Mayham's 1990 Vert 5.3/T5/8.8 build

[mayhamfx]

I've rebuild my build thread that I had on the other forum and edited it down a bit. It's amazing I could fit 25 pages into one but it's a long page. I haven't taken the failures out but left them in so people can see what works and how.

Jan 23/08

 After a year and a half of lurking and gathering  parts I've finally started. Here's a list of major parts I've got so  far.
 
  2005 5.3 Vortec out of a GMC Savavna van with almost 0 miles on it but no harness or PCM
  2001 Z06 stock camshaft
  F body intake, fuel rails and injectors
  F body balancer, oil pan and  water pump
  1989 WC T5 from a Camaro
  early Chevy big block aluminum bellhousing casting # 3899621
  Ls1 flywheel and clutch
  8.8 IRS differential from a 96 Lincoln Mark VIII w/3.07 and 3.55 gears
  super coupe half shafts
  86 Vette radiator
  Volvo s60 Fan
 
  I have enough to get started, the car is no longer my daily driver so  there's no pressure to get it done fast. I'll be picking away at it as  I find time. I'm trying to do this on a weird sort of budget. I can  only put small amount of money towards it at a time so I watch for  bargains on eBay and beg borrow or adapt stuff to work for me. In the  end the money I spent on various little things I might have been able  to buy a complete unit for close to the same price (LS1/t56 pullout for  instance) but I feel I'm saving money at the time. My 5.3 came from a  company that does custom van conversions.  They disassembled a new van for structural testing so the motor had  maybe a couple of hundred miles on it. I feel very good knowing the  motor is like new and didn't come from a Camaro that Jethro wrapped  around a telephone pole after beating the crap out of it for the last 5  years.
 
  A lot of people are poo-pooing the choice of a T5. I spent a long time  looking for an alternative to the T56. I have trouble putting out $1200  -$1500 for a used T56 with 90,000 miles on it. People say they got a  deal on one for like $750 but I haven't found one yet. The car is to be  used for daily driving or as a summer car. It will never see drag  slicks or a drag strip. I am not a kid any more (47 now) I feel no need  to side step the clutch, powershift or launch like John Force. My  current daily driver is a Honda Prelude with 345,000 km on it and the  original clutch. From what I have found in my research is that your  driving style is the major determining factor in T5 longevity. I feel  my style must be OK. The 5.3 doesn't have the same power as a Ls1, it's  295hp out of the box and with the cam, headers and a tune maybe I get  335/345hp. Plus I just like to go against the grain even if I'm wrong.






Jan 28/08

Just sold my 13b for more that i paid for my 5.3, can't believe it.

Feb 1/08

I've been doing a little work prepping the car for test fitting the  motor and tranny so i can mock up temporary mounts. After I tack up  those I can pull the subframe out and make a jig to fabricate my new  one from. I put the car on four jackstands, took off the wheels and  leveled it so I can measure accurately from the floor to stuff.
 
  I found out that the "excellent" condition bellhousing I bought has two  threads that are so close to being stripped I'll just heli-coil them to  be safe.

Feb 6/08
Got some more stuff done last couple of days. Heli-coiled my  bellhousing. Made the motor brackets and motor mount plates and tranny  crossmember mounting brackets. Also got some work done on the stub shafts for the 8.8.
 
  I'm going to use the stock Mazda p/s pump so I needed to adapt a serpentine belt pulley. I took the stock p/s pulley from the 5.3 and machined the hub  down to the bare minimum without getting into the weld. Then I took the  Mazda p/s pulley hub which unbolts from the pulley and bored the 5.3  hub out till it located nicely in it. The 5.3 pulley had a good offset  to it so that when the Mazda hub fits on the back it centers fairly  well on the drive belt. I welded the two together then turned the front of the pulley flush  with the Mazda hub so the nut would fit like the stock pulley. Who  knows if it will work, the 5.3 pulley is larger than the Mazda pulley  and my 13b is gone so I can't check the crank pulley size to figure out the ratio and stock RPM of the original setup. It  wasn't hard to do so if I need to change pulley size in the future it's  no big deal.






EDIT: The pulley sizes are close enough and I've had no trouble with the power steering.

 

[mayhamfx]

Feb 9/08

Big day today, did my first test fit and mocking up of the motor. First  thing is the starter rubs just slightly on the bellhousing, nothing  minor grinding of the starter won't fix. Next I'm going to need  sockethead cap screws for tranny to bellhousing no room for a wrench. I  was able to look through the clutch fork hole to see how the input  shaft and crank line up, once I pull the tranny back off I can measure  up for a pilot bearing. I left the flywheel and clutch out as the main  concern was getting the motor and tranny mount points figured out.
 
   Getting the motor and tranny in to rough position was a breeze except for where I chipped the paint on the nose three times. After that things got much more interesting. I have temporary motor mount brackets on the motor which I plan to weld in place on the subframe,  then pull the subframe out build a jig off of those points and  fabricate a new subframe from scratch. It would have been easier if I  had help at this point. After lots of measuring and shoving and blank  stares I got it to where I wanted it. One tool that made it WAY easier  was a digital level that I could set on the motor to show my leanback  and side to side level. I also decided to drop my steering rack 1 inch, it gives me a ton of hood clearance. I'll make a bumpsteer kit for myself to compensate, I've looked at the tie rod ends and have an idea that should work well. I fabed up a tranny mount  tonight and I'll try to get it fitted this weekend. I wasn't thrilled  at where the shifter ended up, it's a little forward. I figure I'll use a Ford shifter re-drilled to fit the Chevy and dog-leg the handle back, since the Ford uses a bolt on handle. I  had to take a hammer to the firewall to get the vacuum fitting on the  back of the intake to clear, nothing major just a couple of whacks. Before I pull the motor back out I'll see how the headers fit and f I should adjust anything.             












Feb 9/08

I measured the stock pinion angle on the rear end and got 5 degrees  nose up. I measured the distance to the floor from the center of the  output shaft of the tranny and the center of the pinion on the rear  end. The tranny is about 3/4 to 1 inch lower than the pinion and points  down 4 degrees. I'll see what happens when I mock up the 8.8.



EDIT: these angles turned out to be all wrong 3 deg is more the angle to aim for, more info further along in the thread.

Feb 12/08

So I pulled my subframe out last night with big plans of building a new  one from scratch, boy did I have my head up my ass. After half an hour  of studying the subframe from all angles, I decided that I wanted to  finish this project before I retire and the smart thing to do was make  the existing subframe work. First I cut all the convertible frame brace  points off of the subframe and ground it all smooth. Then I made a jig  to hold the mount plates in place and tacked the subframe and jig to  the table. I then cut the temporary mount posts out and fabricated  permanent posts out of 3/16" X 2 1/2" flat bar. I set the posts to the  rear of the mount plates to give lots of clearance for my power steering rack. Since I was using the existing subframe lowering my  steering rack an inch was going to be a problem. If I cut and re weld  the stock rack mounts I can only get 3/4 of an inch. Since I had  checked my hood clearance earlier I knew that I had enough room that I  could raise the engine mounts up a 1/4" no problem. So I stacked a  second 1/4" plate on my mounts. After it was welded up I realized I  moved the mounting point in as well as up (idiot). So tomorrow I'll be  slotting some holes to make everything fall back in line. Anyway it's  coming along, I'll work on the rack mounts in the morning.

[mayhamfx]

Feb 12/08

I also finished my tranny mount today.             




Feb 13/08

Originally Posted by andrewb70

                            Nice work.
 
  Tip: Use an LS7 pilot bearing. It is a large diameter bearing and will fit into that first step inside the crank.
 
  Andrew

I did not know that and I was just trying to figure something out. Thank you very much.             

I have one in my hot little hand right now. GM part #12557583 .  The parts guy said it fit a wide range of GM cars and trucks from 1996  on. The outer dia of this one is 1.706 ish but all the other dimensions  are correct and It looks  like it should fit. I couldn't tap it right now in because of the engine stand that was in the way.             

Feb 14/08

Worked on the steering rack mounts today and got them lowered down.  Slotted the motor mount plates fixing a fuckup from yesterday. Test  fitted the subframe on the engine and it fits fine looks like the rack  will fit. Then I test fitted the subframe in the car. I'll have to grind some of the alignment tabs off the rack to get it to  sit down, which means pulling it all out, something I was trying to  avoid but oh well. Then I'll know if it fits.

[mayhamfx]

Feb 21/08

Ok then. Got the steering rack to fit on the subframe after grinding  down the housing. This was a pain in the ass, but it worked and the  rack clears the pan by about .100. Still got lots of hood clearance.  The pilot bearing worked perfectly. I ground the starter nose and it fits great. Now the SUCK part, the longtube headers I was  poorboy'ing don't fit. A day of beating and fitting and cutting and  fitting and replacing a couple of tubes and and and and, in the garbage  they go. They weren't the BBK's just some mustang headers I got for  free so no great loss, just a day wasted. Now I have to come up with  something different. I have the truck manifolds but they don't fit great. I'll have to look at my budget and  see if I can afford a set of BBK 1516, $270 at Summit, I have the  flanges already. I'm not sure if longtubes are worth it for me.

Originally Posted by andrewb70

Want to try a set of LS2 Corvette manifolds? I will sell you some cheap.
 
  Andrew             

I'll take them.

Feb 25/08
After a scare this week with my truck being stolen with my intake manifold and stub shaft in it i managed to get some things done.(I got the parts back along with my truck).
 
  Finished off the subframe, just had a little welding and grinding to  clean up some cuts from trying the failed header install. Now I have to  paint it and it's ready to go in.
 
  Ordered an f-body alt bracket which I now realize won't fit the truck  alt quite right so when it gets here there'll be more custom work.
 
