jcastyo80

Hello all, I'm new to the forum and extremely new to swapping an LS motor into my 1972 Nova. I have had a 2005 GTO with an LS2 and a 2014 Silverado 5.3L so I'm sorta familiar with the engine family just don't know where to start with this project.
First things first I have looked into the stickies and man there are some very nice cars!!! but I still need help so I hope I can get it here with you fine folks and hopefully have a nice enough car like the others.
Current condition:




I have had this car for over 20 yrs and at one point was running with engine and all but over time my silliness has brought it to this point. So I would like to get this car running again with an LS motor and of course all the other necessary things needed to get it running.
I have several questions to start:
1) I have checked here locally for engines and found a 2013 6.2L L9H motor with harness for $3,500. Is that too much for the motor only? (Edit: Going with an LQ4 or LQ9 for this project)
2) Car needs quite a bit of body work, so should I get that done now since the car is pretty much bare before putting in the motor and trans?
3) I know the 6 spd requires the tunnel to be modified but are there any other considerations that need to be taken into account? (Edit: Going with a 4L transmission for this)
4) Complete headlight to taillight wiring including engine and trans. Any recommendations for this? Painless, American Autowire, etc..
(Edit: Ok so I checked Painless and they have an integrated efi and chassis harness P/N 60617 for $1500 but can only use a 4L60E and am stuck with that trans. Any advice on complete chassis harness (ie Am. Autowire) along with complete wiring for engine and transmisson like the 4L65E or 4L8XX series)

Will have plenty more questions as the project goes along with plenty progress pics

ls1nova71

iTrader: (4)

Looks like a pretty solid car. It seems like you already answered most of your questions yourself! As far as doing the body work prior to installing the engine, that depends on your budget and goals. If you're doing everything yourself, then it definitely would be easier to mock up the engine swap, get everything lined out, then take it back out and do the body work. but, if you're going to be taking it somewhere to have the body work done, then a running car may be a little easier. If that's the case, at least clean up and paint the engine compartment before installing the engine for good. BTW, what color is it? Kind of looks like that greenish brown color they had, but don't remember the name of it....

jcastyo80

Thanks ls1nova71 nice SS you got there. For the most part it is, just the usual rust spots down on the lower fenders by the door and some dings and dents here and there but don't know about the floor board on the driver side and as far as the color I believe it was called marigold. Well those were just a couple of initial questions, I'm still going to have a ton more.
I don't have any bodywork skills and the only attempt with the welder was patching up the hole in the firewall that was left from taking out the A/C box and some other one(don't recall what for) below the the wiper motor. From that point I decided to have the work done by a pro, and that is still a search in progress. So with that in mind, I was thinking to take a bare car in for bodywork since there would not be much they would have to take off but I don't know since I'm new to this. Any input on the complete wiring?
Thanks again

petro55

Make sure you have the 1/2 inch body mount spacers under the firewall body mounts. Without them you might have some clearance problems. Nothing a BFH wont fix but 1/2 inch goes a long way to fitting the transmission(4l60/4l80) in the existing tunnel.

jcastyo80

Thanks for the tip petro55!

Ok so I'm still looking at the wiring. There are a ton of options out there and of course I mentioned Painless Wiring integrated efi and chassis harness P/N 60617 for $1500. I also looked into the American Autowire Complete Wiring Kit for 1969-72 Nova P/N 500878 for $619.00 but that's only chassis wiring and so then I found Gen III Drive By Cable Engine Controller Kit For Automatic Transmission for $1,000.00 (from Sebtartas post https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...-ls-4l65e.html). I wanna see what route you guys went as other options for wiring is concerned. Anyone use the Painless wiring for their LS swap and is there any reason why a 4L65E would not work with the Painless wire harness since I thought it was the same as a 4L60E?

Keep the responses and suggestions coming!!

petro55

Chasis Wiring-Used AAW kit, ended up removing a lot of the engine harness because I put a battery in the trunk and was not using wipers, distributer.....etc. It seemed like a lot of money just for new wiring for turn signals, tail light, headlights ad fuse box. I think AAW sells a Highway kit that might have some addition relays. Depending on how comfortable you are this might be a better option.


Engine Harness-Rebuild the entire OEM harness(included 4l60 wiring) that came with my lq4- This was not hard, however it was super time consuming~30 hours of labor on my part to solder it all up, custom lengths and make it look pretty.


LS1 Swap Relays- Used the standalone SA-1500 from current performance wiring. This was very easy to use and the directions were very detailed.


Ideally I would like a stripped down version of the AAW with addition fusing/relays to be a direct fit with an LS swap including relays for dual fan and fuel pump.(Some one please steal this idea)


Might want to start a separate thread on this and see if anyone got creative.

