Joel's LS1 FC parts list/swap thread (remixed)

[frijolee]

Driveshaft Loop
 
A quick note on the driveshaft loop for those contemplating a custom driveshaft loop.
 
Here?s the pic of my loop fresh from the exhaust shop again?

 
 
I discovered after the fact that I maybe should have placed the loop a hair further forward on the shaft or else had it extend down a bit lower.  You remove and install the driveshaft by removing the rear bolts at the pinion flange and dropping it down.   I ended up trimming the loop a bit forward and chamfering the lower trailing edge so I?d have JUST enough clearance to get this in and out.
 

[frijolee]

Splash guard fitment
 
No real magic here.  I just trimmed the stock belly pan to fit around my JTR raditator setup.
 

 
 
The stock belly pan fits nice and tight around the JTR radiator with a little trimming.  I took off my towhooks but that's what the radiator mounts to and where the majority of the trimming has to occur.

[frijolee]

Blitz Type 01 Wheels
 
I quickly figured out that my 205/60r15 BFG g-force sports weren't going to make enough traction so I went ahead and installed my better wheels.  Only weird thing was that they came with 235/45r17s all around even though the wheel set is a staggered 8" front 9" rear.  If anything my traction when down with the old dried out Yokohama Avid A4's. 
 
If you have dead tires and you want to burn them up what?s a fella to do?
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1133975/frijolees_ls1_fc_rx7_donuts/
 

Lack of traction makes free mudflaps!
 
 
I decided I liked the 235/45 up front even though it's a tad taller than stock (might be a good thing with a long nose like mine).  I bought a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position's in the above up front and 255/40r17 in the rear.  Need to get them installed, but haven't done it yet.
 
Finally I leave you with a nice glamour shot...

 
 
This car ROCKS!
-Joel

[frijolee]

FYI:  I finally updated the parts list and fixed all the old torque central references.  The excel file in the first post changed as well.  A bit more progress on the car too:
 
For a couple months now my signature has referenced ?breaking it in, working out the bugs? I figured it?s about time I finally got around to documenting what I might have done different given the advantages of hindsight.
 
Wiring: cheats and redos:
 
Fan Control via DC Control FK-35:
 
I tried to use existing Mazda relays to control the Volvo fan which aren?t rated for the load.  I actually knew that already but I figured I could get away with it.  Most specs I?ve seen on the Taurus fan are somewhere around 30A (amps) steady state and quite a bit more on startup.  I assume the Volvo s80 fan I?m running is similar.  Danzan was under the impression the H430 relays I had grabbed off my parts car were good for about 30A each.  So the theory was that I could wire the signal coils in series so they?d both switch together and wire the power to the fan in parallel to load share.
 
Worked great? for about four months, until I was charging a canyon on a hot day.  I pulled into the parking lot at the bottom and spontaneously overheated.  Damn, no fan.  It?s kinda funny that it did fine while I was still moving.  After a little investigation here?s what I found:
 

 

 
 
Smoked both relays right at the power contactors.  Oops, I?m assuming my setup was marginal and forcing it to turn on and off a bunch of times pushed it over the edge.  This is why wiring insulation isn?t flammable anymore.  If this was 50 year-old ride and I might have burned my car down.  It?s no wonder Painless has done so well selling wiring redo kits for classic cars.
 
Moral of the story:  You need at least a properly rated 75 amp relay for fan control if you?re going through the ECU.  The more I think about it the more having a soft start option seems like a good idea.  As such I threw down for the DC Control FK-35 setup.
 

 
 
It uses a temperature probe wedged into the fins of the radiator itself to continuously vary fan speed to a known temperature.  The jumper pins attach the probe and allow different temperature settings.  Seems like a slick unit but I?ll report back in once I have a little more time with it.  I did find a nice spot to mount it on the fan shroud.  This is just the test fit, I used the supplied mounting screws, disassembled all the crimp connectors and soldered/heat shrunk everything.
 

 
------------------------------------
 
[Ed note: given the benefit of hindsight, a little more feedback on the FK-35 box follows?]
 

Joel - any positive or negative feedback on your DC Control variable speed fan controller?  You're running this without AC, correct?

