- 21 hours ago
Hot Rod Garage - Season 12 Episode 9 -
Sunday Cruiser Corvette
Sunday Cruiser Corvette
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Welcome back to
00:29Hot Rod Garage. I'm Alex Taylor and this is Lucky Costa. Hello, or I'm sorry, as you would say,
00:33hello. I forget. We have to land a plane when we start the episode. Absolutely. You want Alex to
00:39not talk? Put her in handcuffs. All right, so we have a brand new project on the show this week.
00:44It's actually a body style and a color that I don't think has ever been on the show before.
00:49That is fair to say, yes. Normally, a 56 Corvette is not in our budget. These are high dollar,
00:55high value cars. However, we found a really good deal on this one. I hope so because, well,
01:01is the rest of it going to be getting here soon? That's the whole thing. The rest of the parts didn't
01:07come with the car, but we have plenty of good stuff to put in it. But the whole problem here,
01:10as you can very clearly see, there's no engine, there's no transmission, we're missing a windshield.
01:15There's a lot of work to do, but that leaves a nice blank canvas for what we want to do with
01:20this car at some point. It kind of looks like a shark, the early one. Okay, that's fair.
01:23Sort of has that little sleaky sort of snake shark looking thing. Okay. More of a goldfish or a guppy?
01:30Guppy. A koi? It could be a koi. A koi. It's, oh, it's orange. It's white. It's kind of koi, yeah.
01:35Now, don't get me wrong. There's some really nice hot rod and radical Corvettes out there,
01:40this year model as well. But for the most part, you kind of look at it and you get the parade
01:45cruiser vibe. Very nice. Yes. I can see it now. So while that would be a lot of fun, I'd love to have
01:51lucky as the driver as I sat in the back and did my waves through the crowds.
01:56Professional parade driver. Ooh, something to add to my resume. I like it.
02:00We're switching it up because the whole guppy persona around here, the whole...
02:03So you're going to drive and I'm going to wave?
02:05No, no, no. Oh, not switching it up that far. No, we're making this parade car where it's
02:08going to ruin the parade, where we can drive it to the parade and then ruin it with a smoke
02:12show. Very classily. I like that.
02:14Yeah. So for power plant going in this, I'm going to make you say it.
02:19LS swap the world. I'll say it.
02:23Exactly what you said. We're kind of doing, you know, a little bit of a modern twist. The LS3 would
02:28have first came in the C6. We're taking that modern technology and that modern power plant. We're
02:34putting it in our C1 Corvette. It's a nice engine that's a crate engine. It's not out of the junkyard.
02:38It's all aluminum. It's got the hot cam. It's got all the good stuff. So we're sticking it in there.
02:42We're not just leaving the plastic intake. We have good parts from Holley, which kind of gives
02:46it a classic look with the modern EFI technology and power. We've got a really nice transmission
02:52to go behind it with a five speed, which leads us all the way to the back of the car to take
02:56the power that we're putting to this. We have a quick performance nine inch that should be
03:00close to a bolt in for this car. And that's complete with the dropout, the third member
03:04and axles and everything. So we have big plans for this car in the future. And at some point,
03:10you'll see it with a stance, with wheels and all that good stuff. But for now, we're putting
03:14all the performance parts and all of the necessary parts we need to get us to the nearest burn pit
03:21so we can roast some tires off this thing. Oh, no. Zero traction. Darn. How did that happen?
03:27Welcome to Hot Rod Garage. Let's get to work.
03:40So we should bring in our engine, unbox it. Then I'm going to start assembling all of that
03:46based off this table. And then you can go over there, pull gas tank out, start using your friend's
03:52Sawzall, custom exhaust. Yes. And then we can meet back up.
03:58Okay, I guess that's right.
04:00I think it's not right still.
04:01That was excessive. Uncalled for.
04:07Okay, what were the specs you gave us on this earlier?
04:10This is a 495 horsepower, 473 foot-pounds of torque. Boom.
04:19That was good.
04:20Yeah, it took me a week to memorize that.
04:22So this is an aluminum 6.2 LS3 crate engine. It is, it's a nice motor. Like, this is a good base.
04:29It's not a little LS. It's a bigger LS for being an LS.
04:33Yeah.
04:34So we have the long block here, which, as you can see, we don't have the intake. We don't have coils on.
04:40A long block would be heads to oil pan, front and back of engine. However, nothing bolt on.
04:45And then short block would be no heads, rotate and assembly block, and generally no oil pan on a short block.
04:49Okay, right.
04:50So long block is basically a motor without all the externals bolted to it.
04:53Well, now that this is unboxed, how about I take this over to our table and you can go back over there?
05:01Do you know how you asked me to leave that area?
05:02Yeah.
05:03I'm going to have to ask you to leave this area, ma'am.
05:05Can you carry this for me?
05:06I can.
05:07Come on.
05:10Come on.
05:11Ow!
05:11The owner said something to the effect of the rear panna had popped up while it was being towed and created some sort of extreme damage.
05:24We're going to see how extreme, because underneath all of that is the gas tank.
05:28The original tank, original line, original wiring, but generally these things will see a bunch of corrosion,
05:34and the sender will just sink, fail, or disintegrate inside the tank.
05:39That will, in turn, end up going inside the fuel line and clogging up the carburetor.
05:44We really can't take that chance with fuel injection.
