Well here it is December, making it about 14 weeks since the LS 1st Gen insanly became my daily driver. I thought I would take this time to run everyone through the ups and downs of the conversion world. Heres some basic details about the car:

Stock chasis 1967 camaro, original Norwood 6 cyl. car. Front disc brake conversion, 10 bolt rear, 3.08 gears.

1998 Z28 LS1 and T56. Internally stock. MTI reprogrammed PCM, TPIS engine harness. Street and Performance headers and belt drive, no ac, pwr steering, or any other accessory drives, GM cs 130 alternator, LT1 cooling fans, stock 67 radiator. An Aeromotive A1000 pushes the fuel through the 99 corvette regulator, all of which is being held together by a combination of AN fittings and hose clamps. Exhaust is 2 1/2 aluminzed tubing with a single crossover and flowmaster 40 series (She sounds really nice, but not too loud).

As almost everyone knows, this has been a VERY barebones swap. The car is my daily driver out of necessity, being that I am a college student and probably should have never taken on a project of this magnitude with my very limited funds and resources.
Anyway, heres a recap of the last 3 months. I've driven the car back and forth from my school in San Marcos Tx, to Houston (330 miles, total there and back) at least 10 times now. Its made several trips around the Texas hill country, especially on nice weekends, and one trip down to corpus Christi, another 350- ish miles. On to the good stuff: I consistantly get 25-27 mpg on the highway, and around 19-20 in the city. The car runs smooth and has never failed to crank, even on the coldest days this winter. I have had no break downs on the highway yet, and I hope to keep it that way. The car never over heats, and theres no puddles on my driveway

Bad stuff:
1. thought I bent pushords on a missed shift in late sept, turned out to just be a collector gasket.
2. Burned up a fuel pump relay in october.
3.leaky fuel tank, patched with jb weld (ghetto)

and thats it!! Its all been worth it, and thats saying something since it took almost 3 years to complete, everyone in the middle of a conversion, dont give up, youve got a lot to look forward to!!!

 

Thanks for the update Gordon... it sounds like you are having fun now.
Did you use '67 gas tank and if so, how did you handle the return? Thanks, Steve

 

awesome. if you are ever in College Station pm me so i might be able to come see the car. i've yet to see a ls1 first gen swap in person. good luck with the car.

 

Sounds like a fun car!

 

Thanks for the compliments guys. Steve, I did in fact use the stock tank, but I consider it a temporary solution to a big problem. I drilled and tapped a 3/8 hole into the sending unit knockout, screwed a brass 90 fitting into it and ran the return into it, its not pretty by any means, but it works.

 

Thanks for the update....do you have a ballpark cost guestimate for your swap to help guide others on a budget?

 

John, I've been very hesitant to guess at the figure, but roughly I'd say about 10-12k over the past 3 years, which seems like it fits into what i budgeted pretty well. Heres a link to my site with a few pics for anyone who's curious: http://www.txstate.edu/~gy1004

 

wow

Man, that is a feature magazine car. If nothing else, you should run it at the strip and send some pics and a timeslip into hot rod (or your favorite mag).

 

Gordon,
I'd still like to see your car if you are in town sometime.
We go to the track in Marion and would love for you to go sometime if you would like some track time or just to watch. I still wonder how many other LS1 conversions are running around San Marcos.

 

Super nice car! Congratulations on your creation.

 

Outstanding!

 

Hot damn. I would to have such a clean car as that Camaro.
Excellent work!

 

thanks alot guys!! Chas you can check out the car whenever, and I would love to see yours, however I will be occupied with finals over the next week or so, and then I will be back in houston, but shoot me an email about when and where, and I'll do my best to accomodate.