  Made most of the power steering brackets just need a small brace, a 1/4 inch spacer and some flathead bolts to clear the pulley.








Feb 26/08

If you have a master cylinder leak, FIX IT NOW! Or spend two or three days later fixing the paint in your engine bay.             





Intake manifold with cast iron paint then 4 coats of clear coat. Dried slightly duller, looks fantastic.

[mayhamfx]

Feb 29/08

Finished repainting the engine bay from the brake fluid damage, took three days  Couldn't do a fancy paint job just used marine enamel in a bright red that was close to the car color, three coats with a brush, spraying just wasn't an option. Most of it  will be hidden when it's all back together. Painted the subframe,  tranny mount and motor mount brackets at the same time. Looks like a carnival ride in the engine bay, once everything is in I think it'll look ok



 
  Put the subframe back in and reattached the a-arms. Felt really good to be putting stuff back together for good finally.
 
  Made the EGR block off plate, drilled the engine block for the alternator mount. Going to pick up my hydraulic throwout bearing, tranny rebuild kit and my wiring harness in the next few days.

March 5/08
Some "OH SHIT!" moments tonight. I was putting the coil packs on just for fun and I had the sudden realization that the plug wire stick out 2" past the end of the plugs and I only have 1 1/4" to my P/S  pump. After some investigating I guess I'll be using a custom wire on  that plug or I buy a set of Taylor wires or something. Then I had the  sickening feeling that my alternator is going to hit on the steering  rack but I think I might clear. That's the problem with not using a  kit, it's all R&D as you go along. Got my Corvette FPR today,  $39.99 at Canadian Tire, plus I paid for it with all the CT money I had  lying around! You cheesheads will relate to that, LOL.             

March 13/08

Started a new show this week so not as much time to putter with the  car. Did the test fit of the motor and it's all good. I have the tranny  down to every last nut and bearing, there's way too many parts in those  things. I'm waiting on two new syncro sliders and some other parts from  "the gearbox". I got my harness, I believe it's from a 06 truck of some  sort with fly by wire. I'm removing all the extra wires I don't need,  like all the auto tranny stuff except for the vss, the rear O2 sensors  and the a/c stuff. Way too much wires in that too, when I was a boy it  was one wire to the coil and points and your off.






I've got most of my harness done. Removed all the crap I don't need and  added wires I do need. Changed all the injector plugs from truck style  to LS1 style. I'm going to make a small fuse box to hold all the fuses  for the engine power, the trucks use an under hood fuse box which is big and ugly. I'm trying to reroute the harness off the front corner of the engine, rather than off the side which looks gay, and put my ECM where the  stock battery position was. I'm hoping my tranny and diff parts arrive  tomorrow so I can put them together over the long weekend.



March 22/08

Originally Posted by wreckedc5

maybe  you could help me graham/fx. I am having an issue picking out a trans.  Just picked up my ls1 from a 98 Camaro with a 4l60e. I wont be able to  run the 4l60e because I am going to carb the ls1, already picked up the  vic jr intake and holley 850. My question is cruising speed rpms. my  car has a factory 4.10, so if I go with a 700r4 from my experience it  will turn about 2500 at 55. which is ok until I want to cruise at 70  then I will be turning about 3000-3500 which I am not happy with. I  wanted the t56 for this reason. My question is, If I go with the t5  will it have similar cruising speeds? And also I might break it? The  car is a weekend car, but it will see no track time, but who doesnt  like to do burnouts and hard launches. From your research, do you  believe the t5 will hold up?

With the right prep the t5 will hold up, ie high alloy gears or  an aftermarket gear set. The 2.95 gear sets used in the gm t5s are  stronger than the ford 3.35 gears. If you look, the "super alloy 070"  gear set used in the t5z cobra transmission is the same part number as the Camaro set. Having said that the gear  set in my t5 is an 053 which is superseded by the 070 set(these are the  last 3 numbers of the Tremec part numbers) so possibly only replacement  gears sets are high strength. Your factory 4.10, unless it's a TII  version won't be around for long. I'm going to a Ford 8.8 so I can  change ratios. By using 3.07 differential gears and a 2.95 first gear in the T5 my first gear is almost identical  to a T56's 2.66 first gear with a 3.55 rearend (the common choice with  the LS1 guys). 4.10s with a T5 will give you 2000 rpm at 55 mph and  2500 rpm at 70 mph and 100 mph at 3500 rpm. You'll be shifting less  with the T5 for sure, but the 4.10s are a killer, first gear will go by  in a hurry, you might as well start in second. A bulletproof T5 will  run you $1500 to $2000 plus the price of the donor tranny.
http://www.f-body.org/gears/
  Astroperformance.com - Your Manual Drivetrain Specialist
  G-Force Transmissions and Long Shifters

[mayhamfx]

April 6/08

Lots of crap happening stopped work on the car for two weeks but back at it now. Rebuild of the tranny is almost  finished. One of the new bearings was bad and had to be replaced, that  slowed things down. I have to add a vss to work with the ECM plus  retain the mechanical speedo. It will involve a little machine work as  usual. Think I've got my throwout figured out, again some minor  machining to make it nice and clean. When to the wrecker and picked up  an ECM, MAF,O2 sensors, some misc plugs for the harness and an OBDII port.

April 9/08
So I had to add a VSS to my GM T5 to send a signal to the ECM because  I'm told it may cause stalling under some conditions without it. I  wanted to retain my mechanical speedometer for cost reasons. I could have replaced the mechanical speedo drive  with a VSS and then a electrical converter box to go back to mechanical  but that seemed stupid and expensive.
 
  Having a machine shop and machining skills will be an asset during his project.
 
  After a bunch of research this is the easiest answer I could come up  with. The LSx based ECMs require a 40 pulse per revolution signal which  has been a GM standard since the late 80's. The nicest sensor I could  find was from GM truck transfer cases from 1989 onward, common and readily available at the  wrecker. The rotor ring was from a 700r4 ( I ordered it from  "http://www.thegearbox.org/home.html" $8).
 
  After a little look around on the tailhousing I decided to use a area  of spline behind the 5th gear for the rotor ring that would place the  sensor in a nice location. I set the tailhousing up in a milling  machine and located center off the bearing recess with an old race. I  measured back from the face 2.300" to a spot that had enough room for  the sensor and bored a hole for a 3/4 pipe tap, then I treaded it being  careful to make it so a bushing would just thread through and not stick  into the housing to far (there's only about a 1/4" clearance to the  rotor ring. The wall is fairly thin in the tailhousing, only about 3/16  thick, since the thread is only holding a bushing for the sensor I felt  it would be OK. Next I made 2 spacers, one 1/4" wide and another 1/2"  wide that would slip over the tail shaft to locate the rotor ring in  the correct place.
 
  The senor cannot screw directly into the case due to it's length so I  had to make a bushing to locate it out further. I took a brass fitting  with a 3/4 pipe thread on one end and drilled and tapped it 3/4 NF for  the sensor. Make sure the fitting is long enough so that when  everything is screwed together there's at least .030 clearance between  the sensor and the rotor ring. I measured the sensor shoulder to tip  length and then the bushing end to rotor ring distance with the bushing  screwed into the housing. After figuring the right amount, I shortened  the bushing to get the magic .030" sensor tip to rotor ring clearance.  I used a 1" split collar to hold the spacers and rotor ring in place on  the tailshaft. When screwing the bushing in, go easy so as not to strip  the housing, use loctite PST to seal and lock the bushing in place.
 
  Does it work? I have no clue because my car is still in pieces but I feel confident that there should be no problems. It's pretty straight forward stuff.             

EDIT: It works like a charm.










April 12/08

Finally finished my T5 rebuild. I now completely understand how a manual transmission works. Now if I could just afford a set of Astro performance gears.
 
  Made a little bracket to hold my clutch lines where they come out of  the bellhousing. It mounts in the hole where the fork would have been.  I'm going to run two hard lines from the throwout bearing to the side  of the bellhousing and then up to the top of the bellhousing where I'll  put a bleeder on one and a flex line on the other to go over to the  firewall and join up with the master cylinder. I did a small mod to my front bearing retainer to point the lines at the fork hole in the bellhousing.
 
  Learned to solder copper pipe and fittings by making some mods to the heater core connections. When I had the motor in last time for test fitting I dummied up these fittings to make the heater hoses route neatly around the engine and engine bay, and today I soldered them in.             

EDIT: The clutch line braket went in the trash since the lines move with the bearing they couldn't be held like that.







April 19/08

Well it's in. Got the LS2 exhaust manifolds on Thursday and had to trim a corner tab off the motor mounts where  they hit. The clutch lines were the last thing holding me back and I  got them the same day. So I put all the big pieces together and bit the  bullet and dropped it in. I think I've done every thing I needed to  before installing it. Hope the clutch doesn't leak.

EDIT: The clutch didn't leak until about 3000 miles later, more further on.

[mayhamfx]

April 27/08

Coming along.



May 5/08

Slowly picking away at it. Got the LS2 exhaust manifolds on, had to trim my engine mounts a touch and make a custom flange for  the exhaust pipe due to a small issue with the steering shaft. The  radiator and fan are in, I used a 86 vette rad and Vovlo fan. I have a  DC Control variable speed fan controller coming, they're suppose to be the shit. The rad has a channel top and  bottom that I filled with 3/4" rubber then ran bolts in the rubber to  capture it. it feels pretty bomber. I have to polish the top with  scotchbrite and clearcoat it still. Guess I have to start on the diff  soon, thats the next big job.
 
   Oh and the wiring it's a bit of a pain since I have a truck harness and an S5 and all the wiring instructions are for LS1s and S4s.  It says things like "locate connector FE-05 a 6 pin (2 rows of 3)  between the firewall and the strut". Well guess what I don't have one, my connector is a 10  pin (2 rows of 5). Well no worries I'm just hooking up all the wiring to  the things I can figure out. Sure would be nice to have an actual 1990  wiring diagram not a "1988 shown later models similar". Similar like humans have two  arms and two legs so we're all the same. Anyway I've had my rant, I'm  gone.