05:46The fuel filters are between 10 microns and 100 microns,
05:51because you don't want the smallest speck of anything getting through and clogging up an injector.
05:55A lean injector or a restricted injector not only cuts down horsepower,
05:58but could create a condition that would damage the motor, like literally ruin the engine.
06:04So we get to start putting stuff on our crate engine here.
06:07It's a nice piece as is, but like we said earlier, it is a long block, so none of the accessories came on it.
06:12We do have a Holley mid-mount system to go on this,
06:15so that just means that where the water pump goes, there's accessories that come off of it,
06:19rather than having other bracketry and stuff to hold things like power steering and an alternator and things like that.
06:24So it's a really nice piece.
06:25You guys have seen us assemble it before, so to speed it up, or in an effort to speed it up,
06:29it is, we went ahead and assembled it off camera.
06:34The downside of that, while that does save time, is it is rather heavy.
06:38So this is a combination of a couple different kits, because we had them laying around,
06:42so mix and match, doesn't affect anything, it's just a look, we're trying something new.
06:45So I am going to try to finagle this.
06:50It's not going to be graceful at all, pre-warning.
06:53If you've got a friend around that can help hold things in place and lift and all that, it's good to do.
06:57It did save some time, but we do have to take some stuff apart so I can put all the bolts in.
07:01A reason to run the min-mount kit and why we usually do is, you guys know, engine bays are very tight,
07:07and usually you run out of space, even if you think you have space.
07:10So the Holley min-mount kit is really nice because it keeps everything all nice and tight and compact.
07:14They're really easy to service, and they're also very simple to install.
07:18And then you don't have all the extra bracketry of, will this fit, will that work, does this line up?
07:22Very simple, so highly suggest it.
07:24It's a nice upgrade.
07:25So I got the fuel pump installed.
07:37There's a return line built into that.
07:38You just have to cut everything with gasket in place.
07:41It was nine inches from the mounting surface to the bottom of the tank.
07:43I leave about a sixteenth of an inch, so it doesn't actually compress the filter there.
07:49You don't want it to smash and try to fight around that.
07:52Have it floating on the sending unit.
07:53You measure the mounting surface to the bottom of the tank.
07:56You cut that in half.
07:57In this case, it's exactly nine inches.
08:01Ding!
08:02Nine inches to the mounting surface.
08:04So from the O-ring, from the gasket, to the pivot point on the float.
08:10That's the screw right here.
08:11I'm going to put that at 4.5.
08:14Lock it down right there.
08:16And then when I put the float in, it will go up to the top for full and all the way to the bottom.
08:21The throw of the float will be nine inches total.
08:25Fuel pump is installed.
08:27Pickup, return line all ready to be run.
08:30I have to install a vent.
08:32I can put this outside the vehicle above the highest level of the tank.
08:35It's a little check ball.
08:37If your car were to roll over, gas will come out.
08:39You can actually hear the ball inside there.
08:41And there's a little filtration right there.
08:43Prevents dirt from going in, but allow air to.
08:46Run some lines, put in some straps, and I think I'm about done with that.
08:50Oh, look, it's lunchtime.
08:52Perfect!
08:53So we're going to go ahead and start assembling the intake.
08:54Not going to permanently mount it.
08:57I'm going to make it where we can remove it so we can drop the engine in.
08:59But now's a great time to talk about the combination that we're doing.
09:02So while we are putting a very modern motor into our classic Corvette,
09:05we wanted to give a nod to the styling of the era with a dual quad style setup.
09:10We're just going to be putting EFI throttle bodies instead of carburetors.
09:13One that we talked about going with was the stealth throttle body.
09:18So basically that's where the injector is actually inside.
09:20It looks more like a carburetor.
09:22But we wanted to do the two sitting side by side.
09:25The problem that they said is that the bowls are so big
09:27that you can't physically sit them beside each other.
09:30So a cool alternative to that, something that you don't always commonly see,
09:35are these throttle bodies that we have right here.
09:37So rather than having one that's out front or something like that, we have these.
09:40So they kind of look like a carburetor.
09:42They kind of give that look.
09:44But we'll have two like this.
09:47So you'll have one, two.
09:48Can do a different top up here.
09:50It looks kind of docile, but it's going to be more than capable of what we're wanting to do.
09:54Excited about this.
09:55So I'm going to start building it out, getting the fuel rails set up, get it all assembled.
09:59And we'll pull it back off so we can drop this in the car, but it'll be ready to go.
10:04Nice, easy mount.
10:07If you want to run an LS, but you don't want your coils right in your face,
10:11there's the option of covering them up, remote mount, or you can just own it.
10:15I hear something behind me.
10:18What's up?
10:26I'm going to act like I didn't see him.
10:35Go back to your corner, dude.
10:38Let me put all these right here for you.
10:43There you go.
10:44Okay, so this is looking pretty good.
10:48Got most of the stuff assembled as far as accessories go.
10:51Now that that lines up, I think we're past a lot of the stuff here anyways.
10:56That could be a potential fitment issue.
10:58And we've thinned out the table.
10:59Not we.
11:00You have thinned out the table quite a bit.
11:01We are swapping spark plug wires.
11:03We need to put the belt on.
11:05We're going to change the thermostat to make it run a little cooler.
11:08I just regularly do that in LSs.
11:11It runs a little bit cooler.
11:12I think I just like them better at 160, 170.
11:15So that's what we're going to do.
11:15Swap out thermostat.
