Fixing up a '71 Grand Safari

Hey guys, I noticed photobucket pictures are working again. Photobucket removed all users photos that were linked to websites such as this (and the blog I keep them on), so I've had no way to remember what picture went where. They just started working today, so I'm going to hope this lasts until tomorrow and print out copies of my blog at work tomorrow. Then I can begin the daunting task of changing each link over to a new webhosting service. This si one reason I haven't been able to post pictures lately, because they would be all out of order when I begin moving everything over. What photobucket did, with no warning, was pretty low-down.

Thanks for all the words of encouragement.

 

What is it about "websites such as this" that were targetted? I stopped using them, after they "updated" their filing, so that images were no longer stored in chronological order which was making it difficult to find them for later use

 

Again, this isn't wagon related, but people have expressed an interest in posts about other projects... so since this is the project that's preventing me from working on the wagon, it's at least tangentially related.

April and I have been commuting to work together for almost a year and a half, but soon she will be changing jobs. We have the Lumina and the Suburban. The Suburban is a 1999 and had 78,000 miles on it when we got it. It now has 106,000 and I want to keep it as a family hauler for when we need to go somewhere with people and all the kids or for family trips. Rather than buying another commuter vehicle I've decided to put a 5.3 GM engine and a 4l60e transmission in The Caprice and the goal is to try to get this swap done as quickly as possible. I've had this car since I was 16. Though technically not my first car, it practically was my first car.



I haven't driven the car since July 4th, 2015. I remember the date because April and I went for a drive that day. I attempted to cross a creek which I'd crossed many times before, but I didn't realize they had just grated the rock bottom the day before. We didn't make it. When I later pulled the carpet and insulation to let it dry I found that the passenger side floorboard had been holding water from a leak. I've kept the car covered since that time because I knew I'd have to pull the fender to fix the leak.



April's cell phone got wet and the front screen still doesn't work. The worst part was diving under the car to hook up the tow strap.





The first order of business was getting the car to my house. I had it at my fathers house and it was pretty solidly wrapped up. It took several hours to uncover it and put a battery in it and fill it with transmission fluid and get it running to bring home.







I had blown the original 305 on the way to Baton Rouge in 2005 to be a part of The Dukes of Hazzard movie (pictured below: semi-functional dixie horn). This replacement is a stock 350 that was a warranty issue from GM. Back when my family owned a GM dealership, someone ordered a new truck sometime in the early to mid 80s and GM put the wrong timing chain on it. The people demanded GM give them a new engine, so this one was practically new and had been on an engine stand for years. We dropped it in and it served as adequate, anemic motivation for 13 years, although a somewhat hacked together hodgepodge of 78 305 and 80s 350.







I was planning on purchasing a totaled vehicle and getting the engine and transmission and all other needed components at once, but first I contacted a guy I had previously bought a 2003 5.3 from several years ago. He seemed like a really solid guy and when I asked him if he had another 5.3 he said yes. We arranged for the purchase and then he stopped answering my calls. After a week and a half I began to realize he was being a flake. It's not so much the engine that bothers me as much as the fact that I've had several situations lately in which people just won't follow through, do what they say they'll do, or show up when they're supposed to and this instance was just icing on the cake. It's difficult to try not to be bitter when you have numerous run-ins with people like this. Because I thought I already had an engine I needed a transmission. I had a friend put out the word and he found a friend of his that had a 4L60E he wanted to sell. I contacted the guy and we met that weekend and I purchased it. Now I don't need to buy and engine and transmission together, though I think that would be easier.





Everyday after work I've been coming home and working until or past dark getting the car ready to pull the engine. These have made for some very long and tiring days. One of the most time consuming parts is continually jacking up the car to access the parts I need. I'm having to keep the car blocked as much as possible because I live in a neighborhood with a bunch of older, retired people and they have continued to call codes on me time and time and time again. I had to sell a '63 Corvair project a couple years ago because of that. America: The Land of the Free.





It's been quite a while since I've worked on things from this time period. Fortunately, some things did come back to me after some thinking, like how to remove the U-joints from a GM driveshaft.





Fortunately, my long time friend who also works with me offered to come over and help when the engine was ready to come out, so after work one day we came straight home and yanked out the old 350. It went surprisingly smooth. Because our daylight is so limited after we get off work I made sure to have everything disconnected and ready to yank out as soon as we got there. The last time I pulled an engine and transmission bolted together it was a 1960 Cadillac 390 mated to the original hydomatic and a bolt broke and the engine fell. I know there's nothing special about a small block 350 and a 350 turbo, but the 390 experience was like touching a hot stove and I was paranoid it was going to fall at any moment. Grade 8 bolts are therapy for overcoming past trauma.

