C4 conversion to LS3 hot cam

[Eddie44]

Can't wait to see and hear actually run on Friday.

[Ted Y]

I'm so happy to hear its running well. Remember not to go 180 until it's broken in.

[TheCMSH]

Can't wait to see it............when it's not a 110 degrees! Not going to the Pavs until the heat breaks!

[C4orce2]

C4orce II will be going to its first Fast Glass Corvette Club meeting tonight along with the Vette Whisperer. Nearly 500 miles on it so far with very few minor problems. Since we wired both fans to run all the time until the computer interface is installed, the car is actually running too cool now, between 150 and 170. That issue along with a few others will be resolved when the computer interface is installed next Friday and Saturday. By July 18 the car should be 100%. We will take some pictures of the finished product and I will add them to my album entitle "Build of C4orce II". At this point I'm not sure how much of the bling I bought should be installed on the engine. Some feel that I shouldn't add anything. Or I can put on the carbon fiber LS3 rail covers and a chrome piece over the center. The third option is to also put chrome rail covers over the carbon fibor ones. I normally have as much chrome on as possible for car shows, but not sure how the LS3 will look the best. The main thing is that it runs like a monster and sounds great!

[92ZR1Wannabe]

I would go lightly on that wimpy Dana 36 in that car Pretty sure that LS3 makes more then enough hp to ruin its day if you get to hot and heavy with it.

[C4orce2]

I had a great time going with the Phx group to Mt. Lemon, at least as far as the trip lasted for me. About 10 miles south of Florence, I shredded my fan belt and was done for the day. The pulleys have now been re-aligned and the car is back on the road. Taking it on a 4 day road trip up north this weekend, then back to Kim's shop on the 26th to get the temporary computer interface installed. I posted a pic of the device in the member gallery under "Build of C4orce II". Once we see that this device is working properly, Wes will prepare the final one and it will be installed shortly. The car will then be complete and I will add the final pics to the same album.

[FNBADAZ06]

I had a great time going with the Phx group to Mt. Lemon, at least as far as the trip lasted for me. About 10 miles south of Florence, I shredded my fan belt and was done for the day. The pulleys have now been re-aligned and the car is back on the road. Taking it on a 4 day road trip up north this weekend, then back to Kim's shop on the 26th to get the temporary computer interface installed. I posted a pic of the device in the member gallery under "Build of C4orce II". Once we see that this device is working properly, Wes will prepare the final one and it will be installed shortly. The car will then be complete and I will add the final pics to the same album.

Great news !!!!

So sorry you were unable to continue on the drive, as I really wanted to check out the car first hand since I didn't get a chance when we had our late arrival at the Lowe's.

I didn't hear about the belt issue until we arrived at the AZ-77 S /AZ-79 S (Oracle Junction) regrouping stop, but Juicdta and DSOM4ME told me you had a tow truck on it's way and you had water available while you waited. Did you have your issue before the SRT4 Neon, which also had an issue and could not continue ?

[C4orce2]

I had a great time going with the Phx group to Mt. Lemon, at least as far as the trip lasted for me. About 10 miles south of Florence, I shredded my fan belt and was done for the day. The pulleys have now been re-aligned and the car is back on the road. Taking it on a 4 day road trip up north this weekend, then back to Kim's shop on the 26th to get the temporary computer interface installed. I posted a pic of the device in the member gallery under "Build of C4orce II". Once we see that this device is working properly, Wes will prepare the final one and it will be installed shortly. The car will then be complete and I will add the final pics to the same album.

Great news !!!!

So sorry you were unable to continue on the drive, as I really wanted to check out the car first hand since I didn't get a chance when we had our late arrival at the Lowe's.

I didn't hear about the belt issue until we arrived at the AZ-77 S /AZ-79 S (Oracle Junction) regrouping stop, but Juicdta and DSOM4ME told me you had a tow truck on it's way and you had water available while you waited. Did you have your issue before the SRT4 Neon, which also had an issue and could not continue ?

