In reply to Jordan Rimpela :
Yes. 4.3 L99. The small LT motor from a '94 Caprice. Everyone of my friends I've told about it think I mean the V6. Probably not the logical choice for a big heavy car but I'll try it. If the LT platform doesn't put up too much if a fight I figure going to an actual LT1 later won't be too much trouble.
Daylan C said:In reply to Jordan Rimpela :
Yes. 4.3 L99. The small LT motor from a '94 Caprice. Everyone of my friends I've told about it think I mean the V6. Probably not the logical choice for a big heavy car but I'll try it. If the LT platform doesn't put up too much if a fight I figure going to an actual LT1 later won't be too much trouble.
I'm all for it. They're what, 200hp motors? L99? I can't even remember. Wow.
I had an `84 Delta 88 Royale (B-Body) with the 231 V6. A friend of mine had an `83 Impala with the 229 V6. We conducted the slowest drag race known to mankind. The 229 had more grunt off the line, but the 231 got him above 60.
Honestly, even a later 4.3V6 would be an upgrade over the stock 307 (I know you bought yours sans engine)
In reply to Jordan Rimpela :
Yep. 200hp, definitely better than the 307 Olds this car was shipped with. Solid downgrade from the cam'd Vortec 350 running on an MS2 that was in it most recently though. (I have gearheade30's notes on that motor and may look into copying it for my truck at some point).
Honestly I'm going with the L99 just because I fell into it cheap and feel like trying something weird. I mostly just want this to be a fun road trip capable street car post Challenge. Really mild power goals seem easily achievable with the LT platform for cheap. Plus the 4.3 seems like fun to mess with in something light on a later date.
Didn't even know the L99 existed, but hey, I can appreciate weird obscure engines. Seems like it was in some of the cop cars, so maybe that will help with parts availability. (Then again, those cars have been out of service for so long that it probably doesn't.)
Turns out working night shift and a lighted shop end up being an ok combo.
The new bullet is no longer attached to the 4l60e. Now to start looking it over to see what I need to take care of before I put it in the car. Also delete the air injection and possibly EGR.
So fyi, you can buy an lt1 block later on and use the 3” stroke L99 crank to make a 302.
4L60E is sold. Did some checking into the starter. Looks like an '89 C1500 and a '94 Caprice both used a starter with a 9 tooth gear. Unless I'm missing something or have faulty info, the starter that came with my motor should still work with the truck flywheel. I still don't trust that info but I'll keep checking, if it's right, great. Also regarding the flywheel. I was concerned about the 4.3 being balanced different. But a search seems to show the same part number for a replacement flex plate for both an LT1 and L99. The weight is also on the flex plate attached to my L99 and not the converter. (I've messed with weird Dodge stuff so it came to mind). Got a clutch alignment tool while I was in town tonight. So now I just need flywheel bolts and to move that mount and I should be able to mount the motor next weekend.
Finally got serious actually planning the logistics of actually getting to the challenge after the car is done. The only thing I see that could stop me from making it is if I actually do get the new job I'm trying to get and can't get the Thursday and Friday off. Looks like I'm on track to have the car ready in plenty of time unless my own stupidity surprises me. This weekend's plan is getting the motor mounted. I'm considering leaving the EGR and smog pump for now just so I don't have to mess with the tune as much. Unless either one of them proves to be faulty and cause driveability issues then they'll get deleted.
EDIT: My Indy dwelling team mate is apparently also planning on using this trip south in my car as an opportunity to buy a new beater. So this trip might get even more interesting depending on what he finds.
Daylan C said:Finally got serious actually planning the logistics of actually getting to the challenge after the car is done. The only thing I see that could stop me from making it is if I actually do get the new job I'm trying to get and can't get the Thursday and Friday off. Looks like I'm on track to have the car ready in plenty of time unless my own stupidity surprises me. This weekend's plan is getting the motor mounted. I'm considering leaving the EGR and smog pump for now just so I don't have to mess with the tune as much. Unless either one of them proves to be faulty and cause driveability issues then they'll get deleted.
EDIT: My Indy dwelling team mate is apparently also planning on using this trip south in my car as an opportunity to buy a new beater. So this trip might get even more interesting depending on what he finds.
DO IT DO IT DO IT
In reply to spacecadet :
I feel like there's a strong chance one of us is going to end up towing the other one home.
If they buy a cheap enough beater, they can enter it in the Challenge last-minute! Two-car team! WINNING
I am mailing your flywheel bolts later today
In reply to Patrick :
Good to hear. I was probably going to ask you about that at some point today. Thank you.
Flex plate is off and flywheel is on. The pilot bushing slipped my mind. So I probably won't have the clutch on today and I'll probably be on the road most of the day tomorrow meeting the dude in Tennessee that I got my truck from. Maybe tomorrow night. I still need to get the car in the air and decide if I'm dropping the trans and putting on back in after the engine is in place or see if I'm good enough to line the clutch up onto the trans with it in place. This will be the first time that I've stuck an engine in the car that didn't involve a torque converter so I'm over here guessing and googling as I go along.
In reply to Daylan C :
I think you would be better off to remove the transmission first. Install engine, then re-install transmission. (Just the opinion of some random guy on the internet though, so do what you want)
In reply to Indy-Guy :
Yeah that's probably how that's gonna end up happening the more I think about it.
Definitely. I knew a guy that could do it with the manual trans and bellhousing in the car, clutch on the engine. I saw him do it!
Im pretty sure that he was either an alien or a god. No normal human being can actually do it.
So drop the trans. Bolt clutch and bellhousing up to the engine, drop in, install trans from the bottom. Unless the core support is out of the car, or easily removed. If thats the case, assemble the engine and trans and slide in through the front.
I'm more willing to put the trans on under the car than pull the core support, so I guess next time I'm touching the car is dropping the trans.
After 2 trips I got the right pilot bushing and got the clutch put together. Was about to start clearing out a place in the shop to push the car in and start dropping the trans when I had to stop and take my mom to the hospital with a possible broken wrist. I might try to get more work done tonight but it depends entirely on how late it is when I get home now.
In reply to Daylan C :
Life always seems to get in the way of our best intentions. I hope your mom's ok (speedy recovery)
In reply to Indy-Guy :
Just got home, doc said it looks like small crack and no complete break anywhere. Thanks for your concern.
In reply to Daylan C :
Glad to hear it's fairly minor, not insignificant. But better than you guys thought!
Gearheade30, thanks for selling me a 4000lbs car that's easier to push than my Saturn.
And now the probably 8 year old hazard fraught jack has decided it won't lift my GTA to get it off of the big jack stands. Guess I'm done for tonight. I was going to try to get a buddy over here tomorrow to help put the motor in so it looks like I'll have to tell him to bring his jack too.
Was gonna wait until later tonight to hopefully have a longer post with good news. But I ended up buying a new jack. Holy E36 M3 it's nice to be able to gently lower a car after a few years if using a junky jack that sticks.
Anyway Humphrey is now on the operating table time to actually get some work done.
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