First time swap. LQ9 into 95 OBS

[kewljay223]

i was able to get the new trans cooler installed the other day. that took a lot longer than i thought but it doesnt leak anywhere which is great! havnt got the temp gauge in yet so i dont know what its running at. im waiting until the 80e is in to hook it up. i made the brackets out of some super light scrap aluminum tubing i had laying around. i wanted to keep as much airflow as possible and they worked out perfect. i also kept it about a half inch away from the ac radiator to help airflow. and the latch doesnt budge an bit. the whole thing is very sturdy. i didnt really want to paint it but i have a phantom grill so it needed to hide away. that grill also gives me tons of clearance in there!!! i could probably fit another one if i wanted to...



i decided i will be getting the new torque converter now. so i will be purchasing that in the next few days.

i also finished the shift kit install. that actually wasnt that bad. just have to pay close attention to the instructions. i replaced the rear seal on the tailshaft and when i pulled the front off to replace it, i checked the bushing on the pump cover and it was shot. so i had to pull the cover off. i will be stopping by a trans shop tomorrow to get the old one pressed out and get a new one pressed in. and while its off ill be drilling out the oil drain hole to 1/4". then that should be it for the trans.

[kewljay223]

another update. 50# injectors are on there way. 80e flexplate is on its way. both thanks to a couple forum members. and also got a 2800 stall circle d verter being made at the moment so hopefully they will all be showing up in the next week or so! all i need now is the 2nd vss plug which i plan on getting at the JY AND getting my driveshaft shortened to fit along with a reflash.

i cant wait until the new tranny is in cuz i can tell a HUGE difference in the way the 60e is shifting now compared to when i first got it running.... im not going to lie, ive been giving it hell lately with all the new power and the clutches in the trans are.... well... pretty much gone!! it is slipping like crazy.

more updates soon!

[kewljay223]

another update. parked the truck the other day. pulled the 60e and the pcm out. pcm is on its way to get a flash for the 80e, 50# injetors and the stall. also recieved the new injectors/adapters and 80e flexplate. those will be installed tomorrow. if i have time im going to drop the tank and see why the line isnt holding pressure. hopefully its just that the short hose moved and ill clamp it down with some better clamps than the plastic ones that came with the kit.

i was also looking around the engine compartment trying figure out how i am going to finally permanantly mount the pcm and fuse block and a few other things. i am going to be installing a dual battery setup so i need to make space for the batt also. so to make life easier on me and just do it right the first time, i ordered a set of 16" efans, smaller overflow tank that i can tuck away, and a CARB legal spectre CAI kit. that way i can see how i will fit everything in there. the CAI will only be used when smog time comes around so i dont really care if it gains me any HP or not. it was cheap and comes with a sticker! thats what matters. lol but i do know taking that clutch fan off will at least help some.

anyway, all these parts will come in this week but ill be installing them next week. ill be taking a few days off to get the install finished. and once all thats done, its time to take it to the ref and get this thing passed so i can start getting a list for the turbo!!!

im super stoked ive come this far in such a short amount of time. if you saw my first post, i was a total newbie and had a lot of goals that i thought would take forever to accomplish. im already about half way there in just 3-4 months. i want to thank everyone here for that. its been a while since i posted any pics but like i said, i havnt done a whole lot to it. but i got boxes of stuff ready to go on!! THANKS!!

[kewljay223]

hey its been a while. i been kinda busy lately so not too much has happened. but im still wrenching when i can. i go t a few things done but no pics yet. hopefully tomrrow. i got a lot of stuff in the mail recently to hopefully get this thing going again. pcm is back with the new flash for the 80e and bigger injectors. got the CARB legal spectre intake. got the new 2800 TC from circle D was able to get some new zirgo 16" efans and made a shroud for them. got the replacement pump bolt o-rings for the 80e but havnt put them on yet. got the tripple pillar pod painted and ready to mount. made a battery tray for the second battery for a dual setup. made a box that will house the LS fuse block and pcm. there are a few other minor things i got finsihed as well. no pics yet as nothing is permanent untill painted and mounted...

tomorrow i should have a more finished setup so i should have some pics up then. i wish it was moving faster but i know you all know how it is... lol. it takes longer than you think. anyway here is the only pics i got so far.

new TC

efans mounted on my "shroud"

[kewljay223]

so i got a little done recently. this trans swap is really kicking my ass. i know nothing about them and didnt want to take it apart but i figured id give it a shot. thats how you learn right? well it has fought me the whole way through and at this point, i think from now on i will be taking any trans i have to a shop. its just too much headache for me until i have time to really concentrate on how it completely works. but anyway, i finally have it all buttoned up and ready to install.