 

The exodus was without much fanfare and I tucked the old motor in the bushes with a tarp over it. I plan to weld up an engine stand with some large rubber wheels so I can roll this unit into a dirt-floored barn until I'm able to build a shop.





One thing I hate more than anything when working on cars is looking for a tool I know I have and not being able to find it. I hate it; With a passion. This results in more trips back to the workbench, but not spending 10 minutes looking for lost 14mm wrenches.





April totaled this car a few years ago. It was captial-T boned in the rear when she pulled out in front of someone. The impact broke the sealant loose in the windshield and I suspect also caused the seal to begin leaking where I had previously fixed a leak in the passenger floorboard. Though I fixed this leak the last time without removing body panels, I knew to really clean out the area and fix it properly I needed to remove the fender. It was over 100 degrees the day I removed the fender and the fender was so hot I couldn't touch it with my bare hands. Fortunately, the humidity was only 340% that day. I long for the days of having a shop and working in the shade. Not pictured: my small in stature but mighty in force squirrel cage fan keeping me from passing out.





I have to keep detailed notes on where all the bolts are located and how many shims they have or I'll never be able to get things back together. I keep photo evidence of most bolts but I make diagrams for body panels. I am envious of people who can throw everything in a big box and then get it all back together later, however I really can't stand digging in a box full of bolts hunting for what you need. I label everything and put it in a ziplock bag so I know exactly where everything is exactly when I need it.





I am absolutely, entirely out of space for storage, of anything.





Dad came over and worked the water hose as I lay down in the car hunting for the water leak. As I suspected it was the area on the far most passenger side of the HVAC box. Here's the plan for this car. I have a complete and very solid roller parts car with perfect body panels that I bought several years ago. Later, when I have a shop I plan to take this car down to the frame and and at that time I'll pull everything apart. For this season of life, I need a daily driver that unfortunately is going to have to sit out quite a bit. I'm afraid if I pull this box off I may open up a can of worms and destroy my deadline so my plan is to reseal the leak without removing the box. I'm unsure yet what I'm going to use to do so. The area of note is between vertical, left side of the cowl and the blower motor box. I cleaned and scraped all of the old silicone.





Because my original gas tank was not made for EFI, it does not have any baffles in it. Because the Caprice and Impala is the exact same car from 1977-1996, just with different bodies set on top, I was able to get the 1995 Caprice gas tank, the straps, and the heat shield from a junkyard because those cars came from the factory with EFI. Dad made some calls from his old contacts and found the tank and made the 100 or so mile trip to go get it one day while I was at work. These tanks are plastic and have baffles and fit perfectly into my car with zero modifications. I scrubbed it down because it was very nasty.





And as luck would have it, my old tank was well over half full. At least I remembered to jack it up before I let it fall on my head.





Next I removed the old engine mounts. Fortunately, LS engine swaps have become so popular that many parts exist now to help put these engines in a wide array of older cars that never came with them. I bought a kit online that is supposed to bolt right into the existing bolt holes for the engine and transmission mount and keep the correct drive line angle and spacing for a 5.3 with a 4L60E. I will need to switch to a lower profile oil pan and change out the exhaust manifolds to fit between the frame rails. The mounts came out without too much trouble, but a slightly large access hole for the bolt heads hidden inside the frame would have been nice. I suppose that's too much to ask considering GM couldn't even decide on which type of bolt to use, as half are metric (spit) and half are standard.

 

The gas tank: I just replaced all the hoses on my Ranchero's gas tank, using two cinch cargo straps. Not once did I need the jack to do the work, so my work area was free from such obstructions. The only thing I'd say to do, is support the car on the axle, rather than the body, so that the axle is not lower than the tank. And yeah, usually when changing the lower mounts on a GM car, removing the lower control arms gives you a bit more access to those bolts.

 

This sounds like quite the project. But hopefully it will result in a dependable DD for your wife. Good luck finding an engine.
Thanks for the update and keep us posted on your progress.

 

It sucks, when you're surrounded by a bunch of people who have too much spare time on their hands and get paid for it, even. And I thought it was bad over here. We have this retiree, across the street, who let it slip out that my wagon was due for inspection, the following month, as we were talking about the relay contacts which i filed on my wagon. That automatically rung a bell. But, I showed no signs of picking up on it. I later found out that this neighbor is a former East German who grew up in an informant culture. This is just another example as to why they are loathed in western Germany. I would never have come up with the idea of going around keeping track of my neighbors' license plates. I often wonder if retirement is even a good thing, judging by how many retirees behave.
What you might want to do is to invest in some professional gardening where tall cedar-like trees get planted around the periphery of your property. People often do that, over here, to prevent gawkers staring at them

 

Some progress was made over the last week despite bad weather, revival at Church and work. I began removing a lot of the things that won't be needed. When I was 16 my sister bought me this dixie horn, per my request, for Christmas. I had no ability or knowledge of how to do things at the time and so I had it installed. I was always unhappy with how they installed it. After many years, it is finally ready for retirement. It hasn't hit all the notes for several years and the cheap parts have finally fallen apart.





