So, the short block was pretty good when I tore it down.
I'm reusing the rings and the oil pump but tossing in new cam rod and main bearings.
New cam and timing chain, (Crane 113941 H-272-2) which I got on an odd deal from Amazon for $85.
Seems like there are always one off weird deals on stuff if you look around enough.
The stock corvette oil pan and windage tray are kinda cool, better than nothing I guess.
Putting the oil pan back on and using rtv, sealant, and adhesive to do so was a really trip down memory lane.
It seemed so crude compared to modern sealing surfaces... but then again it WAS cheap compared to a fancly LS gasket...
You can't see it in this picture, but the oil pan had a big "OK" marked on it.
We will see.
Now, pure glamour shots, nothing unusual to note, just progress pics.
I wanted to get the short block and the transmission into the car to make room.
That didn't happen, but I came close.
Got the transmission tore down, cleaned, inspected and reassembled.
Cleaned a bunch of hardware.
Tore down, inspected, cleaned and reassembled the HEI.
And last, but not least, I started in on the shifter.
This is a really cool shifter.
It was built by LONG, or should I say over built.
It does need new centering springs, I call them and see what's available.
You will notice that it still needs to be cleaned.........
This is all that was left of the springs. The missing pieces were NOT in the shifter body... hmmmm?
Am I seeing things or is one of the gears on the countershaft missing some teeth?
(I tried to enlarge your photo without much luck so I clipped part of it and blew it up)
Apologies if I'm imagining it. Great job on the build!
Mark
In reply to B757Captain :
Nope, you are not imagining it.
This is one of the reasons that this car was in the state it was, and was available for challenge budget money. ($1250).
According to PO history and what I've found while tearing the car down, in early 2000 or so this transmission was installed as an up grade to the original 4+3. Very early on it developed noise in OD.
A little interwebs browsing, and it becomes clear; in the early 2000's it was not uncommon for these Richmond Six speeds to have this issue where teeth broke off of the OD cluster gear.
The damage was mitigated by the two decent sized drain plug magnets. The seven teeth were found largely intact.
So, considering that it lost the teeth about 15 years ago, and that it didn't really do any other major damage being a daily driver for years, I decided to save the budget $$ which was approx $250 for the OD gears.
Post challenge it will get fixed.
Along with some other short cuts that make a $20xx budget build more than a little unnerving!
Less gear teeth is lighter and lower inertia...
stafford1500 said:
Less gear teeth is lighter and lower inertia...
Or less stored (kinetic) energy?
lol
That thing is looking fantastic by the way. Very excited to see it in person.
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
Thanks, the cleaning and painting and detail stuff is cheap to do, I’m just worried that it will be all show and no go.
Forgot to post the TPI intake and runners all cleaned up.
Still need to work on the tb...
Purple power degreaser and acid wheel cleaner!
So, Yesterday was a busy day of getting the completed short block, clutch, transmission, and shifter re-assembled into a unit, and installed into the car.
The shifter was pretty nasty, but worth the effort. The only thing it needed were new centering springs, which were only $10/set from Long Shifters in PA.
Bad, Late night pic, but like old PREGO sauce commrcial, "It's in there".
For the younger kids... the PREGO reference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J87QekxQVI
Why do engines and transmissions like to be installed late at night??
In reply to jfryjfry :
Gods 11th commandment. Thou shalt not install engine with good lighting.
Unfortunately it violates patricks 3rd commandment. Thou shalt ls swap all the things.
Happy Sunday!
Looking great Kevin!
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
Thanks.
Soon I'll be back into the stuff that is a little more interesting, from a technical / creative standpoint.
Next I'll be setting up, a separate simplified body harness so that diagnosis is a little easier and that ECU/Engine combos can be easily swapped in the future.
Going to also start looking at dropping the radiator mount an inch or two, to allow for a larger air duct.
I think I'm going to stay with the no stock bumper open grille version. It will just be better for intake and cooling air issues all around.
So, since every post should have a picture, here's another one of the shifter.
I did not know about Long brand shifters till this project. They are built like tanks, and priced accordingly.
The modern Long shifter for this application is a HR6003 and it is $830 at Summit. that would be a lot of budget.... :)
I really like this build. As someone mentioned earlier, you're doing what we all wish we had done. It's always nice to clean things up and put them together better than you found them. You're taking it to the extreme and I really like it!
You're going to need to install zerk fittings on your elbows to help keep up with all the elbow grease you're putting into this project! 
In reply to ClemSparks :
Thanks for the encouragement. There has been a lot of mundane straight forward stuff to this point.
Soon this build should start showing a little innovation.
The next stage is conversion to a 1989 ECU / TPFI intake and D port alluminum heads. This is where it will get a little more interesting.
The 85 block actually used flat top pistons, and the 89 Heads are 58 cc. In the end that's going to come out around 11:1, hopefully compensating for the cam, and keeping all of the tourqe (and maybe more), with the new HP.
This is IF the eyebrows in the flat top pistons clear the valves with the 'new' heads and a higher lift cam.
Lets just say I hope they do, and not dwell on it, haha.
So, this has been on the list for a while... just not enough lug stud here for my taste. Probably not enough for tech inspection either.
With a little research, I came up with these:
The old:
Pulling in the new studs. Lisle tool 22800. It has a big bearing on the back that makes this an EASY effort.
The new:
And, now we have proper lugs!
Finished and installed the driveshaft.
Put the old heads on top of the motor and mocked up the exhaust.
Sort of a cheap preview.
Even more mock up.
Need to open up the duct to the MAF.
For the belt, I'm going to mount a 3" 6rib idler near the driver's side head and use the alternator as the tensioner.
With out the shock load from the AC I'm not worried about keeping the auto tensioner.
Scored some seats at LKQ today. $26 ea.
They came out of a 2003 or 4 ish Hyundai Tiburon.
They are flat bottom seats with bolt on tracks.
I expect I'll remove the Hyundai tracks and adapt the corvette seat tracks to fit.
They passed the drop in test, LOL. They are in great shape and the white spot on the bolster is actually the "AirBag" tag.
It's coming off.
