Ls1 swap into thirdgen, need advice
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 8
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From: Va Beach
Ls1 swap into thirdgen, need advice I have everything researched as to what i'm doing covering fuel lines all the way to exhaust.
My question is,
should I skip putting bolt ons, on the engine while its out, and instead swap it into the car in stock form with the t-56 to make it easier for myself and get all of the glitches sorted out, instead of dealing with starting a modded engine?
Then once it is fully running, swap the cam, intake, fuel rails/injectors ect ect onto the engine and get to the tuning shop?
Does this sound like a wiser choice?
My question is,
should I skip putting bolt ons, on the engine while its out, and instead swap it into the car in stock form with the t-56 to make it easier for myself and get all of the glitches sorted out, instead of dealing with starting a modded engine?
Then once it is fully running, swap the cam, intake, fuel rails/injectors ect ect onto the engine and get to the tuning shop?
Does this sound like a wiser choice?
An opposing view I'm guessing that you'll probably get answers in favor of both arguments - but myself personally, I'm going to be using the engine in stock form initially, probably for the first 3-6 months or so, and installing the camshaft, springs, etc. afterward. The reasons for that are:
1) I already have the engine in the car. Since this is a manual-transmission vehicle, pulling the radiator (so that I can swap the camshaft) is just NOT a big deal.
2) Getting a tune will probably not be too big of a deal for me. I'm fairly sure that I can get a good baseline via mail-order (with the stock engine setup), and I've been given the name of a guy at a local dyno shop who's supposed to be really good at getting modified LS engines to run well. (Of course I'm going to do everything I can to CONFIRM that within the next few days...)
3) Just the STOCK L92 is going to give me a LOT more torque & horsepower than the 350 cid L98 that the car came with!
I figure that it SURE AS HELL won't kill me to live with 403 hp/417 lb./ft. of torque (PLUS whatever I get for the cold-air intake & the long-tubes) for the first few months that I have the car on the road. Once that gets to be a little bit "ordinary" 
well, then I can stab the new camshaft in, & enjoy the upgrade... (Besides, that'll give me something else to look forward to as well!)
4) I've been told that I need to drive about "500 miles of stop-and-go rush hour traffic" to break in my clutch properly.
I'm thinking that a stock engine is going to be a LOT easier to drive that way, & a LOT more forgiving. Once I get the clutch broken in (and I don't have to screw around with the stop-and-go BS), it should be considerably easier to drive my car with the lumpy cam... 
Now this is just my views, & my situation - your situation could be entirely different. But with any luck, this has at least given you some food for thought... Good luck!
1) I already have the engine in the car. Since this is a manual-transmission vehicle, pulling the radiator (so that I can swap the camshaft) is just NOT a big deal.
2) Getting a tune will probably not be too big of a deal for me. I'm fairly sure that I can get a good baseline via mail-order (with the stock engine setup), and I've been given the name of a guy at a local dyno shop who's supposed to be really good at getting modified LS engines to run well. (Of course I'm going to do everything I can to CONFIRM that within the next few days...)
3) Just the STOCK L92 is going to give me a LOT more torque & horsepower than the 350 cid L98 that the car came with!
I figure that it SURE AS HELL won't kill me to live with 403 hp/417 lb./ft. of torque (PLUS whatever I get for the cold-air intake & the long-tubes) for the first few months that I have the car on the road. Once that gets to be a little bit "ordinary" well, then I can stab the new camshaft in, & enjoy the upgrade... (Besides, that'll give me something else to look forward to as well!)4) I've been told that I need to drive about "500 miles of stop-and-go rush hour traffic" to break in my clutch properly.
I'm thinking that a stock engine is going to be a LOT easier to drive that way, & a LOT more forgiving. Once I get the clutch broken in (and I don't have to screw around with the stop-and-go BS), it should be considerably easier to drive my car with the lumpy cam... Now this is just my views, & my situation - your situation could be entirely different. But with any luck, this has at least given you some food for thought... Good luck!
