I'm starting this thread to keep track of my build this winter and as an introduction of myself. I haven't posted much here, but I've been browsing the forum for a while researching for my swap and wasting hours and hours looking at sweet builds.

To give you some background on me, I bought my 240 about a year and a half ago (my first car ever... haha) and started doing autocross. I got into drifting about a year ago and have been pretty obsessed with it ever since.


One of the first autocross events I went to. Bone stock baby!


Found out about drifting, started practicing at autocross events.


Getting better at drifting autocross courses.


First drift event on the E-town road course. Finally got a diff and coilovers... woohoo.


Missing a few parts, but still drifting.


Somewhere in PA.

I drove with the stock KA all year because I couldn't afford anything better, but then I graduated from school and got a real job in September. I had gotten pretty decent at drifting and wanted to start doing competitions. So I thought about the best possible engine I could get for the car in terms of power, reliability, and weight. LS1 was a pretty obvious choice. I decided to try to compete in the US Drift series in 2009 and to completely rebuild the car over the winter.

I drove in my last event of the year on October 25th, and the car went up on jack stands the following week where it has been for the past month.

My plan is to repair all the rusted areas on the car, stitch weld the engine bay and a few other areas, build a roll cage, paint everything, and install the LS1.

I'm going to keep the engine stock so that it's as reliable as possible. I'm doing just a few things to it to make sure it will stay together when I'm revving at 6000 RPM for extended periods of time. I'll be installing aftermarket oil pump, timing chain, rod bolts, valve springs, titanium retainers, pushrods, and an Accusump system. It will be the most reliable stock-power LS1 ever... haha. But more than 300 hp should be good for a 22 - 2300 lb. car.

Here's the progress I've made so far:


Right before the car gets torn down. Trying on a kit I picked up cheap off craigslist.


Couple of hours later.


Engine and tranny out.


Took a break for some inspiration: Miata with Ford 5.0. It made 225 BLAZING horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque.


Powerwashed the car and finished stripping it. Not a single bolt left.


Left front strut tower (before).


Strut tower (after).


Battery tray (before).


Battery tray (after).


The right front wheel well was pretty messed up. Here I'm almost done cutting out all the rust.


Right front finally done.


Stitch welded.


And onto the next disaster area: left front.

Oh, and I almost forgot about this... haha! The LS1 and T-56 waiting patiently on the side:


It's from a 2000 Trans Am. 23k miles. Got it for $3,700 engine + trans.

Things have kind of gotten off to a slow start because it took a while to set up the garage, get the welder and 230V source hooked up, etc. but should be moving quickly now. I'll be finishing up rust repair this weekend or sometime next week. The tube bender should be arriving next Monday, so hopefully I can get to work on the roll cage next week.

My plan is to have it all done by late February/early March. I'll be using the full Daft Innovations kit (arriving soon), so installing the LS should be pretty quick and simple.


mirodrift.com

 

Sweet build man! Keep us updated.

 

I'm in for this one! What type of welding are you doing? TIG, right? I'm new to it and over the winter I'm going to start on a stick welder.

 

I'm using a MIG welder (Millermatic 180 with gas). TIG machines are way too expensive. You might want to try a MIG welder if you don't already have a stick machine. It's easier to learn than TIG or stick welding and relatively affordable.

 

Well I'm going to be doing stick because my girlfriend is getting one for her dad for Christmas and I'm just going to bum it when he isn't using it. I'm in college so I can't really afford much. I'm also going to try a little TIG this winter and spring on the FSAE car here at Mizzou.
How long have you been welding for?

 

didnt know you could get them down to 2200-2300lbs. What did you take out of it to get there?

 

you sir are a crazy ****, that is alot of work man. But im glad and inspired that you're doing it, i would love to do what you are doing but to a S15/Silvia conversion 240. Except i would want an all out ***** to the wall LSX stroker or something with a procharger on it Awesome build keep up the good work its gonna be badass for sure!

 

The rust isn't as bad as some peoples here. To me it looked like surface rust, but you're the boss! I hope you enjoy the build and you don't have many snags on the way

 

lots of progress my friend... cant wait to see it finish

 

I've been welding for a total of 13 days now... haha. I don't have any experience, but you learn fast when you're doing it every day. FSAE cars are fun. Post some pics when it's together.

It's a base model, so it weighs a bit over 2700 lbs. stock.

* Removed full interior, including all sound deadening and HVAC system.
* Fiberglass doors, hood, fenders, front bumper, and possibly hatch.
* No rear bumper or bumper support (you'll see what I mean later).

Everything not necessary to go fast or look good is gone. There's a scale at E-town by the drag strip, so I'll check the weight when I'm done.

Do it. A real S15 with an LS would be sick.

Yeah, it's mostly surface rust, but the metal has gotten so thin in some places that it needs to be replaced. The wheel wells do actually have rust holes though.

I cleaned up the areas around the rust holes today and got all of the undercoating goo off. I'm ready for cutting and welding tomorrow.




Inside.


Crap I cut out.


A friend of mine dropped off a little gift tonight, should be pretty helpful. Looks like it has a sand blasting gun attachment. Oh yes.


His car is also in my garage getting the same treatment as mine but with an SR20.

 

Wow. Just. Wow.

 

Looks cool man. I bet its fun to see it all coming together

 

Very nice build man....seems like you have it all figured out...

 

congrats man! best of luck with the swap. its one of the best things i ever did for my car.

 

Very nice build. I like those cars with a ls1 in it. It's like a baby corvette for a **** load less. I just do not like the lay out of the factory dash and interior. But with a race car, you could just do a nice auto meter setup and switch panel.

Nice to see you taking your time and doing it the way you want it. And not bad welding for 13 days experience lol.

 

nice progress, your gunna mess that sr20 up pretty bad stock to stock

 

i understand your looking for reliability, but if your going to replace all your valvetrain components id suggest throwing in a mild cam. the stock cam is designed for emissions and small exhaust, since you are not running cats (i assume) and probably going to run a 3" exhaust it would be wise to upgrade the cam. It will not effect reliability and will give you alot of power under the curve and throughout the powerband. look at the afr 6061( i think) its a 224/228 on 114 lsa.

 

Ya it you cant go wrong with a bigger cam! What color is it going to be?

 

Thanks for the compliments guys. Update coming tomorrow.

Yeah, I've been doing research on a cam. It would be kind of silly to get full valvetrain but keep the stock cam. I need something that doesn't have much higher lift than stock (don't want any chance of valve float since engine will see a lot of high RPM action) and, in general, is not too aggressive (don't want to deal with getting the engine tuned). I'm still researching. I'll definitely take a look at the AFR cam. Thanks.

I'll probably get an LS6 intake to take advantage of the extra lift and duration... better start looking at the For Sale section. I'll post a complete parts list for the car soon so people have a better idea of where I'm going with this.

And yes, I'll be using long-tube headers with 3" collectors, no cats. Haven't decided what I'll be doing for the rest of the exhaust. NASCAR-style rectangular tubes out the side would be sweet, but probably won't have time for something fancy like that.

 

VERY nice build. I'm going to be getting a '92 in just about a week, and I'm not sure how long I'l be able to hold out before I buy an LS1/T56 for it.....