BBK LT install progress report: Day 2

[mity2]

BBK LT install progress report: Day 2(DUW!!)

Noone is kidding when they told me taking K-member off is a royal pain...
Like day 1, everything went smooth enough. I again followed fnsweet instruction. again few steps were different(like where it tells me to use 18mm, but was 21mm, and such. nothing major tho). getting Steering shaft slide up in to upper sleeve is bit of pain. you might want to soke it with WD-40 for while befor you get to it.
I'm no done yet. But i got the K-member out of the way - Definately doable by yourself. But whould be really nice to have helper here. its heavy as fat bastard!!
And now to all of manihold bolts are straight shot... i'm going to install headers tonight, and call it the day

Pic 1: Engine supported. And Steering rack is secured to swaybar(disregard the red smuge behind my car...)
View attachment 507852
another shot of k-member with rack off
View attachment 507854
K-member off. Its way too awkword to bring it down straight. i used alot of 12 gage wires to hold it in place to bring it down. still fell off of jack tho
View attachment 507856
here is fat bastard out of the way
View attachment 507858
u see manihold and all of its bolts clearly(driver side). u can see extra 2x4 i stuck in in there for safety reason..
View attachment 507860
and passenger side...
View attachment 507862

 

[mity2]

Passenger side sucks ass...
how do some people do this without dropping K-member is beyound me. with All 8 bolts right front of me, i had one hell of time bolting passenger side.....

 

[Red35th]

I know EXACTLY how you feel.

I installed Steeda Balljoints and Bullitt brakes along with changing out the rear pads.

Got the balljoints in with little fanfare, that is until I found out that the damn boot has a slit in it...going to patch it tommorrow, don't know how well it will hold though.

Then the damn front driver SS Goodridge brake line wont stop leaking at the reverse flare. Have re-flared the hard line twice, damn thing keeps leaking.

The last damn step of everything I do seems to implode on me.

I wont bring up the last spark plug I changed last month pulling the threads out...

Goodluck with it, just think how sweet it will be when it's all buttoned up.

 

[tdaily2]

i have put a set of mac lt and it is not easy you have to move the motor from one side to the next but one thing make sure to start on the pass side that way you will be able to get to all the bolts

 

[csledd]

k-member wasnt that bad for me, just unscrewed it, lowered it, put it back up

good luck to ya!

 

[mity2]

well, if i had 3 jacks, it would be easy too....
It really wasn't that hard at all. just really really time consuming..

 

[2002BLGT]

for god sakes , get a tubular K member to go on that thing before you put it all back in ........I put my headers on with the K member in , but if I went thru all the trouble to drop the K there is no way the stock heavy dam thing would go back in ....IMO..... you will want one eventually , do it now so you dont do the work twice

 

[mcmmotorsports]

When I go to do my install, I am making something like this:

 

[fr96ss]

k member

i just do not undersand why people are taking the k member off to install bbk lt me and a friend did his car with no problem without so much as touching the k member.

 

[mity2]

i don't know how you did it. like i said, with K-member off, i can bealy get top 2 bolts on top of passenger side Lt.

ya... tubuler K... i want one. But i don't want to replace A arm

 

[Mossberg]

I see you're having fun!

I just got finished fighting with the Prochamber and got it mounted up. It seems to fit great with no leaks.

I can't say the same for my other prochamber. It was a ***** to install compared to this one. But after seeing what you are going through on these threads, I don't feel fit to complain anymore! Give it hell man.

 

[mity2]

so i struggled over 3 hours to get the K menber to work. it wont.
i have no help. so lifting awkword K with A-arm and spindle still in place was not going to happen. so eventually, i unbolted A-arm from K-member. suddenlyK-member weigh avout 1/2, and i was able to get it in place. Still not tigtend, but at least it'll hold engine up if floor jack let go.
I still have to aligne the K-member. tomorrow, i guess I'll do that. And hopefully, i can bolt every thing up and get car on ground by end of the day.
everything else is in tho. Space between passenger frame rail tto header is super tight. But with use of ply bar, i clear that.
My O2 extender never showed up on time. I i made my own. i had to take off driver side header off twice, because OEM bolt on top rear just plain don't fit. so i had to take it off to use diffirent bolt. i think i used 8mmX25mmX1.25 thread count bolt....

oh well, i'll let you know how it goes tomorrow

Oh BTW, Mossberg, i'm grad to hear that ProChamber is working good for you!!!

 

[AMMOstang]

i wish i would of taken my K member out when i did mine. what a pain that was jacking up one side of the motor at a time. and don't get me started when it was time to put that top starter bolt back in. it took a little tape and a few extensions. when i have to put new gaskets in, gonna drop the k member and hopefully put in a tubular one.

 

[crew_dawg16]

I had the luxury of a lift and power tools when I did my install, but dropping the K-member is the best way to do it IMO. I wish I had the money at that time for the tubular K and A-arms.

 

[damacman]

well, if i had 3 jacks, it would be easy too....
It really wasn't that hard at all. just really really time consuming..

Actually, I counted four jacks in that photo . . . I especially like the use of the small hydraulic jack . . .

I can tell you this, I popped my mid-lengths on w/o dropping the k-member. Total install time was probably about 10 hours. It was painful, but not super difficult. I simply unbolted one motor mount at a time and jacked the motor up to get to the top header bolts on each side.

But, everytime I crawl under it and look at those headers, I think to myself, "self, glad I ain't gotta screw with that again . . . "

 

[mity2]

you know, now that i know how K-member is attatched to engine and such, I think i can(I think) without dropping K-member..
But like you said, i was looking at my header earlier tonight, and thought "thank god thats done and over with..."

 

[Rocketman]

If you take the K-member out, for less than $400 you can put a lighter one back in. Its a lot easier to work with and saves a lot of weight. Here's a pic of a PA Racing K-member I put in when I did BBK headers.

 

[mity2]

If you take the K-member out, for less than $400 you can put a lighter one back in. Its a lot easier to work with and saves a lot of weight. Here's a pic of a PA Racing K-member I put in when I did BBK headers.

ya i'm thinking about doing that this winter. U used stock A-arm right?

 

[Rocketman]

ya i'm thinking about doing that this winter. U used stock A-arm right?

Yes

 

[madmatt]

How much weight do you think you took off of the front end with the PA k member, and how is the ride quality.