No AC yet, but I'm planning on it and did all the wiring required during my last downtime.  Just need to get it plumbed.
 
As to the FK-35: I like it.  The only real con I can see is the added cost vs. just running a big relay.   I?ve been told that a good old fashioned 70 amp relay from radioshack is enough to have run ECU control if you want a simple brute force setup (stock relays are not) but this is certainly a heck of a lot more elegant. 
 
Soft start works exactly like it?s supposed to so you never blast the fan with that big current hit up front.  Jumpers for temperature adjustment are easy and work well.  It?s just a simple clean solution that works.
 
I?ve had two issues in the two years I?ve been running this.  The first was my fault when I was reassembling the car super late one night and managed to reverse power and ground.  Don?t do that.  It let out some SERIOUS magic smoke as it gave up the ghost.   Still I was enough of a fan that I bought another.  DCC even threw me a small discount because I only needed the FK-35 unit and not the full kit.
 
The second was more recent? this box itself started to misbehave (just randomly not turn on when temps clearly say it should have.  At DCC?s request I sent it back for service and everything checked out correctly on their bench.  Brian from DCC suggested I may have had a connection go bad so I?ll give all the terminals a going over with sandpaper before it goes back in.   I still like the setup but until I?m sure it run problem free I can?t give it an unqualified thumbs up.

[frijolee]

Adding to the Main Fuse Block:
 
It?s always ticked me off that I had to run external fuse holders for the fan and fuel pump.  It makes the wiring messy, they?re harder to get to, and I really didn?t want to run a big audio style holder just so I could get a 50A fuse in there.
 
Solution that I?ve been staring at for a while: 2 open spots in the main fuse block on the drivers shock tower.
 

 
 
Battery input come from the single big lead that screws down facing the camera.  This feeds a buss that connects to the input side of all 7 fuse locations.  The 100A fuse goes to the alternator.  Others feed the underdash fuse box etc.  The hard part on this thing is that I could never get the pins out and the spade on the plug at the bottom is a weird size so you can?t just slap another spade in there.
 
I finally grabbed the connectors I needed from the parts car, they should be pretty easy to find at any junkyard.  Once I got the spare on a bench with better lighting I finally figured out the retention.  There?s a little plastic clip that?s retains each spade.  However it?s shaped such that it?s hard to get out of the way, my mini screwdriver was never accurate enough until I knew exactly what I was going for.  Normally you can just shove something in on one side of the clip and it'll pop right out.  This requires a bit more dexterity.
 

Retention clip
 
 

Easiest to got at it from below
 
 

This drops into the connector on the swapped car and gets spliced to fan power (after going through a relay or controller first, naturally.
 
 
Same process applies to the power side of the fuel pump relay.  For factory matched sizes you?ll want to use 12awg for the fan and 16awg for the fuel pump.  Add fuses and you?re golden.  Oh I also upsized my input to the fuse box because it?s now carrying more load.
 

[frijolee]

Battery Power Redo (relocation v2.0):
 
When I bought my car it came with a ton of stereo gear: a pair of 12s in the trunk, a couple giant capacitors, and 3 full size deep cycle batteries.  I had one battery under the hood and one in each storage bin all were wired with 4awg leads.  When I did the swap I left only a single yellowtop in the passenger bin.  As the power was already run I left it alone, particularly because it was run under a layer of Dynamat Extreme and that stuff is a huge PITA to remove.  However, because power was running from my passenger bin to the driver?s side shock tower through a distribution block and then around the front of the car to my starter, I probably had 18 feet of 4 gage cable between my battery and starter.  The result is that my starter?s always felt weak, when the car was hot it would pop my 140A breaker at the battery.
 
I?m finally doing it the right way.  Upping to 1/0awg cable (1/0 is single zero, 2/0 is bigger and means 00, 3/0 = 000 etc) going straight from batter to starter through a 250A breaker, THEN around the front of the car to my distribution block to feed the main fuse and alternator.
 
Here?s the difference between 1/0awg and 4awg.
 

 
 
Soldering 1/0 connectors and battery terminals is a bit of a pain.  Regular soldering irons simply don?t put out enough heat rapidly enough.  The mass of the wire itself becomes a pretty effective heat sink.  I used extra flux and a propane torch and it worked out great.
 

