Bargain week

gmfan24 · January 7, 2017

Here's a shocker... the person who called me a weirdo and told me to **** off lied to the BBB. Said they called me to tell me my order was cancelled. They never once called me. Then he gave the BBB an abridged version of the email correspondence between his "company" and I. What a rock star.

gmfan24 · January 11, 2017

On a lighter note, I ordered a product similar to what I tried to get from some west coast vendor whose name is not worth spelling out. Interesting how ordering something from Missouri is completely different from ordering from vendors on the west coast. Long story short, I ordered Saturday, had shipping information Monday, and I will probably have my item tomorrow. Because it's sooooooo hard (at least in California anyway).

On to a progress report for my little project though. Several weeks ago, I grew tired of not having a drill press readily available at home, so I was out shopping for one. I find it mildly insane used drill presses are equal to or higher in cost than new ones. But my opinion matters little. Anyway, after much Googling for reviews, and much fondling of displayed drill presses, I picked up a WEN 10", 5-speed drill press at Menards. It has a good cast iron base, table, and main part of the head. It has decent work light built in, a laser indicator that I dont use, and it's very easy to change the drive ratio. It only has a 3.2 amp motor, but so far it has done everything I have asked it to without complaint.

Yeah I made a mess, I'll show you how... I dont have pics of it, but the supercharger inlet duct that came with my intake assembly had a hose barb with pipe threads screwed into it, this is for the fresh air side of the pcv system. The plastic is less than .120" wall thickness, leaving slightly more than 1 thread fully engaged. I'm sure it works just fine, but its not my cup of tea. Being particular as I am, I got a pcv "valve" for my truck at the parts store. This is not a valve, it's a restrictor. The housing is empty, and there's a hole about .030" in the bottom. I actually once used one of these on a Northstar engine to reduce oil consumption. Anyway, I also picked up an AC Delco pcv grommet for a 98 Cadillac car, too. I have yet to see an aftermarket pcv valve grommet work as well as oem. Ramble ramble ramble, blah blah blah... Here's what I did with a 15/16" spade bit and a tapered rotary rasp/cutter in my new toy tonight.

Hole drilled and finish honed.

AC Delco pcv valve grommet

Pcv restrictor.

I drilled out the tiny orifice to 3/8" weeks ago.

Grommet in.

New connection for fresh air side of pcv system.

gmfan24 · January 11, 2017

My item arrived today. Such quality service I received from a midwest vendor. I may never buy anything from the west coast again.

gmfan24 · January 12, 2017

Welp, putting the IAT in the intake manifold isn't working out for me, so back to plan A, putting it in the discharge pipe as close to the throttle body as possible. Seems like the coolant flowing through the base of the throttle body may skew temperature readings a little. We shall see.

gmfan24 · January 13, 2017

Got another bargain today. I think it is anyway. 400 clams got me a LM4, intake to oil pan, trailblazer accessory brackets, alternator, power steering pump, water pump, coils and brackets, trailblazer exhaust manifolds, flexplate, crank pulley, trailblazer wire harness, and unlocked pcm. The trailblazer oil pan and pickup tube has been swapped to a truck style. I'll get some pics when I can. So much for the budget...lol I only wanted the long block.

gmfan24 · January 17, 2017

Upon initial inspection of my LM4, aside from a reseal, I am going to need pushrods and rocker arms. Reason being that the rocker arms are no longer matched to the valves they originally wore on, and some of the pushrods look like they were dry at some point, because they are blued and chewed. I may have to completely break this engine down. Oh well. At least it's raining instead of snowing like it's supposed to be.

gmfan24 · January 17, 2017

Here it is, pretty much as received. Yes, the heads are on backwards. They were off for inspection purposes. Yes, its sitting on the flexplate. It's bent. I got a replacement for $25 today at a local auto recycling center. I will have it on an engine stand this weekend. Then I can take more pics. Barely/not visible are the coils and brackets, and the intake with dbw throttle body, fuel rail and injectors.

