Armcclure's Build Thread; 400hp on a budget

[armcclure]

Yeah when you're not in a gravel driveway on a rubber mat with no power tools lol

I'm doin it philzoot style

I had everything apart and the new Trans in place by sundown. And even had a nice half hour nap under the car

But yeah it can be done fast. Heck with you me shroogis and Matt up at CED we did it in 2:15 not counting the fuse box.

[GMRedline]

Did you ever take a look at that ZZP HE?

[armcclure]

No need. I'll explain more on that later.


Ok, so, If any of you do this trans in the future, forget about 2nd gear. No matter how slowly you roll into it. And 3rd put a smile on my face again
Oh and watch out for the little o-ring inside the clutch elbow. It about made me cry.
I had everything together and took a break from the Trans to put my sstc front springs in (came out great btw)
Got that done and took the cat off the reservoir to fill it up for bleeding the clutch and all the sudden I had a crazy leak. Just watching the level drop. I got looking around and saw fluid dripping out of the bell housing. I about cried. I just laid there watching it for a few min.
All the sudden I remembered that the clutch pipe elbow had felt a little odd going on. I pulled it off and the little o-ring had been pushed up inside. Got that fixed and bled the clutch as best I could bet never quite got it.

On the road it felt awesome. Even with the clutch engaging right off the floor it still shifted super smooth and was completely silent. The 2-3 shift is WAY smoother and solid feeling than before. Whatever they do to the shifter gate really works!

I'll get some 3rd gear logged pulls in on the way to work tomorrow. Virtual Dyno will be very useful here. Since it calculates tq and hp on rate of acceleration, what it will do is show me the hp it would take for a normal 4.05 car to accelerate at the same rate as me if I leave the final drive setting at 4.05. Then I can tell it my new final drive and it will give me actual hp numbers.

[philzoot007]

Originally Posted by armcclure

Yeah when you're not in a gravel driveway on a rubber mat with no power tools lol

I'm doin it philzoot style

I had everything apart and the new Trans in place by sundown. And even had a nice half hour nap under the car

But yeah it can be done fast. Heck with you me shroogis and Matt up at CED we did it in 2:15 not counting the fuse box.

Thanks for the shout out lol.

P.s. I have some air tools. Lol

[armcclure]

Everything went great but now I'm having a clutch issue about identical to droxity's...

FML.

Couldn't get it fully bled. Let it sit overnight and this morning there was no pressure but pumped up to full pressure (better that last night) quickly.
Did fine the whole drive to work. Went out on break and it had lost pressure again but built back up in 3 pumps. Can't see if there's a leak cuz I'm parked on gravel and its raining. Hopefully it lets up at lunch and I can throw some cardboard under it and check the reservoir.

[GMRedline]

Grrr. Why does their always have to be problems?

[InfraRedline]

When I did my clutch after I bled it I let it sit for a few days before driving it because it was winter and there was barely any pressure, so I pumped it a bit and drove and pumped it in neutral once in a while. Took it out a few days later on a nice day and there was slightly more pressure. After bleeding it some more and just driving it it started getting much better.

[philzoot007]

How r u bleeding the clutch? Vacuum thru the res?

[qwikredline11]

It really makes no difference how you bleed it. The assembly has to be done right. Arm assumed the tob and pipe were installed correctly. Check them. He has to make sure the plastic sleeve is seatedin the transmission, that the seal is right side up on the pipe, that there is only one seal in there, that the clip is correctly installed. Then the bleeding is two people two minutes, before the cradle goes back in expecially with a Redline stock air box. Then the clutch hydraulics is self bleeding anyway...

all the problems experienced are 99% faulty install procedure. I do clutches every week, we never have this problem.
always
new tob
new pipe
new axle seals
when doing transmission work. my .02c

[armcclure]

I agree in hindsight I should have used all new. I trust Andrew that the pipe and tob had ten mi on them, and Tim saying that the trans shop leaves
Them in place, but maybe i trusted too much
I believe I screwed something up with the top of the pipe when initially putting the elbow on. I had to give it a little force which shouldn't have been necessary. Maybe the clip popped down? I need a handheld flex camera to get a good look in there. I will check it out to on my lunch break if I have time.

Ps John thanks for the email pics; helped a lot with what I should be looking for.