I bought a replacement transmission today. Pulled it out of a 2003 suburban with 150,000 miles on it. Hopefully I won't break this one during installation this time. - Josh
And we have overdrive again! 5 hours later, but it's done. Looking forward to hooking up the overdrive and taking a roadtrip. - Josh
I'm planning a road trip back to Florida next weekend, so I figured I'd tinker with the cruise control. If anyone knows, Cruise control has a second switch next to the brake light switch. The brake switch is normally closed, held open by the brake pedal stem. The cruise control switch is normally open, held closed by the brake pedal stem. On the Silverado, there's 3 sets of wires going to the brake switch. One set for the brake lights, one set for the cruise control and the third set unlocks the console shift lock so you can take the transmission out of park. When I first set up the wagon, I wired the brake light switch to the factory brake switch. Today, I wired in a relay using the brake switch to toggle the cruise control connection. On the brake light side of the brake switch, I used that wire to power the relay to open the cruise control circuit. I tested in on the ride home from work, and I'm very pleased (mostly because my electrical knowledge and understanding are my weak link). -Josh
I made it down to Florida. On the way down, I ran out of fuel literally across the street from a gas station. With the "new" transmission, I'm only getting 18.3 mpg. Makes me wonder if this transmission is worn out and slipping the whole time I'm driving. Or, are all some 4l60e's build/geared differently for different applications. I didn't check the gear ratio of the suburban we pulled the trans out of. I know 18 mph is still awesome, but I lost 5 mph and I don't understand why. - Josh
I drove back up to Georgia, and ran out of fuel AGAIN!!! Gauge reading half tank, only 270 miles on this trip and it sputtered and died. I had to buy jugs to fill with fuel to get the car to the station and it only took 13 gallons?! I'm thinking the sock on the fuel pick up tube might have fallen off. I'm thinking about making a fuel pick up tube for the bottom front of the tank, but I don't know how to filter the fuel before the pump. I'm trying to think of a way to put a screen on the inlet inside the tank. Should I just run an inline filter from the tank to the pump? I'm racking my brain about this one! -JOsh
I pulled the sending unit out of the fuel tank, and the fuel strainer slid up the pickup tube and and left about an inch of the fuel unreachable. I had to make a tool to straighten the teeth on the filter strainer collar, and I put a nylon ziptie on the pickup tube so the strainer won't creep up the tube again. - Josh
The transmission I swapped in from the suburban slips a little from second to third. If you baby it, you never notice, but if you're in the throttle, it revs up before grabbing third. I had the bright idea of swapping the valve body from the trans I lost over drive in, since it shifted solid. Well, now it slips going into EVERY gear! I think I'm going to have to just buy a transmission and new done with it. I don't know what I could have possibly done wrong, but I'm honestly not even surprised anymore. Also, while I was under the car, I noticed all of the scrape marks on the bottom of the engine oil pan. It hangs way too low. The proper pan is $500.00, but I don't have that kind of money right now. Unfortunately, I know what'll happen. I'll smash the pan on some bumpy backroad and it'll cost me a tow bill and an oil pan. - Josh
So, it's been a while because I finally moved into a house in Hampton, Ga. Back to the wagon, I finally broke the stock oil pan. I bottomed out on a few rough roads in Atlanta, and It's been patched twice with RTV silicone. The good news is the $500 oil pan I need has dropped down to $379, so I bought one. Not that I had much choice, but I bit the bullet. I'll post more pics when I swap oil pans. -Josh
I finished swapping oil pans, and here's the low down. Holley has everything spot on!! The oil pan fits like a charm and tucks up behind the crossmember about half an inch. The pictures posted below are the before and after of the installed oil pans. The original oil pan from the rear, and front and rear picks of the new pan. The new oil pan comes with a different size oil filter adapter, so here's pictures of the different filters. The filter on the left is the stock number for the 99 Silverado drivetrain. The filter on the right, with the adapter on top, is the new number filter that fits the adapter. My dog, Emma supervised the whole ordeal. -Josh
