Scott's LT1 FC (ex: Darth Viper project)

[Sho Amo]

After finding some rust and other issues in his current project my friend Scott who probably wont even end up posting here decided he wanted to part it out and buy something already driving.

Heres the old project. Plan was for Gen1 350 sbc/ th350.





So we searched a while and ended up picking up Corey's(Darth Viper) Fc that he had built by Blake.
http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=2954.0







Current plans are to clean it up really good, get it aligned, pull out the red interior, install audio system with sound deadening, install black interior, install cleaned resealed rear diff we have sitting, then turn the attention to the motor/trans. Blake tells me it had .10 of end play on the crank and the motor is knocking. Not sure if we will be getting a used long block to build over the winter or just pulling the motor to replace all the lower bearings. There's plenty of other things that need attention as well including the clutch. Black interior pics to come in the next week or so

[N2v8fcs]

glad to see this^^^

[digitalsolo]

This is a really nice car to start with.   Should turn out very well with a little time/money invested.

[Sho Amo]

Changed the tails, and decided we're going to pull the motor next weekend for a refreshment.

[Sho Amo]

Time to pull the motor!




So we found out why the clutch was slipping. The friction material was down to the rivets and... Disc was cracked.



So we put it on the stand and tore it all down. More to follow!

[Sho Amo]

Got the motor apart and found more issues than we expected. The thrust bearing was definitely worn but there was also a bad head gasket and the worst of all a spun rod bearing. Took out the rod and crank with it.




It's getting a new rod, crank, all the bearings and gaskets.

[jparker7]

that white shell looked like it was in great shape. 

[digitalsolo]

Ack, bummer.   At least that's a relatively easy fix.

[ScottyMac]

Easy Fix? lol...I'm only laughing because it needs a bunch of shiznit lol.

1 spun bearing on cyl 4 which also took out the rod and endcap. I'm just going to slap a new one in and gram match it. Obviously the crank is toast so I'm replacing that also. Motor will get all new bearings and gaskets while getting some cleaning tlc.

Otherwise the car will get black interior swapped in, full system and power steering...much needed.

[Sho Amo]

The white car had a bunch of rust underneath that you couldnt really see in the pictures and it needed lots of things body wise to get it going. With this car it only really needs engine work which is what we like doing.

The engine could be worse, but yeah lots of work to be done.

[Sho Amo]

New crank, cyl 4 rod, and all the bearings and gaskets.



You can see the one new rod here.



And then we had to get it back in the car.



Then working into the night and got it fired up! Took it for a test drive and felt great. Before the tear down it had absolutely no power. Now it really feels like it should. Next project is going to be power steering.

[Sho Amo]

[largeorangefont]

Well you made quick work of that!

[Darth Viper]

Looking good! I dig the tails! I planned on doing that and then cheaped out.

[Sho Amo]

So we've been pretty busy
We wanted to take it to Import vs Domestic at MIR which is about a 1.5hr drive.

Problem #1: headlights don't work.
I found a burned up relay in the front I thought was the culprit but it turned out to be the fan. So we went searching for it and found the headlight relay.



Opened it up and...



We couldn't find any factory style relays so we got a kit and wired in one of the Bosch style 4 pin relays. Scott didn't like the hood prop rod so he built some struts for it and threw on the strut tower bar I gave him a while ago.


He had an extra diff from the last car that already had new bushings installed so he filled it with fresh fluid and slapped it in then gave it an alignment and balanced the wheels. The car was running amazing so we took it down to MIR. Car drove wonderfully.



Next issue to iron out is the starter. For some reason it really doesn't like to work once the car is warmed up. Any ideas?