I removed all of the original fuel and evap lines, along with this charcoal canister. This seems like it will make a good place for the ECM or new fuse box. Removing the lines took a few hours and I was glad to have safety glasses. There was loose gravel stuck under several places form where I used to drive through fields. We used to play a game called Fox Hunting. This is where a bunch of trucks use CB radios and play hide and seek. You are able to ask the person hiding questions within certain criteria and when they speak the needle on the CB moves. The more the needle moves, the closer you are to the person speaking. I always used to climb under the car and clean all the mud away, but there was plenty of gravel left.





Removing the original wiring harness was very difficult because there was so much hardened gunk over the bulkhead connector you couldn't even tell what it was except for the fact that wires were going into a mound of near rock-hard grease. I found a video on the internet that showed there was a single bolt in the middle holding it on. Once I dug a hole in the middle and found the bolt and was able to loosen it the connector came off without much trouble.





Part of the original harness out of the car. I'll have to go through this and determine which wires will need to be kept. There were two other harnesses that plugged into the bulkhead which didn't need to be removed.





I removed the original gauge cluster. It is pretty spartan as The Caprice was not a highly optioned car. Several pieces and mounting points were broken from other people working on this car before I started working on cars myself. The speedometer cable came out of the firewall without too much trouble. I was afraid the old rubber firewall grommet would fall apart but it was still relatively pliable.





I also removed the original gas pedal because I'll be using a drive by wire setup. This thing has seen plenty of time on the floor thanks to the very under-powered original 305 and the 1980's 350 truck motor replacement. The CB will remain.





Dad helped run the garden hose at different locations around the cowl as I laid inside the car and we located the water leak. Many years ago I had sealed part of this area before over on the side of the car, but someone else had attempted to seal the top of the cowl previously and there was an absolute mess. This picture was partway through cleaning and prepping the surface of where the body meets the big hole.





I taped off the area and primered where bare metal was exposed from the cleaning.





I called a friend that owns and operates a body shop and asked what I should use to seal the area. He recommended windshield urethane. The temperature was close to 100 degrees and the humidity was very high as well. It was absolutely miserable in the direct sun cleaning and sealing this area. After endless scraping, scotchbrite scuffing and grease and wax remover I was able to get some sealant down. I laid a bead and spread it just like window caulking.





This was the actual troublesome area, but I went ahead and cleaned and resealed the top as well. There's a vacuum line for the heat and air controls that can only be replaced by removing the fender. While it is off I went ahead and got a new one.





Since the first guy sold me an engine and then stopped answering his phone (classy), I located another motor. This is a 2004 5.3 LY7 from a Chevrolet Avalanche with 127,000 miles. I was also able to pick up the wiring harness, ECM, starter, alternator, power steering pump, drive by wire pedal, drive by wire module, drive by wire harness, and engine fuse box from the same Avalanche. I picked up an AC compressor from a different vehicle.





It was so hot in this trailer it was beyond description.





Fortunately Dad lives within tractor-distance of the house. The engine has been in his trailer since he made the 3 1/2 hour trip last week to pick it up. I drove his truck and trailer over and he followed on the tractor. Since the gate on the trailer lets down as a ramp, we had no way of getting the engine out. Fortunately, the engine came with a wooden stand. We wrapped a chain around it and pulled it to the very end of the trailer and with an extension pipe on the end of the hay fork we were able to reach the chain and lift it out.

 

I'll bet, your nosey old retired neighbors hate your dad, for turning their retirement park into an industrial one.
Here're those gardening suggestions I was referring to:

 

If we were going to stay at this house I'd definitely be putting up a fence or some hedges. We hope to be moving before too long.

 

I'm glad you found an engine. Looks like you have made some good progress. Thanks for the update.

 

Thanks. I'm trying to get there. No progress this weekend. Have to go to a birthday party.

 

Looking at the pictures, it amazes me how much work can be summed up into so few pictures. The heat and mostly humidity has been so hot and for the most part I have had no shade to work in. Several years ago I had a couple instances of being severely overheated and since those times I am unable to bear excessive heat as I was once able. It's pretty inconvenient if nothing else.



