Hello everyone! I am brand new to this LS1 thing so any help will be greatly appreciated. I just purchased a 99 LS1 complete pull out from a salvage yard. 62K miles, complete with Harness and ECU. Can anyone point me in the right direction with the harness? How do I know what I can cut off and what I can't. I am putting this motor into an airboat, so I will be stripping it down bare bones. I am removing the A/C components, Power Steering stuff, Smog crap, etc... Basically, I am just runnning the crank pulley, water pump, and alternator on the front of the motor. I am assuming I can pull off all the cross over pcv stuff too. But when I take the harness off, can I just cut everything I don't need off the harness? Do I need to terminate anything or jump anything together? I know I need to flash my ECU and reprogram it to turn certain sensors off. But I have never done this so I just thought I would ask for some suggestions on how to get starter. Right now, the motor is on a stand in my garage complete from the salvage yard.
Thanks,
Thomas

 

First business, get on www.southernairboat.com . Great info on that site. My dad has a 16' American with a 383 SBC and he is always on the forums. Also, lookup a guy with Water Thunder Performance. Their website is www.waterthunder.com . He is like the premier guy as far as LS motors into Airboats goes. He is a regular poster on southernairboat.com and he would probably be able to help you out with info on what to do with the wiring harness.

A few suggestions from me if you want them though, here they are. Go with a carb setup for fueling and intake. This elminates a ton of stuff that has to be electronically controlled, plus carb setups tend to make more power in the range that airboats use. I have been into airboats for most of my life and i know that usually the simpler and more foolproof you can make something the better. Its just that airboats can get into such remote areas, that if it fails you need another airboat to get it out. This means make it reliable and less wiring and electronics is more reliable. Second thing, cam it. There isnt a reason not to. Airboats dont have to have street manners like we want with our street cars, and a properly selected cam will bump power and put it in the sweet spot for use in your boat. I would talk to the guys at water thunder about what cam specs to use. Most of these car cams pull well above 6000 to make peak power. In a gear or belt reduced setup, 6000 is the highest you could ever think to spin an airboat motor, most likely 5500. So you would rather your motor have plenty of guts down around 2500, and peak hp/tq somewhere just past 5200. With a good carb setup, cam and longtube headers you will be looking at well beyond 400hp/tq at the crank, all with a much lighter motor than a traditional SBC.

I have been a fan of the LS motors into airboats thing for years. We have the old 383 out of my dad's boat as i speak, getting a valve job and some carb work done. I think this may be the last time i put it back, as hopefully the next time it has to come out i can talk him into a built LS2/402 setup to replace the old small block. Good luck with your setup, and PM me if you need any help getting in touch with any of these guys, as i'm sure my dad has contact info for most of them.