Conversions & Hybrids - My LS1 S14 Build Thread

FINALLY lol. after being here for a long ass time, and always wanting to do it. i took the plunge about a month ago and yanked the old engine. today the LS1 arrived. Im gonna try to chronicle everything i do for the swap because i never did that with the RB and always regretted it. PICTURES!!!

the car
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/cradrift8.jpg
Last pics of the old powerplant
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0009-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0011.jpg


out:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0009.jpg
tunnel pounding, beginnings of engine bay wiring (removed entire chassis harness)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0014.jpg

interior wiring beginning
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0015.jpg

aaaand the motor.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2331.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2330.jpg

got her from cleavland pick a part (AWESOME). very clean, gave me compression numbers, a video of it running, vacuum numbers and oil pressure numbers. came out of a 2000 trans am.

Looks great man! Any plans for the motor before it goes in?

thats gonna depend on how quickly the old engine sells haha, if i can get it sold quickly, yes lots of plans

cam (looking at the trex 230/224 .575/.563 111 LSA, only want a final goal of 400whp), valvetrain, pushrods, clutch, ls6 intake manifold, double roller chain, katech oil pump maybe more.

if the engine doesnt sell, clutch, oil pump, then the general maintenance...thats about it as it goes in haha.

time is a problem, ive got about 6 weeks till the next event and would like to have the car there lol

congrats man! lookin' good and you will have an easy time with wiring since you really got down and dirty like that... damn. you can get the car done in 6 weeks if you really map out your attack and plan ahead, making sure the little projects dont sidetrack you too much. I spent a lot of time finding rad hoses and stupid stuff like making flanges to mate to the oem exhaust manifolds, etc on my FC buildup but you can learn from everyones mistakes online pretty easily now, this forum rocks.

(btw what size/offset wheels and what size tires are in that first pic and did you like that setup?)

woooooooooooohaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... lets put LS1's into everything!

Nice bro!

congrats man! lookin' good and you will have an easy time with wiring since you really got down and dirty like that... damn. you can get the car done in 6 weeks if you really map out your attack and plan ahead, making sure the little projects dont sidetrack you too much. I spent a lot of time finding rad hoses and stupid stuff like making flanges to mate to the oem exhaust manifolds, etc on my FC buildup but you can learn from everyones mistakes online pretty easily now, this forum rocks.

(btw what size/offset wheels and what size tires are in that first pic and did you like that setup?)

woooooooooooohaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... lets put LS1's into everything!

yea wiring is the least of my worries hahaha

fortunately as soon as the engine is mounted i can bring it into my work and work on it here. i just have to have the engine mounted first hehe. im going to buy my steel today for the mounts and stuff.

wheels are a 17x9 +17 all around, i love em. tires in the pic were a 225/45/27 up front.

Looks great kamin! About time! I wish I had a Kouki S14. Are you located in Cleveland? I'l not to far in Detroit, and I usually cruise to Youngstown to visit family.

nope im way the hell out in arizona.

finally opened her up tonight, so far so good. lots of varnish in oil areas but no sludge. all water passages look amazing. no signs of corrosion or anything. water and oil pumps look good. gonna do a Katech oil pump tho. cheap insurance.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0001-2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0002-3.jpg

tommrow the crossmember gets notched.

Nice looking build

crossmember notched and back in.

disclaimer: i only have a gasless 110v mig welder. so i apologize for the crappy weld quality :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0004-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0009-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0006-2.jpg

hopefully oil pan will be here in the next few days so i can build the mounts and finally drop her in.

good lookin build.. and those mb's look good on ur car

nice crossmember work, hope you can move this project along fairly quickly.
yeah what are you going to run for tires now?
same sizes or go a bit wider?

