95naSTA's Bonneville Progression

[[ChaosweaveR]]

Awesome fab work on the headers.

[95naSTA]

^^ Thanks!

Not the biggest update but I got the last part back from the water jetter:



I just need to get it all square and weld it together now.. but carefully so it doesn't warp. It shouldn't be too bad due to the metal thickness.

[Young gun]

I want to see this thing once it is done!

[Ringo64]

Mike, curious, where are we on the "check list"

[95naSTA]

Haha! I've been neglecting to make a new one! I'll take care of that before the next update.

[95naSTA]

Here's more progress!

I took off today and worked for 9 hours straight.

The first kill list was the jack shaft mount. I tried tapping it first with a cheap tap/die kit and it didn't work out. I need to order a good tap. It doesn't seem like there's any warping at all. I took my time with it and added gussets like I mentioned earlier. Once I tap the two holes, it's going to the powder coater.




Next up was the front header. All I needed to do was clock the crossover that meets up with the rear primary, clock the s bend that interfered before and add a small section of pipe. It clears no problem and I don't have to modify the crossover. Now all I have to do is box it up and send it to Jet Hot.





Then I decided to start the dogbone mount that will bolt to the new jack shaft mount. I used the stock auto trans mount's ears and added metal to it..It's almost complete. I just want to add something that goes from the outside of the dogbone bracket to the unused bolt hole at the bottom of the oil pan. The moment arm that the offset mounting creates would be eliminated by this. I'll also have to wait till those two jack shaft mount holes are tapped so the bolt holes will all line up together. Disregard oil filter clearance. I need to remote mount it.







That last pic has the unused bolt hole in the oil pan I referred to.

And during the day I primed and rattle caned the pedal mount plate. There are a couple small ripples in it and I had to battle OCD and convince myself not to have it powder coated. Once it's up under the dash, I'll never see it. So, it's ready to be installed.



And a list!!

[Young gun]

You sir are dedicated!

[Ringo64]

a list!

Nice work!

[95naSTA]

So, I picked up the square stock and I was about to start boxing in the unibody in the engine bay.. and.. I just couldn't do it.. No matter what bodywork I do to smooth it in, I just don't think I'll be happy with it. So, I broke out the cardboard, ruler, and drafted a connector in CAD. I'll run 2 of these, one inner, one outer, and close it all in with sheet metal. More cutting will happen also.




And for the rear dogbone mount, I'm going to tie it into both W-body passenger side oil pan engine mount bolt holes. It'll definitely need stand off spacers. Once the angle iron goes past the rear oil pan bolt hole, It only needs to slope down slightly to make contact with the engine side of the dogbone bracket. I'm confident this final tie in will make the mount structurally sound.



Andd I got a good m10x1.5 tap and tapped the holes in the jack shaft mount for the dogbone bracket.

[valid]

Reading all of this is contributing to my inspiration for moving forward with my ecotec swap parts collecting- now if only the funding were available!

I continue to appreciate and admire your dedication and attention to detail. Not many people would be this patient. Kudos to you Mike! Your progress thread is one of the only ones that I read every single word of, and I feel like I'm actually learning a lot by doing so. You are my example, so thank you for that!

[95naSTA]

Sadie, I couldn't be more flattered. I'm glad that you take the time to go through all the text. Some of the text is going to be boring by default but I do try to keep it interesting and to the point. I also try to give enough pics so that you can get an idea of what's going on but if you realllyyy want to know, the text will explain. There's a ton of detail in here because when ever I read a one-off engine swap thread or similar I'm always left wanting more. IMO it's always cool to see how everything comes together and that's what I want to give you guys.

Good luck with your swap! You can always try and work on things that don't require money while you're waiting for the funds to come in. I do that to an extent. I've got a list of things to buy but I'm waiting to get some overtime in before I pull the trigger.

As for this past weekend.. nothing too exciting but I got the pedal plate and pedal bolted in for good. I used Hv-350 sealant between it and the firewall and around the wiring grommet. I still have to fill in between the wiring and the grommet but that'll come when everything else is in place.

Before:



After:



So, that dash it ready to go back in.

