My LS1 240sx Swap
01-31-2006, 10:44 PM
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My LS1 240sx Swap *UPDATE* Well I finally started my new 240sx Project a couple of weeks ago. My friend was originally going to do the swap but didn't have the resources to do so. So I decided to tackle it and never thought I would actually go through with it... I have been working at my dad's garage for 7 years now since I started at age 14. This is my 3rd project and the old guys love it because I usually build ricemobiles so they laugh at me. After I said "corvette" they ****, and said "is it going to fit!?" No. But I'm determined to try haha. They really liked it being RWD from the factory also. On with the car...
For the people that didn't know it is an S13 chassis. S13 is year 89-94 240sx, 94 only being convertibles and very rare. S14 is the following model, year 95-98 which Hinson is currently working on. The bodies are different and the powertrain and drivetrain is mostly interchangable. Junk anyways.
This is my new S13. Its a funky green, I kinda like it, its called JUNIPER green. Sounds retarded but hey I don't see too many 240s in green. The body is pretty clean has some rust on the framerails, in the one side of the frame its completely rotted through so I'm going to need to box it. Other than that there is some surface rust along the bottoms but the whole car is being repainted. HINSON is doing a S14 chassis. There has been 1 other one and a couple in the works now. As to this date this is the ONLY S13 Chassis with a LS1 swap going into it that I know of... All I need now is a GTO front sump oil pan to start putting the engine in... If you have one or can get one PM me please!!
Here is how my last couple days went..
Yikes! Rust all in the shock towers and around the frame rails... its gonna need some work... Note the rotted frame rail on the drivers side. its all boxed in now I have to go take pics of it though.
Here it is all painted...
The engine is from a 98 bought from Tim @ EADperformance, I picked it up myself. Picked it up last month for a very good price. Came with everything, Long block, T-56 6 Speed Trans, flywheel, wiring harness, PCM and all sensors; everything. This is going to be a fun swap... Plans for now are going to be heads and cam with bolt ons and an awesome tune. Good for somewhere around 450hp. Cage it (cage is in thursday) Slicks and skinnies on Prostars, new paint and get it on the road. Future plans will be a full built SCAT bottom end with a 6.0 block. Then turbo it and tub the rear out to swap in a Ford 9" where the IRS sits. I may need to tub it out earlier than I think if my rear end doesn't hold up... Enjoy! Its nice posting this stuff with out having some **** ******* criticize my work.
-Alex
For the people that didn't know it is an S13 chassis. S13 is year 89-94 240sx, 94 only being convertibles and very rare. S14 is the following model, year 95-98 which Hinson is currently working on. The bodies are different and the powertrain and drivetrain is mostly interchangable. Junk anyways.
This is my new S13. Its a funky green, I kinda like it, its called JUNIPER green. Sounds retarded but hey I don't see too many 240s in green. The body is pretty clean has some rust on the framerails, in the one side of the frame its completely rotted through so I'm going to need to box it. Other than that there is some surface rust along the bottoms but the whole car is being repainted. HINSON is doing a S14 chassis. There has been 1 other one and a couple in the works now. As to this date this is the ONLY S13 Chassis with a LS1 swap going into it that I know of... All I need now is a GTO front sump oil pan to start putting the engine in... If you have one or can get one PM me please!!
Here is how my last couple days went..
Yikes! Rust all in the shock towers and around the frame rails... its gonna need some work... Note the rotted frame rail on the drivers side. its all boxed in now I have to go take pics of it though.
Here it is all painted...
The engine is from a 98 bought from Tim @ EADperformance, I picked it up myself. Picked it up last month for a very good price. Came with everything, Long block, T-56 6 Speed Trans, flywheel, wiring harness, PCM and all sensors; everything. This is going to be a fun swap... Plans for now are going to be heads and cam with bolt ons and an awesome tune. Good for somewhere around 450hp. Cage it (cage is in thursday) Slicks and skinnies on Prostars, new paint and get it on the road. Future plans will be a full built SCAT bottom end with a 6.0 block. Then turbo it and tub the rear out to swap in a Ford 9" where the IRS sits. I may need to tub it out earlier than I think if my rear end doesn't hold up... Enjoy! Its nice posting this stuff with out having some **** ******* criticize my work.
-Alex
Last edited by Slo_240sx; 02-26-2006 at 06:19 PM.