:)

things are going to get a SERIOUS kick in the ass...now.

sold the RB finally last weekend, ordered a metric ton of parts today :) ive got less than 4 weeks to try and get this thing back on the road haha. pictures to come later this week when parts arrive

tire size: im definitely going up, between a 255 and 275 depending on the event and whos paying for the tires ;)

cool. congrats on selling the RB!
with 275's out back you will have crazy grip, hell even a 255 will be okay if youre not too much of a leadfoot but you could spin a sticky 255 with no effort most of the time.

not much of a leadfoot...well unfortunately a motto we live by in the drift world is "never lift" so yea. theres your answer haha.

im also being plagued with part backorders! i might be pulling an all-weeker to get it driveable the week of the event. man i hope all my parts are right haha.

stupid question for the day: anyone have a link to download a service manual for the ls1? i dont want to pay $200 for a helms when all i need is engine specific assembly/disassembly procedures.

We are almost in the same boat. Same car, same rims (18's here), same tow truck, same swap, and need to get it done in a month. I'm going to be starting my own thread soon. Keep on updating yours as I'm getting a lot of information from here.

we are both sponsored by cooper too ;)


so ive run into a snag. the gentlemen i won my oil pan from on ebay hasnt shipped it. i havent had contact with him since monday and i am in dire need to build these mounts this weekend

so, in a short flash of brilliance, i am going to use this picture

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/master__olly/GTOside.jpg

and make a cardboard template. tape it to the engine and tack mounts together off of that.

anyone verify those dimensions? lol

disclaimer: i only have a gasless 110v mig welder. so i apologize for the crappy weld quality :lol:

I feel for ya man for welding with flux core sucks!

it may be ugly but it sticks 2 pieces of metal together tho! haha

well my oil pan crisis has been averted for now thanks to larrys engine and marine here in tucson

they are letting me borrow a brand new gto pan so i can build my mounts. larrry is amazing, thank you lol.

its been slow going, im thinking way too much about the mounts. just need to build them and be done. I also had to renotch my crossmember, needed the engine back another inch. ill get pics of that and of the mounts once they are 100% finished.

the mounts are just tacked together right now, a very simple version. (yes i know the engine is twisted a little. the mount isnt attached to the crossmember yet. just resting on it.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0031.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0032.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0033.jpg

the best part

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0027.jpg
the hood closes

they are gonna remain tacked together till the clutch arrives and i can put the tranny back on and get the final position for the engine. i think its very close tho.

Aww man, excellent work so far!
It's looking like it's going quite smooth, hope you can get it done in time. Sounds like it'll be a nice car when done!

Although I plan on having an S13 with an LS1 in the future, this is definitely a useful topic for me! Thanks for posting so many updates :D

nice work on the DIY mounts!

it may be ugly but it sticks 2 pieces of metal together tho! haha

Hey, function/strength is waaayyy more important in this application than being "pretty"!! :D
SWEET build, I've always liked that body style, and it seems like more and more are doing this swap. :thumb: :cool: I usually don't like unpainted carbon fiber hoods, but that one looks good on the red car. I wish they made those wheels in a 17" f body application. I also wish we had that much room in the engine bay of our f bodies!!
I'm guessing you get (either buying or through sponsorship) your Sparco and safety stuff from UPR?? Do they actually have a showroom in town, or is it just a warehouse? Are there still peeps there who run in the Camaro-Mustang Challenge and American Iron road race classes?
I miss Tucson (attended school there A LONG time ago!!), and I MUST make it back there in the near future.

Hey, function/strength is waaayyy more important in this application than being "pretty"!! :D

That's the thing though, with welds normally the better they look the better it will hold. Now I'm not talking like beautiful roll of quarters type welds here but a nice solid bead that connects the two pieces usually holds well. The problem with flux core is that it's hard to get it to bond the two pieces together for it doesn't seem to create all that good of an enviroment and gets voids in the weld. So, I hear you on function/strength type thing but that flux core welding just really isn't as good as a good old gas mig welder set up.

I know in this case he isn't able to use one for all he has is a flux core welder, just stating that I feel for him for welding with it sucks, it doesn't create clean welds and it splatters all over the place, and the welds also aren't as strong. Like I doubt you'd see cages welded up with flux core being approved but I dunno, maybe I'm off on that.

