Greenbean - The 98GT - turbo 460 swap

Water pump is done and mounted. I borrowed Jonathan's Rivnut tool (those things are awesome) and mounted a plate to the lower side of the frame rail. I flipped the lower inlet to the other side and started looking at hose routing.

I need a fairly tight curved hose to connect the water pump to the radiator outlet. If this hose for a 1993 3.3L Grand Caravan doesn't not have a suitable curve, nothing does. Haha.



I think I am going to run the LS3 throttle body and elbow that I had on the Nanner. The throttle cable and cruise cable will darn near connect up to it. It also will eliminate the hard 90 degree turn right off the turbo.

My original plan was to use the big 4bbl throttle body that is on the 83GT. I have a Speedmaster 4bbl, but it is smaller and I don't have a TPS for it and the throttle cable won't work with it as is. I decided to leave the 83GT alone because in the event I need to go to Plan B (552/C6) in that car, literally everything will be plug-n-play.

Throttle cabling and intake tube done.

And, who would have thought a 1993 Dodge Caravan lower radiator hose would fit this thing like it was made for it? Not me!

I was about to cut it up, then I though I should at least try it as is, and boom, here we are. Haha​

Fuel system for the front of the car is done. I have not decided what to do about the back end yet. 98 cars are a one-year weirdo with a return style fuel system with a returnless style fuel tank. The in-tank module is a one year wonder so drop-in aftermarket upgrade options are limited.

I am reading that the 98 Cobra guys just swap the pump to something like an Aeromotive 340lph pump. The in-tank basket needs to be trimmed a little but they report that is is very simple to do.

Exhaust is wrapped and installed along with a turbo blanket. Fender liners will be reinstalled after the first fire up. I also flipped the injectors 180 degrees so the connectors are pointing to the center and the engine harness fits much better.

couple more

Fuel: I decided to go with a sump and external pump. That sort of setup has worked really good in the 83GT for years. No problems, no starvation, and having an external pump makes changes and upgrades a breeze. Weld on sumps for these tanks are cheap ($37) and I really want to drop the tank and make sure it's clean inside.

The exhaust manifold obstructs the filter pad just enough that I can't screw a filter on, so I have to run a remote filter.  I made a plate, welded three bolts to it and slipped it thru the floor pan from inside the car.  It fits real nice between the frame rail and the transmission and the lines from the filter pad will be well clear of anything hot.  

We were in Arlington this weekend for the Air Force vs. Army football game (AF won!!) and we couldn't help but run by Summit Racing while we were there.

I picked up some fuel plumbing stuff for GB and then we went around the corner of the building to the Outlet Store. It's basically open box, scratch and dent stuff. Daaaaang there was a lot of stuff in there but you gotta know what you want because it would be hard to just pick up some of this stuff and know what it fits. Engines, transmissions, suspension parts, carbs, distributors, alternators, gauges, efi, headers and lots and lots of exhaust systems.

I didn't really need anything, but did snag a set of Hedman shorty BBF headers for $55. They retail for $309! They were mislabeled as 454 headers, but I knew what they really fit. Might be a good start for the 83GT v4.0.... or is it v5.0 now? Idk. Haha.​



Started running the new fuel line and slipped the steel transmission lines in. I need to bolt the trans coolers (just some old tube and fin coolers) in and that part will be done.

It's amazing how you can buy 15 feet of fuel line and the car just swallows it up. Haha.


Picked up a 380lph external pump and a filter for it. This is the same setup that was been working great in the 83GT.

I really went round and round about what pump to get for this thing. I decided to use a single 380, but I can always add a second one if I run into delivery issues. Given the mild hp expectation, I really don't think I will need to.​

Even though all the factory gauges will be working (and the Megasquirt gauges!) I wanted a set of mechanical gauges as a backup. A little tweaking on the gauge mount's flange and it fits the CD player hole great.

