Fastest Swap Ever???
Fastest Swap Ever??? i was wondering what teh shortest amoutn of time anyoen has ever gone from a runnign car to a running LS1 powered car?
i am plannign to do my 3rd gen swap some time in late july or august and i can't really afford to have the car down for long. so i hatched a little plan.
i am planning to replace my k-member anyway, so i figured if i get it and mount up teh motor and trans on that i can drop the old and swap in teh new very quickly. that is the mechanical part, i can handle that.
what i am really concerned with is the wiring. how long does it take in terms of man hours to adapt the harnesses to one another? i am planning to go aftermarket on my gauges(tach is actually already installed) will this add or subtract any tiem from teh process?
i am sure i am leaving out a lot of questions, but i jsut started thinking about shortening teh time frame today adn don't ahve much of it worked out yet.
also, does anyone have an exact measurement of how far the mounting for teh 700r4/4l60e moves back compared to a stock 700r4? i woudl liek to make up my crossmember ahead of time.
thanks
tim
i am plannign to do my 3rd gen swap some time in late july or august and i can't really afford to have the car down for long. so i hatched a little plan.
i am planning to replace my k-member anyway, so i figured if i get it and mount up teh motor and trans on that i can drop the old and swap in teh new very quickly. that is the mechanical part, i can handle that.
what i am really concerned with is the wiring. how long does it take in terms of man hours to adapt the harnesses to one another? i am planning to go aftermarket on my gauges(tach is actually already installed) will this add or subtract any tiem from teh process?
i am sure i am leaving out a lot of questions, but i jsut started thinking about shortening teh time frame today adn don't ahve much of it worked out yet.
also, does anyone have an exact measurement of how far the mounting for teh 700r4/4l60e moves back compared to a stock 700r4? i woudl liek to make up my crossmember ahead of time.
thanks
tim
Harness: SPEARTECH!!!
As for the record, I think someone recently had one done in a matter of about 3 weeks. He did have some issues (spun bearing??) about a week after it was running though. https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-swaps/175253-video-ls1-running-my-68-camaro.html
I'm about 6 months into mine, hopefully it'll be drivable this weekend. (I can really only work on it on the weekends and even then it's like every other one I have to go out of town...)
As for the record, I think someone recently had one done in a matter of about 3 weeks. He did have some issues (spun bearing??) about a week after it was running though. https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-swaps/175253-video-ls1-running-my-68-camaro.html
I'm about 6 months into mine, hopefully it'll be drivable this weekend. (I can really only work on it on the weekends and even then it's like every other one I have to go out of town...)
In theory it can be done in a weekend, but the problem is getting all of the parts takes weeks if not months.
There is a guy named Brad (dont know his screenname) who has one done, see if you can talk to him.
Good luck with the project!
-Jason
There is a guy named Brad (dont know his screenname) who has one done, see if you can talk to him.
Good luck with the project!
-Jason
thanks guys. teh mechanical portion i think is pretty straight forward, only slightly different than a traditional engine swap/replacement. with teh k-member goin in at teh same time i can see myself having the new motor set in teh bay with in hours.
for wiring i am looking for reasonable options. most of teh adaptor harnesses cost a bunch of cash, so i woudl prefer to avoid them if i can jsut do soem prep work. since i am also plannign to run after market gauges i think this process will be simplified a bit. i was actually looking at teh auto meter quad gauge set up, seems liek it would be straight forward since they use a traditional gm 0-90ohm gas gauge and i already have a monster tach taht can be adjusted to think it is seeing a 4cyl, since that is how the ls1 computer signal looks.
for fuel lines i was wondering if stock L98 lines woudl be sufficiant? i have access to any number of submerged pump set ups from 3rd gens and i woudl just buy a walbro 255lph to put on it, wiring is simple enough.
exhasut will be easy, i jsut have to grab some tubing to make it.
thanks again
later
tim
for wiring i am looking for reasonable options. most of teh adaptor harnesses cost a bunch of cash, so i woudl prefer to avoid them if i can jsut do soem prep work. since i am also plannign to run after market gauges i think this process will be simplified a bit. i was actually looking at teh auto meter quad gauge set up, seems liek it would be straight forward since they use a traditional gm 0-90ohm gas gauge and i already have a monster tach taht can be adjusted to think it is seeing a 4cyl, since that is how the ls1 computer signal looks.