May 6/08
BIG DAY! I phoned the GM store and they said it was in from backorder.  I went over at lunch and picked it up. I rushed home right after work  and installed it. I can't wait till it's all hot and slippery so I can  pull it out and slip it back in.......
 
  Oh YEA!             



May 8/08

Things I've learned today: THE REAREND IN A RX7 WILL NEVER ACCIDENTLY FALL OUT IF ALL THE BOLTS FELL OFF.             

May 13/08

Working on mounting the Lincoln rearend today. Got it in for the first  test positioning with some temporary brackets. Tomorrow I'll reweld  them to move it back some and retry, but it looks good.





I have the rear mount just about finished while the front mount is still under development.             






May 22/08

OK another lesson learned. Calculate your driveline geometry before you get too far
 
  Step one: After removing the rotary check the stock pinion angle and  record it (5 deg.) After all everyone runs stock TII rearends with no  problem so it must work.
 
  Step two: Fab up your own engine mount and trenny mounts setting your  engine in close to the pinion angle (they should equal to cancel out  and be smooth.
 
  Step three: Make diff mounts for your 8.8 copying the stock pinion angle.
 
  Step four: Actually think about what your doing with the geometry and  calculate it all out after reading what you should have done on the  Internet.
 
  Step five: Realize you've fucked it totally up and pull your engine, transmission and differential mounts out and redo them all.
 
  Here's what I had, (these measurements are from the ground with the car  on stands.) Engine/tranny tail down 4 - 4.5 deg, tail shaft 19 3/4"  from ground. Diff 5 deg nose up, pinion 21 1/4" from ground. This makes  my rearend 1 1/2" higher than the transmission which means my  driveshaft goes up to the back at 2 deg.
 
  Working angles of the u-joints were 6.5 deg front and 7 back, they should be no more than 3 - 4.
 
  So I can raise the tranny 1" with ease, but when I do that the engine pivots on the mounts and the nose of the engine drops .2". I noticed that  before I raised the tranny that my mounts had settled and my oil pan  was now touching the steering rack. Now I need to raise the engine  mounts 1/4" to regain some clearance for the oil pan. The diff mount I  can modify the bushings and change the angle quite easily, which will  drop the nose down1/2" making the tranny output and the pinion input at  the same hight. The front diff mount was not finished so it can be made  correct. The math i figured out last night should put my engine at  about 3 deg. I'll finish the engine and tranny mounts, then measure the  angle and adjust the diff accordingly.
 
  I pulled the mounts out tonight, it was a bit of a pain in the ass. I had to remove the exhaust manifolds and the P/S pump to do it.
 
  Moral: always think every thing through before hand. Or use a kit, (na, fuck that shit.)             

May 23/08

Had time at work today to fix the mounts (on company time, can't beat  that) Put them back in tonight, gained 1 1/8" on the tailshaft and the  angle measures about 2.7 deg so I'm back in business.

June 3/08

So here's a little tale of how things add up. I'm looking for a  driveshaft, I know what ever i get will need to be shortened and  balanced and one yoke changed. I check the wreckers and craigslist and  see most people want $75 - $100 for a steel shaft. I find a little used  parts place that has a pile of old shafts which I poke through and find  two shafts that have the Ford rear flange i need, one steel and one  aluminum. The guys says $65 for the steel and $125 for the aluminum,  not bad. I go home and think which one I want. I decide on the steel,  one because the diameter is smaller and two it's less likely to be  dented. I go back to the store and dig the steel one out and ask a  different guy how much? He says $35. I pay and get out thinking how  cheap my driveshaft is going to be. I phone the driveline shop and they  tell me $110 to shorten and balance, cool, still cheap. Now I need a  front slip yoke, after some searching I find one for $45, a little steep i think but I  want to get the shaft done because it's holding up the diff mounting  work. I figure new u-joints would be a smart idea, of course the one  that adapts the Chevy slip yoke to the ford shaft is "special", I get out of the parts store  $50 poorer. Now I drop the shaft, yoke and joints off at the driveline  shop. I ask how much extra to retube just out of curiosity, $80, not to  bad but the guy says your old tube should be fine. So I pick it up  today, when they cut it open they found it had a damper (double wall)  inside and was slightly bent so they retubed it. I don't mind, I feel  good knowing it's 100% and not old and fatigued. bill with taxes $227.  So my cheap driveshaft adds up to $357. Like I said before $25 and $50  dollar you to death.

June 4/08

Here's the diff ready to go in. I noticed tonight (always too late) the  axles are offset in the 8.8, only 3/16" so I think I'm ok.




June 6/08

I have all the pieces for the drivetrain in hand now and started  installing them tonight! First I popped the driveshaft in and then with  the help of my youngest son on the floorjack the diff slipped into  place with ease. One of the front bolts was a pain to get in around the  crossmember but went in after a little taping with the hammer. Then  came the ass puckering moment where I found out if the 929 halfshaft  was going to fit in real life as apposed to in theory. I slid the spine  into the wheel hub and put the flanges together, it looked like fully  compressed it would just barley fit when the suspension was at the point where the shaft is level. Then I went to put the nut  on the end of the spline and saw it still had close to 3/8" to pull  thought the hub so tons of clearance   That's where I stopped for the night, tomorrow I'll put the other side  in, plus bolt up the driveshaft and recheck all the driveline angles.

June 7/08

OK, I got the rest of the driveline in. Engine, transmission, driveshaft, differential and halfshafts are all in place. YAHOO! I had  to screw around with the front diff mount a bit, the bushings I was  using compressed too much and I had to replace them with aluminum for  now. I'll probably replace them with plastic after a while if they bug  me. I had to make special rear bushings to correct the bad angle I had,  I could have cut it apart and re welded it but the bushings were  easier. I used special high performance, only available at Canadian Tire, hockey pucks for my rear isolation bushing (99 cents each, no expense spared for me).
 
  I think I can see the end of the tunnel now.             

EDIT: I ended up replacing the from bushings with the factory Ford rubber ones due to noise.




June 14/08

Been picking off little jobs. Got a new (to me) fuel pump in (generously donated by Mattser03 from his FD). Made a little bracket for the F-body throttle cable that let me install it with out modifying the cable. Started on the wiring, made a power fusebox for all the engine wiring.             




June 26/08

This working 12 hours a day is taking all my car time away. I'm getting  F#@% all done. I've made a nifty mount for my ECM, got the end of my  speedo cable cut off and a Chevy end put on for only $20. Got a piece  of aluminum to skin between the bumper and bottom of the radiator.  Ordered some DNA truck mufflers for my exhaust so hopefully I can start  on that on the July 4th weekend, if I'm not working.

 My ECM mount and DCcontrol variable speed fan controller.             




July 6/08

I've got all my exhaust parts now and started chipping away at it today. I'm going with 2 1/4" through two Magnaflow hi flow cats, one one each side. Then y-ing into a 3"  resonance/crossover pipe 20" long and back into two, 2 1/4" pipes that  feed the 27" long 6" round DNA mufflers. From what I've been able to  figure out talking to exhaust people is it should be fairly quiet, but  I'm not sure. The DNA's are open chamber with spiral like baffles but I  have cats, low compression and a resonance chamber/pipe which are all  suppose to help damp down the sound. I made the crossover so long for  two reasons, 1) I read it on a site about exhaust design saying it  helped flow and sound and 2) if it's too loud I can cut 16" out and put  a 3" glass pack or bullet muffler in to help quiet it down.
 
 
I put in a 3/4" Land Cruiser clutch master cylinder. I got it to work but with not as much travel as I would have  liked. An opportunity arose this week for me to swap it for a 7/8" Wilwood, no charge. Well I jumped on that like a fat kid on a M&M and I'll be making it fit soon.
 
 
  Pics, the engine bay so far.




July 26/08

Finally got a day off, worked two weeks straight. Picked up some parts  today, 4" rubber elbow for my intake, Hurst shifter stick and a set of  LS2 fuel rail covers, so it's time to make more shit fit things they  don't fit. Put the Wilwood clutch master in, just have to swap the line  for a braided steel line that fell into my hands. Have the wiring 80%  done. Still haven't worked on the exhaust, soon, but picking off lots  of little things that need doing. Scored a nice piece of aluminum for  making a cold air box in the corner of the inner fender.

[mayhamfx]

August 1/08

Plan on doing my exhaust this weekend, brought a chop saw, pipe bender  and welder home so hopefully. Made all the pieces for my air intake and painted them to match the intake, they look great. I'll do the  aluminum air box later. Mocked up the fuel rail covers, as usual  nothing fits right, I'll have to cut the mounts down to get them lower  the LS2 fuel rails must be much lower than the LS1 or the manifold is  higher 'cause there's a big gap between the cover and the intake.

My x-pipe/resonance pipe and the covers.




August 2/08

Half done the exhaust. Lots of cutting and fitting but it's going fine.  I finished the front pipes to the cats. The mid pipe it tacked up,  tomorrow I'll get all the way back I hope. I'm clamping behind the cats  and at the mufflers, welding everything else, that allows me to tack it  under the car and pull it out to weld fully. If I had a hoist I might do it in car but on jack stands it's a pain.             





August 3/08

Originally Posted by mattster03

does a long x-pipe like that have any performance affects vs. the x-pipes i normally see where the pipes just barely touch?

I was reading about exhaust design on the web and one guy said a  long resonance pipe would smooth out the sound. The main reason I did  it was I'm worried about the DNA mufflers being too loud, this way I  can cut out the pipe and replace it with a Moroso spiral flow or glass pack to quieten it down.             

