Long post, so bottom line up front: it's in! There were some issues, but nothing major. I was out of town this weekend so I've only driven it from one garage bay to the other so far, but I'll take it out tomorrow for some nice easy break-in. See the pics with comments.
Finally! The last of the parts arrived this past Wednesday and I spent two days doing the install by myself. This is the follow-up to my other two threads, the first debating on a rebuild vs the kit: http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=639737&highlight= and the second modifying the exhaust after realizing my Spintech would not fit as is: http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=649378&highlight=.
Day one was spent removing the stock drivetrain and prepping the diff and housing. Other than the diff to cradle bolts being a PITA, everything came out easy enough. The doubled up wrench method worked great, just not a lot of room to work in there. A transmission jack made the removal and install so much easier.
The biggest headache with assembling the diff was that the studs in the housing didn't match up with the center section as well as expected. After I put down a bead of gasket maker, I expected the center section to drop right in. Nope. It got hung up on the studs. Wrestling the 50 or so pound center section on and off the studs was not fun. It eventually took some light "persuading" to drop down flush, but not without leaving its marks on the threads of the studs. I also had to torque down the nuts to get it to seat fully so I could get the stubs in. I loosened the nuts, tapped the stubs in, torqued the stub retainers, then re-torqued everything back down. Assembly complete.
Aside from halfway rounding one of the axle bolts and the driveshaft u-joint not wanting to slip right in to the yoke, everything went together smoothly. Due to clearance, I ended up wrapping the crossover and the mufflers in header wrap just to be safe. We'll see how long it actually stays on. I'll eventually bit the bullet and buy 3" tailpipes ($500 from Spintech), but for now 2.5" pipes with leaky reducers and clamps will have to do. I wish I had gotten some measurements for the stubs before I made the new h-pipe. I was focused too much on driveshaft clearance, and as a result, driver side tailpipe to stub/axle clearance is very tight. I'm confident it won't hit after aggressively moving the pipe up and down, but still. Damnit. Either way, exhaust to expensive, heat sensitive carbon fiber driveshaft is great now, and the header wrap should only help.
One final note and a big thank you to Gforce Engineering. I called them several times throughout the install to ask questions and they were a great help. And when I realized I never received the oil fill plug, they overnighted it to me, no questions asked. I called them just before 5 their time Wednesday and had it in my hands just after noon the next day. Thankfully Kansas is closer than Japan. Awesome customer service! Enjoy the pics.
Finally! The last of the parts arrived this past Wednesday and I spent two days doing the install by myself. This is the follow-up to my other two threads, the first debating on a rebuild vs the kit: http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=639737&highlight= and the second modifying the exhaust after realizing my Spintech would not fit as is: http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=649378&highlight=.
Day one was spent removing the stock drivetrain and prepping the diff and housing. Other than the diff to cradle bolts being a PITA, everything came out easy enough. The doubled up wrench method worked great, just not a lot of room to work in there. A transmission jack made the removal and install so much easier.
The biggest headache with assembling the diff was that the studs in the housing didn't match up with the center section as well as expected. After I put down a bead of gasket maker, I expected the center section to drop right in. Nope. It got hung up on the studs. Wrestling the 50 or so pound center section on and off the studs was not fun. It eventually took some light "persuading" to drop down flush, but not without leaving its marks on the threads of the studs. I also had to torque down the nuts to get it to seat fully so I could get the stubs in. I loosened the nuts, tapped the stubs in, torqued the stub retainers, then re-torqued everything back down. Assembly complete.
Aside from halfway rounding one of the axle bolts and the driveshaft u-joint not wanting to slip right in to the yoke, everything went together smoothly. Due to clearance, I ended up wrapping the crossover and the mufflers in header wrap just to be safe. We'll see how long it actually stays on. I'll eventually bit the bullet and buy 3" tailpipes ($500 from Spintech), but for now 2.5" pipes with leaky reducers and clamps will have to do. I wish I had gotten some measurements for the stubs before I made the new h-pipe. I was focused too much on driveshaft clearance, and as a result, driver side tailpipe to stub/axle clearance is very tight. I'm confident it won't hit after aggressively moving the pipe up and down, but still. Damnit. Either way, exhaust to expensive, heat sensitive carbon fiber driveshaft is great now, and the header wrap should only help.
One final note and a big thank you to Gforce Engineering. I called them several times throughout the install to ask questions and they were a great help. And when I realized I never received the oil fill plug, they overnighted it to me, no questions asked. I called them just before 5 their time Wednesday and had it in my hands just after noon the next day. Thankfully Kansas is closer than Japan. Awesome customer service! Enjoy the pics.