LT1 swap into different car
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2017
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LT1 swap into different car Hi guys
you can see my introduction post here:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/introduct...-lt1-swap.html
In short i want to transform my trackday car into a leisure drift car. I was able to buy a Caprice hearse with a 5.7 LT1 - about 74 000 miles on the clock, and no doubt these are good miles
Some photos:
Main focus of this project is i want to learn how to weld and to some basic fabrication skills. Working with no deadline are my kind of projects
But i want to learn more about American engines. I'm only going to do basic bolt-on modifications but i think i also need to change the cams and perhaps also tappets. Really want to know more about that field.
But important to remember is that parts are not easy to come buy here in Belgium. I need to turn more to Holland where the scene is a lot bigger.
you can see my introduction post here:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/introduct...-lt1-swap.html
In short i want to transform my trackday car into a leisure drift car. I was able to buy a Caprice hearse with a 5.7 LT1 - about 74 000 miles on the clock, and no doubt these are good miles
Some photos:
Main focus of this project is i want to learn how to weld and to some basic fabrication skills. Working with no deadline are my kind of projects
But i want to learn more about American engines. I'm only going to do basic bolt-on modifications but i think i also need to change the cams and perhaps also tappets. Really want to know more about that field.
But important to remember is that parts are not easy to come buy here in Belgium. I need to turn more to Holland where the scene is a lot bigger.
TECH Veteran
Joined: Apr 2008
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pick up a copy of this
https://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Small.../dp/1557883939
should be very helpful for your project
There are off the shelf cams you can buy. Might want to get some Aluminum heads vs the iron ones on the donor motor. I bet head porting resources may be limited in Belgium for a LT1 motor. Lloyd Elliott would be a good source for a head/cam combo
http://elliottsportworks.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Small.../dp/1557883939
should be very helpful for your project
There are off the shelf cams you can buy. Might want to get some Aluminum heads vs the iron ones on the donor motor. I bet head porting resources may be limited in Belgium for a LT1 motor. Lloyd Elliott would be a good source for a head/cam combo
http://elliottsportworks.com/
We can help you out with the standalone harness, lifters, pushrods, and springs.
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I would recommend going with lloyd on a custom cam, much more bang for your buck with a custom cam. The cam you posted is fairly small. If you decide to go with that cam we have a set of springs here for that application we can let go of for a good price.
We can help you out with the standalone harness, lifters, pushrods, and springs.
We can help you out with the standalone harness, lifters, pushrods, and springs.
If it was me, I'd build that hearse into a drift car, that would be sick!
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Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 22
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Well as stated i want to learn how to weld and some basic fabrication so i'm looking forward to putting this into a very different car 
And yes, being based in Belgium doesn't give me much access to different options. Buying from the US i did once but the importtaxes just killed me.
so i just got the book "how to rebuild the small block" and saw the stats on the standard camshaft;
- lift: 447" intake / 459" exhaust
- duration: 203 intake / 210 exhaust / .050"
The hotcam has got slightly higher numbers. How much would this help me in my upgrade plan, purely bolt-on? At this time i don't know enough if the price is worth the upgrade.
And yes, being based in Belgium doesn't give me much access to different options. Buying from the US i did once but the importtaxes just killed me.
so i just got the book "how to rebuild the small block" and saw the stats on the standard camshaft;
- lift: 447" intake / 459" exhaust
- duration: 203 intake / 210 exhaust / .050"
The hotcam has got slightly higher numbers. How much would this help me in my upgrade plan, purely bolt-on? At this time i don't know enough if the price is worth the upgrade.
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Staging Lane
Joined: Jan 2017
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From: Clemmons, NC
I am doing a cam swap on my LT1 right now as well. I swapped a caprice LT1 into my FB RX7 so if you have any questions on swaps let me know
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2017
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Then went on to removing the engine and wiring harness. Most bizarre thing with this step was that everything went smoothly, this time when it's not the intention of putting it back together not a single thing broke or went wrong.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2017
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So during the holidays had some more time to investigate what i could do for a manual gearbox solution. Multiple options but i had cost in mind in case of broken gearbox.
For one i could have converterd the automatic gearbox with a manual shifter but if it were to break i'd be looking a quite a hefty bill for either repairing it or finding another one.
Next option was a Tremec or Jerico manual gearbox but on this side of the pond that would have cost more then buying the car, and same issue as above if it were to break.
Last option is to use a gearbox which is very easy to find and use an adapterplate to bolt it on. Upon research it seems that the crazy Swedish builds mostly use BMW ZF gearboxes from large dieselengines. As the torque of a large diesel surpassed that of a petrol engine and as the crazy Swedes usually have engines with 400-500 bhp that sort of proves the reliability of such a gearbox. I was able to buy two BMW gearboxes for only 150 bucks
Upon further research it turns out that there is a company in Poland fabricating custom flywheels solutions and adapterplates for popular engineswaps such as 1JZ/2JZ/1UZ and LS engines. As the LT1 is not that much different from an LS motor i was able to buy that flywheel solution. The only thing i have to do is mill the LT1 bolt-pattern into that piece and i can then fit it to my V8. Yesterday i was able to pick up a pressure plate from a scrap yard and i've got a brand new ACT 6 puck clutch on the way.
Even better is that i was able to find a recent video on youtube of an American putting the same BMW gearbox on his LS motor. In combination with the photos on the Polish website i now fully understand what i have to do in order to make my own custom adapterplate to be able to fit the gearbox.
For one i could have converterd the automatic gearbox with a manual shifter but if it were to break i'd be looking a quite a hefty bill for either repairing it or finding another one.
Next option was a Tremec or Jerico manual gearbox but on this side of the pond that would have cost more then buying the car, and same issue as above if it were to break.
Last option is to use a gearbox which is very easy to find and use an adapterplate to bolt it on. Upon research it seems that the crazy Swedish builds mostly use BMW ZF gearboxes from large dieselengines. As the torque of a large diesel surpassed that of a petrol engine and as the crazy Swedes usually have engines with 400-500 bhp that sort of proves the reliability of such a gearbox. I was able to buy two BMW gearboxes for only 150 bucks
Upon further research it turns out that there is a company in Poland fabricating custom flywheels solutions and adapterplates for popular engineswaps such as 1JZ/2JZ/1UZ and LS engines. As the LT1 is not that much different from an LS motor i was able to buy that flywheel solution. The only thing i have to do is mill the LT1 bolt-pattern into that piece and i can then fit it to my V8. Yesterday i was able to pick up a pressure plate from a scrap yard and i've got a brand new ACT 6 puck clutch on the way.
Even better is that i was able to find a recent video on youtube of an American putting the same BMW gearbox on his LS motor. In combination with the photos on the Polish website i now fully understand what i have to do in order to make my own custom adapterplate to be able to fit the gearbox.
TECH Veteran
Joined: Apr 2008
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What will you be doing for a bell housing??
The stock LT1 is a rear external balanced motor via a weighted flexplate or flywheel. Whatever combination of that you come up with needs to match that balance unless you are re-balancing the rotating assembly as a internal balanced "neutral" (zero) balanced motor.
The stock LT1 is a rear external balanced motor via a weighted flexplate or flywheel. Whatever combination of that you come up with needs to match that balance unless you are re-balancing the rotating assembly as a internal balanced "neutral" (zero) balanced motor.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2017
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And balancing i did not have in mind, also i'm in though with an American who has used the same gearbox and flywheel on his LS-motor. He also did not balance it and was not aware on this subject.
What could go wrong with an unbalanced assembly? Too much stress on the crankshaft?
What could go wrong with an unbalanced assembly? Too much stress on the crankshaft?
