The 83GT

Headers on, distributor in, looking at fuel line routing now.

Are you going to start it with those open headers or make the exhaust for it before you start it up?

I plan to put the exhaust on it. Open headers right there would make me and everyone in the building deaf. Haha.

We're in for another go-round!

The new mufflers showed up. They look like they are going to fit fine, but I happened to look down inside the inlet and was surprised at what I saw.

There are two baffles in these, a v-shaped one and a curved one with a hole in the middle. Since these are so short, they just slid them to where they are almost touching inside. Best I can tell is they leave about a 1/2" wide opening between the two.

So I am going to do what any self-respecting hot rodder would do. Cut up a brand new part with the bandsaw. Haha.

Here we go down the front exhaust rabbit hole. Pretty simple. Couple of bends, 19" of tubing and a muffler. The left header goes right and the right header goes left. They exit just under the fender. I am going to reinstall the Ranger air dam I used to run. It should help everything blend together and look better.

I probably could have run left to left and right to right, but the left header already bends to the right so it would have really needed some tight goofy bends to go left. This way was just easier for me. I *might* H pipe them together.

I did have to perform a baffle-ectomy on the mufflers with the bandsaw. I took one look into the inlet and knew these had to be opened up.

Couple more.

BigBlockRanger wrote:Headers on, distributor in, looking at fuel line routing now.

What header are those? They look like they might work on my car.

They are cheapo BBC headers I got on ebay.

BigBlockRanger wrote:Couple more.

Looks good and looks like you have enough clearance for the front tires when you turn them!!Could you post pictures of the drivers side with the exhaust and muffler on and a picture from underneath with both sides of the exhaust and mufflers on?Thanks

Here's the driver's side. I'll try to get a front pic. The one's I took were fisheyed and looked crazy. Haha.

I like the look of the big throttle body elbow, but it just makes other stuff, namely air filter mounting, a total mess.

I got this hunk of aluminum with a throttle body I bought almost 10 years ago. It was intended to adapt a 95mm Foxbody style TB to a Holley Dominator pattern intake. I dug it out, drilled and tapped the LS pattern and test fit it to the intake. This TB is 102mm so it is just a little bigger than the current hole. Still playing with what direction to mount it so the throttle cable makes sense.

I have some ideas on how to mount a regular 14" open element air filter on it without much trouble.

Started playing with an air filter adapter. This is just a PLA test piece I printed yesterday.

Started making a throttle cable mount. Final version will have a little tab to keep it pointed the right direction.

ABS air filter ring fits really really tight even though I scaled it up a little. I guess ABS shrinks when it cools. It still needed a small notch for the TPS. I may make another. Throttle cable mount is also finished.

Exhaust is fully welded. The mufflers were hard to weld. I kept burning through. The old Ranger air dam conceals everything pretty well. I added an O2 bung to the driver's side. Everything will come back out and get a nice coat of black BBQ paint.

Couple more.

Plate, tb and throttle cable all done. Sometimes the most time consuming part of all this is finding suitable hardware for it all.

I put coupler nuts on two plate studs so I can bolt the air pan on. I will definitely put some locktite on those.

injectors and rails are now installed! I also put a nylock nut loosely on each air pan bolt to effectively retain them on the air pan. If those bolts manage to come out, I probably have much bigger problems to deal with than a bolt down the intake. Haha.

I spent the majority of my time yesterday trying to piece together a lower radiator hose that won't get bar-b-qued by the exhaust. It looks kinda close in the pic, but it is quite a way from the header. Much of the thinking on this phase is trying to do things that will facilitate the installation of the turbos later on. I think this hose routing will be fine from here on.

Oh, and don't you hate how radiator hoses slip on so easily and friendly and then pretend to be superglued in place when you try to pull them back off??? Ooof, meh knuckles.​

The list is short:

Tighten fuel fittings
Add fluids
Prime oiling system
Turn the key and blow it up.

Haha.

Oh, and I have to make the part to hold the air filter lid.

I am probably more excited about this version than all previous versions except for the original 545. Performance-wise, I am expecting this one to run very much like it did. Low 11's here, mid-high 10's elsewhere. Hopefully, maybe, hopefully, maybe.

Air filter bridge finished. Fluids are filled, oil system is primed.

Tomorrow I will check for fuel leaks, pressure, set it on the floor and let it rip.

BigBlockRanger wrote:Air filter bridge finished. Fluids are filled, oil system is primed.

Tomorrow I will check for fuel leaks, pressure, set it on the floor and let it rip.

I use that zinc additive in my 351 in my 69, my 347 in my street Ranger and my 88 Toyota pickup at every oil change

Great success. Fired it up and broke in the cam with little drama. One injector o-ring is a leaker and I plugged the electric fan in backwards. Haha. No other leaks though.

It's loud, but not open header loud. The phone mic could not handle it though.

I will see if I can get the o-ring swapped, fan wires swapped and then verify that the base timing is correct.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ILaYwtRYjoM?si=MbrCgjf6YM_GCPcV

BigBlockRanger wrote:Great success.   Fired it up and broke in the cam with little drama.  One injector o-ring is a leaker and I plugged the electric fan in backwards.  Haha.   No other leaks though.

It's loud, but not open header loud.  The phone mic could not handle it though.

I will see if I can get the o-ring swapped, fan wires swapped and then verify that the base timing is correct.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ILaYwtRYjoM?si=MbrCgjf6YM_GCPcV

Sounds good post another Video with it running after you fix the fuel leak and check the base timing!!

Injector o-ring leak fixed and fan wiring corrected. I showed up today and there was a small puddle of oil under the oil filter. I thought it was just a loose filter because I was able to tighten it quite a bit, but after running it again, it is definitely leaking from one of the fittings. Hopefully all it needs is another ugga dugga.

I wore my ear muffs today and it was much more pleasant to be around. Haha.

​​​​​​​I set base timing and it is much happier.  It was retarded about 18 degrees. 

The tune needs work. Now that it runs, I might just try to basically start over and see how it goes.

I took some more video, but getting good audio in the shop is hard. It will likely be better if I do it outside.

Made a new tune and it starts and runs great.  Accel enrichment is very heavy, but I can turn it down.

I tightened the fitting on the filter relocator and that fixed the leak.

I am really really happy with how this has turned out.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QilxSZf6_lc?si=3iml38z-pHZhc7QR

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QXHmNuzmNOE?si=8CGXd6lNTbiYSgy3