EDIT: The sound out of this system is just awesome, not to loud but unmistakably tough.

I have the whole exhaust tacked up, just have to add a couple of hangers and fit the Magnaflow tips on the end of the mufflers, then weld it fully. I was interrupted  today by a family emergency which might get worse before it gets  better, so I had to walk away for a awhile. Maybe tomorrow I'll finish  it up, we'll see.

August 4/08

My exhaust is finished!  I might add one more hanger after the x-pipe, I have one in the middle  and the mufflers double hung at the back and a single pick at the  front. It feels real solid but there's a spot for a hanger just after  the tail pipes split from the x so I guess I should, it'll only take a couple of  minutes to do. I blasted some high temp paint on the mid pipe before I  reinstalled it might slow the rust down. I had to weld the tips on in  car to get them dead on, it is the one thing that I will see ever day  so I want it to be right. BTW it's a real pain to weld tips on in car  so don't look to close at the top part.
 
  The family emergency is still on going, my father in law is 90 and  barely hanging on, it's just a matter of time. Thanks for the thoughts. 







August 12/08

The family went away on vacation so I finally got time to myself to  work on the car. I hooked up everything I needed to fire it up. I  hooked up the battery and no smoke came out of anywhere so that was  good. I turned the key to on and no smoke came out, again good. I  turned the key to start and nothing happened, no smoke when you want  it. I looked around, smelt gas and found an injector leaking fuel on the manifold. I found a piece of  o-ring sitting in the puddle of gas so I changed out that and solved  the leak. Next I traced the cranking circuit and discovered I had cut  off a tab on my clutch pedal i thought was the cruise control but was really the clutch safety switch (idiot). I jimmied that and it  cranks and fires right away, and runs like a bag of shit and dies, and  again and again. After some diagnosing and research it's decided the  flash in the ECM is wrong, DBW instead of cable throttle. The guys that  flashed it agree that's the problem although I seem to remember them  saying they thought it would work at the time, oh well. So now the ECM  is in getting redone with the cable programming and I'll finish off  some other jobs while I wait. Sofa King close!

[mayhamfx]

September 2/08

Here's a run down off what's happening lately.
 
 
  Part 1:
  08-10-2008
 
  I went to start it for the first time today. I turned the key and nothing. Looked around, found a fuel leak at an injector, replaced an O-ring which fixed that. Chased down the  cranking circuit and found in my infinite wisdom I'd cut the lever off  the clutch pedal that works the interlock switch thinking it was for  the cruise control. Bypassed that a it cranks and fires right up but  runs like hell, super rough, missing like crazy and no throttle.  Mechanically the throttle is fine it just doesn't do anything. Now that  could be an issue with not having a cable throttle module in the ECM.  It was a DBW ECM when I had it flashed the guy deleted the DBW diag.  and error codes but I think it needs the whole throttle module changed.  Besides that I checked the exhaust ports to see if I could tell which  cylinders were firing, the front 4 cylinders were cold and the rear 4  were warm, so to me it seems it's only running on 4 cylinders. Got any  ideas?
 
 
  Part 2:
  08-11-2008
 
  Checked some stuff out tonight. It seems to start on all cylinders and  then stumbles and drop cylinders until it stalls. If I touch the  throttle it gets worse or dies right away. I've read a bunch about  converting DBW to cable tonight and I think that may be the problem.  One guy said DBW ECMs don't have IAC drivers installed. IMHO I'm  leaning towards this. Anyone have experience with DBW to cable  conversions?
 
 
  Part 3:
  08-12-2008
 
  So I'm pulling the ECM out tonight and getting it reflashed with the  cable throttle program from a 05 Chevy full size van. I believe this  will fix my problem.
 
 
  Part 4:
  08-18-2008
 
  Put the reflashed ECM in today. The guy used a program from a 05 van  with a cable throttle 4.8L in it. He changed the fuel table to a 5.3  with 26lb injectors and timing tables for 89 octane. He also corrected  the cylinder volume from 4.8 to 5.3.
 
  It's still not running right. It fired up but not as easy as before, it  stumbled and stumbled got better and better, throttle would make it rev  but it would stay up even though the throttle was closed and come down  after a few seconds. It still felt like it was missing. then it would  lose the idle and run on 1-2 cylinders.
 
  The tach won't work, I'm positive I have it hooked up right (white wire from ECM to yellow/blue wire at the trailing coil plug).
 
  I disconnected the battery to fix a problem with the temp sender wiring  and clean out the left over stock emission/ecm wiring. After I got the  temp sender fixed so the gauge read I ran it again. It was worse. It  will fire and as soon as it tries to idle it seems to run on 1-2  cylinders. Giving the throttle the tiniest touches caused it to almost  stall but once or twice after doing that it would catch and come up to  a high idle, still rough though. Giving it more throttle just kills it.
 
  I thought vacuum leak. I thought there might be a vacuum port on the map sensor I had left off, opposite the brake booster. Sure enough the small port on the passenger side was open, I capped it, is that right or should I run a hose somewhere?
 
  I tried to run it again and I'd say it was a little worse.
 
  In the mean time I was trying to fix a small coolant leak on the temp  sender adapter by tightening it up until I finally snapped it off  causing a large coolant leak.
 
 
  Part 5:
  08-19-2008
 
  OK fixed the coolant leak, finished cleaning up the old Mazda ECM  wiring, wired in the OBDII port, wired up the MIL and fixed a small  exhaust leak. Tachometer still not working, is there a way to check the  signal from the ECM, tachometer was working before I started the swap.
 
  Fired it up, a little hard to start, ran fair. When I would give it gas  it would rev up and stay up for a few seconds before coming down. Slow  to respond to the throttle. Once up to temperature, which is fairly  quick, and switches to closed loop barely idles and no throttle  response, just wants to die if I touch the gas.
 
  Talked to someone who said check the wiring to the TPS and IAC. Found  that the IAC plug I had used from a 2000 or 1999 truck has a different  pin arrangement than the 2005. The wire colors are the same just two  are reversed. Fixed that by changing the pins around in the ECM plug.  This time in open loop the RPM stayed up even longer before coming  down, nothing else changed.
 
  The thermostat doesn't seem to be opening.
 
  Borrowed an OBD2 scanner tonight and scanned the engine without starting it. Had 13 codes:
  P0230 Fuel pump primary circuit malfunction ( got this one twice #1 and #11)
  P0507 Idle control system RPM high (got this twice too #2 and #12)
  P1258 Manufacturer control fuel air metering
  P2761 TCC pressure control solenoid CKT open (got this one twice too #4 and #13)
  P0053 HO2S bank 1 sensor 1 Heater resistance
  P0054 HO2S bank 1 sensor 2 Heater resistance (don't have a sensor 2)
  P0059 HO2S bank 2 sensor 1 Heater resistance
  P0060 HO2S bank 2 sensor 2 Heater resistance (don't have a sensor 2)
  P0122 TPS/pedal position sensor A circuit low input
  P0200 Injector circuit OPEN
 
  I cleared all these and started the motor. It actually almost ran OK  best yet. The throttle seemed to work. I watched the data on the  scanner although a lot I wasn't sure what it meant. The temp went to  246 before I knew it and then dropped to 235 I checked the rad hoses  and the thermostat had opened and the fan had come on. It stayed at  that temp to, like thats what the thermostat was, way too high I think.  New thermostat needed I think. Temp gauge never read above about 2/3 to 3/4 although the engine was boiling after  I shut it down. I'm thinking different sender needed too. Was running  fair though, felt very weak on the throttle. Thats when I noticed I had  left the TPS plug off after checking the pin out earlier, I plugged it  in and it stopped running fair right away and went back to crap.
 
  Rescanned for codes and got
  P2761 which is a automatic transmission code which I'm ignoring because I have a standard.
  P0171 System too lean bank 1
  P0174 System too lean bank 2
 
  I haven't checked my fuel pressure yet.
 
  I checked the O2 sensor wiring and it seems I may have the banks mixed up I figure this could cause some trouble.
 
 
  Part 6:
  08-21-2008
 
  Todays update. O2 sensor wiring was mixed up side to side, shit happens  when you rip the harness all apart, but no problem moved the pins  around on the ECM plugs and it's all good now. Maybe that will make it  run better.
 
  Found what was wrong with the cooling. When I got the f-body water pump  it didn't come with a thermostat or housing so I just used the truck  one I had from the original pump. BAD IDEA THE THERMOSTAT IS LONGER AND  SEALS OFF THE BYPASS AND THEN WON'T LET THE THERMOSTAT OPEN SO YOU  ENGINE OVERHEATS IN TWO WAYS! So I'll be picking up a new thermostat  and housing tomorrow. Also changed the wiring on my fan controller to  the option of having the fan stay on after the key is turned off.
 
  The engine went into high temp limp mode because of the cooling problem so that adds to the poor running.
 
  I have a gauge to test my fuel pressure which I'll do after the cooling system is back together.
 
  I'm picking the problems off one by one.
 
 
  Part 7:
  08-23-2008
 
  Replaced truck thermostat with F-body thermostat. Did little boiling  water, side by side test of both truck and f-body thermostats before  installation, was happy with results, f-body way better.
 
 
  Tested the fuel pressure today with a gauge on the rail. Turned the key  on without starting it and let the pump run for the 2 seconds the ECM  allows it to. checked the gauge, 0 psi. Didi it again and again and  again watching the gauge, saw a little movement but always returning to  zero. Started the science experiment.
 
