Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"

[PG01]

Nice red, im lovin it, like McDonald's.......lolol
Lotsa work but it looks like you got a handle on it...now

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Thanks guys. I was pretty nervous before I started this. It's been a long time since I've done anything even close to this, plus it's my only vehicle except Harleys and I don't think my work tools will fit on my bagger so this HAS to work!

Yessir. You're all over this bud! Keep it up.

 

[Rocket Man]

Is that ever gonna be able to come off if you need to get back in there?

If you mean the knock sensors, then yeah I'll be able to get them back out. It's just a silicone cap over the rubber cap that the wires go through. I started with just a ring around them but then decided that if water gets over that ring it would just keep the water inside it so I just made a built-up cover about 3/8" deep of silicone so the water will just run off. If I need to remove it I'll just use one of my Olfa knives to cut through it. It has a razor blade that's about 4" long and an 8" long handle.

 

[Rocket Man]

I ended the day after dinner doing a couple things to the intakes. I removed the throttle body from the old manifold and removed the studs and remounted them in the new TB adapter plate. The studs had an internal Torx head so I used the double nut procedure to remove and reinstall them. This was a perfect time to clean the TB inside and out and after I did, It still looked pretty damn ugly. GM didn't make these things for beauty. I couldn't stand the thought of mounting that like it was so I masked it off and sprayed with some flat black. I'll have those pics tomorrow, it's still in process.

 

[Rocket Man]

I also remounted the MAP sensor that I removed from the OE intake and also hooked up the extension cables for that and the IAT sensor. On another note, If you're going to be disconnecting hoses I highly recommend these pliers that are made for the spring clamps. They grab the ends and ratchet down so they hold the clamp in an open position and you can maneuver it back and forth on the hose. I probably removed 12-14 clamps today. Dang, my cat has been on my work mat again! Junior!!!

 

[Rocket Man]

That was fast- the paint dried already. It's still not beautiful but it's way better.

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[Rocket Man]

I remembered the damn fuel pressure regulator fiasco so I decided to swap it from the old intake to the new. This was another area that was missing from the instructions. It always seemed to me that the FPR would be on the incoming line, not the return line but what do I know. It's hard to believe this is a $60 part. Anyway, the attachment was different but not hard to figure out. The Whipple manifold just has an internal snap ring instead of the external clip that the OE had. I might have to take that FPR out tomorrow and paint it...

 

[Tonyrodz]

Coming along nicely.

 

[PG01]

Looks good red, good luck today.

 

[PG01]

Red? Red? Red? Red? Red? Red? Red?



Just kiddin brother, hope your doing well and movin along nicely with no probs bud

 

[Rocket Man]

A few problems of course but I'm dealing with them. Might not get it running tonight but I'm trying. Blower itself is installed. Stay tuned.

 

[Rocket Man]

Ok so today's final word is I'm close. I ended up working 10 hours straight through with only a couple 10-minute breaks but it wasn't enough. I still have to mount the intercooler which have incorrect instructions and I need to figure out what to do with my trans cooler because it's in the way. Also since my throttle control has 2 plugs, one is on the opposite side of the engine bay from where it needs to be so I'll have to lengthen it. No mention of that either. And I need to swap spark plugs, fill fluids, and install the tune. I started the day with the problem of the broken studs in the exhaust manifold where I removed the EGR to delete it. I ended grinding the one that protruded flush and then drilling and tapping new holes right through the old studs. Then I pulled the headlights and grill for later intercooler access and then installed the new 07-12 water pump.

 

[Rocket Man]

Next up was removing the IAT wires from the TB plug and inserting them in the supplied plug so the extension from the SC would plug in. Then I installed the O-rings in the lower intake manifold and installed it.

 

[Rocket Man]

The steam pipe was made in Costa Rica, kinda cool. I decided to get the SC laying on a pad under the hood so I could climb up there and lift it into place. It was a ***** but I got it done. There was an o-ring around the perimeter of the lower intake and it kept popping out at one corner so I used a bit of grease to make it stay, per BBP' s instructions. I decided to re-paint the TB in hammered black; it came out better than it looks in the pictures. It took about 2 hours to install the 12 bolts that hold the SC to the lower intake. It was unbelievably hard to get to the ones on the left side under where the intake tube is, as well as the back ones and the ones on the right side back. I was cussing Whipple the whole time. Some of them were impossible to see and almost impossible to just hold between the tips of my fingers and drop into the hole, much less turn and tighten. They called for a torque setting of course, and I did torque almost all of them, but there were 3 that I could only get the short end of a bent allen wrench on, and barely at that. Then I could only turn a tiny bit at a time. On one I counted 32 separate times I inserted, turned, and removed the allen wrench , all by feel in the back by the firewall while hunched over laying on the cowl or fender.

 

[Rocket Man]

I also ran all the hoses ( fuel lines, EVAP line, purge solenoid,PCV, steam tubes, PCV filter),routed, lengthened and attached all the electrical connections ( injectors, IAT, MAF, MAP, purge solenoid) , reinstalled the alternator, installed the new belt tensioner and belt, installed the TB, MAF and air filter housing and started on the intercooler. I ran into trouble again at that point and was burning out so I quit for the day. I'll finish tomorrow.

 

[93blkongreenpro]

Man. Good progress! Once my nnbs is paid off, I will decide between a used m109r, or a whipple.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[PG01]

Good job red, almost there brother.......almost......

****anyone else feel like thier tahoe is gonna be faster because of red or is it just me?

 

[Rocket Man]

Man it's been so much work and there's no going back so I sure hope it fires up today and there's no problems. My back is wrecked so if it needs to come back apart for some stupid reason it will have to wait until next weekend. I'm ready to finish this thing!

 

[PG01]

How goes it red? Out tearin up the town yet?

 

[Rocket Man]

It's not good news. It's barely running, something's wrong. I'm torn up from all the work on it and I was supposed to go back to work tomorrow. I don't know what's wrong but I don't have a good feeling. There was an extra set of weird intake gaskets in the kit but nothing in the instructions about them. Everybody was closed yesterday when I installed the lower manifold so there was nobody to answer questions. I didn't see how they would work so I thought they were added by mistake, like they also added fuel injector connectors by mistake. Today BlackBear finally got back to me and they sent an "LS Addendum on intake gaskets" that showed them being used, and being held in place with some adhesive shit while the manifold is lowered. I then called Whipple and they said I should be fine , they've been using just the O-rings they included without a problem. Then I went out and finished up the install and tried to start it. Those gaskets are about 8 hours of work to replace because the SC has to come off first. I'm sick, and don't know if I have massive intake manifold leaks or if it's something else. I did notice a bit ago there is a hose connection on top of the throttle body so if someone can go look to see where that goes, please let me know. I think it might have gone to the passenger side valve cover. But hey, I just talked to work in the middle of typing this and decided to take this entire week off. F it, I'll figure this out if it kills me. I'll just have to get around on this old bike I have for awhile.