FUN, QUICK and EASY LS engine conversion
But... www.thirdgen.org has an engine swap area in their forum. A 5 minute search will probably get your fitment questions answered. A thirdgen is a great car, but like with any swap of this type, you want to be well informed before you decide, and part of being informed includes deciding what parts you want. If you want stock manifolds & intake, your swap might wind up being cheaper and easier than mine is going to be.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Beebe, Arkansas
And the S10 would be much lighter than a full size. Just look for a regular S10 4x4. Add a 5.3L (Turbo), 4l80, and NV149 (AWD) transfer case. And enjoy AWD burnouts!
Last edited by Bo185; Oct 15, 2009 at 05:47 PM.
Add a 5.3L (Turbo), 4l80, and NV149 (AWD) transfer case. And enjoy AWD burnouts!
Big ol' chevy truck would probably be the easiest route though, gobs of room in the engine bay, for whatever you like.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,539
Likes: 26
From: columbus,ohio
Hey Spartanv8, checked out your concept design Spartanv8.I like it, I like it alot I've been of thinking of doing C4 LS swap for some time ,already have a very low mile L-33 for it.Bang for the buck and weight wise ,I think this is a excellent choice.Sorry to here about your trans scam,Paypal should have got your money back,or at least implement a policy ,like here in Ohio were a car dealer can not keep more than 20% of purchase price on deposits.Sounds like a outright scam going on down there in Indiana.I bet Paypal did not even investigate it ,that sucks.Can I make a suggestion on your Spartan,if you go with the C4 IRS rear suspension.Get one from a manual trans car, they have the stronger Dana 44 8.5 inch gear.They are harder to find and cost a little more but worth it.It would also be neat to see if you take some design cues from the Ariel Atom,love how its frame/ chasse bows in a canoe shape.That car is rear engine thou ,so you may not be able to take that idea to far ,yours being front engine rear wheel drive.If you can stay on a diet and keep weight under 1600 that will be one nasty bitch to drive,close 3 second 0-60 mph times.How much money do estimate it will cost to construct the frame?Keep us posted on your progress .
Thanks omc8, always nice to have positive feedback =) Paypal got my money back, but the way they acted towards me and another 3rd party in the scam who was innocent, I'll never use them again if I can avoid it. I considered using the Dana44 but got the 36 instead because it was lighter. I'll never get all this power to the ground anyway! I'll admit that the Atom was what originally turned me on to this whole idea, but there are a few similar cars that are just as nice as well. I don't really want to copy anyone's design cues, my design is all me =) Not sure on cost yet, will depend who does the welding. Should be fast enough to chase down your average grocery getter..
Do you have a C4 vette? Why not use that for this swap?
Do you have a C4 vette? Why not use that for this swap?
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,539
Likes: 26
From: columbus,ohio
Yes as a matter of fact I do , a 87 convertible 4+3 with 66k miles. But I don't want to do this car ,just going to keep this one the way it is.Ideally I would like to start with a 89 or later with a ZF 6 speed,for a LS conversion.These with a L-33 will weigh in @ about 2900 lbs ,I believe.No one has suggested this swap yet, but I would like to here from anyone who has.Corvette Fever magazine had a C4 5.3 swap in there project cars section early this year.You can be now buy these C4 cars for as little as 2500,there is a 86 coupe auto 76k for 3500 dollars just down the street from me now, for sale.
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Yes as a matter of fact I do , a 87 convertible 4+3 with 66k miles. But I don't want to do this car ,just going to keep this one the way it is.Ideally I would like to start with a 89 or later with a ZF 6 speed,for a LS conversion.These with a L-33 will weigh in @ about 2900 lbs ,I believe.No one has suggested this swap yet, but I would like to here from anyone who has.Corvette Fever magazine had a C4 5.3 swap in there project cars section early this year.You can be now buy these C4 cars for as little as 2500,there is a 86 coupe auto 76k for 3500 dollars just down the street from me now, for sale.
and one more thing, even if you get an inexpensive corvette, im sure the little nickel and dime parts that go out in that thing over time are going to run you more $$ than a lot of other swap vehicles would. If youre going to spend the money to do nice custom exhaust, parts that fit well, A/C, nice wiring harness, keep everything inside functional, and make everything about the swap as nice as it should be swapping into a corvette, you could be into that swap in the $10k range easily, not including the cost of the car itself. For a few bucks more, you could just buy a 2000+ corvette.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,539
Likes: 26
From: columbus,ohio
i believe that car would weigh in a bit north of 2900 lbs... I am biased to say convert an s-10 ( i love having a TRUCK that will stomp stock f-bodys and vettes, but thats just me. i think you should try to find something that you look at and say " i could drive that every day" and also " man, that thing would fly with a LSx motor!" if you let everyone else pick, you may end up wishing you had gone another direction when you get into it. but then again... Lsx's look pretty slick in the back of a porche too...
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,539
Likes: 26
From: columbus,ohio
If you're serious about a C4, this may help you. I bought my C3 adapters from Trey, the owner, and I am very happy with them.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,539
Likes: 26
From: columbus,ohio
No I have not scrapped the budget idea . Fun ,quick and easy on the cheap are still the the goals here, for my list .And trucks are still high on the the list because,they are easy and cheaper.But I still want to here more car choices.The C4 vette could make this list because it could be bought for 2 or 3 grand and maybe a LSx swap for another 3 grand .In that budget it may not have all the nice stuff,like the melrose headers and use alot of used parts but maybe it can be done.And old school cars that can be swapped using truck manifold and accessories will defiantly be considered.But I will say it again I want to hear from guys that have actually done this swap.Just talked to a guy in local salvage yard,he told he just did a Astro van with a LQ4 4L80E and I know he did it cheap.
Last edited by omc8; Oct 26, 2009 at 05:21 PM.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,539
Likes: 26
From: columbus,ohio
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,539
Likes: 26
From: columbus,ohio
The cheapest ,fun ,quick and easy truck swap has to be the GM 96-98.On the car side its a little more difficult to pick .Still want more picks for a car swap ,keep in mind to make to top of the list it has to use the truck intake and accessories.Some past suggestions have been 64-72 A bodys ,3rd gen F bodys, 1st gen F bodys ,G bodys, 68-72 X body, S-10 and 240z-350z.
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 36
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From: Lindenhurst, Long Island, New York
Thanks Greg for the link to speedhound.com ,this is the company that supplied the the headers and swap plates in the project C4orce 5.3 LSx swap in CORVETTE FEVER and CAR CRAFT June issue, that i made reference to in earlier post.I love all vettes, have a couple myself.Let us know how that C3 is coming along.