 
 
One decent hole in the firewall and a giant grommet later and I started my run. 
 

 

 
 
Obviously you can?t solder the starter terminal until you have it properly run through the grommet.  Oh, this was my first time playing with adhesive lined heat shrink.   Good stuff!!!
 
Here?s the fuse block end all prettied up.
 

[frijolee]

Relocating Vette Power Steering Reservoir (Better Hood Clearance)
 
This is a Vette accessory specific detail (at least I don?t know about other folks requiring clearnancing here?). 
 
Previously I'd be forced to trim one of the underhood ribs to allow clearance for the top of power steering reservoir. 
 

 
 
It was close but I couldn't quite get it to fit.  I even tried denting the rib but it just barely started to show on the topside so I abandoned the effort.
 
Here's the mount for the PS reservoir.  The reservoir itself is still hooked up via its hose in this shot so it's just kinda leaning against the upper radiator hose at the moment.  My intent was to cut down the two side tips and just let the reservoir slide about 5/16" lower. 
 

 
 
Here's how the finished version sits:
 

 
 
Naturally before I could remount it I needed to cut down the hose as well.  I took off about 5/16" here too.
 
When taking this off I removed the return line and cranked the engine over by hand a dozen or so times to empty the reservoir first and make less mess.
 

 
 
Clearance to the serpentine belt is a tad close as it heads for my high mount alternator so I'll keep an eye on this:
 

 
 
The car now has a faded gray hood on it but it's the aluminum NA version and the thing is insanely light.  I couldn't find a buyer for my clean white hood so I ended up just giving that away as opposed to sending it to the trash man.
 
BTW I'm suspicious that most folks running power steering won't have this problem as I'm running a Vette motor and all the accessories are different.  Regardless, I thought I'd post up what I did.  You run into a lot of little clearancing things to do in this swap.  That includes:
 
-Header to firewall (both sides)
-Firewall lip to intake manifold
-Transmission tunnel hump removal
-Shifter position notching (at least if you're running Hinson mounts, Grannies mounts on the rear holes don't need it)
-Brake bypass proportioning valve to spark plugs (wrote up another thread on this but think I called it brake distribution block)  I'm actually redoing this.
-Cutting sheetmetal and mounting of radiator (possibly some frame rail persuading).
-Cutting underbody panel to fit around new radiator mounting
-Various relocation of evap and brake lines particularly if you're running valve covers (which I have in the works)-Front swaybar has to be shimmed down and forward.  This is especially a pain with the vette accesories

[frijolee]

New MC and Bench Bleeding Brakes
 
I've never had as much brake bite as I wanted to despite much repeated bleeding.  Between that and a leaky master cylinder reservoir (not the seals, I never had a problem with it dropping to the floor) I decided to rip into the system properly.  The weak brakes may be a result of the brake booster not being up to snuff and therefore seeing less assist than I'm supposed to.  I'm already running stainless brake lines and decent pads so I'd be surprised if that were it.
 
I bought a new master cylinder from Charlie AKA Bowtie7 (thanks again by the way) and a used brake booster (having heard poor results by other users of the rebuilt versions).
 
This was the first time I've bench bleed a master.  It wasn't too bad...
 

Here's my setup.
 
 

You can pinch off the lines one at a time on the edge of the reservoir to keep bubbles from running backward.
 
 
I could never get the engine bay clean enough for my tastes so I caved and bought a set of fuel rail covers. 
 

 
 
As usual the 98 fuel rail covers don't use the same bolt pattern as the 99 up valve covers and associated coil brackets they clip to so I had to build some little do-hickeys to shift things back and forth to get it to land properly.  Best advice I have is not to mix and match 98 with anything.  It works fine, it's just been a pain in the back for a long time now.
 
Finally, I redid my relocation for the brake distribution block AKA proportioning valve.  You need to do something with this or it'll conflict with the coil.
 

 
 
Bending the tab out about 100 degrees appears to work well it's just some work getting all the hardlines bent nicely.  You can see my dangling speedo cable waiting for that cable-x box I'm still sitting on too.  That whole statement about don't start driving it until it's done done done or you won't get it finished... 
 