That's the thing though, with welds normally the better they look the better it will hold. Now I'm not talking like beautiful roll of quarters type welds here but a nice solid bead that connects the two pieces usually holds well. The problem with flux core is that it's hard to get it to bond the two pieces together for it doesn't seem to create all that good of an enviroment and gets voids in the weld. So, I hear you on function/strength type thing but that flux core welding just really isn't as good as a good old gas mig welder set up.

I know in this case he isn't able to use one for all he has is a flux core welder, just stating that I feel for him for welding with it sucks, it doesn't create clean welds and it splatters all over the place, and the welds also aren't as strong. Like I doubt you'd see cages welded up with flux core being approved but I dunno, maybe I'm off on that.

Yeah, I see your point on this. I was just commenting on the aesthetics aspect of his work, without realizing that the strength factor is also involved with the welding method. I understand now, and YES, I hope his cage was done with a mig!

Hey, function/strength is waaayyy more important in this application than being "pretty"!! :D
SWEET build, I've always liked that body style, and it seems like more and more are doing this swap. :thumb: :cool: I usually don't like unpainted carbon fiber hoods, but that one looks good on the red car. I wish they made those wheels in a 17" f body application. I also wish we had that much room in the engine bay of our f bodies!!
I'm guessing you get (either buying or through sponsorship) your Sparco and safety stuff from UPR?? Do they actually have a showroom in town, or is it just a warehouse? Are there still peeps there who run in the Camaro-Mustang Challenge and American Iron road race classes?
I miss Tucson (attended school there A LONG time ago!!), and I MUST make it back there in the near future.
i actually work at the showroom for UPR in tucson ;) yes all my safety stuff was from UPR. mostly sparco.

im pretty sure american iron still has a following depending on what region you are in. i know it was pretty big in SoCal for a while.

That's the thing though, with welds normally the better they look the better it will hold. Now I'm not talking like beautiful roll of quarters type welds here but a nice solid bead that connects the two pieces usually holds well. The problem with flux core is that it's hard to get it to bond the two pieces together for it doesn't seem to create all that good of an enviroment and gets voids in the weld. So, I hear you on function/strength type thing but that flux core welding just really isn't as good as a good old gas mig welder set up.

I know in this case he isn't able to use one for all he has is a flux core welder, just stating that I feel for him for welding with it sucks, it doesn't create clean welds and it splatters all over the place, and the welds also aren't as strong. Like I doubt you'd see cages welded up with flux core being approved but I dunno, maybe I'm off on that.

+1 haha, the welds arent too terrible but sure as hell dont look like a TIG ;)

i apologize about the lack of updates guys, ive been so busy with trying to get it ready everything else has taken a backseat.

right now all the mounts are 100% built. im waiting for my oil pump so i can actually finally permanently install the engine and get cracking on the exhaust.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0004-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0009-3.jpg

Is that an r33 crossmember? I'm putting an ls1 into my 97 240 and i'm planning on using the r33 crossmember and the carshop inc. universal hotrod mounts.

yes it is but it wasnt notched enough on the sides. i had to square them with the rear cut rather than having that angle in there. it wasnt wide/deep enough for the GTO pan.

ill try to snap some pics tonight when i go install my valvesprings.

Cool man, i appreciate that! I dont see any pix of your mounts, but if you used the ls1 to sbc adapter plates, or the carshop mounts, did they line up pretty well up to the crossmember?

Thanks in advance

i just made the plate to bolt to the engine. it was only 10$ worth of steel.

oh my god an update! haha sorry again for the lack of them. ill take a ton of pictures as soon as the engine is mounted completely for the last time lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0034.jpg
the renotched crossmember.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0035.jpg
my over engineered transmission mount

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0036.jpg
patriot extreme dual springs ;)

p.s. if you own a crane on-engine valvespring compressor, replace the turndown nut. mine stripped on the last pair of springs lol. luckliy i had a spare. dont ask me how i did

tranny mount looks just like mine.

easiest way to build it i could figure haha

engine in the car for the first time unsupported. gonna start building the exhaust on monday :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0005-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0006-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/000_0008-3.jpg

Has anyone ever figured out/measured what the weight distribution is on these conversions?? It would be cool if it were at/near 50/50, but if it isn't it can be somewhat compensated for with corner weighting, etc.

weight balance is a myth blown out of proportion.