One thing I never checked was the tie rod length between the 00+ and the 92-99. When I was eying the toe the 00+ tie rod ends, I seemed to be running out of thread quicker than I would with the 92-99. I think I chucked the old ones and never checked till now. Sure enough, the 00s are shorter. I had a feeling, so I ordered 2 new moog tie rods for 92-99.

The 92-99 is on the left.


Otherwise, the axles are being worked on and might be done in the next couple weeks. The front header is on it's way back from Jet Hot. And some bar stock is in the mail to finish up the rear trans dog bone mount bracket.

[95naSTA]

The front header came back.

[Sam]

Why didn't you grind those welds down?

[[ChaosweaveR]]

Why didn't you grind those welds down?

This.

But sweet Odin those headers could be artwork.

[95naSTA]

That would make them weaker.. I'm not going to sacrifice strength to have these crack on me and then be forced to re-coat them periodically.

[valid]

I want a necklace with a two-by-two inch version of that header dangling from it.

[Sam]

The work done to this has been top notch thus far, and I feel like those headers take away from that. That is my only concern with what you have done.

[95naSTA]

@Sadie, lol that's crazy.

@Sam, The welds on the headers were left alone the last time I had them coated too. Honestly though, you can only really see a small portion of the front header when it's in the bay. Actually, less now than before.

I was able to get the dash back in today.. I was glad I took a bunch of pics when the dash came out in September.. That took all the guess work out of which screw/bolt goes where, the order, and any connections. I need another radio which is why that's missing and water leaks need to be addressed before the carpet goes back in. I'm also going to worry about the center console shifter area after the car is up and running.




The unibody rails I drafted came in. I'm happy I went this route. It'll look a lot nicer than bar stock.

[indymanjoe]

Excellent work,well done.

Sent from my ouiji board using black magic

[95naSTA]

^^ thanks!

Did a bit more cutting and mocking of the new unibody rails.





Still a little more cutting to do but this is how the new water jetted pieces will sit. I know how I'm going to weld the inner piece and closing it all up with sheet metal shouldn't be too bad.

[95naSTA]

Axles came in.



They match up good with the original measurement I took relative to a stock G6 axle. These are actually Cobalt SS inners, G6 outers, and custom length 300m centers.

I still have to get them a test fitted but so far so good.

[95naSTA]

I tacked together the rear trans dogbone tie in to the lower oil pan. It's a bit different from the angle iron stuff I've been doing.

I'll be redoing some of the welding.. I pulled something in my neck and it was screaming at me the whole time.






This will take the moment arm off the jack shaft mount and add the rigidity I was looking for.

The oil filter needs to be relocated and I wanted to wait till the jack shaft mount and axles were complete to try and figure out what to do with it. A few posts back I found out that the old Reatta oil filter housing interfered with the p/s pump. The H-body housing hits the axle (see the one on top) but the W-body style (one bolted on in pics) looks like it'll work with a relocation adapter bolted to the filter location. Other people have used the W-body oil filter housing like this with 3.8/F40 swap but I had to verify it. It'll have to be ground down a little to clear the CV band clamp too.

[valid]

Wow. This is awesome. You should compile a list when you're "done" (ha) of every car you have a part off of. I love the ingenuity people have when doing swaps and other projects.

[95naSTA]

Thanks Sadie! And lol with you on the being done aspect.

Anddd. The mounts are done.

The passenger rear dogbone mount is all welded up. I also clearanced the rear drivers side mount from the p/s rack mounting on the subframe so I have full right to left adjustability.. if I need it. When I grinded it down, I made sure I broke through, welded it back up, then ground it down again.







Off to the powdercoater..

[95naSTA]

Literally right as I was about to start the unibody work, I got a phone call saying the powdercoated parts were ready.. lol. I picked those up yesterday and got a big chunk of the unibody work in. Both rails are fully welded in. Most of the work was in the prep.. and all the copper coloring is the weld through primer. I put this on before and as much as I can after to coat the exposed metal. Next step is boxing it all in with sheet metal.

^^ I didn't get a good pic of it but where the rail goes through the top of the unibody in the back, I had holes drilled so I could weld through the rail onto the unibody between the rail and the strut tower. I also cut a slit in the rail so I could weld through it inside the unibody by the strut tower.