Have a complete L92 and 6L80E sitting in my garage and am sorting my way through and trying to come up with a list of what I need to purchase.
Needless to say I have a LOT of questions, here is a few:

What transmission parts do I need to get from the dealer to make this 4WD trans a 2WD trans?

What are my intake manifold options if I wish to keep drive by wire?
How about if I do not keep DBW?

My pullout did not come with an ECU, it is from an 07 Escalade, what ECU should I be using to match the harness or will I be better off with something else? I'd like to keep VVT if possible.

Are the stock rod bolts an issue for a hotrod? How about the stock valves?
Have heard it is not uncommon for the L92s to drop a valve.

Here is my list, it is still pretty short:

F body pan setup

ECU

Get someone smarter then me to do the harness

AJE k member and A-arms and coil overs (spring weight undetermined)


Any insights would be very appreciated!

Matt

 

Swap out the rod bolts for some ARPs. I'ver heard different opinions on why L92s have been dropping valves on some occassions. From what I've heard/read ( not sure whats true or myth/hype) some of the L92s have a defective valve where the lock rides or the locks arebad I don't know whats -what. I am sure someone will chime in giving other input or reason for the "valve issue"

That being said..... If it was my engine.... I would yank the heads and have the hallow stem valves installed for a piece of mind.

You can keep the VVT. I have a LY6 6.0L w/VVT. You can run a car waterpump but run WWW.MASTMOTORSPORTS.COM VVT spacers OR... buy this...
http://paceperformance.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=265470 Its the 2010 L99accessarydrive. It incleds everything. I went Vette access. drive but
now wish I got this instead. Its cheaper than sourcing wp spacers etc...
MastMotorsports makes a ECM and harness that can run the engine/6L80E trans. You can even get their L92HO http://www.mastmotorsports.com/gascrate.php# cam and have the ECM preprogrammed. Cool stuff. You need a tranny yoke.
The cheapest Fbody pan setup I found was from https://www.partstaxi.com/partlocato...?siteid=215330 UNDER $300.00shipped.

Just a thought.

 

Thanks for replying, I'm surprised the oil pan setups are that much.
I was under the impression that the 6L80E would need significant disassembly
including new tailhousing and output shaft, would be nice if I was wrong!

I wonder if this transmission will fit in a fox platform...

Matt

 

THe stock L92 rod bolts are decent pieces and not prone to failure. Sure ARP or Katech rod bolts are an upgrade but I'd look at this as a nice to have not a need to have mod. Plenty of 7K plus RPM screaming LS3's on stock rod bolts ( same bolts on L92 )

The valve dropping issue is there in some cases although I'd chlak most of it up to poor build quality, poor valve spring selection, or just poor driving habits as there seems to be no consistent record of why/how the valves drop.

In reality the shitty thing is when your ring the snot out of engines to go fast stuff breaks. If your not breaking, your not racing.

 

Rods bolts made me curious mainly, heard so many times that you can change them on the motor with no resize. I have not built any Chevy engines but quite a few Fords so that was something new to me.

The valve issue worries me and as suggested above I will take a hard look at replacing them with something better. Who would be good to source suitable replacements from?

Intake selection is still abit confusing to me, truck intake is huge so it has to go but keeping DBW would be nice.

Another quistion I am in the dark on is what shifter can be made to work with a 6L80E? Have the Fairmonts stock shifter but I am dubious as to wether it will work.

thanks for responding

Matt

 

Im swapping a cammed up L92 with a t56 right now. Sticking with the stock rod bolts and Im looking at 6800RPM redline so not very worried. Suit yourself on whether or not to change them but its not real nec. As for the how it works? You can swap rod bolts out on any cracked rod just not machined rods. LSx connecting rods are made as one piece and then sonically cracked to open them up. It makes a rough surface for each half to mate too thats for all intents and purposes a "perfect match" so swapping out the rod bolts isnt as big a deal as it is with a machined type rod where the two halfs could move and become located differently when pulled apart which would mess up the bearing. This cant happen with LS rods.

Intake is cake. LS3 intake works very well and bolts right up. A few differences in the emission hose piping and MAP sensor location but very easy workarounds and it flows very well and isnt really going to harm performance up to 450 rwhp or so. You can get them ported which is good for 10-20 hp depending on your set up or you can bypass it altogether and run the FAST 102mm LSxR intake but its pricey.

As for the valves? I dont think its really that big of a deal either but if your wanting to upgrade I dont know where to point you there. Contact some of the reputable site sponsors and see what they tell ya. I can tell you this much theres lots of guys successfully running the stock valves with mighty big power levels.

No clue about the shifter for the trans maybe someone else will chime in

 

One more thought about the DBW just use a new Corvette DBW pedal ( about 80 bucks ) and it will work with your L92 tb which is 87mm or you can run an LS3 tb 90mm but performance difference between the two is negligible. They both share the same 4 bolt flange to bolt up to the LS3 intake. Porting them works wonders for throttle response too

 

Vette DBW pedal works, or the Monte Carlo (out of, say, a 2005 model) which is what I used... it cost me $50. The L92 very likely drops intake valves if anything; it's a massive valve and pretty heavy from what I've heard. Going with the lighter LS3 valves will help that, but stiffer valve springs and better pushrods couldn't hurt too. I'll echo cam's statement about the ported DBW throttlebody... that's what I did on my LY6 swap and it is absolutely awesome - this LY6 kicks like a horse no matter what you're revving.

