[Lonnies Performance]

It's been a while since I started doing research on this project & I posted some questions concerning parts choices a while back.

Originally a 305/700-R4 with about 190 HP. I cruised it around in the summer months,
It handled great but was not as fast as the average minivan, although it cornered really well.

After driving it in relatively stock condition for over 5 years, I started a full rebuild of this car in 2011 & completed it in 2014.
The factory clear coat was starting to come off, so it was time to rebuild / start modifying.

To bring progress up to present day, I'll provide some history.
I tore it down to a bare shell with basically only the dash wiring remaining in the car.

The underside was really clean, so I repainted it along with some suspension upgrades.
A lot of lacquer thinner & rags took it to the original primer.

Then for some fresh paint... no use painting the top only to leave the underside all ugly.

The factory 10 bolt got upgraded to a 3.54 geared Strange 60 rear with 35 spline axles.

I also added a Watts link for better handling along with some Koni shocks, better springs & frame connectors.

All this was underway, but still no engine....
I did not want to build another race car & insisted to make a very drivable vehicle.

I originally wanted a LS7, but there were none out there for a reasonable price... the LS9 was not in the plans as of yet.
A T-56 6 speed was acquired for a little driving fun over the factory auto.

I'll follow up with some more build pictures to get closer to present day.

 

[pepn3385]

Nice! A buddy of mine had one in high school, it was a pretty fun car, even with no power! Haha haven’t been in one for twenty years, but it did seem to handle very well. Looking forward to the updates.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

The front end got some sand blasting to clean everything up.

Modifications were needed to clear the AC compressor... I'll never build another car without AC.

Finally with some paint.

Used Global West Del-a-lum (aluminum/Delrin) bushings in the front & extended ball joints along with 800# springs to make sure handling is up to par.

Added some sound deadener inside.

Then I finally found an engine... a 2011 Camaro LS3 with only 11 miles on it.
It turns out that Nickey Performance was modifying new Camaros & a customer wanted a built engine so the car was driven straight from the dealer & the engine pulled.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

Once I found a good engine, I couldn't leave it alone..
I immediately ordered a cam & valve springs along with a 92mm throttle body.

A set of 2" long tube headers (with the long-term intention of forced induction) were ordered also.
I originally thought a Procharger would be a relatively easy to add in the future.

I also freshened up the under-hood area to complete the engine swap.

Installing the engine from underneath is so easy... I just rolled it under the car on a 4-wheel dolly & lowered the body over it.
It was actually done with the car on jackstands as I did not have a lift at the time.


I also upgraded to a 99-02 Camaro plastic tank so I no longer had to worry about alcohol-based fuels along with a -8 teflon supply line & -6 return.

Suspension was installed & it was getting close to a running vehicle.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

It got new seats, carpets, headliner & all new weatherstripping.

Had to swap the gauges since the factory 6K tach & 120mph speedometer was now useless.
The speedometer still too low as it touches the 6700 rev limiter at 144mph in 4th gear.

With it finally back together, I drove it this way for 3 years & also got a few car show trophies.

It was very fun to drive & every Mustang wanted to race since they thought it had no more than 245hp.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

So, three years later...I decided to purchase an S10 Xtreme, which I also posted some build pictures of on this site,
It was a 4.3 V6 5 speed, which was a perfect platform for the LS3/T56 in the Firebird... so the Firebird was engineless for the time being as the S10 got built.

I had picked this up around 2017, prior to the S10 purchase but thought it may be better suited to the Firebird.

I tore it completely down & planned a good rebuild with some modifications.

Then Covid hit & I could not get any parts, so it sat largely like this until recently, when I got the urge to start building it again.

 

[Blades1_99]

Neat project and you have good skills.

 

[m13s]

Stars and bars for the win. Nice build and that ls9.......hubba hubba.















600 + hp out of the crate great choice and reliable.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

Before doing anything else, I set the supercharger on the LS3 while in the car to see if it clears the hood.
There is about 1/2" clearance at the front corner to the under-hood bracing.

The throttle body looks to be a challenge & I may have to fabricate an elbow to go between the throttle body & the supercharger...
This looks to be better than making a very sharp 90 in front of the throttle body.
Unfortunately it points up & forward instead of at an angle to the left like the LSA.

The LS9 engine itself ended up being quite a challenge to make it work in the car.
The dry sump oiling system (pan, lines & oil tank) will not fit in the car without major surgery, so I chose to convert it to wet sump.

Some internet expert said... "It is just like a LS7... shorten the crank snout, buy an oil pump & drill for a dipstick"
Unfortunately, this was not the case.

