Syclone Gut Swap

Z SKI

Donating Member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Well I finally had some time to work on the motor a little. I needed to find out head gasket thickness since this block has been decked down to 8.990" and .005" removed from the heads. My pops made up some .005, .010, and .015" shims to mess around with and try and come up with a target head gasket thickness using the old copper .040" thick head gaskets and adding shims of different thickness until we got the intake to fit well.

Well for once we were blessed :tup: and the stock thickness head gaskets put everything right where they should be. The intake bolts and ports lined up perfectly and are spot on. The china wall to intake gap looks great and the geometry looks perfect.

So now all I need to do is order some stock thickness cometics and get my custom pistons ordered and we will be in good shape to get this thing back together.

Well here are the pics:

Intake and bolt holes:
DSC00044.jpg

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We still need to take out the injector bung tails, but you get the picture:
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Good china wall to intake clearance and geometry:
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And some mock up pics to show how it will look when its done :D
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Z SKI

Donating Member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Update!!

I got all my motor stuff back from the machine shop.

$1000 for machine work and labor, $875 for pistons, and a bunch of $$$$ for other stuff.

Now the fun can continue.

Stay tuned.

See ya,
 

Z SKI

Donating Member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Well its about time I did some more work on the truck.

It happens that it wasn't my choice this time. The county assessor sent me a letter in the mail letting me know that my Sy in the driveway is a violation. I have one month to make it disappear or I will be initially fined $680 and it will double ever time after that.

I called and talked to the inspector and told her that my trucks engine broke and I need to fix it. She told me that any non-operational vehicle that can be seen from the street is in violation and the owner will be fined.

I told her that its not an eye sore and I will install the suspension and put the truck back on her own four feet so it looks like a parked truck. She said that wasn't good enough and she said that I have to start the truck and move it backwards and forwards before she will clear the violation.

I told her that was not going to happen in one month and she said that I would have to find a place for it in storage or I could donate the car if I would like :shoot: I almost cussed her dumb ass out.

I am so sick of this broke ass commie state it makes me want to just get up and move :rant:

Anyways the new plan is to get her roll-able and stick her in the garage at my new house until I can finish her up.

Dave P came by on Friday and we mocked up the block in the truck so we could get the solid motor mounts all aligned and tightened down. He also helped me install new seals on my front diff so It can be reinstalled. Thanks Dave :tup:

On Saturday I installed the rear brakes and my freshly powder coated Grand Sport wheels (no more machined lip) wrapped with ET streets. My new nickname for the rear of the truck is McMeaty. I also removed my spare tire winch/hold down from the rear since this truck will never carry a spare.

A few weeks ago I installed my Sonoma GT gauge cluster (with repainted needles) and gutted my stereo stuff and installed a NOS radio delete panel that I have had for a while.

Anyways enough talking, here are the pics.

Enjoy,

Brakes Installed:
Rearwheelsandbrakes003.jpg

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Fresh wheels and tires on:
Rearwheelsandbrakes007.jpg


I also gave her a wash and took some pics:
Rearwheelsandbrakes054.jpg

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Rearwheelsandbrakes057.jpg

Rearwheelsandbrakes058.jpg

Rearwheelsandbrakes062.jpg

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Rearwheelsandbrakes063.jpg


Here's the gauge cluster and radio delete stuff:
Rearwheelsandbrakes051.jpg

Rearwheelsandbrakes042.jpg

Rearwheelsandbrakes044.jpg


See ya,
 

nastety92

New member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Truck looks great, what a pain in the ass that must be dealing with the city/ state.

Where can I get one of those radio delete panels?

Nick
 

MRKING

New Parts for Old Trucks
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Dam that things clean , f*ck that state . Looks like you could get cancer from all those towers and antennas in the background . Nice to hear DP came by and made sure your doing it right;) .

Good luck getting it ready , dam city fund raisers are the worst . :tup:
 

jpalmer

New member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

They do the same thing herein Az, but not in the trashier areas. Prob cause the illegals would not pay anyways. i have been almost ticked around 5 times. Drives me nuts. And my driveway projects only last a couple weeks at the most, they are usually on me in the first week. :tdown:
 

Mtn Z

Donating Member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Dam that things clean , f*ck that state . Looks like you could get cancer from all those towers and antennas in the background . Nice to hear DP came by and made sure your doing it right;) .

Good luck getting it ready , dam city fund raisers are the worst . :tup:

Yeah this state sucks when it comes to cars. Well, there are many things that suck about this state but I won't get into that.

Truck looks awesome Paul! I will be out there soon. :tup:
 

eviltwin

"junkyard syclone"
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

look in your city ordinances. i bet there is something in there about being able to have one non-running vehicle on your driveway with a fitted cover over it. Dont let them boss you around, look into it online and argue their demands with facts from the ordinance.
 

Z SKI

Donating Member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Thanks guys,

I have done lots of digging and found out that I have no way around it. In Los Angeles County you are not allowed to have any non-op vehicle on your property if it is visible from the street.

So I gotta have this thing moved by Friday.

I am on track, I sprayed my front suspension stuff on Sunday with primer and will spray the gloss black coat today.

I will then install everything on Thursday and have it towed to my house Friday morning.

Here are the pics.

Front suspension stuff:
Rearwheelsandbrakes071.jpg

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Here are my modified front lower arms. We welded in .75" deep threaded sleeves for the sway bar bolts and welded on steering stop extensions due to my ZQ8 box having the incorrect internal steering stops.
Rearwheelsandbrakes085.jpg

Rearwheelsandbrakes087.jpg


More to come later today.

See ya,
 

Z SKI

Donating Member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Sorry it took so long to update this thread.

