I want this Turbo-T to run 10s and be as reliable as your girl's Honda, and with the Hartline Turbo V-6 built and shipped to Ron's Custom Auto in Jersey, and the Dynotech Performance 200-4R modified for the five-disc Vigilante converter, it was finally time to start building toward that goal. But we have a ton of work ahead of us at Ron's-this isn't simply a drivetrain swap, as my T, after 160,000 miles, has seen better days. I don't want to just throw a sparkling new mill into a rusty engine bay, and I really don't want to count on original parts like the wiring harness, trans and fuel lines, radiator, and motor and trans mounts when I want to run big numbers and make it to and from the track without calling AAA. So I guess you could say that this is GMHTP's first resto-build (damn, I feel old). Also, the engine still has some final assembly components that we need to install, and the fuel system currently consists of a single-pump setup that won't supply enough fuel for my goals. Yep, the old girl needs some serious TLC before we crank 'er up-we'd better get started.
With the engine out for the...
With the engine out for the first time, this was my chance to clean up the engine bay. The plan was to sand and paint the rusty stuff, get rid of the old wiring, and replace the nasty wiring harness with a brand-new one.
Ron's Custom provided the...
Ron's Custom provided the air tools and sandpaper, and I got to work. The radiator support, the framerails, the firewall, and anywhere else rust was showing was sanded to bare metal.
Once it was wiped clean with...
Once it was wiped clean with spirits, I hit it with several layers of Plasti-Kote black sandable primer. Not show quality by any stretch, but much better than before.
While I was sanding and painting,...
While I was sanding and painting, Junior and Alex were removing the original wiring harness. This mess of wires had been spliced into more times than I could count and had left me stranded before-why spend good time and money on a killer drivetrain, only to risk bad connections with ancient wiring? To remove the stock harness the easy way (not removing the dash, heater core, etc.) the passenger-side fender and the three inner fender bolts are loosened.
With the connectors unplugged...
With the connectors unplugged from the stock ECU, the inner fender is held up and Junior grabs the harness, pulling it from the cabin. There are two quarter-inch harness cover bolts that need to be removed here.