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Hey guys,
New to the site, Figured I would use it to post and track my build progress. I picked up a 55 Ford F100, as its my favorite body style truck, but I'm a chevy guy, so why not have both right? I just picked up a wrecked 02 WS6 trans am with 46K original miles, I Pulled the Ls1 out and the 6 speed trans, wiring harness and PCM. I originally had a SBC350 in it with a TH350, I wasnt happy with the 3 speed with the 3:73 rear gears so I priced out a 700 R4 build and it was around $1700. So I picked up the WS6 car off of a Co workers good friend for dirt cheap mostly for the whole drivetrain.
First welcome aboard. That's nice looking truck. Shouldn't be to much in mounting motor tranny. Some adapter plates for motor. Maybe change tranny crossmember location.
First welcome aboard. That's nice looking truck. Shouldn't be to much in mounting motor tranny. Some adapter plates for motor. Maybe change tranny crossmember location.
Yeah, I have to order the adaptor plates so its the same mounting as the old 350 I had. The tranny crossmember is bolt on so thats easy. Only worry I have is the header fitment with the steering shaft... Im excited to tackle the job though, It will be worth it in the end! after mock up Ill do H/C/I and a nice set of headers.
Beautiful truck you have.
We have the Ford / chevy thing in common. I built a '51 F1 with an L92 and 6L80.
You might find some build pictures helpful here: https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0855Z2WMGOKzTn
there are a few things I'd have done differently, like using the corvette C6 style pedestal engine mounts. The engine would be easier to lift up and out vs. the ones I built and they obviously work great with the LS3 manifolds.
I might also have considered one of those chain drive steering boxes, which moves the steering column outlet down 10" to 12" (they offset the inlet and outlets by 8", 10" or 12" and mount to the firewall on the inside). I snaked mine around the exhaust with a double-u-joint. But that'd have been more direct, I think.
Here's a picture of mine completed:
If you check the build photo link I shared there are plenty of pictures of the steering column and shaft I built. It does work well, just think it might have been easier and cleaner with one of these offset boxes.
Also, I'd consider mounting the engine as far back and low as possible. The front of my block is essentially at the IFS crossmember and with 1/4" between the valve cover and firewall. As a result, I have 55/45 front to rear weight ratio (with large fuel cell and battery mounted in the rear). My truck hooks up great and handles pretty well for what it is too with the engine oil pan about 5 1/2" to 6" from the ground (I used the Holley 302-2 pan, which is similar to F-body).
If any one has better ideas for the engine mods this is my thoughts on what route i was going. Id like it to perform well but I am also not a fan of the look of the coils on the valve covers and the stock intake manifold. My plan was to get the following
Holley High Rise Ram
Holley 90 MM throttle body
Send the 241 heads to Advanced Induction and have them ported and polished.
Tooley stage 2 cam
30 Lb injectors
I'm with you on the aesthetics of the truck intake. I might consider installing an LSA blower to cap things off nicely.
I plan to do that for stage II. By the time you buy the Holley manifold, TB, injectors, etc, you might be able to piece together a complete blower setup. I'm planning to spend about $3k on mine. I considered converting to corvette intake, but by the time I tune and buy all the parts, remove VVT, I don't think I'd have gained much and could have paid for 1/2 of a future blower setup.
A update on the LS swap, Got the conversion brackets, mounted my SBC motor mounts and it dropped right in place, oil pan clears, had to move the trans crossmember back a few inchs but overall im happy it was an easy fit. Headers and poly trans mount will be the project for this weekend
Received my headers! I dealt with Rich from XS-Power, I called him direct and he hooked me up, got the whole setup in 2 days, they fit perfect and the quality is very nice! I would highly recommend XS-Power the customer service was great and you cant beat the price.
Received my headers! I dealt with Rich from XS-Power, I called him direct and he hooked me up, got the whole setup in 2 days, they fit perfect and the quality is very nice! I would highly recommend XS-Power the customer service was great and you cant beat the price. Attachment 638342 Attachment 638343 Attachment 638344
01-05-2016, 02:58 PM
55 ls1 f100 
