My 69 Camaro LS1 Swap
06-20-2014, 10:24 PM
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My 69 Camaro LS1 Swap Hey Guys,
I have been lurking here for years. I couldn't have done this swap without this forum and everyones useful information. I figured I would post my swap as I took quite a few pictures along the way and tried to do things as reasonably priced as possible. The information may be useful to someone. I started the swap in December of 2013 and am pretty much finished. A few things left, but I will post what I have so far and then fill in the details.
Background story: I have owned the car since I was 14. Paint is almost 20 years old, but it still looks pretty good. My dad and I built the car with a mild 350 700R4 combo. Drooled over the LS engines for a while and finally got a chance to pull the trigger. I did a few things different with the swap, so I figured it was worth a post. I tried to do stuff on the cheap, but it is almost impossible when swapping in these newer engines. All in all, I did pretty well though. Here are the before and almost complete pictures. More to come...
I have been lurking here for years. I couldn't have done this swap without this forum and everyones useful information. I figured I would post my swap as I took quite a few pictures along the way and tried to do things as reasonably priced as possible. The information may be useful to someone. I started the swap in December of 2013 and am pretty much finished. A few things left, but I will post what I have so far and then fill in the details.
Background story: I have owned the car since I was 14. Paint is almost 20 years old, but it still looks pretty good. My dad and I built the car with a mild 350 700R4 combo. Drooled over the LS engines for a while and finally got a chance to pull the trigger. I did a few things different with the swap, so I figured it was worth a post. I tried to do stuff on the cheap, but it is almost impossible when swapping in these newer engines. All in all, I did pretty well though. Here are the before and almost complete pictures. More to come...
06-20-2014, 10:42 PM
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So the new engine is from a 2000 Z28. It has 120,000 on it, but not too worried about that. 4L60E behind it. Here are a few pics of the engine when I first got it. She is a little dirty....
06-21-2014, 09:04 AM
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Here are the engine mounts that I had made. They are 3/8" aluminum. I ended up making these at a 7/8" setback and then shifted the motor mount holes down so the geometry would be corrected for the added thickness of the plate. I went with 7/8" so I could use the driveshaft that I had just purchased 2 years prior.
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06-21-2014, 01:10 PM
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Thanks guys. Here is how i did the oil pressure sender. Using the original blockoff put the sender too close to the headers for my liking. I had the machine shop at work make me one that mounted it nice against the engine.
06-21-2014, 04:12 PM
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Passenger head is 1-1/2" from the firewall. Just enough so that I can get to any of the sensors at the back of the engine. Didn't have to massage the trans tunnel as there was clearance. I used the stock cross member for the tranny and just slide it back and re-drilled the holes. I notched the F-body pan and had it welded. Cost $25 bucks and worked great.
06-21-2014, 04:22 PM
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A few more pics of the oil pan mod. Moved the lower baffle from the assembly so that it fit in the pan. I also extended the pickup tube using a pipe coupler that was drilled out. Slide both ends in after cutting it and oriented it properly, then welded it. the mount for the pickup tube was cut and re-welded to fit after. I am pretty sure I took pics but can't find them. I will post when I do.
06-21-2014, 04:42 PM
#12
Nice looking car, turned out great! That second pic you posted looks almost exactly like what my car looked like when I did my swap, front clip removed,TPI with the breather right on the throttle body, and 17" torque thrusts.... if it was a Nova and green it would be identical.
06-21-2014, 04:46 PM
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I really liked the TPI. Had tons of torque. It had a shake that I couldn't pin down. After pulling the engine I found both motor mounts were completely ripped apart. Oh well, good excuse to get an LS engine.
06-21-2014, 06:07 PM
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Found the pictures of the pickup tube modification. Also found another picture of the oil pan after modification. I think that it was notched 1.5 inches both directions. Here they are.
Last edited by bdoobie69; 06-21-2014 at 06:15 PM.
06-21-2014, 07:02 PM
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Yeah, I have cad for pretty much all of the stuff that I made. I tend to draw things up before I make them. Everything I have is in Solidworks, so let me know if you need something different. Looks like I can't post the part file through solidworks, but I think I can message it if needed. Otherwise shoot me your email and I will get it to you.
06-21-2014, 09:04 PM
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The alternator was very close to the subframe. I ended up beating the subframe with a small sledge hammer to get the main power cable to clear. I was going to notch the subframe, but the subframe moved so easy with a small sledge that it was a no brainer. It was a whole lot easier.
06-21-2014, 09:34 PM
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My next step was the fuel delivery. I kept the stock tank which has the 3/8 feed line and 5/16 return line. I used a walbro 255 pump (gsl392) for this setup. I used swagelok fittings on all of the connections through the fuel system. I bought a M10x1 die from Grainger to rethread the fittings that hook to the fuel pump and made my own copper washers. Threaded fittings that are 1/8" npt are very close to m10x1 and can just be rethreaded to it. I scored 3/8" stainless tubing for the main fuel run from my local swagelok supplier for free. Ran it the whole length of the car. I also ran the wix fuel filter 33747 from oreilly on this setup. The pics are very hard to make out, but here are a few.
06-22-2014, 03:09 PM
#19
Nice looking car, only question is there a reason you didn't run the fuel line up the driver side to eliminate having to route the fuel line over the intake manifold, would have made a cleaner look in the engine bay? I am not sure but I think you can still flip the fuel rail 180* so that the connection would line up to your passenger side fuel line routing. Just food for thought?
