The Hugger goes ZL-1....

[hgger69]

Thank you KurtS....Camaros, cars,  please

I completely agree, thanx again Kurt! 

Oh, and I love following this engine build and install! Please keep it coming, man! Very exciting.

Wow, that's really fun to hear, thanx man! 
I will do but for the moment this all there is to show...but stay tuned I`ll keep it coming!
But don't hesitate to comment or ask questions....this is the first time for me with building an engine and putting it in again, never done this before! 

[hgger69]

...now when its getting brighter outside its time for an late update!

I´ve been busy with a lot of other things but a few hours has been spent on freshing up the engine bay and also hopefully fixed a leaking manual steering box.
The heating core has to be changed so that process is started.
Unfortunate the work on the block hasn´t started yet so I'm still waiting for that to happen but I rather wait a couple of weeks extra and get a god job instead of fast and wrong! 

I finally got all my stuff that I ordered in late December early January from different parts of the USA:






This is what arrived this time:
- Crane hydraulic lifters
- Special alu head bolts
- Crane push rods
- Crane gear and chain
- ARP oil pump shaft
- ARP fuel pump shaft
- Cast iron BB exhaust manifolds
- Flowmaster 2,5" downpipes
- Master BB engine bolt kit
- BB frame mounts
- BB motor mounts
- Heater box gasket kit
- SB factory heater box block off
- BB heater core
- Heater core bracket
- Melling oil pickup
- Melling oil pump
- Black oil pan
- BB heater hose outlet cover
- Intake gasket set BB
- D-port BB exhaust gasket set
- BB overhaul gasket set
- Generator pulley
- Crank shaft pulley
- Water pump pulley
- Generator bracket
- Waterpump alu
- Manual steering box gasket kit
- Thermostat 195F
- Fuel lines from pump to carb
- Fan wheel generator
- Positive battery oil pan clip
- Heater hose clamp
- Fan shroud BB

I´m still waiting for parts that will arrive in late June so the engine will not be ready for early season but that´s life...

The radiator just got freshened up cause it look real good and it´s not that old I guess?!


The new motor mounts has also been fitted....NOT that easy to access the nuts beneath the frame there...



I´ll be back as soon as I now more! 

 

[hgger69]

Suddenly things started to happen... 

I was invited to the motor shop late yesterday evening by the owner and this is the first thing that caught my eye:


I think this is gonna be great..isn´t it a beautiful? If you look close you can se the extra holes that these aluminium block got due to the fact that they had problem with the early ZL-1 and CamAm engines, they blew the head gaskets in this area.


The block is milled from Chevrolet to avoid contact between the block and rod bolts. I think this not that common or does anybody else now?


Since the block is brand new and we´re using standard dimension on the pistons,he just used the stones when making the cylinders.
A brand new set of stred plates were mounted before action:


The outer most pistons are temporary mounted for checking squisch and decking dimension.


The domes are cosy on the pistons, huh?


We just had to get a cylinder head on so we could check for clearance between pistons and valves and it was ok!
It´s not hard to see that this beast is not an easy thing to get down in the subframe of the Hugger....


Today I got a pic from the engine shop when the top decking is ongoing.


If everything is going our way the motor would be ready for me during next week. Then the block and the heads are cleaned and the crank, pistons, rods, cam gear & chain and the cam are mounted and in place. Then its up to me to complete the rest for the first time in my life, exciting to say the least! 

[hgger69]

Finally the ZL-1 block is home in my garage...it actually arrived last Tuesday even though it was delayed due to a broken crank seal.
 
Mot motor shop guy Ulf was generous to lend me his own engine stand from Snap On. Nice gear box with crank for easier and controlled rotation. You just have to love the detailing from Chevrolet on the cam shaft cover from:


It´s a beauty from any angle....


Then we had the positive and negative news regarding the heads...     
Starting with the positive the heads look very nice overall and machine work that was already done on them for the valves was remarkable good! We just bought them on eBay based on just the pics so you really don't know what to expect really.
The stainless valves had some numbers on them that I had to check and it turned out that these valves are really good shit, so to speak! They are from Ferrea and their Competition Plus series! Some times the sun shines on me too...! They are priced almost as much as I gave for just the heads on eBay!   

The negative was that the valve guides, se below, were made of cast iron and that could be a problem together with stainless steel valves and aluminum heads. We also noticed that the springs were to low in rate and they were missing the bottom cup/locators so we had to order new parts from Crane and that will get us two extra weeks of waiting . 




We decided to go for K-line insert bushings and that work was done after the pics were taken.

Other things that went missing from the block are all the guide pins for the heads, cam, transmisson and the cap and screws for the camchaft.
....when you are new to this type of project as I am it´s a lots of thing to think about so I guess this will happen again before the motor is ready to go back in the Hugger!

[hgger69]

Even if everything is moving slowly, suddenly things are happening!

The Hugger itself needs some attention during this heart change so I´ve done some work in the engine bay and I finally got the heater box out!




The new heater core from NPD, that I got as a gift from winning as ROTM on Team Camaro, didn´t fit in height even though it was made for a 1969 BB Camaro! That´s not good for NPD......


Now I have to let the local radiator shop build me a new and correct one, We have an original 1969 BB core as a template so hopefully we get it right.
As said here in Sweden: - I f you want something right, you have to do it yourself!

