It has been wild the last couple weeks. I've been helping Nick and Dave, limitedly, get ready for Sick Week 2025 in-between working on my own car. The shop car, Last Penny, has had pretty much everything you can do to it done in literally 1 month: fabrication, paint, body, engine, wiring... They have a YT channel under DiehlBrothersRacing if you want to check the whole thing out.
https://www.youtube.com/@Diehl_brothers_racing
Now back to my slow azz build... A deal fell through on getting the Tick Performance upper intake so I'm going to stick with the Shearer Fab plenum and cut my hood. That's fine because I really like the Shearer Fab and it's a known quantity at this point, meaning I know what items need to change. That being said, all the injectors were loaded into the plenum. Sometime last year all the injectors were sent out for cleaning and flow testing. Didn't really make sense not to have them gone through. The specific injectors being used are Bosch 210lb injectors, that's something like 2200cc. All the threads were chased on the fuel rail because they got slightly messed up ******* around with the twin intake due to the lack of room. Easy fix.
The rear steam vents on a 243 LS heads are blocked off by factory compared to the 799 heads I had on previously (same casting, different number). The ports were drilled out but the bit managed to get the side of the surface so I used epoxy putty to get the surface right. When I put the steam vent into the hole it had a perfect tight fit. The local hardware store had a door hinge which was the perfect size of the hole which allowed me to pack the putty in. I bought an assortment of fittings that will work with my steam vent and 417 Motorsports water manifold. More to come on that next post. However, thought needs to be given well in advance for all the lines or else I will be in a bind. After the plenum went back on I noticed that the return line no longer fits under the lower plenum. A tight 90 was used for that, which isn't ideal for flow... but it's the packaging I have to deal with.
I feel it's safe to say the accessories on the car are perfect now. ATI sent me a truck spacing hub that allowed me to swap out F body (Camaro) balancer spacing. Truck spacing allows for the full sized alt to sit up top with out hitting the valve covers, showed that in my previous post. Out with the old hub and in with the new. That's not to say bumpers were along the way. The flywheel needed to be locked into place, a thick wall impact socket required to blast off the balancer bolt, hub removal wedged the tool into the crank so a slide hammer was needed to get it out.
BUT....
End result was worth it. The accessory drive now consists of a single BAD AZZ 400amp alt that has had the mathematics worked out so it can spin 9,000rpm. The pulley on the alt is larger so that it doesn't exceed 18,000rpm. The tensioner from Dirty Dingo is oversized for maximum pressure on the belt. Best of all.... there's no power steering pump in sight. The vision is taking shape!
Last thought... I added lights to the garage so I can see the front of the car easier.