It was apparently abou the same time as the Neon since they pulled over and talked to me before they turned around. What happened to me was not unexpected since I had shredded a fan belt just two days before this one and we were not sure if we had fixed the problem. Obviously we had not. I've now driven it for about 3 hours since this last fix and the problem SEEMS to be solved. I guess I will find out during the next 3 days.

[C4orce2]

7/25/10: Just got back from a three day road trip in C4orce II. Went to Show Low, then to Snowflake for the Sweet Wheels car show, then on to Flagstaff and Sedona. Car ran great and the fan belt issue is apparently solved. At the show we took first place in the corvette class and avoided rain the entire trip except for some Friday afternoon in Show Low. Just before leaving Wes Burch sent me an email which included some research he found talking about the LS3 hot cam. GM noted that due to the cam, the engine will surge anytime it is running at less than 2500 rpm. Since the car is running 3.55 gears, 2500 rpm in fourth gear is about 75 mph. That explains the hesitation or surging I was experiencing at low rpms. The note from GM is right on, at 80 or 85 the engine runs great, it simply does not like cruising at less than 2500 rpm. I was afraid we had a problem but now I know the engine is running exactly as it should be. Tommorrow Wes arrives at Kim's shop and we install the computer interface and finish the project. I'll post the final pics in the "Build of C4orce II" album when we are finished.

[Buccaneer]

Went over to Kim's... The Vette Whisperershop today to finish work on an 82 vette muscle car and saw Larry over there working on his C4 monster. WOW! That bad boy sounds badass Larry and I love it. I think once you get that bad boy straightened out, take it over to Horsepower Connection and tweak that tune by Brian Macy for a real thrill ride C4. Nice vette Larry! Oh, and I met Wes, nice guy and knows a lot about the system he doing on that car.

[C4orce2]

Final report as of 8/6/10: The car is finished! The Vette Whisperer and Wes Burch worked on the computer interface for the last two weeks and worked out all the problems. Wes has now returned to Florida to build the final interface and it will be installed in two to three weeks. It will simply replace the temporary interface that is now working perfectly. All functions are now working normally and the car runs great and sounds even better. In the next few days I will post the final pics to my album "Build of C4orce II". You will be surprised how clean the engine looks now that Wes has buried all the wiring under the carbon fiber rail covers. Weather permitting, I will bring the car to the Pavilions tomorrow night for Vette Night. Hope you enjoyed the pics. I know I will enjoy the car for years to come.

[Shifty]

I've never responded to this thread, but kept reading it raptly. I sincerely envy your results, and sure wish I could follow in your footsteps!

[C4orce2]

I've never responded to this thread, but kept reading it raptly. I sincerely envy your results, and sure wish I could follow in your footsteps!

Thanks for your comments. Of course as with all engine exchanges, there are always minor problems. Today I was planning on going out to the Pavilions and then noticed that I have a small coolant leak near one fo the new sensors we installed. So no show today and back to the shop on Tuesday. I'm sure there will be many small problems like this that we have to work out before it is 100%, but all the big issues are solved and the car runs great. As long as I can stay in the country, I plan on attending as many events as I can so hopefully we can meet at one of them.

[Shifty]

Between your car, and all of teh data on CF, my head is spinning....I thought about selling off all of the SuperRam/LP219/AFR stuff I've been amassing in favor of teh LS3/LS376-480, and I know I'd be happier with teh results, but it just isn't affordable for me...In teh meantime, you'll just have to mop-up all of teh drool I leave around your machine....

[Eddie44]

A couple new pics of Larry's Vette

[C4orce2]

Thanks for posting the pics Eddie. These are the last pics on the project. Hopefully I will see some of you at different events and if so, I will be glad to show you what all was done. Hope you enjoyed the project.