This is where the engine lived, placed by the tractor, protected by a tarp, until the new parts came in.





The BRP engine mounts did not fit as they were supposed to. I tried every combination of holes possible and there was nothing that would work. This picture shows how far off the bolt hole was.





I was able to indicate with a marker from the backside where to drill for the motor mount. I called the company and they instructed me to install the engine and get the fitment to determine which top hole I should drill out. For the amount of money this kit cost, this should absolutely not happen.





With off-set hole drilling like this, the drill press helps a lot.





However, the drill press still can quite finish the job because of the way the new hole was offset inside the old hole. I have to use a file to get the finishing touches.





After quite a bit of work, they fit.





I drained the torque converter from the new transmission in anticipation of the installation.







I ordered a new oil pan from a 1998-2002 GM F-body. This would be a V8 Camaro Z-28 or Pontiac Trans Am. I also ordered a new gasket. If I only knew then what I know now.





With the new oil pan in, I began removing some components off of the motor for installation.





The old oil pan from the 5.3 sits much lower than the F-Body pans. This causes the bottom of the pan to sit too far below the frame of the car, leaving it vulnerable to damage and thus catastrophic engine failure.





When I removed the exhaust manifolds I found that the rear driver side bolt was already broken off inside the block. That was unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected for an exhaust manifold bolt.





I got the new oil sump installed with the new, ridiculously expensive o-ring gasket, then this happened. This is the oil cooler block-off plate on the oil pan. I was using the torque wrench and tightened the bolts down evenly. The first bolt went on fine but the torque wrench didn't click on the second bolt. I started thinking something was wrong, so I tested the torque wrench on another bolt and it clicked fine. I went back and it did not click on the oil pan bolt. I went back and forth about three times until finally I determined something was wrong and I was turning way too hard for such a small bolt. Trusting the wrench more than myself, I decided to go just a little further to see if I could get the click, and that's when it snapped off. It was very late at night and this was the last bolt I had to finish the oil pan installation. It was disgusting.





Because the bolt was not rusted and the head was broken off there was no tension on the threads. I was very fortunate that a chisel and hammer was able to get enough bite to slowly turn the broken off bolt until I had enough sticking out to get some pliers to get a grip and pulled it the rest of the way out.





The exhaust manifold bolt was another story. I first applied a liberal amount of BP Blaster, heat and a hammer to try to break the rust bond loose. I attempted to build up weld on the end of the bolt (the heads are aluminum) so that I could then weld a nut on the end and turn it with a wrench. This effort was in vain and after a lot of time spent on this I moved on to drilling out the broken bolt. I purchased a heli-coil kit for the hole. A heli-coil is a series of threads which is screwed into an oversized, threaded hole after broken bolts or stripped threads are drilled out which allows the original bolt size to be reused.





I drilled out the broken bolt, using tape on the bit to ensure I drilled to the right depth and a stud in the adjacent bolt hole to aid as a guide in drilling the new hole as straight as possible.





After drilling the new hole, I used the supplied tap that comes with the kit. I then inserted the heli-coil into the oversized, newly tapped hole. I applied a very small amount of blue loctite. Some people say definitely apply loctite, some people say definitely do not. I chose to add a very small amount. Loctite helps hold threads so they do not back out once installed.





Drilling straight in the hole was very difficult because the bolt was broken off inside the hole and the end of the bolt was not a flat surface, which caused the drill bit to want to walk. I used a punch to help center the bit as much as possible, but it was not a perfect effort. Breaking the tang off of the back of the heli-coil finished the process. It's not particularly pretty, but it worked.





The mating surfaces of the engine block that bolt to the transmission and crank surfaces that bolt to the flywheel had surface rust that I wanted to clean away. I couldn't find my air grinder for the longest time until I remembered I had loaned it out and forgot to retrieve it. At this time I also noticed, unfortunately for the first time, that one of the transmission alignment dowels for the engine block was missing. I ended up having to drive to the nearest GM dealership and pay five dollars for a new one, which caused a delay in progress.





With the back of the block cleaned up and primered and the new dowel pin in place I got the transmission ready to be attached to the motor. After spending a while trying to determine the correct torque specs for all the different bolts I attached the flywheel, again using blue loctite. I noticed that the flywheel dowel was missing as well but a search on the internet revealed that many motors either didn't use a dowel originally or the dowel isn't necessary so I opted to leave it off. I filled the torque converter with new transmission fluid and installed it on the transmission. These converters must install with 3 successive clicks while spinning the converter. When the converter is approximately 1 1/8 inches behind the mounting pads of the bellhousing it is properly in place. Failure to locate the converter in this way will end up in broken parts and spent money.





