my new project: LS into an 81 fairmont wagon
07-11-2013, 06:40 PM
#1
my new project: LS into an 81 fairmont wagon So after selling the 80 Malibu I swapped last year I have been on the hunt for a decent non-mustang fox body platform to do another LS swap. found this gem on craigslist after I've been searching for months (all the cars I found were either way too expensive or junk) and it was fairly local. so I rode out last night after work with a trailer and a few bucks and rolled home with it. came with a ton of spare parts I hope to unload to recoup some cash and keep this in a very strict budget. the real reason behind another foxbody for me is I already have 85% of the parts to actually get it done minus a good motor (if anyone knows of a decent 5.3, 5.7 or 6.0 dropout at a fair price help a brother out!)
I'm not sure what the end goal is really going to be performance wise?? all the stuff I build needs to be streetable and serve as daily driver material if I want it to. I enjoy doing sleepers and there's always new ways to hide stuff, think outside the box, etc. so this will be no different. also not sure how fast this is going to progress, I was originally planning to do this over the late fall/winter but if I can find a complete LS engine in my pricerange in the next few weeks I may try to knock this out over a long weekend.
anyway, heres a few pics:
I'm not sure what the end goal is really going to be performance wise?? all the stuff I build needs to be streetable and serve as daily driver material if I want it to. I enjoy doing sleepers and there's always new ways to hide stuff, think outside the box, etc. so this will be no different. also not sure how fast this is going to progress, I was originally planning to do this over the late fall/winter but if I can find a complete LS engine in my pricerange in the next few weeks I may try to knock this out over a long weekend.
anyway, heres a few pics:
07-12-2013, 01:49 PM
#7
my parents had one when i was going up. Same cooler too. The 6 cyl wouldn't quit. cool build
Last edited by Jimbo1367; 09-02-2013 at 09:59 AM.
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07-12-2013, 11:44 PM
#8
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lq9 I have a 06 model lq9 6.0 with a carb conversion im selling. I would sell its complete turnkey from carb to motor mounts or just the long block. It has 55k on it and was rebuilt at 40k with everything new minus the crank and the rods using stock internals and ARP bolts, the carb swap also was done at this time. Its in my daily drive now if someone wanted to hear it run, watch oil psi, ect. 2800 for complete turnkey or 1800 for the long block with water pump.
07-16-2013, 08:54 PM
#12
sweet man!!! i been slowly collecting ls stuff to ditch my lt1 stuff in the montebu.I know where theres a couple 5.3 dirt cheap down here if you wanna come see grandma again.
07-18-2013, 04:10 PM
#14
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Congrats on the fairmont wagon! Should be a fun project. Im going to be starting a LS swap in my 85 Ford LTD which is damn near the same thing as a fairmont. Definately going to follow your build to see how you do some things. I still have 4 months on a deployment to learn all the tricks to making it go well. I will definately be following this thread for updates!
07-19-2013, 07:45 PM
#15
serach my threads, ive done a mustang before and will using all the parts from that car to make this one happen.
ive looked at a lot of junk LS motors this week, was hoping to score a 6.0 LQ4 or LQ9 but the prices around here are way too high (@1600-2k for motors with 100k on them) so ive been leaning towards a 5.3 - going to look at one on sunday hopefully. also scored some larger 11inch front brakes off a 91gt and some draglites thanks to craigslist. basically all I need are some rear control arms and shocks and I can get this thing setup as a roller.
ive looked at a lot of junk LS motors this week, was hoping to score a 6.0 LQ4 or LQ9 but the prices around here are way too high (@1600-2k for motors with 100k on them) so ive been leaning towards a 5.3 - going to look at one on sunday hopefully. also scored some larger 11inch front brakes off a 91gt and some draglites thanks to craigslist. basically all I need are some rear control arms and shocks and I can get this thing setup as a roller.
07-20-2013, 04:43 PM
#16
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Nice! I will definately search for your other threads. My main concern right now if finding a good k member that works. Did you have your motor set back 1" or stock placement? Good luck on your motor search. Thats definately priced way too high.
07-21-2013, 09:25 PM
#18
so after searching car-part.com, craigslist, and multiple forums to no avail I randomly text my buddy the other night asking if he knows of any LS motors for sale. turns out his boss has two 5.3's sitting in his garage. I took a ride over today and came home with a complete 5.3 (im guessing its an LM7) with harness and all for the measly sum of $300. tore it down to the shortblock and aside from a little water in the intake ports of #1 and 5 all looks good (hell for 300bux I could care less!). gonna take the heads to the machine shop tomorrow and get them cleaned up. I already have some LS7 lifters, so im gonna order a decent cam, some springs and put it back together. guess ill get started tear the car apart within the next few weeks 