[C4orce2]

Just had LPM dyno my car. Did it at noon and it was 106 outside, most likely 90-95 inside. Results were 395 hp at the wheels. Since I have an automatic, that should convert to around 494 SAE without adjusting for the temp. Mike said under cooler conditions it would come in 10 to 15 hp higher. I'm very happy with these results under these conditions. Thx Mike. Larry

[Buccaneer]

Larry, how close are you to what you're supposed to be getting do you think?

[C4orce2]

Larry, how close are you to what you're supposed to be getting do you think?

I believe I'm right where I should be. Wes Burch who worked on the interface, indicated that GM often gives a very conservative number when they market their crate engines to avoid being sued if anyone cannot obtain a higher number. Before he left he said the dyno results would probably be higher than the 480 hp promised and it looks like I'm getting at least 494 hp, assuming a 20% reduction for the automatic transmission. If that number goes even higher under cooler conditions, so much the better. Anyway, I'm satisfied with these numbers under these hot conditions.

[LastC3]

tho I think your reduction number mite be a little high .... these are awesome results .... that engine bay look awesome as well .... glad you are happy with the results ..... what kind of torque number did you pull ...???

[Bigfoot]

Nice number.

[Buccaneer]

Larry, how close are you to what you're supposed to be getting do you think?

I believe I'm right where I should be. Wes Burch who worked on the interface, indicated that GM often gives a very conservative number when they market their crate engines to avoid being sued if anyone cannot obtain a higher number. Before he left he said the dyno results would probably be higher than the 480 hp promised and it looks like I'm getting at least 494 hp, assuming a 20% reduction for the automatic transmission. If that number goes even higher under cooler conditions, so much the better. Anyway, I'm satisfied with these numbers under these hot conditions.

The numbers look pretty good and I'd calulate 15% - 17% vs 20%, but you're still right there as advertized anyway. What was the torq? I wonder how much more you could squeeze out of it with a nice tune tweak?

[C4orce2]

Larry, how close are you to what you're supposed to be getting do you think?

I believe I'm right where I should be. Wes Burch who worked on the interface, indicated that GM often gives a very conservative number when they market their crate engines to avoid being sued if anyone cannot obtain a higher number. Before he left he said the dyno results would probably be higher than the 480 hp promised and it looks like I'm getting at least 494 hp, assuming a 20% reduction for the automatic transmission. If that number goes even higher under cooler conditions, so much the better. Anyway, I'm satisfied with these numbers under these hot conditions.

The numbers look pretty good and I'd calulate 15% - 17% vs 20%, but you're still right there as advertized anyway. What was the torq? I wonder how much more you could squeeze out of it with a nice tune tweak?

I believe the torq was 375 at the wheels, but not sure. Mike was not able to print out the results when I was there and promised to send them to me by email. So far I do not have them. If I have not remembered the torq number correctly, I will let you know.

[C4orce2]

Went over to Kim's... The Vette Whisperershop today to finish work on an 82 vette muscle car <img src="http://www.arizonacorvetteenthusiasts.net/arizonavette/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> and saw Larry over there working on his C4 monster. WOW! That bad boy sounds badass Larry and I love it. I think once you get that bad boy straightened out, take it over to Horsepower Connection and tweak that tune by Brian Macy for a real thrill ride C4. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> Nice vette Larry! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="thumbsup.gif" /> Oh, and I met Wes, nice guy and knows a lot about the system he doing on that car.

Tom, I've taken your advice and have decided to make contact with Brian at Horsepower Connection. I will probably wait until the final interface is installed in a few weeks, and then maybe even until the weather cools down. Once I have the tune completed in a few months, I'll report on the final numbers. Thanks for your advice.

[C4orce2]

Having a great time taking the car to shows. Since it was completed in mid July I've gone to three shows. Snowflake-first place all corvettes; Williams-first place 80 to present; and St Johns-best paint. So far in two years 13 first, second, third or other "best of" awards. Whenever I'm home I go to as many shows as I can and will be going to Prescott and many others in the near future. Now with the LS3 hot cam, getting to the shows is half the fun!!