  1) Pulled pump out of tank and test in bucket of gas, pumps fine.
  2) Hooked 0-60 psi gauge to pump and test again, pins gauge passed 60 psi right away and holds pressure.
  3) Hooked Corvette FPR to pump and 0-60 psi gauge to outlet on FPR  return line back to bucket, 22 psi and drops to 0 psi when pump is  stopped.
  4) Decide FPR is a piece of defective crap and return to store for refund.
  5) Try to purchase replacement Corvette FPR, none to be found at all local parts stores.
  6) Purchase Mallory adjustable FPR 30-100 psi on sale $100, good deal, plus inline fuel filter.
  7) Mallory FPR comes with -8an fittings, WTF, who uses shit that big.  Spend rest of evening turning -8an fittings into usable pipe thread on  lathe.
  8  Quit for day back at it tomorrow thinking this will be the day.
 
 
  Part 8:
  08-24-2008
 
  Obviously I'm cursed. Something I did to someone, maybe it was that Mexican I sold the rebuilt van to without telling him.......
 
  OK, today I hooked up the new Mallory FPR in the bucket with the gauge  and set the pressure at 58 psi. It drops a bit, 10-15 psi, when the  pump is shut off. No leaks. I install it and manually prime it with a  wire right from the battery which lives in the trunk, full pressure at  the rail. Check everything once more, there's a leak, looks like the  outlet. Pull the FPR out and give the outlet one more turn and  reinstall. Still leaks, FUCK. Pull out the FPR and the pump and back  into the bucket it goes. Test in the bucket and the leak is coming from  the split where the two halves join together, double FUCK. Disassemble  FPR and put some seal-all around edge of diaphragm reassemble and test,  looks good. Reinstall Pump and FPR, prime again, check. LEAK. Copious  amounts of swearing, FUCK used extensively, POS numerous times. Appears  to be coming from plugs blocking extra outlets. Remove yet again,  remove plugs use pipe thread sealant instead of teflon tape, tighten  stupid tight. reinstall. Test prime. Still weeping just a bit, ready to  chuck Fucking thing down driveway. Figure I'll run motor anyway and fix  later.
 
  Fire up motor and watch pressure on rail drop to 20 psi, WTF? Pull plug  off pump and clip on jumper from battery, full pressure right away.  Restart motor, runs way better, full pressure at rail. Ran motor for  couple of minutes and here's my observations:
 
  1) Motor still overheated. I think there's still air in the system  causing this. Keep adding more fluid after every time run. Is there a  way to bleed the air out?
 
  2) RPM's stay up after the throttle is released then come down after a  few seconds. Sort of stumped on this could be a bad TPS or IAC motor.
 
  3) Fuel pump relay wiring is wrong or something. I don't think I'm  getting full power to the pump. I think I'll just put in a new relay  back near the pump and ditch the stock one.
 
  4) Runs way more like a 325+ hp motor should with the fuel pressure up.
 
  Oh yea, replaced the leaking FPR plug with another new plug with PST  sealant, torqued it down hard and I'm letting it set up until tomorrow  before I reinstall it. Fingers crossed.
 
 
  Part 9:
  08-27-2008
 
  Ran a new wire back to the fuel pump and replaced the stock relay with  a real one. Wired it up with ECM green to one side of the coil and  straight to ground on the other side, original black w/white switched  power in and back to the pump with my new wire out. Works like a charm,  full pressure right off the prime and running. Fucking FPR is leaking,  just still barely weeping at the part line of the housing all the  fittings look dry, POS!
 
  Didn't overheat tonight, must have enough coolant in it now. Thermostat  opened, coolant circulated and the fan came on. Seems to be on the mend.
 
  The tachometer fairies still haven't come by and fixed the tach. I  guess I'll run the white tach wire straight up to the gauge and see if  that works.
 
 
  Now the stuff that still stumps me:
 
  Idle hangs for a few seconds and then drops just like a switch was  thrown. not all the way sometimes ether. The engine is like new and  when I pulled the IAC off and looked at it, it looked new. Not gummed  up or old and crappy. The MIL (engine light) is on so I'll have to borrow a scanner again and see what it tells me.
 
  I got brave and put it in gear and let the clutch out with it idling,  (it's still on stands) just to see if the axles would turn or if there  would be some horrible noise and more problems. The hubs turned and I  could here nothing out off the ordinary, except that the idle jumped  way up with the wheels turning. Obviously the VSS is working and  telling something to give it more gas, which I think is a little weird,  but maybe it wants to compensate for the theoretical added load of  moving the car. Anyone have this happen to them, is it normal? Or is it  part of my idle problem?

Originally Posted by andrewb70

Wow...
 
  After all that I would do:
 
  Part 10: Rolled the car into the driveway and hosed it down with the  gasoline from the bucket and set it on fire. Pretty fire...fire good. I  have nothing productive to contribute :/
 
  Andrew

The only thing that stopped me was it's got no wheels on it.              

Originally Posted by j200pruf

Instead of lighting on fire you just give it to me, I can be up there next weekend to pick it up?
 
  And even so Graham your way to close to give up now (unless you wanna give it to me )

Out of my dead cold hands buddy........              

[mayhamfx]

September 4/08

The guy that did the tune on my ECM is coming  over on Saturday to scan it with his laptop and see if he can fix the  idle.

September 6/08
  IT RUNS !!!!!!! 

September7/08

Originally Posted by Jeff

Well, was it an easy fix?,...you know,...push the delete key over there twice?,...or was there blood/sweat and tears,...
 
  Where curse words used at any point Graham?.

The guy that did my tune came over to help me with the car. After seeing it run he said it sounds like the IAC isn't working. We  pulled it off and it was wide open, we pulled it closed and put it back  in and now it wouldn't idle unless you held the throttle partiality  open. It definitely wasn't working. Now I'd changed two wires in the  IAC plug earlier that were different from the 1999-2001 pigtail I was  using so we decided to recheck my work and the continuity of all the  IAC wiring. Well wouldn't you know it, the set of wires that I didn't  change were also backwards. We swapped them around and tried again. It  worked better but still seemed not quite right, but over a minute or  two it learned and improved. We changed the timing tables a few degrees  and a few other minor things, reflashed the ECM with thew new info and  fired it up. Runs like a hot damn, idles at 700 ish, revs great, nice  and crisp, drops right down like it should. In gear it idles fine,  doesn't idle up like it did before. All the weird O2 codes went away  and the MIL light is off. Now to get everything I pulled apart back  together and concentrate on getting the wheels on seeing if it rolls OK.
 
 
  A quick recap:
  Main problem = Fuel. Bad FPR, poor stock pump wiring and relay
  Secondary problem = Engine harness wiring. IAC wired backwards, O2 sensors side to side, some tuning issues.                                                                                                                                   

September 22/08

Fixed my tachometer today, it hadn't worked since the swap. I had it  hooked up correctly but it didn't work so I ran a new line to the gauge  thinking the old Mazda wiring might be screwy. Then after searching,  yes searching, I found some info on an tuning forum (EFIlive). See I  thought it might be computer related and was looking to see if the  signal could get turned off. Well I saw a post from our very own Kevin  Doe regarding tach signal. It seems the Fbodys use whats called a 12  volt pull up in the ECM to run the tach, it supplies a modified 12v  signal which the tach signal adjusts to make the tach work (maybe Dan  knows more technical details). The newer ECM's, mines an 04, doesn't do  the 12 volt pull up. I had to take a 12 volt switched wire, add a 10K  resistor inline and tee it into my tach signal wire and ta da my tach  works. More and more people are using mew ECM's and will be running  into this so I hope this helps.

November 3/08

Just a note to tell you whats going on. I started a new job about a  month and a half ago which took up a ton of time and effort. This new  job robbed me of disposable income for a while (read much lower  starting wages). Not that I have much left to buy. But what happened  too was summer disappeared. Now I do plan to use this car as a daily  driver but I can't bring my self to drive it all winter in the rain and  shit until I've shown it off a bit. It's turned out pretty nice and I  want to drive it around looking nice for a while before it gets covered  in crap and all the spray paint rusts off the custom made hardware   So I'm going to putter with it over the winter and pull it out in the spring.  it's ready for preliminary test driving right now so when I get a chance I'll run it up and down the street to  see if any major problems are obvious that I should address over the  winter. It's a tough decision but I think it will be right in the long  run.

[mayhamfx]

February 8/09

OK, time to get back at it and finish it off.
 
  I've started on the air box. All I'm trying to do is slow down the hot air from getting in the intake. This won't be a hermetically sealed box. I acquired a nice bent piece  of aluminum for free so that's my starting point. I cut it to fit the fender well and got a couple of mounting brackets from the local race car fab shop (ace hardware). Then bored a 4 1/8" hole in the side and lined it with a piece of slit vacuum hose. It's a little tight so I'll grind it out a bit. I plan to mount a thin  piece of flat material to the hood and seal the two parts with a  weather strip for the lid.






February 9/09

OK I lied. I decided to make a lid instead. Now I just have to put some  weatherstripping on the hood to seal across the top of the rad and top  front edge of the airbox, and a piece between the rad and the airbox.  It won't seal perfectly but it will get the bulk of the air from the  front.






February 10/09

Put the weatherstripping on the hood today, had to be careful not to  drill holes through the top of my aluminum hood. That garage door  weatherstripping...... I mean race car rubber seal, works great for all sorts of stuff.





I also installed the bottom valance today. I'm thinking that finishes  the work under the car for now and I should be able to come off the  jackstands.



Februrary 11/09

YEA BIG DAY!

Yea baby, off the jackstands and out the door under it's own power.



So nice to see an empty garage.



Just a short list of things to do now. Went for a rip up and down the  block just because I couldn't resist. (no insurance) Feels pretty good,  I don't have the shifter cover or trim so there was a lot of noise  coming through that hole. Noticed a single drip off the differential, not the cover, could be anything I'll have to crawl under and check it out.
 