11:17We have to do the steam ports.
11:19I'm waiting on a new line kit for this.
11:22Ordered a really nice one from Motion Race Works.
11:23Hard line, front to back, all four corners.
11:26Turns out this already has the rear steam ports plugged.
11:30And this is too low.
11:31The intake is too low to run that kit.
11:32So we're waiting on the new kit.
11:34But once that's here, I think I'm done.
11:36I'm done assembling stuff.
11:37I think this thing's good to go.
11:39Yep.
11:39And then this is not mounted just yet because we're going to lift that up to drop this in
11:44the car.
11:44But first, we have something else to do.
11:47Oh, transmission.
11:48Transmission, yes.
11:48Transmission, flywheel, and clutch.
11:50All that.
11:51Yeah.
11:51So we're going to assemble it all together, do that on the bench, and then mount this to
11:55that.
11:55We're having a marriage ceremony.
11:56We haven't had that in a while.
11:58Whoa, whoa, whoa.
11:58We just met a couple episodes ago.
12:00No, one, that's a lot.
12:01A couple seasons ago.
12:02Two, that's not what I'm talking about.
12:04We're not looking for that sort of obligation.
12:06We have to.
12:07Pair those two together, and then we're going to drop it all in in one fail swoop, right?
12:12And then we still have a lot more to do.
12:13What is that?
12:14Drop it in.
12:15No, we're going to sweep it in.
12:18Yeah, we're going to shoot it right in.
12:20Yeah.
12:20Okay.
12:21All right, this is our 56 Corvette behind us.
12:31Not something you would think that you would see on the show, but it came to us needing
12:34a lot of work, and that's exactly how we can afford it.
12:37We want to take this out to a burn pit near us and roast the tires.
12:40And that is going to happen with our new transmission right here.
12:43So this is our trimming five-speed that we got from American Powertrain.
12:47They'll send you a packet from bell housing to transmission with all the parts in between
12:51to make it fit.
12:52So upcoming, I have a little bit more button-up work to do on our engine.
12:56Lucky is working on the fuel system.
12:58He's already got the new tank dropped in the car.
13:00We are going EFI with this because it's LS, and we have Holley goodness to do.
13:05Then I'm going to start assembling all of this and getting it ready to pair with our engine.
13:10I think we're actually a lot closer than it seems to dropping all this in the car behind us.
13:15Okay, so time for some fuel.
13:17What I'm trying to do here is start from the back and work my way forward.
13:21We've already installed the pump inside the tank.
13:24What comes after the pump is going to be obviously fuel line and a fuel filter.
13:28This has a pump inside the tank.
13:30We don't have to worry about a filter, so 100 microns on the frame rail.
13:33Fuel lines to the front.
13:35We also have to run a return line.
13:37This is a return-style system.
13:38I'm going to be mounting a fuel pressure regulator in the engine compartment.
13:41There is a spring inside here.
13:43Heat affects the way springs work.
13:44You put it next to the exhaust, your fuel pressure is going to change.
13:47So make sure that's in a nice, cool spot.
13:49And then I'm going to route lines from there to the fuel injection rail,
13:54and then the return line at the bottom back to the tank.
13:57So two lines from the back to the front with a filter and a regulator.
14:00Let's build lines.
14:02This is going to be a blast.
14:05All right, bell housing bolted up.
14:07Got four bolts on it just to make sure that way it's centered where it's going to land.
14:11All good.
14:12So now what I have here is my magnetic-based dial indicator.
14:15There's four measurements we need.
14:16We need the 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 9 o'clock position.
14:21And those measurements are going to help you tell how well aligned the crankshaft in your engine
14:25and the input shaft in your transmission will be.
14:27Misalignment, while it's rare, can cause all sorts of problems in wear.
14:31So you want to make sure these measurements are right,
14:33and if they're not, you want to fix them.
14:34So I'm going to start at the 12 o'clock position.
14:36Nothing is going to hit as it spins,
14:38because as the engine rotates, this is all going to rotate as well.
14:42So the dial indicator is just going to roll on the inside of this opening.
14:45We're going to take four different measurements,
14:47then we'll do a little bit of math to make sure that this hole basically is going to be centered.
14:51That way our transmission is centered.
14:53Okay, so I'm going to set this dial indicator at zero here.
14:58Okay, can you roll, please?
15:01Okay, slow, slow, slow.
15:05Stop.
15:0612 o'clock is zero.
15:07That is 369.
15:089 o'clock is negative 1,000th.
15:13Okay, keep going.
15:15So one of our horizontal runout numbers for the 3 o'clock position was a positive 0.0015.
15:21That's 1.5 thousandths.
15:22Our other number at 9 o'clock was a negative 1,000th.
15:25So the difference in those two is 2.5 thousandths.
15:28We're going to divide that by 2, because that's what your true runout number is,
15:32and that's going to be 1.25 thousandths.
15:34For our vertical, our 12 o'clock was zero, because that's where we started,
15:37and our 6 o'clock was three thousandths.
15:39The difference in zero to three is three thousandths.
15:42Divide that by two.
15:43That's one and a half thousandths.
15:44Which, good news, means that we are intolerant,
15:47because the Tremec transmission can have a tolerance of plus or minus 5,000ths.
15:52American Powertrain, your instructions rock,
15:54but we are on to the next piece, which is the clutch assembly.
15:59Moved on to hydraulic clutch.
