On the lift

SC removed and belt. Much more work space IMHO with the SC removed. Tape up the heads with Blue Masking Tape. Don't want to drop anything in there.
Also please use Blue tape, not the tan stuff. I used that on my V1 and had to use a razor to get that stuff off. Didn't peel off good at all

Coils, Plugs and wires removed for the purpose of removing the stock manifolds and installing the headers later.

Water pump removed. There are several bolts holding it. You also have to remove both of your idle pulleys and the bracket.
There is also a huge bolt going into the side of the SC Belt tension and then into the side of the water pump. I was pulling at the water pump and didn't realize this bolt was in the side of it.

 

Water pump removed. There are several bolts holding it. You also have to remove both of your idle pulleys and the bracket.
There is also a huge bolt going into the side of the SC Belt tension and then into the side of the water pump. I was pulling at the water pump and didn't realize this bolt was in the side of it.

I'm at this point now. Got the metco idler pulley bracket etc from the passenger side and another pulley from the driver side to reach the 6 10mm water pump bolts. Have the passenger perpendicular bolt too. It was still on there pretty good but went inside to have dinner. Going to try and get it out after.

 

I have a manual, so I put the car in 4th gear. For Auto, I think you will need something to jam into the tranny section. 3 foot 1/2 drive Breaker bar. Balancer Bolt came out with a good one-arm row..lol. The socket is 24mm A/C belt removed also.

Cheapo Harbor Freight puller pictured could not cut it. The threads on it locked up. I then rented a 7-ton pull from the auto parts and the balancer came off like butter.

Balancer removed showing timing cover and crank snout.

Timing cover removed showing stock cam gear, oil pump and cam chain tensioner. I did not remove the oil pump or use a new chain and tensioner.
They looked to be in perfect condition. I also did not want to go through dropping the oil pan and dealing with the pickup tube hassle and o-ring worry

VALVE COVERS REMOVED. You can also see the stock cam gear

Cam Gear removed now exposing stock cam and cam retainer plate.

Cam gear removed, cam retaining plate removed and two dowel rods put into oil valleys to hold up lifters. Now pulling out stock cam.

 

Cam valley

New Cam getting installed.

Cam retaining plate reinstalled. 3 Bolt Cam Gear installed. Make sure gear timing mark is at 6 o'clock and crank gear at 12 o'clock.
This part took longer than expected because I had to keep pulling the gear off and readjusting the chain on the teeth till the marks on the gear lined up correctly. This is a really important part of the install.

Stock Exhaust Removed. The former owner got rid of the crimped section and removed the secondary cats.

Time to get at the stock cats and manifolds. One bolt on the driver side cat was so tight that using my smaller breaker bar screwed the stud out instead of the bolt.
I was able to salvage the front O2 sensors, the rears would not budge. Fortunately I didn't need them.

Full height on the lift. Enough to sit on my stool and roll under. I'm 6'2" for reference.

Stock Cat and manifolds are off! Waiting for header to finish getting coated.

 

Maybe if I do it myself I could use the money I save to buy me a fancy lift like yours. Looks awesome man. Keep going

 

Haha, the lift is a Max Jax lift and is the price of headers. I think every V owner should own one.

 

Badass!! Great job op!!

 

NOTE: I used the TDC (Top Dead Center) method to change the springs. It was super easy and better than the air hose method that others use. Just my opinion.

Valve cover removed. Stock rockers, springs, rocker arm.

Stock rocker and rocker arm removed now exposing stock pushrods and stock springs.

Got this tool from a local guy who sells these on ebay for $30. Worked perfectly for changing the springs.

Tool mounted on spring ready to push down. Make sure you wack the spring with a 17 deep socket to loosen the keepers first!

Stock spring removed exposing stock valve seal and seat. The stock seat and seal are one piece.

New Dual Springs, Titanium Seats and Retainers, and keepers.

 

New seat and seal installed. Don't forget to install the seats! (Larry! Lol!) Use a 12mm deep socket to tap the new seal on. You'll know when it is completely seated by the sound and feel of the hammer.

NEW Dual Spring ready to go!

Titanium retainer placed on dual spring.

Springs installed!

 

Awesome work & great job documenting your progression too. Very cool to see it step by step!

 

Awesome thread


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Kickass man! We have very similar builds only I cheated and paid a shop to do most of the work

What clutch ya gonna go with?

 

Ha, running stock and will most likely stick with stock. Right Larry!?