Has anyone ever figured out/measured what the weight distribution is on these conversions?? It would be cool if it were at/near 50/50, but if it isn't it can be somewhat compensated for with corner weighting, etc.

I put icantdrift's S13 up on my corner scales and you can read the results of it in this thread:

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=644220

56% front 44% rear on his car.

Wow Ted, those corner weights come out about perfect with him in the car! How much work, and shuffling did that take?

Wow Ted, those corner weights come out about perfect with him in the car! How much work, and shuffling did that take?

That was literally him just getting into the car with how he has it built. I don't even think he has the battery in the back either, at least not at that time.

I think he's maybe taken some weight out of the car since then though. I need to to weigh my car to see what it comes in at for I'm curoius now.

from my post.
if my math is right the front/rear % is, front=53.42%, rear=46.58%. front is 1560, rear is 1360, total is 2920

i have since took out some things and i think the total weight now is 2860. cant remember for sure.

WOW, these numbers are better than what I expected! :cool: :thumb:

Anyway, as it's been shown above, the corner weighting can make it just about perfect.

Kamin, what made yo finally decide to go with the LS swap? I mean you already had an RB! (I know why I would!...) just wanted to hear your reasoning.

Kamin, what made yo finally decide to go with the LS swap? I mean you already had an RB! (I know why I would!...) just wanted to hear your reasoning.
Gen III/IV > RB

Ah... I'm very interested to see you doing this swap Kamin. When I saw that you were selling your RB on nico I figured you were going LS1.

I just sold my RB powered S14, but I have a rolling chassis S14 that I'm starting to completely build inside and out... with an LS1 under the hood.

I can't wait to see how your swap turns out!

Kamin, what made yo finally decide to go with the LS swap? I mean you already had an RB! (I know why I would!...) just wanted to hear your reasoning.


the main reason is more power with better reliability. the RB held me over while it was damn near stock for over 2 years, and i really didnt have any problems with it other than some electrical issues, but next year im gonna be trying to go a little bigger with my drifting career so i needed something to be competitive. now the RB would have been, with a turbo upgrade, standalone and injectors. but after all that i then have to deal with a HEAVILY modified engine that i cant get parts for if something breaks. I dont want to be in colorado, or texas and need to replace a cam angle sensor. a $150 part would turn into a waste of thousands because i couldnt drive and the event is a wash for me. that pisses me and my sponsors off haha.

theres a ton of other little reasons but the whole reliability and having that kind of power out of a NA engine is the reason. no more boost leaks, no more popped IC piping, no more overheating problems because of the front mount blocking all the clean air, etc.

that and i love pissing people off. altho the reaction has been way more positive than i would have expected from the nissan crowd haha. I personally dont care what engine is in a car as long as it gets USED. show cars suck ;)

oh and small update: drivers side exhaust manifold is almost done. wait till you see what we figured out hehe

oh and small update: drivers side exhaust manifold is almost done. wait till you see what we figured out hehe


Pics please.

when its done! ;)

im using those hooker block huggers. we cut the tube on the inside at the flange, angled it out about 2-3 inches so it sits against the frame instead of the block. now theres a ton more room to run it on the outside of the shaft rather than the inside.

they should be done tomorrow or thursday.

theres a ton of other little reasons but the whole reliability and having that kind of power out of a NA engine is the reason. no more boost leaks, no more popped IC piping, no more overheating problems because of the front mount blocking all the clean air, etc.
m.f. werd :bang:

when its done! ;)

im using those hooker block huggers. we cut the tube on the inside at the flange, angled it out about 2-3 inches so it sits against the frame instead of the block. now theres a ton more room to run it on the outside of the shaft rather than the inside.

they should be done tomorrow or thursday.


