The Shop Truck

[r3dd0g]

We started working on the engine yesterday. The crank went in first and we got 4 of the pistons in yesterday.

Today we put the other 3 pistons in, took the damaged piston off of #8 rod, installed the rear cover with new seals and installed the cam.

That's as far as I can go until we get the replacement piston. Tomorrow we're going to pull the 6.0 and tear the whole front end down to do some cleanup and modifications.

 

[r3dd0g]

We pulled the LQ4 out and somehow it seems the front fell off.

Normally the front doesn't fall off at all.

 

[Babaganoosh]

Perfect time for the intercooler install.

 

[r3dd0g]

I didn't get much done today, but I did finish pulling the fenders off. I'm going to be cleaning up the engine compartment while the engine is out, this is why I pulled the trans this time. I also need to make room for this heat exchanger between the radiator and condenser.

It's about the same height as my radiator, but a little narrower. I'll probably cut the hose barb's off and weld in AN bungs, but this is the biggest off the shelf heat exchanger that I thought I could make fit.

 

[shady]

.....

 

[r3dd0g]

One of these things is not like the others...

I picked up the replacement piston Friday afternoon. I had been working on the core support prior to that, no pictures yet, sorry.
Yesterday I got the last piston and rod installed, the JE wrist pin retaining clips SUCK. It took over an hour just to figure out how to get the first one installed, but it's together now. I should be able to finish assembling the engine today and go back to working on the core support.

 

[r3dd0g]

When I bought the engine from Smeding, they didn't install a windage tray . I wouldn't think that would be an optional thing, but apparently it was. The Dart block requires the Dart windage tray installation kit and windage tray. I ordered one from LSXeleration.com on the recommendation from Outlaw. It shipped the same day so it was a good experience with a new company.
The windage tray fit perfect with no interference, until I tried to install the oil pickup tube. I had to cut the corner off by the oil pump to clear the pickup tube and thought I was good, until I tried to put the oil pan on. The pickup was now hanging down way too low and the pan would not sit flush, also the pan wouldn't sit far enough forward to bolt up as the lip on the back of the pan was hitting the rear most mount for the windage tray.
The bracket for the windage tray that the oil pickup tube now attached to was 1/8" thicker than the bracket that was used before, add to that the thickness of the windage tray itself and now the pickup was sitting about 1/8" taller than the bottom of the oil pan. This tells me that Smeding never checked the fitment and it had to have been very close to the pan before. The internet says it should be 1/4-3/8" from the bottom of the pan, obviously if that was true the pan would have cleared it with the tray although it would have been very close.
I cut 3/8" off the mounting arm for the pickup tube and added a notch to the windage tray to clear the tube. I then flattened out and bent the tube/bracket a bit to get my clearance somewhere between the 1/4" and 3/8" that it should be.

to allow the pan to slide forward I used a die grinder and an aluminum flap disk on my angle grinder. It took a couple hours, but I'm happy with the results and glad to have a windage tray now.

Once I got the oil pan on I finished bolting on as much as I could to get it up off the floor and out of the shop so I can finish the fab work on the core support and engine bay.

 

[ktmoutfront]

I closed my business partly because I got tired of new stuff not working or fitting.

It looks like you got it handled.

 

[r3dd0g]

In this case, I'm sure it was the crappy oil pan that was the problem, again.

 

[Babaganoosh]

For my Holley pan I had to modify a stock windage tray, but they tell you in the instructions.

 

[r3dd0g]

I got some more work done on the core support. I now have enough space to fit the heat exchanger in front of the radiator.

I need to go get some steel to make mounts for the heat exchanger and get some assorted bolts etc. to bolt everything together. Then I'll need to modify the mounts for the condenser and figure out how to modify the grill/hood latch support to clear the cooling stack and condenser fan.

If I can't get enough clearance for the fan, I should be able to use the signal from the trinary switch as an input on the dominator to turn the main fans on instead. That may be a better idea anyways.

 

[Babaganoosh]

I was hoping this heat exchanger was for boost

 

[ktmoutfront]

I was hoping this heat exchanger was for boost

Ports are a little small.

 

[r3dd0g]

I would not have enough room for an air to air intercooler without major modifications.

 

[shady]

Twin screws have much smaller ports on their heat exchangers

 

[r3dd0g]

They also make thinks like this for turbos.

 

[ktmoutfront]

How much heat will that pull out. I have seen them used with ice boxes, not an air exchanger.

 

[Babaganoosh]

I was just thinking big wanted you to put the big setup you want on it.

Wishful thinking

 

[r3dd0g]

How much heat will that pull out. I have seen them used with ice boxes, not an air exchanger.

I might have one of those too.

 

[r3dd0g]

I finally got some time back out in the shop today. I'm still struggling with the recovery from my shoulder surgery so I don't get out there as often as I would like. I added a strip along the bottom of the core support to close off the gap under the radiator and force the air through rather than around.

I mounted the heat exchanger about 1/4" from the radiator and tucked it in as far as I could. I'm going to cut the 3/4" nipples off and weld on some -16 bungs to make hooking the hoses up easier.

I mounted the condenser next, it's mounted in the same spot left to right/top to bottom so I'm hoping I don't have to re-do any of the hard lines. It is mounted about 1/4" away from the heat exchanger.

The final step for the cooling stack was to modify the hood latch/grill bracket to clear the condenser. I only had to shave about 3/4" off the back starting at the bottom and tapering back to full width at the top.

Now, I'm a bit confused by the concern over the size of the heat exchanger. No matter what power level I max out on at the track, the 5 gallon ice box will keep that cool. When I'm driving around on the street, I'll be at lower boost levels and won't be WOT that often so the heat exchanger will be fine. The plan is to have around 700-800 HP on the street and 1200-1400 HP on the strip.