Morten_LS3_R32

Hi!
After a couple of the people here has asked me to post more info here about my build, I decided to copy the other thread on Skylines Australia forum over here, and try to update both...
I now have four build threads, two in English (LS1Tech and Skylines Australia) and two in Norwegian (Essokickers.com and Curbz.org)

Reason for using Skylines Australia forum is, they had helped me a lot with choices arund how to best fit a LS engine in a Skyline, since one other on the forum allready was in the process of doing this.
His build can be read here: R32 LS1 Conversion

So in some of the things I will be posting here in the beginning, will be refering to people that helped me at that forum. I will not rewrite the things that has been written when Im reposting it here, because its only few things, and Im only reposting the first threads...

Hope you like my build and the pictures, since there are a lot of them...

Morten_LS3_R32

15. June 2008:

Hi!
I know its probably not right for me to post in this "Australian Skyline" forum, but since I have got a lot of help from here, I would like to post anyway.

First of all, a short introduction of my self:
My name is Morten Kiil Finsås, and Im from a town called Bergen in Norway. Im 24 years old, and I drove drifting last season, but not this season, thats because Im building a new car.

First of all I want to thank BezerkR32 and 2rismo for the help on some of my question.

This is a project that Im beginning on, a Skyline R32 with Chevrolet LS3 Aluminum engine for use in drifting.

I just got the car, in relative good condition, but its just a shell, but sheep to start of with. The person that I bought this car from, tried to fit a V10 engine from a Ford Excursion in it (Idiot... ) and therefor ruined the car. But since Im rebuilding it anyway and it was sheep, I did not care.

Picture of the car:


This is a short list of things that I will do in the car:

Chevrolet LS3 6.2L V8, aprox. 500 hp, aluminum engine
Tremec T56, 6 speed transmission
XYZ Drift Spec Coil Overs
Aluminum bushing for sub frame
Complete adjustable undercarriage
Uniball bushing where available and Polystyrene bushing on rest
Pedal box
S14/S15 steering, Right Hand Drive(Not quite sure jet, but must get rid of HICAS)
D2 Racing Big Brakes Kit
Hydraulic hand brake

This is some of the major changes Im making on the car.

The engine and transmission is ordered and here is a picture of the engine:

As you can se, its a Corvette engine. Everything is brand new, and the engine model is 2008.

Morten_LS3_R32

15. June 2008:

Time for some picture updates

The car has just arrived, and not much has been done with it. Im waiting for the engine and transmission, but you get an idea of all the problems the other owner made for me, when he tried to fit a V10 steel block from a Ford truck...







This is a picture of the Transmission that is ordered:


And here is a picture of my work shop:

Morten_LS3_R32

17. June 2008:

Now the money for the engine and transmission transfered. Now its just wait for the engine...

I would send a thanks to Ron at the StreetRodEngine.com for excellent help and service.

The engine has following specification:
LS3 6.2L base engine
L92 Heads
L76 Intake manifold
F1 Cam (595/595/228/230/112+4)
24 tooth Reluctor Wheel
99-04 computer and harness
Corvette alternator and Power Steering
Flywheel and Clutch assembly
Tremec T56 Transmission

It should produce about 480-500 rwhp

Morten_LS3_R32

19. July 2008:

It has been a while since I wrote here, but it has been a lot of travel latley on the work. But things have happened.
The engine arrived on friday the 4. july.
Here are some pictures:









The engine seems to have shifted to one side and damaged the cover, but the engine looks great. Ron is shipping over one new cover to me.






I hope to get started with the engine mounting when I get back from vacation in two weeks, and then things will go a little faster on the fabrication side.

Morten_LS3_R32

28. July 2008:
Yea, Im hoping that it will work for drifting, but Im not sure until I have tried it...
I have been working the two last days on the car and I have got something done.
As you can see on the pictures below, I have removed the Ford V10 engine and removed some of the reinforcement made in the engine bay to support that heavy engine and transmission.
I have a engine hoist that is rated at 550Kg, but it struggled with the engine removal...

Morten_LS3_R32

29. July 2008:

Today I got some more work done on the car, I finished welding in new sheet metal and grinding and rust protect the welds.
As you can se from the picture below, there were some terrible sheet metals and rust where the reinforcement where welded onto the suspension tower (Is that the correct word?)




