Month: March 2016

Morrison sources their steering rack from Detroit Speed because I think it’s one of the best out there.  Coming off the 2″ steering column is a 1″ DD x 3/4″ DD vibration reducing U-Joint from Borgeson.  These eliminate the unsightly and funky looking rag joint that was a staple of these mid-sixties GM cars.

Plenty of room all around with the factory hand-built SS headers and the front mounted DSI power steering rack.  This is sometimes a critical area for space depending on what type of header system you use.  This location would be where the original power steering unit for the Camaro would have resided.  Most aftermarket long-tube header systems are designed around this steering gear so there should be plenty of room depending on what type of header system you used.

 

You never know what’s going to happen until you drop the engine in for the first time.  The oil cooler is optional on the LT1 engine, but not on the LT4. Here you can see the interference fit with the Morrison Clip.

After removing the oil cooler you can see how it attaches and the path for the oil flow.  The back side of the oil cooler has O-rings that seal against the pan.

I have recently read that there are block off plugs for these connections but I haven’t found them yet.  I also think this a superior cooling solution for the LT4 which has a history of overheating oil issues during hard driving during track days.  There have been a lot of negative posts on this issue lately and the new 2017 Z06 and 2017 ZL1 Camaro have many new added cooling features.  I also think that by removing the oil cooler from the sump and relocating it in the front of the engine helps substantially with any potential overheating. It’s always much easier to add a larger cooler if needed.

If you look at any of the off-road buggy and Class 5 trucks, the oil coolers they run are substantial and many times are fan driven for additional capacity, they don’t use engine coolant to cool down the oil.

 

Right now about the only manufacturer that I can find that provides engine mounting conversion plates for the LT series of crate engines is Dirty Dingo.  They just came out with a new slider they call Dingo slider Gen V, it allows up to 3 inches of movement front to back.

 
  

Here’s what they look like:

 

 

Just showed up today (3/22/16) from Fedex ground.

Finally decided to bite the bullet and go with the LT4 instead of the LT1 (at the GM showcase at Barrett-Jackson). The most powerful stock engine that GM has ever built.

What I lovingly call the “Flat Plane Plenum”, if you look closely you can where the fuel injectors are located, halfway down the cylinder wall.  This photo shows the high-pressure fuel system.  72 psi from the tank into a mechanical fuel pump that runs off the cam, 2900+psi into the engine.

 

These are shots from the Factory’s 1970 Camaro build that I saw at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, showing all the tricks they used to get things to work.

First off there is no provision for hydraulic power steering because all of the LT motors use electric power steering and there is virtually nothing on the market right now (03/19/2016) that fills this gap other than Dirty Dingo.  After spending several hours on the phone with the factory reps, they told me the prototype engineers built a 3D printed part and that’s what you see.  They used a conventional GM type 2 power steering pump and added it to the serpentine belt system using a longer micro-V belt # K080893.  If you look closely at the picture (click on it to view full size) you can just barely ready the part number.

They also seemed to have hacked up the original heater core sheet metal and replaced the front panel to get the new E92 ECU in because it appears to be much larger than the ECU for the previous LS based engines, we shall see.

 

They come bare from the factory so you have to either powder coat or paint them yourself.  This 2016 version uses C7 Corvette cast aluminum upper and lower A-Arms, no other manufacturer uses these pieces other than GM.  The spindles are C6 because you have a much wider array of brake options.

Bare frame with suspension removed, ready to bolt back in.

Front cowl cleaned up and welded.  First rough bolt in.

I chose to use sold body mounts instead of the polyurethane that I had in their before.  We’ll see how rough the ride is once it gets out on the road.

  

Suspension back on and 14″ – 6 pistion Wilwood disc brakes. All the bolts are this new OEM style that or zinc plated overlaid with an aluminum coating.  They are also a crush nut which means that they take some serious wrenching to get them on and produce considerable heat when you’re tightening them.  Morrison specifically warns you about not by-passing this part of the build.

Final cross-check to line things up.  There are two large holes right next to the front bolts that allow you to stick in a long spike alignment tool and push or pull to get things lined up.  This is how they must have done it on the factory production line.  For more detailed information about gen 1 Camaros, spend some time on www.camaros.org, it’s a fascinating insight into the early days of production.

 

After 5 years it’s time for a change, so this winter’s project is the new Z06 LT4 crate engine and Morrison front clip. Off came the hood, fenders and the front end so I could begin to remove the front clip.

Speedtech A-Arms, QA1 coil-overs and a Hotchkiss 1 3/8″ inch hollow swap bar.  350hp modified 327 with a Tremec 5-speed was removed and sold off, as was the entire front clip.

Atomic EFI, which I also sold off was kinda O.K, I wouldn’t spend 3K again and do it because of how good the LS and LT engine run, there’s just no comparison.

Unisteer rack and pinion with Wilwood 6 piston – 12″ rotors, they were a bargain.  This picture really shows you have much caster (4 1/5 deg) that Speedtech build into their arms and it makes a big difference on these older cars, you just can’t dial in modern steering geometry with anything close to stock a-arms.