It takes so much more to make a complicated thing seem simple than it does to complicate an easy thing ,despite this so many car shows delibratly make simple things like an incorectly plumbed fuel pump or a dizzy cap thats 180 off seem like the end of the world. Yet here we all are perfectly entertained and encapsulated by watching an experienced man apply his trade in an unpanicked manner, whilst learning stuff we may not of even knew we wanted to know. Hats off to mighty car mods. From teaching me how to paint my alloys n fit a stereo over a decade ago to respecting their limitations and using their platform to help launch al benny n woody using their subscribers, all the time producing funny light hearted car content on the main channel, and doing the editing, producing all original music, starting a car themed restraunt, not giving up when fans molested their parents street, etc etc. Just realised how long this post was so il stop. Marty moog al ben woody n the Guys at haltech ryobi n supercheap. Thanks for giving us an online option thats free. We sallute u. With chopped fingers of course. Also my golf was fast!!
i gotta say i can not get enough skid factory. mcm is funny and good quality but nothing feels as real as watching al take on unique projects I feel like I'm his apprentice learning the tricks of the trade in person.
The community and shared knowledge is what make ls so popular. Everyone that does Ford and other brands treat their knowledge they've learned like huge secrets
Going from watching other car channels that either don't know what there talking about or don't explain anything to watching the skid factory is like a getting a knowledge punch to the face, love it.
Agreed, before I started watching skid factory the idea of an engine swap or removing an engine seemed like a real ballache, now it doesn't phase me so much.
What's wrong with Rich? He's a good guy. He just doesn't do a lot of the same work that Al does, yet. Besides, when one old pro endorses another, they're usually a legit guy. Al doesn't strike me as the type to put another man's name on his chest unless he means it.
As a GM tech myself I would add to make sure the actual insulation of the wire (the coloured one, yellow, red, bleu, etc) is good in condition cause the ridges of dried up loom will act as little knives with vibrations and you will see bare or almost bare wire with perfectly space striations. Specially with smaller wire bundles in bigger looms, or around sensors connections or in tight curves. i.e.: the throttle body, maf sensor or water temp sensor. If the insulation is damaged I suggest replacing the wire while the loom is completely undone. Often the vibration will cut the copper strands and reduce the actual wire gage(diameter) or even fully cut it. If there insulation is damage there can be ingress of corrosion which is no bueno. It’s especially important to check these on engines coming from places with winter and salt, common point of failure is corroded through and through wire inside the insulation here in the north side of North America.
Also don’t throw your unpinned unnecessary wires in the garbage keep them as they can be useful for replacing said damaged wires or pinning other options or making pin out test lead when chasing diagnostic problems.
One thing I like to do before getting into a project like this is to lay everything out on the motor and ECU while it's still connected, and take a bunch of pictures of EVERYTHING. You never know what weird mid-model year changes have been done, or who else may have been tinkering before you, but if you take a bunch of pictures of everything first you almost can't go wrong.
This video just saved me a bomb I reckon! Thanks a lot for taking the time to do it. One question I have, can any auto electrician do a re-flash of the ECU, or do you have to take it to a specialist? I ask because in the NT I doubt there would be one.....
Thank you Al. I'm about to start this same thing soon. Rebuilding an NA LQ4 6 litre...with big ass cam. Been debating after market ecm or using the GMC unit and harness I have with the truck...so this video made up my mind..hopefully I have my 79 Regal doing skids by the Alberta spring. And remember guys....Believe in something, even if it means LS swapping EVERYTHING!!!
That's not as easy as wiring a stereo. It takes some knowledge with the wiring diagram and flashing the ecu, plus which bits you don't actually need of course.
@@christianbuczko1481 It is actually. If you don't have common sense and don't know anything about wiring diagrams, or how to read them, you shouldn't really touch any wiring before you educate yourself on that subject. Just my 0.02€..
Cheers for the vid Al, true... it isn't super hard... just tedious.. as a beginner though was very overwhelming. ...people here just like i am are drinking your knowledge like cold lemon squash!!!
Thanks, Al, maybe I missed this but what basic tool do you use for this job. Wire cutters Razor (for stripping insulation) Tape to re-rap at the end secure parts of the loom while you are working Wiring diagram Crimps? Pins? Multimeter? Also, do you check for continuity before you re-rap? Would you recommend going to a scrapyard and picking any cheap loom and tearing it down and just understand what's there as a good starting point?
Been watching this video now and i did a holden 304 conversion into a euro car and its basicly the same story meaning,the wiring with the cars loom making a few relays just as the Holden engine needs......Anyway this is very informative vid thumbs up.
odd question: im building a budget turbo excel. motor wise it's done and i've used MANY different LS parts already including injectors, fuel pump and throttle body.... can the ECU itself be swapped? i can only assume the stock excel ECU isn't tunable... seeing as everything electrical seems to use similar signals (o2 sensor, maf, coolant temp, injector pulse, fuel pump etc:) then in theory couldn't you make it work? from a tuning standpoint can you 'shut down' a bank of cylinders and change the firing order to 1-3-2-4? it would be no different to wiring up a head unit if my theory is correct. would this work? haltech would literally cost me more than the entire build. it's out of the question for this particular build unfortunately
Hey Al and Woody, you guys are doing a F*&(ing awesome job with TSF. Really really cool show. It is awesome how you guys just keep it real. Sensational Show! Thanks. Merry Christmas!
Hey man, would you have a pinot-out diagram for a 2010 Silverado 4.8L 2wd? I'm putting one in my 69 Chevelle, wanting to use the auto overdrive transmission that came on engine also. Many thanks for your video!
Is there an industry preferred interconnect between the ecu, firewall and engine bay loom? Just thinking if you wanted to pull everything out of the engine bay after relocating the ECU inside the cab.
thanks for taking the time to make these vids. really helpful to us guys that are keen but dont know where to source this kind of info. what LS engine is the best value for money when sourcing one for a swap (to turbo)? ls1 are cheap and available and seem fairly simple . do you do the easy cheap ls1 option and then spend money chasing hp or spend money on an l77 or ls3? dearer to buy. more complicated to set up but heaps more hp e85 capable etc.
Holden have a habit of making the ECU specific. My Crewman Cross8, only on that one ute.. get a VZ SS? nah not the same though the cross 8 is a SS at heart. same goes for the accelerator
I’ve taken an ls1 from a vz and put it in a vk, it will be working time soon I have the original key for the bcm. Can I keep the vats or will it still need to be removed even though I have the key fob?
is the body connector the one thats connected to the instrument cluster,key ignition switch,etc.? if so,can i use the pcm and connect it to my car or do i need the ones from the donor car? sorry about the noob questions
How would you go running a ls pcm with an older 5ltr v8 ether holden or ford windsor? Would it be a case of running ls sensors and such then tune to suit?
ECU's needed a Immobilizer fitted from 95 on, this is why VR commodores didn't have it but VS did, All LS ECU's have security in them, So you need to have it removed
For these types of videos it might be more useful for people to have the camera mounted on the shelf infront of you facing the bench so everyone can get a better look at what your pointing out
It's weird, on my VT Commodore, only a 6, but the thermo fans kick in at a scary time. I've done an aircon delete for the time being as it was busted, but before I even did the delete one fan only comes on when its at 3/4 temperature. It never use to be that way though. At one point I changed the ECU and BCM (matching) as I thought I had a BCM issue, finding out it wasn't the issue I've put my original one back in, could that be what's caused it?
