Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Thu Feb 23, 2023 10:25 pm

Thanks man. The style strut bar I made definitely wouldn't clear the coil packs or the brakes in the stock application.

New plasma video coming soon. I'm almost done with it.

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Wed Mar 01, 2023 10:11 pm

Did someone say plasma video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voA9OiYLK0o

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Sun Mar 19, 2023 11:55 pm

Rear suspension completely finished! Had my buddy laser some brackets to relocate the lower control arms and panhard bar at the lower ride height. Converted LCAs to rod ends on one side and welded more bracing on the torque arm. Also bent some 3/4" plates to strengthen the driveshaft tunnel structure, and welded in my rear firewall for the gas tank which is next on the list. Road legal is getting closer and closer.

https://youtu.be/wgorm1vNeYw

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Tue Apr 04, 2023 12:40 am

It lives again! Got the DIY stainless fuel tank done. Fits nicely and leaves a decent trunk with 17gal capacity. It's 14g 304SS and on the heavy side, using the factory fuel pump module with a Walbro 255HP. I don't love that the filler is inside the trunk, but I couldn't come up with a better way to do it...the factory filler spot is just way too low. Ideally the tank weight would be lower, but at least it's further back to get the f/r weight bias better.
https://youtu.be/vfYE3A_DLsA

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Sat Apr 22, 2023 11:19 pm

Keepin on keepin on. Got the wiring 100% finished. Now the key turns the car on & off and all the gauges work. I even fixed the trunk popper that needed to be in "park". haha

https://youtu.be/iWSmuRs3MpE

Found some nice little surprises. Being a 96 actually simplified some of the wiring since it matches up to 2000 OBD2 truck. Oil pressure connector plugged right in and 98 Camaro coolant temp sensor also plugs right in (I had laready cut mine off though) lol. The truck fuse block fits awesome in the air cleaner and I made a little bracket to hold it secure.

I added PCM control for fan1 & fan2, reverse lockout solenoid and wired my wideband datastream into the Bank1 sensor2 signal for logging. Most of all the wiring I was able to leave in it's loom and repurpose wires I didn't need. I used a bunch of the Beretta PCM wires through the firewall bulkhead to get circuits into the interior without adding holes. And I added circuits to the PCM by using wires I didn't need for auto trans junk, etc. I also used the wiring leg that went to the auto trans plug to do reverse lights and reverse lockout without adding to the bundle inside the loom.

I hope this is all the wiring I have to do for a while. I took almost a week and crimp solder & shrunk it so I shouldn't have to chase down gremlins later. I also added fan override switch and a couple circuits through the firewall that I'm not using yet. So there's room to grow.

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Sun Apr 30, 2023 10:13 pm

Started the tunnel today, what a nightmare. Doesn't look beautiful...but it'll be covered by carpet and a console! haha

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Mon May 29, 2023 11:51 pm

Got the tunnel video done. Got it basically built at my house and took it back to the lift for final finishing and seam sealing. It all fits pretty well. Gonna look damn near factory with carpet!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-GXMyhoxL0

Everything is back in place and the exhaust is done, so that will be the next video.

Asylum · Post by **Asylum** » Tue May 30, 2023 1:29 am

HOLY HELL!!

Nice job Woody!!!

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:13 pm

Asylum wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 1:29 am HOLY HELL!!

Nice job Woody!!!

Well duh. Where have you been?

Exhaust video is up.

https://youtu.be/7gUHzuSZFoQ

Also put tags on it and drove the first street miles. It looks absolutely amazing this low, but I dunno if it's gonna live in NY this way. haha Exhaust scrapes on the driveshaft on bumps too...so there's a little bit to work out there.

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Tue Jun 27, 2023 12:02 am

Lot of thrashing to get it ready for Carlisle. It's a handful doing donuts!

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Sun Jul 02, 2023 9:49 pm

I got the Carlisle video done. I took 4th place out of 4 cars in my class at the show (guess people don't like half-finished interiors and chipping paint). And I took 2nd out of 3 (2 running) at the donut/burnout contest. But nothing broke so I'm calling that a win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42yYXYGVmQM

Rettax3 · Post by **Rettax3** » Thu Jul 06, 2023 2:51 pm

Right on, looks like you had some fun -love that you had to notice your third-eye light was missing a bulb -OCD as only a Builder would have!

Very cool that nothing broke, but next time the car should be driven there!

(And yeah, driven back!)

How many people there figured out that the wrong pair of wheels were rolling smoke, I wonder?

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Thu Jul 06, 2023 7:10 pm

Most people figured it out. I did have a couple that said "I always assumed these were FWD" haha

Yeah, I'll definitely be road tripping it soon, but I just didn't have enough trust in it, and I would have never heard the end of it from Tiffany if I got the family stranded. lol. Still working out some little bugs. It could really use some more brake pressure so I have a 5/8 master on order and I'm swapping out my non-functional Corvette regulator for a regular return style. It's running on pump pressure of 80-85psi right now. Finally got all the rain leaks fixed and the carpet will go in soon. And I bought a Saturn coolant tank to move my air filter from right above the header...IATs were 137. Ouch. And I'm cutting up the front control arms to move the balljoint forward 1"...but yeah, it's almost done! haha

Road trip equipped now:

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 12:14 am

(Completed this before Carlisle) Another revision to the steering done and this time it's perfect! Clean sheeted the design rather than trying to modify those '48 Ford arms. Did the math to determine for sure that I needed like 31% more steering angle on the inside wheel for the Ackerman to be correct at 103" wheelbase and 60" track width. That was 1-1/8" outboard of the balljoint at IIRC 5" forward of the ball joint. I made a mockup in plastic at work and had the local Empire Metal Works laser them in 3/8 steel. Now I'm super happy with the steering and it feels great.

https://youtu.be/TIpaXvBFh48

woody90gtz · Post by **woody90gtz** » Mon Jul 10, 2023 1:42 am

Placeholder for next video that publishes while I'm in Hawaii.

Sway bars are done and they're pretty mint. Front is a free 33mm Blazer bar from the Z69 that's hooked to the strut via a Dodge Ram end link to the old FWD steering arm. That means it's direct-acting like an FE7 Beretta bar, but twice the thickness! Rear is a 23mm Blazer bar that's adjustable via split collars that can slide up and down the bar. They hook to one of several holes in the frame via 5th (or 6tth?) gen Camaro balljoint-style end links. The bushings in front just go to some plates welded on the subframe, and the rear bushings are on some DIY exhaust clamp brackets on the axle tubes.

Beretta.net

Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

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Re: Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

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