  It pulled strong, I didn't push it hard just wanted to listen for bad  noises and crap. Didn't feel super hot out off the hole but with 3.07  gears once it starts to go it's got long legs between the gears. I ran  it down the road about 1.5 blocks with my foot in it and didn't get out  of second, but got there in a hurry. I'm really pleased how it's  working out so far, can't wait to get it out for a good run.





February 12/09

I think I found the source of the drip on my differential, there wasn't  a hose on the vent nipple I installed to replace the one on the stock  aluminum cover. So I put one on and we'll see if that fixes that.

EDIT: It would be a while before I finally fixed that with an internal baffle.
 
  More pictures just cause I got a better camera.

[mayhamfx]

February 15/09

I was out washing the beast today and my neighbor came over to look at  it. I told him I'd had it down the block once but with no insurance so  I couldn't really try it out. He works at a car dealer and said he'd  get a dealer plate if I wanted. Well hell yea! So an hour later I'm out  for a "test drive".   It runs good, I drove it for 20-30 minutes. The steering feels a little  weird I may have bumpsteer issues but since the subframe and steering  rack have all been out and the rack lowered an alignment may be in  order. The speedo was jumping around, then steady then stopped working  so I'll check to see if both ends are still connected. I have noise in  the rearend.

  The hose I put on the differential vent isn't working, fluid is coming  out so I need to run it higher or put a baffle or something on it. The  speedo worked long enough to tell me it does 75 mph in 5th at 2000 rpm  just what I figured so the highway mileage should be good. It feels  like a tough car when driving it, the exhaust isn't too loud or droning  but has enough tone to say I'm not a rotary. Once I get the rear end  noise fixed it should be nice.

March 10/09

It looks like I've addressed all the problems that cropped up on my  test drive, I replaced the differential bushings with factory Ford  bushings and that seemed to make a difference. I spent three days  completely redoing the stereo installation. Replaced speakers and added  tweeters in the front, plus ran new wires and grounds to fix alternator interference. I went for a run up the street with the cover that goes  in the back of the convertible out and could hear the diff and exhaust  way more. So I went down and got some "peel and seal" roofing tape, no  expensive dynamat for me. I put 2 layers down behind the seats in the  spare tire area and it knocked the noise down quite a bit. I'll probably put some  in the trunk at a later date. I did a couple of little jobs that were  hanging on, 1) some little bellhousing covers to stop road debris  getting in the clutch and 2) re plumbing the steam line that runs frorn  the head to the water pump to also go through the TB, gotta stop icing on those cold mornings.
 
  It goes in for an alignment, goverment inspection and smog testing on  Thursday, If it passes everything then it will be ready to insure. I  have to buy a one day permit to take it around to everywhere so I plan  on driving as much as I can to see if any problems come up. I'm going  to wait a month or so to insure it until the weather warms up a bit.

March 12/09

 had it out today with a one day permit for testing. I failed the  provincial inspection for a couple of minor things (no front wheel  bearing dust caps) and one other little thing. No big deal, they will  reinspect it for free when I fix them. I passed smog no problem, I even  admitted it was a V8.
 
  Now the bad news. There's some play and noise in the diff plus a vibration at high speed. First the diff. This is what's to be expected buying used parts off  eBay, you never really know what you're getting and should count on  rebuilding it. So anyway I went to a rearend specialty shop and let  them drive it around. We narrowed noise down to probably the pinion  bearing and the play could be a bunch of stuff. It's a take it apart  and really inspect it thing. Wouldn't hurt to completely rebuild it. $$$

  Next the vibration. It starts at about 80 mph and didn't change or go  away up to 110 mph where I had to back out of it due to road and  traffic issues. It's not like a wheel vibration that you feel in your  hands it's in the seat of your pants. The guy from the rearend shop  couldn't place it. He didn't feel it was the rearend. It didn't change  on or off the gas. He also felt it wasn't a driveline angle problem  more likely a balance problem. I then went and talked to a driveline  shop and another shop that builds halfshafts. After talking to these  guys I'm suspecting a halfshaft. There could be two issues with them,  1) they are new reman and are bad (mexican rebuilt be crap, no way). 2)  they are to long. I was told I should have a half inch of play. I drove  the car a lot today and one thing I noticed was I thought I could feel  the vibration at low speed under hard acceleration which a bad  halfshaft would do.
  So besides that my speedo quit working again, just as I got up to 110  mph. Also I made a bad choice on the diff vent location and the diff  literally pumps fluid up and out the hose. All in all the best  soloution is that I have to take the halfshafts out and check them plus  the diff will come out and be looked at. Better to do it now and get it  right then I can drive it and not worry.
 
  A couple of side notes. I was showing the car to someone at a parts  place in the afternoon an it was idleing when suddenly it boiled over  and puked fluid out the overflow. WTF!!?? it had been running fine all  day. I let it cool down and dashed home. I noticed the fan wasn't  coming on so I started checking the wiring and found that when I had  added a power wire for the stereo the main power for the fan had jumped  off the stud and was just barely touching. After I replaced it  everything was cool again (pun intended). The other thing was the  puddles of drool people were leaving after looking under the hood, I  got real nice feedback from everyone that saw it, cool.

March 25/09

I pulled the halfshafts and differential out for a look and see. The  halfshafts I took over to a guy that rebuilds them and he checked them  out and said they were fine, so thats good.
 
  The differential is a different story. I inspected it fairly closely  and found a few things. The spider gears look good but the cross shaft  is worn, I have a good spare so that fixes that. The side gears show a  little wear but not much, I might swap them side to side to get the  good sides working, I couldn't feel any slop in them with it all  assembled. The clutch packs measure good from the only spec I could  find for them, I'll pick up one size thicker shim and see if they will  fit. I checked the tooth pattern for the ring and pinion before I took it apart and it was not good. I never checked it when I  swapped carriers so I can fix that now. The pinion bearings didn't feel  that good. It was a bitch to get it out, the front bearing was stuck on  pretty good, The bearings are a bit pitted and one is a Koyo and one a  Timken, so I think someone has been in there before. The spines on the  stub shafts are a bit loose in the side gears and thats probably what  I'm feeling, not much I can do about it. I don't think it's bad enough  to worry about.
 
  Now that it's totally apart to every last nut and bolt, this would be  the best time to change anything. The 3.55 gears that I bought last  year on a whim (super deal on eBay, like $5 in near new shape) are  staring at me. I've been toting the 3.07s for great gas mileage from  the start since my T5 overdrive is .63 as apposed to the T56's .50 and  my first gear is 2.95 compared to the 2.66 in the T56, which makes the  first and last gears fairly close between the two transmission. I just feels like it could do with a little more out of the hole. At  cruising speed in 5th the rpm's would go up about 300. If I want at a  later date I can use a taller tire and bring it back down a bit so I'm  leaning that way.
 
  I am going to check my stub shafts to see if they are true and in balance and if that is where the vibration is coming from.
 
  I looked at the speedo and the inner cable is a tiny bit short and had  crawled too far into the transmission. I put a couple of little #8 nuts  on the cable as spacers to hold it out and we'll see how that goes.
 
  Thats all for now.

March 27/09

Checked the stub shafts in the lathe yesterday and took a tiny skim off  them but I feel they are fine. I stopped at IWE Rearends in Burnaby  today to pick up a couple of shims for my truetrac clutch packs. While  I was there I talked to the owner Ian about the vibration. He said  vibration in swapped cars is very common and he's seen people spend  tons of time and money and never fix the problem. He said it's usually  in the high speed end of the driveline, meaning before the diff. Then I  asked him about changing my ratio and one thing he mentioned swayed my  decision the most. If I change to a higher ratio any vibration I have  will happen at a lower speed. While I was driving into and out of town  today I watched to see what speed I was doing. I'd say 99% of the  driving I do on a daily basis tops out just shy of 80 mph, 75 mph is my  common cruising speed on the highway. If I change ratios and can't fix  the vibration, it will be starting to vibrate between 65 and 70 mph. I  know from experience (I had a tire that shook at 65 mph and I couldn't  fix for a week or two) that it would drive me insane and suck the fun  out of driving the car in a hurry. So after considering all things,  performance, gas mileage, vibration issues, I think I will stick with  the 3.07s for now. I can always change them at a later date after I  have more miles on the car and more experience with it.
 
  I made a couple of new threaded bushings to fix a problem with bolt  sizes I had when I changed to rubber mount from delrin on the front  diff bracket. Talked to Coast Powertrain, the place that did my  driveshaft and they will check the balance on it for me next week. I  hope to start reassembling my diff this weekend. Fuck that posi fluid  is stinky shit my wife bitched like crazy when I was putting the  clutches together today, claimed she could smell it half way down the  driveway with the door shut.

April 4/09

ust spent a week working 6pm to 6am and sleeping in my camper during  the day because I didn't want to do the 3.5 hour round trip to the set  everyday. Fuck I hate vampires, they need to make a character that can  only come out in daylight.
 
  Anyway I got a phone call from the driveshaft shop on Tuesday. They said they couldn't balance my shaft because it was out  of round. WTF? They said it looked like it had been put in a vice or  had a jack under it. We both claimed to not have done anything like  that but the bottom line is the only way to fix it is to retube it.  It's a total mystery. So they ate the cost of the balance and I ate the  retube cost.

precious cost of driveshaft $357 + todays $183 = $540
 
  I must have the most expensive driveshaft on the forum now, and as a bonus I don't know if that was causing the vibration yet.

April 18/09

While I have my diff out I did a couple of mods to the front mount.  Since I changed to rubber mounts the bolt size went smaller so I made  some new steel spacers and threaded them for the smaller bolts and  welded them on. I also capped the 1x2 square tube for strength. One of  the guys on the forum copied my design but had a problem with the flat  bar backbone flexing so I welded plates to the side forming a channel  and tying it together better.
 