for fuel lines i was wondering if stock L98 lines woudl be sufficiant? i have access to any number of submerged pump set ups from 3rd gens and i woudl just buy a walbro 255lph to put on it, wiring is simple enough.
exhasut will be easy, i jsut have to grab some tubing to make it.
thanks again
later
tim
yea, I coulda had mine done in 6 days if I would have known that ordering a corvette fuel rail was gonna take forever and that I was going to have to get the electrical done, I was going to attempt it with a friend but it didnt work out and I had the car far away from me. But it only took about 6 days of actual work and had I known about each thing ahead of time it coulda been done. Instead it took about 2 ½ months. But again only about 6 days of acutal work
Banned
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,298
Likes: 0
From: So Cal, CA
This may be a little hard to believe but it is true.
I sold a friend of mine a heads/cam complete ls1 /w 4l60e from ls1tech member Tin Indian wrecked 98 TA.
We pulled the stock 72 chevy pickup 350 carbureted motor out on a friday night, and had the truck running and were out doing burnouts in it sunday afternoon.
2 days
Id already done the conversion several times including my own car and i had every single part sitting here ready and it took nothing extra to finish it up because a quick rigging of the exhaust to bolt up.
I sold a friend of mine a heads/cam complete ls1 /w 4l60e from ls1tech member Tin Indian wrecked 98 TA.
We pulled the stock 72 chevy pickup 350 carbureted motor out on a friday night, and had the truck running and were out doing burnouts in it sunday afternoon.
2 days
Id already done the conversion several times including my own car and i had every single part sitting here ready and it took nothing extra to finish it up because a quick rigging of the exhaust to bolt up.
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Originally Posted by C4VetteLS1
This may be a little hard to believe but it is true.
I sold a friend of mine a heads/cam complete ls1 /w 4l60e from ls1tech member Tin Indian wrecked 98 TA.
We pulled the stock 72 chevy pickup 350 carbureted motor out on a friday night, and had the truck running and were out doing burnouts in it sunday afternoon.
2 days
Id already done the conversion several times including my own car and i had every single part sitting here ready and it took nothing extra to finish it up because a quick rigging of the exhaust to bolt up.
I sold a friend of mine a heads/cam complete ls1 /w 4l60e from ls1tech member Tin Indian wrecked 98 TA.
We pulled the stock 72 chevy pickup 350 carbureted motor out on a friday night, and had the truck running and were out doing burnouts in it sunday afternoon.
2 days
Id already done the conversion several times including my own car and i had every single part sitting here ready and it took nothing extra to finish it up because a quick rigging of the exhaust to bolt up.
taht is very impressive. i am hoping that i can pull it off in a long weekend, it woudl be cool to go to thetrack two weeks in a row and have a brand new combo in teh car. especially when you consider the current combo is the weakest V8 ever put into an f-body
later
tim
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Teching In
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
14 days I completed the entire swap in three weeks. That included finding a motor, researching everything and ordering all the parts. It took me 14 days of actual work. That was nights and weekends. I had to fabricate the engine and tranny mounts. I also made EGR block off plates. It can be done, but I would recommend taking your time. IF you don't have time, as you said, spend the majority of your time planning and researching. It is the little things that will hold you back. I am going to have a page up soon detailing my swap. Unfortunately as stated above the motor spun a bearing. So now it is out and will be rebuilt. It was fun for those glorious 50 miles I got to drive it. It'll be back and better than before, but I need another $1200-1500 and the ability to walk out in my garage and not be disgusted at what happened. Good Luck!
Jonathan
http://www.touring-classics.com
Jonathan
http://www.touring-classics.com
We did a swap in about 2 weeks.. thats from pull the big block to fire the LS1.. of course the car wasnt/isnt done because of paint/body/interior and all that.. the swap was pretty easy though
yeah, it will be a bti disappointing having a nice motor and a cleaned up engine compartment and have teh rest of teh car still look crappy, but i can live with that a lot easier than the POS LG4 that is in the car.
i am using teh stock LS1 as a temporary motor basically. it will eb around through next season most likely. i figure by then i will have the cash to build teh single turbo pump gas motor i really want in teh car.
at taht point i will completely disassemble the car down to bare metal and repair/paint everything to make the car perfect.
ultimate goal is a low 9/high 8 second pump gas car that is show worthy.
it will take a while, unless i hit the lotto, then it will be done in no time
later
tim
i am using teh stock LS1 as a temporary motor basically. it will eb around through next season most likely. i figure by then i will have the cash to build teh single turbo pump gas motor i really want in teh car.
at taht point i will completely disassemble the car down to bare metal and repair/paint everything to make the car perfect.
ultimate goal is a low 9/high 8 second pump gas car that is show worthy.
it will take a while, unless i hit the lotto, then it will be done in no time
later
tim
Launching!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 229
Likes: 0
From: cobourg ON
well i know this may be a little late and all but i jst finished my car last week and i sarted with 2 cars... I bought a wrecked 2002 ss and put the motor in my 1986 Z28 not back considering only 2 weeks for complete drivetrain conversion after work. so full 8 hour days prolly 5 full days but i was doing it myuself on the ground never mind the dirt not even pavement haha. but ya i did most of my research and stuff over the winter and after dusting the plans off i got it to run in 2 weeks i guess so maybe out of your time budget but theres an idea. oh ya i also put in the interior and fuel tank form the 02 no problems....
All depends on what parts you have and plan to do. If you are doing a simple engine swap with stock parts or no building up of the motor and have all the swap parts... working 2 weekends should be enuf to get the bugs out. If you rebuild the suspension, paint the engine bay, make a kick *** exhaust, install a cam, ported heads, insulate wires, neatly extend wires with solder vs. connections with electrical tape, upgrade the fuel system, install better brakes, change the gearing/posi, and other mods that should accompany a swap it can take 6 months+.
A swap really isn't complete without other accompanying mods. I always recondition/upgrade the suspension and brakes in all the conversions I've done. Nothing more annoying than a sloppy handling pig around corners that brakes questionably with 400hp+ under the hood.
Take your time and do it right. Good things come to those who wait.
Mine took 6 months+ simply due to overhauling/upgrading all systems, waiting on/chasing down parts, fabricating parts and getting material, testing fitment and redoing/modifying to make them fit/work better, and reading thoroughly to make sure mods are done correctly and safely.
A turd with a hot motor is still a turd remember. Fix all the known problems during the swap and you will be a lot happier.
A swap really isn't complete without other accompanying mods. I always recondition/upgrade the suspension and brakes in all the conversions I've done. Nothing more annoying than a sloppy handling pig around corners that brakes questionably with 400hp+ under the hood.
Take your time and do it right. Good things come to those who wait.
Mine took 6 months+ simply due to overhauling/upgrading all systems, waiting on/chasing down parts, fabricating parts and getting material, testing fitment and redoing/modifying to make them fit/work better, and reading thoroughly to make sure mods are done correctly and safely.
A turd with a hot motor is still a turd remember. Fix all the known problems during the swap and you will be a lot happier.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 544
Likes: 0
From: Itasca, IL
Most of the swaps are straight foward...its just waiting for the parts as the others have said. If I had all the parts at once it would take only a few weeks if that, but little problems come along as you go that no one really factors in. Im going on a year now with my swap, but Ive done everything from drivetrain, to brakes, to suspension, to chassis, and so on. Although as far as I know of I am the youngest LS1 swapper, started the project at 17 and now im 18 and the car drives, so im proud of that unless someone else younger has done an ls1 swap .
. 
This is my 1st LS1 swap in a very small and tight space confined car, starting with a rolling shell and making everything to fit from scratch bar engine mounts, so far has taken around 9 months with probably 1-2 evenings per week spent on it. But I have spent approx 28 hours on the undercarriage as well, if that counts, it aint a cut n shut swap its a factory fitment swap, nothing butchered up.
Next time around I could probably do it in around 4 weeks.
With 1st time conversion especially in a car nobody else has converted you have to trial and error everything yourself without throwing unnecessary money at the car in the "error" departement.
Oil pan was an off and on project which took a few months and an engine in/out of car 8 times, custom exhaust headers took a few months to make off and on (probably 3-4 full days work, 30 hours from stop to start)
Next time around I could probably do it in around 4 weeks.
With 1st time conversion especially in a car nobody else has converted you have to trial and error everything yourself without throwing unnecessary money at the car in the "error" departement.
Oil pan was an off and on project which took a few months and an engine in/out of car 8 times, custom exhaust headers took a few months to make off and on (probably 3-4 full days work, 30 hours from stop to start)