The alternator stud was pressing into the oil fill tube so I decided to remove the tube and just use the cap to get it out of the way.
I'm pretty sure the tube is there for when you use engine covers so can still be accessible. I don't plan to put a cover on my engine and I don't mind having to grab a funnel when doing oil changes. It might be a little less convenient when doing parking lot oil changes (which I can see doing on the Alaska trip I've been planning) but if there's oil available at a store they generally have a funnel for sale too. I could also see the tube allowing for easy access if your engine burns oil and needs to be topped off but this is a new engine and if it ever starts burning oil I'll get it rebuilt before I wish for an easier way to top it off.
There's 2 tabs that retain the fill tube but the cap only has 1 "thread". In case I ever lose the cap I decided it'd be better to grind off the extra tab on the cover so I can buy a new cap anywhere and it'd just work. I opted to grind the larger tap off.
To keep aluminum dust from entering the engine I removed the valve cover:
I had to remove some flashing from the hole and increase the bore slightly so the cap would fit:
Because this engine is going to be something I'll have long term, whenever I need to remove or install a part I have been upgrading the hardware. Necessary? No. But good hardware makes me happy.
I used ARP valve cover bolts (400-7530), coil bracket bolts (434-2302), and water pump bolts (434-3202). This also gets rid of the stud bolts that GM used on the coil brackets which I think are to retain an engine cover but look stupid without.
To keep the valve cover spacers I tapped the old bolts out:
Installed the grommets and spacers back into the covers:
Here's the accessory drive parts list:
- GoatBuilt CBR mid Mount Pump Bracket (4415)
- GoatBuilt GM LS Passenger Side Alternator/Tensioner Bracket (4405-10-LS3)
- Mopar TJ tensioner pulley (4854089AB)
- ACDelco 2010 Camaro water pump (251-734)
- 2010 Camaro harmonic balancer (12675620) -- I previously posted about installing this.
- Holley low LS drive AC (20-160)
I'm still working on finding a belt that fits.
GoatBuilt includes split lock washers and black oxide bolts with their brackets which I'm not a fan of either for this application so I ordered all new zinc coated hardware and am relying on proper torque to keep the bolts from coming loose instead of lock washers. As far as I can find across the internet, loctite or antiseize are not needed when threading into the aluminum engine (except for the stainless steel hardware). Every bolt I removed that was installed by the factory was also dry. So I installed the bolts dry.