A-body swaps ... Are you happy?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 37
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A-body swaps ... Are you happy? Hind sight is usually 20/20 .lets hear it, now that you have completed your LS swap into the A-body , and ironed the bugs out, what would you have done differently - to save money , or buy brand X parts instead of brand Y because ...
Example , now that the long tubes , 4l80e , and autokraft pan are in , can you get at the starter motor ? Is the trans too tight in the tunnel to get at the bellhousing bolts and pull the trans later on etc. etc.?
Example , now that the long tubes , 4l80e , and autokraft pan are in , can you get at the starter motor ? Is the trans too tight in the tunnel to get at the bellhousing bolts and pull the trans later on etc. etc.?
Buy a good motor the first time. Be patient. Know what you want and just do that from the beginning. Don't worry about trivial nonsense that for all practical purposes will make zero difference in the final product.
Most of this stuff is detailed in build threads, and it's hard to say 'I should have bought X instead of Y' if you haven't used both.
Most of this stuff is detailed in build threads, and it's hard to say 'I should have bought X instead of Y' if you haven't used both.
Overall I am happy with mine, the only thing I would have changed is not buyin the worthless Hooker headers. I'm goin FI now so that problem is solved. I raised the transmission tunnel up about 2" so that I could remove the tranny when the need arises.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
Buy a good motor the first time. Be patient. Know what you want and just do that from the beginning. Don't worry about trivial nonsense that for all practical purposes will make zero difference in the final product.
Most of this stuff is detailed in build threads, and it's hard to say 'I should have X instead of Y' you haven't used both.
Most of this stuff is detailed in build threads, and it's hard to say 'I should have X instead of Y' you haven't used both.
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I love my 6.0l/4l80e combo.... The first one is always the toughest. I wished I hadn't bought that POS spectre fuel tank. The LH8 pan wouldn't be my first choice now either.....I like my combo so well now, that i'm trying to sell my 454/5sp richmond set up out of my 66 to make room for an ly6/4l60e combo in it....
Rick
Rick
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 37
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I love my 6.0l/4l80e combo.... The first one is always the toughest. I wished I hadn't bought that POS spectre fuel tank. The LH8 pan wouldn't be my first choice now either.....I like my combo so well now, that i'm trying to sell my 454/5sp richmond set up out of my 66 to make room for an ly6/4l60e combo in it....
Rick
Rick
The transmission is excellent. However, I probably would not choose Extreme Automatics again. I love Lonnie, but he is very slow and does not follow up or follow through. I would recommend checking out some of the other vendors on TurboBuick.com.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 393
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I would set the engine as low and far back as possible even if it meant cutting out the trans tunnel. I actually would cut out the tunnel and fab a new one right off the bat. I currently have 2 3/4" between my passenger side head and the firewall moving the engine back would solve some other issues.
I just hate the valvetrain noise.
One more thing... I kind of expected to be able to toss in a giant cam and 3600 stall and it still be completely easy and tame with roses and pixies dancing around. It still hates being cold (just like the old 350) and doesn't like lower rpm's (just like the old 350). And it doesn't get the gas mileage I was hoping for, but maybe that's because I get into it every-so-often... But dammit, you can't beat the easy start-up, general lack of ongoing tuning, 2,500 rpm's at highway speed, and ice-cold AC in a 515 hp car that's actually quite docile, despite 3" exhaust.
EDIT: I'd have sold the 4L80e and went with a T56 from the beginning! It's not going to be fun to swap it in now (though still totally worth it).
K, done with the X-body hijack
Last edited by hookemdevils22; Nov 30, 2011 at 09:46 PM.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
I would set the engine as low and far back as possible even if it meant cutting out the trans tunnel. I actually would cut out the tunnel and fab a new one right off the bat. I currently have 2 3/4" between my passenger side head and the firewall moving the engine back would solve some other issues.
I am using this site a lot to help put together my plans, and have come up with many useful tips. Starting with a forged 24x ls3 385 long block from AES , topped with a front feed 2.9 whipple , and a good used 4l80e with the TCM and ECU ( reflashed) from the same donor truck. The original post was just part of my research , and apparently I should investigate Hooker headers to see how they compare to the other brands. Thanks for the replies