[1971_c10]

With most of the drive train, it was time to make a rolling chassis.

Started with bolting the LS3 to my existing 700R4 (its a built beast by the way, had it since 2012) with a 3200 RPM 10.5" billet converter (which I also had previously, fully intending to go to an engine with this exact power curve, of course back then it was a procharged SBC plan, not LS, but plans change).

Just a note on the 700R4 to LS3, the bellhousing bolts up just fine, only one less bolt and M10x1.5 now. The flex converter can be a challenge as the bolt circle on a 700R4 is 10.75" and the converter for a 4l60 (normally bolted to an LS) is 281 mm. They just don't line up. And it's not off by much. Some people elongate the holes on the base flexplate. however, I found that TCI makes a flexplate just for this purpose and is SFI rated. Perfect. TCI P/N 399753. It fit perfect, tooth clearance, started engagement, convertor pull out all within spec. The TCI kit also includes a "snout" to support the front of the older style converter.

I did have one little snag along the way. Remember that 4" stroke crank I mentioned? Well, it requires a little deeper oil pan up front. Specifically, it needs a Holley 302-1 vs the more common 302-2. The 302-2 is about 1" shallower in the nose, right where I hit the cross member on the No Limit chassis (shown in the last photo). Doh! I asked Rob early in the chassis build if a 302-1 would work and he said no problem, but I think that detail forgot to get written down. No worries, Rob made it right. I was a simple fix. The No Limit chassis has these removable motor perches on the truss mount that allow them to move the engine up and down as needed. So Rob sent me a set of plates with the motor a tad higher and that did the trick. I've got 1/8" clearance to the chassis now.