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68 Camaro LS1 first startup

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Old Jan 13, 2007 | 02:31 PM
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Default 68 Camaro LS1 first startup

I fired up the LS1 in my '68 for the first time this afternoon:
http://www.blown.net/ls1swap/68_ls1_first_startup.wmv

Pics of the swap are at http://www.blown.net/ls1swap/

It's throw 2 codes so far, both of them for Alternator L terminal. Is that normal if I don't have a belt on the alternator?
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Old Jan 13, 2007 | 02:34 PM
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sweet! congrats!
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Old Jan 13, 2007 | 08:39 PM
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good job man. hope it runs well for you. Did you cut the transmission tunnel to correct the drive shaft angle?
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Old Jan 13, 2007 | 09:47 PM
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Way to go man, looks like a very nice ride. I'd have thought you would have a bigger grin though! That will come once your are drivin'!

Congratulations

Pat
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Old Jan 13, 2007 | 10:30 PM
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Nope, just running an ATS crossmember and clones of the ATS mount plates. The engine is a couple of inches lower than a BRP setup. I haven't measured the angles. Maybe Tyler will see this thread and reply with some specs.
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Old Jan 13, 2007 | 10:38 PM
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I'd have a bigger grin if I could actually drive it... the trans has to come back out for a rebuild (it's stuck in 4th gear, even though the shifter is in neutral). I'll have a really big grin on my face when the trans is fixed, the rear end is broken in, and I burn off the 12 year old General XP2000's on my way to the tire store.
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Old Jan 14, 2007 | 01:25 AM
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way to go buddy.....really nice conversion man......a buddy here (sunset68) is gonna start doing a similar swap to his 68 camaro.....130 pics u took arent enough..haha....take me damn it....nice conversion......must feel nice doing everything yourself instead of just paying someone to do to build for you......
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Old Jan 14, 2007 | 11:59 AM
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Originally Posted by steveo346
......must feel nice doing everything yourself instead of just paying someone to do to build for you......
Yep it does! Although this is really close to a bolt-in swap thanks to all the people making parts for it and the all the info here on this forum. At least I fabbed my own EGR block off plate . I think I spent more time figuring out how to wire up my new gauge cluster for turn signals, etc by tracing the circuits on the back of the original cluster than I did figuring out how to wire the PCM (by reading the sticky here). I'm surprised I haven't run across anyone selling an adapter harness that plugs into the 5 connectors (6 if you include the starter wire) on the 99-02 F-body LS1 engine harness.
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Old Jan 14, 2007 | 12:12 PM
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do you have any pics of your power streeing hose set up. did you have them made or find some that will work off another car. i have an 87 iroc box with the ls1 ps pump. it is the next thing on my list to get done thanks mike
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Old Jan 14, 2007 | 12:51 PM
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Originally Posted by 69blackwidow
do you have any pics of your power streeing hose set up. did you have them made or find some that will work off another car. i have an 87 iroc box with the ls1 ps pump. it is the next thing on my list to get done thanks mike
I'm using a Hydroboost setup from Hydratech and it came with everything I needed hose-wise to run the LS1 pump with the '68 steering box. It'll be different than your setup becuase the Hydroboost sits between the pump and the box.

The return line is easy--it's just a hose with hose clamps on each end (you'll need the hose barb from the steering box end of it). For your pressure line, I believe that all 1980 and up GM steering boxes used the same M18-1.5 O-ring fitting, and all 1980 and up GM power steering pumps used the same M16-1.5 O-ring fitting. The 87 IROC hoses should work if the length is OK (don't know about that) and it has a 90-degree fitting at the pump end (don't know about that either). If the IROC hose won't fit, most other 1980+ GM cars and trucks should have the same fittings. A lot of the people over on camaros.net had custom hoses made, but they were doing early pump to IROC steering box. You could also run adapters to convert both ends to -6 AN (Aeroquip FCM2608 and FCM2609) and run a standard -6 AN braided high-pressure hose. You have a lot of options .
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Old Jan 14, 2007 | 12:58 PM
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Oh, one more option, particularly on the pump end. Lee Manufacturing make insert that presses into the metric O-ring port and convert it to a flare fitting. That's what the Hydratech kit uses on the pump end, with a flare to -6 AN hose 90 degree fitting. It doesn't stick out like the Aeroquip adapter would--not sure if there'd be a clearance problem with the Fbody brackets and the extra inch or so for the full adapter.
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Old Jan 14, 2007 | 04:42 PM
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for my application i cut the hose and had a new fitting put on at napa. be sure you get the angle right once it is on you are done. i wish i could show you how i did it using a paint pen to get the angle right.
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Old Jan 15, 2007 | 10:59 AM
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Nice! Certainly a milestone..
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Old Jan 15, 2007 | 01:04 PM
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Very nice car. Very nice work. I'm impressed!
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Old Jan 21, 2007 | 01:27 AM
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I took it for its first real drive this afternoon, to the gas station and on to Auto Zone. The clutch isn't disengaging fulling (grinding most shifts but not all), 3rd gear is FUBAR (gets stuck in 3rd if I shift into 3rd), but otherwise it drove great. I didn't get on it hard because my ring gear is still breaking in, but I did put my foot about a 3rd of the way in it at 2000rpm in 4th and it pulled harder than my tired old 350 did at any rpm... I think I'm going to like this .

I still hate my ancient 2-chamber Flowmasters though... I really need to pick out some new quieter mufflers.
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Old Jan 21, 2007 | 08:22 AM
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Magnaflow with a X pipe you'll gain 12-15 HP,
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Old Apr 19, 2007 | 10:21 PM
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I finally got the trans rebuilt and put it back in this week. Got into the throttle hard for the first time this afternoon and ran it through a few gears. WOW! I love the LS1 and T56. I need to extract my broken x-brace bolts and reinstall my x-brace before I really beat on it.

Btw, I found an easy way to stuff the F-body T56 into my daily driver '00 Stang GT: http://www.blown.net/ls1swap/DSCF4273.html
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Old Apr 20, 2007 | 06:35 PM
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Congats. Sounds good. By the way, I e-mailed you a question concerning the Hooker mounts. Awaiting your respense. Thanks
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Old May 2, 2007 | 10:05 AM
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I went back and consolidated my blogs about the build and put them on the website: http://www.blown.net/ls1swap/blog.html

I also consolidated my wiring docs and PCM changes and posted them. It's based on several different docs from here that I merged together and modified for what I wanted to run. http://www.blown.net/ls1swap/rodders...1t56wiring.doc
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