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Hacksters daily driver 242.....lq4 and t56

Yep its a 92+ 940 na radiator. picked it up from Cameron at IPD on Friday. Its a nice fit and a great radiator for what i wanted to do. Keep it looking as Volvo as i could.

I decided to start easy this am.....got the fan out of the box and started to see where I could fit it. Turns out that it did end up fitting on the backside of the radiator just by a gnats ass though. Has about a half inch of clearance everywhere so it should be good.

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Its a 16" fan and should be enough to cool this little guy.

I also installed a fan switch directly into the radiator.....remember the volvo thing? Yeah, pretty sweet. So I used that and ran over to a relay tucked in right next to the battery and hid all the wires away so nobody can ever see them. No manual switch for now, I will see how it works and then change it if I need to.

So then, I moved onto a task that I have been dreading. Converting from a pull style cable setup clutch pedal to a push style hydraulic pedal.

This was a couple of hours under the dash and cussing. I used a generic GM master cylinder for the clutch. It was about 1/16th of an inch off from the mounting holes, so I hit it a little with the die grinder and bolted it in. Then I removed the pedal to convert it. The cutting fitting and welding were easy. The tough part was getting it in and out of the damn pedal box.

The stock one has a really long bolt that goes all the way through the top of the pedal for the pivot. Made it a real pain in the butt to get in and out so I revised their design. Tapped out the ends of the pivot tube to accept some bolts, then I put a set screw into the tube to pinch the pivot so you could tighten and LOOSEN both bolts and remove the pedal assembly. This made it much easier to get in and out. Good chage for those of you looking to do the hydro setup on your 240.

Also extended the pedal 2 3/4".

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Ran a hard like from this down to an adapter and then to the stock t56 clutch line. Still need to bleed it but thats it.

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Unfortunately for all your web followers, this is where I stopped taking photos.

I ran the heater hoses and buttoned up all the hose clamps down. Installed new plug wires from coils to plugs. Installed new plugs in all eight holes :) filled up the tranny with fluid finished wiring up the ecu and buttoned up any other loose ends.

Installed oil filter filled with oil and hooked the battery up for the first time. Turned on the key and Ill be damned the fuel pumps both fired right up. Took one key cycle to find a leak in the fuel lines. Disconnect battery chase down fuel leak and recheck.

No more leaks, oil pressure light goes out when cranking......so lets see what she does.

No start... gave it a couple tries and sounds good but no start. Check a few things and then I see the ECU plug and realize that i did not plug the ecu in all the way, just kinda set the plugs in there and ran the 8mm down a couple threads.

Turned the key over and holy crap....she lit right off!! Kinda suprised me to be honest.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BYD_4RI350A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So, i have a few loose ends to button up still. Pick up some fittings so I can button up the vacuum line situation, figure out a shifter, run some exhaust and button up the interior.

Should be on the road this week if all goes well.

Sean
 
The video doesnt do it much justice on the volume. When it lit off she moved back it was that loud. :nod: It wont be started again for fear of the neighbors getting pissed until the exhaust is on it.

I am now at the point of exhaust and contemplating to go with 2 1/2" or 2 1/4" from the manifolds back to a collector and then a single three inch from there back.

What say you?

Sean
 
Here's one exhaust idea Sean -- it's a $69 Boss 429 repro muffler. 2.5" all the way back.

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Can you elaborate a bit on the ecu side? Is it the ecu that came with the motor? What was it out of? Did you have to reprogram/reflash anything to get it to start? Seems like most newer stuff needs at least to have the PATS disabled to allow a start. You also mention multiple computers. Are there separate units for ignition and fuel?
 
Mr.Blew.... If I were to do it again (and I will in another car) I would do just that.....buy an engine and transmission from a donor vehicle. More than likely I would actually buy an entire wrecked car and part it out myself. Its all of the small things like spark plug wires, o2 sensors hoses and those little items that add up really fast.

Do it!!

M.H. - Your pic has me rethinking building my own exhaust. That looks fantastic!!! Do you recall a ballpark of what you paid to have it built?

I was thinking about this picture all night.

As far as the computer, it was out of a 2000 suburban from what we could tell. There is only one computer on these cars and two main large plugs that go into that computer.

I got in touch with a local guy here about an hour from me, who is very in the know on these swaps. He was a huge help in getting me on the right path.

I took him two harnesses that were both in really really not good shape along with a computer.

The LS injectors take a different plug than the truck injectors so I had him swap all the injector plugs, layout the harness so that I could put the computer in the dash and get rid of everything that was not needed.

He did all of that in less than a week. He also went through all of the programming for me in the computer, removed the VATS and all the other bs that would not make it run and did a bench test on it to make sure all would work.

