Hickrocket1258 Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 Ok. I don't really have any pictures of all this right now. But I will try to take some tonight of everything that is going on. At first when I bought this car I thought I was going to go 383 or 406 small block that would be a street/strip car. God how that all has changed now. Tell you a little back story. I purchased this car November 2013. It's a total rust bucket on the outside but the inside is pretty decent, but definitely missing some things. Guy was converting it to a drag car. Bought it for $1100. I randomly decided to purchase a 6.0 LS engine (about 2 months ago) with 823 heads which are basically the same as the L92 heads. If you aren't as familiar with them, they have flow numbers that are as good as some of the BBC head numbers (325 cfm). They guy wanted $1500 for engine, trans, harness etc. I was going carb because this since it will see a lot of track time. So I offered $700 and he took it. This will be mating up with the Turbo 350 trans that I have. I thought this was going to be a slow build process. Hell no. Parts have accumulated and taken over the one side of my garage. I will try to track as much as I can price wise since this will be a "budget" build. I will say Advanced Auto and their discounts have helped save a couple hundred bucks with new parts, considering they have some of the lowest prices and then can apply discount, and also get free shipping. Sitting currently are the parts (actually brand new for once).... 6.0 LS - $700Holley 750 (free)Holley intake manifold - $230Holley Blue Electric pump - $100MSD 6012 box - $300Steel braided line 6AN - $150Trans Specialties Torque Converter - $360Motor mount adapters - $35Pacesetter Long Tubes - $260VVT Delete Kit - $120 Also, found someone to buy my 350 for $450 and was giving him everything that I have to go with it. Didn't want to keep anything and have it sitting around. Also someone is buying the injectors from the 6.0 for $80 too. I feel like I'm forgetting a couple things but that's all I have tied up in the car right now for this swap. I was going to get some baseline numbers before doing cam swap down the road, but that has changed. I will be getting the Magic Stick 3 camshaft kit from Texas Speed. Will be a nasty cam that should have some decent drive-ability. Right now I honestly will be disappointed if this car isn't in the mid 11s range. Also have a posi rear sitting with 3.73s in it too. Should be a fun and interesting ride. Pics of car it's going in, and one of engine after being picked up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 that thing is just down right ugly Rob. but as long as it you hit 11s with it you won't hear a peep out of me. good luck on the swap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted July 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 That's the point of it Ryan. Fugly and then, wtf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTTRacing91PGT Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 But the white walls are staying, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex302 Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted July 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 So today I ordered camshaft from Texas Speed. Specs are 235/239 duration, 629/622 lift and 111LSA. Said it will be aggressive but good with the stall that I will have in the car. New valve springs, pushrods and lifters too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 i may be one of very few that actually love old chevy malibu/chevelle and impala/caprice wagons lol. taking what is meant to be a big ass family hauler and turning it into an 11 second car will be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det_Riot Posted August 1, 2015 Report Share Posted August 1, 2015 Badass build! It's like an old school CTS wagon! I love wagons Hahahah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedTwilight Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 Needs to be blue with some wood paneling on the sides and luggage on the roof ala Griswolds family vacation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted August 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 When everyone asks about the car, they ask, like the Griswolds? haha This car will try to be as quiet as possible too, using Dynomax Turbo mufflers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted August 5, 2015 Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 Freakin awesome. My parents had a blue impala wagon when I was growing up. I've ALWAYS wanted to do exactly what you have planned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandMan Posted August 5, 2015 Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 That 70 show Vista Cruiser just broke about half dozen NHRA rules, just from the video alone. Pretty sure I would have lost money on that one 9.24@151.6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted August 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 Well the parts arrived. LS7 Lifters, camshaft, new seals, valve springs to handle the camshaft, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted August 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Decided while I still have the engine out, to upgrade with a high flow oil pump and LS2 timing chain which I was told is a little better than stock when it comes to durability. Parts should come in later this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted September 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 Haven't updated in awhile. Took the heads off and realized one of the cylinder walls doesn't look the best. Unfortunately screwed on this one. The heads I'm keeping on this one since they are the better flowing heads. Did find another 6.0 on Craigslist and happen to actually know the guy from my childhood. Told him my situation and he said we will work something out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 cannot wait to see this thing drivin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted September 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2015 cannot wait to see this thing drivinProbably looking at getting it all set up over the winter time. Take my time to make sure I get the new rear in too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted November 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Well, talk about a total 180 degree turn. Found some rusting in one of the cylinder walls due to possible water sitting in there. Not what I wanted to hear. Someone else had offered me a similar engine, but with different heads. I decided to scrap the LS swap all together. At the same time, my pops was willing to purchase me a brand new Blueprint 383. Dude has time on his hands. Only thing is the car had to be at his place to work on it and once it ran, it's out. He actually power washed