game-over

69 camaro
ls1/t56 swap
rebuilt everything for the most part.....

this is for some that have never seen my thread....

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...e-pg-10-a.html

my thoughts on what this car has vs what it should have, or even what i regret buying......


BRP HOTROD (musclrod)

I bought the entire kit from them...
included
motor mounts, tranny crossmember, tranny bushing, heddman 1 7/8th black maxx hedders.

motor mounts..
would have been perfect to install first try right off the bat. BUT my car was hit on the passenger side front. so it shifted the cockeyed .. the mounts are straight thru diameter holes. I wish they would have had a little slop th them . I had to hog it out and make my own slots. once this was done everything went in and out and back in very well. the motor does sit bout 3.5-4" off the firewall( a little forward for my liking but it did help with the tranny and not having to cut the tunnel.

Tranny cross member...
After struggling with this crossmember for a week i finally talked to Jeff and they ended up sending me a crossmember for an auto tranny... I was very unhappy but i was glad it got resolved quickly once we figured out was wrong. Again this crossmember had drilled holes that were basically size for size and had no room for movement. The suggestion was that we slot these also. We did for added ease and everything looks and slid up great. In the intall directions it says if you have the nova application you need to grind off a portion of the tranny of the t56... well it has to be done for the camaro also.
After modifing the crossmember . it sits in perfect. Apperently since i bought the kit BRP has updated the design to accomindate some of these issues.

OIL pan LH8..
this pan fits very nicely and i would recommend it ( so far). only issue i have had is that gm calls for NO rtv sealant on the gasket on the ls1 oil pan. I followed that. on the brp website it calls for a couple dabs here and there... i have a slight oil leak that i will tend to later. I am unsure if it the oil pan or not squaring up my rear cover before i installed it. The pan does sit a little low but not as low as everyone made it out to be. the mounts do make the motor sit a little high so i guess that helps.

Dipstick.
The on from brp does not fit this oilpan to the ls1 motor. I an using the stock dipstick and works perfect.

BRP/ HEDDMAN hedders 1 7/8 long tube black maxxed..
passenger side slid right in. I had to Cut off a few threads off my upper control arms because it was interfearing. driverside would not go in unless i took the mounts appart and jacked up the motor. other than that the hedders do clear alomst everything other than the one problem spot. ITS CLOSE DONT get me wrong. one area its less than a 1/4" away from a rubber bushing. I was told that the Black MAXXED coated hedders disapate heat very well.

BRP hotrods over all..
Jeff has great customer service and treats all of his customers awesome and was very accomidating. My only issue is that at the beginning of all this it was stated that anyone with some know how could do this swap in the driveway in a weekend...
a little misleading, i did not know what i was gonna get myself into, After feeling comforatable with the modifing of some of the parts it all went very well..
So with a little bit more of a know how and being able to feel good about modifing items... I would still give them a 8 overall... so issues but i really feel if i can work them out... any one could..

Tea ( total engine airflow)
i got the heads and cam stage 2 set up from TEA. I sent them my 243s off of a trailblazer and in 2.5 weeks the returned everything. All in all litlle over $2000 for full top end. I am very happing so far. Mike had/has great customer service even 8 months after the fact. Very good group of guys. I would rate them a 9 maybe 10.

ENTROPY radiators.

I love this radiator. exspensive $700 with the harness and such. but i love how this looks and has great welds.
Fast shipping and fast responses..

Fuel system...
thank you TSNOW... I ordered all of the russel and summit items. Corvette fuel fitler , i have the fast fuel rails and guages.
Detroit speed narrowed fi gastank. The gas tank was exspensive $1200 but comes with everything. 255 walboro and sending unit and such... other than the price i would recommend it to others. everything seems to working properly. all -6 an lines and fitting... everything from summit!