- Fuel feed line is run back to where the pump will be mounted
- Oil filter relocator hoses made and installed

It's about time to start back on the electronics.​

sweet deal! They restock the scratch and dent section every quarter. I stop a lot when I pass through Georgia! You're right mostly suspension and exhaust stuff. but occasionally you find that hidden gem.

Bought a 3d printer and started learning how to use it. Pretty simple. First test print went good. I also designed a cover for mt EEC-V adapter and Megasquirt.

Started wiring up the EEC-V adapter today. Wiring is not favorite task but I am happy with how it is going so far. There is really not a whole lot of things to wire up with a MS1 so it went pretty quick.

Printed my first cover. It was basically a success and fit pretty darn good, but I learned a few things and have already designed a version 2.0 and it is currently printing.

Version 2.0 is done and fits great.

New cover fits great.

Printed a new db37 connector case. Haha.

Are those 3D printers much of a learning curve? I've toyed with getting one.

Uglytruck wrote:Are those 3D printers much of a learning curve?  I've toyed with getting one.

Not at all. I assembled this one and was printing stuff right away. There are tons of files available on the web to print.

The learning curve is in the part design (learning a cad program) end of it.

This one is an Ender 3. I bought it on ebay for $120. I think they have gone up a bit in price as we get closer to Christmas though.

Big print.  I designed an airbox for this car and printed a prototype.  It didn't fit like I had hoped (not surprised), so version 2.0 is already in the design process. Being able to have a model in your hands to test fit is invaluable.  This print took 58 hours. The real one will need to be printed from abs or petg in order to survive underhood temps.

Changing gears.

Since the ABS system is not going to be used, I decided to use the ABS system's 12+ circuit to control the electric water pump. The electric pump will turn on with the key so there is no accidentally forgetting to turn it on. I also tapped into the right rear wheel abs sensor's wiring to provide a signal to the transmission controller. The trans controller will then output a signal to the speedo and cruise control.

I set the car on the ground for the first time and it was quickly evident that I screwed up on the trans crossmember. The tailshaft end needs to go up, a lot. I disconnected pretty much everything from the trans and jacked the tailshaft up as high as it would go. It went up quite a bit higher. I guess it was angled down more than I perceived. I just need to make a new trans crossmember. This one won't need the dropped middle section. It will be straight across.

I disconnected the vband connecting the hot side to the turbo and it barely moved. I can still move it easily in place with my hand so I think it will be fine.

I built a new transmission cross member.  This is how I should have done it the first time. Transmission is tucked up much farther into the tunnel. I had to trim an unused tab off the side of the case to clear the floor pan in order to get it up further.  I also swapped the front springs to set of Eibach drag springs I had.

The hot side wouldn't fit at all after all the trans mount shenanigans were finished. So I pulled it, cut it just below the v-band at the turbo and extended it 1" to where it would fit back perfectly again.

Shifting to shifters. The shifter I previously installed is a Speedmaster Billet Pro shifter. It works ok, but has a rear exit cable. There are two ways it can attach and work properly.

1. Shift arm pointing up, cable approaching from rear
2. Shift arm pointing down, cable approaching from the front.

I had it seup up as 1, but now there is no room to point the arm up. 2 would be fine but would require an absurdly long shifter cable.

So I pulled the shifter out and started installing the B&M Magnum Pro Stick that was in the truck. It has a front exit cable and needs the shift arm pointing down with a rear approach cable. We actually used this very shifter with this trans way back when the truck had a stock efi460. I like these shifters a lot and it has a real reverse lockout unlike the Speedmaster. 3 holes in the trans tunnel, 3 rivnuts, and it's bolted in.​ Rivnuts rule!!

I wrestled the car out of it's spot and spun it 180 degrees to make it easier to get to the rear suspension and gas tank. Dropped the tank, and am getting it ready to weld in the sump.

It had about 2 gallons of really nice gas still in it. Lol. Nope. It was terrrrrrrible gas.