm using the Wix 33737 Corvette style FPR/filter that is common for LSx swaps. However most mount it where the factory filter is and I decided to place it on top of the tank. Using a couple Dorman adapters to go from the push connect supply and return to rubber hose to the tank and then the new hard line going directly in for the feed.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-G...-32-30_773.jpg
The factory brake, fuel and evap lines are mounted on clips that attach to the frame rails. The V8R rail braces cover most of those holes. So I flattened them, enlarged the mounting hole to 7/16" and attached them to the brace bolts. Since the return and evap lines are gone there's room to jam the new 3/8 line into the 5/16" clip. It makes for a nice, tight fit which is good since it's upside down now.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...153154_372.jpg
Up front I need to make some final tweaks and clips when the motor goes in but it's pretty close now. The brake lines on the passenger side have been bent into the new corner cut out along the firewall for clearance also.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z...153409_789.jpg
To connect the new fuel line to the ls2 fuel rail I'm using a Russell SS braided hose for the GTO, pn 651121. It fits like the stock rubber one and is cheaper. No adapters necessary since both sides are push connect.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2...-651121_xl.jpg
After getting all that done I had a few more minutes so I mounted the diff in the rear subframe with the front mount plates now welded in. I put a hose on the breather vent and routed it off to the side since there seems to be an issue with the venting on these Getrag diffs.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-g...153042_720.jpg
Then I lifted it all in. I ran out of time to get the axles or suspension in so that's up next, along with putting the engine and trans back in (hopefully for the last time!)
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At this point I'm not trying to do a lot of extras, just trying to get back on the road first. One thing that I am doing is ES suspension bushings since the arms are all off. Here's why they say not to use a press.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A...102043_167.jpg
Bent :? It's a little difficult getting everything lined up and supported properly and if you're not paying attention this happens. But it's so convenient :roll: I got a replacement and found that an old 7/8" wrench fits nice and tight between the rear lower inners. Rears are done now, waiting to go back in.
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Not much progress after a month, but when is there ever. I started by trying to get the rear all assembled. First was all the control arms with new ES bushings. The rear uppers were very tight, too tight. After fighting for a bit I decided I would have to sand them down a few thou on each side. That worked nicely. The passenger side axle and arms went in smoothly but when I went to the drivers side I couldn't get the knuckle on the upper.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_...142546_225.jpg
Its 1/2-3/4" off. I went back to the FM instructions and saw that the passenger axle should be about 1/2" longer. I pulled both back out and it appears they are both the same length. I've emailed V8R and am waiting as they look into it.
So onto the engine and trans then. The T56 usually bolts to the bottom of the stock oil pan but that's not possible with a sheet metal oil pan so the bottom of the trans needs to be covered. FM sells a cover for $25 which is a pretty good price but I had a piece of aluminum laying around just the right size so I decided to just make one. Pretty simple.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-i...143042_857.jpg
Next was bolting up the LS7 clutch and flywheel. Man is this thing heavy, reportedly close to 60lbs total. Good thing I have power to spare. One of the first mods after I get it all running is probably going to be an aluminum flywheel which drops about 15 lbs. I torqued down the ARP hardware and then bolted up the T56.
Https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-W...224438_815.jpg
One last thing before installing everything was to put in a new reverse switch. The GM one sticks straight out and interferes with the trans tunnel. You either can put a dimple in the tunnel to clear the pigtail or you can go with the Ford switch which is lower profile. If you do use the GM don't forget to mod the tunnel before you put it all in, otherwise it'll all be coming back out again. I went with the Ford part.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-n...232942_523.jpg
Finally got the engine and transmission back into place :D
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-c...2-46-30_90.jpg
Made a shifter adapter with Mazda threads so I can keep my shift knob. I can easily make another with different threads so I'm not limited to the relatively unique 10x1.25 thread.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e...085639_280.jpg
The engine is back home too, looks much nicer with the bay painted now.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Q...085528_163.jpg
Hopefully I'll get this axle issue resolved soon and then onto cleaning up the wiring harness.
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I'm currently plugging away at the wiring. I've deleted the SRS wires and am thinning out everything related to the stock engine and sensors. It's a pretty painstaking process. In the middle of that I decided I might as well relocate the fuse box inside since the stock location where the wiring harness runs up from the tunnel is very close to my pax exhaust manifold and I've got the brake and fuel lines stuffed in there too.
So I got my pin removal tool and pulled the necessary terminals to free the box from the harness.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-V...124548_800.jpg
Then I stuffed the harness through the existing hole in the trans tunnel and reconnected it all before I forgot where all the terminals went. Now I'm working through removing the unnecessary stuff. It's not going to be a complete wire tuck because there's too many connectors for the LS2 but it will look clean.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...220543_884.jpg
One piece of accomplishment for the month was getting the pedals mounted. I bolted in the V8R /Wilwood clutch master cylinder and Corvette DBW gas pedal. Although I'm using an 05 GTO harness with my 05 Corvette engine I'm using the Vette pedal since I found one for $40 new compared to $100+ used most people want for the GTO. The GTO is a little smaller and nicer but the Vette fits the bill. They use different connectors but it's an easy swap of the 6 wires. I cut off the bracket holding the stock pedal on and welded on a new bracket that the dbw pedal bolts on to.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0...130843_773.jpg
Finally, thanks to Garage Star for another box of parts I can't use yet! It's still fun getting new stuff (and sweet MR stickers).
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2...134802_043.jpg
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Love the progress so far. Amazing what can be done with theses cars. I look forward to your updates.
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This car is coming along really nicely!!
Are you planning to use an NB gauge cluster with an NA Dash? One of the local guys here (John J) did that and I love how factory it looks.