Parts Arrived
Clutch Kit - I was warned Maryland Speed was not speedy.. and they lived down to that expectation. 7 Weeks it took to get all of the pieces. But, they did arrive so whatever. All of it looks good.

Flywheel, 18 lb. of goodness:





Pressure Plate, Mean-n-Green:



Clutch disc good for 550 lb.



Hydraulic Slave, Pilot Bearing, Alignment Tool and dowels (didn’t use the big ones, used little ones not shown)



V8R Long Tube Headers - They look good.





Also, they cause a conflict with the GTO starter. GAWD I hate this motor. Children, listen.. don’t buy a GTO LS2 pullout!!!!



Going to swap out the bellhousing and starter and be done with it, so sick of the nickel and dime (or $350-400 in this case) BS.

Speedhut Gauges - Came in, look sweet. Speedo has an issue but they are printing a new face and shipping to me. Ran them on the DD, excited to get them in the car. Going to be a VERY tight fit in the cluster hole but will figure it out.

Teaser Photo.. will post a good one when I have them a little more together.



Nose Splitter - Replaced the one I swiped for the 94.

 

Parts Ordered
Blackbird Racing NA GT3 Rollbar - Dropped the hammer on the bar, very excited about this! Going for a gunmetal color, more on that later.

Clutch Slave Shims - Put in the new Monster Stage 2 setup and measured for shims. Needs it, more later.

Work Performed
Headlight Bump Stops - Did some digging once I took measurements and found usable search words, and came across these:

J.W. Winco, Inc. - Vibration / Shock Absorption Mounts, Cylindrical Type

Specifically part# 352-20-10-M6-S-55 and 352-20-15-M6-S-55. I placed an order for 12 of each (spares!) and am happy to report they will work.

Dimensions:
(top) Stock is 15mm wide bumper head, 8mm bumper height, 28mm overall length (bumper plus threads), M6x1.0 thread
(middle) Option 1 is 20mm wide head, 10mm bumper height, 28mm overall length, M6x1.0 thread
(bottom) Option21 is 20mm wide head, 15mm bumper height, 33mm overall length, M6x1.0 thread

The nuts on the studs are just so they would lay properly for photos.



Fuse/Relay Block Mount - Played with the welder and whipped up the mount, came out nice. This changes my wire tuck plan too. Was able to tweak, adjust and modify and it is looking good. Still need to finish but it is coming along nicely. Definitely 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag, but getting close.

50 Shades of Gray - So here we have the samples… Initially I wanted something in the medium gray (“Gunmetal” was the color I wanted but what does that really mean?) and after getting these samples I realized I wanted similar to the SSR Type-C wheels I had (the originals) but without the blue tint to them. The 17’s came in ‘refinished’ in a nice shade so I worked off that and found a pretty spot on match.

The first 4 samples, Cardinal colors. The bottom left is Moti’s recommendation, GR02, which is the color they use for all their custom pieces apparently. It has a beautiful metal flake to it, but I felt it was just too dark (look at it against my black soft top farther down). I also requested some other grays from Cardinal but they were too industrial and plain.



So then I found my way over to Prismatic’s site.. holy *****, there are a ton of gorgeous colors!! I requested 5 samples in shades I thought might work.



Here the contenders are against the 17” SSR.



Lighting really messes with how they photograph but ultimately the color I chose is second from the right. As you can see it’s a damn good match to the 17” SSRs.



So, up against my black soft top, you can see how the GR02 (the big one) looks fairly black. I am sure in sunlight it’s a different animal but I wanted something slightly lighter. My pick is the second small from the left.



I wanted to make sure I had it right so I fabbed up a little fake bar action, and amazing Rustoleum Gray Hammered paint is a pretty damn close shade match. So $10 later I had a fake rollbar in a very similar color.

Other than no metal flake, it’s pretty close to the wheels:



Against the fake bar:



And the money shot:



That last shot has some of the tan interior just plopped into place to try and approximate what I will see. So hard to visualize the car as tan without it. Rollbar cover color and top boot color are still TBD.