It's true.

[frijolee]

Squat Much?
 
I've been driving my car a bit harder getting prepped for the open track day this weekend at Buttonwillow.  I had already rolled my fender lips inward a bit and was surprised to see I hooked a rear lip while dropping hard into second while showing the car to a friend.
 

 
What blew my mind is how far FORWARD the tire is able to get relative to the body.  I knew the rear wants to squat down a lot when you're on it but the only way it can snag the lip as shown is by shoving itself forward a good solid inch.  I already have the DTSS eliminators and I guess this means it's time to install the delrin subframe mounts.  I wonder if this is doing weird things to toe with the whole trailing link moving around...

[frijolee]

Urethane Rear Control Arm Bushings & Random Track Prep
 
I had a lot of prep getting ready for Mazfest's open lapping day at Buttonwillow on July 7. 
 
It was a pretty nutty week actually.  I got sacked with school stuff until about Tuesday (which was also the day I realized how far the tires were moving).  Then I spent Wednesday evening installing real hardware into my driveshaft loop, something I knew I needed to do. 
 

The sheet metal screws were thrown in there temporarily when the exhaust was built because doing it the real way meant pulling the seats out.
 
 

I still need to paint the loop but I should have a pretty good opportunity soon.
 
 

The bolts are close enough together that I had to get creative with the fender washers. 
 
 
Someday when I finally own a welder this will get replaced with bolts tacked down to a couple little plates so you don?t need a wrench on the inside to take the loop in and out.  Whatever, it?ll do the job if required.
 
Thursday night I tackled the subframe.  I wanted to get the poly bushings I?ve had sitting on my shelf into my spare subframe that already had the solid delrin subframe bushings.  That way I?d have delrin at the subframe and DTSS and poly for the link which is about as solid as I want to make my rear.
 
The poly bushing job is every bit as much of a pain as I thought it might be.  But I did finally get them in there.  I started a separate thread on the subframe swap that which has a couple good links to other methods.  My best trick ended up being just taking a couple sizes of hole-saw and eating away the rubber until the inners finally fell out.
 

 
 
The most insulting part of this job was the fact I didn?t realize that the bushing actually used outer sleeves.  You can see the seam between the two parts that face each other and get inserted from opposite ends.  I spent way too much time getting the inner surfaces smooth (or close) that turned out to be useless. 
 
 

 
The outers are press-fit in place so I couldn?t get them to budge with a hammer and punch.  I finally took a hacksaw and cut through the wall until it released the pressure of the interference fit so I could them tap them out. 
 

 
The damages?  Given that these bushings only go in one way I have no clue how folks have done this job with a press.

[frijolee]

I?m jumping out of order again (this install happened nearly a year later), but I thought I?d put the urethane front bushing install here for easier access.
 
Urethane Front Control Arm Bushings
 
I just finished upgrading my front control arm bushings to polyurethane using  (Prothane P/N 12-203)
 
If you have the right tools this is probably the easiest job I've done with anything suspension related to date.  I had a bit of guidance via a thread on v8rx7forum but that link is probably broken now so this will have to do.

Bushing 1 removal
 
Cut off rubber perimeter with sawzall, cut internal sleeve with dremel
 

 
 
Cut sleeve again with dremel and bushing just pulls off (no need for the three jaw clamp).
 

 
 
Sand down any pitting or leftover rubber to leave a fresh smooth surface (shown here before sanding)
 

 
 
Bushing 2 removal
 
Cut off rubber lip to expose metal (gives you an idea how big a socket to use)
 

 
 
Get creative with your setup in the press (I stacked the stock plates and supported the other end w/ 2x2) and bushing #2 pressed out easily.
 

 
 
Cleaned, greased and reinstalled using c-clamp for one, the other just by hand.  (Note, I built up a spare set to avoid downtime, so here's the before and after shot).
 

 
 
Reinstall arms, greasing anything where metal slides, and check alignment (mine didn't change, your experience may vary.)  DONE.
 Frankly, the hardest part of the job was getting the control arms loose from the knuckles.  You have to remove completed the bolt that ties knuckle to ball joint (just loosing isn't sufficient) and things can get a bit rusty in there so a hammer, some drifts and penetrating oil is a good idea.

