Chevythunder-2010 Project Iron Horse LS6
This page is only as an guide and not a specific means of fabrication and installation, use the information at your own risk, as the author is not responsible for any damages from use of such information or lack of information here within.
O2 Sensor Location
When you are installing your O2 sensors using headers, it is important to orientate the sensors at a level that is above the horizontal plane. This is to reduce the chance of water contamination of the sensor probe.
The Edelbrock headers I chose to use have a flange and collector assembly and you could add the O2 sensor bung in this area. However, it would be a tight fit in relation to the flange itself. I wanted a little more room so I purchased a set of 3 inch extensions from AZ and brazed them in place. Use a brazing rod specifically made for welding mild steel that is as close as you local hardware store.
The pipe extension gives you a little more room that is handy in the installation process.
This is the header collector and flange installed. The original pipe to the mufflers is about 1/2" inside and will be temporarily sealed with exhaust pipe tape to make it down about a mile to my local muffler shop.
This is a good shot showing the orientation of the O2 sensor. It is safely tucked between the transmission and floor pan. This serves two purposes. One, is to keep the sensor tip above the point of collecting moisture and to protect it from any road debris that may contact the sensor and possibly destroying it.
Be sure to tuck the sensor wires away and above any contact with heat or sharp intrusions and secure with nylon straps.
Other Good Stuff and Suggestions
When you are building serious horsepower in your project, it is a wise and prudent investment to make upgrades in your vehicle to make it safe and enjoyable. No one likes a vehicle that is sub par in relation to its power output. Sloppy worn out suspension parts and mushy brakes with 400 plus horsepower has no business being on the road or even down the local drag strip.
Suspension Parts
Considering the punishment these parts take, it would be wise to upgrade all bushings to a Polygraphite bushing kit. This will include the upper and lower control arms, and the bushing kit for the front and rear anti-sway bars. Don't forget the subframe body mounting bushings as well. The time spent in replacing these parts will definitely pay dividends down the road.
It would be a good idea at this time when you have the control arms out, to also replace the coil springs.
On the subject of upper and lower control arms, if you want to add a lot of tight steering control, you can replace these with tubular style control arms. They do not flex like the stock ones do and is a great suspension upgrade. The down side is the costs, high quality American made parts are not cheap, but given the alternative, I would not buy imported performance parts from overseas, such as China.
Also replace any worn parts such as upper and lower ball joints, tie rods, idler arm and center link with quality parts such as Moog.
Another worthy consideration and is highly recommended is subframe connectors. Those made by Competition Engineering or Summit Racing will go along way in keeping the unibody such as that on the Camaro's from twisting from making extreme turns or from the high torque of a performance motor. The only trade off is a slightly harsher ride.
There are two different kits, one is a weld in and one is a bolt end. The bolt in style is made for a stock chassis.
Shocks
There are many type of shocks you can use, some are better than others. For all around street/strip use, you would suggest using the Edelbrock IAS performer shocks. Do not use drag strip shocks on a street driven car.
Brakes
The subject on brakes can fill a library and each style has it merits. If you are still running drums on the front wheels, then you would need to upgrade to disc brakes. But since most cars have had these offerings since the early '70's, it does not hurt to upgrade to performance offerings from many companies such as SSBC, Baer, Wilwood, Summit Racing, just to name a few. The costs to update is again, not cheap. But having brakes work to haul 4000 pounds down to a halt without both feet on the brake pedal and white knuckles is worth the piece of mind.
If you have rear drums and want to upgrade to disc or even larger drums, the purchase is just as close as your local performance catalog.
While you are at it, order a set of speed bleeders and new brake lines to compliment you new found stopping power.
New stainless steel braided brake lines for the front and rear will do wonders to help eliminate a spongy brake pedal. These are made by Russell's.
My Camaro sports a set of SSBC slotted and cross drilled rotors and a set of dual pistons calipers up front. The stock set up has no business behind a high performance engine. You can see the stainless steel braided brake line and the speed bleeder in the second picture.
If you have the original 9 1/2" drum brakes on the rear and don't want to spend the extra bucks for a disc brake set up, the cheaper alternative is to use a high performance set up that is common on the 9C1 police cruisers from 1988 through 1994. You will need to use 15" or larger wheels to clear the drums.
There are also a lot of GM vehicles that use the 11" drums as standard equipment. This includes many of the 1970's full size cars such as Buick and Cadillac, El Camino and full size pick ups. There is even two different widths of drums. 3 inch and 4 1/2". The 3 inch drum weighs around 17 lbs, while the 4 1/2" drum weighs in at a hefty 23 lbs. each. The larger drum was used for police, taxi and severe duty.
Either size drum uses the 11" x 2" wide brake shoe.