Detroit speed.....
Where to start with them ...
suspension... Ill tell you all my suspension went smooth as butter.. I did a 2" drop all the way around. multi leaf inthe back and springs up front. other details in my build thread... I am supper excite4d to see how everything rides..
body mounts... awesome looking, solid, fit perfect.
steering.. replaced everything that has to do with steering... BUTTER... direct fit no issues..
Brake booster.... nice part.... was not happy about how the booster angled up, would not have cleared the hood. I had to buy angle reducers. $300+ then a $30 adjustment bracket. wasnt happy with it but it got the job done...
Plate converstion kit of the t56 on the firewall clutch master...
nothing about this plate was accurate other than the angle, it had to be hogged out and opened in up. hole sizes were not right etc etc. i had more money into modifing the part then it actually was. that was a bummer......
TICK master... great product but went the the plate issues ^^^^ so i was just mad about the whole thing... apperently detroit speed is not making a converstion kit for this swap set up.... came out with it the day i modified everything... another bummer...

Detroit speed over all... I really really like their product and for the most part everything was a direct bolt and go....... My only issue is that when i buy a high dollar part. I expect it to be right and not have to modify it. I am learning there is never that perfect company that produces perfect parts out there. It can get close... so i would give them a 7 or 8 for price verses quality verses having to modify some things...


SPEARtech wiring harness...
Ill tell you what... $700 well worth the money .. everything labeled , self expanatory, shipped before quoted time. called halfway thru the estimated time to tell me it was on schedule.... in all PERFECT.... I will 100% do buisness with them again.....

TUNING
jeremy formato mail order base tune.. I sent him my PCM along with all of my specs. i recieved my pcm 1 week later.
My car along with the wiring fired up on the first try on the secoind crank of the motor. still with vacuum leaks and not having a sealed intake pipe... I will be getting him to tune my car early nexct month when he flys up here... fasterproms.com ( i think) ..
So far so good i would give him 10

Cabin Creek Specialties
they are my DSE parts dealer and advise 1st gen friends... built my rear for me... great group of guys ( brad and shane )

The rod shop in york pa.
Jake has gone an outstanding job helping me pull this car together. Did all of my custom brake lines and helps wire the car and alot of things here and there.....

Nitrous outlet....
Great customer service so far.... i am hoping the kit performs the way it is put out there.

There is a local shop that I could careless for now and if someone wants me to pm them i could tell the situation....

OVERALL

- TAKE YOUR TIME RESEARCHING PARTS.... it will save you in the long run
- read what other have done... it helps in comparasion
- listen to TSNOW... just do it
- you get what you pay for... that can be a good and bad thing..
- Take your time if you have questions ask... no question is stupid.


hope this helps some others.... i can get into detail on the other pros and cons but this is alot and im sure i am forgetting alot of stuff..... again hope this helps....

ls1nova71

iTrader: (4)

Just a question on the oil pan RTV. Where did you see that they say not to use it? My service manual says to put dabs where the front and rear cover seams are. They do it at the factory. They will leak if you don't.

game-over

Well. At the time I had a certified chevy mechanic tell me it was not needed also with advanced auto parts told me the same thing. So I never looked into it.
After looking it up I know this now. If I can find the website it said felspro gaskets would not need any rts sealant. With all of that info I never even thought to ask. This was one of the few things I trusted some else on. I think/ know I will redo it.
If that's the case. I know better now

SUPERBOOST

iTrader: (11)

Good reveiw,I for one appreciate input on products and vendors you have dealt with,good and bad.We need more reviews like this. Thanks.

ls1nova71

iTrader: (4)

I feel for you man, pulling the pan in the car sucks, been there done that, only mine was due to hitting a very large rock in the road, cracked the pan. Anyway, my service manual is a GM manual. I looked it up and this is what it says..
'Apply a 5 mm (0.020 in) bead of sealant GM P/N 12378190 or equivalent 20 mm (0.80 in) long to the engine block. apply the sealant directly onto the tabs of the front cover gasket that protrude into the oil pan surface.'

That's for the front, it says the exact same thing for the rear, only it says rear cover of course. This is under oil pan installation. It also goes into great detail on aligning the pan.

game-over

thanks man.... ill get my car 95% done... need to get it tuned and then once i get a breather ill pull it back out and do the few little things i didnt catch the right way

game-over

if anyone else has feedback on companies they wanna put in here be more than welcome.....