Builds Rebirth of Squatch (1 Viewer)

[Lowrecoil30]

Scored a used Atlas II with 4.3 gears for a decent price and went an picked it up in Minden. Only downfall was that it had the wrong spline input shaft but found a new one for half off. The swap of the input shaft was really straight forward and took less than an hour to do.

and my garage helper learning the tools of the trade

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Purchased motor mounts from TMR Customs and had a chance to weld them up. They are really nice as they are cut with key ways for easy mock-up and come with all the hardware.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Finally found a set of catalytic converters local to me and the guy ended up having a low mileage 4l65e for cheap so I picked that up as well since the original 4l60e that I picked up needed to be rebuilt. Transgo shift kit and deep pan is on its way.

The adapter kit with VSS for the Atlas is pretty nice and easy to install.

However, what AA doesnt tell you is that you dont need their $500 adapter kit to attach their Atlas to a 4L60e or 4L65e 4x4 transmission. The only thing their adapter allows for is the VSS and tone ring. So if you have another way to install a VSS that is cheap you can always go that way.

 

[cruiser enthuiser]

Cool build so far! Keep it coming.


-Ed

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Okay, after doing some research it seems the stock exhaust manifolds will not work and I will need F-body exhaust manifolds.

The issue that I am running into is actually finding 2001/2002 exhaust manifolds as they are the only years in which the f-body motors had an EGR system on the. So this leads me to the question if I can run CARB approved headers or will that cause issues when I go to referee the motor swap?

@orangefj45 do you happen to know as you mentioned you have done a few of these?

 

[gregnash]

Scored a used Atlas II with 4.3 gears for a decent price and went an picked it up in Minden. Only downfall was that it had the wrong spline input shaft but found a new one for half off. The swap of the input shaft was really straight forward and took less than an hour to do.

and my garage helper learning the tools of the trade

SO your the one that got that! I remembered seeing it pop up on CL and then was telling a buddy then couldn't find it again when we went looking.

 

[White Stripe]

That thing is pretty rust free, would be a shame to chop up the body too much. As far as height, first I would just start removing leaves until the springs are almost flat if that's not the case. Then I would look into recessing the spring perches into the axle housings. Just have to be careful to not warp the housing.

 

[78fj40mg]

@Lowrecoil30 Nice build!

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Finally had some great weather today so figure it was time to take the plunge and stab the motor in. However, when trying to get the motor situated on the engine hoist I made a stupid mistake and did not have one of the bolts threaded all the way in and it came lose and broke an ear off of the transmission bell housing.

Luckily I had a spare 4l60e with a bell housing. Also learned that the bolts holding the bell housing on are not standard T50 torx as they strip out. Rather they are T50 Torx Plus bolts. OTC make special bit so if you run into the same issue, dont learn the hard way like I did.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Brother came up with the ratchet strap idea to keep everything centered and it worked out great.

Motor mounts are made out of 1/4" so I dont think they will be going anywhere.

Also, I can confirm that truck exhaust manifolds will not work as has been mentioned to me before. I did find a set of 2001 camaro exhaust manifolds with EGR on ebay so they should be here in a few days.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

as long as you buy lined, soft-lines - no (outside of they are a perishable so eventually will need to be changed). If you don't buy the lined AN lines, you'll get a fuel smell.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

as long as you buy lined, soft-lines - no (outside of they are a perishable so eventually will need to be changed). If you don't buy the lined AN lines, you'll get a fuel smell.

I ended up buying the PTFE? lined lines they were a bit extra but figured they were worth it.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

yep. I learned that the hard way.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Can anyone give ideas on how to make the throttle cable work with the original pedal?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Can't find any pictures right now, but I drilled a hole through the firewall right above where the stock throttle arm comes through the firewall, installed the bulkhead fitting for the cable, then attached the cable to the top of the stock pedal.

This is the cable I used:

Hole not pictured, but above the stock throttle bracket and below the bolt.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Can't find any pictures right now, but I drilled a hole through the firewall right above where the stock throttle arm comes through the firewall, installed the bulkhead fitting for the cable, then attached the cable to the top of the stock pedal.

Thanks, I will look into it.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

Motor is in, under its own volition. Plenty of room under the hood still, at least 2" from the tallest point on the motor.

Definitely need to change up the suspension now that there is weight in the front. Lets just say the ride height didn't change at all when I let the weight off the cherry picker.

 

[Mace]

Good lord that is a big truck..

 

[Lowrecoil30]

The 2000 Camaro exhaust manifolds that I got off of eBay came in and I had a chance to test fit them. They will work perfectly as they hug much closer to the block that the factory LS truck manifolds do.

 

[Lowrecoil30]

This past weekend, i decide to mess with the front suspension a bit to see how low I could get it. By simply removing the MAF shackle reversal kit and redoing the shackles I was able to get the front to drop by approximately 2". It made a huge difference in person but does not seem like it in the photos.

Well, it is not low enough so I am going to try rears up front, so if anyone has some rear springs laying around please let me know. Also picked up a set of 5 leaf Chevy 63 springs for the rear.

I will be selling the entire suspension if anyone is interested so speak up if you want it. This is the kit that is coming off:

Old Man Emu/ Man-A-Fre FJ60 4-inch Suspension w/ Shackle Reversal Kit - Man-A-Fre

Also started on the cross member for the transmission / transfer case. Need to finalize a couple of gussets and then will put it for final weld up. The bottom of the Atlas hangs down below the frame by less than an inch so almost a flat belly.