BritishV8 Forum

Straight above would be great.
Thx, Alan

This is Kens photo of his T56 transmission placement. Going by the 2 stress bends on the floor boards in reference to the reverse lockout solenoid position, Kens and my T56 placement is very close to the same placement.





This photo shows the same placement for reference for this swap. Sent this photo to Alan, and the ones below also.



Another veiw.



This photo shows just how far the solenoid does stick out.



Note* The T56 placement where Ken and I have, put's the T56 shifter 8 1/2 " back from the stock position, and give +/- 1/4" or so.

This photo shows the firewall bracket that was made out of aluminum for the air conditioning evaporator mount. Used 2 original firewall mounting bolt holes on the outside bolts(bent aluminum plate), and the one in the center was drilled and taped for mounting evaporator. The five holes under the plate will be filled in. They will not be used.
 
You can also see the red factory primer used here along the body seams. Used a putty knife to remove the old tar substance from the factory that sealed up the body seams. Used sprits solvent cleaner with rag and wipe down all the seams to get the rest of the tar sealer off. Will use modern seam sealer and re- seal all body seams.




This aluminum bracket will be the front mount for the evaporator. Used anlge aluminum, drilled hole and bolted to the under dash(original heater mounting hole on driver side), drilled and taped for evaporator mount. The large hole will be blocked off for the original vent hole with a plate and self tapping screws(will seal off well, no leaking allowed here).



This photo shows passenger side inner fender where the hood rod bracket was (bracket holds up engine compartment hood). Used sawsall to cut off old bracket and smoothed out for new one to be welded on. Somewhere in an ealier posting a photo shows this bracket was ripped upward, was rusting from a front end hit from someone that had this car before me.



New hood bracket sitting on inner fender. The factory brazed this bracket on. Also it looks like the force of the impact ran something into the brace with the hole in it (where the yellow paint is missing and showing rust, about 4" to the right of the black bracket in photo), on the inner vertical panel.

Another veiw of hood latch placement before welding.




Next 3 photos, it's welded on and cleaned up with small cutting wheel using a Dremel tool.
Need to drill small hole for screw that holds the rubber back block for the long rod stay to ride accross when closing the hood.






Can bend this thin metal by hand to look more square, in the end results I did.

A 1/4" NPT threaded aluminum bung that I'm dreading to install in the radiator. This bung is for the LS1 steam vent relief hose. It needs to be tig welded in the side tank under the overflow barbed fitting. I'm a little nervous but jumped right into tha task that needed to be done.



Positioned where it should go and traced a line around the bung. used my wet/dry vac extention and clamped it close to the bung. When the hole is being drilled out, the vac will be on to suck most of the shavings to prevent going into the radiator.







Drilled the hole with my Dremel tool and different bits to achieve a 750 thousands diameter hole. Used a wire brush in the dremel tool to clean aluminum area and bung to tig weld. Stuffed some fuel line into the wet/dry vac extention, then proceeded to vac out inside all the shavings that did end up in the radiator(not much went in).

OK the bung in with a swig to help the nerves, proceeded to tig weld the bung in.



Tig welding in a circle was kind of fun. I'm not a professional tig welder for sure, but I think it will hold pressure and not leak.








Both fittings in. Radiator good to go. I had dreamed and slept on this task several nights before doing it, and I'm happy with the end results. I believe this will work like the original Camaro radiator.


Note* Griffin radiator by the looks, tank thickness was about 80 or so thousands thick.

Will explain photos soon! Work still has my time.


OK,....was able to mount the condensor on the bottom using the same 2 bolt holes that hold the radiator bracket. I used angle aluminum, drilled the 2 holes in the correct spot on one side, then tig welded a 2" strip of aluminum to raise the condensor up, so aluminum brackets could be made for the top, to hold both radiator, and condensor with the same brackets. Will show brackets for the top and bottom in the next post.



This photo shows the Air Cleaner with the mass air flow sensor all in one. Took the MAF apart that came with the Z28 air box, theres 2 flat aluminum plates on either side of the MAF. Sent the MAF and the front plate ( the plate closest to the air cleaner) to Street & Performance. S&P polished the front plate and assembled the air cleaner together with the MAF. S&P also put a threaded hole in the back for a screw in air temp sensor, which the Z28 has it located in the plastic air tube housing. A "Bling" kind of looking air cleaner. I'm hoping the air is not to hot with this setup from the radiator.


The air cleaner goes over the throtle body and seals up inside to a large O-ring. The cleaner is held on with 2 allen set screws. I like the LS1 engraving on the front cover.


The air cleaner sticks out only 4" total. You can order the air filter in 4 different widths.

Some very simple C channel aluminum brackets with slots cut to hold condensor, and allen screw/aircraft nut on either ends.



The original Z28 steam vent hose aligns up very nice to the bung that was tig welded in with it's formed curves.


As Jim Blackwood has explained in an earlier post, steam hoses need to be higher than the heads where it connects to the radiator. It ends up that in this photo to have a 2 1/2 rise for the connection. Also small "NOTE" here. I have been told that S&P pully bearings are cheap (from LS1 knowledged neighbor), so the finishing cap are not pushed in all the way for that one reason. I'm going to replace with better one's instead of dealing with it later when on the road.


