L67 F-bird

[MNcarbturbo]

So now that my drawthrough cutlass runs good enough to be daily driveable and its all painted I was going to start a new project. Was thinking about a 97+ 4.0 2dr cherokee to turbo but ended up having a L67 Gbody wagon would be cool. Well, that takes a ton of parts, so I kinda held on that for a while. I ended up finding a 97 Firebird with a bad 3800. Well it was locked up from a rod that got spat out the side. Rod bolt came out and destroyed the motor.

3.42 Posi, Ttops, red, firebird, essentially the perfect project.

So I pulled the motor

Hole in da block

Then the L67 showed up. 160K, out of a roll over. Nice and clean.

Motors in, accessories swapped, pan swapped, put in new intake gaskets, cleaned it up.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Its a tight fit. The Tstat housing hits the firewall, so it will need some beating.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

So the main things that need to be done-

Firewall clearance
Tstat neck
Weld supercharger U
Decide on wiring
Hoses
Coil pack mount
Fuel rails

Really its been easy so far. Dont understand why people freak out so much about how tough it is. This is going to be my winter beater too! :biggrin: Should be an affordable, fun car and isnt that hard.

Supercharger parts getting welded soon.

 

[6cylboost]

wow you have power lines running everywhere back by the garage. wish my work truck had a boom hoist on it. looks like it made it easy.

 

[usetaboost]

looks like it's going to be a bit tight fitting the throttle body on. Have you done a mock up with everything installed yet?

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Yeah i've test fit and everything sorta fits. I havn't test fit everything as a whole, but thats tomorrows job. Gotta swap the valve covers first as I was going to run the throtlebody assembly down the drivers side but there isnt enough room.

Once the valvecovers get swapped I should be able to bolt the throttle body on and clamp the elbows together.

Hopefully I can get the stuff welded by the end of the week.

 

[Brad Zeidler]

Looking pretty good. Have you had a chance to get those exhaust manifolds I sold you welded up and installed?

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Nope, I was going to cut the obstructions out of them and weld them up after that but Ive been too busy with other stuff to want to open them up.

And the supercharger is up getting welded, hopefully it will be done by next monday. Im shooting to have this done in a month.

 

[87GN_ponykillr]

Very cool project!! Keep the pictures coming!!!

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Welded! Going to car craft this weekend but theres a small chance I will get the tstat housing cut and welded by next week.

 

[murphinator]

a lot of people , myself included would be interested in having their m90 modified for rwd like that , as far as I know nobody is doing them to sell , only seen a few custom swap guys make them.

I have several cores too if you need any

 

[charlief1]

a lot of people , myself included would be interested in having their m90 modified for rwd like that , as far as I know nobody is doing them to sell , only seen a few custom swap guys make them.

I have several cores too if you need any

You can get them in Aussie land Murph. The parts are out there but you have to pay import taxes after all.:frown:

 

[MNcarbturbo]

I looked and there is no way to get the supercharger inlet to the drivers side on a 4th gen. The firewall comes forward about 3 inches off the intake centerline and there just isnt any room. From what ive seen the aussy chargers are too long and will hit the firewall.

Im not super intersted in doing it for people. Maybe if I had a tig welder I would consider it, as all I need is a TIG, saw, and lathe, but I have at least $100 in gas in back and forth to get this thing welded. The guy that welded it just does it on the side and I don't think he would want to do a lot of stuff. He did a great job though.

I think it would be more likly I would sell the charger, water neck, and other fab stuff as a package, but what would people pay to bolt on 40HP and still have a lot of work and absolutly have to pull the motor out. Im willing to do it but Im not sure about anyone else.

 

[Brad Zeidler]

You hit the nail on the head as far as doing it for other people. AlthoughYou'll probably get more than 40 hp by using the simple tricks like a 180 thermostat instead of 195 and maybe the next size smaller pulley, headers with good exhaust. It should be able to get 275 or so just with thes mods.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

Well I was worried I didnt leave enough space for the fuel rail but I cut out some extra metal, used a modified L36 throtte cable bracket and built some cheapo fuel rails. It all works and have room.

So the supercharger is done with the exception of getting some bungs welded in for the brake booster and EGR stuff. Gotta build an EGR bracket, install wiring, figure out the canister purge stuff, weld up the tstat neck, bolt everything together for a final time and its pretty much ready to reinstall and run.

 

[usetaboost]

Dude you need to invest in a tig welder. You could fab some bad ass stuff!

 

[PLAINWHITE T]

Thanks for the build pics...my compliments on your mechanical skills.

 

[MNcarbturbo]

A TIG would be great, but really I don't do a ton of TIG stuff. This and the down pipe for the olds is the only stuff. But Im sure I could find stuff to do. :smile:

Messed around with the wiring today and bought a bag full of hoses, belts, spark plugs, gaskets and filters. The only thing thats different in wiring is the MAP sensor, which is a trip to the parts store to get a plug to adapt my original NA plug to Supercharged, and to eliminiate the boost bypass valve. For what ive seen the boost bypass valve switch just shuts boost off in reverse and under the tourqe management mode so I'm just taking it off. My L32 EMC doesnt have the capability to run it anyways.

Ive also got to look into getting the ECM burned for a 2 bar MAP. Will I be able to run full boost on a NA ECM? I know theres enough top swap people doing it but Im curious. If my understanding is right the ECM reads the MAF sensor and only when the MAF sensor fails the ECM runs off the MAP sensor?

 

[KrisW]

Fabulous build!

It makes me rethink what I am doing to my third gen... hmmm... that setup would fit MY car a lot easier than it fits yours...

Good job!

 

[ttaowner]

Great thread ! I have a engine and tranny out of a 98 gs sitting here doing nothing and firebirds can be had for cheap so this is a great idea cant wait to see how it turns out