Nope, just wire it right.

 

Main thing that worries me about using the 99 - 02 cluster is the body harness. I believe these are also different between the years.

 

It wouldn't surprise me. 98 is just such a strange year. There is a part of me that misses my old 98 just because it was my first Camaro (and it had a good sail panel hah!), but at the same time relieved I have a 99 now so there's not those 98-specific issues.

 

My first F-Body was also a 98 v6, but it was stolen by a family member and I let it go. I bought a 97 RS with a 3.8L which was a 'hybrid' of the new and old body style. Interior of the new body, exterior of the old body with new tail lights. I loved it but it had alot of issues and I ended up selling it for my first LS1 Z28. Kept that car till I had to sell it to finish college due to unforeseen financial circumstances.

For the 98 Firebird currently... I believe:
- Oil Pressure Sensor = Analog
- Coolant Temp Sensor = Analog
- Fuel Gauge = Analog

I 'believe' all three of those bypass the PCM natively on the 98 cars and are wired to input directly to the cluster so I am thinking my new harness needs to be similar.

The one thing that concerns me is if the newer style PCMs will still expect and need the coolant temp sensor input to operate properly and if codes will be thrown for the oil pressure sensor.

I'm going to go with P59, I want to run E85. I was 'going' to go with Holley originally but that was coming with the motor I canceled because I didn't feel comfortable with the shop.

I should also ask something else... Can I run a P59 PCM with a T-56? I am thinking of going with the Magnum T-56 after-all

My LS3 arrived yesterday.

I am going to re-use my BTR Stage 2 Cam from my 99 Z28 for now. We put a boost cam in the 99 Z28 because it is now supercharged. I also purchased all supporting valvetrain from BTR. I intend to have my heads ported. My K-Member is currently in production. I should be getting it as well as my tubular A-Arms from Midwest Chassis sometime in the middle of next month. I need to have MWC build me another Fab 9 as well. I'm re-using my LS3 intake from my 99 Z28 for now.

Fuel Pump, I want to future proof and have it ready for E85 as well. What should I go with?

 

If you are looking for an auto that's fun check out the ZF 8HP70 or maybe the 90 for your power goals. I have a 6 speed car currently and love rowing the gears but I want to do something new, un-sprung twin disk was also not fun in the city. . . I'm swapping over to a 8HP70 and an iron 5.3. The controller i plan to use gives you different modes and one is for lack of a better description a clutchless manual (100% locked converter) shifted via paddles or dct style shifter. If you go with a Turbolamic controller you can have a clutch with you auto. . . Just figured I would toss that out there.

 

What PCM would you have to run for it? One for an auto car or one for a Manual car and do you think a P59 would work in it?

Also would it fit in the transmission tunnel of an F-Body without modification?

What are you doing for a Manual mode shifter?

 

I plan to run a 411 PCM, I'm not sure if you run a manual or auto OS. The trans controller will send torque reductions requests to the PCM from what I understand. They have the ability to do throttle blip for rev matching but I'm not sure if that will work with a stock PCM. Sorry I'm not too familiar with the LS stuff. I'm currently a OBD1 LT1 T56 car, and I just started going down this rabbit hole. But its been done and is possible.

If you want a clutch Turbolamik is the only controller I know of that offers that.
I plan to use a MaxxECU mini because of the price.

For a manual mode shifter I will probably go with a DCT style shifter, you can use factory Dodge or BMW shifters but I don't like the look. Plan is to make my stock style shifter and make it a DCT.

Size wise the 8HP looks very compact! Here is a picture of it next to my T56. Haven't been able to get it under the car yet. I'm a ways off from that, but I can take better pics and measurements. The 8HP has a bit of a belly, but the the output shaft to top of the case actually looks less. I have seen some posts about it being about the same size as a 4L60.

 

Looks really promising.

What are you doing for a torque converter, and what about the bellhousing? does it match up to the LS bolt-pattern? what transmission controller are you going with? I'm very tempted to try this myself. The only thing is, I've never had a manual car before and it's so tempting to have one, but an 8-Speed Auto in a F-Body would be sick.

 

There is already a huge thread in this section of the forum dedicated to 8hp swaps. There are also several youtube videos with more info.

 

I'm going to use the stock converter for now, from the factory its a triple disk so it should hold some power.

Bell housing is a different pattern completely, I'm designing my own adapter to make it work. I'm going to go with the MaxxECU mini due to the costs. If you look on MaxxECU's site there is a ton of helpful information on how to set up and tune. Turbolamik is way more plug and play, but its $$$.

I did enjoy the car manual, but I had a high HP twin disk. It started chattering and being a pain to drive. Even when it was good it sucked in stop and go. I really want to try out the 8hp because once you get it dialed in it can shift just as fast as a DCT which is freaking awesome!

Here is the 8HP thread.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...sion-swap.html

 

I have a question for ya'll. I didn't think about this earlier but are the 98 V6 F-Bodies DBW or DBC? (I'm not near the car currently so I can't go outside and check) ... Also do the 98 V6 F-Bodies come with TCS? I didn't think of it, but I have to figure out how to retain TCS and Cruise Control. Do I need to get new TCS / Cruise Control modules from a LS1 F-Body or can I go DBW and use a P59 PCM with DBW functionality?

 

1998 V6 was drive by cable. 1999+ V6 went DBW, while the LS1 kept DBC the whole time.
I don't think TCS was an option on the 98 V6. I could be wrong. My old 98 did not have it, and neither does my 99.

 

My 99 Z28 has TCS
My 98 Camaro V6 waaaaay back in year 2004 had Second Gear Start.

I personally don't care about TCS but wanted to know which throttle cables I need in order to maintain cruise control and what options I need for my rear end.

Another question... ...What color scheme should I go with?

All Black?
Black Primary / Dark Blue Secondary?
Black Primary / Dark Red Secondary?
Red Primary / Black Secondary?

I was originally going to target a Black Firebird but I have a fascination with Red Firebirds suddenly.

Also, should I keep the body looking like a V6 bird or should I transform it to a TransAm body style?

 

I guess what cables you need is going to be determined by what donor you put in there. I really don't know. What rear end you putting in? That'll make more of a difference.
Both my 98 and my 99 V6 cars had SGS (which I found to be about the most useless thing ever).

 

MWC Fab 9 for the rear end.

 

Since you are talking full repaint anyway, look into some of the hypershift colors. Some of them are ugly garbage, but a few look awesome.

 

Transmission and all F-Body accesories are now on their way. I decided to go with a T-56 Magnum.

I am going to go with 19" GrandSport C6 Wheels for this one. I tried the 18" Weld Racing wheels on my 99 Z28 and while I think they're nice looking wheels, I have too many problems with the car bottoming out. I destroyed my headers and the underside frame of the car is clashing with the ground if there is so much as an uneven embankment on the highway. I tried raising the suspension but it was not enough to accommodate for the difference in lost wheel height.

Can I get some width / tire size recommendations for a staggered wider rear, more narrow fronts for Street / AutoX / Road Course use?

 

Whether you use 18 or 19 inch wheels doesn't matter for ground clearance. What makes a difference there is the height of the tires and all that changes is the sidewall thickness. I recently tried some 295/40/18s on my car and while they filled out the wheel wells better, there was a LOT of rubbing in the rear that would take quite a bit of hammering to make them fit even with my car on stock springs. The best thing would be to run whatever the stock sizes are for those wheels (275/35/18 front, 325/30/19).