The Impala Project

dirty engine front

Now that I’ve got a pile of parts out of the way, I need to move on to another collection of parts. Last year I bought an LT1 350 with a 4L60e transmission behind it. I had to pull it myself which was no big deal, and I plan on putting it in my truck, an 86 GMC Sierra Classic.

The problem with the 305 in the truck now is that it’s gutless. GM made a really bad decision to put such a small engine in a work truck with a 2.74 ratio rear end. Bad move! The truck only gets 12 miles to the gallon and I’ll bet it only got 15-16 mpg when the truck was new.

dirty engine rear

So the first step is to clean the engine. I picked up a power washer from Sears on Saturday (July 4th, 2009) and unwittingly got it on sale for $40 less. It’s a Power Washer 1850 PSI Electric Powerwasher®. I didn’t use it, but the power washer came with a detergent container that didn’t require a wand attachment. Just plain old high pressure water seemed to do the trick. Look for an upcoming review.

The engine isn’t all that dirty. It has enough grease on it to make it look grungy, but the only place the grease was caked on was at the front of the engine around the accessory mounting brackets. The intake manifold has a thin layer of grease that looked more like blow by and it seemed to cleanup nicely.

clean engine front

After cleaning up the engine and transmission I did a quick review of the engine compartment on the truck. The engine compartment looked like it could use a cleraning but it had little to no grease in it other than the engine. I didnt bother with it.

After that I thought the driveway could use some help. In the last couple of years since it was poured the tree leaves and dirt in general had colored it a dingy brown. The pressure washer seemed to take care of it well other than the grease spot my Plymouth Neon had created. The grease spot came up, but I was still left with a stain that was noticeable as engine oil.

clean engine rear

So now you can look for some upcoming articles on the engine swap. I’m going from a carburated 305 to the multiport electronic fuel injected LT1 350. Stock this engine has 260 horse power, about 120 more than the 305 had new, so I’m expecting the truck to pull better and get better mileage.

Before I do the swap I’m gonna put a new timing chain and fuel pump on it, adjust the valves, and replace the engine gaskets in the process. If you haven’t guessed, I don’t like leaky engines. I’ll need to find a couple of gas tanks from a fuel injected 87 model year as well, since the fuel injected 87’s had the submersible fuel pump. The carburated 305 has the classic side mounted fuel pump at the front passenger side of the block.

I found an LT1 350 with a 4L60e transmission on Craigslist a couple of weeks ago. It was still in the car, I had to pull it myself so I had the opportunity to get everything I needed to make the conversion work. With 120k on it, it started in a second after sitting for 6 months without smoking or sputtering. He wanted $500. A Good deal I thought.

I went there today to start taking it apart. Nothing was missing. It’ll look nice once I install it in my truck. Ya, my truck. I’m not going to be finished with the 64 Impala for a few more years so I’ll test the conversion in my 86 GMC C1500. I’ll still have the motor and everything it needs so I can always rebuild it and put it in the 64 Impala if I decide I want the modern drive train instead of the classic car engine.

Stay tuned. I’ve taken plenty of pictures and I’ll do an article on it as well.

Carl

You gotta love this kind of ingenuity. Here is an email thread from a gentleman in New Zealand with a Chevy small block 350 in his Jaguar. He just needs a bit of help getting the ignition wiring connected.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Murray J said:
> I have a 1983 Jaguar Sovereign with a late 70s 350. i would like to know
> how to wire up the engine electrics from scratch. I have forgotten how
> everything was put together from when i removed the engine from the donor
> car. Any help would be appreciated. My car is rhd. Many thanks. Murray J.

Hi Murray,

Depending on the emissions sensors for your engine, you could have a
unique wiring requirement, at least as far as ignition is concerned. There
wasn’t much for emissions in the late 70’s however, they accomplished the
bulk of the emissions issues back then by lowering compression and leaning
out the fuel system.

Chevy engine electric isn’t complicated. Does your engine have the GM HEI
distributor, or breaker points?

You should get the schematic for the donor car. You’ll need to figure out
where the corresponding wires are on the Jag. That may be a bigger issue
than the Chevy engine electrical.

Carl

> Murray J said:
>> HI Carl thanks for your reply. The engine was out of a light truck as
>> far
>> as i can tell. The distributor has breaker points. The donor car was
>> another Jag, and when I removed the engine I didn’t make any diagrams
>> regarding the ignition wiring. I do remember there was a large white
>> resistor mounted on the firewall. If you could point me in the direction
>> of a website that might have basic wiring diagrams i would be very
>> grateful,as I am working very much on my own so any help would be
>> appreciated.

> Hi Murray,
>
> Sorry to take so long. Been sick all week.
>
> You mention a resistor on the firewall. All Chevy BP ignitions use a
> resistor wire to ensure the shortest wiring path to the coil from the
> battery (via the starter) is used during the starting phase. Other wise
> the resistor wire provides positive to the coil. The resistor lead goes to
> positive on the coil if this is the correct resistor. The small inside
> terminal on the starter goes to positive on the coil positive as well.
>
> Negative on the coil goes to the distributor.
>
> The small outside terminal on the starter is where the hot wire for start
> position on the ignition switch goes.
>
> Other than that, Battery positive and ground are all you need to make it
> run.
>
> Your charging system components are likely Jaguar(?). I don’t know
> anything about those.
>
> Carl

Murray J said:
> Carl, thanks for reply. I know this is very basic for someone of your
> experience, but i do appreciate the time you took to answer my queries.
> The information will certainly get me on the right path. Thanks again..
>
> Murray.

No Problem Murray.

Enjoy the Jag.

Carl