First time swap. LQ9 into 95 OBS

[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????

[kewljay223]

so i was able to look into the rear seal and see that i had the full 5" of splines. so i went down to the local driveline shop and explained what i was doing. i left my driveshaft there and they let me borrow a yolk to make sure it was the correct one. which it worked out great. then i used it to get a measurement for them to shorten my driveshaft. picked up the finished product the next day. all new u joints, carrier bearing, fresh greased expansion joint, new 80e yoke, and shortend/balanced for just under 500 bucks. i figured nows the time to replace all those 20 year old parts. and it fits like a glove. super happy with their work.

they also had this laying on the desk. TALK ABOUT A U JOINT!!! i thought it was out of some massive truck but aparantly its from a windmill.... who knew?


so i got the trans swap all done to find out i got a junk trans.... im sick of dealing with this trans swap. its just been hard the whole way. so long story short, truck is a the local race shop getting the trans fully rebuilt. should be back to me by wed/thurs. almost there.

but brendan did get the new new injectors programmed as it seems to be running nice and smooth. and also the new efans kick on low speed right when they should and temp sits right at 190. so at this point swap is done. just waiting to get it back from the shop. super excited.