Changeup72

Two options if you have the money to get bodywork done an acquire parts for the swap while body work is being done. Second option if money is tight go ahead an get her up an running with the minimum of cleaning up the frame an underside of car.can always get the metal work done down the road. I recently was faced with everything that you are going threw with my 72 lq4/480 swap. I went the route of frame/body work first. I kind of regret it because of how long it has taken me to get where I am today.I’ve wasted money an time testing different parts and ways of doing things. I’ve come to realize that spending extra money on the more expensive stuff saves time on modifying parts an tons of headaches on cheaper stuff that is unclear how to install or flat out didn’t fit. My advice for wiring is to use the factory engine bay harness for the motor side there isn’t much your going to use so you can delete a lot of it. I went with the Holley dominator complete kit expensive but very easy to install. From the dominator to a racepak done deal. The lighting I would replace with aaw they make very nice kits. Only replace what is needed. Inspect all wiring insulation,plugs an connections to determine what needs replacing. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

petro55

I have a couple of opinions(doesn't everyone) about body work aspect. I bought a nova that had completed bodywork, however I do like the look of novas that are still original like yours.

petro55

(If you are interested) a couple things I would have noted or might have changed-


1. I used original fuel tank with external Walbro 255 pump, I need to upgrade to something that doesn't starve fuel after 1/2 tank gas.
2. I used stock Truck front acc, now that I want to add a procharger or turbo I will need to rethink all of that. 3. running new brake lines was way more of a pain then I would have imagined(flares and bending). I am sure I have more, nut let me know if you have any specific concerns

jcastyo80

Are you talking about the 2 tone color and rally stripe moulding running across the sides?

jcastyo80

-Which factory engine bay harness for the motor side are you referring to? The one that was originally in the car or from the donor vehicle of the LS motor?
- I'll look into the Holley dominator kit
- As far as wiring on my car, it pretty much is all gone or hacked up Looks like the consensus around here is AAW so I'll be going that route for the chassis harness.

Thanks for the input Changeup72

jcastyo80

So then there is no need to buy a whole new tank? I was leaning towards Tanks inc for a new tank for fuel injection. Just need to get the pump and the fittings and lines
I need to see if I can get the engine with all the front acc in place if not gotta look for somewhere

Thanks again petro55

ls1nova71

iTrader: (4)

If your wiring is pretty much all gone or hacked up, then I would just buy a kit to wire the car, headlights, turn signals, horn, wipers, that sort of thing, then use another harness for the engine. You can either get a new engine harness or rework a factory one, but trying to do it all in one lump is going to be harder than doing it in sections. Like eating an elephant, just one bite at a time not all at once! As for brand, there are so many to choose from, and you get what you pay for with wiring harnesses. If you're good with wiring, then a cheaper harness will work because you can add what you need, but if you're not so familiar with it, then a more complete kit may make your life easier.

As for a fuel tank, I think you misunderstood perto55's last post. He said one of the things he would have changed or done differently was the external fuel pump. I would get a new tank with an intank pump for reliability sake, and since your car has been off the road for a few years, there's a good chance the inside of your tank isn't the best any more.

Changeup72

jcastyo80

Ok guys here is another question. I had been looking at GEN III engines LQ4 or LQ9 but I found a GEN IV L92 engine. Is $2900 a good price for the engine, ecm, wiring harness, front accessories, pedal, and air breather?

What do I need to know when running a GEN IV engine?

1. I would like to use a 4L65-E transmission, for now since I don't wanna hack up the tunnel and other mods for the 6 speed at least not at this point in time or maybe ever, we'll see. Will this transmission bolt right up to the engine and would I need some sort of kit to beef up the transmission to handle the higher TQ?
2. Could I convert to DBC instead of DBW?
3. Any other mods or compatibility issues I'll run into running this combo?

Thanks,
Jaime

JoeNova

1. Get on ebay and look up diesel fuel sumps. $60 and you can install them in your factory tank without removing it from the vehicle. You would likely be able to reuse your entire fuel setup without any changes, just move the line from the factory pickup to the barb on the new sump.

2. I ONLY use stock truck accessories, and I have vehicles with single turbo, twin turbo, and quad turbos. No issues. Procharger makes kits to fit with truck accessories.

3. CNC-325 brake line. Bends and flares crazy easy, is cheap, and doesn't corrode.

JoeNova

1. Using a Gen 4 presents some issues. The transmission controller isn't in the PCM anymore, so you would need an external controller for the 4L65e. You can get a 58x conversion box from Lingenfelter that will let you run the L92 on a Gen 3 PCM, which will control the trans. The transmission will hold up fine to stock HP levels. They don't do great in performance applications.

2. Technically, yes, but the gen 4 PCM isn't too happy with that. See #1 for solution.

3. Depending on the year of the L92, it may actually be an L9H or an L94 (this happens often). The L94 has DoD which shuts off 4 cylinders for fuel economy. Try to avoid those engines, as you'll want to immediately remove the heads to replace the DoD lifters/cam.

Aston Tibs

iTrader: (3)

AAW Harness for the chassis and PSI harness for the engine. Some cutting and crimping required for the AAW but nothing too hard. The PSI was mostly plug and play aside from powers and grounds and included relays for fans and fuel pump. Easy OBD2 and MIL hook up while giving you options on how to set that up. I also went with Vintage Air which added a little complexity but nothing too hard.

jcastyo80

Thanks for the reply Joe,

The year is 2007 and the 8th digit of VIN is an 8 so it should be the L92. I'm not planning on making it a full out race car, just the occasional spirited driving. What about harness reworks? The engine is coming with the full engine harness along with the ECM.
Thanks again

JoeNova

Harness reworks aren't as hard as you would think. There are a few ways to do it. The easy way it to not modify the harness. Cut off the extra unused stuff. Get a little autozone fuse panel and run the wires to it that need power.

The harder (but cleaner way) is to unpin the harness from the connector, plug each of the connectors where they go, route them back to the PCM and then plug them back in. Toss away everything unused. Time consuming, but you can make the harness look however you want.