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On my 68 firebird I had to cut the front of the trans tunnel to get
a 4l60 to fit.
It depends primarily on what engine and transmission mounting components you use. Using the Holley 302-2 oil pan, Hooker 12618HKR engine swap bracket kit and the new 12627HKR 4L80 crossmember that will be released in a couple of weeks will allow you to install an LS/4L80 combo into your car with no cutting or hammering required.
It depends primarily on what engine and transmission mounting components you use. Using the Holley 302-2 oil pan, Hooker 12618HKR engine swap bracket kit and the new 12627HKR 4L80 crossmember that will be released in a couple of weeks will allow you to install an LS/4L80 combo into your car with no cutting or hammering required.
Okay.. hmm i was thinking of do my own brackets on the engine to fit stock mounts in the frame.. and get the oil pan. do a own bracket to the frame so i can fasten the tran on that.. its just that i want the interior to be as stock as possible..
Okay.. hmm i was thinking of do my own brackets on the engine to fit stock mounts in the frame.. and get the oil pan. do a own bracket to the frame so i can fasten the tran on that.. its just that i want the interior to be as stock as possible..
If you are planning to make typical flat style swap plates you should be aware that the stacked height of the plates and the stock frame stands and mounts leaves much for improvement in terms of the engine inclination angle and resulting U-joint working angles you will end up with (4 to 5 degrees down angle is typical). This is the specific reason why the new Hooker engine mounting brackets retrofit later model clamshell style mounts into the car; they set the engine in the car lower than any swap plate set-up can to optimize the U-joint working angles and to lower the center of gravity for better handling performance.
In regards to the trans crossmember, you will soon discover that the 4L80 mount location requires some out of the box thinking to come up with something that bolts to the subframe in the stock mounting holes. There is an extreme amount of cantilever required in the design of the crossmember to get this to happen and I encourage you to look at the Hooker 1st-gen F-body 4L80 crossmember preview thead to get an idea of what's involved. If you don't care if it bolts up to the stock mounting point then you can devise something that mounts further back, but it won't provide nearly the same exhaust clearance because you won't be able to tuck the crossmember up into the formed pockets in the floor.
The Hooker 4L80 crossmember attaches at the stock mounting location and provides better exhaust tube clearance than anything else I've seen.
If you are planning to make typical flat style swap plates you should be aware that the stacked height of the plates and the stock frame stands and mounts leaves much for improvement in terms of the engine inclination angle and resulting U-joint working angles you will end up with (4 to 5 degrees down angle is typical). This is the specific reason why the new Hooker engine mounting brackets retrofit later model clamshell style mounts into the car; they set the engine in the car lower than any swap plate set-up can to optimize the U-joint working angles and to lower the center of gravity for better handling performance.
In regards to the trans crossmember, you will soon discover that the 4L80 mount location requires some out of the box thinking to come up with something that bolts to the subframe in the stock mounting holes. There is an extreme amount of cantilever required in the design of the crossmember to get this to happen and I encourage you to look at the Hooker 1st-gen F-body 4L80 crossmember preview thead to get an idea of what's involved. If you don't care if it bolts up to the stock mounting point then you can devise something that mounts further back, but it won't provide nearly the same exhaust clearance because you won't be able to tuck the crossmember up into the formed pockets in the floor.
The Hooker 4L80 crossmember attaches at the stock mounting location and provides better exhaust tube clearance than anything else I've seen.
Thanks man for the info.. i need as much info as possible befor the swap.
but i cant find a crossmember for the 4l80e on holley´s site that is to camaro 69.. all i find is from 78 and up..
so the cheap way isnt always the easy way... its just that.. the parts will be +50% for me with shipping and taxes to sweden :/ but i seems to be worth it anyway..
Thanks man for the info.. i need as much info as possible befor the swap.
but i cant find a crossmember for the 4l80e on holley´s site that is to camaro 69.. all i find is from 78 and up..
so the cheap way isnt always the easy way... its just that.. the parts will be +50% for me with shipping and taxes to sweden :/ but i seems to be worth it anyway..
The 4L80 crossmember is a new product from Hooker that is due to be released in a couple of weeks from now. I have a thread for it here on this forum that quite a few guys have been following through the development process. Do a search on this forum for Hooker 1st-gen F-body/3rd-gen X-body 4L80 crossmember preview and you'll find it.
The only main concern I faced with the 4l80e swap in my '72 Nova was the cooling lines coming out of the passenger side of the trans. I had to "massage" the sheet metal a bit to clear for the fittings and lines. Nothing too crazy though.
Also, you'll want to go ahead and foot the bill for a flexible transmission dipstick, as you'll probably struggle finding a tube routing that fits your hopes and dreams. Again, nothing too crazy.