 

LS3 intake sounds like a good way to go, that will require different injectors and rails right?

What year corvette DBW pedal will work with my 07 L92 computer?

thanks

Matt

 

The injectors fit from L92 to LS3 intake they are the same shorty style. The L92 fuel rail on the other hand I dont think will work. Mind you just buy a complete take off LS3 intake, fuel rail, and injectors. I bought mine for $350.00 complete with coolant line and fuel line as well brand new take off on ebay. The L92 injectors are 31lb but the LS3 are 41lb so a lot more room to grow with power as well.

Any e38 PCM equipped dbw throttle pedal assembly will work. They come in a variety of cars so do your homework if you want to save some bucks heck i think they even used them in some cavalier/cobalt whatever. I chose the Vette model as its practically a direct bolt in fitment wise for my swap and I dont like messing with used parts from a wreck when it comes to these types of things.

I've had pedal sticking issues before on a car long ago. Holley carb bushings jammed up and it almost killed me and my passenger so... Dont cheap out here IMO get a new one or run a cable tb

 

No worries there, I have a weakness for new parts...

Are the injector plugs the same from ls3 to l92 injectors?
Would make sense if they were.

Matt

 

Yes same. Makes sense indeed but sense sometimes doesnt make sense to engineers and designers...

 

Little update, have located an ls3 intake with rails/injectors for a reasonable price, think it is from a corvette. Have located an ECU also reasonably. Had an interesting conversation with John from Speartech and will be sending him my harness and computers. Still need to locate a set of good valves for the heads, I'm going to hold off on upgrading the cam until it is at least running.

Remaining mysteries:

Will the 6L80E fit in a Fairmont without cutting the tunnel?

What shifter will work with the setup? the stock floor shifter would be nice keeping with the sleeper theme.

What accessory setup will work? Seems like the truck setup is a bit to tall by my rough estimate, seems kind of spread out and I'd like it a bit more compact.

Thanks

Matt

 

I'm using a complete harness from Speartech with electric pedal and VVT e.g. John is great! If you have some problem he will help you. I have a problem with oil pressure. John said I needed to install a new sending unit if I want to have a oil pressure guage on my dashboard. Where do I installl the oil pressure sending unit on the L92 enginge??

 

On the valvecover near the back is a option

 

Ok, probably a silly question but which oil pan setup do I want for my L92?

Any F body ls1 pan with windage tray and dipstick?

Engine is going in a fox platform with aje crossmember, coming to the end of parts aquisitions, still need headers and ls3 valves and some accessory advice!

Matt

 

Any pan will bolt on from any other LS engine you just have to figure out which one fits your chassis the best. Theres been lots of fox body LS swaps and im not sure if the K member is the same or similar but im sure if you looked into what those guys are running this would be a good start. Just make sure you get the corresponding windage tray and pick up tube for whatever pan you run

 

Thanks cam, seems you have the answers...

I've been kind of avoiding the issue but I guess it is time to figure out the accessories, hopefully someone has gone down this road before and can shed some light on it.

Here is what I would like:

Keep air conditioning and mate it to the fairmont's stock stuff, any pitfalls here?

I do not need power steering as the car already has a flaming river rack in it.

My ls3 intake arrived today in one piece and looking brand new. Can I use the L92 dbw throttle body or will I run into clearance issues? Do plan on opening it up abit.

I'd like to use ls3 coil covers and not cut them up if at all possible.

Anyone have any insight on this one?

thanks

Matt

 

Heres a link that helped me out a lot when i was figuring out my accessory drive.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...g-vvt-l92.html


As for air conditioning? I was alreaady LS1 swapped and for that swap i used the LS1 stock A/C compressor and most of the 4th gen f body A/C lines. I tigged my cars A/C line ends on so I have a metric LS1 engine side and an imperial car side. I think that makes sense but Im hungover so ask again if need further splanation.

The 87mm L92 tb bolts up to the LS3 intake no problem at all.

Covers? Blah never use em good luck on that one. Why would you want to cover up such beauty anyways? Coil per cyl....

 

The stock output port is as mention behind the intake but if you clearance is tight you can use the small two bolt plate just above the oil filter to tap into. On L92's sadly this is just a smooth bump but on LS1's this is cast with a nipple that sized to tap 1/8 NPT but it comes plugged not drilled. YOu just have to drill it out and tap it 1/8 NPT and your set. Im sure you could quickly find one of these if you need it. I've attached a link to a pic so you can see what im talking about. Scroll down to the F-body oil pan and you'll see the little two bolt fitting/cover plate Im talking about just above the oil filter location

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...-oil-pans.html