salemetro

iTrader: (5)

I bought this car about a year and a half ago with the intention of eventually doing an LS swap. Since then, I've been piecing together all the parts needed while also finishing my turbo'd Fbody....and now it's time to start the fabbing/modding process. I have a friend (5.3waggy) that will be doing most all of the fabrication on this build, and am expecting a 2-month "start to finish" build time. Although this swap will largely be a "plug-n-play" affair, I still want to try to document the swap as much as possible to try to save others the headaches that I've already experienced in this process.....and I'm sure that there will be more to come.

So....here's the overall rundown on the parts list for my daily-driven "commuter" Miata swap:

-L33 engine from a 2006 Silverado w/ 56k miles
-Ported "799/ls6" castings
-Ti retainers, LS7 lifters, Comp HiTech pushrods,918 springs
-Sanderson "shorty" headers specifically for the Miata swap
-Katech oil pump
- 2003 Z06 cam
-LS2 timing chain and chain damper
-CTS-V accessory kit (water pump, a/c pump,damper,alt,ps,etc..)
-LS6 intake
-T56 from a 2006 GTO
-Hurst shifter
-V8Roadters "rearward mount" kit (Tubular k-frame,subframe connectors,trans k-member)
-V8Roadsters "race" radiator and shoud assy w/SPAL fans
-Ford 7.5 rear differential ...3.27 gears
- Detroit TrueTrac
-Factory Five axles
-CNC splined Miata rear hubs
-Miata "sport" brake upgrade
-braided stainless lines
-XIDA Clubsport struts (600lb front, 350LB rear for a nice street ride) from 949Racing
-14mm "mazdaspeed" rear sway bar
-RacingBeat 1 1/4 front sway bar
-Walbro 255 fuel pump
-Energy Suspension poly bushings on all 4 corners
-Assortment of stainless Magnaflow mufflers to get it as quiet as possible, yet still make good power.
-Too much 304 stainless tubing and elbows for a "make it once" 2.5 true dual exhaust

Like I stated before, I bought this car about a year and a half ago to be my "commuter" with the intent of doing this swap. The Miata platform is, at least to me, one of the most FUN cars (overall) that I've ever driven . Good thing, as I'm in this car more than 2 hours/day for the drive to and from work. The obvious drawback to the Miata, is it's lackluster rwhp rating of no more than 100hp. Once the car get's moving, it's a whole lot of fun....but have a BMW, Corvette, or pretty-much anything with even a decent V6 "pull up" next to ya, and it get's downright embarrassing. That's about to change....in a BIG way. :-)
The goal for this car is to make it as quiet, and unassuming as possible. No flashy brake kit, no "lopey" cam, no slammed-to-the-ground ride height.....just 2700lbs with 350rwhp on tap, and as close to 35mpg as possible. We'll see how it goes...

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narx66gmc

35 mpg... No way I'd get that in a car as much fun as this will b. Great color by the way.

10-e-c-350z

I swear those Enkies look good on just about anything. Nice

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Some progress on the rear suspension....
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So....work has begun on the rear suspension/carrier/axles...and, of course...problems. The axles from Factory Five that had been reported by some other folks to be "correct" for this application, are NOT correct. They need to be 7/8 longer for correct articulation in the CV cups...so, time to have some center bars made.
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The rear K-frame was leveled by using the points in red as a reference point, and then fabbing the rear mount making sure to allow for a 2.5* upward pinion angle once the unit is installed in the car.
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The point where the bolts go through the k-frame to support the rear mount had tubes welded in, as to assure that the k-frame would not try to "squash" where the bolts went through it once everything is tightened up.
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salemetro

iTrader: (5)

I was also able to source a factory "Sport" brake package, which is essentially 1" larger rotors all the way around. I'm sure that the stock brakes on my car would have been fine for my purposes....but this will give me a little more peace of mind on the road. All new disks/pads and stainless lines are on order, and should be here next week.

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LS1-450

iTrader: (33)

To help your quest toward 350 RWHP, will need to lose the shortie headers. Most running modified heads, Z06 Cam, LS6 intake through L33 cubes are in the 300 RWHP range. Long tubes will go a long way toward improving that number + under the curve. Long tubes can be done in Miata swaps.


Can use a more aggressive rear end gear & still achieve 35 mpg, if you wish. Can lean out the highway RPM's using tuning software. I get 30+ MPG highway out of a modified 5.7L w/ 3.90 rear, running a leaner 17:1 AFR.

rhopkins

iTrader: (1)

This is gonna be sweet!

