Hey John I've had a v8 conversion done (not by me)but yet to do a build thread yet. My front drive shaft was redone and down sized near pan to t case.hth
SoCal GenIII Vortec Project
- Thread starter JohnCapoccia
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- #62
How much clearance did you wind up with? I guess you don't need much, there shouldn't be lateral movement, right?
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- #63
What did it cost to have the shaft redone?
I agree with this. You're going to have to resize your front driveshaft anyway so have the shop narrow the shaft to buy you some clearance. I think I spent around 275 to have this done and the front and rear driveshaft lengths altered.
For what it's worth, I've run my truck a bunch in 4wd high at 25-30 mph (lots of snow driving) and had some minor rubbing but no issues with drive shaft clearance to the trans pan. I have roughly 1/8" clearance and all is well. This seems typical of vortec/4l60e conversions.
Looking good, Man! Keep it coming!
-Ed
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- #65
Thanks Ed. I was really careful to locate the Engine/Tranny/TC so that I wouldn't have to modify the length, so if it wasn't for the interference with the tranny pan, I'd be good to go. It doesn't sound like a big deal to have it redone with a smaller diameter so that's probably what I'll do. I'm thinking to reduce the diameter 1/2" which will give me a quarter inch of clearance. It's barely touching now. That should be good enough if you've been getting by with 1/8". It's good to know that denting the pan is an option, but with my luck I'd probably screw it up.
I wouldn't be afraid to modify the pan. I marked where to clearance it, then removed it to make sure there wasn't anything inside the tranny to interfere with the dent I put in the pan. Heat will help to avoid cracking the pan, and beating on it when it's removed makes it a lot easier than trying to do it under the truck. I'm using the stock driveshaft without any problems.
I used no heat.. just tapped on the pan to get a little clearance. The metal on the pan is really soft. There were 2 plans for the 4l60. Cars use a short pan.. I have thought about install a short pan on my lx450 swap, but haven't yet.
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- #68
I found a pic of the shallow pan compared to the deep pan
It looks like it might help a bit, but even the shallow pan might have to be modified. I think I'll go tap on it a bit and see what happens...
Shallow oil pan, may translate to higher tranny temps under load....
Specially on those long summer drives.....
Make sure you run a nice big oil cooler... if you do go this route...!!!
Hell, run the tranny cooler regardless... !!!
Specially on those long summer drives.....
Make sure you run a nice big oil cooler... if you do go this route...!!!
Hell, run the tranny cooler regardless... !!!
I don't know what the cost would be bc it was part of the whole install. Personally I would narrow the shaft and go with a shallow pan. I'm able to run my fingers between the pan and the shaft about an inch gap but it narrows down to about half an inch as you get closer to t case joint.
gil
gil
- Thread starter
- #71
I decided to have the driveshaft modified. It just didn't feel right to me to dent the transmission pan. One thing I'm struggling with as I go through the project is that I'm concerned that the reliability of the completed conversion is falling far short of the standard that the LC was built to. I'm really impressed with how well everything is designed and secured on the original.
I went to General Driveshaft in Monrovia, and he says he does all the driveshaft work for TLC in Chatsworth. He said he would need to make a completely new driveshaft with 1-3/8" diameter (the smallest he can go). What the heck... The rear shaft had a sloppy spline and bad u-joints (after 245k miles), so he re-used the spline from the front shaft to rebuild my rear one.
I haven't installed the front one yet, because I've been working in that crowded area.
Meantime, I finished the High/Low stick pivot bracket. I wished I would have paid attention to other posts before I installed the engine. I didn't realize that the part shipped with the AA adapter doesn't work... Here's my solution:
My son found a nice 3"X7" piece of 1/4" steel at work. I tacked on 1/2" spacers and tacked on bolts to the back and relocated the pivot boss after shortening it. Of course there were a few iterations to make it fit because it was hard to get the dimensions right while working under the truck.
I modified the transmission selector linkage following daytonadogie's design using a 5/16" -24 Heim joint and a piece of tubing from McMaster Carr. It works great. The gear selector indicators line up perfectly. My contribution is to provide the dimensions to make it a little bit easier for the next guy:
I went to General Driveshaft in Monrovia, and he says he does all the driveshaft work for TLC in Chatsworth. He said he would need to make a completely new driveshaft with 1-3/8" diameter (the smallest he can go). What the heck... The rear shaft had a sloppy spline and bad u-joints (after 245k miles), so he re-used the spline from the front shaft to rebuild my rear one.