I also removed more "unwanted" things from the car, like the handbrake cables and handbrake, Fuel lines, brake lines and Clutch lines. When removing the clutch line, I discovered a metal thing, and was wondering what it was, I have seen it before on a S13, but not on S14. Does anyone know?




The car is now ready for first try fit of the engine and transmission. I am aiming to do that tomorrow, so I can set the needed parts in order. When the parts are ordered, its probably going to bee proximally 1 month before I do anything else on the car, because, we are beginning to do "Spring cleaning" in the garage from friday, and when that is done, we are mounting a paint booth in our work shop, but I will keep everyone updated as I go along...

I also took some more pictures of the work done from the previous owner on the firewall and transmission tunnel...

Morten_LS3_R32

31. July 2008:
Today, I managed to try the engine in the car. I found out that I need a new oil pan, or the engine is ending up way far back, as you can see on the picture below:



But the engine is not ending up that far in front either, as you can se on the pictures below. The engine is going down when I install the new oil pan on the engine.






(Picture is borrowed from Sikky Racing)

The oil pan above is the oil pan I am ordering.
I am also ordering a lot of parts from Summit Racing.
Radiator, Griffin, 27.5" length, 19" hight, 3.75" width
Flex-A-Lite Oil Cooler, 10.5"x15",4.25" including Fan
Earls Performance Oil Cooler (Transmission), 5.875"x13"x2"
Tilton Engineering 12V Oil Pump, 1-2GPM, 60psi

and some Steel Braided lines, and AN connectors. This is the shopping list for now, but can change, or things be added, but I think I remembered the most important things.

And here are some more pictures:

Morten_LS3_R32

7. August 2008:

I have a small update.
I just bought a complete body kit, HiFlex Type-332, R324 Conversion Kit. They had a special offer, so I got the 9Pc kit with shipment for $2000... Kit cost $799...

Some pictures, borrowed from www.raceonusa.com
(Sorry, Pictures will come late on, have not uploaded them to public server yet...)

Morten_LS3_R32

15. September 2008:

Long time since last update, but as you all know, I have been busy building a paint booth for the workshop...
But I have managed to do something on my car.

A week a go I received my new oil pan. I looked solid and great.



Old Pickup Tube


New Pickup Tube


When I was trying to mount the oil pan, I noticed two things.. One of the holes for the bolts on the right side was not drilled, and the holes long holes in the back, was almost welded shut. These was easily fixed, with a drill, and the bolt patters was on the new oil pan gasket. Besides that It fitted perfectly onto my LS3 engine, I was a little sceptic at first, since it is designed for a LS1 engine...




I needed to tap a 1/4" NPT hole where the origional oil dip stick went, and insert this blind plug. The blind plug came with the kit.



This was the hole that was missing.




Old Oil Pan

I also managed to get the engine placed inside the car. I have not yet made the engine brackets, because I am still looking for reinforced R32 engine mounts (Nismo or something like that) that I can use as a base for the new engine mounts.






There are a few things I am probably are going to modify on the oil pan, because it is a little to wide at the cross member, so I think Im going to cut it in a bit at the corners, and the oil sump is a little to deep, so I cant get the engine as low as I wanted, but I cant do anything with that. And I need to make a solid skid plate to protect the oil pan.




Overall I am really happy with the oil pan, and the "faults" that I found, is only minor, and this is not built for a R32, but for a S14, so minor adjustments I was expecting...

We also had this season last Norwegian Drifting Race, and it was the first one that was held here in Bergen where I live, and it was a huge success.. Some pictures can bee seen here:
Curbz.org - Pictures (Norwegian Text)
And a short video can be seen here:
Powerdrift Eikås, 13. September 2008

And My brother finished third, with only the two best Norwegian drifters over him...


Pictures borrowed from HHENR.COM
My brother is driving the blue 200SX S14.5.

Morten_LS3_R32

3. November 2008:

It have been a long time since last update. I have done some small, but important things.

Unlike other people who are converting to V8, I am fabricating a new subframe and engine mounts from scratch. The subframe, I modefied, but the rest is made from scratch. The steel I used for the subframe is the same size as origional, 4mm thick.




I used somekind of polyplastic or something like that as a bushing. You can see the rod here:



Here you can see the "plan drawings":



I am thinking about lifting the engine up 1 cm. but Im affraid that it would stick to far up in the engine bay.
I am also thinking about making it a Left Hand Drive car (this is the normal driving side in Norway), because it would solve a lot of clearing issues with the steering. But I would like too keep it a RHD since it is originally like that....

