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Author Topic: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas  (Read 6091 times)

Offline andrek254

Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« on: April 09, 2015, 01:37:17 PM »
Wanted to share my build with you guys.

Found this  1987 Turbo II on craiglist. Previous owner said that the rotary was blown and has been sitting under a tree for the past 3 years. The car was absolutely in awesome shape compared to the other cars that I had been finding. Snagged it for $1000. Was skeptical on it because I bought it impulsively at night without really being able to get a good clear view of it. I returned the next morning with a trailer and knew I had gotten lucky. Minimal rust, complete interior, fairly unmolested.

Pics of when I first bought it.


First things first. Got it home and gave it a bath. I was amazed to find some clear coat left under there.




Took some time away from the car as I moved into a new house and work space. Got it all setup. Ready for an RX7 build!



Next step was to get the 13b and trans out.




Called up a couple of Puerto Rican buddies from area and had the stock motor and trans sold within 3 hours of it being pulled. I was still under the impression that the motor was blow so I sold it all for $500. Turns out later that the motor was in perfectly good shape, but we'll get there and i'll explain later.



« Last Edit: April 09, 2015, 02:07:21 PM by andrek254 »

Offline andrek254

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2015, 01:44:03 PM »
Started getting some parts together for the swap and sourced a motor. Ls1 oil pan, Ronin mount kit, and Ls1 intake manifold



Paid $450 for junkyard 5.3 with high miles. About 160k I believe.


Buddy of mine had a 4L60E that we bartered some work on his truck on so that worked out perfect for me.

Here's the motor and trans going on in preliminary just for mockup.


« Last Edit: April 09, 2015, 02:06:17 PM by andrek254 »

Offline andrek254

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2015, 01:54:00 PM »
With the motor back out. I decided to install and button up the front end of the motor. Pretty happy with the fitment. Will work perfect for my setup.



Got my PSI conversion harness in the mail. Very very good quality and ease of installation.




Granny's custom driveshaft



Went with C6 corvette exhaust manifolds. I originally intended to go turbo right away but due to funds, decided that I'm going to get it running all motor while I collect parts for the turbo setup.





Here is the motor all buttoned up and the harness ran.





4L60E trans fits pretty tight inside of the tunnel, but it works. Havent swapped out the truck pan yet for an fbody trans pan. I already know that Im gonna have a hard time with the exhaust.








Offline andrek254

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2015, 02:01:59 PM »
Remember earlier when I mentioned that the motor was "blown" according to the previous owner. Well I found out the reason why it didnt run. Pulled the hanger out of the tank and found this. Although I did find a Walbro 255 inside of the tank so thats a plus.



Here are the pictures of fuel setup. I am using the corvette fuel filter setup. Oreillys only had red fuel line in stock so excuse the ricer red.






Offline andrek254

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2015, 02:04:57 PM »
Decided to go with a C4 corvette radiator from Advance autoparts. I refused to pay $500 plus dollars for the premade setups. Here are pics of the install and custom brackets. Still need to make the upper mounts.



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Offline andrek254

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2015, 02:15:19 PM »
Got it fired up! Started right up and ran smooth. Excuse the mess wiring and the open header.






Offline Classy

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2015, 02:40:51 PM »
That is awesome!  Where in Central Texas are you?  I was in the greater fort hood area for almost a decade.

Offline GMS91GTU

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #7 on: April 09, 2015, 02:50:56 PM »
Really nice and clean setup! Is it a stock converter? Did you retain the stock shifter?

Any plans on taking it to a drag strip?

My setup is very similar to this, nice to see it going so well.
1990 GTU 5.3/4l60E

Offline andrek254

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #8 on: April 09, 2015, 03:00:10 PM »
That is awesome!  Where in Central Texas are you?  I was in the greater fort hood area for almost a decade.

Thanks

I'm in Temple. Used to live in Killeen for a while before this.

Offline andrek254

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2015, 03:03:32 PM »
Really nice and clean setup! Is it a stock converter? Did you retain the stock shifter?

Any plans on taking it to a drag strip?

My setup is very similar to this, nice to see it going so well.

Yea currently on stock converter. I actually dont have a shifter in there yet. I ordered a stock FC shifter and am gonna go with that route. I havent seen much info on other people who have used the FC auto shifter with a 4L60E so now sure how im going to do the install quite yet. No plans on the track quite yet. This is going to be a street/Mexico car.

Offline largeorangefont

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2015, 03:05:18 PM »
NIce work!!
Quote from: cool
Sell it to spacevomit.  He'll finish it.

Offline GMS91GTU

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #11 on: April 09, 2015, 03:08:34 PM »
Really nice and clean setup! Is it a stock converter? Did you retain the stock shifter?

Any plans on taking it to a drag strip?

My setup is very similar to this, nice to see it going so well.

Yea currently on stock converter. I actually dont have a shifter in there yet. I ordered a stock FC shifter and am gonna go with that route. I havent seen much info on other people who have used the FC auto shifter with a 4L60E so now sure how im going to do the install quite yet. No plans on the track quite yet. This is going to be a street/Mexico car.

I remember reading one thread saying it can be done with some minor modification. Ill have to see if I can dig it up again. Can't wait to see some vids of this beast bustin ass
1990 GTU 5.3/4l60E

Offline LSXREX

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #12 on: April 09, 2015, 03:48:47 PM »
Man nice coupler. Lol. I'm in North Austin.
2004 LS1/T56 swapped RX8

RX8Club is for pussies

Offline andrek254

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #13 on: April 09, 2015, 04:18:50 PM »
Lol thanks. Had to rig something up until I get a proper intake on there haha. Is that your RX8 ive seen on craiglist thats for sale?


Offline LSXREX

Re: Andre's 87 TII 5.3/4L60E- Central Texas
« Reply #14 on: April 09, 2015, 11:08:30 PM »
Yep.
2004 LS1/T56 swapped RX8

RX8Club is for pussies