Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

If I had one already, I would have gone this route too. That way you can build it the way you want and not worry about doing something later. Add your cam, heads (or head work) and intake, have the trans gone through and buy your harness. If you need a new ECM, get it from the guys building your harness or run an aftermarket system like one from Holley, FAST or MSD.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

I am leaning that way. I'm going to call my machine shop and see how backed up there are.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

The LQ4 is going to the machine shop tomorrow. I called and he was 2-3 months out. I was like whoa nelly. We chit chatted a bit and came to a deal.

So tonight I am going to strip it down to the bare block. He said if I did some of the work and took the rotating assembly out, he would hone, re-ring, new bearings (main, rod, cam) and reassembly in 4-6 weeks. Boom, done.

Still talking to my trans guy. Going to do a stock rebuild with a HD2 kit. Should be good for what I am looking for.

Finally, some progress!

Current Plan:
LQ4 bottom end to machine shop to have it gone through, re-ringed, new bearings and reassembled
317 heads to Texas speed to have them CNC'd and rebuilt
Texas Speed cam & valve springs TBD
4l80e to the shop to be rebuilt

Start Ordering Parts:
standalone harness. PSI
Boyds tank
guages



Items to sell:
1970's era 350
1970's era TH400

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Spend some time this past week stripping down the LS shortblock and taking it to the machine shop. Also pulled the 350/TH400 out. Going to drop the trans off tomorrow to have it gone though.

I am having second thoughts on the heads. I was going to send them to Texas Speed to have them CNC'd. I talked to a local head shop that does great work. $300 to strip them down, valve job and reassembly. TS is $750. Since I am staying with the lower compression LQ4 dished pistons, I am unsure if the CNC'd heads would be overkill. Thoughts?

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Talked with Texas Speed yesterday. They assembled a pretty comprehensive quote for me consisting of the following:

CNC my 317 heads, deck and possibly mill a little to bump compression. Still not sure. Possible go with a thinner head gasket. Not sure. Going to talk to them some more about it
New seals, retainers, seats and PAC dual springs
224R 224/224 .600/.600 112LS and 110ICL cam
chromoly push rods
LS2 timing chain
GM oil pump
LS7 lifters
Gasket set with head bolts and crank bolt
Circle D 278 80e converter w/ 2600-2800 stall.

I priced it all out separate and they are about the same money as piecing it all togther. One stop shopping.

I am still waiting to hear back from an engine builder buddy of mine on a few items for his opinion. Hoping to have my heads off to them tomorrow.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

The first part of the puzzle is back. I bought this 80e from a fellow board member here in KC. He bought it from a local big rig tire service truck. Since I didn't know the complete history of it, I opted to have it gone through. Turns out it was in great condition. Did a full rebuild and added a TransGo HD-2 kit. My builder said it should be good for 800-900hp now. I wanted to build it fairly well while it was out in the event I go with a Procharger or turbos in the future. Easy to do when it is torn apart.

Motor should be done hopefully next week. Same goes with the heads.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

I've been slowly gathering parts. While talking with Texas Speed, they mentioned that my stock 24lb injectors will not be enough for my build. I did some digging and found a set of injectors from a 2012 6.0 flex fuel. Here is a picture of the stock 25317628 24lb injector on the left, and a flex fuel 12613412 50lb injector on the right. The mounting height is the same. The flex fuel doesn't have the boot on the tip, which as far as I can tell effects nothing. The flex also uses the EV6 connector. Since I am going to buy a harness, I'll just spec it with the EV6 connectors. These will be more than enough for what I am doing and probably will support a small blower in the future.

Motor is almost done
Trans is rebuilt
Heads are almost done
Motor mount adapter plates are on the way

Still need to order some big items. I'm trying to space these out a little to fly them under my wife's radar.
-exhaust manifold or headers. Debating between the hooker cast manifold or tying out a set of the speed engineering shorty headers. The reviews seem favorable on them.
-Boyds tank
-Radiator
-Wiring harness

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Glad to see you figured out the direction for your motor and trans. Interested in what the rebuild cost for your 80e. I am crossing my fingers that mine is as good as they said it was and just going with it. If it has problems after I am completed we will pull it then. Next time in the KC area I need to hit you up.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

It's getting there. Since I didn't have any history on mine, I opted to have to have it gone through. Turns out it was actually in pretty good shape. Now it will last the life of my truck.

Sure thing, I think there are a bunch of us up here. Maybe we can get everyone together.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

A little update. I haven't worked on the truck. We had friends in town for my class reunion this past weekend. Trying to find free time has been hard. I did get the heads and a bunch of parts back from Texas Speed.

Heads are the stock 317 heads. I did their stage 1 kit. For my application, the stage 2.5 was not needed. It only flows 6cfm more peak and I don't need the stainless valves. These have PAC dual valve springs, titanium retainers and a full cnc port job. I also have them mill the head .030 to bump the compression closer to 10:1 since I am still using the stock dished LQ4 pistons. I went with their 224r cam.
They came back looking amazing!

The Circle D 2800 stall converter also came in.

Just waiting on the bottom end to come back from the machine shop. I am hoping this week. We shall see.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Wow! Those look great. I too am finding it hard to get much done on the truck lately.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Thanks, I think they really knocked it out of the park for the money. Local shop wanted almost half of what texas speed charged to do a valve job and reassembly only.

It seems like there is something going on every day these days. Couple that with the obscene amount of rain we have gotten this week. We are 10" since Saturday with 2 more coming today.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Not much progress lately. I spent a few hours cleaning some of the parts before assembly. The front and rear covers, valve covers and valley cover were disgusting. Gave the trans the wire brush treatment. Motor is supposed to be done at the end of this week. I have started gathering more and more parts. Trying to keep most of it under the wife's radar.