 

Test Fire - Hells Yeah! Finally fired the engine after 6 years and 4 months since purchase. Open shorty headers, and minus the clutch stuff. Fired right up, one loud-n-lumpy ****. No drama, no bad noises, no weird smoke, Let it run for 10-15 seconds at a time and started it 4 times total. Gauges wouldn't talk at all, so thinking I have a OBD port issue but will figure that out in a while. Video forthcoming.

 

Tell me more about the clutch slave shims, I'm not familiar with this.

Nice update, you have good attention to detail.

 

As Jacky Gleason would say "How Sweet it is"!!!!

Congratulations seems a bit weak.... I've been following and enjoying your build (and writing skills) since the early days on the other site and know you'll be driving before long. That first drive and sideways moment will make the journey worth all the pain.

Ron

 

Thanks, I am trying to keep it all straight for me and anyone else that cares. I refer back to the thread more often than I would have expected.

Shims: Apparently you need to check for proper bearing clearance when doing clutch/flywheel work on the LS T56. Tick sells the shims (here) and has a simple sheet explaining it (found on that page but here it is too):



NOTE: Tick has said 0.0625-0.125 clearance in the original thread, then they changed that later on and then and on the webpage says 0.1875 to 0.125 (but contradicts that as shims needed above 0.125???) but ultimately I put in a Monster clutch and they say specifically 0.0625 to 0.200 which is what I used. I would check with your clutch manufacturer to be sure.

Since you asked, here is a copy of the post I put on the thread at LS1Tech dealing with the shims:

 

Thanks Ron! Starting it was nice.. it's a lumpy beast, and I look forward to laying waste to the 6 year old tires that are on it in glorious fashion. Should be stupid fun.

 

Yeah, good stuff!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cz3...PS1CGQ/preview

If anyone knows how to imbed a google video, PM me.

 

I read back on my own build thread, and the Monster install instructions mention clearance, but that you should not have any issues typically. https://monsterclutches.com/pdf/Sing...nstalltips.pdf

Might've glossed over this a bit, but I guess I'll know pretty soon whether I'm getting good clutch engagement. Thanks!

 

Got a question.
Towards the end of your thread you show a picture of the V8 Roadsters Long Tube headers but earlier you mention FM shorty headers and on your test fire post you mention the shorty headers.
Which did you end up going with?
And just because I got a little confused over your starter fitment issues, which starter did you end up with?

 

Enjoying the build thread very much, Wallyman. You've definitely put in a lot of thought and documented everything for all of us following along. Happy to see you get to the final stages with the initial build.

Don't know if it's dumb luck or what, but I just bolted my Monster kit with same flywheel etc from MD Speed and have not had any engagement issues or anything odd sounding or feeling come from the clutch area. It seems to work great right out of the box(s)..! I may have a lower rated clutch than you but not certain at the moment.

Keep it coming!

 

So, shorty headers are the old, V8R Long tubes are the new.

Shorties + GTO bellhousing + GTO starter = tight but workable.
LTs + GTO bellhousing + GTO starter = interference

I am (right this minute actually) bolting up the new LS1 bellhousing to try out the preferred combo (LTs + Camaro bellhousing + Smallest starter I could find). I'll get pics and part numbers once I am done.

 

Dropping some Knowledge:

Headers - So, this is for anyone else that is curious how the old school shorties compare to brand new V8Roadster Long Tubes. I don’t have all the photos for the LT’s installed (cam battery died when I was working on it) but the engine will come back out again soon and I can get some more photos.