The missing parts for the engine has arrived so I've started to do some mounting.
The timing chain and gear, the timing cover and the special cam looking plate are now in place.


The timing cover and harmonic balancer in place...


The heads came back from the engine shop with the new and correct springs from Crane in place.
We didn't put the inner springs in yet due to the breaking in process of the cam.


Other stuff that didn't come with the block are now in place.


Then I started with the beautiful head gaskets from Felpro...


But after mounting a bunch of bolt by hand I realized that 8 of them was too long for my heads...I had bought a special kit for aluminum heads and block  but maybe different heads has this setup of bolts?
We had to order 8 new ones and luckily they had them here in Sweden so we had them in a day. I also discovered some thread problems in one the block holes and fixed that before I continued to mount the heads. The new bolts had 6 point heads instead of 12 point but I place them under the valve covers. Now every bolt is tightened correctly with its right torque.


The Melling oil pump has been docked with the adjusted pickup and a spot weld keep the pickup in place.


I couldn't help myself...I just had to test mount the intake just to se how it will appear...!


You just have to love how the engineers at Chevrolets put in to these parts...

[hgger69]

We´ve had a Midsummers holiday here in Sweden this weekend but I managed to get some hours off to continue the build of the ZL-1.

A proper, and hopefully period correct, fuel pump from AC Delco have found its new home:


The aluminum water pump is also in place now:


Since I choose to use the factory installed exhaust manifolds, they went in as well:


Rocker covers made the all the parts getting more and more looking like a real engine!




It´s always something missing so I´m waiting for some parts from US & A to arrive...maybe in the next coming weeks?!

[buenymayor]

That is going to be one fun car!

[hgger69]

That is going to be one fun car!

Thanks...hope you´re right! 

[hgger69]

I´m back and I've decided to let go of the ****ty Photobucket.com after their hostile behavior the last months. My new supplier is Fotki.com that I hope will have a more mature business.
While I´m new at Fotki and I've noticed that at some sites, like this one, the pics are larger but I don't know how to scale them automatically yet, sorry!
 
OK, here we go again and I believe we were around here the last time we could se the pics...cause I cant see them anymore either!
 
Fuel- and water pump in place together with manifolds and valve covers:

 
Oil splash guard in place:

 
The hotter thermostat for alu-engines in place:

The temp sender unit has after the pic were taken been moved to its correct place in the left hand side cylinder head.
 
Oil filter adapter has landed:

 
The correct and also authentic oil dipstick:

 
Alternator and belt. The screws has been sent to correct black surface treatment.

 
Intake, thermostat housing and fuel line mounted:

 

 
I just hade to put it on, sorry!

 
Finally I've mounted the oil pan with the one-piece gasket from FelPro. Very expensive but so nice it fitted and I'm so glad to use this one instead of the old school and not customer friendly 4-piece original gasket!

 
I had to make my own studs while ARP didnt have any set for this FelPro gasket...

 

 
Oil pressure sensor and break-in filter in place together with a transport-mount of the flex plate:

 
Starter with bracket and heat shield in place:

 
...and the dipstick in its correct place:

 
Its getting closer now....!

 
...to be continued, welcome again!

[HawkX66]

Looks great Hakan! I wouldn't use anything but that Felpro gasket. They work great for me. I just used factory bolts. They were plenty long enough. I like your stud idea though.

[hgger69]

Looks great Hakan! I wouldn't use anything but that Felpro gasket. They work great for me. I just used factory bolts. They were plenty long enough. I like your stud idea though.

Thanks, Dave! 
I agree regarding the FelPro but the original bolts wasn't long enough for me, especially the two for the chain cover! This is the 1884R-gasket, which ine did you use?
I wanted to use studs due to the aluminum block, I'm afraid of over-torqueing the bolts and then destroying the threads...

[KurtS]

Hakan,
The pictures are huge. They timed out before they loaded - and I'm on a kinda fast connection. Anyone else having that issue?

[HawkX66]

Looks great Hakan! I wouldn't use anything but that Felpro gasket. They work great for me. I just used factory bolts. They were plenty long enough. I like your stud idea though.

Thanks, Dave! 
I agree regarding the FelPro but the original bolts wasn't long enough for me, especially the two for the chain cover! This is the 1884R-gasket, which ine did you use?
I wanted to use studs due to the aluminum block, I'm afraid of over-torqueing the bolts and then destroying the threads...

Hakan,
The pictures are huge. They timed out before they loaded - and I'm on a kinda fast connection. Anyone else having that issue?

Not at all Kurt and I'm on a pretty slow connection. I love the large pics to see the details. Especially Hakan's. He's a great photographer.

Haken,
 I used the 1884R also. Hmmm. I've heard others have the same problem that you did also. I don't blame you on using the studs on that block!!

[hgger69]

Hakan,
The pictures are huge. They timed out before they loaded - and I'm on a kinda fast connection. Anyone else having that issue?

Kurt,
As I wrote above I´ve noticed that too, but I really don't know how to fix that? I think many sites must have like an autocorrect fix for large pics but this site doesn't I guess?
...but I don't really have any upload issues though! 

[hgger69]

Haken,
I used the 1884R also. Hmmm. I've heard others have the same problem that you did also. I don't blame you on using the studs on that block!!

OK, great. But I think there is different bolt kits out there and they all came to be original but I think they differ in length...?!
No, the studs are great, especially when ju planning of taking the pan off a couple of times as I do.!