the most recent problem i had with is was with the neural switch shaft. the one that it came with was the shorter kind. so i had to swap it out for the longer one. i was able to stop by a local trans shop i trust and got the shaft, new seal, nut, and retaining pin for 10 bucks!! the shaft alone new is 50 bucks!! what a deal. heres the diff.


one thing the shift kit doesn mention and idk if this just happened to me or what, but the new seperator plate cover the retaining pin hole. this will not allow you to put the pin in after the valve body is on AND the pin sticks up high enough to hit it if your put the pin in prior to installing valve body. i thought i could bend it up out of the way but then this would cause interference with the "piston" (idk what its called) that moves in/out of the VB. so i had to take some tin snips and cut the corner off for clearance.


heres a shot of the new shaft on allowing use of the neutral switch


and heres the new circle D TC installed. this was the last step of the tranny update. im so releived that it is now ready to install! im pretty sure its seated all the way.... first time stabbing a stall.... well see when i try to install it... lol


more pics when i can....

[bstill]

Looking good, man. Keep it up.

[kewljay223]

another update. things are finally moving along. i was able to get the tranny installed yesterday after one hell of a long day. chris at circle D did an awesome job on the TC. its built for the 80e with the longer snout and it has the bolt pattern for the 60e so i was able to use the original dished flex plate without spacer. as i stated before i was very confused on the flexplate/spacer setups but now completely understand how it works. mostly thanks to the guy above this post "bstill"

so my problem yesterday which took hours to figure out what that the converter wasnt seated all the way. it was only 1/16" out too far but due to that, the TC was binding on the flexplate when i went to install it. so i had to take it back out and try and reseat it. i took the TC off and on a million times and it just wouldnt go down anymore. i called chris a few times and he was very patient with me and gave me a few things to try and mesure. i confirmed he built it to the specs so something was wrong on my end and one of his suggestions was when he asked if i took the pump out, which i did. and he said sometimes people accidentally put the pump gears in backwards.... i was sure i installed them right but after looking inside, sure enough, thats what i did. so i opened the pump, turned them around and walaa.... the TC fell right into place!! what a rookie mistake!!! after that i had about 3/16" of clearance from the flexplate. so i used the thicker washers chris supplied to make up for the gap which closed it to about 1/16" PERFECT!!!! chris is the man!

after that, slid the crossmember back to the new location and drilled new holes in the frame to mount it. OBS crossmembers are a piece of cake compared to the NBS trucks!! haha.

i got the intake all bolted in place. i got a 6" extension tube and flipped the bent pipe upside down so it routes UNDER the coolan hose instead of above. this will allow me to install the A/C pump up high on the passenger side. I just hope the REFEREE doesnt say anything about modifying the intake system...SSSSHHHH...


i got my new small coolant overflow tank mounted on the intake heat shield. again hope the REF doesnt trip on that...


you can also see the enclosure for the LS fuse block and PCM next to the filter. the fuse block sits underneath.


today i just finsihed up the rest of the wiring. got the new efans/relays hooked into the pcm, added the second vss connector and swapped the white/brown wires in the round trans connector for the 80e. just about everything under the truck wiring wise is secured and ready to go. looks very factory which im super proud of.

i got the trans cooler lines hooked up along with the T-fitting for the temp sender. took a little bit of tweaking of the lines but because im using the early 80e, the in/out ports are still up front, i didnt have to extend the return. so i was able to keep the flare fittings and not have to cut and use compression fittings. i really didnt want to have to do that due to possible leaks. i forgot to snap a pic of that but ill get one posted next week.

while i was under there, i dropped the tank and checked the small hose on the fuel pump and it looks like it didnt move... so i dont know where the leak is from but i replaced the plastic clamps with some worm clamps. so that along with the new injectors, i hope i dont have the pressure leak anymore. ill find out next week when im ready to fire her up.

so at this point, all i really have left to do is get the driveshaft situation taken care of. ive been researching and i just cnat figure out what i need. i have a local shop i can take it to but idk what to tell them i need done. i know i need a new yoke and joints but im not sure if i need to get it shortened or not. some people say it needs and and some say no because the 80e is only about 1/4' longer than the 60e..... i also have the 2-peice driveshaft so do i just get a bolt on yoke or do i get a slip yoke. aparantly there are like 4-5 different output shafts and idk which one i have... oring, 5"splines, short splines... i dont want to take the shaft housing off as the trans is already installed... ANY SUGGESTIONS ON WHERE I SHOULD GO FROM HERE????