Shorties:



Left Shorty to ’06 GTO LS2 Bellhousing clearance:



Right Shorty to ’06 GTO LS2 Bellhousing clearance:



Left Shorty to Subframe clearance:



Left Longtube to ’06 GTO LS2 Bellhousing clearance:



Right Longtube to ’06 GTO LS2 Bellhousing clearance:



Left Longtube to Subframe clearance:



Right Longtube to Subframe clearance:

 

Further Knowledge:

Bellhousings - For anyone curious about the differences between a 2006 GTO LS2-T56 bellhousing vs. 2002 Camaro LS1-T56 bellhousing, here is what I found:

2006 GTO LS2 Bellhousing casting info:


2002 Camaro LS1 Bellhousing casting info:



2002 Camaro LS1 bellhousing box label:



Outline comparison of GTO Bellhousing (Red) vs. Camaro Bellhousing (Black):




Camaro Bellhousing on top of GTO outline:



Close-up of difference in outlines:



Close-up of difference with Camaro bell on top:



So, essentially a 1/2” drop in the starter location which opens the door to pretty much any non-GTO LS-whatever starter I think.

 

Build Update:

Parts Ordered &Arrived

Top Alignment Nips - Some maintenance items, the top undoubtedly needs a new set.. and who doesn’t love a pair of fresh hard and uncracked nips?

Camaro Bellhousing - Ordered the T56 bellhousing from the 2002 Camaro LS1 to solve the longtube/starter interference issue. Managed to find a brand new in the box unit for $245 shipped. It arrived in a Tremec box (label says 1386-212-005) but the casting on the housing is 13-86-212 with the last three digits 905 hand-written. Odd, but that matches all the photos of it I have seen. I covered the bellhousing photos above.

Suburban Starter (again) - Since I am moving to the Camaro bellhousing, the GTO starter gets tossed. Ordered up the smallest starter I know of which is for a 2007 Suburban with the 5.3. Got it from Autozone, the Duralast DL9949S which has a lifetime warranty. Ship to home, 20% off, free shipping and a $10 gift card means I got it for $130.55. Unfortunately, I am still pretty tight on the header.. more on that coming later.

Interesting tidbit - the first one I bought was a larger housing, NOT the same as what I am using. It was more like the truck unit. I have to go back to AZ and will try to get a photo of the two side by side. It was the same part number but would not have worked.

Parts Arrived

Blackbird Racing NA GT3 Rollbar - Like tubular ****, this bar is gorgeous! The color is exactly what I wanted. Moti is an artist and packages it like it was made from glass. Arrived without a single issue from Cali to Michigan. This is how you ship a rollbar and make sure it arrives minty fresh:











I didn’t unpack the entire thing because I am not at a point where I can install it yet, but I did peel back some of the foam and took some photos compared to the SSR Type-C (which is not an original SSR color, these wheels were repainted [badly]).



That is Prismatic Dark Silver Metallic, PMB-1222 with the Prismatic Clear Vision, PPS-2974 on top. Fuggin Gorgeous, nice amount of metal flake, should sparkle nice in sunlight. I am going to have the SSR’s refinished in it, as well as most likely some other bits… I’m still undecided on taking the color farther than wheels-n-bar but that seed is planted (damn you Steve!).





And all Blackbird bars come with this bitchin’ decal. I totally forgot to tell Moti a color, but black is perfect as I plan to run a black vinyl/leather cover on the main hoop and this will tie right in.



I'll have more and better photos as install comes closer.

 

Hey Wallyman, are you still using the MAF 15865791? Can you tell me the pinout you are using? i've found a couple on the net and none are working form me. I have a good idle and then surging at 1500rpm

 

Boy that roll bar looks great

 

I'm using the Z06 MAF (not sure the number at the moment), I'l have to look at it but not sure if I can tell you for sure.. using a PSI harness. If they did factory colors, you'll be golden but if not, I won't be able to tell you what hooks to what. I;ll try to look this week or weekend, I haven't been working on it like I should.

One small update: the 17x8 SSR's are back.. stunning. Photos will come along soonish. Paid far more than any sane person would to buy them and then send them out for repair and refinish but they do look amazing!

 

Did you ever get the ac working? if so what was the final workings on that? you said you bought the v8r kit.

 

Car isn't done, so the parts are still in bags. no useful news, I'm afraid.