16:02I was just over there checking out what Alex is doing,
16:03putting in the clutch and the bell housing in play and hydraulic throttle bearing.
16:08Way too much arithmetic for me.
16:10I came back over here where I could potentially use a sawzall and a small hammer.
16:13I'm going to mount a hydraulic master cylinder just for the clutch.
16:18It's going to go from the factory clutch pedal, which is right there,
16:21to where this will mount through the firewall.
16:24Originally, there was a hard rod that went from the clutch.
16:27When you depressed it, it pushed down through the firewall and hit the Z bar,
16:32which converted forward motion into rearward motion to depress the clutch, mechanical clutch.
16:38We're going full hydraulic.
16:39This will bolt right to the firewall.
16:42This is the correct angle to go right from the stock pedal.
16:45When you push down, it will depress the hydraulic master cylinder,
16:49then forcing hydraulic fluid into a hydraulic throttle bearing and compressing the clutch inside.
16:55It will go from driving a Mack truck to literally shifting like a Honda.
16:59It's that smooth.
17:01Super easy to drive.
17:03No stress.
17:04It's not leg day every time we get in the Corvette.
17:06This will be nice.
17:07I'm sure the people driving it, me and Alex, will appreciate it.
17:13Okay, so does this all measure up?
17:14It does.
17:15We have 175 thousands clearance.
17:17We don't need a bunch of arithmetic.
17:19Yes, it measures up.
17:20All right, cool.
17:21Glad we got that sorted.
17:22It's going to ruin this whole...
17:23I say that.
17:24I know.
17:25Look up a little more, right about there.
17:29I can't see.
17:31Okay, that's lined up.
17:32That's a little bit.
17:33There, you're going.
17:34There's this muscle right here I don't hardly ever use.
17:40We're good?
17:41Did the thing so bad?
17:42Yeah.
17:43All right.
17:53So we got accessories on the coils.
17:55We have everything ready on the intake.
17:57Once that's actually in the car for the final time, we'll put the intake on.
18:00In addition to that, our LS3 got to meet our Tremec five-speed here, which is a really great pairing.
18:06Over on my side, I've got the hydraulic clutch all installed.
18:09I've got the fuel lines run, the tanks installed, the pump.
18:12Everything's ready.
18:12That thing is ready for this puppy to go right in.
18:15That would be a C1 and a C6 are going to see you doing burnouts in the...
18:22I forgot what we were doing with that, but the C1 and the C6, though.
18:25That's a fact.
18:26But remember that we're going to go ahead and swap the oil pan.
18:29They actually shipped this with oil, so we're going to drain it out.
18:31We'll swap the pan out, put the motor mounts on.
18:34And once we get that in, we can move on to the rear end, which means we can get all the power that we're making to the back tires.
18:40We got our wolf and sheep's clothing, and then we can head to the burn pit and make some smoke.
18:46Wolf and sheep.
18:47I get it.
18:47Big engine.
18:48Nice car.
18:49Yeah.
18:49Yeah.
18:50Okay.
18:50All right.
18:51Draining oil.
18:52Better rain.
18:53I think that's more of a four.
18:55It's going to take a minute.
18:56We'll let that sit there.
19:01All right.
19:01So it's finally time to test fit this.
19:03For the most part, everything's gone together really smoothly.
19:06So the next thing that we have to figure out here is we have these engine mounts.
19:10We got these engine mounts from Mark's chassis, who also supplied us with a full front crossmember to replace this outdated factory steering.
19:17We're not going to get to that right now, but these mounts will at least get our motor in the right place.
19:21So we'll see if that works out very shortly.
19:23If it does, we can get to actually tacking them in.
19:26But now we have to stuff all this goodness into this goodness.
19:31Going in.
19:33This is a terrible idea.
19:35This is never going to go.
19:36Hey, hop in there and crank that puppy around.
19:40Okay.
19:41That's good.
19:42Now stand on the transmission.
19:44Stand on it.
19:45It's so sketchy.
19:50Okay, now don't let it spin.
19:56We feel good?
19:57Stop.
19:58Yep.
19:58Are we good on the firewall?
20:00Yep.
20:05Did you hear that hit?
20:07Did you hear that?
20:07I didn't hear it either.
20:09We didn't hit nothing.
20:10American Powertrain has the shifter in the exact location where it should mount directly into this C1.
20:16Right, which is offset the one side and a little bit further back than your standard shifter.
20:20So we're using that as our reference point for how far back this needs to be to work with everything else,
20:26which hopefully means that our engine mounts will work if we can move it back far enough.
20:32Right now, on that side, it looks like the steering could potentially be an issue,
20:36but we're trying not to panic yet.
20:38Let's just push our luck.
20:39Further back.
20:40Oh, I would love to push my luck.
20:42Ah, ah, ah, ah.
20:46Well, hello there.
20:47Welcome to Hot Rod Garage.
20:48One of the problems you're going to have is motor mounts.
20:51This motor mount welds to the frame on the driver's side.
20:54Also on the driver's side, in the exact same location,
20:57there's a steering limiter for this old antiquated steering that needs to be replaced.
21:01For now, we're just going to cut a little piece that's supposed to prevent the steering arm from going over limit.
21:07And I'm going to use the end of this motor mount as the new limiter for the steering.
21:12So, um, is there a limit?
21:14I believe there is no limit today.
21:16Put a bolt in the mount.
21:20Go back the other way.
21:22Right there.
