Jcrumpley Build Thread

[jcrumpley]

I received my base kit on June 14, 2017. I am making a bit of progress now. I am going to start my build thread with a delivery picture. I was pretty excited to see the car arrive. The Stewart Transportation driver was awesome. That is me in the front and my father, who is a great help with the build, in the back.

71935

[jcrumpley]

Build Plan:

Factory Five Base Kit with IRS
Mustang 3.31 rear
TKO600 Transmission
LS1 Engine
Undercar exhaust, no hood scoop, chrome bumpers, grabber blue with no stripes
17" Halibrand Replica Wheels, Nitto 555R tires

[GoDadGo]

Congratulations Fellow Dark Sider!

Here are some exhausting ideas for your under car exhaust:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tru-Ram-LS-Exhaust-Manifolds-Polished,53711.html

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hok-8501-1hkr

http://spintechmufflers.com/sportsman-street-3000xlf-low-profile-muffler/

[jcrumpley]

Thanks Steve,

I been looking at the Spintech stuff. Based on my engine and transmission test fitting I can pretty easily do the undercar exhaust using their stuff at least to get pipes coming out just in front of the rear wheels. Going all the way to the back through the new IRS seems a bit tight.

[GoDadGo]

Spintech will also build custom mufflers so you design what you want and they build them for you.
For the record, I too am going with the "Smooth Hood" look with "CSX-3178" being my inspiration.
Just three more "Non-Automatic" forward gears, minus the "J-Style Roll Single Bar" in lieu of "Dual Black Hoops!"

https://youtu.be/imF-_t6UixU

https://youtu.be/FJpASOjJWa8

[CobraboyDR]

Thanks Steve,

I been looking at the Spintech stuff. Based on my engine and transmission test fitting I can pretty easily do the undercar exhaust using their stuff at least to get pipes coming out just in front of the rear wheels. Going all the way to the back through the new IRS seems a bit tight.Has anyone done an under car exhaust with IRS?

[jcrumpley]

Has anyone done an under car exhaust with IRS?

I haven't found photos of one yet, so maybe not. I know I can exit just in front of the wheels if needed. I don't have the car far enough along yet to estimate more than that.

[Vspeeds]

Congratulations. An LS engine...awesome

[Mountain-Metalworks]

I knew GoDadGo would be quick to welcome you to the dark side! As per my PM's, it's nice to see more LS-powered cars out there. Good luck with the build and keep the photos coming!

-TJ

[GoDadGo]

Depending on your engine location, since I'm not familiar with where your LS will be sitting, this may or may not be of any use to you but I'm using their IMCA shorties on my SBC so I figured why not give you this link.

http://www.schoenfeldheaders.com/imcaump-modified3.html

NOTE: I can understand why Factory Five doesn't support old school small and big block Chevy's, but the LS platform is King because it packs the biggest power from a the smallest possible under hood footprint of all the modern V8 crate engines available..

Heck, Chevy even make one that looks a lot like and old school Ford with a front drive distributor. All this engine needs is some generic valve covers and maybe paint it blue and the average person wouldn't know it was a Chevy.

http://paceperformance.com/i-23842416-gmp-19301360-chx-pace-ls3-533hp-carbureted-with-hei-as-cast-valve-covers.html

[jcrumpley]

Thanks, I happened to have a set of ls truck manifolds from another project, so I used those to test fit. They fit well, so I ordered a set of shortie headers for a 2000 5.3 Silverado. They fit well, clear the motor mounts, etc... And they are inexpensive.


Depending on your engine location, since I'm not familiar with where your LS will be sitting, this may or may not be of any use to you but I'm using their IMCA shorties on my SBC so I figured why not give you this link.

http://www.schoenfeldheaders.com/imcaump-modified3.html

NOTE: I can understand why Factory Five doesn't support old school small and big block Chevy's, but the LS platform is King because it packs the biggest power from a the smallest possible under hood footprint of all the modern V8 crate engines available..

Heck, Chevy even make one that looks a lot like and old school Ford with a front drive distributor. All this engine needs is some generic valve covers and maybe paint it blue and the average person wouldn't know it was a Chevy.

http://paceperformance.com/i-23842416-gmp-19301360-chx-pace-ls3-533hp-carbureted-with-hei-as-cast-valve-covers.html

[Mountain-Metalworks]

Heck, Chevy even make one that looks a lot like and old school Ford with a front drive distributor. All this engine needs is some generic valve covers and maybe paint it blue and the average person wouldn't know it was a Chevy.

http://paceperformance.com/i-23842416-gmp-19301360-chx-pace-ls3-533hp-carbureted-with-hei-as-cast-valve-covers.html

http://paceperformance.com/images/M146505277.jpg

That is CRAZY! I'd argue pretty hard that you're paying a lot for a bunch of stuff that you're taking off and making the engine harder to manage. i.e: you're buying the crate motor from GM with all the injectors, manifolds, etc... then paying to have Pace take it all off(with no apparent cost reduction...) and replace with carb'ed parts which take much more maintenance. Still an VERY nice option if you want the old school look....

