[andrewb70]

I have a 1970 GTO that I first built about 20 years ago and was on the cover of Popular Hotrodding in 2003. I was also the winner of the 2003 Car Craft real Street Eliminator competition in the summer of 2003 and was featured in Car Craft magazine.

The car was originally built with a 502 big block with Holley EFI and a Richmond 6 speed. In 2008 I did a LS swap with basically a LS3, LS7 cam, and kept the Richmond 6 speed. That build can be seen here:

1970 GTO Version 2.0

In 2014-2015 I also built a LS swapped 67 Mercury Cougar and that build can be seen here:

1967 Cougar build (over 700 pictures and videos))

In those years I have also moved a few times, earned a Ph.D. in marketing, and now run a full-time Holley EFI tuning business, aka Dr. EFI.

That about brings us to the latest version of the GTO. This project actually started a little over 2 years ago. The original plan was pretty straightforward. I wanted to do some simple upgrades and drive the car.

As we all know, things change, and I decided that I wanted more power. I also wanted to experience a turbo LS with an automatic transmission.

The whole journey can be seen here:

1970 GTO Version 3.0

For the purposes of posting here, I think I will start with the day that the car went to my friend Vic's house. I met Vic about 2 years ago when he contacted me about doing some tuning on his beautiful 57 Nomad. Since then we have become pretty good friends and he was gracious enough to help with this project.

I can't thank him enough because he has skills and equipment that I don't and without him, this project would not be where it is today...

This will be a bit of a copy and paste dump, so please bear with me. I will tag each post with dates for context and bring y'all up to where we are today.

Stay tuned...

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: 10-27-22

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day and it gave me the opportunity to get the GTO to Vic's house.



After I get back from SEMA, the plan is to start cranking on it and get the engine and transmission installed and start on the turbo fab work.

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: 11-20-22

Today was a big day. I went over to Vic's house with the goal of mocking up the engine in the engine bay. I had confidence that the Holley swap components would not be an issues, but the big area of concern was the oil drain back fitting for the turbo on the side of the Holley 302-3 pan. Holley designed those drain backs in a Fox body Mustang, and when used with a GM A-body there was some concern that the fitting would hit the front crossmember.

These are the Holley clamshells with the poly inserts. They are dimensionally identical to 4th gen Camaro engine mounts, except with a bolt together design and poly inserts.



I am not sure why Holley includes such long bolts, but I decided to keep them and the included lock nuts. They will not be visible at all once everything is bolted to the engine.



After mocking up the engine the first time, it was clear that the oil drain fitting that I got was not going to work. At least not without some modifications.



I can't believe I have gone this long without having a lathe and a mill. Both were used to modify the Earl's fitting in order to make it fit.



The lathe was used to back-cut the area between the end of the threads and the hex area. This was done so that the fitting can be installed deeper into the boss on the side of the pan. The mill was used to trim the end of the threads, because with the fitting screwed in deeper, it would hit the oil pick-up tube.



The outside of the fitting was also smoothed and contoured on the belt sander. It is a rather bulky fitting and there was plenty of material to remove in order for the fitting to match the contour of the front cross member. The pan was also removed in order to tap the 1/2" NPT threads a little deeper.



It took a total of six rounds to get it to the point where the engine mounts dropped into the frame stands and the mounting bolts to slide in.



The fitting has about 1/8" clearance against the crossmember, and it is able to pivot freely.

With some luck, the transmission and the converter will go in on Wednesday and then Vic can start the fabrication for the turbo hotside.

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: 11-23-22

Today was another big day. I hauled all of the parts that were needed to install the transmission to Vic's house. We started around 10am and made excellent progress.

This is a billet steel SFI approved flex plate from Circle D. It looks amazing and has 6 converter bolts to match the Circle D billet triple disk converter.



It is nice working with a clean block and a new crank. Just to make sure everything was good, I hand threaded the ARP flex plate bolts into the crank before doing anything else.



The flex plate went on without any drama and was torqued to 75lb/ft using blue Loctite. The flex plate locking tool came in handy for this task to keep the crank from rotating.



After installing the converter into the transmission (not sure why I didn't get a picture), it was time to wrestle this beast of a transmission under the car. We had some jack stands under the rear axle and jack stands under the front frame horns to get the car high enough.

It was easy enough to get a jack under the tailshaft housing, but getting the front of the transmission up was the big challenge. I suggested using the engine hoist and attaching a strap to two bolts in the transmission case. This worked great! We got the transmission high enough to slip a transmission jack under the pan for extra safety, then slowly working it up until the transmission slipped on to the dowel pins.



There was about a .130" gap between the converter and the flex plate, which is perfect. You can see that the pan is basically level with the frame.



