I expect to do a little more work on the engine this weekend.  The lifters, rods, rear cover plate and a few miscellaneous items will go back on so we can do a trial fit up of the engine on the frame.  It’s slowly but surely taking shape despite numerous distractions that leave little time to work on it.

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Monday morning quarterback (11/10): Dave and I did get to work on the engine a little on Saturday (late start/early quit) but didn’t quite get as far as along on it as we thought we might but progress was made none the less and that’s all good.  Also, we got three fourths of the way through installing the motor mounts on the frame for the LS1 before I had to stop to get ready for an evening out with friends.  Ol’ Murphy was right there with us too because we had to make a run for some nuts and bolts and when we got back to the garage, we had one bolt that was a half inch longer than what we thought we picked.  Oh well, I’ll rectify that tonight on the way home from work.

We also kicked it up a notch since the manual only called for 3/8″ Grade 5 bolts for the motor mounts and we opted for 1/2″ Grade 8 bolts.

We moved the assembled short block engine from Dave’s garage to the build site over last weekend.  I’m anxious to do a trial fit up between the frame rails to see what kind of clearance issues we might have.  If I try to stay with the OEM low mounting position of the A/C compressor and alternator, I actually expect interference between the A/C and the strut rods of the Mustang II suspension but I’ll deal with that when it presents itself.  The complete engine assembly will be finished later on.

Dave wasn’t able to use the all aluminum drive shaft he had for his Camaro project car due to its large diameter shaft interefering with the drive shaft loop.  He resorted to using a smaller diameter steel shaft.  Anyway, the aluminum drive shaft fit the business end of my 4L60E transmission perfectly so I bought it from Dave.  My quick revving all aluminum engine will now have an aluminum drive shaft to deliver heart pounding power to the wheels.  Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme but it sounded exciting didn’t it?!

I do expect that some modification to the length of the shaft will have to be made to accommodate what most likely will be a shorter drive train than what the Camaro had.

The short block was re-assembled over last weekend.  The next step is to move the engine back to the build site where we’ll finish its assembly (heads, manifold, sundry accessories, etc.).

Almost a month later since I started on the front suspension and it still isn’t completely assembled.  I received the stud bolts and nuts from Wisconsin that were originally missing from the strut rod parts that arrived from StreetBeasts and was able to install them (finally).  When I pulled out the hub and disc brake parts to do a trial fit up, I noticed that one of the wheel bearing nuts was not only “not new” (rusty corrosion) but it was also the wrong size and a different material - it wouldn’t even go on the spindle.  I just wish I would have known sooner (my fault for not checking more closely).  I’ll get one locally …

Oct. 16 - Just a note to update this post to say that I got the wheel bearing nuts I needed from a local Ford dealer so I’m back in business!

I got back late Monday night from a brief but great vacation visiting Greg and Jenn on the west coast …

The strut rods for the front suspension and the left and right-hand window regulators were waiting at the back door.  Other back ordered parts yet to arrive are the windshield and the front and rear bumpers.

I should be able to finish the fit-up of the front suspension now and then hopefully move on to installing the rear suspension on the frame.  That will get us pretty close to having a “rolling chassis” which is a significant milestone in the build.

I spoke with StreetBeasts today regarding my back ordered parts.  In particular, I really need the front suspension strut rods that are now delaying that portion of the build.  SB had to check but called me back as promised with a status.  The strut rods and window regulators should be packed and shipped tomorrow.  SB is expecting windshields to arrive sometime next week but they weren’t sounding overly optimistic that they will actually receive them.  They said that they have said that more times than they have cared to lately.  Sounds like a bit of a wait yet for the front glass.  To be honest, I forgot to ask about the front and rear bumpers but will inquire about them next time.  I was busy asking other questions while I had a real person on the line.

We started to put the LS1 back together Saturday morning … the block looked great and the cylinder wall sleeves were still free of any rust bloom from their previous rather thorough wash down and cleaning.  Along with new bearings, Dave and I installed the new cam, freshly polished crank shaft, existing bearing caps, new pistons, and a slew of bolts (all torqued to GM specs).  All told - not shabby for a few hours of effort (particularly since we don’t do it everyday).

The Manufacturer Certificate of Origin arrived on Saturday from StreetBeasts complete with a metal identification tag to affix on the driver’s door jam inside.  The tag is equivalent to the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) that most cars have on the dash.

I got started on installing the front suspension over the weekend or at least to as far as I could go until I receive the missing strut rods from StreetBeasts.  SB called on Friday and said they found them and would ship them out.

I also picked up a set of new Ford upper control arms for my rear axle assembly.  The original ones that came with the ‘89 Mustang set-up I purchased on e-Bay a while back needed new rubber bushings.  I didn’t have much luck finding the bushings as a separate item and Ford doesn’t sell the bushings separately (of course) so I had to order complete upper control arm assemblies.  They have a galvanized steel finish (not a black powder coat finish like I was expecting).  Guess I’ll have to paint them …

Not much got done over the holiday weekend, however, I did manage to set the frame on jack stands and get it perfectly level.  The garage floor must be rather level since I didn’t have  to do any shimming.  I still might have to move the front stands because I don’t have them situated exactly where the Manual suggests they should be placed.  The frame is now sitting about 18″ off the floor as well so I can use a creeper to get under it as necessary.

I laid out the front suspension parts and was hoping to get them installed but it appears as though I’m missing a couple of pieces.  I need to finish checking all of the boxes first because I found the door latches and handles in with the brake parts earlier.