what to do to prepare for LS swap
05-22-2011, 11:59 PM
#1
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what to do to prepare for LS swap I am looking to possibly do a LS swap in my 71 Buick wagon. I am wanting to start preparing my car for the swap. What can I do. I was thinking of fuel pump, fuel filter, maybe a fuel cell in the rear storage area. Anything else I can do to get my car ready. I want to prep it before I do the swap to keep the down time to a minumum.
Tim
Tim
05-23-2011, 10:01 AM
#2
Decide on which front runner configuration you are going to run. Locate all the brackets and track down the bolts. For me this was by far the most time consuming part of the swap.
Next, are you doing your own harness? If so, prep the donor harness and decide what you're keeping and what gets eliminated.
Those are in my opinion the most time consuming parts of the swap. Nothing hard but time intensive and will keep your car on stands for a while if you are not prepped.
Next, are you doing your own harness? If so, prep the donor harness and decide what you're keeping and what gets eliminated.
Those are in my opinion the most time consuming parts of the swap. Nothing hard but time intensive and will keep your car on stands for a while if you are not prepped.
05-23-2011, 10:09 AM
#3
PLAN!!! Make a plan of what you want and how to do it. Then stick to the plan. Some snags will come up, but the less deviation the better. There is a guy on here that did a complete swap on his Chevelle in less than 3 weeks, so it can be done.
05-24-2011, 07:18 AM
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Next, are you doing your own harness? If so, prep the donor harness and decide what you're keeping and what gets eliminated.
Those are in my opinion the most time consuming parts of the swap. Nothing hard but time intensive and will keep your car on stands for a while if you are not prepped.
Those are in my opinion the most time consuming parts of the swap. Nothing hard but time intensive and will keep your car on stands for a while if you are not prepped.
Tim
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05-24-2011, 09:57 AM
#8
Yup prep the Harness is #1 in my book. The other suggestions are good as well. To prep my harness I printed out the my pin outs. Then I sat down and looked at every connector and planned what i was going to eliminate and what would stay and what needed to be spliced into the new harness. I have it cut down now.
Look at my build for an example of what I am referring to.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...e-my-swap.html
Look at my build for an example of what I am referring to.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...e-my-swap.html
05-24-2011, 05:14 PM
#13
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I actually managed to my budget fairly accurately. I only went over by about 500 bucks out of ~5k
but I planned EVERY detail of the swap - had all the details worked out down to the part number - had everything in my garage/living room before I began that I thought I was going to need to interconnect all the systems between the engine & the car - that way, when I did have issues come up during the swap they were small and easily dealt with instead of doing each system piece meal it was a lot easier to have a VERY solid understanding of how everything basically went together and deal with it ahead of time instead of doing each system as I got to it - ie, okay, fuel, order these parts, wait, install, oops, missed a part, rinse & repeat.
I did my swap in two weeks - as in drove my car into the garage on a saturday morning under it's original motor and drove it out of the garage under the LS power two weekends later - all in a home garage and I attribute that entirely to having everything I thought I needed ahead of time.
and that brings me to another point - another great reason my swap went super quick - limit the scope of the project up front and STICK TO IT - you'll always get into little things but don't do a whole car resto during your swap or you'll get sunk in the details. bite off manageable chunks - get them completely done and then move onto the next project -it's a lot easier to do an engine swap when you don't have your garage filled with interior bits and the tools spread around on two different projects. Pull original engine - cleanup the tools (as most of them will be different than the LS specific tools) clean the engine bay, do the fuel tank up to the line, cleanup, it's amazing how much faster a task is when you can lay your hand on the socket wrench instead of going skating around under the car looking for where you left it the night before
but I planned EVERY detail of the swap - had all the details worked out down to the part number - had everything in my garage/living room before I began that I thought I was going to need to interconnect all the systems between the engine & the car - that way, when I did have issues come up during the swap they were small and easily dealt with instead of doing each system piece meal it was a lot easier to have a VERY solid understanding of how everything basically went together and deal with it ahead of time instead of doing each system as I got to it - ie, okay, fuel, order these parts, wait, install, oops, missed a part, rinse & repeat.
I did my swap in two weeks - as in drove my car into the garage on a saturday morning under it's original motor and drove it out of the garage under the LS power two weekends later - all in a home garage and I attribute that entirely to having everything I thought I needed ahead of time.
and that brings me to another point - another great reason my swap went super quick - limit the scope of the project up front and STICK TO IT - you'll always get into little things but don't do a whole car resto during your swap or you'll get sunk in the details. bite off manageable chunks - get them completely done and then move onto the next project -it's a lot easier to do an engine swap when you don't have your garage filled with interior bits and the tools spread around on two different projects. Pull original engine - cleanup the tools (as most of them will be different than the LS specific tools) clean the engine bay, do the fuel tank up to the line, cleanup, it's amazing how much faster a task is when you can lay your hand on the socket wrench instead of going skating around under the car looking for where you left it the night before
05-24-2011, 07:39 PM
#16
With proper planning I completely disagree. I was only off by less than $10 (of 2K) and my build is in my sig...
Truer words have never been spoken. Research, proper definition of goals and patience is the key to starting with a realistic budget. Good management skills are the key to keeping it.
Like Tongboy and 71Anticarb said, not allowing scope creep to kill your project is the way to stay on target time and money wise. I could have turned my Thunderbird into a mega dollar monster restoration and painted the engine and engine bay, filled the holes in the firewall, installed a cam, then a turbo, etc.... I've built and owned THAT car. Conversely I could keep the original goal of a simple, reliable, budget daily driver and be much happier overall.
You also need to know the limits of what you are capable of. Some people on this board have a hard time installing headers or an accessory drive on a car, others make their own exhaust and accessory drive. Neither is right or wrong, just different but it will drastically affect your budget.
The more you can do yourself the less cash you will spend, my build is proof. Another one to look for in the budget department is MeanYellowZ.
Like Tongboy and 71Anticarb said, not allowing scope creep to kill your project is the way to stay on target time and money wise. I could have turned my Thunderbird into a mega dollar monster restoration and painted the engine and engine bay, filled the holes in the firewall, installed a cam, then a turbo, etc.... I've built and owned THAT car. Conversely I could keep the original goal of a simple, reliable, budget daily driver and be much happier overall.
You also need to know the limits of what you are capable of. Some people on this board have a hard time installing headers or an accessory drive on a car, others make their own exhaust and accessory drive. Neither is right or wrong, just different but it will drastically affect your budget.
The more you can do yourself the less cash you will spend, my build is proof. Another one to look for in the budget department is MeanYellowZ.
05-24-2011, 08:33 PM
#17
The less you can DIY, the higher your budget needs to be
I did mine for less than $2,000 running and driving too. It took 9 months of prep work to get all the necessary parts in order, then 5 solid days of work to get the drivetrain in and running. Making an excel sheet breaking down each system to ensure everything is in order before beginning
IMHO wiring, exhaust, and fuel are the most time consuming aspects
Most people blow the budget out of the water because of mods
I did mine for less than $2,000 running and driving too. It took 9 months of prep work to get all the necessary parts in order, then 5 solid days of work to get the drivetrain in and running. Making an excel sheet breaking down each system to ensure everything is in order before beginning
IMHO wiring, exhaust, and fuel are the most time consuming aspects
Most people blow the budget out of the water because of mods
05-25-2011, 12:18 AM
#19
05-25-2011, 05:49 AM
#20