This photo shows the air temp sensor that is screwed into the back of the air cleaner right above the steam vent hose. Also you can see to the left the small diameter steam vent tube that is running between the heads. It will tee on the other side, then travel into the throtle body (to warm it up), then travels to the radiator. I will probably bypass the throtle body which will let the computer know that there is colder air coming through, a small performance mod, or what is called a free mod.

This photo shows the thermostat housing turned CCW 90 degrees down to achieve the clearance needed from the front suspension tower, to hook up the lower radiator hose. Just made small aluminum clamps as the housing to pump seals with an O-ring.



Photo shows angle aluminum bracket made to hold condensor (photo from above area).


Photo from the front of car looking in. The angle bracket will direct the air flow into the condensor then to the radiator.


 A little more aluminum tig welding on the dash support to cover the shifter yoke.Hand bent the 80 thousands aluminum to shape, used an air nibbler to do the cuts. More photos in the next post.

Moved the E-brake bracket back 3 1/2" from it's original position. Also cut the floor pan and welded in a straight angle piece of steel, so that the transmission cover will be easier to make, and bolt up to the floor pan. The top section of the transmission cover is some what started, with the strap of aluminum around the drive shaft tunnel, to the firewall with a piece of aluminum bent in the right areas. Had the pound with a body hammer a cup indentation under the stick shift handle area, so that it wouldn't hit the aluminum top piece when in 1st, 3rd, and 5th gear positions.



The floor pan had all kinds of bends where the transmission cover bolted to.


Here is the other side where the floor pan has been cut out, ready for the angle straight to be welded in. To many bends and curves.


The Vintage Air MIni II mounted in place. Also you can see the the original air vent hole covered with a round aluminum plate up high on the firewall. The radio hole will be moved down because of the clearance issue with Mini Air Evap. The Evap-heater-air controls will be in the position of the original radio position. I want to install one of those indash pop out sceen type stereo/GPS systems. I'm so use to a GPS now that I would be lost with out it, how funny times have changed from the old map books.

OK, I took the right side leg of the dash brace and re-worked the aluminum to match the left side. Had to make clearance for the transmission cover to be under the brace on the right side.




Had to make 3 cuts, then tig welded back together, also in the end keep the demensions correct to bolt back in.



Ended up fitting back in place quit well.



Then tig welded up a transmission cover out of aluminum to go underneath the dash brace. When done, I think my carpet kit will fit since its still pretty close to original setup.. Should look pretty good when all done.

Here is a few more photos! Still in progress around reverse lockout solenoid.

Sweet!

Look-n-Good my friend.

When I did my fiberglass extension on the tunnel I was unsure that the carpet kit would be too small but it all fit.

I went 3" wider and 1" taller and still had extra material to make the carpet kit fit.

Keep up the outstanding progress!

Others are watching! (no pressure here)

Thanks Don,

That makes me feel better since I have wool carpet going in there.

I want to share with all that are interested in a LSX with a T56 swap. Everyone questions the thought of where the shifter ends up being 8 1/2" back from the original shifter location of a TR6 or any swap car with this setup.Plus the problem with the protruding reverse lockout solenoid.

I have found in my research that it has been done to move the shifter 4 1/8 " in any direction with the street & performance custom shifter yoke and handle, which I have on my setup (4 1/8" forward which means I'm 4 3/8" back from original TR6 location).

Now I found and has been done, is move the T56 shifter to the front inspection plate, kind of like the T5.So the shifter and reverse lockout can be relocated the the front position. I believe without measuring the shifter would be in the original position for a TR6.

I wish this was found sooner as all the work invested with my setup (re-fab dash support).

Here is some photos I found.

The original shifter plate removed and you can see the reverse lockout on the left.


This is under the forward inspection plate.


Low quality photo since it was enlarged, but shown is the modified shifter rail under the inspection plate to accept the shifter yoke.


All installed with the reverse lockout installed in place of the  CAGS sensor. 2 plates were made to cover the original shifter yoke and where reverse lockout was. I'm going to look into this a little further, but probably will keep the setup I have at this time.


"Very Interesting"

Here is another photo for the T56 shifter in both locations. Looks as though where I purchased my shifter may be the same company who makes the forward shifter also. I need to contact them and find out now! So they must have a kit that modifies the shifter rail for the forward position. I guess you can have the shifter any where needed. Hmmm! Nice!





Here is the website who makes all the different locations shifter yoke setups. I also believe that this company does different shifter locations for T5 transmissions. Red Roberts use to work with Mcleod Industries, well the company sold to a new owner and Red Roberts bought the rights to the shifters line of products and now has the site below. The site is not completed yet but there is a phone number at the top right of the page.

http://www.redrobertsinc.com/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=3

http://www.hotrodlane.cc/Shifter/shifter.htm  This will give you the idea of all the different locations for shifters and different transmissions. "Great Information for T5 here also"

Update below! 2/6/2010

 http://www.keislerauto.com/gm/gm-bare-transmissions/6-speed-manual/t56-front-shift-conversion-kit/shop.flypage_acc.html Found this kit that moves the shifter to the front inspection plate, Need to take the trasmission half way apart, and a professional should do it, or if you have the tools to diy.