Well I made my deadline and had the Sy gone before they could fine me.

I hit a few road bumps along the way but that's expected when you try and bolt together a bunch of parts an hope they will all work together.

What I did different, learned, and had problems with:

1. You cannot use F body caliper brackets with C5 brake bracket kits. It gives you the wrong pad placement on the rotor (See pictures below). You can use F body calipers if you want and you will not have to get rid of any of the stiffeners like we did. I wish we would have found out about the brackets first :rant:

I have decided to abandon my F body front brake set-up and have ordered a set of black anodized C5 ones from Kore 3.

2. I needed to cut off about .25" off the RPM steering shaft so I was able to fit it up inside the steering column double D opening.

3. To combat the incorrect prop valve that we have for disc/drum setups, I swapped the guts from a disc/disc 1LE (Police/Race package) 3rd gen F Body into my stock Syclone prop valve. I will report more on this later.

4. I had a real fun time trying to install parking brake cables for my F body rear brakes :shoot:

5. I think I may have tightened the front jack bolts on my battle bars a little to much, as they caused the steel U shaped bracket to stretch out a little??? The directions said 30 ft. lbs. maybe it was a typo and should have been 30 in. lbs.??

6. And last but not least, DO NOT spray Eastwood products over any type of self etching primer. My paint on my lower arms flaked off like glazed sugar on a doughnut and I had to redo them. Good thing, they were the only parts that got self etching primer. The worst part is, that it says it right on the back of the can but I couldn't see it due to a paint smear on the can, lol...

Well here are the pics:

Fresh ceramic gloss black coating:
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Detailed and resealed front diff:
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Installed freshly coated torsion bar cross member and frame brace. The frame brace has now been modified so it is a bolt in affair, no more spot welds. Very easy to pull now to r&r the trans and x-fer case:
Frontsuspensionandbrakes037.jpg


Installed front suspension parts:
Frontsuspensionandbrakes043.jpg

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Frontsuspensionandbrakes044.jpg

Frontsuspensionandbrakes051.jpg


Hydroboost:
Frontsuspensionandbrakes047.jpg


We had an issue with the F-Body calipers stiffening fins touching the inside of the wheels so my pops milled of a 1/8":
Frontsuspensionandbrakes056.jpg

Frontsuspensionandbrakes058.jpg


We also drilled and tapped the F-Body caliper brackets for the bigger C5 bolt:
Frontsuspensionandbrakes059.jpg


And then we realized that the F-Body brackets cant be used with the C5 bracket kit, duh (Notice the pad sticking out past the rotor :rant:):
Frontsuspensionandbrakes106.jpg

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I also installed a ABS delete kit and even had to make a new rear line myself due to the one that I received leaking all over the place:
Frontsuspensionandbrakes096.jpg

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And last but not least, my set of battle bars that we slightly modified by cutting the bottom mounting point off:
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WyoSyclone

Active member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

That's looking really nice Paul! Some nice fab work in there too. :tup:
I didn't look back in the thread.. are you fabing headers or running RPM's?
 

Treymen

Donating Member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

I want your battery relocation kit. Is that a 1 off piece or a kit that can be purchased?.....Thanks


Trey
 

Quickstop [UK]

Combating adversyty.
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Same for the battle bars - where'd you get those?

Nice work - and in a driveway - wow.

What did you use for the front bushings? Did you have to do anything special with them? Mine are squeaking like mother****ers - I used the PST polygraphite kit.

:tup:
 

Z SKI

Donating Member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

That's looking really nice Paul! Some nice fab work in there too. :tup:
I didn't look back in the thread.. are you fabing headers or running RPM's?

Thanks Rob. I'm glad the suspension work is about done. I hate suspension work. And yes I am going to run a set of RPM headers for brodix heads.

Wow that looks great. The rear looks so shiny and new, makes me jealous.

Thanks. I cant wait until its done.

I want your battery relocation kit. Is that a 1 off piece or a kit that can be purchased?.....Thanks

Trey

Did I post pictures of it?? I don't think I did yet?? If I didn't, i'll get a few up. And as of right now my pops is going to focus on getting the lowering blocks finished. I'll keep you posted.

your rear frame poly pads; where did you get those?

Summit racing, search through the energy suspension parts and you'll find them.

Same for the battle bars - where'd you get those?

Nice work - and in a driveway - wow.

What did you use for the front bushings? Did you have to do anything special with them? Mine are squeaking like mother****ers - I used the PST polygraphite kit.

:tup:

Thanks,

The battle bars were bought from CBR performance during the GP three years ago. Unfortunately, I don't think he is selling them anymore. Maybe Renz got the rights to them, since he took over the brake bracket kits???

I used energy suspension stuff with a liberal amount of their silicon grease.

Did you torque the bolts with the suspension loaded or hanging?

If you did it while hanging, loosen the bolts and torque them with the suspension loaded.

See ya,
 

SY2455

70's Veteran
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Paul, I'm digging this old post up from the past for 3 questions.

1. How is it going with the truck ?
2. How is the new job coming along ?
3. How is your Sweetheart doing with the new job?
 

Z SKI

Donating Member
Re: Syclone Gut Swap

Paul, I'm digging this old post up from the past for 3 questions.

1. How is it going with the truck ?
2. How is the new job coming along ?
3. How is your Sweetheart doing with the new job?

Damn its been awhile...

1. Truck is at my house in the garage waiting for me to get back on it.
2. New job is awesome. Just about to be released as a solo Warden.
3. She's cool with it as long as I come home alive each night, lol...

When I get all settled in I will be having a SyTy party at my house. Stay posted.

See ya,
 
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