L29 454 Build for '63 K15 with NV4500

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

Looks good

Yeah I would have to do that as well.

Did you use the DIY4x B52 brackets for your front springs?

Captain, yes I used the B52 kit for 67 - 72.

[aotte1]

Looking very nice!

Les

[Marshy]

Looks real nice. Except that axle, you'll need to paint that too.

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by Marshy

Looks real nice. Except that axle, you'll need to paint that too.

Yeah. That's been bugging the crap out of me too. Just not as much as having a non running truck in the garage😁.

[MTCK]

Very cool project. Bringing back all kinds of memories! How many likes did your donor motor have on it? My L29 cleaned up with a hone and a polish too with 180k on the clock.

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Very cool project. Bringing back all kinds of memories! How many likes did your donor motor have on it? My L29 cleaned up with a hone and a polish too with 180k on the clock.

Thanks Marcus, the guy that I got it from said around 80k. My machinist said it really didn't seem to have a whole lot of miles on it. So.. I guess 80k might have been right.

['63GENIII]

Wow, I haven't updated in a while but Ive made a lot of progress since last time. Let me get some pics up in a minute.

['63GENIII]

With the firewall and frame painted, it was time to drop in the engine and transmission. I assembled everything outside of the truck thinking it would be easier than installing the trans from underneath. I was partly right.
Once in the truck though, the engine would not turn over by hand easily. Turned out that the flywheel was hitting the Advance Adapters BH and needed grinding. DOH! Out came the 4500 and the bell housing. Not terribly difficult but unexpected and necessary.

I was going to run the exhaust manifolds that came with the L29 but they would have required way too much frame trimming for my liking. I had a set of Thorley Tri Ys for a square body that fit nearly without an issue. So they went in.

I figured that while I was in there, Id re do all the brake lines that had been cobble together for the last 50 years. After I finished the brake lines, I felt confident enough to do the fuel and hydraulic clutch lines. Yes I scrapped a few beautiful lines after getting a perfect double flare and then seeing the tube nut on the workbench. The black plastic blocks are my home made fuel, brake and electrical support clamps. 6$ worth of plastic. We'll see how they hold up.

['63GENIII]

I was on a roll at this point until I read something somewhere that said something about an O-ring that needed to be put in between the rear main cap and the block to seal the oil passage that goes through it. You can see the recess that it goes into at the right of the crank. After deliberating on it for a couple of days, I accepted that I'm an idiot and that the engine was not going to be fired without that damn o ring sitting on the workbench. BTW, the new 1 piece pan gaskets are kinda expensive. Really hated to tear apart the brand new one that was in there for only a couple of weeks and zero run time!

['63GENIII]

Onto the wiring. Well I don't really have many photos of the wiring but I must have spent at least 30 hours on it. When I got the harness from Howell in 2009, I had planned on putting the ECM in the engine compartment. 7 years later, I changed my mind and wanted it in the cab. The wiring was long enough to allow the ECM to mount under the dash but I had to relocate a lot of the sensors and other controls. With a little measuring and a lot of guesswork, I decided this would be the best location to go through the firewall. BTW, I am envious of anyone who has smoothed out a firewall. I didn't have the time or the budget anymore to fit that in. Swiss Cheese it is I guess.

[MTCK]

Real good progress. I did the same thing with the o-ring and rtv on the rear main cap, but it wasn't in the truck yet...

['63GENIII]

They say that after a month of potatoes and beans, even a change to beans and potatoes can be a good thing so I left the ECM mounting for later since the harness was into the cab now. I needed to do something different so I turned to the fuel system.

I had an '89 blazer tank sitting under the house for many years and recently installed it when I had the bed off for the rear spring swap. At that time, the carbed 396 was doing just fine so I set the tank up for a carb but had never hooked up the fuel lines.

I dropped the tank, pulled the pickup and sending unit out and started to figure out how Id run the 0-30 fuel gauge with this set up. Then I remembered that Vin63 was modifying sending units to work with our old gauges. I read some of the posts on this and decided that the best thing for my set up would be to cut the original sending unit off of the in cab unit and weld it to the new pickup / in tank pump unit. I checked it after with an ohm meter and it doesn't seem like I messed it up. I think it may work ok.

['63GENIII]

I reinstalled the tank after putting new fuel injection hoses on the sending unit, connected the gauge and pump wire harness and fuel supply / return lines. These for whatever reason, I used 37 deg flares and Russel AN fittings. I think it may be because Russell made an adapter fitting for the stock fuel flex lines that are on the engine. Either way, one side of the fuel system is almost done.

I had really been stressing over the filler neck location though. I didn't want it too far to the rear of the truck as I kinda liked where it was on the cab. I couldnt use a "in the bed" filler because Im frequently hauling stuff and didn't want it buried. I didn't want to buy a kit (they're pretty expensive) and wasnt confident enough in my bodywork skills to install a gas door type of filler. Again, turned to this forum and voila! I saw on one of the posts where a member had gone to a muffler shop to bend up a filler tube. BAM! I was down at the muffler shop this weekend with my Son to do just this. He was the only guy open on Saturday, did super clean bends and even swedged the ends of the pipe to fit the hoses I was connecting. 20$! He will be doing the exhaust when I get it out of the garage!

