thirdgen ls1 swap questions
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 276
Likes: 0
From: Edison NJ
thirdgen ls1 swap questions Who here has had a ls1 swap done to their thirdgen? I have a few questions.
1. where did you have it done.
2. did you have to track down parts or did the company you payed do all the part ordering?
3. Did your ensurance go up?
4. are you happy with everything? what would you have done differently?
5. what would i be looking to pay around?
1. where did you have it done.
2. did you have to track down parts or did the company you payed do all the part ordering?
3. Did your ensurance go up?
4. are you happy with everything? what would you have done differently?
5. what would i be looking to pay around?
Me. OK
1. My garage.
2. Yes, a bunch of odds and ends.
3. Nope, they think its still a V6.
4. Yes. Tracked down all the parts first, but thats nearly impossible the first time around.
5. I could do another one for 4.5K by myself. More than double that to have someone else do it.
Best thing to do is Search here, and Search over at www.Thirdgen.org.
Good luck.
1. My garage.
2. Yes, a bunch of odds and ends.
3. Nope, they think its still a V6.
4. Yes. Tracked down all the parts first, but thats nearly impossible the first time around.
5. I could do another one for 4.5K by myself. More than double that to have someone else do it.
Best thing to do is Search here, and Search over at www.Thirdgen.org.
Good luck.
1. My garage (still in progress though)
2. I had to track down all the parts (not as bad as you would think)
3. Why would you tell your insurance?
4. Yes. Only thing I would do different is I would have bought a complete car
5. Same as stngklr
2. I had to track down all the parts (not as bad as you would think)
3. Why would you tell your insurance?
4. Yes. Only thing I would do different is I would have bought a complete car
5. Same as stngklr
Me too.
1- doing it myself in my driveway/ carport. (still finishing up)
2- I'm tracking down all the parts. I used Speartech for the wiring harness modifications and I have ot say I'm very happy with their service. I would reccomend it. I had them modify my factory harness ot make it more plug in and go. I keep having questions and I call back and John has been very patient and helpful with me. I'm probably annoying the crap outta him with all my questions....
Fortunately, I got most of the parts from the donor car. The guys over at "International Auto Wrecking" have been awesome to work with. I bought a pullout engine over there, and they included 99% of what I needed. Engine, wiring harness, gas tank, fuel lines, AC pieces, radiator/ fans, hoses, brackets, smog stuff, pedals, cables, etc. They even let me have the cat back from the donor car (SLP loudmouth) and I have gone back to replace a cat that was crushed/ not noticed when I brought the engine home. I highly reccomend these guys, too.
There's only a few things you need to still get. 3rd gen engine mounts, AC work (if you wish to retain AC), exhaust system fabricated. The factory pieces won't just bolt in, at least in my car. The cats have to be repositioned, the 02 snesors need relocating, etc. It just won't fit right. Alos, a cold air intake setup. you cna buy or make your own.
And there's a lot of wiring/ splicing in to do. I'm doing lots of wiring. I hope I get it right!
3- Mine is already a V8 car (Trans AM) so no, it probably won't go up. there's little point in telling them, as it's already under the V8 rating.
4- So far, yes, but I haven't tried to start it yet. The most frustrating thing is the exhaust. It'll be a job to find somone that will modify it the way I want/ gethte car ther enad back on a saturday, etc.... And since the exhaust seems ot be my biggest hassle, it's obviously not that hard a swap...
5- I'm sure I did not do this the cheapest. I have 6-7 grand into this now, and I still have the exhaust do do. But you get what you pay for. My engine was an 02 with 22k miles. They're getting harder to find with low miles like that. Plus, I got everything with the car. and I had the wiring modified, the computer programmed, the engine mounts, and misc other stuff. don't let my prices scare you off. careful shopping, parts trading, etc and this cna be done for a lot cheaper.
good luck!
1- doing it myself in my driveway/ carport. (still finishing up)
2- I'm tracking down all the parts. I used Speartech for the wiring harness modifications and I have ot say I'm very happy with their service. I would reccomend it. I had them modify my factory harness ot make it more plug in and go. I keep having questions and I call back and John has been very patient and helpful with me. I'm probably annoying the crap outta him with all my questions....
Fortunately, I got most of the parts from the donor car. The guys over at "International Auto Wrecking" have been awesome to work with. I bought a pullout engine over there, and they included 99% of what I needed. Engine, wiring harness, gas tank, fuel lines, AC pieces, radiator/ fans, hoses, brackets, smog stuff, pedals, cables, etc. They even let me have the cat back from the donor car (SLP loudmouth) and I have gone back to replace a cat that was crushed/ not noticed when I brought the engine home. I highly reccomend these guys, too.
There's only a few things you need to still get. 3rd gen engine mounts, AC work (if you wish to retain AC), exhaust system fabricated. The factory pieces won't just bolt in, at least in my car. The cats have to be repositioned, the 02 snesors need relocating, etc. It just won't fit right. Alos, a cold air intake setup. you cna buy or make your own.
And there's a lot of wiring/ splicing in to do. I'm doing lots of wiring. I hope I get it right!
3- Mine is already a V8 car (Trans AM) so no, it probably won't go up. there's little point in telling them, as it's already under the V8 rating.
4- So far, yes, but I haven't tried to start it yet. The most frustrating thing is the exhaust. It'll be a job to find somone that will modify it the way I want/ gethte car ther enad back on a saturday, etc.... And since the exhaust seems ot be my biggest hassle, it's obviously not that hard a swap...
5- I'm sure I did not do this the cheapest. I have 6-7 grand into this now, and I still have the exhaust do do. But you get what you pay for. My engine was an 02 with 22k miles. They're getting harder to find with low miles like that. Plus, I got everything with the car. and I had the wiring modified, the computer programmed, the engine mounts, and misc other stuff. don't let my prices scare you off. careful shopping, parts trading, etc and this cna be done for a lot cheaper.
good luck!
Teching In
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
1. My Garage (still in progress)
2. I got a donor car, so that eliminates alot of hassles. I'm sure I have plenty more parts to track down to get this completed.
3. Nope
4. I'm pretty happy getting a parts car to strip everything off of. I ditched my 383 LT1 project for it, and I think I'll be much happier with this route in the end.
5. I paid $5300 for the parts car, and I'll be stripping off just about everything I can off it: Engine, harness, A/C, fuel tank with lines and wiring, trans, pedals, steering column, gauges, PCM, rear end, driveshaft, fuse boxes, and maybe the body harness. I was just about ready to dish out $4700 for just an engine and transmission with PCM and harness, until I found this - so I think I got quite a deal. If you can find a parts car, that would be a good way to go.
2. I got a donor car, so that eliminates alot of hassles. I'm sure I have plenty more parts to track down to get this completed.
3. Nope
4. I'm pretty happy getting a parts car to strip everything off of. I ditched my 383 LT1 project for it, and I think I'll be much happier with this route in the end.
5. I paid $5300 for the parts car, and I'll be stripping off just about everything I can off it: Engine, harness, A/C, fuel tank with lines and wiring, trans, pedals, steering column, gauges, PCM, rear end, driveshaft, fuse boxes, and maybe the body harness. I was just about ready to dish out $4700 for just an engine and transmission with PCM and harness, until I found this - so I think I got quite a deal. If you can find a parts car, that would be a good way to go.
1. My driveway/garage.
2. Parts..the fun part. I did what was said above. Got a parts car. BEST way to go in my opinion. Might cost a tad more in the beginning, but you will be surprised how much you can use off the car. Im using... Motor, trans, driveshaft, rear, front brakes, coolant bottle, washer bottle, fuse centers, A/C system, possible column although I heard it doesnt really work well, fuel tank...and probably a few other things I cant think of. And the BEST part about all of this is....YOU take it apart! You can take notes, pics, whatever you need..and you dont get shortchanged on the small bits! You can also part the donor car out and make some dough back if you want.
3. INsurance needs to know nothing about this... same goes for the inspection stations around me. Im emissions exempt because I keep it under 5000 miles a year. So they dont even look for emissions components...not even cats...
4. So far Im happy. Getting that old TPI and wiring mess out of the car will simplify things and look much cleaner. Ill let you know how happy I am when
The only thing I would do differently, would be to find better ways of getting my 3rd gen up off the ground. Its a pain to do anything under that car, and its a pain to get it onto anything higher off the ground.
5. All depends on how you get your parts and what percentage of work you do yourself. If you get everything from a vendor to do the swap...look to pay around 7k- 8k. Thats for conversion parts too...but not everything.
Good luck! Its a fun swap to do!
Justin
2. Parts..the fun part. I did what was said above. Got a parts car. BEST way to go in my opinion. Might cost a tad more in the beginning, but you will be surprised how much you can use off the car. Im using... Motor, trans, driveshaft, rear, front brakes, coolant bottle, washer bottle, fuse centers, A/C system, possible column although I heard it doesnt really work well, fuel tank...and probably a few other things I cant think of. And the BEST part about all of this is....YOU take it apart! You can take notes, pics, whatever you need..and you dont get shortchanged on the small bits! You can also part the donor car out and make some dough back if you want.
3. INsurance needs to know nothing about this... same goes for the inspection stations around me. Im emissions exempt because I keep it under 5000 miles a year. So they dont even look for emissions components...not even cats...
4. So far Im happy. Getting that old TPI and wiring mess out of the car will simplify things and look much cleaner. Ill let you know how happy I am when
The only thing I would do differently, would be to find better ways of getting my 3rd gen up off the ground. Its a pain to do anything under that car, and its a pain to get it onto anything higher off the ground. 5. All depends on how you get your parts and what percentage of work you do yourself. If you get everything from a vendor to do the swap...look to pay around 7k- 8k. Thats for conversion parts too...but not everything.
Good luck! Its a fun swap to do!
Justin