The only thing to be aware of is two different style of backing plates that are used and the type of hardware that will fit. If you are hunting for back plates at the local salvage yard, get the ones that were used specifically on the 10 and 12 bolt rear axles during the 70's and somewhat into the 1980's as well. These will have the correct mounting bolt pattern and the proper diameter hole for the seal flange. The later back plates used on the late 80's and early 90's will not fit the early style without modifications and also the brake cable locations are not the same as he early models.
The early style will allow for the proper location and attachment of the original parking brake cable and the proper wheel cylinder with the correct threaded hole for the brake line.
If you don't have the time scrounging for the proper parts, you can buy the complete set up from Classic Industries or MPbrakes.
Transmission VSS
The Gen III engines all use the 40 pulse per revolution VSS for the 4L60/80E transmissions, while the T56 uses a 17 pulse reluctor. If you are using any transmission that was not originally installed behind these engines, you will need to supply a set up to provide the proper signal. Some models of the 700R4 ( non electric 4L60E) have a 40 pulse sensor, and keep in mind that these were set up to provide the proper output signal from the computer to the electronic speedometer and cruise control module. If you are planning on using these transmissions, you will need to either modify the tail housing to accept a kit so you can run a cable driven speedometer, along with the original 40 pulse sensor.
VSS sensor on the late model 4L60E.
Keep in mind, that 40 pulse per revolution equates to 40,000 pulse per mile ( 40K PPM).
The complete chapter from Jags that run on vehicle speed sensors and transmission modifications can be found here at: http://www.jagsthatrun.com/V8-chapters/V8-tpi-Speed-Sensors.pdf. This is highly recommended reading and contains more information and even a list of parts you can order to do the conversion.
Since I am using for the time being, my 200R4 with cable driven speedometer, I found a kit through Jags that run that allows you to install a 40 pulse reluctor and sensor on the differential. Originally designed for the smaller differential found on the S-10 pick ups, this will still bolt up the standard pinion flange on most GM vehicles, which was 3 1/4" centerline on the pinion bolts. I had to modify the bracket slightly to make it work with the proper clearance between the reluctor wheel and sensor pick up.
This kit can be found on this page http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Parts_S10-Reluctor-Diff.html. TIP: This 40K set up will work with a 1990-92 TPI speed density, however you will need to use a DRAC module from a van or truck to be able to use your cruise control. And the DRAC module will need to be calibrated for your tire size and gear ratio, so the cruise control and electronic speedometer ( if equipped, will work). The prom will need to be programmed for the 40K signal. I did this on my Camaro before the LS6 conversion and it does work.
Another
option that is cheaper and will require programming the computer for the 8K
pulse per mile signal, is to use the VSS adapter available through http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=109/category_id=311/home_id=59/mode=prod/prd109.htm
Also, this speed sensor will not work with the late model cruise control that requires a 40K pulse to work properly.
Dakota
Digital part #
SEN01-1
Dakota Digital part # SEN01-4160
Cruise Control
The cruise control module that can be adapted is found on a wide variety of GM cars from 1996 and up, both RWD and FWD application. The trick is to get the proper cruise control switch, or to adapt your existing one to the cruise control wiring. If you have a older cruise control switch that was simply and on/off switch with cable driven-vacuum deactivated module, you will need to modify your existing cruise stalk to a four wire cruise switch.
General information for the late model cruise control can be found here
General information for building/modifying the cruise stalk can be found here.
Location of the cruise control module in the Camaro.
AC Compressor
There is several different ways to set up a A/C compressor in your vehicle and a lot will depend on your budget and the aesthetic appeal. From my personal experience. I have found that the Sanden 508 compressor is the lightest, requires less horsepower to turn, and is more efficient. There is some things to remember as you are installing this in a second generation Camaro, such as mine. The biggest issue was having to notch my fender well so the compressor would fit, and the original coolant overflow bottle I could no longer use due to the interference with the compressor pulley.
The coolant overflow bottle is from a mid to late 80's S10 truck or blazer where the bottle is mounted on the drivers side fender well. The compressor bracket is made by Kwik Performance and is a well though out design. I just wished they could have tucked the compressor a little closer to the center.
I have installed a 1 inch x 1/8 inch thick bar that is 8 inches long on the side for the coolant tank and 12 inches long for the side that mounts to the inner fender well. The radiator side of the mounting bracket is attached to the cooling fan shroud with a 1/4 inch nylon bushing and a 1/2 long #10 sheet metal screw that also goes through the mounting tab ( not seen). The other tank mounting tab above the battery is attached to the bracket with a 1 inch wide thin strip of aluminum. The long end of the bracket is attached to the inner fender well with a 1/4 nylon bushing, 1/2 inch long bushing and a 1 1/4 inch long #12 sheet metal screw.
In this view you can see the coolant tank mounting tab attached to the bracket and to the cooling fan shroud.
Need a custom Gen III harness? Click here
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