what donor to get

[KJP]

Are you checking Copart and other auction sites. That's a pretty nice car to tear apart. Typically you can find an SS wrecked if you look around long enough.

I would have no issue taking that one apart. The price is pretty reasonable as well for something running and driving.
I actually came across that one in my search it's been for sale a while they may be negotiable.

 

[redline]

Yes I have checked Copart and one other. all of them were in bad enough shape that I would be suspect of the frame member and or steering. They also were much further away, as I am in Mississippi these days. Nashville is only about 4-5 hours away and we have family there.

If someone knows of a better deal, please let me know. Otherwise I think I may put this ugly orange and black sucker out of its misery. lol

 

[TheNuker]

Also keep an eye on IAAI. That is where I found mine.

Nuker-

 

[Brian74]

ZZP has brand new LDK (turbo) crate long blocks in limited quantities at the lowest price they’ve ever been. If you go that route and use a supercharged donor (rather than a turbocharged one), you will be in for a giant wiring adventure. The engine harness can be bought new for about $280 but youll also need to buy a matched BCM, PCM & TDM, a new PCM body harness connector, fuel pump and a full rewire of the body harness side of the PCM connector. Its not worth buying body or dash harnesses new, $$$$ for something you’ll just be stripping apart anyways.

The PCM connector and modules can all be had for under $400

For the crate longblock you’ll need injectors, a full intake system, all fuel lines & regulator, alternator, and several brackets.

I went this route and found a supercharged SS donor for $300, mainly for the transmission, subframe, wiring, and a few other compatible suspension parts. I am sourcing much of my other parts from pull your own yards or new.

In the end this route is no cheaper than snagging a decent running auction donor and certainly a LOT more labor intensive, but I wanted a brand new turbocharged engine.

 

[DanPerryy]

You might check here on the forum to see if someone wanted to buy a complete donor engine (only). I think someone might. Then you buy a complete donor, go through a normal build, get it all running with the donor engine. Then pull the old engine - sell it and put the new TC engine in your car. Justin (JSAX) on the forum is doing - has done - something similar.

 

[redline]

thanks for the tip on IAAI, I will try them today. I think I would rather source everything from one donor instead of trying to put it together just because I live in the black hole of the car world here in MS. I like the idea of getting it running with donor engine and then swapping out with built engine, a little before and after action.

I have looked around some, and it is personal preference to some degree but I am about to ask the car guy forbidden question. SC vs TC what do you guys think and why? I am only familiar with the SC engine as all my redlines had the SC. I understand TC can make more overall power but is it usable? Also does lag come into play with such a light vehicle?

that brings up a good point, what is your final weights?

 

[Briann1177]

If I had to do it all over again, I would go with SC instead of TC. After spending a few hours cleaning my intake valves only to know they're going to have a mountain of carbon build up on them again really gets my goat.

I know there are a variety of ways to mitigate it such as a catch can, methanol injection, etc, but that's just another thing I'd rather not mess with.

 

[ctuinstra]

I have no experience with the TC but can honestly say I'm quite happy with the SC and if I had to do it over again, I would look for another SC. I don't care for the exhaust plumbing. I'm not trying to upset those that have TC, they may be great. I have turbo on my DD and love it. I just didn't want to have to mess with the plumbing is all.

 

[redline]

how did you guys do your wiring harness? I watched the videos on the harness, but that is the standard. do you get a different video/instructions when you go with TC/SC?

 

[Briann1177]

No, there isn't a separate set of videos/instructions for the SS builds. The videos are a good guideline for what you need to do, but they don't spell out everything. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

 

[Briann1177]

Also, I highly recommend either buying a service manual or using the free Chilton library for wiring information. There's absolutely no way I could have done it without them.

http://dfkitcar.com/forum/index.php?threads/track-day-monster-2009-ss-tc-track-frame.396/page-2#post-4358

 

[redline]

awesome, great information. so could you follow the video for the removal process and for getting the length correct then just tidy up the extra few connections that go to the SC and such? or did you install the harness and tape it up after you knew the length of everything? I would think all the body harness is the same?

 

[Briann1177]

You can follow the videos for removal and getting the length correct. There is a wire harness map that lays out the lengths of where everything needs to go. I used it for the front end portion, and it's spot on. I did need to make my OBD2 connector a bit longer, but that's only because of where I decided to put it. Also, the diagram doesn't mention where to put the boost gauge or ambient light sensor. I left my boost gauge wire full length, and I'm still trying to figure out what do to with the light sensor.

http://dfkitcar.com/forum/index.php?threads/first-stage-assembly-instructions.58/#post-478

 

[JeffsGoblin]

Some have taped up the harness fully, some have not and some wish they didn’t when they had to unwrap it. I will tape once the harness is fully working in the car properly.

 

[DanPerryy]

That is what I recommend, tape it up after it is all working. I wound up adding quite a number of "extra" circuits, 12V for accessory cigarette lighter sockets, tow lights, 12V for an 120V inverter, heater circuits, etc.

 

[DanPerryy]

Also when you wrap, I put a tie wrap at the end of the tape to keep it from unraveling in the heat.

 

[ctuinstra]

i used a split loom mesh to cover much of it after minimal taping. That makes it easier to open it back up to add or remove. I did tape the entire main harness in the tunnel and engine bay to protect it along with the mesh loom.

 

[Briann1177]

I like split loom a lot, but the problem I found with it is that it takes up precious room in the tunnel. Unless your wiring is super straight, you might have to go up a size or two to get it on.

 

[ctuinstra]

I like split loom a lot, but the problem I found with it is that it takes up precious room in the tunnel. Unless your wiring is super straight, you might have to go up a size or two to get it on.

Check out the mesh loom I used in my build. It's not the corrugated heavy plastic stuff. It's more of a mesh sleeve. It's split and has strong memory to the wrap.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-4-Flexo-F6-Braided-Cable-Sleeving-Wrap-Split-Loom-Techflex-F6N0-25BK/350999178330?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&var=620245293936&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

[Brian74]

While working on the harnesses, I bought several bags of 4” zipties from walmart for ~$1 for a bag of 100. You can temporarily tightly ziptie up the harness every junction or foot or so while working on it. That will allow you to carry it around, store it or mock run it through the car without the wires getting all tangled up.

Once you’re mocked up and ready to tape, re-zip tie the harness to hold all of the bends in the harness prior to applying the final tape.