21:22Oh, nice.
21:23Stop right there.
21:25Perfect.
21:26So we have a good plan for what we're doing right now.
21:29Lucky's under there doing some very precise incisions.
21:32So one of our hesitations was we didn't want to do work that we're going to have to redo
21:35just to put our March chassis front suspension kit, which is really nice, in at a later point.
21:41We didn't have to want to go back and then do it again, do it again, whatever.
21:43So we're looking at the option of using that.
21:45It looks like it's going to fit.
21:47It looks very nice in there.
21:49I think minor modification required.
21:51But we're on the right track.
21:54Okay, Alex.
21:55So you're driving down Fagoria Street, dodging old motorhomes.
21:58Okay.
21:58Hard left.
22:00Stop.
22:01Hard right.
22:02Okay.
22:03Hard left.
22:05Stop.
22:05There's a curb.
22:06Darn.
22:06Okay, right there.
22:07That's it.
22:08Go a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more.
22:10And stop.
22:11Okay.
22:12So that's the spot right there that it will stop the steering.
22:15And as I look, the steering wheel is just barely brushing the fiberglass inner wheel well.
22:21So that is the spot that it's supposed to be.
22:23I feel good about that.
22:30So that was a good time laying under the car upside down.
22:33We did get the trans-cross member in.
22:35The transmission, the shifter, all that is centered and where it should be.
22:39Generally, we're like, well, I hope there's enough room in the front.
22:41We went straight to the back, bolted that stuff up, and then just sort of moved it around
22:47until it was where it needed to be.
22:49That's a fact, which leads us to the point that we are at a really big moment, where now
22:53our engine and transmission can suspend itself in our C1 56 Corvette.
22:58We have made a wolf's and sheep closing.
23:00We have something that we're going to ruin our parade rather than have a parade car because
23:04we have every intention of smoking the tires.
23:07So it is finally the point where we get to take this cherry picker off of this and see
23:13our engine and transmission hanging on its own.
23:16From there, we have lots of work.
23:17We get to wire the holly.
23:18We get to put a Ford 9-inch in the back.
23:20And we are actually pretty close to seeing this thing in motion.
23:25So lots of good stuff coming up.
23:26Are you ready to do it?
23:28Oh, yeah.
23:28You have been set free.
23:33This thing is standalone.
23:36That's actually nice.
23:37It fits in there nicely.
23:38Hello.
23:40Whoa, that's crazy.
23:41I was just wiping small amounts of debris and dust off of these amazing heads.
23:46So this gives kind of an old school feel.
23:48The two by four, even Holly says it's not quite as popular.
23:51I think it's going to be pretty neat.
23:53Basically, this is just like having two throttle bodies.
23:56You still have eight injectors, one injector for each one, and you have a throttle plate for each hole.
24:01Perfect.
24:02Once we get the air cleaner set up on there, it's going to also look really nice.
24:05Big old gold velocity stacks with a bug catcher in the front.
24:09That defeats the purpose.
24:12Good point.
24:14Okay, so if you recall, just the other day, I did go ahead and fabricate these lines and put all the fittings on the lines
24:22from the fuel pump to the front, including the regulator, which is mounted right here with the gauge on it.
24:28And let's just see if I was guessing.
24:31I mean, carefully calculating the location of the fuel rails.
24:35So this is going to go right here.
24:39There will be a block-off plate on the firewall right here.
24:41This will then go on a bracket and get mounted right there.
24:44I'm going to whip up one more line right now that will go from here directly over to there.
24:49Oh, my goodness.
24:50This is going to look amazing.
24:52All right, we have done a lot of work to our 56 Corvette, and we've put a lot of good parts.
24:56We have our LS3 crate engine that has an American powertrain Tremec 5-speed behind it.
25:02But that means that we cannot stop short at the rear end.
25:05So right now, it just has the stock 56 Corvette rear end in it.
25:08I can't say enough about Quick Performance.
25:11So they got us set up with their Ford 9-inch housing.
25:13We had it powder-coated, nice and shiny black to match our car.
25:16With a third member with 370 gears, they got us set up with axles.
25:20So basically, it is supposed to just bolt right in.
25:22It's the stock width of our 56 Corvette.
25:24So that's coming up.
25:25We have our Holley to wire up.
25:27We have some hoses to connect, shifter to install.
25:29Then we're about to fire it up and absolutely roast the tires off of this very classy C1 vent.
25:38Okay, we are so close to getting our 56 Corvette running into a burn pit near us.
25:45You're getting ready to work on exhaust right here?
25:48I am exhausted.
25:49Not yet, but you will be.
25:51Absolutely true.
25:52Yeah, so we have exhaust coming up.
25:53And then the biggest and last component to finish this version of our build out
25:58is that we are swapping in a Quick Performance 9-inch.
26:02So while Lucky works on exhaust, we're going to go ahead and start getting this dropped down.
26:07Right on time.
26:08He's going up there.
26:09I'm going to be back here.
26:10And we're making good progress.
26:12Hey, have you apologized to this tire yet?
26:14No.
26:14You should.
26:15It's to come.
26:15So Quick Performance actually set us everything that we need to put this back together back here,
26:31including drum brakes.
26:32A couple more nuts to take off, lower this down onto the stands,
26:36then wrangle it out the side and get ready to put the new one in.
26:41One way to do it.
26:43Lucky!
26:44Hello.
26:44Hello.