And here's the difference in the oil pans, side by side. Picture one is the stock pan depth. Picture two is new oil pan depth. Picture three is a visual side by side comparison Picture four shows the extra clearance they made to avoid the crossmember. Picture five is the hole I rubbed through the stock oil pan. I patched it with RTV and the cardboard backboard from the RTV package to get it home. Oh and the new oil pan takes 5 quarts of oil, while the stock pan takes 6. -Josh
I bought some new headlights for the wagon. They have a white and Amber halo and all the lights are led. I haven't hooked up the Amber lights yet, but they'll flash with the turn signals. -Josh
I learned something yesterday. The fuel system on the wagon wasn't designed for fuel injection. I know that sounds obvious, but it wasn't to me at first. Ever since the ls swap, the wagon has always had fuel issues. I thought it was dirty injectors. I've flushed the fuel rail and cleaned each injector individually probably 5 different times now. What i failed to recognize was the difference in demand from carbureted to fuel injected. The stock drive train demanded 7 to 10 psi of fuel pressure. The fuel inject requires a minimum of 60 psi to run. My fuel pump is supposedly capable of 120 psi, but is regulated down to 60 psi. Previously in this thread, i reported that i ran out of fuel twice. Once on the way to Florida, and again on the way home. The culprit was the fuel strainer sock sliding up the pick up tube, leaving about an inch of unusable fuel in the bottom of the tank. My solution was to put a nylon zip tie in front of the strainer sock to prevent further instances. What i failed to see was why the strainer moved in the first place. Imagine the stock drive train is sipping fuel through a straw. Now the fuel injected drive train is a shop vac sucking as hard as is can through the same straw. The crimped leading edge of the strainer sock isn't a tight seal, but the stock setup didn't pull hard enough for it to be an issue. With the new setup, anything less than half tank, the fuel system would suck air through the crimped leading edge of the strainer. The fuel pump always groaned and growled, but i just thought that's how it was. Well i pulled the fuel pick up out of the tank, removed the strainer and zip tie, cut a length of 3/8th fuel hose and installed it before the strainer. I used a little JB weld to seal the strainer's leading edge to the fuel hose and more JB weld to seal the other end of the hose to the pick up tube. My first test drive confirmed that I'd fixed my fuel problems. The fuel pump is quieter, because it's not sucking air bubbles anymore. With fuel going to all 8 injectors, the horse power and torque feels like i swapped a hot rod camshaft in there. The posi traction struggles to hold the pavement as i floor the accelerator. I know it was a small oversight, but what a huge deference it made. Hopefully this helps anyone else looking to do a fuel injected swap or maybe someone scratching their head with a fuel delivery issue. -Josh
I'm working on a neighbor's 67 LeSabre convertible and part of what I'm doing is blacking out the hood, truck and both bumpers. I liked the blacked out bumpers on the LeSabre so much, i did it to the wagon as well. I love the look. I think it makes the car more menacing. - Josh
good job on the flat top I am deciding what do to my wagon my 65 Sporty has a 350 buick 2004R 3.73 posi I'm thinking about a 4 or 5 spd std for my 65 flat top and either a 350 or one of my 455s ken
In my 1965 Skylark I am using the Tanks Inc fuel tank. That sucker holds like 25 gallons. I am also using the Corvette fuel regulator and filter which is an all in one deal. That way I only have one line going to the fuel rails. I am also running the Holley oil pan and it has plenty of ground clearance.
I replaced the S-10 bucket seats a few weeks ago with vinyl buckets from summit racing. Much nicer seats, and they have lumbar! The big purchase today was a 4L65e transmission built by Mad Dog transmissions in Alpharetta, Ga. I picked it up this morning and was all set to swap it, but the rain came, so it's on hold. It's the punisher series transmission with a stage 2 shift kit. Hopefully it'll be the last transmission i have to put into the wagon. -Josh
I pulled the old transmission out and it started raining before i could get the new one in. I went ahead and replaced the neutral safety switch with the new transmission. I'm looking forward to seeing/feeling the difference. -Josh
I did my first fill up since the trans swap and I'm getting 24.6 mpg just putting around town. I'm supposed to go down to Florida at the end of July. I'm anxious to see what the highway mileage will be! -Josh
