This posting is one in a series. If you have not yet read the earlier postings in the series, you’ll need to, as this posting won’t make much sense without having done so! Just do a search using the word “SLURP”.
In my last posting, I described the process of selecting Red’s new camshaft - a vital piece in forming his new character.
In this posting, I’ll describe some of the many details that need to be addressed in preparing for the physical engine swap.
If after reading it, you think engine swaps are “easy”, drop whatever career you are currently in, and get into running a hotrod shop. You’re a natural!
Here’s the preparations checklist so far:
Pre-sell old engine and tranny for fair price
Buy and arrange to transport in new engine and new tranny (for higher cost than got for old ones naturally . . .)
Get engine hoist with leveler (to lift out old engine and tranny and lift in new engine and tranny)
Get engine stand (to hold new engine while making mods to it, and try to look pro doing it)
Determine lift points on new engine / tranny combo (you can really lift a 675 pound combination via a few 10mm bolts???)
Determine correct METRIC bolt size, thread, and length to use those lift points (big ouch if they break)
Determine lift points on old engine / tranny combo
Determine correct NON-METRIC bolt size, thread, and length to use those lift points
Evaluate in advance all safety aspects of both extraction of old and install of new engine/tranny (really big ouch if we screw up)
Make sure faithful and patient professional mechanic friend is available for extended sessions beginning on a Saturday and going as long as it takes
Ensure that faithful and patient spouse understands that once you start, you don’t stop until done
Try to explain to patient spouse that budgets are made to be violated
Discover all parts “missing” from a typical salvage engine (hey, salvage yards SELL those separately for extra money, and you want better sparkplug wires than factory anyway)
Yank off all modern precision EFI and sensor wiring that gives great mileage and control via software
Buy old school intake, dual carbs, and fancy air cleaner that replace precision EFI stuff with thirsty and imprecise but much better looking and simpler parts
Pay lip service to efficiency by using MSD black box ignition that actually uses the factory camshaft and crankshaft timing sensors to fire the sparkplugs
Discover, and order, prefabbed engine mounts and tranny mount that take all the cutting and welding fun out of the swap (Randy doesn’t get to play with the welder)
Figure out what sparkplugs are needed to prevent frying the plugs when you add 100 hp or potentially more to the formerly mild stock engine, and then buy them
Realize like a dimwit just days before the proposed swap that with a carburetor setup, you need an “idle adjustor servo” that raises the idle speed when you turn on the AC compressor (the PCM in a modern computer controlled vehicle does that via software)
Order the new composite (versus metal) mono springs which make sense to install at the same time, but then get two phone calls from the supplier that require you to crawl under the truck, while holding tape measure and portable phone, to take confirming measurements as he designs the optimal springs for you (that will reduce weight versus the factory metal leaf springs by about 75%)
Provide all relevant specs to Greg Ducato at Phoenix Transmission so he can provide the CORRECT combination of tranny parts and torque converter (Greg is meticulous)
Have Greg remind you that you need a special flexplate, the correct adaptor, a TV cable, and a transmission dipstick and tube
Model camshafts on the engine modeling software til sick of it, and then discover that the “best” one is naturally among the most expensive out there. Order it anyway
Discover that GM no longer offers those neat 2002 (not 2001) LS6 valve springs, so have to order even better ones from Comp Cams that cost more (sigh)
Discover that titanium valve retainers make street drugs seem cheap, and order them anyway
Find the bargain in all the engine parts: the Manley pushrods, which while really good don’t cost a fortune
Get reminded again how much of a snakeoil business sparkplug wires are, and order what seems a sensible mix of performance and price (in bright red of course)
Find a bargain on 6-ton (!!!) jack stands at Tractor Supply (who would have guessed, but my pro friend Randy knows ALL), and order SIX (cheap safety at clearance price of $10 each plus freight)
Realize that you can’t buy the exhaust components in advance, since we have no valid 3-D idea of how much space will be available for them until we position the engine. Hope that boss in Virginia does NOT call and say that the LOCAL government agency client that would require me to commute in to work in metro Austin instead of working at home, wants me to do so anytime soon (1955 pickup trucks with 6.0 liter engines and no exhaust system are too LOUD for even a weird city like Austin)
Realize that we cannot buy the new driveshaft yet, since we don’t know how far back we can push the engine and tranny (for better weight distribution). Take Randy’s word ofr it that “we can get one in a day or two once we know the length”
Find and specify the very largest but straight-thru mufflers we can find (ain’t gonna be the mufflers that provide restriction here . . .)
Buy cases of PB Penetrating Fabulous Blaster Catalyst penetrant (53 year old nuts and bolts get pretty rusted in), and have welding torch on standby just in case . . .
Remember to run the gas tank as low as practical (want to minimize the accelerant present)
Defer radiator replacement until we select the correct HVAC system, and then get a combo radiator / AC condenser / tranny cooler
Other than the above, it’s all straightforward, easy, and quick . . .
If it weren’t so much fun, it might be viewed as stressful . . .
Jim G