Mine's on the outside too. I'm using the c5 manifolds. Free is nice. i need to order DIY header kit Longtube style.

rock on LS1 swappers!!!!!!!!!!!!

heres my update finally. been busy haha

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2529.jpg

headers and both exhausts completely built. just finishing up the H pipe at the moment. everything was going AWESOME till yesterday. i attached the clutch line and theres a leak somewhere near the slave. so pulling the motor tonight and looking for what it could be. i hope its something stupid.

cam and the rest of the front half of the engine is reassembled, engine is 99% assembled. only thing thats left is the pushrods and crap on the valve covers.

drivers side, theres actually way more clearance between the exhaust and the outlets for the rack than the first pic shows. its the strange angle i took the picture. its probably about an inch-1.5 inches away.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2523.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2524.jpg

pass side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2528.jpg

not much clearance around everything but since the engine is solid mounted, i didnt really concern myself with that. ill be heat wrapping the exhaust near the rack and wrapping the lines too. might get a PS cooler also.

heres also one of my side exits ;)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2522.jpg

figured out a way to do dual sides hehe. running 2 dynomax race mufflers so it should sound pretty awesome.

Awesome build :eek2:

Any pics of where you mounted the dynomax mufflers?

Nice work buy the way!

haha since its a race-only vehicle with a solid mounted engine i just welded on a small tab, drilled a couple holes and bolted them to my floor lol. im gonna be heat wrapping the mufflers and putting a guard under my seat to prevent hot-ass syndrome.

putting dual side exhausts on a car that was never designed for 1 has required some..um..ghetto engineering in that respect haha. "clearanceing" the floor with a jack and a block of wood, and a hammer ;)

here you can see where they are mounted. on the insides of the frame rails just past the transmission mount.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2520.jpg

thanks to my asshole boss for taking all these pictures of me working haha

p.s. check out my awesome safe vehicle lifting practices :jest:

Nice Build :thumb:

what were those headers again? if i do another swap thats what i want to use. save some money.

hooker LS1 block huggers.

we probably have about 10-15 hours into them for modification. cut out each individual runner on the inside at the flange, cleaned everything up, positioned everything, welded everything, then made it all smooth and pretty on the inside with my 13$ harbor freight die grinder hahaha

im very happy with the way they turned out. they almost look like we never touched them.

i already had a thread about my line leaking problem but heres what happened

right after i hooked the clutch up for the first time and bled it i had a leak somewhere at the slave (inside the bellhousing) tonight i yanked the motor and inspected it.

started pulling shit apart. looking at stuff...thinking... after the smoke stopped coming out it was very obvious.

this is a mcleod gm slave to -4 adapter.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/mcl-139026_w.jpg

this is a summit racing -4 to -3 adapter.
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/ear-989486.jpg

the summit adapter is too long. the insides of the fittings didnt make contact with each other and they were leaking around the threads, because those arent designed to seal lol. i ran to the shop and cut off about 1/8th an inch just to give it a shot and it worked! engine is back in now and clutch is holding pressure like a champ. yay.

Killer swap man. Looking forward to seeing it running in some vids. :drive:

good deal. im runnin -4 all the way and it looks like the mcleod fitting is a tad longer and should seat nicely in my line

oh and +1 for side exit exh

haha since its a race-only vehicle with a solid mounted engine i just welded on a small tab, drilled a couple holes and bolted them to my floor lol. im gonna be heat wrapping the mufflers and putting a guard under my seat to prevent hot-ass syndrome.

putting dual side exhausts on a car that was never designed for 1 has required some..um..ghetto engineering in that respect haha. "clearanceing" the floor with a jack and a block of wood, and a hammer ;)

here you can see where they are mounted. on the insides of the frame rails just past the transmission mount.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2520.jpg

thanks to my asshole boss for taking all these pictures of me working haha

p.s. check out my awesome safe vehicle lifting practices :jest:

I have been watching your build. I say its one of the most interesting S13 builds i've seen. And I like you safe car lift. lol you have way more balls to do that then I have. congrats on the build it looks great so far.