His name is Bosco and I would be more than happy to give you his contact information.
 
man, to have the time and the space to work on something combined with the fab skills to make it all work...lucky SOB!!!!! In all honesty though this looks like a great top notch build and I like the focus of daily driveability (although it is funny to think that 350hp is minimum these days for daily driveabilty). I have "plans" for my 245 one day, but after seeing some V8 builds and seeing some of the suggestions it almost makes me want to find a whole donor car to start with so that I know I have everything available as far as the odds-n-ends go.

Keep up the good work!
 
Thanks so much for the detail on the ecu situation Sean. I know I want to go the LS3 route and your build is only making my itch itch worse.

The exhaust was bent up about 9 years ago. A 'magician' at a little shop in Maryville, TN did it for me when I lived in Knoxville. Seems like it was about $180 -- and I supplied the muffler. There's an "H" pipe further up and a ball/socket joint on each side. Makes working on the rearend, etc. so easy as I undo two hangers in the middle of the car, undo each ball/socket (that's 6 bolts total) and slide the Volvo factory style donut hangers off the back -- the system just drops to the ground in one piece. If I were to go single I think I'd try for 3.5" instead of 3". Although for what you're after in this car -- the 3" system will likely be fine. Just know it takes a lot of muffler to quiet it down. Finding a stock F-body LS muffler would be ideal. 3" inlet - dual outlets and it can 'live' transverse in the back just like in the Camaro/Firebird. I have not been able to find any aftermarket muffler that is quiet enough for me. I've tried Borla, Bassani, Flowblaster, SpinTech, Magnaflow and Dynomax. My wife just rolls her eyes when I say I'm going to build another exhaust system. Which is exactly what I want to do when I get the new fuel system in mine.
 
I gotta vent here for a second...trying to order a shift knob for this terd since it needs one. I really like the Hurst white knob and think it would fit the car nicely.

Look online, no problem $33.00 free shipping. Figure its a pretty common part. Call up the local parts vendor, they have it in the warehouse.....price $57.00. No price match, no negotiating. Keep in mind, that I have bought tens of thousands of dollars of parts from this same parts house.

So do I save the $24.00 and order it online to prove my point and save a few bucks or give in abd buy the one locally to support our local shops? I am a big supporter of buying local, but this seems like a huge difference in price.

Sorry for the vent.

MH your exhaust is very good looking, doubt anyone around here would care enough to do that nice of a job. Called the only shop around here I would trust and he told me $600 for regular old krimp bends, no cats, no h pipe and a magnaflow muffler. Seemed like a ton of $$ to me. More than I paid for the entire engine....

Sean
 
Buy shipped -- and take it by to show them, with a copy of the invoice. It's called feedback.

For $600 - I think I may be able to fly out and weld it up for you with mandrel bends. :lol: Seriously - having seen your fab skills -- I'd just put one together myself I believe. With a dual 2.5" system, the small reduction in cross section the bending machine adds won't hurt a thing as you have more than enough flow capacity. Must be lots of folks in the this part of the world that will do that kind of work relatively inexpensively. 40 years of playing with cars - I've always thought custom-built exhausts were an absolute bargain here in the SE part of the country. 'Course 8 months out of the year we have to deal with mosquitos that are big enough to rape a cat too.
 
I can buy all the parts here locally for around $300.00.

I can do it.........but I have to admit, I am a little bit tired of working on it every day and want to take it out and do a big ass smokey burnout :)

On the shift knob, I will order it tomorrow..

Rebuilt the tranny mount and welded it out. Got the tranny in its final home tonight for the last time.

With that finalized I could bolt down the shifter for good. Turns out that the cutout in the tunnel was the only way that I could get the back screw into the shifter. So I put some rivnuts in the tunnel and fastened it all down with some stainless screws for future access.

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The patch panel turned out much better after I got some real help and tools to work with.

Floor was done so the interior reassembly went into full swing. It's a good feeling.

Need to figure out what to do with the comuputer under the dash....damn thing is huge!!

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Sean
 
I have a buddy who I bet would weld/fab that Summit kit and his welds/fab skills are bar none (he's a certified structural welder and fabs for a living) Interested?
 
valvesprung said:
I have a buddy who I bet would weld/fab that Summit kit and his welds/fab skills are bar none (he's a certified structural welder and fabs for a living) Interested?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer, I am sure your buddy is plenty capable as am I. Still leaves me with ordering all the stuff and going in and out from under the car in my garage about 100 times.

I called over to the exhaust shop and wheeled and dealed with him. Got the price down a hundred bux from his initial price. He is going to put some stuff in there as well.

I want the system to be removable for future service and I want a descent muffler. If I added up all the parts and pieces, I was at $300.00 at the bare minimum for materials.

They have done work for me before and done a great job. So we will see how they do.

I am dropping the car off to them at 8 am tomorrow morning and then I think I can take it out for a shakedown run :oogle:

Sean
 
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