April 19/09

I put the diff all together today and got it in the car, finally. My arms are sore from pulling the pinion nut up and  compressing the crush sleeve. I had a 24" cheater bar and a 3 foot  piece of 1"x1/4" flat bar bolted to the flange for leverage which I  bent the hard way like a banana. After it was in I ran the drivetrain  up to about 115 mph with the halfshafts disconnected and didn't feel  any significant vibration. I couldn't feel anything change past 80 mph  where it started vibrating before. I went to bolt the halfshafts up and  two of the bolt had wandered off somewhere, so I'll be picking up some  tomorrow.
 
  One more thing, I did a little mod to the diff vent, adding a baffle in  front of the opening and after I ran the drivetrain up (forgetting to  put a hose on the vent nipple) it was dry as a bone.

EDIT: That still didn't work another design will come.
 
   my he man impersonation



May 18/09

ot back from out of town and put a one day permit on the car to test out the differential repairs. Good news is the vibration is gone. I was able to get it up to  110 mph, all that traffic would allow, without a hint of the old  vibration. I'm thinking that the crushed driveshaft was the culprit.  Bad news was the new vent baffle didn't work, it still puked out oil,  so I've relocated it to the side and I'm hoping this fixes it.
 
  I just returned from a 1100 mile trip in my Prelude and jumping into  the Rx7 I notices how harsh the ride is in comparison. The 215/4517s  really make you feel every crack in the road. I'm not fond of the rims  that are on the car now so I'm buying new ones in 15" and going to a  225/50/15 to get a larger sidewall and a bit smoother ride. The  handling difference doesn't worry me as i rarely push the car to a  point that I would use the difference. I'm going from a 7" rim to a 8"  rim so I can go to a large tire down the road sometime if I find a size I like.  I may change the gear ratio next winter and  use a larger diameter tire.
 
  I feel the car is complete enough to insure and drive so I transfered  the insurance off the Prelude and I'm driving it (not in the rain  though, I want to keep it nice for the first few months).

May 23/09

I picked up the car from getting the alignment and provincial  inspection done today. It passed the inspection so now I can be  registered as a "modified" car and legally insured. The guy said the alignment was way out, I'm not  surprised since I had the rack out and lowered it 3/4 of an inch.  Anyway it drives way better.
 
  I thought I had the "leak" from the diff breather fixed. I drove it to  work on Wednesday and it didn't leak but then I took the freeway home  and drove at 80-90 mph for 25 minutes and it puked out. Today I looked  for the best place to put a hole for the vent. I watched a video on  YouTube of a 8.8 with a clear cover where I could see the fluid  whipping around inside the diff and saw that there is a dead spot above  the passenger side bearing cap. Of course the only way to drill a hole  there is to remove the diff. So as much as I hate to I took it out and  drilled the diff vent hole version 4 and put it back in. It only takes  about 3 hours.



Testing tomorrow. I am going to be pissed off if this doesn't work.
 
  My new wheels should be arriving on Thursday and I hope to get down to Bellingham to  pick them up and get them mounted on Friday so I can go to the meet in  Seattle on Saturday.
 
  I keep hearing strange noises now and then and am trying to determine of they are bad. Running the bugs out.             

[mayhamfx]

May 27/09

Well the diff vent leak is almost gone. One more try with some different hose routing.
 
  If you have been following my thread you'll remember the trouble I had with the  FPR leaking well it never fixed itself matter of fact it started getting worse. So  last night I pulled it out and tried again to stop it leaking. I pulled  it all apart and checked the mating faces where it's leaking from and  it all looked good. I put some good sealing compound on the faces and  reassembled it then let it sit today and cure. Guess what, it leaked. I could see it bubbling out from between the faces. At work today I was telling a co worker about it and he said once he had a fuel pump leak that he couldn't figure out and it turned out to be a bolt hole  that was overdrilled and ran into the inside of the pump. I took the  bolt out where the leak was and gas just shot out. It was right above  the gauge port which I have plugged off. I pulled the plug out and  looked in with a magnifying glass and there was a tiny hole. I got a  small strand of wire and poked it in and yes it went into the bolt  hole. I have put a bunch of seal-all down the bolt hole and slathered  it on the threads and put it back together. I'll let it setup overnight  and we'll see what happens, regardless I'll be talking to my local auto parts store about a warranty




May 31/09

I went and picked up the new Summit racing five star wheels on Thursday  night and had the Falken tires mounted on Friday. On the way home to  install them I got the phone call from my wife that her mother passed  away (it was expected) so that went out the window. Today I got back to  it. I had to grind the calipers a touch on the front and slightly on  the wheels but it's all good. I like the look way better, more old school. The ride is greatly improved, much smoother.
 
  15 x 8 w/ 225-50-15    5.5 backspace




June 2/09

I clocked 1000km on the swap today. The time I spend driving seems to pass too quickly and I can't stop staring at the car parked outside work.
 
  The seal-all fixed the fuel leak in the FPR and the parts store has a new one to replace it with so  thats good. I have version 5 of the diff vent in testing now, so far so  good. There is a few funny rattle noises when it's cold but they seem  to go away when it warms up.

October 2/09

As I was leaving for work about a week ago my clutch pedal atarted to feel weird. I stopped to grab my morning coffee at 7-11 and when I came out the pedal went right to the floor. The master cylinder was completely dry. I bought some brake fluid, filled it up and got some pedal back then drove back home and took the truck to work. Last weekend I got it up on stands and looked underneath. It's  hard as hell to see inside the bellhousing but it seems to be leaking  from the TO bearing. I had been a little leery of using a hydraulic TO  bearing just for that reason. So now I have to pull the tranny out and  fix the problem. I'm going to change to a regular TO bearing with a  fork and mount a pull slave cylinder outside. Willwood makes one that will work good and I've found a couple  of write ups of other T5 setups that I'll emulate. I hope to get the  tranny out and leave the engine in.
 
  I have a couple of other things that I need to fix while things are  torn apart. My 5th gear slider was grinding a bit and may need  replacing. I also need to make a baffle for the diff vent. Plus I want  to look at making new stub shafts for the rearend, I'm not totally  happy with the ones I made first try. The splines lost a tiny bit of  size during the heat treating process and are slightly sloppy in the  side gears.
 
  I put 5000 km on it this summer, not as much as I would like but work  dictated I take my truck more often then not. I got out to a couple of  shows and received excellent response to the car all the time, so I'm  happy over all.

February 7/10

Now that it's spring time to get going on the car. I had to rebuild my  garage door completely before I could start on the car. I replaced all  the panels and insulated it.
 
  The major thing i have to do is replace the hydraulic throwout bearing  with a conventional one. To do that I need to remove the rearend,  driveshaft, and transmission. I'm hoping to be able to leave the  bellhousing in.
 
  While I have the rearend out I'm going to change from the 3.07 gears I  have now to a set of 3.55s that I have. I feel since the car is so  heavy, being a convertible with an iron block, that this will give me a  bit more punch out of the hole.
 
  Nice rebuilt door



Added 4 1/2" pads under my jackstands for a little more breathing room.



February 18/10

Someone put cobwebs on my car, the nerve. Got the rearend, driveshaft,  shifter and front exhaust (only breaking one stud) off today. Tomorrow  hopefully the transmission comes out.             

February 25/10

I have the transmission out now and have found the source of the  leaking. It appears the anodizing is flaking off the piston part of the  hydraulic throwout bearing. I talked to a guy at a local plating shop  and he said it can happen if its not done right.



'm going to stay away from this for now due do the degree of  difficulty in repairing it when there is a problem, ie taking the  rearend, driveshaft and transmission to get at it. I will fix the  hydraulic bearing by making a new piston on the lathe and sell it.
 
  I found a thread on Hybrid Z about doing an external slave cylinder with a T5 so I set about copying it. I first purchased all the parts. 90 Camaro throwout bearing (skf #N4068) and 90 Camaro clutch fork (GM 14075725) and Wilwood slave cylinder (PN# 260-1333)
 
  http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?...ost__p__409750



And then test fit them. Minor problem. The pivot point on a newer f-body bellhousing and an 60's big block Chevy bellhousing are about an 1 1/2" different.


 
Of course I had cut the fork already so now I own a modified fork (for sale, good deal).
  Next I bought a second fork (pioneer PN# CF100, GM 340278 & 14066235)



I now have shortened it and am in the process of test fitting it. So  the lesson learned is not all pivot points are the same and measure  before you cut.
 
  More to come.             

February 27/10

Popped the tailshaft and top cover off the tranny yesterday to see how  5th gear looked as I had a little grinding from it. I wasn't sure if it  was the clutch problem or the syncro was hooped. There was a little  wear on the teeth but nothing major so I'm hoping the new slave  cylinder setup fixes it.



March 3/10

I have my new slave cylinder / clutch fork & throwout bearing setup  far enough together to test it tonight. Originally I had a 7/8 Wilwood master and the Howe hydraulic throwout bearing until the bearing  started leaking. I have a stock LS6 clutch and the setup worked just  great, till the leak.
 
  What I've done now is replace the hydraulic bearing with a conventional bearing and fork in combination with the Wilwood pull slave. The fork has a 1.5 : 1 ratio, so if the slave pulls 1 1/2"  then the bearing moves 1". I measured the slave travel with full clutch pedal travel and got 1", so the bearing should move .666. I have an  inspection hole in the bellhousing so I can see the pressure plate  move. I've adjusted it so there is clearance between the bearing and  clutch when fully released and the clutch is disengaging about the same  as with the old setup when fully depressed.
 
  Here's the problem. The pedal gets harder to push as it goes down until  the clutch releases and then it gets easy, like something going over  center. Same on the way up, not smooth at all. It gets to a point and  sort of shoots up. It would be a real pain to drive, no chance if  feathering at all.
 