02-01-2006, 12:12 AM
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looks like a ton of work but it sure does look like you know what you are doing.
whats the plan for the LS1 240SX? drift, drag, road racing, street car or all of the above? it looks like you already have one drag car haha
whats the plan for the LS1 240SX? drift, drag, road racing, street car or all of the above? it looks like you already have one drag car haha
02-01-2006, 04:24 AM
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Hinson is also working on a S13 right now. I will be building up one or two within the next month using the Hinson Kit to use in Formula Drift.
Also AFAIK there is a LT1 swapped s13 near indy, but i havent seen any LSx swaps yet. But Hinson should have a kit for s13 and s14 very soon.
and also on a side note, the "junk" stock drivetrain actually isnt bad if you turbo it, not bad at all. I'll also have to link this thread to my friend who's drag s13 you posted at the bottom, its amazing how much that thing has popped up everywhere.
Also AFAIK there is a LT1 swapped s13 near indy, but i havent seen any LSx swaps yet. But Hinson should have a kit for s13 and s14 very soon.
and also on a side note, the "junk" stock drivetrain actually isnt bad if you turbo it, not bad at all. I'll also have to link this thread to my friend who's drag s13 you posted at the bottom, its amazing how much that thing has popped up everywhere.
02-01-2006, 07:31 AM
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Slo_240..
Im glad you've brought me to this forum, where I can now help YOU do YOUR OWN DAMN SWAP, instead of posting the picture of MY CAR, as if it were yours. That last picture is my car brother, and you know it. I hope you were posting as something you plan on copying.
Just to let you know that car runs 10.30's (right now) on a street tuned small block 406. Ive done all the chassis work myself and have plenty of pictures if anyone is intrested.
Im glad you've brought me to this forum, where I can now help YOU do YOUR OWN DAMN SWAP, instead of posting the picture of MY CAR, as if it were yours. That last picture is my car brother, and you know it. I hope you were posting as something you plan on copying.
Just to let you know that car runs 10.30's (right now) on a street tuned small block 406. Ive done all the chassis work myself and have plenty of pictures if anyone is intrested.
02-01-2006, 09:34 AM
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No No No! I am going for drag, I wanted to "copy" the ladder bar setup! I've studied all the pics and the whole swap its awesome. Just never had time to get ahold of him to ask about it. Sorry for the confusion! -Alex
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02-01-2006, 11:49 AM
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S13 shells can be bought for cheap since they are so old.
Crazee240sx, yeah if you look on my first post I said my plans where to be a ford 9" like you guys had. I just forgot to mention thats a plan pic. Anyway, I was wondering if you could give me the specs on the rear end length, ladder bar length and how the hell you frame railed a unibody car. I see that you welded it on, but did you use tube stock or simply box in the stock frame rails? My friends and I **** when we saw the startup and 1/4 pass. You guys did an awesome job on it, I gave you credit on 240sx forums because everyone was being **** about you being a traitor lol.
Mikespeed, The stock drivetrain and stuff is very stout I just made a joke calling it junk because I can't stand the factory Nissan stuff because its so expensive to replace if broken. If I remember correctly the link to Crazee's build is, www.riotdesigns.com/robert/buildup ?
The hardest part about the swap, which hinson is having also, is exhaust clearance around the steering shaft. I'm sure stock manifolds wil bring it close enough to the block but I'd love to use shorties. i'm also scared about clearance between the swaybar and crossmember, I hope the drop in the pan will fit in between without modification. Thanks guys!
-Alex
Crazee240sx, yeah if you look on my first post I said my plans where to be a ford 9" like you guys had. I just forgot to mention thats a plan pic. Anyway, I was wondering if you could give me the specs on the rear end length, ladder bar length and how the hell you frame railed a unibody car. I see that you welded it on, but did you use tube stock or simply box in the stock frame rails? My friends and I **** when we saw the startup and 1/4 pass. You guys did an awesome job on it, I gave you credit on 240sx forums because everyone was being **** about you being a traitor lol.
Mikespeed, The stock drivetrain and stuff is very stout I just made a joke calling it junk because I can't stand the factory Nissan stuff because its so expensive to replace if broken. If I remember correctly the link to Crazee's build is, www.riotdesigns.com/robert/buildup ?
The hardest part about the swap, which hinson is having also, is exhaust clearance around the steering shaft. I'm sure stock manifolds wil bring it close enough to the block but I'd love to use shorties. i'm also scared about clearance between the swaybar and crossmember, I hope the drop in the pan will fit in between without modification. Thanks guys!
