4 Mar: The midplate, engine, and trans are in the car. The headers and turbos are
on. The front clip is hung, and I've fabricated new core supports to replace the stock one. The intercooler
was originally on Kent Rudbeck's car and was set up with piping that went under
the core support. When I test fit it that way on my car, the piping was 4" from
the ground...this probably explains why there were creases in the inlet pipes!
I am flipping the intercooler "upside down" and I've cut the old inlets/outlet off. New ones will be fabricated that curve up through where the core support used to be. It should work out nicely; there will be about a 4" gap above the intercooler where I can fabricate a sheet metal ram air duct to feed the turbos. The radiator will sit right behind the IC. The pics below show the motor installed and the IC test fit, both in the new location and original.
8 Jan: The long block is finally almost together. I've assembled the bottom end and
the front cover with oil pump and balancer.
The cam, lifters, rev kit and heads are together also.
The crank went in just great; I could spin it with two fingers. The pistons and rods went in with only minor cussing of the Spirolox. The cam and retainer hardware were a breeze after I drilled the block for the Danny Bee retainer that Ken Duttweiler hooked me up with (visible in the 2nd pic below).
Then I found out that I had a couple of the rods with the non clearanced side nearest the cam; they hit. More cussing ensued as I removed the offending pistons and rods, pulled the Spirolox and pins, swapped them around and rounded up new Spirolox.
Next, I got the front cover with oil pump, balancer, and crank sensor on. The
custom front cover incorporating a 3800 gerotor oil pump and the matching
machining of the balancer are shown here.
The balancer is a press fit unlike the stocker, which is a slip fit. This, combined with having to insert the machined flats on the end of the balancer through the oil pump, made for a fun time. I finally got everything on by putting the bolts through the front cover, inserting the balancer through the pump, and putting the whole mess on together.
Next, it was time for the heads. The rev kit bars and springs went on before the heads. Since the block was drilled for 5/16" dowels, I had to drill the heads and gaskets to match. Next, I discovered that the Cometic gaskets interfered with the rev kit and had to be cut for clearance. After all of this was done, the heads went on and I used the studs to draw them down and compress the rev kit springs. I still have to turn down some of the washers as they don't fit the innermost 3 bolt bosses on each head. Sigh...
