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Here's my project. Decided to call it TOP GUN because the car came from an air force base and it seemed fitting. Its my first swap of any kind. Ive had it for a little over a year and i have done all the work on it besides the aluminum welding. I rebuilt the motor, did the harness, custom stainless piping(manifolds), rear end etc. I tried to save money where i could. It has taken me way longer than I expected. I cant believe how fast some of you guys finish projects on here. Its amazing. My hats off to you guys.
Anyway my favorite parts of the car are the factory column shifter and the old Alpine head unit haha. That gives you an idea of my style. I want the interior to look untouched because it is in damn near mint condition.
Specs:
Factory ecu i did the harness
Stock Bottom end 6.0 fully rebuilt
S475 Borg Warner
LS6 cam
LS1 intake
60lb. injectors
Btr .660 springs comp pushrods
317 heads ls9 gaskets
8.8 rear 4 lug
4l80e RV transmission
First Start!
4l80e out of dump truck had a built in e brake on the yoke. Its gone now.
Clean from the shop
Saleen replicas
I love alpine old schools
Made trans brace
Made motor mounts
Harness done with help of LT1 Swap.com
Factory column shifter bracket worked with 4l80e after modifications.
Clearance for sway bar
80e barely fits
Schedule 10 stainless
Cant wait to beat this guy at work. He's an *******.
Ford 8.8 3.31 gears installed, 31 spline 4 lug axles
Welded in the trans bracket to subframe box connectors with poly bushings. Also lenghtened the subframe connectors to make them fit the longer fox body Fairmont chassis
Had to cut the truck pan down a couple times cause i messed up but it finally cleared nice
Decided to go with dual wastegates for the twin scroll setup. One for each bank of cylinders.
My 1982 Ford Thunderbird (Town Landau lol) I love this car! I didnt know they existed until i found this one and fell in love with it immediately. Its the same platform as the fairmonts!
This will probably also get a healthy LS!
Last edited by Budget LS Guy; 09-10-2015 at 02:46 PM.
Be SURE to run a couple extra quarts of oil in that pan. Don't just fill it to the full line. 2 inches out of the pan is about 2 quarts (lay 2 quarts on their side next to each other, about the same amount you took out of the pan). You don't want to suck the pan dry.
Thanks guys. I will try and resize the pics my bad lol. The piece of the pan i cut out about (1 1/4") only took about 1 quart of oil suprisingly. I know because i tested it to see how much it held. Good advice though for sure. That RV transmission brake was kinda cool i was gonna try to use it as a trans brake or something but there's no way it would fit.
Thanks guys. I will try and resize the pics my bad lol. The piece of the pan i cut out about (1 1/4") only took about 1 quart of oil suprisingly. I know because i tested it to see how much it held. Good advice though for sure. That RV transmission brake was kinda cool i was gonna try to use it as a trans brake or something but there's no way it would fit.
I found a good deal on one of those 4l80e with the weird brake too! Is yours originally from an LS truck ('01+) or is it from a Vortec? If so, anything to watch out for?
Which S475 is that? I assume the cheap, T6 frame 1.32 A/R? I'm working on a crusty 6.0 swap Fox as well, lol. That's a weeded out factory engine harness?
I found a good deal on one of those 4l80e with the weird brake too! Is yours originally from an LS truck ('01+) or is it from a Vortec? If so, anything to watch out for?
Which S475 is that? I assume the cheap, T6 frame 1.32 A/R? I'm working on a crusty 6.0 swap Fox as well, lol. That's a weeded out factory engine harness?
My 4l80e was from a dump truck i found lol! It was a Vortec engine but i believe the the trans was rebuilt by Certified transmission in 2001. There are some little obstacles if you want to use it. First, the brake must go and you might want to shave down the giant extra metal ring on the yoke. You HAVE to use the factory yoke. It is a fixed bolt on yoke by the way. Which means your driveshaft has to be made a slip shaft. Which is fine. I tried a couple different yokes and there is not a slip yoke that will work. You will have to make a good custom trans mount for it as well. One kind of cool thing about these transmissions is they have straight cut planetary gears. I hope it makes a whining noise!
My turbo is a 1.10ar 83mm turbine wheel with the t4 housing. Yep, had to shell out some extra shillings for it. I originally was going to use the t6 housing, but its so damn big i was getting pissed at it trying to fit it. I spent an extra $140 on getting the t4 because it will spool up so much faster too And yeah harness is factory 2001 truck harness. Was able to figure it out with the help of LT1 Swap.com. Granted it took me a solid 8 hours because it was the first one i've ever done. I think i could probably do it in 4 hours my second time.
Last edited by Budget LS Guy; 08-28-2015 at 09:23 AM.
My 4l80e was from a dump truck i found lol! It was a Vortec engine but i believe the the trans was rebuilt by Certified transmission in 2001. There are some little obstacles if you want to use it. First, the brake must go and you might want to shave down the giant extra metal ring on the yoke. You HAVE to use the factory yoke. It is a fixed bolt on yoke by the way. Which means your driveshaft has to be made a slip shaft. Which is fine. I tried a couple different yokes and there is not a slip yoke that will work. You will have to make a good custom trans mount for it as well. One kind of cool thing about these transmissions is they have straight cut planetary gears. I hope it makes a whining noise!
My turbo is a 1.10ar 83mm turbine wheel with the t4 housing. Yep, had to shell out some extra shillings for it. I originally was going to use the t6 housing, but its so damn big i was getting pissed at it trying to fit it. I spent an extra $140 on getting the t4 because it will spool up so much faster too And yeah harness is factory 2001 truck harness. Was able to figure it out with the help of LT1 Swap.com. Granted it took me a solid 8 hours because it was the first one i've ever done. I think i could probably do it in 4 hours my second time.
Where'd you get the T4 S475 for only $140 more? How did you weld the stainless hotside?
I think I'll pass on the funky 4l80e, it sounds like a pain.
Where'd you get the T4 S475 for only $140 more? How did you weld the stainless hotside?
I think I'll pass on the funky 4l80e, it sounds like a pain.
I just bought the t6 1.10ar 83mm turbo on forced inductions for $699 i believe, and then i bought a t4 83mm turbine housing for it on ebay for $140. I use the t6 housing as a cupholder now. Had my friend tig weld some of the hotside and i mig welded some of it. Make sure when you weld the iron manifolds that you heat the area you are welding red hot with a torch, or else they will crack when they cool.
Last edited by Budget LS Guy; 09-10-2015 at 02:26 PM.
I just bought the t6 1.10ar 83mm turbo on forced inductions for $699 i believe, and then i bought a t4 83mm turbine housing for it on ebay for $140. I use the t6 housing as a cupholder now. Had my friend tig weld some of the hotside and i mig welded some of it. Make sure when you weld the iron manifolds that you heat the area you are welding red hot with a torch, or else they will crack when they cool.
I have a high mileage LQ4 I just bought. What all did you replace when you rebuilt the motor? Just rings and bearings? What did you end up spending on it?
08-24-2015, 01:53 PM
New Fairmont Futura 2dr first start LQ4 Turbo 
And yeah harness is factory 2001 truck harness. Was able to figure it out with the help of LT1 Swap.com. Granted it took me a solid 8 hours because it was the first one i've ever done. I think i could probably do it in 4 hours my second time. 