The crank snout is the same length as a LS7 but since the engine is supercharged, the keyway is located farther forward to drive the dampener & also locate the timing gear, instead of just a keyway under the timing gear. When you put on the shorter oil pump drive there is no means to locate the timing gear.

Also the crank is normally a few thousandths larger where the timing gear is located, but on the LS9 this area extends up to where the dampener was normally located.
What that means is the end of the crank needs turned down to so an LSA style dampener & oil pump drive will fit.
While the crank was being shortened & the snout turned down, I had a full-length keyway installed from the timing gear to the front edge of the crank.
Hopefully this will reliably locate the dampener under high boost ober the short factory keyway.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

I've accumulated a bunch of stuff preparing for the build.

Unfortunately, I cannot find a picture of the crank prior to machining, but here is the crank after modifications.

You can see the area that was turned down about 1/2" forward from the main journal.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

I had the block line honed after installing main studs.
The studs distorted the journals .0008 maximum.

New cam bearings installed.

Here is a look at the factory pistons & rods.
They are quite different than the LSA...
Aside from the rods being titanium, the piston pins are a larger diameter (.984") & the rods are 108" shorter.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

I previously had the supercharger ported & the bricks reinforced.

New toys are arriving...

 

[Lonnies Performance]

I added a few things from Improved Racing to help with the oil control.

They have a nice trap door baffle for the oil pan.

Along with this I added a crank scraper.
This required a lot of fitting to get it to clear the crank throws & rods.

Finally, a windage tray to finish things off.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

It is finally coming together.

ARP rod bolts were a small fortune.

Another interesting thing is the engine was not drilled for a dipstick.
They sell a $90 jig to drill it, but after a quick look, there is a flat pad where it belongs.so I measured the dip stick for the proper diameter & started drilling.
Photo is obviously out of order & was done before the short block was assembled.

I found the cam to be off by 1 degree when I checked it, so the multi-position crank sprocket came in handy.
Since I'm going with a Holley EFI system, I also installed a timing pointer to verify timing while running.

I also used a small diameter AC pulley to allow me to keep the AC engaged at high RPM since I plan on running a chiller.

Getting ready to install the heads.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

I ordered my Rossler Transmission's 4L80E with trans brake.
They are backed up about 2 months.

Still trying to pick the proper converter.
It will be a triple disc lockup for sure, but not sure what stall to go with.
It seems like i should not need with too high of a stall due to the available low-end torque.
I'm guessing in the 25-3000 RPM range.

Another issue was finding a 9-bolt flex plate, as all ZR1's were manuals.
JW Performance Transmissions makes a custom one... they built & shipped it within 3 days.

It sucks that I had to buy 2 packs of ARP bolts as they do not offer a 9-piece bolt kit for an automatic flex plate.

 

[Lt1z]

I ordered my Rossler Transmission's 4L80E with trans brake.
They are backed up about 2 months.

Still trying to pick the proper converter.
It will be a triple disc lockup for sure, but not sure what stall to go with.
It seems like i should not need with too high of a stall due to the available low-end torque.
I'm guessing in the 25-3000 RPM range.

Another issue was finding a 9-bolt flex plate, as all ZR1's were manuals.
JW Performance Transmissions makes a custom one... they built & shipped it within 3 days.

It sucks that I had to buy 2 packs of ARP bolts as they do not offer a 9-piece bolt kit for an automatic flex plate.

With a 2.48 first gear Id go 3200 or so.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

With a 2.48 first gear Id go 3200 or so.

Thanks for the info.... i have 3.54 gears in the rear & the car weighed 3420 before the extra supercharger weight.

 

[Lt1z]

Thanks for the info.... i have 3.54 gears in the rear & the car weighed 3420 before the extra supercharger weight.

3200 should be abut perfect for that with a 4L80 and reasonable PD blower cam

 

[Lonnies Performance]

3200 should be abut perfect for that with a 4L80 and reasonable PD blower cam

What is the max RPM you typically pulley the LS9 superchargers to?
I have a 9.55/2.6 on there now which will be overspinning it at high RPM.
I'm guessing it will make peak power at 66-6800 but will be able to rev much higher if necessary.

I'm planning E85 & a chiller to keep the air as dense as possible.
Cam is mid 230's/upper 240's on a 120 with .630/.600 lift.

Unfortunately, compression is only 9.25:1 as I did not want to excessively mill the heads or change pistons, which would have required a custom piston due to the odd length rods & pin size.
Once that process started, things would have escalated to a different rotating assembly, then different block, then a different charger, killing the budget part of this build.

I really only started this build due to the good deal I got on the engine & I must now resist the urge to get too out of control.

 

[Bluecoupe]

Lonnie, I just caught up with this today. What did you do with my truck?? All kidding aside, another great project, done correctly.