real82it

All,

I am looking at doing a LS conversion on a 71 Chevelle.

I have the chance to pick up a 2002 6.0 LS truck motor and 4L80 for a good price.

I was reading the stickies and some threads about what is required to install in a chevelle and still have a few questions.

I am trying to do this on a budget and would like to avoid having to get a new oil pan or accessory mounts.

1. Why do you have to get a new oil pan? Why can't the stock truck oil pan be modified? What is the interferance?

2. Why won't the stock truck accessory mounts with accessories fit? Do all accessory mounts need to be changed or only certain ones, like the alternator? What specifically does not fit?

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

Most people get new or used f-body oil pans because they have better ground clearance. The truck pan will probably hang down 3" below the bottom of the crossmember which is a large target for road debries to hit and crack. You can shorten the truck pan to work and some people have done it, but that would be something for an experienced fabricator. The pan is cast aluminum so it is not the easiest to weld to begin with, and many of the people who have welded them said it was difficult to get all of the oil out of the aluminum since it is porous(sp?). If you do not clean all of the oil off it will seep into the weld and contaminate the joint possibly causing a leak.

I don`t see a problem with using truck accys. I was able to get them to fit in my El Camino and the older chevelles have a bigger engine bay. I would say take some measurements and see how it looks. The tight areas will be between the PS pump and PS box, and between the alternator and the hood. I know that there are people who used the truck engines in A-bodies, I would think at least one of them would have used truck accys, did you try doing a search?

If you need to change to car accys you have to change all the accys, the brackets and the crank pulley/balancer.

TOOSLO5

Here is my combo: 6.0/80 in 72' Bu. Combo came out of an express van. I used an F body pan and exhaust manifolds and custom motor mounts were made. The trans tunnel was also cut out and modified. The van accesories were used and the frame did not have to be notched for the AC compressor. The mechanical install listed above was done at Speed inc. Larry, Butch and Jim did an awsome job. The rest will be done by me. I have a few early pics posted on my f quick page but have not posted any really good ones. I need to get around to this soon so other people can see how well the install went. I have seen some posts where people were able to use the truck/van pan but had to modify the heck out of it. THe car pan fits great and does not hang below the crossmember of the frame at all. My car is lowered slightly so this was important to me. Shoot me a pm with your e mail and I will send you some pics. On a side note one of the big things I am running into now is the shifter linkage. The factory column stuff will not work. I should see my Ididit shiter kit later this week or early next week and will see how it works out. If it were not for the trans tunnel work I could have done the mechanical myself but it would have taken me ten times longer. As it was I dropped the car off one week and picked it up the next.

TOOSLO5

Alternator fits under the stock hood with plenty of room. The only issue I had was the evap solenoid. It sticks ups pretty high so I removed it and will delete and code for it. I found a small expansion plug at the local hardware store that fit the hole in the manifold.

'JustDreamin'

The other guys who have posted are right on about modifying a stock oil pan. It sounds easy, right? I'll just hack, chop, and weld the stocker back together, right?

But since it is a cast alum pan, it soaks up some oil and makes it tougher to weld (that's assuming you can weld alum in the first place). And anytime you weld, you've got to be worried about distortion, especially with aluminum.

So, in reality, its much easier to purchase a used pan / pickup / dipstick / dipstick tube that fits the chassis than to modify the truck pan. Used Camaro pans are reasonably inexpensive (compared to some others like the LS2 pan or the LS7 or ARE Dry Sump Pans).

If you can weld aluminum and have the machinery to ensure that the flange is dead flat after you are done (probably have to mill or fly cut it), I say go for it.

'JustDreamin'