-Alex
02-01-2006, 04:09 PM
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Do you guys foresee any issues with using the 5.3L other than HP/Tq and weight, if not using the aluminum block? Wouldn't the truck headers give more clearance? The 5.3s are much also much cheaper to get.
02-01-2006, 06:43 PM
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Originally Posted by umphreak
Do you guys foresee any issues with using the 5.3L other than HP/Tq and weight, if not using the aluminum block? Wouldn't the truck headers give more clearance? The 5.3s are much also much cheaper to get.
Ive been thinking about a 5.3 also.....
02-01-2006, 09:59 PM
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Hehe... I built my exhaust. Full lenth headers, with collectors (not seen in video, we changed them), and they WILL come out of the car. As for the rear end and frame rails...we'll need to talk on a personal basis before I spew out that info. BTW, I can make the engine cradle that I used in bolt in form now. Ive already got 3 to build, and the list is growing. AS for the crossmember and oil pan deal...YEAH, get ready to do some serious notching there buddy. That steering rack is a PITA!
Anyways, thank you for the kind words, let me know when you need help.
Anyways, thank you for the kind words, let me know when you need help.
02-01-2006, 10:37 PM
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Yeah if I were you I wouldn't be spilling much either haha. I saw the headers you made before in the vid with no collector right out the bottom of the fender lol. I saw how you guys did that oil pan and I crintched when I saw how much you notched. I don't think it will be so hard once I get a front sump pan as long as I can clear the swaybar. I hate how they did rearsteer on 240's. I finally got my roll bar in from S&W and it looks just amazing. Going to weld it in tomarrow. Do you have an email or AIM I can talk to you on so we can get into more detail about everything? My hats off to your amazing work. Thanks alot!
-Alex
-Alex
Last edited by Slo_240sx; 02-01-2006 at 10:50 PM.
02-26-2006, 06:18 PM
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New update guys. Spent the night over a friends and headed straight to the shop around 12 so he could help. Worked for 9 straight hours and its now in. This is the first LS1 S13 240sx to my knowledge unless Hinson has done one and hasn't posted pics. Here are some pics:
Its in! It took us 4 times to get this sucker in. had to beat out the tunnel a bit, crossmember issues, swaybar issues, just a headache. Thats what 9 hours will do I guess. Now its sits perfect, just in front of the crossmember and the shifter sits in the correct position. The trans is only 1 inch longer than the stock trans and it gave me the perfect length because it gave me room to put the engine forward to clear the firewall.
Roll cage is in and just needs to be finish welded in certain areas.
This is how I notched it to make it fit and mock the engine placement up. We modded the xmemeber 3 times before I was happy.
DAMN THIS BITCH IS FAST!!!
Oops... This is what happens when you jack up the jack and realize it isn't far back enough... Shifter through the floor haha.
Shifter Location. Perrrfect!
Me being a Pyro.
I had to use an oil pan out of a 04 GTO because its front sump and since the 240 is rear steer it was the only way to get an engine in.
I plan on having it running in about 2 weeks and driveable with new paint and wheels in about another month and a half. Thanks to everyone on here that has helped in some sort of way and to everyone who has negative comments for shutting up. Enjoy people!
-Alex
Its in! It took us 4 times to get this sucker in. had to beat out the tunnel a bit, crossmember issues, swaybar issues, just a headache. Thats what 9 hours will do I guess. Now its sits perfect, just in front of the crossmember and the shifter sits in the correct position. The trans is only 1 inch longer than the stock trans and it gave me the perfect length because it gave me room to put the engine forward to clear the firewall.
Roll cage is in and just needs to be finish welded in certain areas.
This is how I notched it to make it fit and mock the engine placement up. We modded the xmemeber 3 times before I was happy.
DAMN THIS BITCH IS FAST!!!
Oops... This is what happens when you jack up the jack and realize it isn't far back enough... Shifter through the floor haha.
Shifter Location. Perrrfect!
Me being a Pyro.I had to use an oil pan out of a 04 GTO because its front sump and since the 240 is rear steer it was the only way to get an engine in.
I plan on having it running in about 2 weeks and driveable with new paint and wheels in about another month and a half. Thanks to everyone on here that has helped in some sort of way and to everyone who has negative comments for shutting up. Enjoy people!
-Alex
