What have you done to your wagon lately? (Let's keep the thread going!)

And now the wait while I let the car tell me what it wants me to do to it. As I walk through wrecking yards, on-line classifieds, my own parts bins and look at the engine under my shelving..............read about LS3 and 7 swaps..........consider rebuild and add F.I..............at some point the Safari will reach me telepathically and say "there it is, I want that. Just do it, please, or pretty please". and I'll be forced to do what ever that is. Mind you, that tre-power sitting on the wall is haunting me too. I've had it for so many years it is starting to call to me as well............

On the offside chance that I redo the current 455 (a 70/71 H.O), I have been pulling parts off the shelf that I've acquired over the years. I only actually need a couple of things and could go through it in short order. But that LS option keeps rearing its head. As for heads, I have the originals on the shelves, rebuilt, just never got around to swapping them back on. Oh yeah, you'll see Chevy orange paint poking through - when I got the engine it had just been painted Chevy orange and it made reasonably good primer for the color I wanted on it. Sure looks tired sitting on the floor though.

And some buddies suggest buying a low mileage '96 Roady and parting it out for the power train, electronics, etc.

We'll see..............any polite suggestions?

 

Lots of options - none of them easy.
I'm wondering how difficult it is adapting a LS3 / 7 to use in an older car?
Are there kits you can buy for the computers / wiring, etc. that just plug in? And just to complicate matters, what about a Cadillac Northstar? Saw a CL ad yesterday where a high school in southern Oregon is selling one for $300 - was donated to the school by G.M. a few years ago. In the pic, it looked complete. Ad mentioned they had no idea about the shape of the internals though.

 

Before........


After.........

 

Looks great KK.... is it just the camera, or is the new liner "grey?

 

Being the Pontiac freak that I am, it would just about KILL me to put a "chevy" engine in that Safari.

If it was mine, I think I would build that 455 HO and put EFI on it. The tri-power would look WAY cooler, but it won't give you the driveability of an EFI system.

Go with a good set of aluminum heads; you can run over 10:1 on pump gas.

That combo won't provide the performance or fuel economy of an LS, but you'll have the reliability of the EFI with old school Poncho power.

 

Just the camera......
The shop owner matched it up with his sample board. Had about 3 or 4 beige tones on it - I thought it would be a middle-of-the road camel color that would match the closest. Turns out it was lightest color one that was a dead-on perfect match. Also said that the original headliner was backed with 1/2" foam, but the new stuff only has 1/4" on it, so they have to add a another piece of 1/4" foam and glue it all up.

 

New headliner looks great! What's something like that cost?

 

You do NOT want a Northstar engine. Put it out of your mind. Forget about it.

 

KK - that headliner looks fantastic. The upholstery shop did a great job. It's nice when you actually get some work done with this kind of end result.

Thanks for the Northstar tip. I'm a bit shy of them, have heard numerous pros and cons with emphasis on the latter.

As for kits, yep, there are wiring kits and a local fellow actually builds them with great success.

As for engines, the car has had

• Original 347 when I got it - very tired though
  • '62 389 with 4bbl stock, was okay but ......
  • 454 bored 60 over, high horse, the body did not like that much torque
  • 389 out of 64 GTO w/ tri-power - had that for many years, was great, but not big enough
  • 455 Pontiac - 4 bbl - okay but broke it fooling around with someone at a light
  • 455 Olds I had in stock - didn't like it, not the same blast as the Poncho equivalent
  • Current 455 HO 30 over, lots of torque, tows the trailer well, fuel mileage in the toilet, ready for a change "maybe"
  • Waiting for the car to tell me - it's thinking, I can tell. I was out there tonight and it was hinting.

An LS option intrigues me. Seeing Fox talk about his LT in the past has me thinking along those lines as well. I had a friend say not to go that route but I know too many others who have and love them.

Yeah Tedy, the reason I said polite was my car is very sensitive It knows it isn't a Chevy Nomad or an Olds or Buick wagon, so it wants to continue to be unique.

 

Awwwww, ya know I'm just bust'n your chops ya big mug



If it's any consilation, Rev has been busting may B**** for a couple days now.......wonder why???

 

If you think LT1....skip it, if you have the money, and go to the LS series. I can give you the HP etc of all of them.

 

Thanks Fox. I'll let you know should I decide to go down that path.

 

Given how you use the Safari, I would give serious thought to finding a wrecked 2007 or 2008 Tahoe, Yukon, or Suburban, and taking the 5.3 litre engine, transmission, and all the electronics out of that and installing them. Then, add a good dual exhaust, and use the Superchips tuner, going for torque. On the highway, you'll be amazed at the fuel economy. A buddy was doing, according to his on board computer, 8.9 litres per 100 kms, or about 33 miles to the Imperial gallon, in a Tahoe. I would imagine that in the Safari, you would see about that same mileage to the American gallon. Lots of torque for towing, too.

 

$385 installed......