66 Nova update

[Crush]

Is your Grandson working along side of you? If so cool!

[RPOLS3]

Haven't had a kwhizz drivetrain upgrade thread in a long while - looking forward to this......great to see your posts Ken!

[kwhizz]

With the engine assy I was also supplied with a Holley front drive assy....Now.... with the LT engine family there are a few changes that need to be accommodated.....Since these engines are direct injected the PCV system becomes very important.....In a normal engine assy if oil vapors get into the intake and get on the intake valves the incoming gas will wash it off keeping the valve clean...... In the LT since it is direct injected this is not an option.....Holley copied the GM system and they have a vapor collection reservoir (like a catch can) that drains the oil back into the oil pan..... I'm sure there's more to it but this is my understanding of what's going on...Holley doesn't include this drain back feature in their kit......I was going to use AN fittings and rubber hose.... But they cautioned that keeping the drain feature away from the exhaust system and also maintaining a downward pitch to the drain.....I could see that my original idea wasn't going to work....the motor mount adaptor plate and motor mount wasn't going to allow this.......So, after going in the house and thinking about this.... I went back out and took the original draintube that was on the drivers side and cut it up and welded it back together and (with a little bit of grinding on the ribs between the motor mount bolts) the tube now fit under the adaptor plates and were hidden from the exhaust manifolds

[IMG]

[olredalert]

----Adapt and overcome! This should be a wicked combo....Bill S

[kwhizz]

Time to slip it in and see what other problems are going to come up.... My concerns are the transmission cross member.........Exhaust manifolds.....getting the engine as close as possible to the firewall yet still having enough clearance for the harness plugs for the high pressure pump......









Wow!!!...... Transmission cross member (modified in the past for the 700R4) bolted right up to the trans mount....... Clearance with the firewall perfect.....Supplied exhaust manifolds look like they were made for this swap

I know this is too perfect and I'm sure other problems will come up but we dodged many bullets till this point

[kwhizz]

Next issue to deal with......We have the A/C condenser mounted to the stock position on the core support.... I was planning mounting the supercharger intercooler between the condenser and the radiator...... ...Now I have 7 1/2" between the core support and the Supercharger drive pulley......minus the 2 1/2" stick out of the power steering pulley....5" of space to work with for Intercooler, Radiator, and Electric Fan......Here we go.....In mocking it up with the original radiator to see what I had to work with..... another problem came up..... It became apparent that I would not be able to move the radiator back at all as the throttle body was positioned to where the 4" rubber elbow was just going to fit with the stock position.......Hummmmm!!!!!
So...After agonizing over this issue I came to the conclusion that the intercooler had to mounted front of the core support.......... I found one that is 22 x 10.5 x 1 3/4" thick........To get it to fit I have to eliminate the stock hood latch assy and (until I get it I won't know for sure) trim away the bottom lip on the Grill to clear......I also ordered a Volkswagen Beetle hood latch (which I always used on my street rod projects) assy and I hope I can that to work otherwise we will have to use Hood Pins which I really don't want to do...... Wiating for parts now

[dykstra]

I’m so excited about this thread!!

[Hawkeye]

Very cool build and it's great to follow along again. Iron Resurrection used a custom radiator/intercooler support with electric fans on one of their builds. Figured I would share in case it helped. Obviously with their motor set back into the firewall it worked well. The factory support and setup they want to use was not going to fit so they had to go this direction.
Thanks, Marty

[kwhizz]

Finally made some more progress...... Got all the fittings I needed to get the new gas tank installed....With the old tank out you can see the Quality of the rear end modifications done by Frame-up Wheelworks in Beach Park, Ill.......9" Ford rear along with Detroit Speed 4 Link and Coil overs........they also mini-tubbed the rear along with adding frame connectors.......So it is better suited now to handle a little more H.P........Here are some pic's

[Xplantdad]

Looks great!