I have been watching your build. I say its one of the most interesting S13 builds i've seen. And I like you safe car lift. lol you have way more balls to do that then I have. congrats on the build it looks great so far.

sorry dude, but thats an s14

good you solved the slave fitting issues, pita huh?!

uh dude, NEVER get under a car like that. its just not worth it man.
I have had several friends in scca racing that have seen jack fail and the cars fall to the ground in a split second. you dont want to be under there especially if that is the only jack in the garage how is anyone supposed to get you out of there?! wtf.
at least put a block of wood under the tires to keep the car frame from crushing your ribs. all it takes is one little o-ring in a jack to blowout or one of the bolts on the axis point of the jack to work its way out, and your done.

otherwise, mad props dorfito man! looks badass!

oh yeah one more thing... if you ever suspect clutch slave issues, you can remove the T56 from the bellhousing without pulling the motor from the car.

Ive done it several times in LS1FC swaps, learned the hard way after putting a t56 on withOUT the slave (wtfbbq!). there are 8 bolts keeping the t56 on the bellhousing and removing those and the shifter will let you bring the trans right back and out without too much work. using a V-block out of wood or similar can keep the t56 from falling on its side on the jack if you use a floor jack to hold it up as you move it backwards. when you reinstall the t56 just be cautious of the locating dowel pins, line them up and work it on, sometimes using a driveshaft to spin the trans to get the input shaft to line up with the clutch splines. should be easier than pulling the entire swap and all of those connections, oy vey.

lol i usually always have jackstands but that was just a 2 minute job to align the front of the exhaust. ive been literally working with that jack for over 2 years, every day at the shop so i trust it haha.

and good top about the bell housing! if the engine had fluids in it that would be way easier than pulling everything.

heres what i cut off and you can see how the adapter was just too long

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2535.jpg

assembled
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2537.jpg

also got bored and painted valve covers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2538.jpg

im know, black, boring, bla bla bla.

Black looks good. Just a note, the idle pulley looks a bit old and rusty. Might want to change that out prior to getting everything in place.

yea its pretty beat, if funds allow id love to upgrade but as of right now my cash flow is all of about 0. i have enough to finish, no more real upgrades haha.

but very shortly after ill probably swap that and go to a pro 5.0 shifter.

sorry dude, but thats an s14 lol yeah that was a type-o on my part.

all you get is a shitty sidekick picture for now, deal with it. my camera broke

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG00159.jpg

gauges and 99% of the chassis wiring are finally done. only parts left are connecting the gauges to the senders and little misc crap.

im starting to like these custom gauge panels...

werd to custom panels

Custom Cluster (yes no speedo, they are useless)
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k141/datboibrad/DSC04474.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k141/datboibrad/DSC04476.jpg

not useless for me! i want to know my entry speeds! haha

its been another crazy week for me and im glad i can FINALLY see the end in sight. over the past few days i have completely reloomed the entire engine harness, removed ALL the emissions bullshit from the harness and finished up almost all the wiring. just have to wire in the DLC and loom and finalize the starter and alternator wiring.

today i put the driveshaft in and cranked the engine for the first time to see if the new oil pump worked (just crank, not start!) and was installed correctly, after a tense 15-25 seconds oil started coming out of the rockers :) to me that was the last major hurdle left. now its all electrical and small shit.

hopefully ill be starting it on friday :)

a couple pics of the wiring nightmare. i just got a new camera and ill be using it from now on haha


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG00161.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG00163.jpg
heres all the shit i removed. FUCK YOU EMISSIONS! :P

lol, yeah fawk emissions! LS1s love running withOUT that stuff :)

nice work on the dash, very cool.
the valvecovers look great all freshlypainted, good idea.
hey dont bother taking that main idler pulley (crank pulley) off, its a major PITA with enormous torque req'd to get it on and off and you can strip a crankshaft of threads (ask my buddy how he knows.. $$$$). if you do feel the urge you can paint it on the car but I wouldnt even bother.

you gotta be stoked it has oil pressure and runs fine, congrats!

you gonna keep that battery and keep it up front there? you can use a teeny tiny odyssey battery ya know, they work fine, soloracer/NyToy has been running his LS1FC on that 9pound battery for a year now without any problems and he has a stereo too, wooohooo.

