78 cutlass salon 4 door swap
03-17-2015, 11:19 AM
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78 cutlass salon 4 door swap I'm somewhat in the middle of a ls swap on my Salon. I'll try to post some pics of the build a long the way. And everyone knows that questions will arise. But here goes...
Last edited by salon; 03-18-2015 at 03:55 PM. Reason: spelling
03-17-2015, 05:43 PM
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The game plan is to turbo the 5.3 that's going in it, and start freshening up the lq9 I recently scored for 250. The 5.3 will be my learning curve.
Does anyone know off hand what the shortest length starter is that I can use on my block? My factory lm7 starter is about 1/2" short of hitting my a arm. And that's with my sliders all the way back. I'm gonna have to pull the trigger and buy a pan, but that's only if I can find a shorter starter...
P.s. dare I mention I picked this beauty up for $1900 with 33,000 original miles on it? The old 260 v8 ran like a nutless top.
Does anyone know off hand what the shortest length starter is that I can use on my block? My factory lm7 starter is about 1/2" short of hitting my a arm. And that's with my sliders all the way back. I'm gonna have to pull the trigger and buy a pan, but that's only if I can find a shorter starter...
P.s. dare I mention I picked this beauty up for $1900 with 33,000 original miles on it? The old 260 v8 ran like a nutless top.
Last edited by salon; 03-17-2015 at 05:45 PM. Reason: spelling
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03-18-2015, 09:39 AM
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The motor is currently as far back as possible. Which looks alright to me, but my 4l60e mount ends up about 2" farther back from where my Trans cross member is. And the top of the transmission is practically against the drive tunnel.
If the whole thing could slide forward I could use my factory member for now and still have plenty of room to work with. I'll have to snap some more pics tonight. Got the ls6 intake and some other goodies installed last night.
If the whole thing could slide forward I could use my factory member for now and still have plenty of room to work with. I'll have to snap some more pics tonight. Got the ls6 intake and some other goodies installed last night.
03-18-2015, 09:50 AM
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Yes I believe so, take your starter and use for comparison. I just changed out a camaro 5.7 into another camaro body. they have small starters too. I have a 5.3 into my 76skylark with motor as foward can go. starter fit no problem. I put a 700r4 elcamino g-body years ago, for tranny crossmember I got a straight one from 73-77 monte carlo/malibu. I had to narrow it and redrill holes on frame but worked great for header collector clearance. my skylark tranny 4l65E barely clears tunnel as well. And motor far foward as oil pan allows.
03-18-2015, 11:18 AM
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The 5.3 starter fits, it's just half of my problem with where I'd like my motor to sit. I only have a half inch of clearance and then it will be against the lower a arm. And I only have about a half inch from my truck pan to the cross member. So to slide it forward I need to swap both of them out. I ordered a mini starter today. We'll have to see what it looks like tmrw.
03-18-2015, 04:26 PM
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The 5.3 starter fits, it's just half of my problem with where I'd like my motor to sit. I only have a half inch of clearance and then it will be against the lower a arm. And I only have about a half inch from my truck pan to the cross member. So to slide it forward I need to swap both of them out. I ordered a mini starter today. We'll have to see what it looks like tmrw.
03-19-2015, 04:34 PM
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Well my mini starter that showed up today was for an old Gen 1 sbc, not an ls motor... grrr.... so Saturday I should have my new power master 9509 mini starter. Appears to be small enough to work. And if it is, I got some speedway gift cards burning a hole in my pocket. I'm just gonna my the retro holley pan. I don't feel like smashing a pan in on our shitastic roads.
03-20-2015, 11:51 AM
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Not a whole lot of room for a starter, nor is there really any clearance between the frame and the pan, or the ground. But it is a truck pan. Looks like it's a pan swap for sure.
03-20-2015, 11:56 AM
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There she is. Plenty of room for heat and a/c still. Anyone ever just used rubber high pressure hose and clamps to re-route your steam lines? There's no way the ls6 intake will clear the lm7 truck lines. And I don't feel like spending an extra 100 on a kit.
03-22-2015, 04:05 PM
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do some looking searching on here, probaly maybe in motor section. not looking to bad. maybe you can put a straight edge off bottom crossmember mark pan. cut bottom of pan off have it welded back on but dont forget to do pick up tube as well. my muscle pan does same but not as deep a pan. im thinking bout cutting it my tranny builder says he weld it back together.