We followed the instructions that came with the Holley transmission crossmember, but had a little trouble with the transmission mount that I got. I got an Energy Suspension poly mount, which is not what is specified in the instructions (should have read them before buying it). After a little searching around on Rockauto, we got a part number for a 70 GTO TH400 mount, Anchor PN 2378. The local parts store had one in stock and it ended up being about 1/2" shorter than the Energy Suspension mount. This allowed the crossmember to slip under the transmission easily, with about 3/8" of clearance.



The left side of the crossmember slips over the frame rail, while the right side (shown here) has a separate pad that slips over the frame rail and the crossmember sits on top. This makes for a really solid installation.



Part of the reason I ever started this project was to redo the engine and transmission mounts and use a better fitting oil pan. I can't say enough about how well the Holley swap components are engineered to work together and how well everything fit together. In this day and age, it is hard to find parts that don't need some sort of modification to work as intended. We didn't have to modify anything!

Now that the engine and transmission are in their place, the fun stuff can start...

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: 11-25-22

Today started out well. The driver's side manifold installed with zero issues and fits perfectly.







The same could not be said for the passenger side. I can't believe that I never mocked up that side with the engine mounts when the engine was on the stand...

When I went to install it on the engine, it was obvious that that manifold was hitting something and it was not sitting flush with the head. We used some clay on the manifold and here you can see where it was making contact with the engine mount.



We were pretty confident that the engine mount clam shells were assembled correctly and the poly inserts were oriented properly. Otherwise the engine wouldn't have fit into the frame stands as well as it did.

Here you can see the contact spot on the manifold.



We jacked up the front right corner of the engine and removed the engine mount.



I really didn't care why it was happening, we had to fix it and keep moving forward. Vic chucked up the engine mount in the mill and we took off about .080". The material is pretty thick, so we felt confident that the integrity of the mount was not compromised. Besides, the upper clam shell is really not stressed when it is installed on the passenger side.



Here is the final version of the passenger side mount after a quick coat of paint. Onward!



We used Mahle MLS exhaust manifold gaskets. These should seal really well and hold up to the heat.



We then installed the radiator and fans to see what kind of room we had to work with.



Here is the 135 degree elbow that I got from Stainless Bros as the starting point for the turbine up-pipe.



We're thinking the turbo is going to end up next to the AC compressor, oriented parallel to the engine.






Sunday we are going to do some more mocking up and maybe make a temporary mount for the turbo so that the pipes can be figured out.

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-2-22

Today we attempted to mock up an approximate location for the turbo. We hung it on an engine hoist and moved it around. The following pictures show various options.


















The challenge is to find a location that clears the following:

Heater hoses
AC lines
Lower radiator hose
Air filter

Bottom line, I don't think any position will work. This thing is just too big...

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-4-22

After taking a break and stepping away from it, we came up with this placement. The wood is there to simulate worst case scenario hood clearance.


















The center of the turbo is even with the Maven turbo mount. This will allow us to make a simple bracket from the head to help support the turbo.



This turbo placement allows for plenty of room for all the necessary bits to clear and also gives a clear path for the turbo drain.

The inner fender will have to be modified, but that is a problem for future me...

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date:around 12-6-22

While waiting for a few small parts to arrive we decided to mock up a few intake arrangement options. My original idea was to have a side entry lid facing the passenger side. This arrangement will make it a challenge to snake the charge pipe from the compressor outlet to the throttle body, but I think it can be done.



This is an alternative side entry. Obviously the charge pipe will be longer, but the path should be easier to lay out.



This is the front entry options. Again snaking the charge pipe will be a challenge, plus, I am pretty sure the peak of the lid will hit the hood.



Front view of the front entry option.



You'll have to use your imagination and add another 3" to the front of the intakes for the throttle body.

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-7-22

Made some baby steps today...

We chose to do this intake orientation, just to make the plumbing path not so arduous. There will be a simple silicone coupler at the throttle body. The rest will be fitted and welded together, with the V-band at the compressor discharge. Still unsure about the hood clearance, but that is a problem for future me.

You can also see the pump for the A2W intercooler mounted to the fan. The Volt actually had a little water pump mounted in that location.



I also got and installed the 90 degree fittings from Vintage Air. These will allow us to go straight down with the AC hoses and keep it neat and tidy. We also got the upper radiator hose sorted out with a Dayco D71576.



One of the Earl's 90 degree swivel heater hose adapters showed up. These will route the hater hoses away from the up-pipe to the turbo. I will probably add high heat sleeving over both of the heater hoses, just in case.



Lastly, Vic and I finalized the design of the turbo support bracket and it was uploaded to Send Cut Send to be cut out. It will be made from .190" 4130 steel.

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-15-22

Had another, fairly productive day with Vic today. We started putting the rest of the Holley mid-mount system on the front of the engine, so that we didn't have any surprises down the road. Everything went together pretty well, but this power steering return might become a problem. That's a problem for Future Me...