The only main concern I faced with the 4l80e swap in my '72 Nova was the cooling lines coming out of the passenger side of the trans. I had to "massage" the sheet metal a bit to clear for the fittings and lines. Nothing too crazy though.
Also, you'll want to go ahead and foot the bill for a flexible transmission dipstick, as you'll probably struggle finding a tube routing that fits your hopes and dreams. Again, nothing too crazy.
Hi..
okay thank you for that info.. i will think of that when its my turn to do the swap. right now im still waiting for the engine and tran to arrive.
a little modification is ok as long as i can use the stock interior..
im about to look thru your thread on the swap right now..
like i said.. im happy to get as much tech as possible !
Hi..
okay thank you for that info.. i will think of that when its my turn to do the swap. right now im still waiting for the engine and tran to arrive.
a little modification is ok as long as i can use the stock interior..
im about to look thru your thread on the swap right now..
like i said.. im happy to get as much tech as possible !
Be careful when going through his build thread that you do not convince yourself that your 1st-gen Camaro shares design geometry with his 3rd-gen Nova beyond the subframe itself. Rearward of the firewall, these cars are nothing alike underneath and the main differences can be summed up as follows:
1.) The 3rd-gen Nova floors are higher but the top of the trans tunnel is lower than that of the 1st-gen F-body cars.
2.) The 3rd-gen Nova floor sits up on body hat section beams while the 1st-gen F-body floor is pancaked directed down on top of the body bushings.
3.) Any transmission crossmember designed for a 1st-gen Camaro will fit in a 3rd-gen Nova but the reverse of that statement is not true.
Lastly, keep in mind that he performed his install with the stock frame stands and swap plates, so if you end up using the Hooker mounting components for your install the front of your engine will be quite a bit lower in the subframe.
Be careful when going through his build thread that you do not convince yourself that your 1st-gen Camaro shares design geometry with his 3rd-gen Nova beyond the subframe itself. Rearward of the firewall, these cars are nothing alike underneath and the main differences can be summed up as follows:
1.) The 3rd-gen Nova floors are higher but the top of the trans tunnel is lower than that of the 1st-gen F-body cars.
2.) The 3rd-gen Nova floor sits up on body hat section beams while the 1st-gen F-body floor is pancaked directed down on top of the body bushings.
3.) Any transmission crossmember designed for a 1st-gen Camaro will fit in a 3rd-gen Nova but the reverse of that statement is not true.
Lastly, keep in mind that he performed his install with the stock frame stands and swap plates, so if you end up using the Hooker mounting components for your install the front of your engine will be quite a bit lower in the subframe.
I see. i will go with the hooker mounts and pan. but what is the part between the plate on the frame and the mount on the engine? stock 350 bracket?
here is some more pics of my car waiting for the swap to begin.
with all the hooker series of swap mounts and pan it will be painless to fit the engine and tran ?
is my griffin cooler good or i need a bigger radiator? That fan is 16inc mr gasket. thinking of do a cover for the fan side
Pretty good shape right now. but im about to clean up and smooth the engine bay some..
Last edited by Thordsetthammar; 01-21-2015 at 12:13 PM.
I see. i will go with the hooker mounts and pan. but what is the part between the plate on the frame and the mount on the engine? stock 350 bracket?
here is some more pics of my car waiting for the swap to begin.
with all the hooker series of swap mounts and pan it will be painless to fit the engine and tran ?
is my griffin cooler good or i need a bigger radiator? That fan is 16inc mr gasket. thinking of do a cover for the fan side
Pretty good shape right now. but im about to clean up and smooth the engine bay some..
You have the factory frame stands in there now, which limits how low you can set the motor in your subframe when used with LS swap plates as they typically are. The Hooker 1st-gen engine swap bracket kit removes that constraint by retrofitting later GM clamshell style mounts into your car and using application specific engine brackets that work with the Hooker crossmembers to achieve better engine inclination angles than is possible with swap plates. Yes, the Hooker mounting components are easy to install.
You have the factory frame stands in there now, which limits how low you can set the motor in your subframe when used with LS swap plates as they typically are. The Hooker 1st-gen engine swap bracket kit removes that constraint by retrofitting later GM clamshell style mounts into your car and using application specific engine brackets that work with the Hooker crossmembers to achieve better engine inclination angles than is possible with swap plates. Yes, the Hooker mounting components are easy to install.
Yes but im not gonna use them factory stands..
ok so if i get it right there is special motor mounts to use with the hooker brackets.
Yes but im not gonna use them factory stands..
ok so if i get it right there is special motor mounts to use with the hooker brackets.
Yes, the Hooker engine bracket kit includes adapter plates that permit you to attached the later
clamshell style mounts that GM started factory installing in Camaros in 1972.
01-16-2015, 12:33 PM
Camaro 69 LM7 5.3 / 4l80e 