I'm hesitant to tear it completely down. Might get crazy with double ended ARP fasteners, if you catch my drift...

gmfan24 · January 17, 2017

If anyone has any suggestions on pushrods and rocker arms, I'm all ears. I was thinking of getting an LS1 or LS6 cam to put in it as well, new lifters too.

muddkatt · January 17, 2017

If you are tearing into it that much.......just bite the bullet and build the whole damn thing. You can see there are some issues right now. Nothing like a half ass build only to find out there is a problem after you install it and have to take it out and start over.

Can't help you with the parts list....my knowledge is limited to the old school engines.

gmfan24 · January 17, 2017

I have the same feeling. But if I tear it all the way down, nothing will stop me from getting ARP studs for the heads and mains... that'll add up to half again what I have in the engine! Worth it to me though, as I rather dislike TTY bolts in aluminum blocks.

gmfan24 · January 19, 2017

I believe that I will start a new thread about my LM4 after I get it on an engine stand this weekend. All I have left to do with the supercharger is mock up and cut the discharge tubes, drill a hole and weld the fitting for the IAT to the tube, get it installed, and tuning. Strange weather conditions where I am lately, I want to get my LM4 on a stand and covered before the snow comes. Yes, its inside, but I am particular about storage.

gmfan24 · February 4, 2017

Alrighty then. Weather was exceptionally nice today. Got my discharge tubes mocked up and cut to fit. Had to make some intake changes, but they actually worked out well. At least I think it looks good.

First off, it was nice to have an automated parts washer to put my old bracket in. It was quite nasty.

Another little project. Take off the casting flash and media blast it. How can I do that? Because the Vortech bracket is still on my engine, sans supercharger. The stinger is that Vortech says you can bypass the supercharger and run your stock belt if you need to, and the stock belt actually fits BETTER that way. Craziness.

So, I didnt take a ton of pics of the process. I was working outside, and moving pretty quick. Here we are with the air intake engine cover and power steering pulley removed.

Vortech bracket, supercharger, SIS 4"×3" 90° boot, spectre 3" aluminum elbow loosely installed.

SIS 3" aluminum tube 180°. Looks a bit too wide, because it is. I solved that by clocking the volute a bit.

Volute clocked a bit. Quite a bit actually. 40° almost. You'll see the inlet duct not mounted the way it's supposed to be. That's because it won't fit that way. Apparently that inlet duct will NOT clear the end of my master cylinder. GRRRRR! Oh well. The longer it sat like that, the more I got to liking it. I'm blaming my optional big brakes for that. Guess I won't be using the Vortech inlet thing that mounts to the radiator support.

Another look at it. All pulleys and belt installed. 1143K6 from Autozone fits perfectly. Figured I'd check while I was there.

Tubes mocked up and mostly fitted. Had to trim both legs of the u bend tube. They are now offset and shorter. I will clock the volute a tad more to get the tubes to sit a little bit lower. Oh, everything clears the hood by 1/2", and the u bend tube clears the firewall by a couple of inches. I will be adjusting everything so it will be nice and tidy.

I like the direction this is heading.

gmfan24 · February 5, 2017

So... got some of my raw materials for the intake system today. 3 intake tubes from 4.3L gmt800 trucks. A little over 3.5" ID, works for me. Have to figure out couplers, but that's for another day. More pics to follow.

gmfan24 · February 5, 2017

Forgot to mention the 96-99 V8 truck intake tube couplers there too...

gmfan24 · February 5, 2017

It's quite a chore to undo GM's trickery where they attatched the accordion boot to the tubes. There's a lip on the tube, then the end of the boot with some kind of pressure activated adhesive, then a very tough heat shrunk clamp. Holy mackerel! After removing the 2 damaged accordion boots, I would surmise that the plastic tube would give way to boost before the connection at the boot. Long story short, a saw, blade screwdriver, razor blade, box cutter, vise grips, and a heat gun were required to remove the damaged parts. I will go back over the area with a dremel and a flapwheel to clean up the residual.