The mounting hardware for the bellhousing and the torque converter to flywheel bolts are special hardware. I ordered them online and awaited their arrival. I also spent a significant amount of time researching what anti-seize to use when putting aluminum against steel. I found there are as many opinions about this as there are people. Apparently the copper anti-seize I typically use is bad for applications in which aluminum will be against steel. I ended up using an Aluminum-based anti-seize for the dowel pins and blue loctite for the bellhousing and torque converter bolts. The torque converter bolts were difficult to access and required a universal joint and an extension in order to use the torque wrench. Because of my previous experience with the torque converter I was very afraid these bolts were going to snap. They seemed to be torquing down in a strange way. I successively tightened them down in very small increments, scared all along the way that they were going to snap off. The wrench had to be held in exactly the right position for it to click as it was supposed to.





I first attempted to install the BRP transmission mounts but found their incomplete instructions to be prohibitive. I had previously had to use my wife's social media account to send them a message about further detail on installation. They did response, however the picture and explanation sent still wasn't completely sufficient to explain the installation. I later found that despite their claims that no drilling is necessary for this kit, one huge reason why I purchased this specific kit, drilling is in fact going to be necessary for not only the engine mounts, but also for new holes in the frame for a part of the transmission mount. I also ended up painting the parts black.



Fortunately, dad stopped by and offered to help with the installation. I really didn't want to have to remove the intake manifold and worry about the problem of something going wrong with the re-installation. In order to get the block-leveler to fit with the intake on I had to hook chains to the chains on the leveler, which meant I had to go purchase new grade 8 bolts to fit it all together. We probably spent longer getting the hoist to lift the engine without damaging the intake than if we had just removed the intake.



We would end up fighting this thing until 12:30 that night. The engine hoist was hitting the front bumper and wouldn't go back far enough to position the engine so it would go in the car. To make a very, very long story short we ended up using a series of jack and hoist positions and a lot of pushing and grunting and after several hours managed to shoehorn it in. To say things were tight would be an understatement.





For a while, we had an audience.





After playing with the engine placement and transmission alignment with the hoist and jack for a very long time we finally relented that the engine, with the F-Body oil pan, will not fit. The sump area of the oil pan hit the crossmember, not allowing the engine to move far enough to the front of the car. The engine mounts will not line up with the holes in the frame. We did finally get one engine mount bolt in, but that was all. According to what I have read, this engine mount kit will allow me to keep all the original drive accessory components in their original locations, like the copressor and alternator. Because of this, new motor mounts were an option I wanted to reserve as a last resort.



The next day I was destroyed. Between this and other responsibilities and projects which had to be completed that day I ended up working outside in the heat between 18 and 19 hours that day and ended up getting overheated. The next day we examined the measurements in the daylight to try to determine a solution. I determined there were two other oil pans which may solve my problem. The issue is that they are a trade off of benefits. One has plenty of front oil sump clearance, but has limited clearance on top of the crossmemeber. The other has plenty of room over the crossmember but has less room on the front of the sump. After a lot of reading on the internet I decided to go with the Holley 302-3 oil pan. Before ordering this pan I contacted an acquaintance to see if he would be able to modify and weld the aluminum pan just in case I needed a bit more clearance. He said yes so I ordered the pan and am currently awaiting its arrival.





The one bolt that could.





A project in the waits is modifying the electronic drive-by-wire (dbw) pedal. As you can see the original pedal (left) is oriented completely opposite of the new dbw pedal (right). I will have to cut and weld the new pedal arm to align it properly. This project will have to wait until I finish up the oil pan and install the new fuel pump/sending unit and accompanying lines and hardware.

 

Is it the water jacket we're looking through?

Can't you erect some sort of covering, pavillion or open field tent? They might have something of that sort, at an army surplus store, for cheap

That's one way of looking at things. When I used to loan out tools, it seemed to always be the case where the loaned out to would conveniently forget that they didn't buy the tool

Since you're screwing in a steel coil into aluminum material, the matter should resolve itself, since corrosion is to occur anyway

Aluminum to steel doesen't cause problems everywhere. It usually happens in only certain areas. I've never witnessed it happening to where bellhousings are attached to iron blocks. Oiled bolts should suffice, for that. In problem areas, I'd try the grease they use at battery terminals. I think, it's lithium-based

They're fun to have around and good for moral

 

Sounds like a typical engine swap. Always unforseen issues you never planned on. Overall it looks like you are making good progress. I'm surprised there isn't a cut and dry option for the oil pan for this chassis.

I am surprised you only had one broken exhaust manifold bolt. It seems like every Chevy truck 5.3 I work on has at least two.