This ‘66 Impala is owned by Tom
Stotts of Mena, Arkansas. After installing a fuel injected LT1
into his ‘57 chevy he decieded that he wanted to add a
tuned port to his rebuilt 350 with a 700R4 to get the
startablity, performance and fuel economy
that the tunedport offers. Tom took the car to Street &
Performance where Robert and Sonny could help Tom modernize the
Super Sport. This is the final step to complete a two
year make over.
Robert’s first task was to remove
the old fuel tank and install the new stainless steel tank from
Rock Valley. The Rock Valley tank was purchased with a high
pressure fuel pump already installed. In order to keep the
stock gauges, a GM 0 to 90 Ohm sending unit for the gas gauge
was also ordered from Rock Valley . If using a Stewart Warner
gauge you will need a 240-33 Ohm sending unit, a VDO gauge will
need a 10-180 Ohm sending unit, Ford or Mopar will use a 73-10
Ohm sending unit and the ‘31 to ‘54 chevy will use
a 0-30 Ohm sending unit, all of which are available from Rock
Valley. These units are used in 6 to 24 inch deep tanks and
operate on 6 or 12 volt systems. Robert connects the gauge,
fuel pump and ground pigtails to make the connections easier
after the tank is set into place. Note: Robert used color
coded wires to insure the proper connections.
When installing the 1/4 pipe to 90 AN6
fittings be sure to use teflon tape on the threads but be
careful not to get any tape into the tank or into the fitting.
Robert then made the braided stainless steel lines to go from
the tank to the hard fuel line forward of the rear
differential. These lines are now available from Street &
Perfromance. Note: It is a good practice when installing any
fuel lines or
fittings to flush the system and use oil
on the threads of the fittings to provide a good seal.
Robert tightens the stainless steel
straps that came with the tank and then installed the 3/8
stainless steel feed line provided by Tube Tech. We are using
the original steel fuel line for the return line.
A stainless steel GM fuel filter kit from
S&P is being installed in front of the tank. The filter
comes with 16mm O-ring to AN6 fittings and mounting bracket.
The filter is connected to the stock fuel line with a stainless
nut and sleeve with flair to stock line.
The flexable braided line Robert
made is used to route the fuel over the differential to the new
stainless hard line forward of the rear end. A stainless AN6
compression to male AN6 was used to connect the hard line to
the braided hose. Once again, use oil on all the connections.
Since the fuel pump is now in the tank,
we removed the manual pump and installed a S&P chrome fuel
pump block off plate. Notice the ground wire attached to the
block at the fuel pump boss. With fuel injection systems,
grounds are one of the most common problems. You MUST have a
GOOD CLEAN GROUND from the battery to the engine, engine to
frame, and engine to body.
Sonny helps remove the old intake system
and clean the gasket surfaces with lacquer thinner, then Robert
runs a 1/2 to 5/8 inch tall bead of silcone to the china wall
of the block. Robert then applies a thin layer of silcone
around the water passage openings of the heads.
While waiting for the silcone to get
tacky, we installed the oil pressure tree from S&P. The oil
pressure tree allows the use of a sensor for your dash gauges
and the GM sensor for the fuel system. After the silcone became
tacky, Robert and Sonny set the intake into position.
With the manifold in place, Robert
applied liquid teflon to all the intake manifold bolts and
torqued them to 18 ft lbs in the sequence shown above.
After the manifold had been tightened
down we installed an electronic distributor and a set of Taylor
spiro pro 8mm spark plug wires. The intake runners are now
installed, the passenger side tube has a taper on the top front
and the driver side tube is level across the top. We also
installed an S&P 360/10 degree O-ring swivel water neck
with a 195 degree thermostat. This water neck will fit under
the throttle body and allow you to position the upper radiator
hose where needed.
Now with the plenum and throttle body
installed, we attached the Lokar aluminum throttle bracket. The
right photo shows making the inlet fuel line connection at the
rear of the fuel rail and the return line connects to the
regulator. Also notice that the MAP sensor is mounted in this
area so that it will be covered by the distributor cap cover.
The MAP sensor must be on a vacuum line of its own.