cyclerage

iTrader: (59)

My bud is all amped up about puting an LS1 in his thirdgen. I will doing most of the work and was hoping for some info on how everyone else's experience went.
thanks
J

92CamaroReallySlow

Theres a ton of info on here about third gen ls1 swaps if you search in this forum. Another place to look for a lot of info on third gen ls1 swaps is thirdgen.org in the engine swap section. Definatly couldnt have done it myself without this site.

As for experience with the swap, it depends on how much you are doing besides just the engine swap. I did a lot more than the engine swap(brakes, suspension, chassis) so Ive had a lot more little problems which make it harder. But as engine swaps go I dont think this is the hardest seeing as I was able to do it with very little prior automotive knowledge, mainly because they make a ton of swap parts. The most annoying part I would say (assuming you get the wiring harness done by speartech) is getting all the little fittings adapted and all the little things hooked like power steering, AC if you keep it, and things like that. Actually physically putting the engine in isnt hard except that sometimes the swap parts dont fit up absolutly perfectly so some nudgeing may be required. Just definatly research it throughly, plan the problems ahead and try to get all the parts relativly at one time and it will make it a lot easier. I cant tell you how much time I wasted waiting for parts. Good luck.

Mark IXZD 150

iTrader: (1)

Get ready to spend some money. The rest is pretty easy.

badjuju342

iTrader: (3)

Agrees with Mark. Bring money wicha!I'm well over 10g's at this point and counting......

YsoFast

I wish I only had 10gs into this thing! If I would have been told how much I was going to spend I would have just bought a vette. My best advice is to stick with a plan that you set. If you want to swap in a stroked LS1 then you might want to set aside a BIG stack of cash. Man this thinking about how much I have in my car is making me feel sick.

badjuju342

iTrader: (3)

I'm with ya on that one. I'm not even close to getting everything I need to finish it. You really gotta love your thirdgen to do this swap because you'll have enough in it to buy a 4th gen LS1 car.

exstanger

iTrader: (4)

check out www.fbodymotorsports.com in NC I saw an article in gmhtp where they had done several and had a bunch of the custom fab pieces that they sell.

StngKlr

iTrader: (18)

I agree with the other guys, the money part can get out of hand quickly. I know when I was doing mine I said numerous times, "I should go ahead and replace this while the car is torn apart", and then all I heard was the cash register sound in my head, ch-ching.

If your just going to do the motor swap, then I dont see why someone couldnt do it for less than 5K. Keep in mind you need to start off with a good platform, something like a 91-92 Z28 would be optimum. This way you already have a good enough (for a stock LS1) rearend, possibly even the fuel system (for a stock LS1), and things like the speedo and other electronics will adapt with the LS1 eaiser. Also, I found my LS1 for 3K, that was with PCM, all Acc., wiring harness, 4L60E and torque converter. That leaves 2K for all of the misc. stuff which would probably more than enough.

In the end, no matter how much money is spent, you will quickly forget about the cost when you take it for the first test drive.

RFERG43

I have about $5500.00 in my LS1/ RX7 swap, of which $4250.00 was for the engine/ T56 tranny.

Zstyle28

Yea, right now im in the process of buying my LS1 for $4,100 w/T56, all accessories, pedals, driveshaft, wiring harness, etc.

I still need to get:
1.) Modified Wiring Harness
2.) Tranny Crossmember
3.) Motor Mounts
4.) High Output Fuel Pump and new fuel lines
5.) Fuel Pressure Regulator

Does anyone else that has done the swap know if there is anything else needed besides the obvious? For the exhaust system, i know that the stock LS1 manifolds should be kept, but what did you guys use for the y-pipe? custom bent pipes??Anykind of driveshaft or rear modifications that have/should be done? Is the modified wiring harness needed, or should i just do it myself?

Thanks for the help.
~Sevada

92CamaroReallySlow

Mainly little things like I think if your using the stock kmember with conversion motor mounts you will have to relocate the #8 cylinder coil pack, also with your T56 the floorboard needs to be cut some or something to get the shifter up there (I would ask someone who did a T56 swap).

I have some JBA shorties I got from a friend that I threw on, wont give me much performance, but looks a little better, stock manifolds work as well, and I am just going to have a shop make a custom y-pipe for me. (God do I wish longtubes were already in production and not too expensive )

No you can keep all the rear componants, driveshaft, and torque arm if you want, but realistically suspension, driveshaft and rear end should be upgraded, but not necessary for the swap.

I would say just get it done by Speartech, it costs a few bucks but saves a bunch of time and hassle, others will say its not that hard but they probably have more technical knowledge then I. Can it be done, yes, is it worth it, I would say no.

Zstyle28

Yea, the floorboard has to be cut-out 2 inches back to allow room for the parking brake. I checked out speartech's prices...a bit high for a modified harness, the lowest i found so far is $650. Everything else on my car is set, full sespension upgrade except for the k-member. I just can't wait to get this project started.

Thanks for the help!

92CamaroReallySlow

Ya know I didnt find it on his website, but for me I sent in my wiring harness and he rewired it for $450 I think it was. He may have changed his prices/policy. I would just give him a call, John will definatly help you find what you want.

Zstyle28

sounds good man, i'll definatley give him a call. How long was the turn-around time on gettin the harness modified?

Another thing....i know that a notch has to be taken out of the k-member for the A/C, but is there anyway to relocate the A/C, and not have to do the fab on the k-member??

Thanks

crainholio

iTrader: (2)

Gee, your avatar pic looks exactly like Speartech's pic at the bottom of this page...

http://www.speartech.com/track.html

Lifting pics is

Zstyle28

...umm that's because it is. But If you look at the list of avator pics that LS1tech.com provides you in the user cp avator's page, you will see the avator that speartech pic there. I think it's the third or fourth page. So I didn't lift that pic....LS1tech did. Did i ever say that was my car or anything of that nature? No. Lol

Being wrong is haha, sorry had to do it =)

now back to the topic.

92CamaroReallySlow

As for turn around time, I think it depends on his work load at the time but i want to say for me it was around 3 weeks or so. For the AC I know that Hawksthirdgenparts.com and Fbodymotorsports.com both sell brackets that allow you to use the stock third gen AC compressor in its stock location, I think it solves the problem of the AC hitting the kmember plus I think you can use the stock AC lines. Correct me if im wrong on any of this guys.

Zstyle28

yea, i did see that on fbodymotorsports too. Im just wandering if there's anyway to use the LS1's compressor, just because it's not 14yrs old like mine is. lol

92CamaroReallySlow

Well you could either get a new compressor for a thirdgen or get a tubular kmember and have some custom lines made up.

Zstyle28

yea that's true...i think i'll go with no AC for now, and if it gets to wear its unbearable, i'll just order the brackets and get a new AC compressor. lol