 

Rockers and rocker arm reinstalled.

Timing cover reinstalled with new timing cover gasket and seal. IW balancer installed with Hawk Tool. Took no more than 3 minutes! Great tool!
A/C belt also reinstalled. Be sure to bolt bottom cam sensor bracket before installing damper. Tell me how I know this.
You can then just move the bracket out of the way and put the A/C behind the balancer and walk it on.

.
Black ceramic coated Kooks headers! Coated by Custom Concepts Coating in Detroit. Bought the header used, but they look brand spanking new now!

Headers installed. Much more room to bolt them up with valve covers off.

 

Another shot of header and catted exhaust to stock mufflers.

Another shot

Okay, last shot. I promise.

Okay, just one more.

 

Very nice! Who did the coating on your headers?

 

A local shop called CCP Coatings.

 

Water pump, Radiator, AC Condenser and Track Attack reinstalled.

Lower pulley and accessory belt reinstalled.

New location for my Moroso because of the Norcal tank. Thanks Larry!

Hoses and stuff, SC, ZL1 Lid and Snout, Plugs, Coils, wires, etc all reinstalled.

My ZL1 Hose routing to the Norcal Tank. The hoses are the stock one. I just bought a union and used 2 pieces of 3/4 hose I already had.

 

My ZL1 Hose routing to the Norcal Tank. The hoses are the stock one. I just bought a union and used 2 pieces of 3/4 hose I already had.

Fantastic write up... well done. Great results too!

One thing I noticed.. your inlet (cool side) is going to the top port of the lid, and hot side the bottom (exit). With this flow path (top down), some air may get trapped in the top half of the brick.

Cooling effectiveness aside (debatable anyway?), you may want to consider flipping them so that the cold side enters the bottom of the ZL1 lid, and hot side out the top. In the event of air being introduced into the brick, it'll be easier to evacuate due to fact that air rises... and having your outlet on the top (instead of bottom) gives the air bubbles an easier path to escape. Just a thought...

 

Larry get out of my shot!

DYNO RUNS

 

Soulja!!! You rocked that build and stellar write up!!! Dr. Phil did it again....

Stock clutch until the motherfucker blows up!


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Great write up soulja. I'll make sure I save this thread for reference when I tackle mine later this year.

 

Like it... Detroit Boyz back at it!

 

Nice! I'm right in the middle of a DIY cam/header install myself, but have been delayed by life. Glad that ebay valve spring tool worked well, since I bought the same one!

 

Yeah the tool worked out great. Very few valve spring tools work with our heads cause the springs are offset from the rocker arm holes. I tried two different more expensive tools before getting this simple one that worked perfectly. Fortunately I was able to get a refund on the other two tools. As with the Comp Tool I can't see how the stud would survive pushing down two springs at a time. I bought and extra stud from the guy for this tool just in case.

As for the delay, believe me my wife tried to get me to delay multiple time. I had to use my veto power against her..lol! Let her know who's king of the castle. Lol!

 

Not to thread jack further, but how thick is your concrete? Any worry about a two post lift with our car? Looking at a 4 post myself, and debating need for floor changes. Great build thread.

 

My concrete is the standard 4 inch. The lift has a 6k weight limit. The manufacturer recommends at least 4 inches. I've had my wife's Ford Flex on this lift with no issues.

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Get it! Just changed all four brake rotors and pads today in two hours.

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Great write up! I'm definitely using it for reference when my mod pile becomes too large. Great dyno numbers too!

 

Where did you get that lift? I'm building a shop and was gonna get a full size lift but my car would be the biggest thing that would be on it anyways.


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If I recall I got it from it from Danmar. It's called the Max Jax. Everyone is selling now. I had called them directly to get a better price.

 

Quick question for you. I'll probably pull the balancer and front cover tomorrow. I'm a little worried about having enough leverage on the stock cam when removing it with only that stubby one stock cam bolt to hold onto, at least for the first little bit. When you put in the 3-bolt cam, you have the longer water pump bolts, but what about the removal of the stocker? Am I worried about nothing? I know that the cam is fairly heavy when you hold it just at the end. If I knew the thread of that bolt, I'd try to get a longer one to use as a handle. Any suggestions from your recent experience?

Thanks!

 

Yeah, you're worried about nothing. The cam doesn't seem that heavy to me, but if you just take your time pulling it out it shouldn't be an issue keeping it straight. Just don't try to force it out.