Well I got my parts back from powder coating so I can almost start putting it back together. I am painting the engine bay gloss black right now... what a PITA. I think it will look really good with the parts tho. I already have a red/black theme going on so it will blend nicely. Also, my candy red powdered parts don't go well with a bright red bay so. It should be teh tits.

I'll just update this thread as I put it back together so keep your eyes peeled.

Also, I'm using a vacuum block I made. I've never saw another GP use one. Though only turbo people would really need one so. Turbo's have lots of connections! 6 1/4" NPT barbs.


That's a -6 AN line running from the tapped PCV cap to an aluminum vacuum block I made. The PCV cap is going to be one of the feeds for it. The other feed will go to the other end of the block, use a -6 AN line and run from the fitting on the back of the intake just after the TB which you can see in the second pic.



VACUUM BLOCK!!!
I'm going to mount it in the middle of the firewall so it's close to WG, boost controller and fuel pressure, etc.


Swivel 90* 1/4 NPT fitting




Meth nozzle counter sunk so it sits nearly flush.

heck ya randall! that red gtp is going to look sexy!

I hope so. I'll have to snap some pics of how it looks right now.... everything is torn apart and wires everywhere.

Confused? Didn't you buy a nice red gtp?
Whats this build? Whats vacuum block?

Steve, yes I did, that's for this car.

Last time I was at the track after I got home I started to hear tapping, so I think I collapsed my lifters. I haven't drove the car since and I am now starting to put it back together. I've been working on it a lot lately to try and get it done before winter hits so I can store it away.

I've had it apart for a while now sitting in my brothers yard, I replaced the lifters but noticed some scoring on the walls and a few shavings so I'm not sure if I have to get a new motor or not.

The wiring in it is very bad, tons of wires that go nowhere, some bare wire twisted together with no tape or solder, just bare...

So I am cleaning that all up, and I welded holes shut and am painting the bay gloss black right now. It should go well with the rest of the black/red theme I have going on and also, the candy red doesn't go well with the stock red of the car so I think it will contrast nicely with the black.

Just about everything is powder coated or polished now, engine mounts, upper and lower intake, bov, pipes, tb, maf, thermostat housing, tb adaptor, braces, stb. I had to paint my alternator though which came out very nice and some misc. brackets. I am excited to have it finished and show you all.

Anyway, idk if you remember what my engine bay looked like but it was pretty bad. See pic below.

So basically this is just a repair, not really a rebuild. Though I am adding a few things but nothing major.

And as for the vacuum block, the vacuum lines were those quick connect fittings that were tapped into the back of the UIM, I didn't want that so I made a vacuum block to feed all the stuff. Turbo's have lots of connections. 2 on WG, boost controller, bov, boost pressure switch for alky, MAP, FP, etc. This will clean up a lot of the vacuum lines going everywhere and eliminates the needs for tee's.

I think I might get an L26 upper just so I can powder coat it lol.

I just don't see the purpose except for looks.

Well, I need the metal intake cause I'll be running soooo much boost it will blow a hole straight through it.... LOL jk

There isn't a benefit to switch from l36 to l26 upper other than it's aluminum.

How is your car coming?

less prone to warp and leak...although I've had no issues with my plastic intake, but I'm not boosting either.

Its slowly going. I need to find the post about putting L26 on L36 LIM.

I'm thinking candy apple red for mine. Your looks almost orange.

Its a bolt on swap aside from the different pattern for the TB

This is candy apple red. Just looks orange because of the lighting where I took the pic.

Here's a pic with the flash on

Here is what she looks like right now.

Painting the bay black, huge PITA with everything in it and freezing temperatures.


Everything is thrown in the middle.


Welded up the holes and grinded them down, have to bondo them still.

dang randall, i actually feel sorry for you man. That looks like one BIG pita as far as wiring goes!

that car is gonna look sick once you finish painting and clean up the wires and stuff keep up the work cause im excited to see what it looks like after

Worked on the passenger side a little bit more today.

Cleaned up some of the wiring, it was a huge mess before. Not really much else I can do about it more than I have because of the battery being in the trunk and how they did it.

