Coolant, clutch, IVA, ECU etc

Coolant

The coolant system took around 16 ltrs, 70% water to 30% antifreeze. This was added to the stainless steel expansion tank at the front of the engine compartment.

Coolant header tank

It was poured in gradually to reduce the risk of air locks. All pipes were checked for leaks at this stage. There was a leak in the thermostat housing - mutter, mutter. As this had a rubber O-ring I had not used any sealant. I should have - another lesson! So that's a drain down tomorrow. Not difficult, but a job I could do without.

If you are doing yours, remember that I have a Chevy LS6 engine. The amounts may differ on other engine types.

Clutch fluid

The reservoir was filled with DOT4 fluid. An auto bleed system was used, so that I could do it on my own. Air pressure from one of the tyres was used.

Clutch reservoir. Bleed nipple is on right of two pipes - not easy to get at

Oh, and I noticed that a wire had broken to the knock sensor, so I had to repair this.

ECU

The ECU was fitted to the centre under dash tray using button head bolts in to rivnuts. I made sure that there would be clearance for the gauges and that the connector would fit the ECU in that position.

ECU bolted to centre tray

The remote button for the speedo was fitted to the central tray too. It is concealed, but can be operated from the driver's seat. There is a gap between the underside of the tray and the transmission tunnel top.

NOTE: Fit a PC flylead to the ECU to make access to the ECU easier. See IVA and Post IVA category in the Build Process.

Tachometer

The dip switches on the back were checked to make sure that the settings were correct. For the ETB tacho the first 3 switches are set to 1 (on) and the remainder are set to 0 (off) for the LSV8.

The speedo will need setting too, but for the first calculation I had used the 3.23 diff and the later chassis (including mine) have a 3.07 diff. So I need to re-check the setting with ETB.

The faulty switch for the rear fog light was replaced whilst I played with the dashboard.

Starter heat shield

I had left this off for some reason. So it was added. Needed to remove the dip stick first.

IVA items

A dummy number plate is needed for the IVA and was made from MDF, sprayed black and fixed to the bar at the front in the nose using two 19mm P-clips.

The rear number plate lamp had the bolt changed for a button head to comply with the 5mm radius rule.

Hexagonal bolt swapped for button head