the engine bay while it was out of there and then spray painted it black some to clean it up, and also put the other posi rear I had sitting for it. Either way, still going to be a badass car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted December 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 So a lot of work got done this past Sunday. New engine is in along with trans and drive shaft hooked up to the new rear. Things are moving along with it but should be good to go soon. Just waiting on some miscellaneous parts. More pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabres Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Awesome. I was wondering when we'd see more progress on this. Can't wait to see it done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted February 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Hasn't been too much more progress. A lot of stuff has been strapped down and is coming together. We have had some pretty cold weather. During the time though I picked up a pypes exahust system for the wagon. Comes with xpipe and the exhaust exits right behind the rear tires. Got my buddies brother to pick it up down in VA since he's in MD and was only $150 for a $450 system. He said he was going to take it and put it on his Chevelle. All stainless steel. Pretty excited. There's about 4 tracks within 2 hours that are doing a lot of index racing this year. Hope to be competing at Cecil for most of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 damn dad!! sounds like an awesome pops you have there. new motor looks awesome man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted March 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 Thanks Tony. He is a great father. He was always hard on me back in the day and just wants to help me get the car up and running since he knows time is not on my hands and he now has plenty of time. So, a lot of small pieces are coming together and the car should be started this weekend. Once I do, I will take some video and post it up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 23 hours ago, Hickrocket1258 said: Thanks Tony. He is a great father. He was always hard on me back in the day and just wants to help me get the car up and running since he knows time is not on my hands and he now has plenty of time. So, a lot of small pieces are coming together and the car should be started this weekend. Once I do, I will take some video and post it up here. very cool! it'll be cool to hear her run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted March 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Of course, I didn't read too well. Double hump trans cross member needed for the exhaust, then almost there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted April 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 Well she's done and back at my place. I have to thank my pops a lot for moving this project along. I know he wanted to move it along quick though to start on his project. There's still a couple things that needed to be looked at. The car didn't seemed to be in second gear when I was in drive on the way home, so not sure what's going on there yet. Might be due to the higher than normal stall I went on the converter. Time to get this car to the track soon enough to start testing. Here's a quick video. It was idling a little high at the time of video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted April 14, 2016 Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 even looked like it had groceries in the back! that's awesome that you got this thing done already Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 so when do we see tire roasting videos??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 On 4/15/2016 at 11:52 AM, tony said: so when do we see tire roasting videos??? I'm hoping in a couple weeks. It's meant to be driven to the track, race, and then drive back home, but might ask my pops about borrowing his truck and trailer for the first time. I think we may have figured out the shifting issue. The converter and gears in the rear are both much higher than what was there previously which is making it shift to 2nd and 3rd VERY VERY early when partial throttle. I did get on it a couple times and shit does she haul. What I'm happy about is that there is a warranty to be taken advantage of, so I need to make sure that happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted April 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2016 Well, I may have been wrong. Taking forever to shift into 3rd gear when in Drive. The stall is that high. About 3600. Will be taking it to Cecil County this weekend to test though. Hopefully close enough to 11.50 that we just need to do some tuning of the carb to get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted May 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2016 Well the car didn't run what I expected it to. Maybe it was just high hopes for me but I know there's some tuning that needs to be done and the converter might not be right for this setup. I bought the converter originally planning on an LS swap. Either way the car is going to be a fun ride. A couple of the time slips below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted May 11, 2016 Report Share Posted May 11, 2016 still 12.4 is nothing to shake a stick at. not bad 60' either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted May 12, 2016 Report Share Posted May 12, 2016 I think I would want to keep some faux groceries in the back just because lol. After you rip someone a new one and they walk up to see what you had under the hood, they can see a bunch of groceries in the back to add insult to injury lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted May 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2016 Thanks guys for the compliments. The 60' Ryan was definitely not bad. My dad does want to mess with the secondaries on the carb to see if that will help. We are also considering taking out the trans and getting it rebuilt with just stock stuff and maybe seeing if we can get the stall on the converter to be lower than what it is. On the highway at 55mph it was screaming at 2750. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hickrocket1258 Posted June 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 After a couple times to the track and some street driving we are pulling the transmission which is basically stock, and the converter. While my dad's '69 if getting chassis work done, we are going to take it back to his place and replace with brand new TH350 trans and new converter from Select Transmissions in Long Island. I bought a converter completely wrong for this setup but it was sitting around when we were putting the car back together. Let's hope this solves that noise that we were chasing too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