26:45I need two eyes back here while I'm up there because we are unlevel.
26:49Why'd you flip it all over?
26:51I'm going to fight you.
26:53Come on, slide it over.
26:59I have to say, I love new parts.
27:02Okay, I'm going to see if I can lift this by myself.
27:04The housing is in.
27:24It looks good.
27:26Check the tightness by hand in just a second.
27:28But, let's say it fits.
27:39My right foot is stomping.
27:45Hi there.
27:46OK.
27:47OK.
27:48OK, so when you get a new housing, you got to put studs in.
27:50And they don't always, you know, if they're just going just a little bit different direction,
27:53then it makes it a little bit hard initially to put this on, but not a big deal.
27:57You grab your jack.
27:59You grab your muscles.
28:02Another stud.
28:03And then you line it up.
28:06Watch my digits.
28:08Going right in.
28:09Yeah, it's going.
28:10Going right in.
28:11Third member is installed.
28:13You might have noticed that this doesn't have a gasket.
28:16Quake Performance recommends just to run RTV instead of a gasket.
28:19So just put some sealer on there, bolt this up, torque it down.
28:22We'll make sure the studs are all seated.
28:24Then it's going to be axle time and then brake time.
28:28All right.
28:29So axle seals are in.
28:30Lucky helped me with that.
28:31Loaded backing plates.
28:32Not mad at that.
28:33Thank you, Quake, for sending those over too.
28:36We have had a lot of cars with drum brakes lately.
28:39And I'm OK not having to do all that assembly.
28:42OK.
28:43So these go on.
28:44We'll put axles in.
28:45And then we're going to have a nine inch sooner rather than later.
28:4831 spline.
28:49Good news.
28:50Oof.
28:51In the future, we are going to do disc brakes all the way around.
28:54Right now, it still has drum brakes on the front.
28:56So you can't do a disc brake in the rear.
29:01Whoa.
29:02What?
29:03What?
29:04I had a dream that I was a horse.
29:06I said, whoa.
29:09Rear end housing is in.
29:10Third member is in.
29:12We have axles in.
29:13Backing plates in.
29:14Emergency cables hooked up.
29:15The only thing left is running the brake line back here.
29:19Connecting that up.
29:20Put the drums on.
29:21Blade the brakes.
29:22Easy, quick, good, quick.
29:24Get it?
29:25Quick upgrade.
29:26And then it's on to wiring.
29:28Shifter.
29:29Start up.
29:33I've gone ahead and pulled the harness.
29:35We've punched the hole through the tunnel.
29:36It's in a low position that is low enough you can't see from outside,
29:41like from the engine bay, because you don't want a big old harness
29:43coming right through the middle of the firewall.
29:45But it's in a good position where it's going to dip out,
29:47lay right on top of the transmission,
29:49go right up to the fuel injection,
29:51be inconspicuous, yet functional.
29:55Like myself.
30:09Shifter's in.
30:10This is another piece from American Powertrain
30:12to fit with this swap.
30:14We actually pulled the cover off and looked at it,
30:16and it's basically just a piece that steps the shifter over to the side
30:19and just kind of controls it from over here,
30:21even though the linkage is right in the center.
30:23So it's a really nice upgrade if you have one of these cars.
30:25That way you don't have to cut your car up.
30:26It can stay in stock location.
30:28Pretty nice.
30:29So it is in.
30:30It is functioning.
30:31At some point, once the carpet and everything gets changed,
30:34this needs to be more secured down.
30:36But you get the gist.
30:37I am just doing this one short little bar with himes on either side,
30:42and I want to see where we're going to cut the stock linkage.
30:45Luckily, there's plenty enough to trim here.
30:47If we move this down a little bit, it's going to give us a lot more throw,
30:50put the pedal in a more comfortable position,
30:52and give us plenty of room for an air cleaner.
30:54Gas pedal rod has been shortened up by about an inch.
30:59Shall we give it a test?
31:00We shall.
31:04That actually feels really good.
31:06Is that okay?
31:07Cool.
31:08Yeah, it's got, like, it's not too hard to push,
31:09and it feels like it's actually got travel now
31:11because it didn't have travel.
31:12It feels a little more progressive, too.
31:13Yeah.
31:14I pushed it down all the way past a little pivot point.
31:16Okay, I like that.
31:17All right, so it steers?
31:19Yep.
31:20Gas pedal works?
31:21Yep.
31:22You know what?
31:23Those are the two things that we really need to make power.
31:27Fuel pump?
31:28Yeah.
31:29We're going to hotwire that.
31:30Gas tank's in.
31:31There's gas in the gas tank.
31:32The battery's in.
31:33We have voltage.
31:34It will crank over.
31:35Spark plug wires.
31:36Fluids of the one, two, three.
31:37Forts.
31:38Coolant.
31:39And I think we could crank this thing over and upset our neighbors.
31:42I think that's a great idea.
31:44You know what?
31:45That's what donuts are for.
31:46We can buy their forgiveness.
31:48Screen comes to life.
31:50I can't see it.
31:51Not yet.
31:52Yes, it is now.
31:53Okay.
31:54The lights are on the ECU.
31:55Okay.
31:56You got throttle?
31:57Yep.
32:05That's how you do it right there.
32:06That's good.
32:07So when we first started it, it idled high.
32:10800, 1,000 RPM, maybe 1,200.
32:12Because it's designed to do that through the coolant temp sensor.
