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Something like Clyde did with his cowl openings would look really cool! I forget what he used but it looks really nice.

Actually I once used some wire mesh much like clyde did and it looked ok. I kept it for about a year or so. The problem I had with it I was always having to remove it to clean in the cowl openings, big pain. Leaves and stuff gets in there and on one of the clean outs I bent the wire mesh and decided the heck with it and just deleted it. Something like that is great on a show car but mine has always been a driver and sits outside half of the year but I still agree the openings seems to need something.

I had a 2000 impala with a 3.8 roller motor, awesome engine. I considered it for my monza but decided a 350 TBI was more up my alley. Great work and I too will be following this thread.

I considered it for my monza but decided a 350 TBI was more up my alley.

I hear you,
I've got an LS motor and was strongly considering doing that swap. Other than for the first few years with the original 4cyl the SJ has always had a V6. Funny, I never considered the Buick 231 much of a motor but over the years I got attached to Buick V6 motors. The 3800 SC seemed like a challenge to do something different yet still keep the Buick v6 motor tradition and at my age tradition goes a long way.

November Update

As promised timely updates on this swap. Pictured below is the Clutch master cylinder installed beside the brake master. As I mentioned in my clutch thread.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40308

This was not an easy task coupled with a fair amount of ignorance on the subject by me. It was a learning curve as with most of this swap. Very time consuming but I have a fully functioning hydraulic clutch for the T5. The firewall is fully installed and all cowl mods have been completed.

Unless I find room in the garage or at my buddy's shop November will be the last update until sometime in March. The ironic part is this car sat in the garage fully functional but not started for over a decade and now it sits outside during the swap process. The upside is southern winters are short and relatively mild so progress will happen on the car regardless.

January Update

December was a pretty cold month for Texas so not much was done. Jan on the other hand has been fairly mild so catch up assembly has happened. All is going pretty well, not much back tracking. The serpentine belt set up is pretty complicated and I am having to fab up a pulley to replace the AC pulley. The wiring is in the trail fit process and no soldering or final placement because of a time factor. I am very pleased with fitment and hood clearances of the accessories. It seems all the time I spent measuring has paid off. Its actually starting to look like the SC motor belongs under the SJ hood. Lot left to do but progress is happening.

Looking good Phil! Sometimes you can buy a ready made, a/c pump delete, idler pulley that bolts in place.

Nice looking S/C 3800 install If you want a little more bling stop by (http://shop.zzperformance.com) for some fuel rales. Also there is a person doing the polishing of the S/C for about $150 if you would be interested. I would like to see more pic of the eng bay I do not know what the weight of your car will be but the Pontiac GP's are around 3000 to 4000 Lbs and a number of people get 30+ Mpg with the S/C 3800 and tuning of the PCM. I see you put them up while I was posting also ZZP sells the air conditioning delete and Crome valve covers.

you can buy a ready made, a/c pump delete, idler pulley

Right,
They do but the area where the AC sits is right next to the PS box and space is very limited. In fact the stock AC bracket will not fit, it is huge and bulky. I'm having to fabricate a steel plate that bolts to the block and I have small bracket and grooved pulley I scrounged off a Daewoo. Actually, I feel very lucky this is the only fab I'm doing on a somewhat complicated dual serpentine belt set up.

Ah, I see said the space challenged h-builder! Yeah my eyes somewhat bulged out when I look at that two belt setup.

If you want a little more bling

Yes an no,
Bling would have ben a good choice but I am already way over budget so I am going for a more mono tone charcoal/black routine. I polished out the alternator because the finish looked really bad. The chrome Master cylinder is from the last build and I decided to keep it for a little bling to offset all the black/charcoal. Actually, I am interested in the 25-30 MPG and the reason I stayed with the stock TB and stock tune. If I remember the car weighs 3500 pounds with me in it. I'll get some more pics but this engine bay is not the most photogenic because of the dark colors.

your car weighs 3500???

your car weighs 3500???

Lol, I guess I was thinking maximum gross weight? I looked up an old post when I did away with the 5mph bumpers and weighed at the local recycler scales and the weight was 2959 with me in it. I weigh 205 lbs...so 2754 lbs.

February Update

Dallas has had some weird weather. Cold then hot, snow ice then now 70 degree days. That said I have been progressing on the 3800SC. Time was really consumed with figuring out a replacement for the AC pulley. I came up with a pretty simple solution with a couple of sockets and a gusset shown below. With that behind me I am now concentrating at laying in the wiring and PCM location. I decided to mount the PCM on a pedestal in the original battery location on the passenger side. originally I was going to place it under the dash but room has shrunk down there. Plus I like the ease of access being out in the engine bay. Figuring out a standalone wiring harness is not all that technical if your somewhat organized with the approach. The difficult part centers around tedious soldering and double checking everything. Again, time consuming. Most likely the rest of Feb. will be wiring and then, and then... I don't know LOL.

Looking good Phil. Hadn't seen your thread in awhile.
Nice clean, creative, cool fab, one of a kind build there.

Nice work.
Keep pics coming.

Mike

Snap On sockets? Whatever works I say!