LS1exus

I haven't started the swap yet, in fact i haven't gotten a engine/tranny donor yet. The conversion itself looks fairly straight forward, just a bit of fabrication (mainly in the tunnel to fit the T56) but the wiring end of it gives me the chills. Is there anything available to make this end of it easier? Or what would be a good shop on the west coast (bay area California) to do just that part? Thanks and I love the site.

patrick_rodgers

Part of it depends on how much of the Lexus wiring harness you plan on keeping. What are you doing for gauges? Got to help on a Lexus balk-halving and the computers in the trunk (active suspension) had about a 2" diameter harnes to the front.

If you can keep the engine and body harness completely separate, you should be ok. If you are trying to mix and match, you will have to do some custom interfacing.

LS1exus

I would like to keep as much of the existing car as possible, gauges included. I know the 1UZ-FE engine has plenty of potential (Aussies are using 2000hp blown engines in rail jobs) but I want live in Califonia and there aren't a whole lot of C.A.R.B. exempt products out there, and it would be nice to start with an engine that has more power in the first place. The active suspension has been eliminated and replaced with air (cans in front and bags in back) so that won't be an issue, but I know of the harness you're talking about and it's scary, lol.

CMcCarthy

What will you be using for pedals, and how is the shifter going to fit into the design of the console? Are there engine crossmember/oilpan clearance concerns?

LS1exus

I plan on using the stock pedals, the console will be custom, and I haven't gotten far enough into it to determine whether the oil pan and crossmembers will be an issue.

CMcCarthy

LS400s are all automatics. What will you use for a clutch pedal?

LS1exus

I can't believe I didn't consider that. The T56 uses a hydraulic clutch right? If so I may have to come up with something nifty to solve that "problem." If I can't I will see if I can fit a F-body clutch pedal somehow. But either way I will tackle that when necessary.

jw33

iTrader: (8)

Well I know the toyota guys put the 2JZ-GTTE engine with the six speed in the ES-300's all the time, so maybe you could use the foot pedals from a Supra?

CMcCarthy

Incorrect. They put that engine in the SC300 or GS300. The ES300 is a FWD platform based on the Camry.

The pedals from a manual trans SC300 will interchange with a GS300, so maybe they will also fit the LS400.

Frizzle Fry

iTrader: (1)

I am going to modify a stock LS1 harness myself. The pinouts are on this site if you search. There's also a thread (I'd post a link but I'm not at home now) where a guy listed all the removed signals from his modified/aftermarket harness. One word of advice that I learned the hard way is to go with a '99 or later PCM/harness. The PCM has more "tuning *****" on those. If you buy a 97-98 engine you can swap the PCM/Harness for a 99+ (must change both though). If you don't want to modify a harness be prepared to spend $450-700 for an aftermarket "stand alone" harness from Painless or S&P, or about $200 to have yours modified.

As far as the clutch pedal is concerned, you'll need to ensure the master cylinder bore and stroke matches that of the f-body/vette the tranny (slave) comes out of. It may just be easier to use an f-body/vette pedal and master. I'm looking into my options on that now.

Sounds like a sweet project though. I love the LS300-400 body style. Post pics when you have them.

jw33

iTrader: (8)

yeah i meant the sc300