32:15And now it's gone to 550 RPM, which is where we stand at the idle.
32:20A couple of things.
32:21We have two throttle bodies.
32:22So it sounds a little crazy like the blow dryer's on.
32:25Because only one idle air control motor is controlling the actual idle.
32:29The other one's wide open.
32:30So we're going to go in.
32:31Things we're going to learn as we go along.
32:33We're going to go in and close that front IAC motor.
32:36All right.
32:37So it starts up.
32:38It's not refined.
32:39It is not refined.
32:40But that's okay.
32:41For a first start, that's great.
32:42Yeah.
32:43So before we really like lay onto it and rev it up and all that.
32:46Plus it's a brand new motor.
32:47Right.
32:48I'd love to plug an actual laptop up and see what's going on vital wise.
32:52We have a couple more sensors we need to hook up like oil pressure transducer and fuel pressure transducer.
32:57Mm-hmm.
32:58We need to get our drive shaft in.
32:59It's ordered.
33:00It should be here.
33:01Right.
33:02We have to put a door back on.
33:03Put seats.
33:04You know, very minor stuff.
33:05Right.
33:06Just wrapping the car up.
33:07But overall, we did a lot of work this week.
33:08Yeah.
33:09Compared to the way this thing showed up in the beginning of the week, it wasn't even on life support.
33:12It was actually on the donor list.
33:14Oh, it was a flat liner.
33:15It was on the transplant list.
33:16Absolute flat liner.
33:17It had no engine.
33:18It had no transmission.
33:20I have to say, really impressed with how all of this swap went together.
33:24All the companies that we worked with on this.
33:26Not in a salesy way, but I highly recommend anybody that we worked with on this for you guys to check out.
33:31Because this was the easiest swap that we've done in a long time.
33:37Technically, from Boneyard to Streetable, because we could have this completely drivable at the end of the day.
33:44Plus one door.
33:45Yeah.
33:46Four or five days, you're driving on the street.
33:48We just have a few things to do, and then as soon as it's done, we will see you guys at the burn pit.
33:54The tires will hopefully be begging for mercy, and our LS3 will be screaming, and so will Lucky.
34:01That is a strong point right there.
34:07So while C1 Corvettes were originally introduced as muscle cars and performance, they have now become more of a collector car.
34:19A Sunday cruiser, if you will.
34:21Something that you don't take out and just hammer and beat on.
34:24However, we're doing exactly that.
34:27Absolutely.
34:28You would never see this car on the left lane of the freeway driving it up at the speed limit.
34:33It was always in the right or on the coast, polished and shiny.
34:37Now that's all about the change.
34:38Now while there are some exceptions and there are some C1 Corvettes out there that are performance, for the most part, you don't think of them like that.
34:46You think of them as that Sunday cruiser.
34:48So we are joining that side of the party.
34:51We ordered up a LS3 crate engine, which C6 Corvettes or Camaros at the time had, and we stuck it in this, which is a lot more power to car, I have to say.
35:00Absolutely.
35:01The engine management is all Holley.
35:03It's not one four barrel, it's two four barrels.
35:06Because where you can put one, you can generally put another one, right?
35:08Yeah.
35:09And then that feeds an American powertrain transmission, which is going to handle all the horsepower this thing can make.
35:13And then we had to make sure we could get all that power to the ground, so we put a quick performance nine inch in the back.
35:19That's going to be a great recipe for lots of tire smoke.
35:23See, I didn't say one tire fire, but a lot of tire smoke.
35:26You mean fire.
35:27Whatever floats your boat.
35:28All right.
35:29So the weak link is going to be the rear wheels.
35:31Hopefully.
35:32Cool.
35:33I don't know how straight this car is going to go.
35:35We actually have not test driven this car before, because if you remember, it came in with an engine out, and since then we haven't taken it out and cruised it around.
35:42Right.
35:43The other thing, too, is we have a drag strip right there.
35:45So we are here.
35:46We are at Irwindale, but we are not at the drag strip this time.
35:49Today, we're going to be doing something different than we normally do here.
35:52We need to drive it around a little bit, but once again, I don't know how confident I am with it going straight.
35:56That's a lot of straight.
35:57I do know it'll do a circle.
35:59Anything will do a circle.
36:00Are you a salesman?
36:01Because that's a great sales pit.
36:02Come on down to Circle Land.
36:03We're giving them away.
36:04By giving them away, we mean we have donuts calling our name right after we go drive through the pits and get a little bit of heat in this rear end, get a little bit of feel for the car, and then this is going into a burn pit.
36:14So that way, it can see it's a whole new lifestyle of high horsepower and good times in a place that doesn't necessarily belong.
36:31We have brakes?
36:33We have one left brake.
36:34One.
36:35One left front brake.
36:37We'll check this again here.
36:40Yep.
36:41One left front brake.
36:43Looks like you're going to be on the left.
36:45Donuts will be to the left.
36:46Yeah.
36:47Is the heater on for you?
36:50It's very much so on.
36:52So the electric fans just came on.
36:54So it's sucking all the hot air out of the radiator and blowing it over the headers to make it a little warmer.
37:00Yeah.
37:01And then blowing it through the 14 inch by 12 inch hole in the firewall directly on Alex's legs.
37:06Yeah.
37:07Riding them up the pace.
37:08I actually really like it though.
37:11Yeah, it doesn't suck.
37:12Are you prepping?