  The only other thing I've changed is I lengthened the pivot ball by  about 3/16 because the fork seemed too far back in the opening.
 




March 5/10

I screwed around with this today a little and am having second thoughts  about the whole thing. I phoned Howe racing today to ask them about the  "chips" on my piston of the leaking TO bearing. They hadn't had any  experience with a problem like that but offered to send a new piston  and seal kit for the cost of shipping, fair deal.
 
  When I bought this bearing off eBay it was "used but never used". I  think it was in the original box and all the install parts were with  it, studs and shims etc. I never popped the piston out and looked at  it, for all I know it could have been damaged when I got it. I'm very  tempted to rebuild it with the new parts and put it back together the way it was. I know it worked perfectly that way.

March 7/10

Originally Posted by andrewb70

Graham,,
 
  It sounds like the throw-out bearing is being moved too much and the  spring is getting over traveled. Have you checked to see at what point  in the pedal travel the clutch releases?
 
  Andrew

Yea, I had an assistant push the pedal as I tried to turn the  tailshaft. The pedal gets easier as it releases. I meaured the travel  of the slave and clutch is moving about the same distance as with the  Howe bearing. I'm thinking the geometry of the linkage (slave to fork,  fork to bearing) is somehow wrong.

Originally Posted by ITSWILL

the  slave to fork setup seems a little odd to me. Just the initial angle,  im not sure how far that piston is traveling but it seems like the  applied moment would be constantly changing. I would mount the solidly  constrained end of the slave cylinder further away from the transmission. Basically at halfway through the travel of the clutch you  want you slave to be perpendicular to the fork.

Yea that's what I was thinking. The fork has a bend in the end  which makes the geometry a little funny. I was thinking of moving the  slave closer in on the fork end and further out on the transmission  end.

March 15/10

I had a week of vacation with the kids on spring break and now I'm back at the car.
 
  I pulled the transmission out again, I'm really getting tired of this.  I played with just the throwout bearing and fork alone and they move  like crap. The bearing is almost coming off the end of the bearing  retainer and also seems to bind on it as well. There were some funny  marks in the bearing from the fork like it was gouging in. It almost  seems like the fork pivot point would have to be move further out maybe  1/4" - 1/2". It's like the clutch/pressure plate/flywheel setup is not  as tall as whatever the fork and bearing was designed for.
 
  The easiest thing to do is put it back together with the new Howe parts  that arrived today and stop reinventing it. The new piston that came  today had a small chip in the end but out off the o-ring area. By the  way my "free" parts from Howe cost me $27 UPS shipping and $20 UPS  "brokerage" fee for parts listed as $19 total value, Not really free.
 
  I popped in the 3.55 gears in the 8.8 today and dialed them in. I only  had to change the pinion shim .003 and the pattern looked pretty good.

March 16/10

Hoping to fix my ongoing problem of venting my diff without losing all  the fluid I've made this baffle out of a small piece of square tube.  There's a small hole through the case at the top with a nipple on the  outside. Last year I didn't have the baffle and I was still getting  some oil being pushed out, I'm thinking the oil was thick enough that  it was covering the small opening in the case and blocking the air.  This should stop that.




I'll seal the top with a little RTV and red loctite the screw in. I  doubt the oil will climb all the way up inside and get out. I hope.

March 18/10

Well i put the rebuilt bearing back in and the clutch feels great. I've  got the whole car back together today. Just have to mount the new Optima which will involve moving the ground cable so it will reach. Plus fire  it up on the stands and make sure everything turns properly. Hope to be  driving it tomorrow, it's suppose to be sunny and warm.

March 18/10

Well....... I'm driving it. 
 
Couple of scares. Fired it up on the stands like a smart guy. Tried  out the gears, no strange noises or anything. Looked underneath and  there's drips of brake fluid under the bellhousing. FUCK! I think how  could that be, I bled it and played with it a ton and saw no leaks now  as soon as it runs, fluid. Then I go to take it off the stands and  there's coolant dripping, now what! It was just a heater hose clamp that was a little loose, whew. 
 
  I took it over to the emission test so I could get insurance on it,  passed with flying colors, never could get the rotary passed without a  performance. Nice having a 2005 motor in a old car. Got insurance and drove around a bunch, couldn't get a single drip from  it. My theory is this, the bearing came apart as I pulled the  transmission out and fluid splashed all over. Some got in the pressure  plate cover and when I stared it out it came. Anyway I'm going to  monitor it like a hawk and pray to the car gods.
 
  The new 3.55s feel great compared to the 3.07s, not to bad at all. The  only fuck up is I got a new speedo gear for the new ratio and tire size. Problem is for some reason I thought I had a 7 tooth drive gear like most GM T5's but I actually have a 9 tooth. Now the speedo is  about 25% fast. I put a 20 tooth gear in but needed a 26 tooth, which  they don't make. I would have to change the drive gear, which in my  case involves removing the diff and driveshaft to get the tailhousing  off. Luckily while looking on line at the speedometer site I spied a  ratio reducer that fits on the tranny and the cable fits on to fix  problems just like mine. http://www.transmissioncenter.net/sp...atio%20adapter
 
  Other than that it's the same car, the rearend has too much wear in the  spider gears and there's slop between the axles and spider gears so  it's not as smooth as it could be. One day I'll splurge and buy a new  Ford posi from Summit for $195 and fix it. But I am driving it!

[mayhamfx]

March 25/10

So that bearing didn't last long. A couple of days after I put it back together the bearing made a hell of a squeal and it was down hill from there. Once again it comes apart to get fixed, and once again I'll try an external  slave and conventional throwout bearing.

[mayhamfx]

This time the Howe bearing is out for good.



While it's apart I'll try and fix the grinding when going into 5th problem. I've bought a McLeod throwout bearing because last time I tried this the Camaro bearing was a little short.




The McLeod bearing has a nice long brass sleeve it rides on and look way better made.

I talked to two different transmission shops about the grinding in 5th problem and was told that the cone on the gear where the syncro ring runs should be prepped when rebuilding the transmission (something I didn't do). The first shop suggested roughing it up a bit to get the glaze of it with 120 grit emery paper. The second shop said the same thing but said 600 grit was the paper to use. I took both their advice and my experience and used 320 grit. 

Before


After


While it was apart I replaced the 5th gear syncro ring with a new on just in case even though the one in there only had 5000 miles on it. Hopefully the ring will bite on the cone better and stop the gears spinning when shifting at over 2000 rpm into 5th.

Once again I am attempting to make an external slave work with my car.  The last try ended in a horrible pedal feel and this try is heading the  same way. I think I know whats wrong. I have a 7/8 master and a 7/8  slave so master cylinder travel equals slave travel which makes the  pedal like rock and a super short stroke.

Stop, think and figure it out.

These are the facts I have been able to determine today. According to  the Howe website using a 7/8 master with the bearing I had will give  .580 of travel per 1 inch of stroke. I measured how much stoke I had  with the current setup and got 7/8". So .580 X .875 = .507 of travel  with the Howe bearing. I had left about .100 clearance in front of the  bearing so that mean theoretically I need about .400 of travel to disengage the clutch. I  searched on LS1tech for the stock f-body slave stroke and only found  one reference by someone who said they had about 7/16" (.4375) travel  and was that correct to which they had no answers. So I can only assume  that some thing in the .400 will work.

From what I can find  there should be between .062 and .125 clearance from the clutch face to  the throwout bearing. So assuming again with this info approximately  .500 of travel should suffice.

With the clutch fork I tried on  the last external setup I had 3"  between the bearing end of the fork  and the pivot ball and 4.5" between  the pivot ball and where the slave  mounted. giving me a 1.5 to 1  mechanical advantage. Meaning to get the  .500 of travel I need I should have .750 (.500 X 1.5 = .750) of stroke  in my slave. To move a 7/8" slave .750 requires .451 cubic inches of  fluid (.4375 X .4375 X 3.1416 X .750) (radius squared times Pi  times  stroke)

Next I adjusted my pedal stop and got the maximum pedal travel I could and came up with 1.25

The  smaller the master cylinder the easier the pedal will be to push.  Basically the only choice of master I have is 7/8" or 3/4", I have a  7/8" and it feels like crap so I must try a 3/4". At 1.25 of master  stroke it will give me .552 cubic inches of fluid, more than I need. I  could move my mounting point on the fork out further but the tunnel  gets in the way. 11/16" master would be ideal but it's not made.

OK on to pedal effort. Going by the info above, with the  Howe bearing I would have had a "hydraulic" advantage of 1.724:1 and no  mechanical advantage. From what I can see the 2nd gen has a pedal ratio  of about 5:1 so multiplied together I get a total ratio of 8.62:1. With  my first attempt with the Wilwood slave I had a mechanical advantage of  1.5:1 and no hydraulic advantage, plus the pedal for a total of 7.5:1.  This time I cut the fork down to 1:1 so my total ratio dropped to 5:1  (just the pedal). Going to a 3/4" master I get a 1.359:1 hydraulic  advantage and if I go back to the 1.5:1 fork ratio I get a total of  10.192:1 ratio. (5 X 1.359 X 1.5)

LATER

OK I bit the bullet and bought a new master cylinder. 5/8" bore with  a 1.3" stroke. Why did I go 5/8" instead of 3/4"? Because I can use the  1:1 fork I have instead of making another one. 5/8" bore gives me .307  square inches of area or .307 cubic inches of fluid per inch of stroke.  The 7/8 bore slave has an area of .602 square inches or .602 cubic  inches of fluid per inch of travel. With the 1:1 fork I need about .5"  of travel at the slave, so .602 X .5 = .301 with is within the  capability of the 5/8" master. The hydraulic ratio is 1.960 (.602 /  .307) plus the pedal at 5:1 for a total of 9.80.

It's only time and money if you want custom shit.

Hope this works