I brought the pipe home, made a couple of adjustments with a bandsaw, trimmed the filler neck that came with the tank, took a few more measurements and punched the hole in the fender using a knockout punch. I test fit all of the pieces, prepped the filler neck to weld, got out the welder and no gas! LOL. Looks like Im working on something different again!

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Real good progress. I did the same thing with the o-ring and rtv on the rear main cap, but it wasn't in the truck yet...

Yeah, that was right after I has pulled the bell housing / trans and reinstalled. Was WAY bummed about the o ring. Little different than the old Mark IV engines. Oh well, cheap tuition. At least we found them at the right time right?

Was yours a stock rebuild or did you do any work to it? Not a lot of info on these things. Most throw a carb on em and ditch the FI.

['63GENIII]

Being without gas and looking for another project that needs finishing, I turned back to the electrical - namely mounting the PCM. I had found a place under the glove box that I thought would work. I just needed to fabricate a mount now.

I had a rough idea of what I needed and also the 1997 under hood PCM mount for the fender.

I cobbled a sheetmetal brake out of a gate hinge, a 2x4, an 8" piece of angle iron and a vise.
I then cut up the factory mount so I could attach it to the sheet metal shell that I made on the DIY backwoods brake. Its not a show piece but it painted up well and holds the PCM perfectly under the dash with room to mount the fuel pump relay and power supply.

['63GENIII]

As of today, this is about where it stands. I was really hoping to be done by August, then my birthday at the end of September, then Halloween and I don think I'm gonna make Halloween now. Think Ill be happy with having it running by Christmas this year! LOL.

[snj8198]

Neat!

I like your brake lines. I'm looking forward to hearing how the Tri Y's perform. I've ran them before on small blocks but I have no experience on big blocks. I really considered them on my current motor and believe they would have done superbly for my uses. They look like they have a full 3/8" flange. The Hooker Comps dont.

[61K10]

Looking good--your pcm is in the way of your AC lol. I guess you get that nice ocean breeze most of the time though. you're getting close.

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by snj8198

Neat!

I like your brake lines. I'm looking forward to hearing how the Tri Y's perform. I've ran them before on small blocks but I have no experience on big blocks. I really considered them on my current motor and believe they would have done superbly for my uses. They look like they have a full 3/8" flange. The Hooker Comps dont.

The brake lines went pretty simple. I used the copper / nickel / steel stuff and its pretty easy to bend. Thought Id get fancy with the gravel guard to cover up some of the little wows in the lines but that idea backfired a little. The gravel guard actually rattles a little. It may come off later.
The Tri Y headers are almost as heavy as the manifolds. 3/8 flanges and heavy wall tubing. I was tempted to try them without gaskets. They were a freebie. Hoping they work well with the cam and heads.

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by 61K10

Looking good--your pcm is in the way of your AC lol. I guess you get that nice ocean breeze most of the time though. you're getting close.

Haha! Ive got a real hot "tune" on that PCM. When it starts getting too hot, its programmed to automatically open the kick panel vent with a stepper motor! LOL.
To be honest, its gonna be close to the heater elbow that comes into the cab. Looks like a Vintage Air setup is out and the knee freezer is going back in.

Yes its getting close. Down to little knick knack stuff like having male ends for both connectors on the O2 sensors, intake plumbing ect. But yes, getting so close its driving me nuts working OT at work to try to keep the project moving but not having time to wrench! Always a catch 22 right?

Hope to get gas for the welder on Wednesday and maybe finish the filler pipe / neck this week.

['63GENIII]

Drumroll please....... it fired right up today! My son helped me get the fuel primed up to the injectors and voila! I tried to get a video from my phone but the file is too big to upload. Anyway, just thought Id share. Now for cooling, exhaust, front sheetmetal and interior LOL. Might have it done by next spring at this rate!

[snj8198]

Congrats! I was wondering how you were coming along on this. It's been so long I figured you scrapped it for a Toyota.

[Captainfab]

That is a great feeling when an engine you build fires up and runs good. Congrats.

[MTCK]

Great work! That's an accomplishment that just makes a person smile. I was so relieved when it made oil pressure hahaha.

['63GENIII]

Originally Posted by snj8198

Congrats! I was wondering how you were coming along on this. It's been so long I figured you scrapped it for a Toyota.

This thing they call work is keeping me from getting done and helping me finish all at the same time. Toyota? C'mon Steve, Id have to get one of those VWs with the sneaky computer!

Originally Posted by Captainfab

That is a great feeling when an engine you build fires up and runs good. Congrats.

No doubt Captain! Only glitch was having the supply and regulator return lines reversed at the tank. Wasn't even planning on trying but realized all I had to do was connect 3 wires to the computer. It actually kinda scared my Son and I when it lit. So much so that I had him shut it down almost immediately.

Originally Posted by MTCK

Great work! That's an accomplishment that just makes a person smile. I was so relieved when it made oil pressure hahaha.

Thats the very next thing on the list - getting all of the gauges connected! I did prime the engine with a gauge on it but pulled it off to install the engine. Just a little more pipe work!