37:13I am.
37:15This is a barrel racing right now.
37:17We are so going to get kicked out.
37:24All right, we're over in the burn pit.
37:26So this is going to be really interesting.
37:28If you guys know how this works, Lucky will be gas brake, clutch, all of that at the same time.
37:33And something about that's a little sketch.
37:35The power to the car, little sketch.
37:38The fact that the walls are like this in a box and have a lot of consequences, a little sketch.
37:43And if there's one thing I've learned at Hot Rod Garage, is that if you are driving when it broke, think you are at home.
37:50And I don't want to be a bomb.
37:52I'm a little bit more in control.
37:54This is chaos.
37:55However, Lucky is coming up next.
37:58We'll see how he does.
38:10All right, it is time.
38:11We are bringing our C1 Corvette with an LS3 crate engine to the burn pit.
38:15We're bringing our Sunday cruiser into the middle of chaos.
38:18Lucky is driving.
38:19It could be good.
38:20It could be bad.
38:21We've only got a really short test drive.
38:23We have some sketchy brakes.
38:24But I have confidence.
38:25He'll do good.
38:26Here I am.
38:32Ooh, easy there.
38:33Easy there.
38:34Come on.
38:35I'm up.
38:36I'm up.
38:37Woo!
38:45I'm up.
39:10Lucky is absolutely killing it.
39:12This is right up his alley.
39:14We love Slows and Burnout.
39:16That is the Sunday Cruiser.
39:19That is the chaos of the parade.
39:21And that's exactly what we wanted.
39:23I'm so proud of him.
39:24Look at him making clouds.
39:33Hello.
39:34That was awesome.
39:35That was cool, huh?
39:36That did so good.
39:37Definitely was a good time right there, for sure.
39:39It was one of those where, like, as you were entering, like, it looked so good,
39:43because it had, like, you had tire smoke.
39:45But then, like, initially it turned.
39:46I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no.
39:47And then they're like, cheer him on.
39:48And then you're just like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
39:50Professional wrist ride driver?
39:51Go on.
39:53Keep telling me.
39:54This is where I stop compliments on him.
39:56Actually, you know what?
39:57I'm not joking.
39:58We should look at the left rear quarter panel.
40:02Seriously.
40:04Oh, my gosh.
40:05Really?
40:06Yeah.
40:07There's a huge scratch.
40:08I hit the wall.
40:09So is it really?
40:10Oh, OK.
40:11When I first came in and started to kick around, and I started to creep out, I was just like,
40:25well, it shouldn't be turning this much right now.
40:27And then I felt a little bump.
40:29No, it was something in the track.
40:30All right.
40:31But I had you, right?
40:32Oh, you did.
40:33I was just like, meh.
40:34No, it was good.
40:35OK.
40:36OK.
40:37We did figure out, as good as it performed, it does need some upgrades.
40:40It does.
40:41We didn't break anything.
40:42We don't need to replace anything that we may be damaged here.
40:45I don't think this is the last time that this thing is going to get the beans.
40:48No, we need brakes, cooling system.
40:50Oh, yeah, brakes.
40:51Suspension.
40:52Steering.
40:53All that steering.
40:54All that good stuff.
40:55It has just stock 1956 steering mechanism on here.
41:00Yeah.
41:01So there's plenty to upgrade.
41:02But I can say that we definitely have a really good base to start from now.
41:06Absolutely.
41:07And I believe there's some more stuff for this car.
41:09There's other stuff available.
41:10There's some stuff for this car.
41:12Let's put this thing away and do something else.
41:15Yeah, I say, put it up while it's still happy and running.
41:18We'll do our upgrades.
41:19But I think we can go watch some of that action over there.
41:22What do the kids say?
41:23I don't know.
41:24We're going to watch them fools?
41:26Watch them.
41:27We're going to go watch them fools with some tire smoke.
41:30Oh, wait.
41:31Can I get a park?
41:32You can't leave it here.
41:33All right.
41:34I'm good.
41:35This guy.
41:38All right.
41:39So I'd say that was a success for our Corvettes.
41:42I am a professional donut hole.
41:45Donut hole.
41:46You are a professional donut.
41:48A professional donut connoisseur.
41:51I'm a donut artist.
41:52I'm a donut artist.
41:53I'm a donut artist.
41:54That's fair.
41:55All right.
41:56So we have plenty to do today.
41:58But I would say what we have that was very successful.
42:01So we have a couple people to thank.
42:03Holly.
42:04Absolutely, Holly.
42:05Quick Performance.
42:06American Powertrain.
42:07American Powertrain.
42:08Mac at Ganderin Chevrolet.
42:09Yeah, yeah.
42:10And Irwindale.
42:11Irwindale Speedway.
42:12Beautiful Irwindale, California.
42:13That's here.
42:14That's here.
42:15All right.
42:16It's very chaotic.
42:17We're clawing in a day.
42:19We'll have the Corvette back at some point.
42:21That leads me to ask, do you have social media?
42:24I do have social media.
42:25Thank you so much for asking.
42:26You're welcome.
42:27I'm Mobile Tech Lucky on all the platforms.
42:29Do you have social media?
42:30I do.
42:31I'm Alex Taylor Racing, and we are Hot Rock Rock.
42:33Yes, we are.
42:34And Hot Rock Rock, thanks for buying that vent.
42:36Big mistake.
42:37Big mistake.
Be the first to comment