I am not sure where Vic got it, but he has the whole Dayco radiator hose catalog as a PDF. I sat down and looked up hoses that were 1.5" I.D. which matches the lower radiator and the thermostat housing hose size. I found this gem. It has 3 usable, tight 90 degree bends and plenty of straight section, and all of it is 1.5" I.D..



I had also ordered some 1.5" stainless, tight bend J-pipes, one with a 90 degree bend and the other with a 120 degree bend. Both were from Vibrant performance.



This is the configuration that we chose to do, in conjunction with a swivel thermostat housing.



In each picture it looks like it is tight in certain areas, but in reality, there is a solid 3/4" of clearance between all critical areas.



Vic had this nifty, home-made bead rolling tool.



It took a little effort, but we got a nice bead at each end of the tube.



This is the final shape of the lower radiator hose. Murray clamps will be used everywhere on the engine.



Like this one that I got for the intake pipe.



It is finally starting to look like something...



The turbo bracket that was made by Send Cut Send should be here on Wednesday. My friend Tom is also coming for a visit from Alabama and our mission is to get the new Ford 9" from Quick Performance installed. I will also get my new rear tires on Wednesday. Should be interesting!

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-17-22

My friend Blake is a Solid Works wizard and we designed this bracket to support the turbo. I uploaded the file to Send Cut Send and less and a week later I have the part. The holes were left a little undersized on purpose.



Today the tires showed up. Hopefully they fit (they should according to my calculations).



I took the bracket to Vic and today he sent me these pictures.











Pretty excited to finally see the turbo installed without an engine hoist holding it up!

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: about 12-17-22

I consulted with Todd, who works for Holley and is a great engineer, and he suggested that the poly mount may no do well being so close to the exhaust manifold. So I got these billet aluminum mounts from ICT.




I got a pair, but I only used one on the passenger side, and it fit perfectly, after we milled .050" off each end to give them enough wiggle room between the ear of the frame stands.




Good to go now! More updates coming really soon.

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-18-22

My friend Tom visited me from Alabama and our goal for his visit was to mock up and ultimately install the Quick Performance 9" rear end. I knew that things were not going to just bolt together because the brackets on the QP rear are not exactly the same as an original 12 bolt, plus I ordered mine with multiple holes on the lower control arm bracket.

You can see in this picture how the Ridetech coilover bracket is designed to bolt to the original shock mount and then a tab comes around and gets bolted with the lower control arm bolt.



The bracket was trimmed to allow the use of all the holes on the lower control arm bracket.



The bracket was also trimmed on the side to remove a little excess material where it rests against the shock mount on the QP housing.



Then Vic went to work doing his thing...



Here is the final result, with the Ridetech coilover bracket fully welded to the QP housing.



We also pressed the Ridetech R-joints out of the old 12 bolt and into the QP upper control arm ears. Ridetech included a tool to make this process very straightforward.



When I ordered the QP housing I checked all the boxes for the extra internal gussets...



..and the back brace. I also chose the fill and the drain option.



After the Ridetech coilover brackets were welded, I went over the whole housing and softened up all of the hard edges on the brackets and Tom shot a coat of Rustoleum primer.



..followed by a couple of coats of Rustoleum semi gloss black.



More to come...

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-20-22

The most expensive tires I have ever purchased showed up as well. If I can get two seasons out of these I'll be happy.



Had them mounted and balanced at my local Discount Tire. They have taken good care of me with the tires for the Cougar.

The fit in the wheel wells is pretty good. This rear end was ordered to be 1/2" narrower on each side, but it almost feels like they narrowed it 1" per side. I have not compared the width to my 12 bolt yet. Using a 1/2" spacer will put the tire dead center in the wheel wells.



This is with the 1/2" spacer, so the new tires are good to go.



The same can't be said for the hood.



Doh!!!



Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-21-22

Made a little progress today ahead of the blizzard that is going to hit tomorrow morning. Vic bead blasted the rotors to get the surface rust off and shot then with a coat of paint. I cleaned up the calipers and bolted everything together.

Some of you may notice that the caliper is on the back side of the rotors. These are brakes from a 98-2002 F-body and normally the caliper is on the front side of the rotor. The reason for the swap is that we messed up when we pressed the bearings on the axles. I accidentally installed the caliper brackets on the wrong sides. Instead of battling with pulling the bearings off and possibly damaging something, we decided to move the calipers to the rear. I swapped the calipers side to side so that the bleeder is at the top.



We put the car down on the ground in the front to check clearance with the suspension. The up-pipe is no pictured, but is about 1-1.5" away from the bushings. The Ridetech control arms use deleon bushings and I plan to wrap the up-pipe and also put a woven sock over it. I don't expect any issues.



I got these nifty clamps from Australia, made by a company called SS Customs.

SsCustom Engineering

They have been super helpful holding the pipes together for mock-up and tack welding.



Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-23-22

Progress has slowed down a little bit, but I did manage to completely finish the rear end installation. The rear was installed, but I needed to make some new brake lines from the center, out to the calipers.

A while back I got this tubing straightener.



It mounts in a vise and does a really nice job of turning a coil of NiCopp brake like into a straight piece.



Here is the result after a few minutes of getting it worked through the rollers. I suggest straightening the tube before cutting it because then you can use the coil to manipulate the tubing through the rollers.



I also picked up this little kit that has a variety of stainless tube nuts for all of the common SAE flares.



Vic had this awesome flaring tool and it worked really well.



The double flares turns out perfectly.



I reused these little brackets and adapters from the old rear end. It is a SAE to AN-3 adapter. We welded it to the housing and I hit it with a little paint. The little brake like wasn't the actual brake line. It was just a piece that I made so the threads would not get painted.



For the center hose support I cut and bevelled a short piece of threaded hex stock and then welded it to the housing.



In other sad new, we trimmed some bracing on the underside of the hood, and it still doesn't close...

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-26-22

With Christmas behind us, Vic and I are making slow, but steady progress.

Today he was able to fully weld the up-pipe that goes between the Hooker exhaust manifold and the turbine inlet. He back-purged the pipe to avoid any "sugaring" on the inside.



Vic also welded a Summit branded clamp to the compressor discharge. It's one of those split clamps that has o-rings and allows for some movement as everything heats up. We also sorted out the filter situation, although I will be ordering a longer filter element to get as much surface area as possible. This one is 6.5" tall, and K&N has a 10" long version that will fit perfectly in the available space.



Now for the elephant in the room. The hood still doesn't close. This picture makes the situation look worse than it is, but you get the idea. The "bubble" at the top of the intake is about 1" too tall to allow the hood to close.



After considering all the options, we are going to start with the simple solution. We are going to mill down the bubble so the hood closes and see what we have left.



Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-27-22

Back in 2010, I contacted The DriveShaft shop to solve a vibration issue in the GTO. They made me a CV driveshaft that use a CV at the slip yoke and a u-joint in the rear, which solved my vibration issues. Since then, many other A-body owners have done the same thing with the same, great results. When I built the Cougar, I wanted to go a step further and do a double CV shaft. That too had amazing results. If you look at any modern, RWD muscle car, that is exactly what you will see.

This version of the GTO will also get a dual CV driveshaft and this is the second part of that puzzle (the first being the CV pinion yoke). This slip yoke will use their new, non-plunging CV. This is the same CV they use on their high HP Nissan GTR and other driveshafts.



It's a tight fit, but there is a minimum of 3/8" all the way around the yoke. (what the hell was I thinking, twenty years ago, with the sheet metal screw?!)



Vic made a fixture to hold the intake lid on the mill. We positioned it at the approximate angle of the hood.



We took about 3/4" off the peak of the bubble and this was the hole that was made.



And the hood closed. As you can see, it is really tight, but nothing is touching. We are going to take a little bit more off to make room for the eventual plate that will get welded to cover the hole.







This is the current thinking on wastegate placement. My only reservation is that it be under the downpipe and will be a pain to get to if I have to do something with the wastegate.



The upside is that it will have excellent, priority flow and will merge back into the downpipe.



If anyone has thoughts on the wastegate placement, please chime in.

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-29-22

This morning I spent a few hours trying to help a local customer with a Coyote no-start issue, so I didn't have time mess with the car. But Vic sent me these pictures in the afternoon.



I think as far as looks go, it looks pretty good.



Tomorrow I will have a chance to go se it in person and se what kind of clearance there is with the hood. We are also going to install the Ring Brothers billet hinges, just to make sure everything fits the way it should.

Andrew

 

[andrewb70]

Date: around 12-30-22

Before we finalized the intake, we thought it would be good to install the new Ring Brothers hinges. These are very well made and have plenty of adjustment to get the hood lined up well.



Installing them was a simple remove and replace operation and after a bit of fiddling with the adjustment, the hood was closing better than it ever has before. We did notice that these hinges don't allow the hood to open as much as the stock hinges. I guess this was mentioned on the Ring Brothers website, but I somehow missed it. I really don't think it will cause any issues...




Now that the intake was finalized it was time to keep working on the charge pipe from the compressor outlet to the throttle body.





We ended up cutting the 180 degree bend that we had made previously so that half of it could be clocked independently.



This gave us a more clear path to the compressor, so all that is left is to add another 90 and a couple of small straight cuts to make it all fit.

It is a bit of a tortured path, but this is why we chose to stay with 4" piping to keep the pressure drop to a minimum. It is really no more elaborate than if there was an A2A intercooler in the front and we had to make all the associated pieces to work with that. I think this looks super clean too.

Happy New Year to Everyone and thanks for following along.

Andrew