I will be swapping in an LS1 with the 6-speed soon in my '68!

Anybody have any idea (ballpark) of the labor/misc. costs associated with the swap minus the engine/tranny before I call the shops for pricing? Anybody know any shops near San Diego or L.A. that have done the swap before?

I will post pictures when complete. <img src="gr_stretch.gif" border="0">

 

That is what I am talking about.. I think I saw a car in Hot Rod Magazine with a similar setup.. The shop name is in that magazine..

 

The people who did the one in hotrod was hotchkis. I think it was a 71. They got the motor free from GM. They did it themselves. I'm putting one in a 66 nova should be starting today.Wasn't really that hard. Just a lot of little details to work out as you go. Motormounts will have to be custom made, in fact you may have to do some frame notching. crossmeber etc. I had to go to a cable drive gas pedal. Had to modify stock gas tank, bought an intank pump and welded it in.We still have to work out the details on the radiator. I found a local shop in Santa fe springs. Turned out these two guys have been hot rodding for years know a little about everything, which has paid off. Its taken about 2 months, but we're just going one step at a time. If your more interested email me I could go on for hours!! But you really need to find competent people and plan to spend a lot of money. They are doing it for me by the hour. But when you get into an older car there is alot of modifications.

 

Update:
Well, it looks like I may be letting JBA Racing, a mustang shop <img src="gr_sad.gif" border="0"> , do the swap for me, because they have done several Fuel Injected swaps in Mustangs and quoted me around $4000-4500 for labor/misc. expenses minus the cost of the engine/tranny. <img src="gr_stretch.gif" border="0"> . Those guys have been real cool to me as well. Price was not as bad as I was expecting.

I am going to call around to a few other shops as well to see what they quote and experience/etc.

Can't wait

John

 

Depending on the level of detail you want, this will have a major bearing on the price. $4000-$4500 sounds very reasonable.

When I did my LS1/T56 swap I did 99% of the work myself and it cost me over $4,000 (zero for my labor) in addition to the cost of the engine & trans. I will admit that some of these costs could be forgone or reduced if I wasn't a picky bastard that had to have it look as if it was OEM installed. Here's a direct link to the cost sheet http://home.earthlink.net/~bzdel/PhaseISwapCost.htm

Good luck!

 

[quote]Originally posted by John B:
<strong>Depending on the level of detail you want, this will have a major bearing on the price. $4000-$4500 sounds very reasonable.

When I did my LS1/T56 swap I did 99% of the work myself and it cost me over $4,000 (zero for my labor) in addition to the cost of the engine & trans. I will admit that some of these costs could be forgone or reduced if I wasn't a picky bastard that had to have it look as if it was OEM installed. Here's a direct link to the cost sheet http://home.earthlink.net/~bzdel/PhaseISwapCost.htm

Good luck!</strong><hr></blockquote>

John B.,

Thanks for the link, very helpful! Your monte looks badass! BTW, what are the better year LS1's/T56's?

John P.

 

If you were going to leave the motor basically stock I would go after an '01 or '02. These motors get a better intake manifold (LS6 intake), higher flowing cast iron exhaust manifolds, slightly larger camshaft (6.0L Truck camshaft), larger injectors and a revised PCM that actually has more performance programming cranked into it (according to GM advertising).

 

If I end up selling my WS6 I plan to do a 1st gen swap too. Sound like you're on the right track. Keep us posted.

 

Go to www.ls1speed.com and look for customer cars...

Tom has a 68 w/an LS1

 

I got quoted by another shop that has done LS1 swaps before in Jaguar's, an El Camino, etc. for $2000 just for labor (not including misc. parts, fluids, etc. Does that sound reasonable? It sounds a little steep to me.

Thanks,
John

 

Depends on the quality of the installations. Do you have pic's of their work?

 

drive here to chicago, ill do the install and charge $1000 for labor...you buy all of the parts...

a two years ago i spent 3500 on mine and did the instal myself...that included everything to put a LS1 in my 68....(motor price included)...

 

oh yeah...if ive got a couple of pulley parts you might be interested in. Ive got a couple of idlers, and a powersteering pump. These came form street and performance and i paid over $700 for the whole set. Right now ive just got the alt. pulley on my car...

let me know

ls1eqpt@aol.com

 

This is one of my good friends cars. Both links are of the same car...however, the first link shows what the car used to look like with the LT1 and T-56. The second link is what Tyler is currently building right now. His project was recently featured in the 12/01 edition of Super Chevy magazine. Basically, he is taking his 68 shell, and placing it over the top of a C5 chasis, along with some other goodies. Not bad for a 23 year old kid huh <img src="graemlins/gr_hail.gif" border="0" alt="[hail]" />

http://www.pro-touring.com/featured_...beauregard.htm

http://www.pro-touring.com/featured_...egard/5050.htm