I haven't installed the front one yet, because I've been working in that crowded area.
Meantime, I finished the High/Low stick pivot bracket. I wished I would have paid attention to other posts before I installed the engine. I didn't realize that the part shipped with the AA adapter doesn't work... Here's my solution:
My son found a nice 3"X7" piece of 1/4" steel at work. I tacked on 1/2" spacers and tacked on bolts to the back and relocated the pivot boss after shortening it. Of course there were a few iterations to make it fit because it was hard to get the dimensions right while working under the truck.
I modified the transmission selector linkage following daytonadogie's design using a 5/16" -24 Heim joint and a piece of tubing from McMaster Carr. It works great. The gear selector indicators line up perfectly. My contribution is to provide the dimensions to make it a little bit easier for the next guy:
Hey John...if you need any dimensions let me know. I'm probably 20 minutes away if you'd like to check my conversion out, I'm home all day today.
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- #73
Fuel lines are finished. I located the Wickes filter/regulator on the firewall. I thought that might be better than mounting on the inside of the frame as others have done.
I bought a Rigid 37 degree flare tool to adapt the hard lines using -5N sleeves and nuts for the 5/16" feed and -4N sleeves and nuts for the 1/4" return. I haven't pressurized them yet, I hope they hold.
How to route the transmission cooler lines? I was going to cut them off near the front of the engine, but I don't like the stock GM route. It is too close to the the space where the front differential comes close to the oil pan.
Any thoughts on this? I'm think of cutting them back near the starter or somewhere in that area and routing them using the -6N braided hose somewhere along the frame.
I bought a Rigid 37 degree flare tool to adapt the hard lines using -5N sleeves and nuts for the 5/16" feed and -4N sleeves and nuts for the 1/4" return. I haven't pressurized them yet, I hope they hold.
How to route the transmission cooler lines? I was going to cut them off near the front of the engine, but I don't like the stock GM route. It is too close to the the space where the front differential comes close to the oil pan.
Any thoughts on this? I'm think of cutting them back near the starter or somewhere in that area and routing them using the -6N braided hose somewhere along the frame.
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- #74
Yeah! PM me with your contact info and I'll be right down. I have other questions...
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- #75
Soon I'll be tackling the wiring. I've got a Pacific Fabrication harness. I'm not sure how to splice into the fuel pump wire. Can anyone tell me? I see from the Toyota wiring diagram that the Circuit Opening Relay ties in to the Fuel Pump. It seems that this relay is not needed after the conversion. Can someone verify that for me, and is this the best place to splice for the Fuel pump? Here's a pick of the inside of the kick panel. Which of these is the Circuit Opening Relay?
The harness has these connectors:
I assume the one labeled Evap Vent connects to the float device. Is that correct? What about the one labeled Fuel Tank - What is that for?
The harness has these connectors:
I assume the one labeled Evap Vent connects to the float device. Is that correct? What about the one labeled Fuel Tank - What is that for?
The fuel tank connection, if it has three prongs, then it is to be connected to a Delphi fuel pump, which I don't think you are running..
EDIT: it should have three prungs and it goes to the fuel pressure sensor in the tank, or fuel pump.
The evap vent connector goes to the evap canister vent solenoid.
Don't think your engine came with one, as it usually is found near the fuel tank...
EDIT: it should have three prungs and it goes to the fuel pressure sensor in the tank, or fuel pump.
The evap vent connector goes to the evap canister vent solenoid.
Don't think your engine came with one, as it usually is found near the fuel tank...
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- #77
Frank, Here's a pic of the three pin connector from the Silverado fuel pump assembly. This mates to the plug on the harness that's labeled "Fuel Tank". Is this a pressure sensor? If yes, where should I install it - in the fuel filler tube? I'll take a look at the canister later to see if there's a valve on it with a two pin connector.
John that is correct.
I edited my post as I was giving your bad info...
But yes it is a three prong plug that goes on either the tank or somewhere within the fuel system.
I edited my post as I was giving your bad info...
But yes it is a three prong plug that goes on either the tank or somewhere within the fuel system.
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