Next on my list was to redo the front of the exhaust. There was nothing wrong with what I had but I wanted something larger, easier to service and to move the o2 sensors closer to the exhaust ports.


In this thread https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...have-seen.html I looked at the then newer 2nd gen CTS-v manifolds, but they didn't fit in my car the way I wanted. The Hooker manifolds were brand new at the time.

I went with Hooker LS Exhaust manifolds. They still aren't as large as what a lot of people use, but they are much larger than the 98 Camaro manifolds that I was using. They are very high quality and fit as close to the block and swept back as anything I have ever seen. I was able to get the front o2 sensors much closer to the exhaust ports. Also they will be much easier to service than what I had.

Now the exhaust has been totally redone. I have to clean up the tune; I’m not expecting a huge gain, but you never know 

I didn’t take a lot of pics, was too busy rolling around on the garage floor trying to put this puzzle together.

Holley Hooker 8501 exhaust manifolds (I ground the logos off)



Passenger side downpipe (sorry, didn’t get a pic of the driver side)



These are very tight to the block, here they are installed:

Driver’s side manifold



Passenger side manifold

 

More fun in the garage

When I did the tuning from my new supercharger and manifolds I noticed that I was running out of fuel pump not a big surprise and it verifies that the car is making more power, as it should since it is making more boost. I should have plenty of injector but we’ll see.

Originally when I set up my car I was using a “returnless” fuel system with a Corvette style filter/regulator. It isn’t really returnless since there is a pressure regulator and the fuel is returned to the tank, but it does run at a constant pressure, in my case 58 psi. This means that at idle the injector is infecting into a vacuum so the output is “enhanced” and at boost it is injecting into 15 psi. This can cause problems at higher boost levels and can lead to uneven rail pressure. This system is very simple and works quite well; now that I am up around 15 psi of boost a vacuum referenced system should do the job better and provide for more capacity from the pump.

A return style system has a constant pressure differential between the injector and the intake manifold, which so that at idle the pressure is reduced so that the differential is 50 psi and under boost the pressure is raised to 65 so that the differential is still 50.

Fortunately, GM made both types of systems (the LS based trucks use both) so Magnacharger did as well. I had the return style fuel block so all it took was a quick swap and a change of the fuel filter and some plumbing.

The filter is one used by GM on literally millions of cars so every auto parts store has them on the shelf and it has plenty of capacity.

Here are some pics:

Original Fuel Block



Original Corvette Fuel Filter/Regulator



New Fuel Block



New Fuel Filter



I did some quick tuning and it seems to be working fine. Once I get the new 340lph pump in place I can really test it

 

Rob,

Is that new rule block integrated into a new rail?

Andrew

 

I think you mean fuel block. The fuel blocks bolt to the fuel rail so they are interchangeable.

 

After I switched the supercharger head unit I had a couple of minor clearance issues, all of which were easy to fix. The one that I couldn't fix was the position of the throttle body coupling about 4.5 inches out from the throttle body - which was about as short as I could make the coupling.

I needed to angle down the throttle body just a little with a wedge, but I also needed the wedge to be fairly small so it didn't mess up everything else.

I saw the Vararam "Power Wedge" which is about the last product I would buy, but looked like it might do the trick and would be easier than making something from scratch. I ordered one from Summit racing.





It turns out that the angle of the wedge is around 5.5 degrees; I needed to know how much room this would move the tube down about 4.5 inches from the throttle body. After spending 5 minutes reliving high school trigonometry trying to calculate the change I decided that it would be easier to just draw it up to see how much clearance I would gain. I needed 1/8" it looked like I was going to get 1/4"



Since it looked like it was going to work I then hogged out the inside to match my 102mm throttle body and installed it. Success! It gave me plenty of clearance. I did have to massage the bottom of the throttle body which was now hitting the fuel line, but after a few minutes it was done.

Final result:

 

Great work and ongoing follow up. This has to be one of the best swaps out there!

 

Thanks

 

I recognize that garage floor. Now that I own a proper LS, maybe I'll stop by for some upgrades. That is, once I figure out what type of German grade Castrol I should be running...

 

Glad you finally got one. That oil search could take some time

 

Got fed up with the Dynomax VT muffler so I found a nice new stock muffler and all is well






In other news, my car is up for sale

https://ls1tech.com/forums/vehicle-c...-25-000-a.html

Get it while you can

 

Rob,

I should come and visit with my Cougar and check out the BMW.

Andrew

 

The car is now being parted out:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/parts-cla...l#post18996881

 

The time has come my e39 swap is no more. Economics dictated that the car had much less value as a running car than as a pile of parts, so parts it is:









It has been a great ride, literally. 5 years and over 100,000 miles of fun.

I will be posting the parts that I kept so stay tuned for detailed posts in the classified forum.

Otherwise I will be out of the swap world for the time being.

Everybody have fun

 

well thats not the way i saw this going lol

 

that escalated quickly.......

 

By any chance do you remember what kit you used for you E39 swap from summit racing? When I contacted them they said they didn't sell those.

 

Sorry, but I'm pretty positive that was a joke.

 

lol that last 2 pics.

 

Hey there!

I am looking at doing the same with a 5.3.

Can I maybe get your email and we can talk about some of the details,

Thanks,

Josh