Great lessons learned, thanks for sharing so that others can have options.

FYI: We hosted another BV8 member at our home. Dan Blackwood called that he was in the area and wanted to meet. (not me, but the TR6V8) Food, automotive fellowship,and fun with the Triumph. Only in the garage as we had too much snow for driving.(only 2 degrees outside)

WOW, 2 BV8 visitors in one year, GREAT!
Maybe California is not that far away?

Well, spring started monday and it's supposed to be a warm week coming up. Better get those cars ready!

Jim

Yes, I really appreciated the hospitality, Don.  Thanks Deb again as well!  And at least we did get to fire up that beast in your garage and listen to her purr!

I am all in favor of positive thinking, Jim, but it is FREAKIN COLD!!!!! BRRRR!!!

So why weren't we notified of this meet in advance? ;-) Or is this some secretive arrangement among you TR guys? I'm sure we could have found a few more enthusiasts to descend on you Don, if we'd only known.

Seriously though, I think it's great. Creating a local group is always a wonderful thing, something I've not been able to accomplish here in N.Ky. Could be I'm the wrong person to do it. But we're at risk of hijacking Calvin's thread, and I don't want to do that. Where in WV are you located btw? Around Parkersburg?

Jim

I wouldn't think that anyone has hijacked this thread,(On my end) for as only shown good taste,fun,and helping thoughts.I personally don't mind the posting because it breaks up the building process for me, plus I like the fact that it is bringing great friendships together with a great hobby.

I'll keep posting and others are welcome to post anytime. I have been open to new knowledge and thoughts through out this whole build process, so in just saying that, my build has tons of knowledge that has not been mine alone, and read all postings to keep learning. I wouldn't have started this build without BV8 support :-)

Will fill in info soon!

OK ....After rolling the thought of using fuel foam and needing to replace after a few years, decided not the route I wanted to go with. Fuel slosh and fuel starvation can be a problem with fuel injected engines. So since aluminum Tig welding is so fun and I'm jumping for joy to hack up my fuel cell, went ahead with adding a simple fuel sump to the bottom side. Drilled 9 holes 1 1/8th diameter in size so my fuel cell can leak, well leak into the sump anyway. In the center and to the right hole, you can see the original draw tube for fuel going to the top of tank. The draw tube is about 3/4 of an inch off the bottom. I think with taking fuel from the bottom of sump will help with starvation that could occur. I don't have room for separate tank or so called swirl tank.



Made an 8"x10" reserve tank (Um sump), at almost 2" deep.



Needed to position correctly so that it will still fit in the area that was redone on the body.



Made the hole for a  weld in bung 8AN fitting (trying to keep the 3/8ths" ID for fuel flow). This fitting will end up on the driver side on the bottom.

Will post info soon!

All welded up, tank tried to warp a little but came out pretty well.


The tube here I can still use if wanted later to dual feed to the fuel pump, but being at the bottom of the tank now will be easy on the fuel pump. For now will put on a cap for the top feed. I will still use the original return on the top of tank.



 I decided to go with a white face gauge. Autometer make several different kinds of white faced gauges but wanted the gauge to look somewhat British looking. These are Phantom II gauges with led lights. Almost went with Phantom gauges. They will all be electric gauges, Tach and Speedo are 5" to fit the dash in original TR6 dash size, all the smaller gauges are 2 1/16".



Don asked why two dashes? Well this is a photo from Randy Keller in San Jose that has been doing custom dashes for British cars for some 30 years. I'm going for the dash on the right which has an extra gauge hole getting rid of the rheostate switch plus the seat belt light. The gauge setup I like, still need to pick the wood I want but the wood in the photo here is Kewazinga African Rosewood. It does look nice. The lower center hole I will be using an oil temp gauge.

Nice dash! Why 2 different?

"Is that your fuel tank or are you just happy to see me?"

WOW, you do great work! I'm still planning on moving in.

Smiley faces to Don :-)

Other photos of dashes and different kind of woods. How do you like the Plinth insert? Also Randy can inlay wood into custom door panels. That is a photo of him holding wood dashes on the bottom. Very custom looking dashes and expert workmanship. If interested for a custom dash call Randy Keller at 408-288-8737

Made a stainless steel pipe to go over the steering rack that was in a tight area. Cut off the Thermostat housing hose end and the lower radiator hose end. Re-Tig welded them back on with more of the right angle to take out the sharp turns to go over the steering rack.This Miller Tig welder 165 Diverter is an awesome machine. Did the aluminum tig welding first, then switched tungstin tip for stainless, flipped the switch to DC mode, welded the stainless right after. I wish I would have purchased this welder along time ago when I was doing the exhaust. I wouldn't have had to do all the grinding to finish it off.

The cross member suspension tower support will go over this stainless steel pipe.












Next on the list of many things to do will be weld on some hold down brackets on the sides of the radiator to go over to the front body mount stud.