I also bought a pair of AEM UEGO Wideband Sensors for use on the LS3 engine:




Here are some build pictures from the building of the engine mounts:

Shawn MacAnanny

iTrader: (12)

My Ls1 was also missing a bolt hole being tapped for the oil pan.

That is an amazing swap man! I am impressed with your using the Ford V10 engine! You shoudl be ALOT lighter but those engines have some pretty amazing torque. I bet the LS3 engine and transmission is atleast 450lbs lighter.

Morten_LS3_R32

5. November 2008:

YES!!!! Finally finished with the engine mounts...
I finished the engine mount, and engine is sitting low and nice. I decided to use a 12mm bolt to bolt the engine mounts together.

Next up is the Firewall and transmission tunnel.
Here are some pictures:

Morten_LS3_R32

Tanks!
You must not missunderstand, I baught origionally the car without the engine, but he didnt have time to remove it, so I got the engine with the car for the same price. So, the V10 from Ford was never an option...

Did you also get a custom oil pan from Sikky Manufacturing?

Morten_LS3_R32

9. November 2008:

I have managed to do some minor but important work on the car.

I have fastened the gearbox temporarily with bolts, instead of letting it hang loosely, since Im starting on the firewall and gearbox tunnel.

A lot of the welds on the firewall and gearbox tunnel, was relay bad, so I managed to loosen them with a crowbar. Not good...

I also have made a decision on making a dual 2,5" exhaust, and most likely taking out one on each side, thru the side of the car, in front of the rear wheel.
The reason for making a 2,5" exhaust instead of 3", are because all of the headers I have located for the engine that will fit, has a 2,5" collector.

Morten_LS3_R32

11. November 2008:

Time for some updates...
Yesterday, I managed to strip out my R32...
I removed the engine and transmission, Doors, trunk hood, rear lights and a lot of boxes that I do not know what was, and probably will never use.

I also manage to remove the back axle cradle with everything on, so the car is practically completely stripped out...

Today I will try and get everything removed from the cradle and I will deliver the shell and the cradle to sandblasting to remove all the rust, and primed, so it will not rust again.

Then when I receive it again, I can start on the Firewall and gearbox tunnel.
I will also try changing from the ball thing used on the spindle for the HICAS to a bushing like the one on S13/S14. If the S13/S14 does not fit, I will make something similar...

Here are some pictures:

Morten_LS3_R32

2. December 2008:

More updates...
My sandblaster dude had taken a vacation, so I did not send the car off to be sandblasted.
Instead I manually removed the sound isolation on the floor.

I also started on the firewall, and hopefully I will be finished with it at the end of this week.

I also got my new air filter kit from K&N Air filter. The kit is for 2007 Corvette LS7, and it is HUGE! and my new brakes are on the way from Performance Guru, James. D2 356 8Pot front brake Kit, 330, 6pot rear Brake Kit.
So parts are poring inn, and car is being worked on.

Morten_LS3_R32

Ahhh....
Finally finished updating this thread...
I will se if I can make the first update on this thread during the day. Havent got the time to make it for any of the sites yet...

Shawn MacAnanny

iTrader: (12)

Oh i see. I am using a Moroso 7qt pan with remote mount oil filter. My ls1 block from GM was missing a bolt hole which i hear is a common problem.

What type of intake are you using? I have seen the biggest gains with people ussing a GMMP intake (identical to Victor JR single plane but only GMMP fits your L92 heads), with a 4150 throttle body (the base to a carburetor). They make them setup for EFI but they are taller. Asside from a Kinsler setup they are the best setup for an intake i think.

Heres the GMMP setup with a 4150 throttle body



Here's the Kinsler fuel injection setup Argon Z is actually James Kinsler and this is run in the autocross car he built from scratch.

Morten_LS3_R32

Im running a LS3 Corvette engine with L92 head, and L76 intake and a 92mm throttle body.

The oil pan is custom made by Sikky Manaufacturing, to fit this wheecle, and it is prefabricated to require external Oil Filter and Cooler. The hole I tapped, was the origional oil dipstick hole, that was not in use anymore.
The hole I drilled, was in the oil pan, a hole was forgotten during fabrication of oil pan...
everything is brand new on the Engine.

The Kinsler Fuel Injection setup looks great!
too bad I dont have the space for it under the hood, and Im using next racing season to evaluate if I need Twin Turbo charge the engine or not...