maxima wagon

[]2eDeYe]

SICK!!111one :cool:

 

Is that a frame or unibody car? Might wanna stiffen that chassis up. :D

[datzenmike]

Monocoque. Pronounced like 'mono cock'.:lol:

 

With this engine the name Maxima is truly fitting.

 

 

 

[yevgenievich]

i am planning to put a wonder bar(bar to tie the subframe together in the front) and a strut tower brace in the front. Also planning to make something similar to subframe connectors to stiffen up the chassis and eventually a six point cage. The truck motor is mostly pulled apart to clean up and trying to get ls1 cam to bump up the power 5-10hp. I don't really need much stiffening of the chassis while i still run skinnies on all four corners.

 

[810wagn]

looks like its gonna be a fun little wagon, i wish i could do this to mine, im jealous.:rolleyes:

[I'm BLUE]

Make sure ---> you have headers/exhaust manifolds instlaled on the heads ,,, put in there to clearance the exhaust over the steering arm ,,, I just dropped in a sbc into my z about a months ago , and If I hadn't offset the engine 3/4" to the passenger side ,,, it would have proved to be a bit of a challenge ,,, since I built my own mounts :huh:

 

Just a thought ,,, you might check the engine centerline measurements from factory , and comparitively to where you wish your engine centerline to be on your LS1 Block ( crank center-line ) ,,, many people often think engine center-lines are suppose to be DIRECTLY in the center of the engine bay ,,, when in fact they are not ,,, and can be many times offset :)

 

Yeah if Uni-Body ,,, no doubt ,,, you will have to stiffen up the chasis :D

 

I am sure you are already aware ;)

[yevgenievich]

well, not much work has actually been done on the wagon. I have cleaned up the block on the newer engine and put the heads with valve train back together. Also tried to see if stock truck intake has a chance of fitting under the hood, and it will not. I have been busy moving out form my apartment and currently just staying at friends place. I spent some time putting my big block car back together and getting it drivable so i could move it around.

http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/yevgenievich/67%20camaro/?action=view&current=VID-20110529-00006.mp4

['70dime]

I'm in love with your camaro....

[yevgenievich]

Sidetracked again with the Camaro. If you look at some of the engine bay pictures, you can see the horrible wiring harness that is in the car. It has been spliced and hacked by a previous owner. Also because i deleted a lot of components i had some leftover wiring. I went ahead and ordered a new wiring harness and started putting it in. It is not done yet because i am waiting for more wire loom, switches and rubber grommets.

old harness:

 

new harness:

each wire has labels going through the length of the wire making it simpler to wire everything in.

 

getting ready to run the wires and mount the fuse box

 

 

this is the only wire bundle coming out on drivers side trough the firewall and goes behind the fender for the lights. Another bundle is on the other side to hook up the starter,alternator and HEI. The car is dirty in general as it seen about 100 miles total in last 20 years. I am rebuilding front suspension and will be sanding and painting a lot of the parts.

[HowlerMonkey]

Check transmission tunnel size before moving that engine so far back.

[yevgenievich]

Check transmission tunnel size before moving that engine so far back.

 

I'm on it, i have an empty 4l60e bolted to the engine for final test fit, it does require some work in the transmission tunnel tho

[yevgenievich]

finally getting back to the wagon. I have finished with college and now have some time to finish the swap.

Moved the position of the engine a little forward than originally. Also had some mock up mounts tacked up, but after test fitting different combinations going to change them up a little. Also i started to tear apart the dash and the wiring. the original heater core was busted so i need to get it repaired. The engine harness is integrated with the body harness, so it's a little more complicated when trying to clean up the wiring and remove unneeded stuff.

 

final position:

[flatcat19]

I forgot about this thing.

 

Good work.

Running by this weekend?

[DAT510]

this looks promising

[]2eDeYe]

Gonna haul so much ass in the back of that goon. :cool:

[yevgenievich]

Then mounts are taking shape. I am using heavy wall square tubing to extend the mount to the position of the stand. A half inch thick plate is to be welded on the mount and another one on the stand with four bolts holding the mount to the stand. The main thing i wanted to make sure is to have enough clearance for the exhaust manifold.

[yevgenievich]

still waiting on the welding to get done(for three weeks now), having someone else finish up the welds on the mounts. Today i decided that there a lot of other things can be done. The heater core was leaking so i took it out to see if it can be fixed. Took all the wiring out of the engine bay and started sorting trough. Took out the ecu and related wiring and still need a wiring diagram for the large bundle of wires that goes through on the passenger side.

 

 

found old insurance card from 88 in the dash, kind of neat.

And like always sidetracked by another random project

87 325is that i found with an engine sitting in front of the bumper(warped head)

 

been using it as a parts/tool hauler

[yevgenievich]

about time for an update. The oil pan has been cut to clear the steering rack and is currently put in with the transmission. There are still few places where i need more clearance but at least it fits in place. It's tight getting it in place, the engine and transmission would not go in together. Transmission has to be put from the bottom for the engine to go in from the top.

oil pan notch:

as the engine in the car last night

[yevgenievich]

truck intake definately will not fit so i will be picking up ls1 intake instead. Also the alternater is sticking above hood so i need to get f-body accesories. Transmission is just sitting on the crossmember right now so the whole engine is leaning back more than it will be when done

\

[djlotus]

I hadn't seen this thread before but now I'm sad that I can't see more.

[yevgenievich]

With ls1 intake and Corvette acccesories. I have f-body water pump that will work, need to find balanced and tensioner.

[]2eDeYe]

So awesome :thumbup:

[yevgenievich]

Working on harness currently, changing it to a stand alone. Last time when i did the swap on my bird i had to do it in a weekend to hide the swap from apartment maintenance people, so because of that i just cut not needed connectors off and soldered the wires to the body harness. This time i started with truck harness that had few connectors already cut off. So far i have took all the tape off the harness, removed wires and connectors that are not needed and labeled everything. I traced the wires where part was cut off and then ordered new connectors at mouser. Today i received new connectors and waiting on some tubing and harness tape to finish the harness this weekend. Also will be putting together a new fuse block with relays. Will update as i finish the harness and then will see if the engine will run.

few pictures:

one of the places where wires were cut:

new connectors:

[yevgenievich]

Some progress on the harness. About %90 of the wires needed to be longer and the rest needed to be shorter. Harness is almost done except i need to put the ground splices back in and extend 12v supply wires.

Put the connector back together:

extend the wires coming out of the connector:

start connecting back together with the main harness

half way through

almost done:

[Tomakze]

Very cool build! I look forward to the burnout videos when it is finished!!!

[yevgenievich]

getting closer with this. found a little surprise when re-wrapping the harness. Cut the crimp connectors out and redid with solder and heatshrink. I have all the missing connectors back on, just ran out of some wire and large size tubing. I am still using the old style plastic loom because i already had some, even tho i could bring some of the fancier wire loom from work. Fuse block and relays are getting wired as well but need some more wire to finish, i don't want to use single color wire for everything.

fuse block and relays: ( there is one more fuse block that attaches not shown)

looking better already: