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Also, dont forget to cut the "ears" off the transmission. My buddies had a hell of a time getting the setup into their chassis without cutting the ears or tabs off. Sikky has a an install instruction online you can download.
They are, but it's still tight. It's touching in one little spot... gonna try to just loosen up the trans bolts and shove my air chisel up in there... maybe it won't rip a giant hole in the car. Still hoping someone will chime in who has used C6 exhaust manifolds or is selling an LS1 intake with injectors!
It's in! Still touching in one spot, gotta figure out how to make some clearance without pulling it out again. Yes I took the bumper and crash bar off, and jacked the trans up. I'd like to go EPS too but gotta save up for it. The only way I could get it on was to unbolt the mounts, loosely bolt them in the crossmember, then slide the engine into place and bolt the mounts back to the engine. Also those hooker manifolds do not fit the driver side, it comes down right on the steering shaft. Fits fine on passenger side. Both fit really well pointing the other way... No turbos here though... I wonder if the c6 manifold would fit? It needs to come down around the third cylinder.
Dammit! The block hugger Hooker cast manifolds we were talking about earlier? That's a bummer.
Is there any chance you could take a picture of them mounted backwards? I wonder if they'll clear my alternator
I can confirm that with some minor grinding, the OEM C6 / LS2 exhaust manifolds fit with the sikky kit. Passenger side manifold needs grinding on the little lip on the flange, and driver side engine mount needs ground down just so you have enough room to get a bolt/stud on the flange. Still not going to be easy to route the exhaust around the steering shaft, but I'll leave that to the exhaust shop!
Lotsa work since my last update, fuel lines, radiator hoses, heater hoses, oil filter relocation, driveshaft, bumper back on, and got the PCM reflashed. Car has fluids in it and is about ready to go... but I did cheat and order a pre-made wiring harness that adapts everything to the 240sx. That will be going in this weekend, along with the intake, and the car should be ready to start! The only other thing I want is an aftermarket oil pressure gauge, and I guess I'm going to need a hood scoop.
C6 Exhaust manifolds:
I have to get an exhaust custom fabricated. I ordered AP Exhaust 9155S flanges for the manifolds, and the bolt holes line up if you shave about 1/32 off each side. However, the slotted bolt holes don't cover up the gasket enough to make a seal. I added some metal in so that they will seal. How bad is it to drive it with nothing but these shorty manifolds on it? I at least gotta crank it up and see it idle, but may end up driving it a couple miles to the exhaust shop. I'm only worried because they dump pretty close to the polyurethane motor mounts.
For an engine that's new to me -- I always strongly prefer to have mufflers on it for first start so exhaust noise doesn't cover up some bad noise that it would be important for me to hear....
I cranked it up, dang it's loud! Oil pressure looked good, sat around 35 at idle and around 50 under load, but I didn't let the car fully warm up since it had no exhaust. These motors are so awesome.
Guess I need a DOHC tach because the sohc it isn't working, and I gotta calibrate the speedo using the Dakota SGI-5...it's way off. The clutch also needs adjusted, but I don't think I'm going to have enough pedal adjustment to get it perfect.
Gonna put some cats and a muffler on it, I really like the tone of LS motors through Magnaflow, but worried it is going to be too loud. Maybe just throw a glasspack in as a resonator.
Included a pic of where I ground down the mount to fit the exhaust manifold, I actually cut a little more of the stud off and cleaned up the mount after that pic.
I just finished putting a 5.3 into a 95' 240sx couple months ago. You will be very happy you changed that rear main seal.
Somebody else mentioned the fire proofing- I strongly second and recommend this. Between the firewall-trans tunnel, you will want to put down some serious fire-reflective shielding. The best way to get a huge piece for cheap is goto a junkyard, find a car that somebody pulled a motor from, and its easy to grab a huge trans-tunnel heat shield. I got a couple from various Ford cars that seems very easy to cut (with regular scissors) and bend easy as well, that fit all the way around the trans and behind the engine.
I have pics of everything if you need any second point of views or question about parts used.
Good info man. Glad you got this figured out. If you wouldnt mind posting pictures once its all done it would be greatly appreciated.
Pics or it didn't happen! I'm pretty bad about not taking enough pics but if anyone has any specific requests I can try to help. I'll probably post some tips for any other potential 240SX swappers that come across this thread.
Originally Posted by Nali6.2
those clutch lines should work fine. we use clean break fittings all the time.
Thanks, I've never seen anything like that, didn't know what to do with it.
I just finished putting a 5.3 into a 95' 240sx couple months ago. You will be very happy you changed that rear main seal.
Somebody else mentioned the fire proofing- I strongly second and recommend this. Between the firewall-trans tunnel, you will want to put down some serious fire-reflective shielding. The best way to get a huge piece for cheap is goto a junkyard, find a car that somebody pulled a motor from, and its easy to grab a huge trans-tunnel heat shield. I got a couple from various Ford cars that seems very easy to cut (with regular scissors) and bend easy as well, that fit all the way around the trans and behind the engine.
I have pics of everything if you need any second point of views or question about parts used.
Should've changed the front seal too, it's the only thing I didn't replace and there's a little oil coming from it! Too late on the heat shield, since it's all put together and driving. I did shield the fuel lines.
But, it's all put together and driving!! I had to hack a hole in the hood kinda like FlatBlack, gonna add a hood scoop so I can drive it in the rain. I got the exhaust all welded up- 2.25" is all they could fit around the steering shaft, but it's 3" after the Y pipe. I got some high flow cats, a generic glasspack resonator & off-brand Magnaflow type muffler. Sounds good, quieter than the 4 cylinder was cruising (with a leaky exhaust manifold), but volume goes up exponentially with throttle position. It's so much more fun to drive with all this torque!
The biggest issue I'm still having is that it occasionally stalls when I've been engine braking (coasting in gear, med/low RPM), then I put the clutch in and brake around a corner in neutral. What's causing that? It's been idling around 500-530rpm, is that too low? Is my lightweight flywheel causing it?
Also the first time I drove it, it was grinding into 5th, or maybe that was reverse? I have a reverse lockout, and it's wired up, and the tuner added it to the PCM, but I don't think it's working right. It definitely isn't working at a stand still, because I have to push really hard for R. However, I honestly don't know if I was trying to push it into reverse or 5th while cruising down the road, but I wasn't pushing hard like I do to get it in R. The short shifter is really notchy and there's a notch kinda between the 3-4 "middle" and the 5-6 notch, if that makes any sense...
1/3/5 R
*-***-*
2/4/6
This is my crappy diagram, everywhere there's a * there's a notch. That extra notch from 4 to 5 is much more noticeable at a standstill than when you're driving down the road. I haven't had any issues finding 5th since the first time I drove it, goes into all gears smoothly and while it doesn't shift quite as smooth as I like, but no T56 does.
I wanted to post some notes about doing this swap, for anyone who comes along this page looking for info on their swap. A drive-by-cable LM7 is one of the most common and cheapest LS motors, it's got plenty of power for a sub-3000lb car (or can handle boost if you disagree), doesn't have a lot of fancy emissions/mpg stuff that will you will have to either remove or spend fabrication time on, like AFM, EGR, VVT, AIR, etc. and is a great option if you want to LS swap on a budget. FlatBlack's swap was one of my biggest resources, so check it out too. I'll try to add more to this post as I think of it. Putting an LS motor in your 240SX is a lot of work, it isn't all tire smoke and donuts, it's late nights with lots of measuring, fabricating, ordering little parts, and fiddling with some little thing to make it work just right. Don't give up, it will be worth it, and ignore all the SR20 guys telling you how hard it will be to work on once it's done. Of course, if you aren't on a tight budget, most swap parts can be bought off the shelf. It's no harder than any other car, and now auto parts stores on every corner will have your replacement parts in stock, instead of ordering them from Japan! Plus you will have power without having to rev to 5000rpm. Trans. You will have to hammer the trans tunnel more than you think. I put my motor in and pulled it out ~6 times trying to hammer enough. Do it further back than you think, and further in than you think. Just make sure you don't hammer so far in that your gas pedal hits... T56 takes Dexron 3 ATF, some people say don't use synthetic or newer Dex 4/5/6/etc, the only actual Dex3 I could find was the generic brand. Fuel. You will need a stronger fuel pump, Deatschwerks or Walbro make a drop in kit for $100. Replace all your old fuel lines, use SAE J30R9 for high pressure, not average carburetor hose, replace all your clamps and use ones designed for fuel lines that don't cut the hoses, don't forget there are some soft lines coming off the fuel pump. Put some kind of heat shield on the fuel lines near your exhaust. If you have a return-less setup, put lots of heat shield anywhere it's remotely warm. All the expensive fuel hose systems use AN fittings, but the 240SX fuel pump is still going to have barbed ends with hose clamps on it, so I decided to just use barbs on the whole system. Since older trucks have a vacuum FPR, and a fuel return line, I didn't need a Corvette filter/FPR, I used a 300ZX fuel filter PN WIX-33022. Fuel line I used was DAC-80084.
If you delete the evap system, the 240sx fuel cap is vented to prevent the motor from pulling a vacuum on the tank, so no worries there. The line that went to the charcoal canister has a check valve on it too. Disclaimer: Removing emissions systems is not for street legal cars. Exhaust Manifolds. The cheapest exhaust manifolds that work with sikky engine mounts are the C6/LS2 manifolds, you will have to do a little grinding. You will need custom flanges for the exhaust manifolds and custom piping to get out around the steering shaft, but you will come out cheaper than long tubes. Biggest downside is that you can drive the car with open long tubes, but if you do that with C6 manifolds, you're venting exhaust directly into the engine bay. I highly recommend getting these manifolds and doing the grinding before putting them in the car, it's a lot easier on an engine stand! Hooker shorty headers do not work, despite advertising they do. Hooker claims their long tubes work with sikky mounts, and I bet C6 manifolds would work with hooker mounts too. Maintenance/Oil system. Replace your front and rear crank seals, and the barbell (PN 12573460)while you're in there. Also, my rear knock sensor was corroded so badly it was unrecognizable. I replaced it, RTV'ed around the rubber gasket that encloses it, and did not put the rear foam back under the intake manifold, so that moisture would roll off the back instead of sitting in there. My OEM oil pressure sensor was broken off, but the PCM doesn't use it for anything, so I put an aftermarket oil pressure sensor in the OEM sensor's hole and ran an aftermarket gauge so I can see oil pressure. Power Steering. 240SX steering rack power steering fluid input is a 14x1.5 inverted flare, and the only one long enough to not bottom out before sealing is Allstar brand, PN ALL48211. Buy some power-steering-approved -6AN hose ends and hose and you can come out about 1/3 the price of an off-the-shelf power steering hose kit. You don't have to replace the OEM return line because it's low pressure, just attach a hose back to your pump's return with hose clamps.
I also used a Borgeson pressure reducer, the 240sx pump runs at 1000psi. PN 899001. Mine still feels a little light, I may need a flow reducer too. Tachometer. The tach signal coming out of the PCM will work on DOHC 240SX's (91-98), but not on SOHC (89-90). You can swap in a tachometer from a DOHC 240, but the digital cluster is a smaller tach than the analog cluster. You can dremel out the digital cluster for an analog cluster's tach, but the digital cluster's tach will be too small in the analog cluster. Intake piping. 4 inch intake piping and couplers fit on my DBC throttle body, you need a few inches to extend past the belts before your 90 degree turn. The MAF outlet is a little smaller diameter, but a Spectre 9771 coupler comes with an adapter that will match perfectly. The 240SX throttle cable (at least on my SOHC) is perfect with the LM7 throttle body. All you have to do is move the bracket that the cable bolts to. I just took a piece of scrap sheet metal about 5 inches long, drilled a couple holes, bolted it to the intake manifold, and the truck's cable bracket to it. Hood. To run your truck intake manifold in the 240, take a big piece of cardboard, set it on the engine bay, and cut until it fits flat. This is your template. Trace that onto the hood, and cut it out with your angle grinder. Cut the supports a little further back, underneath the hood. Cover your windshield with a blanket if you do any trimming on the car to protect it from metal shavings. You don't have to cut the hood's sheet metal for the rad hose, just the support underneath.
I am curious which oil pressure gauge / fitting you used that fits the block back there, I think I might try that location for some oil feed. I hope that it can feed a turbo actually.
As to the power steering I bought a $65 PS hose from phase2 for LS swaps that fit great.
I used the LS1 intake so I could keep the OEM hood. It looks so stock with an OEM hood. The issue seems to be all the heat trapped in there though- I am going to experiment with some vents and ducts but ultimately it seems like the best thing to do is modify the hood some.
I am curious which oil pressure gauge / fitting you used that fits the block back there, I think I might try that location for some oil feed. I hope that it can feed a turbo actually.
As to the power steering I bought a $65 PS hose from phase2 for LS swaps that fit great.
I used the LS1 intake so I could keep the OEM hood. It looks so stock with an OEM hood. The issue seems to be all the heat trapped in there though- I am going to experiment with some vents and ducts but ultimately it seems like the best thing to do is modify the hood some.
Oil adapter: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ATM-2268/
Or you can just gut your OEM one and drill and tap for 1/8 NPT.
You absolutely could oil your turbo from this spot! Just T off!
$70 is how much I spent on my P/S hose, adapters and all, if I'd found the one you're talking about I absolutely would've gone with it.
Heat is just something you're stuck with swapping a big engine in a little car, I've been measuring intake temps into the 120's idling, 100's moving, in 80F weather, think I'm going to try to shield the intake a little bit so maybe it'll suck some cooler air in. At least Winter Is Coming...
thank you very much for part number to oil sender!!! Very helpful!
today I spent 5 hours in the junkyard pulling heat shields from various vehicles. I must have over ten different kinds of shields now in my trunk. Im going to be pulling my 5.3 and putting them all over the place in the engine bay- kinda turning it into an oven, from all the shields and insulation. It will get even hotter in the bay (but colder in the car where I am). Then, once I've installed all the shields and put the motor back in, I will make some kind of vent ducting. Not sure yet, but likely it will enter air from the bumper area and exit somewhere either at the hood or down below the engine.
Main thing is, I don't want to feel it in the car. Also, I will shield the intake pipe (away from the engine, the coldpipe coming off the intercooler is cold to the touch but the cold pipe at the throttle body is burning hot) and probably even make little tiny shields for each plugwire/coilpack for insurance. You cant have too many shields. All ten of them (four of them are huge, the length of a trans tunnel) cost me $25 today at u-pull-it. cheap solutions ftw
Got the hood scoop on, Goodmark GMKSCOOP04, lotsa room in the back, little tight up front, it works. Maybe someday I'll get LS1 accessories & intake, and use my backup hood.
Been having fun with it, still needs a real tachometer, and I probably should've thought twice about daily driving with the lightweight flywheel and stage 2 clutch that I got second-hand, takes some concentration to start moving smoothly.
I included some pics of the custom exhaust, first pic is cats, second is y pipe, third is view from the back. Yeah, its crush-bent, I know I'm sacrificing a few hp, budget build probs.
Not much new here. I switched the magnaflow out for a flow master because it was too quiet. I still don't like the Y pipe sound and an considering true duals with no x. New license plate and Deadpool sticker!
08-02-2017, 03:41 PM