[frijolee]

AWR rear camber links
 
Running coil-overs up gave me camber adjustment up front but I didn?t have anything in the rear.
 
There were two types of aftermarket camber correction I checked out before making my choice.
 
1)  You can affect camber by altering the length of the vertical suframe link (~10" long) as this will tip the whole subframe back and forth. 
 
 
 
Most folks on here don't like that because it alters the pinion angle and sometimes you'd like to be able to adjust all camber angles independently.  However, if you need to SET pinion angle this link can be useful (I just ground my mounting points to get me where I wanted).
 
2) IMHO The better option for adjustable camber is through the use of individual camber links at the inboard connection points on the lower control arms. 
 



AWR and MMR both sell nice versions.
 
Be warned that if you're running individual camber adjusters it changes the angle of the outboard LC arm pivot.  This can be an issue if you're running poly bushings or something else with minimal compliance.  Some folks call this binding, I ran mine that way for a while without knowing any better and tend to think it's mostly just unnecessary friction, definitely not ideal though.  Stock bushings are supposed to be compliant enough to be fine but that same compliance can create wheel hop issues so your best option is to run spherical LCA bushings (also available from MMR and AWR) along with individual camber adjusters.
 
I?ve eventually made my way to this setup and the smoothness of range of motion is startling compared to what I had before?

[frijolee]

[ED Note: back to frantic track prep for Mazfest?]
 
Pinion Snubber 
 
So now it?s Friday:  I have my spare subframe built but not installed.  If I do the subframe job I won?t be able to get a rear alignment done but the more I think about the forces the more I convince myself that I?m going to rip my front diff bushing in half with no snubber in there.  I even drew myself a free body diagram of the forces. 
 
The lack of a snubber looks to be a deal breaker so I borrow a volunteer buddy and we swapped out my entire rear end.  We killed ourselves wrenching in the sun because the only flat ground I have is Guest Parking?  I?m glad I at least got a field alignment because I had put the spare cradle back together like it was when I got it which turned out to have each adjustment 90 degrees out of phase.  I didn?t try to drive it but when I first set the car back on its wheels it was +1.0? of toe.  :eek4:  I did a few more adjustments at the track and the car at least had its wheel straight ahead and didn?t misbehave.
 
Note I didn?t get a picture at the time so one from after the fact will have to do.
 

 
 
You want the snubber to line up with one of the bungs for the front diff mount so you have slightly larger surface area for the mount to use.  There?s spot weld you can see from the bottom side (it?s right in between the two e-brake cables) that marks the perfect location to drill.  Unfortunately I don?t have the part number handy anymore.   It?s a bump stop for a truck that?s give or take 2.5 inches long (writing from memory, not an actual measurement) and can be found in the ?help? section of a lot of car stores.  Mine has steps in the side but some are rounded?

[frijolee]

Corner Weighting
 
I borrowed a set of scales to check my corner weighting.  I was in a hurry so I just used water to find a chunk of parking lot with equal slope.  It?s always better to shim your surface pure flat but this at least gave me a rough idea where I was starting from?
 

 

 
That?s with 180 lbs of Frijolee in the driver seat, no spare or jack?  My car?s definitely on the heavy side even given the aluminum hood (no other real weight reduction to speak of).  Gotta love the cage and sound deadening.  I?d definitely like to see this sub 3k at some point.
 

[frijolee]

Mazfest Track Day Review
 
Mazfest was amazing.  Just an absolute eye-opener, but I did finally manage to render my car inoperable.  Nothing major I hope but, I just lost my clutch slave cylinder near the end of the day.  I?m assuming by boiling the fluid in the line (heat shield wrap is coming next!).  My father in law had brought out a car trailer just in case so we hauled it back home.  At the moment the trans is out and off being rebuilt (popping out of gear with your foot on the floor at high rpms is scary).  Here?s how she sits for the moment.
 

 
 
If you?re dropping the trans it?s not hard to rotate the engine backward to get a bit of a downward angle.  I found I had to pull off my intake manifold to avoid crushing the map sensor into the firewall while doing this.