6.2 Gen V LT1 A-body swap
 

I am in the beginnings of an LT1 swap into a 71 GM A-body. Looking for advice, ideas, issues you know about, etc.

What I have-
wet sump LTI crate with controller kit, bellhousing to mate a 4l65e, starter.

I will likely be using dirty dingo mounts and PS pump acc drive.

I do not have the engine here yet, it is in transit.

I'll be looking forward to reading your swap thread !!!

Engine arrived today. So bad ass, this engine.

On first glance, IF the Dirty Dingo mounts that are on the way put the engine in the same place as the Holley stock-location mounts with an LS, it will be very close to clearing the stock crossmember without cutting. I may need to raise the engine about 1/2" and slide it back 1", just depends on were those mounts sit the engine. The wet sump pan is not as bad as I was expecting. The rear sump sits about 7-inches from the edge of the front lip of the front portion of the pan itself (not the block or mounting flange).

PICS from all angles please

thanks!!!

It is still in the crate, I have a 69 Chevelle getting a 5.3 and M21 that is in the way at the moment. I will try to get some more pics in the next couple of days. I am going to start taking real measurements this week.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...a598a3e34d.jpg

Here are some good pics with measurements of the wet sump pan. Hopefully, I will get it off the crate this week.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...240668bc74.jpg


Full shot of front shallow pan


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...919e94210e.jpg


Front pan edge to rear sump 7 3/4"


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...0a043a77c5.jpg


depth of rear sump 1 3/4" (to shallow pan)


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...94a246a959.jpg


Full rear sump depth 3 3/4" (to block)


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...9263723cef.jpg


Rear section of front shallow pan 2"


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...62ef4dffd6.jpg


Oil cooler ports


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...4a699f9b9a.jpg


Front drive with offset water pump


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...3e8a8289f5.jpg


Rear


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...6e3f50147e.jpg


Passenger side

Gonna be a great ride!

This is the LT1 accessory drive from Chevrolet Performance. This will work well if you DO NOT have power steering. This has an AC compressor mounted low, may not clear the chassis in some cars, have not test fit it in the car yet.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...2830883253.jpg

I will be testing the Dirty Dingo acc drive next, which is based on the LT1 truck engine. Waiting for the crank pulley to arrive. The DD drive adds PS and moves the components up top.

Dirty Dingo slider mounts. The Corvette manifolds do not clear the slider mounts, but they won't work in an A-body chassis anyway.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...be9e020d7b.jpg

Got the engine sitting in the chassis today. It is truly a thing of beauty. That said, I have a lot of work ahead to make it actually fit. All of the test fitting was done with the LT bellhousing installed.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...11205c3e51.jpg


let's start from the beginning:
The LT1 accessory drive will clear the chassis with the low-mount AC. The Dirty Dingo sliders, however, do not fit the accessory drive in the rear position. The DD accessory drive is the solution there.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...97f2ade423.jpg



The factory liquid to liquid oil cooler does not fit the chassis. It would require a lot of cutting on the crossmember. It may be possible to bolt it on once the engine is in place, but it does not look likely.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...270e010cb7.jpg



Oil pan. It is close to clearing with the DD sliders using the supplied spacers. If you doubled up the spacers, it might clear. The issue is the height of the engine. With the DD sliders in place, the engine is very high in the chassis already. The engine is slid back as far as it can, the DI fuel pump is less than an inch from the firewall. It needs to move forward, gotta cut the crossmember to get there.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...a1463296a7.jpg



In order to clear the pan, the crossmember will need to be cut quite a bit. About 4" forward of the rear, the full width of the pan needs to be dropped about an inch in order for the mounts to full seat onto the frame stands.





https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...ae47ac7f26.jpg

Gen V
 

If only I could....Wonder if one day I will be able to afford such a swap. Said that about the LSx series too. Wonder why GM performance made a pulley setup with A/C but not power steering? Did I miss something?

All the new cars have electric power steering. The reason the 14-up 2500HD trucks don't have the L86 6.2 is because they run a hydroboost for the brakes.

Never new the GenIV's got rid of the pan gasket. Probably a significant cost saver.

gen v

lt1 swap
 

pm sent

Update- the crossmember has been modded. Requires cutting a large section of the crossmember. Found a couple more issues-

The DD slider mounts cover the factory oil pressure port on the front driver side of the block. It might be possible to mod the adapters so you can use a 90-degree elbow, it is really tight.

There are two ports on the block at that location. The upper port is pressurized, the lower port is the return side. This is for the truck engines that use the vacuum pump.

The alternative is to do the oil bypass mod like on the LS engines. There is no boss on the cover, and this only works if you are not using the factory oil cooler.

What does the general use the vacuum pump for? Is it only 4 trucks? When I first it had a vacuum pump, I figured it was for the engine , helping to limit oil comsumption.

Thanks for posting your results!!!!!!

Post 9. Shows a great profile view of the pan. Thanks again

The pump is for the braking system, it is a brake booster vacuum pump. It is lubricated by the oiling system and driven off the accessory drive.

Just got off the phone with Brent at DD, they have an adapter plate for the factory bypass cover for the oil pressure. Technically it is a feed port for their turbo kit.