Eh, they've had mid-engine Corvette test mules since the '80s. I'll believe it when I see one on a dealer's lot.
It's almost hard to believe that at one point in time you could walk into a dealership, check a few boxes on the order form, drop $3-5K, and get something like this: The sound of that engine is amazing, although I don't know if I could deal with the noise (And maintenance) of a solid lift cam anymore.
Shop has been really busy so we haven't had much time to play with the cougar but we did get it blasted and primed. We did dustless blasting instead of sand blasting it. No chance of warping the metal and minimal clean up All bagged and ready for epoxy primer. Pretty cool that you can see the original lead line from the factory joining the roof to the quarters. After priming Small spray out of the color we're going to shoot. Factory Competition Orange. If it stays as busy as it's been lately, I'm not sure when we're going to have time to work on it. Next update might be a bit.
I forgot to post this one for you...it's not the same year, but it's kind of interesting. 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator 428 Super Cobra Jet So Rare That Most Thought It Was Fake
So finally, at long last, I'm going to do an LS swap on a third generation Firebird; but here's the catch: It's going to be on Jungle Julia's car. A few weeks ago, I saw a guy selling a wrecked (but running) '04 Tahoe, and I bought the whole thing for $1,000. Before anyone gets too excited, it's the red-headed stepchild of the LS family: the dreaded 4.8. Not what I would have hoped for, but the price was too good to pass up (Engine, transmission, and wiring pull-outs start at about $2500 for a 5.3/4L65E around here). Besides, all-out power is not the goal of this swap, it's reliability. Jungle Julia's 'bird has a pathetic, wheezing 2.8L V6, and a TH700 transmission that's starting to slip. It seems like as soon as I fix one leak on that thing, another one starts, and every time I touch it, something else breaks (and parts aren't that easy to find for that engine.). What I'm really afraid of is that sometime soon, the engine or transmission is going to take a shit, and we'll be put in a situation where we HAVE to put more money into that pathetic drivetrain just to keep the car on the road. Anyway, once I got the Tahoe back to my shop, I ran some tests on it, and oil pressure is 40 psi at idle, compression on all of the cylinders is between 185-200, and there was zero sludge in the oil pan and valve covers. Not bad for a 200,000 mile engine. I'm going to be resealing everything, getting the heads redone, replacing the oil pump, timing chain, and lifter gloves. I'll probably make my own frame perches to work with factory LS motor mounts when I mount it in the car. The real challenge is going to be the wiring, though. I've already stripped down the whole Tahoe wiring harness as per the instructions here: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-lsx/544768-ls1-harness-start-finish.html I've still got a bunch of other things to do before this is done (I'm planning on a September finish date), and I welcome any questions or advice.
Well, then I guess I like redheads. I've got a 4.8 in my 2004 Silverado. It's only got 390,000 miles on it, though, so I am not sure how it will hold up. I recommend while you've got the fuel rails and all that off the top, you pull out the knock sensors. Reseal them, even if you don't replace them. The seal cracks over time, and if it gets any water in there, no bueno.
Yeah, the donor engine had water intrusion (a shit-ton of rust) on one of them. I've got two new knock sensors and the wiring harness ordered from Rock Auto. I already have seals. Good call on that one. I've got this thing on a stand, stripped down to the shortblock, if any of y'all want engine porn.
You're much more ambitious then I'll ever be. Just the thought of making all the wiring and sensors interact correctly makes me itch.
Just out of curiosity: did I just waste a perfectly good $150 buying brake pads and rotors online? Will my friendly neighborhood mechanic refuse to install them for liability's sake?
shouldn't matter where you get them from. only issue from online is if they are wrong it takes a bit to deal with it and get the right ones
New Project Binky, after what seems like 6 months, turns out it was 6 months. Holy shit. Anyway, new episode for those of you that care, maybe just Nett and I.
Well I just learned something, when you alternator/battery shit the bed and lots of new vehicles have electronic variable power assist you have no power steering.
Probably worse than no power steering, as you're probably having to fight the inoperable power steering module as well. I'm actually kind of surprised that a modern car can even run without a battery and alternator... how does the PCM stay energized? Or the injectors work? Or any number of other electronic components?
My guess is my battery still had enough juice left in it for everything to run. Before I stopped it, they touch screen said shutting down to conserve power. Once I stopped and turn off the vehicle it wouldn't even attempt to turn over.