Also mounted the meth pump and a few others.


Still need to tape off and paint between the fender and bay, bondo the welds on the rad support and paint it all once I have the motor back together.

you should paint the fuse box or something cause i thought they were always looking faded and stuff

I might paint it, or just try to wipe it down with some sort of dressing later. It's something I can do later. I want to get the car done before winter first lol. I'm running out of time.

Why not black zip ties?

I will replace the white ones with black ones, I just don't have any black ones right now.

looking good Hutch!

I would have thought winter would be setting in by now up there. Have you guys gotten snow yet? If I'm wrong when does winter come in, and how long does it usually last?

I am surprised that snow has not yet covered the ground. We had a little snow fall, hardly anything, it melted before it hit the ground though.

It usually is snowing by now, I've been lucky. Our winter usually starts in November and lasts until end of March/April, depends on the weather. It's been warm the last couple of weeks.

Since these pictures I've finished up most of the vacuum lines, just need to get a barb reducer and mount the vacuum block. It's getting closer to starting up, hoping I don't need a new motor.

Hrm, this thread is showing up as "Last Post" for 97-03 on the main page, but when I go into 97-03 I don't see this thread...

Edit: Oh nevermind, it's here, it's just been renamed and the "Last Post" column is still using the original name.

Whats the gains for doing a vacuum block mod?

what are the silver wires by the alternater and behind the block right infront of the windshield

lmao /\

Dude its a block with barbed fittings that allows you to run all your vacuum lines from a central location. It makes everything cleaner and is supposed to distribute vacuum better but that's just a myth.

I did a wire tuck last night, my hands are itchy as hell right now because of rubbing them up on exhaust wrap.

I wrapped the wire loom going to the back with heat wrap and then aluminum tape to hopefully reflect radiant heat.

I made a nice little bracket that keeps it away from the crossover, bolts to the EGR port on the lower intake and keeps it tight to the bottom of the upper intake. I should have taken a picture.



Those are the heater hoses.



No gains, like Chris said it just makes it easier to run vacuum lines from 1 spot.

I could have done a cleaner setup by tapping the back of the intake with fittings.

I just used a vacuum block because I have a lot of things that need vacuum.

Aren't those the same valve covers off your other gtp? and isnt that an l26 motor? I didn't think they would match up?...

I'm MAGIC!

They are the same valve covers yep, but it's an l26 block that has l67 heads.

The only thing that has really been a problem is that the driver side top engine mount is offset and so the dogbone is cock-eyed, which makes it very difficult with shorter dogbones.

hmm I got the black friday alum 1/2 off I just don't know which ones they are shipping me lmao

From the description:


*Fitment for all Series 2 and 3 3800 engines including L36, L26, L67 and L32


Not quite sure how they fit both NA and SC heads though.

lmao that's what I said hahaha. You know the whole injector hole thing hahaha no biggy I guess

Injectors? Who need's em. Just spray a whole sh!tload of meth.

Screw meth ill just put some corn in the I/C homemade E85 lol

Bad news, I think it is a spun bearing so I may need to pick up a new motor. I'm going to check a few things first but I don't have high hopes.


Well before I found this all out obviously I did a wire tuck and cleaned up the harness some. Removed EGR, EVAP and BBV plugs. Moved the coil pack plug and #1 injector plug around to the passenger side Also got rid of the 1 unnecessary extra connector for the coolant temp sensor. Not quite sure why they had it that way?

Not finished painting the rad support or fender areas yet but the motor is probably coming out this winter so.


Wrapped the harness in exhaust heat wrap and then aluminum tape. I also made a bracket to keep it tight against the bottom of the upper intake. Bracket bolts to the hole for the EGR port on the LIM. It should be pretty safe there.


In this loom is the coil pack plug and cylinder 1 injector plug



Where the coil pack plug connects, under the pass side motor mount and coils.


Vacuum block doin it's thang. I really like it.






Here is some video's of the knock...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVXKV9kzhFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrbOMlKLUTE