Hate to start a new thread but i couldent find my old one. I have been looking through this site and others (lost track of some of them) reading up on ls1's. I want to swap an ls1 and a 4l60e into my '80 El camino. I know this has been done and it seems simple enough, plenty of room after all.

G Body if your out there, i believe you gave me some links to a site with someones project all laid out, with expenses well documented. I have lost track of this site and need to find it again, Thanks for any help there.

As far as where to begin, I understand that when looking for an ls1, 2001 and newer are better to have. Correct? I do wonder about when they started drive by wire and got rid of the cable for throttle control.

Anyway, I got approval for a $5000 loan and now need to start budgeting for real and planning this out. I planned on picking an ls1 and tranny from Fparts on ebay. Good Idea? or not? Would it need to be rebuilt? Anyone have pictures of their swap into G-Body's especially el caminos would be very helpful. I want to print everything out and make a kind of handbook on all the info i gather so any resources you guys have would be great to have.

I planned on leaving the engine bone stock, is a retune needed if i just leave it stock? i know i need to work around the vats and stuff but as far as performance should it be retuned?

Again, thanks for any help here.

 

I searched ebay for quite a while before I bought my engine and tranny. fparts seems to be one of the higher priced sellers. I have seen a lot of better deals than they have. If you want something that will run good and still save you a few bucks, look at this ad. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/6-0-V...QQcmdZViewItem

 

I`m back, hadn`t logged in for a few days because this was my final exam week, but its all over now .

Anyway heres a link to your original post https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-swaps/667917-ls1-swapping-into-g-body.html

The really well documented swap is John B`s swap http://www.montecarloss.com/ls1montecarloss/

I know that all the f-body LS1`s are cable TB, the GTO did use the fly-by-wire, but I don`t know when they started that.

You will not HAVE to reprogram your PCM if you get a f-body computer since you can run a VATS buypass box on those, but if you don`t hook all the smog control stuff up you will get a check engine light. And there is some smog stuff that is difficult to hook up like the Evaporative emissions fuel tank pressure sensor.

If you are going to do the harness yourself I would look into getting the codes deleted or a computer tune from jesse at wait4meperformance. he is very reasonable for a tune.

 

When dealing with a used engine, what are some of the things i should do while the engine isnt in the car. I think I'll put a cam in it, but should i do the timing chain too? what needs to be changed by 100,000 miles?

 

I changed my uhmmmm. Well effectively nothing, I think even the original spark plugs are in there.

If you are changing the cam I would do a timing chain too, they are cheap insurance. Also if you end up with an earlier motor (98-00) they had weaker oil pumps, so you should probably change that too. Other than that I don`t know.

 

to g-body, which trans crossmember did you use? was it a bolt in, it looks like a bolt in piece. I found a Geforce crossmember for use with the ls1 and 4l60e, i suppose this is what i need, what kind of fuel tank did you use? john B used one from a TR/GN, but i dont think it would work out so easy for an el camino, I read somewhere that an impala tank would work. Also anything you can tell me about the swap, or anymore pictures you have would be great, besides the ones on Fquick. Thanks for your help with this project.

 

Test post, It wont go to the top of the list.

 

I custom made my own crossmember out of 2x3 steel stock. So I guess it was a bolt in after I put down the welder and sawzall . But in reality I could have just reused the factory TH 350/ 200 crossmember. The 200R4 crossmember will not work. But the th350/200 one will work as long as you trim the tab that the trans bolts to, it has a large overhang that would hit the 4l60e trans pan. The G-force crossmember will also work. I just made mine because I had the materials available and I wanted 2 humps for dual exhaust which the stocker didn`t have.

I used a fuel tank for a factory EFI El Camino. I bought an aftermarket tank that was for an 85 with an EFI v6. There are a bunch of places online that sell them, I don`t think it matter which one you buy from they all seem to be made by the same mfg and vented incorrectly so that it will only fill if the gas pump is on the slowest setting with you holding the nozzle up. You have to put in an external vent tube to make it work right. (that took forever to figure out)

In order to use that tank you really need to get a sending unit from an EFI El Camino. They are very difficult to find used, took me 4 months and it turned out to have rusted fuel lines and I had to totally rebuild it. The sending unit for an 87 V6 EFI El Camino is still available from GM and will fit the 85-87 EFI tank, but it is very expensive (I think it was 280 or 380 just for the sending unit)

If I was going to do it again I would just cut the top of the tank and put a 99-02 f-body sending unit/pump in. Infact I think I am going to do that to the v6 chevette that I am building right now.

The impala tank will not work because it has the filler in the back not the side.

I think that I posted all of my pics on my f-quick account, but if you are looking for pics of something in particular I can always snap a few. If you have read the El Camino swap thread, I think it covered prettymuch everything. Between all of us in there I think we had people who swapped in the f-body LS1, vette LS1, and truck motor into an EC.

 

i assume there is a vacume i can pick up somewhere for the brake booster right? I dont plan on keeping A/C so is it a problem to remove that assembly from the engine? Would i need to tell the guy i dont have a/c when they reprogram the pcm? sorry for the questions i know i could figure these questions out if i just bought the engine and looked at it but I'm trying to get my ducks in a row.

 

Leave the A/C stuff in the harness for future use, just tape it aside. Removing the A/C from an LS1 is easy, couple of bolts and a little belt. There are a couple vacuum ports on the back on the intake for you to use, one is for the brake booster (large barb). Make sure you cap any unused ports!

 

Thanks for all the help so far, I feel confidant. I am going to talk to my uncle today about getting my car in his shop, if he is all for helping me I will bid on or purchase an engine/trans by the end of the week. Just a few more questions. http://www.hpsalvage.com/Gbody.html This guy used the stock radiator, stock for the car or stock for the motor I dont know, but can the radiator for my old 305 be used for the ls1? I was under the impression that I couldent until i saw his site.

 

The stock radiator from your 305 El Camino will work fine. The only thing is it may not have an extra bung to connect the steam line too, so you will have to connect the steam line to the heater hose, upper rad hose, or tap the waterpump.

I ran the stock rad for a while after my swap, but it was patched (hit it during the swap) so I eventually replaced it with an autozone rad. The new rad was an aluminum unit and even had the extra bung to connect the steam line to.

 

Well I should know in a few days if I can use his shop, . Will the shifter on the column for the th350 hook right up to the 4l60e? Again i feel confident in the resources on this site and in me and my uncles abilities so I think we can handle anything that comes up. Thanks again for everything. The hardest part I think will be getting fuel to the engine. Is there a sticky for fuel tank modifications. From my reading the fuel system has the most variety to it and it seems everyone ends up with a slightly different set up. Moving from a carb isnt going to make things smoother either. To be honest thats probably the one area i know nothing about, fuel tanks and the difference between efi and carb setups.

 

Yes but no on the shifter.

If you are using a f-body 4l60e and position your motor the same as the 305 everything will bolt up.......the problem is that the shifter linkage will hit the f-body exhaust. I used 2001 f-body exhaust manifolds and cats and the shifter linkage hit the flange on the back end of the cat. I fixed that by bending the linkage for the shifter. Bending the linkage screwed up the geometry and the rod coming down from the column would no longer work because the end of it needed to rotate in 2 directions. I solved that problem by cutting the end off and welding a bolt on so that I could use a heim joint. ahh the joy of a conversion, there is no such thing as a bolt on anymore. I don`t know if I have pics of this, but I can snap some tomorrow, the car is in the air getting the frame cut to fit an A/C compressor in

 

Yeah some pics would be great, thanks. I planned on not running cats, so would i have an issue like you did? If it just hit the back end of the cat maybe i wont.

 

with the power steering the hoses just hook up right, no difference is pressure per say. I hope anyway.

 

You may still have an issue even without cats depending on how tight to the floor you try to run the exhaust. I didn`t have time to snap any pics before it got dark outside and the ones that I took in the dark came out horrible. I`ll try to get some decent pics tomorrow.

The power steering hoses hooked right up on mine, but I think you may need a later model steering box or an adapter. I think it was 1981 when they switched over to the "O" ringed flare on the high pressure line. You EC may still have the box that takes a double flared fitting. If it does you can either switch to the later model box or get adapters. I think Lee or AGR powersteering might make them.

A few people have said the pressure from the LS1 pump is higher, but I have not had any leaks or problems so far and I have almost 18k miles on my swap.

 

Great news on the project, I know have help and a place to do the work for sure. I can now begin collecting parts.

G body, How did you handle the column shift as far as the gears and the original notches for the gears. PRND21, Is it the same for the 4L60E, if not what steps can be used to get it to read out right? If its too difficult I will just use a floor shifter, even with the bench seats. Thanks again.

under advice from my uncle I am going to try to pick up the tank and fuel pump from the same car, and im not sure if i can get the driveshaft. Anyone know if Fparts will sell the drive shaft too?

Wait4meperformance is who i will use for reprogram and harness modification, any thoughts on them? Do they supply me with "directions"? They make it a stand alone harness so it shouldent be hard to hook up anyway.

 

I snapped some pics of the shifter this morning, I will post them when I get home from work.

I didn`t have to modify my column because there are no notches for the gears, I have a floor shifter. The only reason the shifter is tied to the column is because the indicator is there and the neutral start interlock is mechanical. As long as you have a full gauge set in your car you can get the correct readout on your dash by getting the "overdrive plate" from a Monte carlo with a 200r4, it just bolts in on top of where the PRND is on the speedo and is re-labeled.

I don`t know what to do about the notches in the column, they may be the same but I am not sure. Even if they are different your colum shift should still work, you just won`t be able to lock the car into 1st gear manually.

 

Heres a couple pis of the clearance between the shift linkage and the exhaust.