Hoonigan Holden Ute Heart Transplant: Fresh LS1 Installed

Holden never sent the US a Ute, so the boys at Hoonigan are building one. The HooniUte has yet to run, will it get put together in time for SEMA?

Building a car is a long and time consuming process. General Motors may be able to turn out around 27,000 new vehicles a day, but in a garage with some buddies it is going to take a bit longer. Cars are very complex machines. They have yards of wiring, tons of bolts, a gaggle of nuts, and several hoses, that all have a certain propose. Being a little OCD can go a long way in building a car, because otherwise you end up with parts left over. We have all heard the stories; “Those nuts must be extra, right? No, Steve! They are not extra and I can not have my Camaro fall apart on the way to the Piggly Wiggly.” Like we said, it is all about the details and putting everything in the correct place. The biggest component to put in place is the engine.

ALSO SEE: The Hoonigan Ute Gets Holley Hi-Ram Power

Oh man, the satisfaction of dropping in the motor is incredible. Lifting it up and then lowering it down into the chassis, careful not to catch the transmission on any loose wires. Then, the finally when the motor slides down into the motor mounts and clicks into place. In this video, the crew at Hoonigan is installing their LS1 in their project Ute. We covered the previous work done to the motor here on LS1tech. The build has a serious deadline as it is has to be in Las Vegas for the 2017 SEMA show. Since the mechanic appears to be out of the shop Vin and Jon decide to tackle the engine install. With a few helping hands and some rad sleeveless t-shirts the motor is in the Ute. Check out the video and let us know what you think of the HooniUte in the comments.