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, I thought about long-tubes...but the $1500.00, one-off price tag made me decide otherwise. Maybe eventually. I also have a pair of LS7 manifolds to play with, so I might try to see if something can be made to work with them? I'll know more once I finish reassembling the engine and start to mount things to the kframe.

3.42 and 3.73 gear sets for these rears are easy enough to come by, but a large requirement for this sway is MPG...so I'm gonna see what it does with this gearset, as well as a leaner cruise.

seadoo

keep us updated! watching this...

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Finally an update....

I've been able to find a buyer for ALL of the old drivetrain...and he's willing to wait a month or so. Pretty cool, now that I don't have to worry about it taking up shop space once it's all out

Rear diff is now mounted correctly (yeah, I know...it'll be cleaned up soon)....just waiting for the axles to be finished. I should have them back in roughly 10 days.

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salemetro

iTrader: (5)

I decided to go with LS7 lifters, and had the LS6 heads ported since I was already there.

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VERY IMPORTANT.....Comp makes a thread "chaser", which is different from a thread tap as it does not cut threads at all. I highly recommend this tool.

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Another must-have tool is a torque angle gauge..gotta make sure bolt stretch is correct.
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I'm not sure why GM feels the need to use loctite on head bolts as this stuff affects torque readings.....so I got rid of it. I was really back-n-forth on using head studs, as I thought I might eventually spray the engine...but ultimately decided against the juice.

Edit: Apparently, the blue stuff is thread sealer...not needed on LSx engines....so no biggie removing it.

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So here's how the engine sits now....just waiting on the correct length pushrods to get here, as well as the LS6 oil pump from Katech. I was able to install the LS2 timing chain and chain damper setup, and should have MUCH more progress in the next week or so.....

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LS1-450

iTrader: (33)

Very nice. Thanks for the update.

GM uses loctite 'cuz they are designed by stretch not torque. That's why they have the mark 'em then turn them so many degrees instructions. Total rotation equals required install stretch.

The LS2 chain & damper are great features.

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Good point. Still seems kinda weird to me to have loctite on head bolts...but I guess they probably view it as cheap insurance.

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

So....dropped the car off at my friend's place this morning. After 6 hours, he has the car down to this:


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And this.....


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And even this.....


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And finally this.......


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Needless to say, I'm amazed at what he got done in 6 hours! So far, so good...and I'm hoping that the pace can keep up. Parts are still on order somewhat...but for the most part, everything is here.


To be continued.....

KING Z28 HAWK

iTrader: (11)

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Sooo.....more issues to deal with. My $825.00 oil pan (second one they sent me...after the first was too warped to use) has a couple of issues to fix. I thought that the saying "you get what you pay for" used to mean something...but apparently, quality control sucks with regards to the company that makes this pan for V8R. I have since found another company that makes a similar pan....for $450.....that looks a heck of a lot more well-built.

First issue to fix.....missing bolt hole!


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Second Issue to fix..... the pickup would have been resting on the bottom of the pan once installed. I had to get a little creative with a mallet to get 1/4" clearance.....and now have to trim the oil pan inner insert.


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Third issue...pretty minor....I had to notch the a/c pump bracket to clear the edge of the oil pan....


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Other than that....windage tray is clearanced now as best as can be expected. I should have the engine finished enough tonight for a test-fit tomorrow or the next day.


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On a lighter note....it looks like the exhaust should be fabricated and purge tig welded over the course of this weeked! Here's keeping my fingers crossed for a quick turnaround on the job!


More to come.....

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Dude....That is not loctite on the head bolts, that is thread sealer. On a LSx engine the head bolts go into the water passages. The holes are not blind so you need to seal the threads.

It is so nice to see people second guessing hundreds of hours of engineering.

Andrew

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

Well, it was just enough on the threads to gum it up a little...not what I'd expect for any kind of real sealing properties. Also, ALL of the thread holes held debris and the WD40 that I used to lube the thread chaser. When I hit the holes with compressed air, it shot all that crap back out in a hurry. At any rate, it's done now..and I don't think I'll be losing any sleep over it. Worst case, I'll eventually do head studs and spray the engine.

Thanks for the condescending reply, but you can keep that **** for yourself.....

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

When genius shines it should be pointed out and exulted.

Carry on...

Andrew

salemetro

iTrader: (5)

This.... from a guy that pays to have his engines built for him.

I get it....you're perfect....and LS1Tech is a way for you to stroke your own ego. Now go away and **** on some other thread to make up for your own insecurities. The rest of us will keep learning through doing...mistakes and all.

By the way....it's EXALTED in proper tense usage. But you knew that, I'm sure.