-TJ

[jcrumpley]

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Under Car exhaust. This is my working mock up of the under car exhaust. I will have someone who can bend and weld the downpipes redo that once the car is on the road. My welding skills, or lack there of, will have to do for now. It is all perfectly functional, just not pretty. This is on my LS1, with 5.3 truck headers. The pipe is 2.5 inch going to oval pipe and square spintech mufflers. It will have turnouts exiting right in front of the rear tires. It sounds good and is not nearly as loud as side pipes. The spintechs are all metal, no packing to burn out. The car is sitting at 4 inches of clearance to the frame tubes. The lowest point in the exhaust is just over 3 inches. I will likely raise the ride height a bit from here. There is a good amount of air space between the mufflers and the floor pans.

[jcrumpley]

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Here is an engine pic. The engine is sitting back enough for the crank pulley to clear the frame cross tube. That also allowed me to mount a full size optima red top in the engine bay. The engine has corvette spaced water pump and accessory brackets. The power steering pump has a smaller pulley made by dirty dingo and a restriction valve to lower pressure for the ford rack and pinion. Lines are converted to an -6. Using FFR radiator, breeze mounts, with moroso 1.5 to 1.2 fill adapter.

[jcrumpley]

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Here is a pic of the passenger side engine mount and aluminum spacer plate. I used mustang ls swap motor mounts from Metaltek Manufacturing. I put a 1/2 inch spacer under the motor mount to raise the engine a bit for oil pan clearance. I used a Holley 302-2 oil pan. With this set up, the oil pan is even with the bottom of the frame rails or slightly higher.

[jcrumpley]

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For the transmission, I am using a GM spec Tremec TKO600. I used a mustang energy suspension poly mount. I needed a aluminum plate to both raise the transmission for pinion angle adjustment and to reach the ffr trans mount. I used a coyote FFR driveshaft with no modification. It was a close fit, but worked well with the IRS. I also used an external gm slave cylinder and fabbed a bracket for that. I just don't prefer the internal slave bearings. The setup works well. I am using a centerforce clutch with a sachs 1050 flywheel.

[jcrumpley]

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For the fuel system, I am using a 1998 mustang tank, a 1998 mustang pump unit with a 255lph pump, and a corvette fuel filter regulator. This allows the system to only need one fuel line running to the engine. The fuel return and pressure regulation happens at the filter regulator. All lines are adapted to an -6 or an-8.

[jcrumpley]

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Rear brakes. The car is IRS with a 3.31 rear gear. It has the factory Mustang GT 13" rear brakes. You can see that on 17 inch wheels, the calipers are very close to the inner wheel. The caliper had to be clearance a bit for this to work, which can be seen in one pic.

[jcrumpley]

All for now guys. I have to do a lot of final wiring now. It was very cool to do the first start yesterday. I can't wait to go cart it in the neighborhood, but oddly, it is going to be very cold here for the rest of the week. Maybe this weekend.

[nskaats]

I'll keep an eye on this thread. Always interested in people's LS powered rides and different approaches.

Out of curiosity, why did you use the Snyper intake?

[jcrumpley]

The Sniper intake was used to clean up the look of the LS. That along with the coil covers give it a real clean look. I also just dont like plastic intakes. I know they work fine and have some benefits, but still not for me.

[nskaats]

That makes sense. I wasn't sure if it was just an appearance thing. I've seen a a bunch of people get sucked into the marketing material and end up disappointed. They do give it a nice look but hurt power, especially down low. Most of the cars I've tuned with them used them just for appearance.

[Ch@0s]

I am Keeping an eye on this build. i may go LS based as well. :)

[Straversi]

I’ve somehow overlooked this thread. Love the LS/Sniper set up. I’m a fan of the under car exhaust and no scoop look too. Look forward to following along.
-Steve

[jcrumpley]

I'm happy to say that I finally have my car titled and registered in Texas. It all went pretty smoothly. Don't hate on me too much for the LS engine. The car runs and drives great. I'm going to put some miles on it the next few months before I pull the body and start the body and paint work.

Here is a shot of aluminum LS1.114601


And one of the car itself. 114602