Budget LS swap 6spd RWD Z26 project.

[woody90gtz]

https://youtube.com/shorts/0gFmT303q3w

It's alive! Put a shitload of hours in on it over the last week+, cause I'm getting kicked off my old man's lift for his dumb new Mopars. A lot of the final little details turned out really well. It's uncanny how well a truck fuse block and PCM fit a Beretta. haha And my modified headers miraculously can be removed from the top side, and still have access to the starter and steering shaft.
The fuel tank and a couple other things are sloppy cobbed together at the moment, so it's still not road worthy. But it runs and will be making tire smoke by this weekend. More detailed video coming soon, obviously.

[snowblindburd]

Heck yes! That had to be a good feeling.

[woody90gtz]

Oh hell yeah. Technically I could have test fired it quite a while ago even without steering and pedals, etc...but it's still a big checkmark off the list. Brakes and lines are totally done, cooling is all done except for one brand new hose leaking...not sure if it's the hose or probably the spring clamp - I gotta put a worm gear on it. FYI, you can run 1980 Camaro power steering hoses with a 1998 Camaro rack and 2000 Silverado pump...that was a happy convenience.

[Rettax3]

Very nice! An early present to yourself for the Holidays.

[woody90gtz]

https://youtube.com/shorts/VyC0f9f0094
It does burnouts! But it was too damn cold to make smoke...not even banging off the limiter in 2nd. Sad face. And it would barely go anywhere on the frozen tundra - those cold slippery tires I think had less traction than the breakaway torque in the LSD. So I bought some bleach for the rock hard tires to remedy the smoke problem I hope. And forgetting to plug in the MAF probably didn't help.



After I got it fired earlier this week, I discovered the clutch wouldn't fully disengage. 6.1:1 Wilwood pedals and 3/4 bore master should have been ok considering the 4th gens had 6:1 pedals and 3/4 master cyl...but apparently McLeod and Spec clutches both need a 7/8 master. Fittingly enough, my used Spec clutch did come with a 7/8 master. Probably should have done some homework on that then. But it was a universal style Tilton that fit the Wilwood pedals just like the Afcos I'm running.


It was sketchy AF on the initial test drive! My "oh how bad can it be" bumpsteer was really bad, so I stole a couple 5/8 heims from the Camaro and dialed it in a lot better. I also adjusted my pinion angle (cause I had forgotten) and made a tweak to the driver rear lower control arm length. Should be a marked improvement on the next test drive. It's supposed to be almost 40 on Thanksgiving, so I'll try to make smoke then. I'll put all the video stuff together soon.

[woody90gtz]

Here's the video. And the next video will show smoke!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoANNtGaPe0

[snowblindburd]

We love a good smokeshow. Congrats on getting it moving! Can't wait to go for a ride.

[woody90gtz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNF7uPUjVHE

This thing is so much fun. I love it.

[Rettax3]

Fantastic! Watching your video, at the point you were swapping-out the clutch M/C, and popping up through the gaping hole in the floor-pan, all I could do was laugh and think, "Warning!! Danger to Manifold! (Woody didn't heed that warning!)"

Congrats having her running on her own feet. Man, I have GOT to get back on some of my car projects -been so busy with building construction lately...

[woody90gtz]

Video is up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei15Jh8ABZk

And I'm also thinking about doing some t-shirts.

[woody90gtz]

Coilovers for the front in the works! No pillowball mounts and nasty NVH though...I'm using a DIY non-adjustable strut mount with 2 more degrees caster built in. And it has rubber isolators for the spring and the strut stem. My mock up shows it working beautifully. The picture on the ground is in the center of the adjustment, so I can go up or down about 2 inch from there. More info to come once I finish it up and make a video.
You can also see another change if you look close, but I'm not gonna spill the beans on that just yet.

[woody90gtz]

Got the coilovers done and the video up.
https://youtu.be/et8G4sg5xGA

Alex cut some plates on his plasma table from a PDF I designed in Adobe Illustrator (poor man's CAD). haha. I moved the pivot back for more caster and isolated with rubber so the NVH should be fine. Using 200lb springs instead of the factory 145lb, and I had to cut the perch off completely. I also cut the steering arm down so I can use it as a mount to make the 33mm Blazer swaybar direct acting.








Now the front looks so good I'm hacking up the rear unibody frame to get the ass down to match. On the next episode of...Gearhead dezign. haha

[woody90gtz]

Got the strut bar done and made it look absolutely BEAUTIFUL! haha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVNU8dB_hMk
Oh and you can also see I got the truck cruise control box mounted, just like I did with my 91. Plugs right into the Beretta harness. Gotta love GM!

[woody90gtz]

Guess I forgot to post my "rear subframe" video. Worked out pretty nice as some new rear structure to be able to clearance the unibody for lower ride height and move the coilover mounts up to keep my full shock travel. It's also going to be a nice solid mount for the fuel tank but that will be in another epsiode...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFPeDoHrME4





Even bought a new tool...that I should have bought years ago! Love it already

[DOHC_tuner]

Absolute props and respect at your skills man! Awesome job and videos of the V8 Beretta! Make me a front upper strut bar!