Hopefully have some more progress soon.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

No real progress. Last weekend was a bust and I've had my IT had on at work the last 2 weeks. I have been amassing more parts. I've got a truckload of new Delco parts for the motor, alternator, water pump, gaskets etc... ) that showed up this morning.

Last night a about 5:30 I got a call that my shortblock was done. So I scooted up there at lunch today and picked it up. She's so shinny and clean now. No surprises in side. Just did a quick hone job. Stock dished pistons, stock rods and crank. New clevite bearings throughout. She's all wrapped up and snug as a bug in a rug.

I've got to remove the inner wheel wells to have them powdercoated as well as the bling bling stainless battery tray I bought. I didn't realize it was going to come so shinny. Too much for me, so it's going to be satin black like the fenders. I still need to remove the fuel lines, but that requires emptying the fuel tank first. So I may tackle that one night this week.

Sorry, just rambling...

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Looks like you have everything going the right direction on this build.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Thanks! I've got 8 weeks to get this wrapped us so it's crunch time!

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Good looking truck, interesting build.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Thanks!

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

I feel like I am not making progress but things are getting done. I am finally to the point where the motor can go in. I am going to start assembling the motor this week. Finally!

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Spent a few hours on the truck this morning. I buttoned up the long block. Everything went to plan with no hiccups. I ran out of time and I wasn't feeling to great so I called it a day. Hopefully smooth sailing from here.

Here is the latest YouTube update:

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Very Nice

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Thanks!

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Made a little more progress this weekend. Still running low on energy. Damn sickness. I was able to get the oil pump shimmed and installed as well as the front cover. I spent most of my time in the shop cleaning. Can't have a messy shop.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

The motor is assembled and ready to put in the truck. Finally! I decided at the 11th hour to clean up the trans a little and dust a coat of cast aluminum paint on. A buddy showed me a pretty trick way to make it look like it is not painted. I think it turned our great. It looks like really clean cast aluminum now. I had the wait for the paint to dry, otherwise it would have been all together as a unit. The plan is to remove the grille and core support tonight so I can slide the engine/trans in as a unit. Much easier to do by myself.

I am going to order the radiator, boyd tank, dakota guages and a few other odds and ends this afternoon. Black Friday sales!

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

What's the trick? I have to paint one soon.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Please order two of each....HA!

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

So what he does is blast or clean the part throughly. He then dusts the part with vht cast coat flat aluminum paint and literally wipes it off with a rag. This seals the pores on the cast and keeps the cast color. It was pretty trick. He does it to all of his cast parts. Turned out really well on the trans and alternator bracket. .

Haha. One of each was hard enough on my wallet. I placed the order this afternoon. That’s the last of the big parts. A lot of nickel and dime parts left.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

I saw Boyd’s was having a sale with free shipping. I went ahead and ordered my tank. What radiator did you go with? Fans?

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

I got in on the sale as well. I went with an Entropy with fans. I bought it all from Travis at Pro Performance. They make it so easy. It was a package deal.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

The motor is in. We had a blizzard forcasted to come in on Sunday so we hoofed it and got the motor in on Saturday. Everything went smooth. The only problem was my mistake, I put the motor mounts in the wrong place on the adapter plates. Easy fix.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

A few black Friday goodies showed up today. I spent some time working on the truck this weekend. Stripped down the engine bay harness to rework it a little to work better with the LS harness and generally clean things up. I installed an AAW complete harness a few years back. I also took the seat out, removed the tank, removed the gauges and starting thinking about how I am going to run the LS harness. I believe I am going to mount the ECM, TAC, fuse panel under the seat, and Dakota modules under the seat . I want to keep the clutter under the dash to a minimum.

I also bought a filler neck and cap from Boyds to plug the hole in the side of the cab. I think it turned out perfect. I am going to weld a flat plate to the backside to seal the neck from water as well as use it as a keeper to keep the neck from being pulled out.

Waiting on the Entropy rad to come in. Hopefully by Christmas.

I am planning on hitting it hard again Wednesday night to knock out some of the piddly stuff.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Keep me posted on the LS harness. I'm trying to decide where to run mine as well. Under seat or on the radiator support.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

I'm really leaning towards under the seat if I can make the harness work for me. This PSI harness has a decent amount of wire from the motor back, so I think I can make it. I am going to pop the hump out and lay the wires in this week to confirm. I'd like to have all of the computers under the seat and out of the way.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

After doing this myself, I'll give you a little heads up. The ECM should fit fine, provided your PSI harness is long enough. However, the Dakota Digital box isn't likely to work under there. The display cable they give you is too short. I believe you are required to run a specific type of cable, but I don't remember what that is (CAT5?). I want to say it has a maximum length per DD, but I could be wrong. You'll need to look into that a bit before you get too far along, or you may end up redoing some work. Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

Nice parts too!

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Good call! I check and it looks like the max lenght of cat5 is 7ft. Looks like I should be within the limit but I will double check.

Where did you end up putting your ECM?

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Well, I wanted to put it on a plate I fabbed behind the seat on the passenger side, but my harness wasn't long enough. It sits on the floor under the passenger side of the seat. The wires come through the back side of the high hump, just before the seat.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

This is exactly where I was hoping to bring my wires in. I am going to pull the carpet tonight to see if I have enough room for a 2" hole in the backside of the hump for this grommet.

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

You should have room. I'm pretty sure that's the size hole I used, but maybe 2-1/4"?

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

Perfect!

Re: 1972 SWB Build
 

This beaut showed up yesterday. This thing is a work of art! I can't wait to installed it. Between the Boyd tank and this, I don't know which I like better. They are both works of art.