Chassis Build Up & Design

Knee surgery? Been there, no fun!

sounds like it went well, hope you're back to running soon!

and interesting project.. ask for pics!

sounds like it went well, hope you're back to running soon!

and interesting project.. ask for pics!

Asked for pic.  I can start another thread once I get some.  It is pretty cool.  As for running... the doctor told me no running sports for 6 months.

since harley isnt showing it off, I thought I'd post for him. hope he doesnt mind.

Basically he's been working on beefing up his damaged suspension recently.







lets wish for a speedy recovery for him

The worst part is all the missing hair... 

More motor work while I'm disabled.  I've been helping Ryo with his engine harness, so I got the itch to tackle mine.  Labeled all the connectors and went to town last night.

About 95% of the wires and connectors are labeled at this point.  I believe the only circuits left to label are the bank 2 O2 sensors and MAF/IAT that got cut off before I picked up the motor.


img_2931 by TheHarley, on Flickr

Removed all the circuits I won't need from the PCM connectors.  Was thinking as I was falling asleep last night that I won't need the EVAP either, so need to go back and pull those too.


img_2932 by TheHarley, on Flickr

Here is where I left off last night.  Most of the hard work is done; researching, labeling, pulling the pins, etc.  Just have to remove the loom and the wires.  The big bundles of wire are what I'm removing.  May have to add in a few wires for the manual transmission and electric fans still, but not much else going back in.


img_2933 by TheHarley, on Flickr

I labeled all of the wires I pulled in case I scewed up it will be easier to put them back in.


img_2934 by TheHarley, on Flickr


img_2935 by TheHarley, on Flickr


img_2936 by TheHarley, on Flickr

impressed at the tidy workbench. I had to spread out all over the floor to get it done.

Would have been nice to not have the 2.2 parts there, but it is much more spacious than a month ago, so no real complaints.

looks like plenty of light too.
jealous of just having a garage in general.
are you extending the wires for the ecu? i dont thnk its long enough in stock form to reach into the cab

I will extend what I have to.  In all likelihood I may have to extend them all  but I don't really want to compromise where I want to put them, so it will be worth it.  My plan is to replace the entire length to keep solder out of the harness as much as possible.

I will extend what I have to.  In all likelihood I may have to extend them all  but I don't really want to compromise where I want to put them, so it will be worth it.  My plan is to replace the entire length to keep solder out of the harness as much as possible.

i bought these
http://www.delcity.net/store/Butt-Connectors/p_792236.h_792245.a_1.t_1
solid barrel butt connectors to extend mine. hope it works well

Had a productive day out in the barn.  It at least got me excited and rolling on progress again.  Bolted the motor back up to the frame and added the transmission after doing some diagnosis on why it doesn't turn once the tail housing was torqued down.  I'm pretty sure I have it figured out now, just need to order the tail housing gasket and put it together again.  After snapping a couple pictures we laid out the harness and I think I have a way to get the length I need to run it in cab while shortening most of the circuits.    Less weight? haha I'm game.  I'll give more details once I confirm it will work.  Need to order up a couple connectors for the transmission and I can tackle it.

My friend Al decided he wanted to try out the new motor and transmission too.  I apologize for the cell phone pictures, but neither of us had a real camera on hand.


IMG00006-20101230-1945 by TheHarley, on Flickr


IMG00007-20101230-1945 by TheHarley, on Flickr


IMG00009-20101230-1946 by TheHarley, on Flickr


IMG00015-20101230-2029 by TheHarley, on Flickr

hows the stock trans xmember working for you?
I have heard rumors of the stock auto trans xmember working for the t56s, and the 4l60e being the same length as the t56 so the driveshaft doesnt need to get shortened....

btw, looks like a good ride height!

dont look like the xmember is working all that good.  certainly too far forward in there.  but its lookin good.

I've got the motor all the way back in the mounts, but not sure that is where it will end up definitely.  In any case Grappler is right about the x member being too far forward and that is typical of even 4.3 T56 swaps.  I had been planning on a shorter drive shaft and custom x member since the beginning, so will just have to figure it out as I go and will know better if I can get a firewall in there.

Ride height right now is sitting on the bump stops in the front and 3" blocks + 3" springs in the back, but with just the frame not sure where that puts it.  That and the whole thing is on car dollies.

since you need a driveshaft anyways, why not move the motor back even more?
fully behind the front axle? and maybe an astro firewall?

LOL @ Astro firewall! I like that.

haha Astro...

Another fun thing I discovered today: the Z06 uses the same part number as the engine coolant temperature sensor to measure oil temperature in the oil reservoir.  The original ECT was busted on my motor, so I picked up a pair of OEM sensors off of eBay for $25 and will be using them both through the PCM.  Nearly have my harness shopping list together too.

i know that the newer x members are set up little different then the 1st gens.  but when i modified mine to work this is what i ended up with.

I'll figure something out for the cross member.  The motor is really far back right now, so I do really need to get a firewall in there to see.  Maybe I'll get lucky and have a spare laying around at some point...

Started playing with the harness and it is looking promising.  Got a $115 shopping list put together for connectors and terminals, but most of that is actually for other projects and hoping to salvage some of it from other sources....

My friend, Al, did some machine work on the oil temp sensor "mount" and it turned out real nice too.  I think we have a winner.


IMG00017-20110106-2131.jpg by TheHarley, on Flickr


IMG00019-20110106-2132.jpg by TheHarley, on Flickr


IMG00020-20110106-2132.jpg by TheHarley, on Flickr