owen im thinking of eventually upgrading the battery to something smaller but at the moment its the last thing on my mind haha

found an off the shelf upper radiator hose today at autozone, couldnt believe it lol. lower one i had to do some modification to.

filling it with fluids and waiting for my tuner to come by the shop tomorrow to remove VATS then i try to start it for the first time. :)

ITS ALIVE!

today at about 1:30 it ran for the first time! WOW it sounds awesome haha. ill get some video as soon as i can! I want to thank everyone that gave me advice and suggestions along the way. also helped me during the swap.

only real problem is there is a big oil leak on the passenger side thats finding its way to the collector/exhaust and smoking all over. ill deal with it on monday. other than that its all little issues/finishing touches that ill clear up next week and its finished!

couple pics
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/kamin28/IMG_2594.jpg
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb100/otakuspeed/S5000934Medium.jpg

oh yea i especially want to thank ls1 tech. you guys have been amazing and i couldnt have finished this swap without this board. <3

video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb9vpn9MaN0

Sweet nice build

quick question for those guys who are finished

the dipstick hole on the block, what did you use to plug it? im running a temporary plug right now haha.

and i really drove it today for the first time. WOW its fucking FAST.

i got my hands on a factory "freezeplug" and tapped it in.

the guy i got my goat pan from swapped an ls2 to fbody pan, so he had to puch it out to put the fbody dips in there.

p/n unknown

my dealer just looked at me funny...im looking for a small freeze plug right now lol

quick question for those guys who are finished

the dipstick hole on the block, what did you use to plug it? im running a temporary plug right now haha.

and i really drove it today for the first time. WOW its fucking FAST.

I tapped it using a 1.25 x 10 mm tap and threaded a bolt into it.

tapping would work, but since the engine is in the car...makes me nervous. metal shavings and all...

curious to know as well...

tapping would work, but since the engine is in the car...makes me nervous. metal shavings and all...

I also threaded it and installed a bolt, but you're right about the harm with metal shavings. You're going to need something that can withstand high temp, and be adhesive to metal, otherwise maybe a plug of some sort. Maybe get a dip stick, cut it and have it welded shut and stuff it in there (ghetto I know).

quick question for those guys who are finished

the dipstick hole on the block, what did you use to plug it? im running a temporary plug right now haha.

and i really drove it today for the first time. WOW its fucking FAST.


Why are you not using the dip stick? If i is to tall and does not fit under the hood to can just bend it forward a little that is what I did on my RX7 it works fine just bend it slow you dont even need to heat it or anything.

Perhaps he doesn't have it....

I did the same as you on my ls1 swapped rx7. Just bent it forward to clear the hood.

Why are you not using the dip stick? If i is to tall and does not fit under the hood to can just bend it forward a little that is what I did on my RX7 it works fine just bend it slow you dont even need to heat it or anything.

Why are you not using the dip stick? If i is to tall and does not fit under the hood to can just bend it forward a little that is what I did on my RX7 it works fine just bend it slow you dont even need to heat it or anything.


we have to run the GTO oil pan, the dipstick hole is in the oil pan.

hence i need to plug the one on the block that the camaro/bird use.

how big is it? can you use a rubber stopper kinda thing that has a lever on it to tighten it (expand the rubber part) once its in the hole? like they use on boat drain pipes and some e-z-fix oilpan drainplug emergency replacement thingamajigs?

we have to run the GTO oil pan, the dipstick hole is in the oil pan.

hence i need to plug the one on the block that the camaro/bird use.


ah learn something new everyday.

Since the pan is on, if you can find a metal plug or set screw of the same dimension (about a 10 mm hole) then use JB Weld to keep it in place.

i avoid JB weld like the plague haha

I cut and welded the original dipstick a plugged the hole. No leaks yet, I will keep an eye on it.

That was literally him just getting into the car with how he has it built. I don't even think he has the battery in the back either, at least not at that time.

I think he's maybe taken some weight out of the car since then though. I need to to weigh my car to see what it comes in at for I'm curoius now.


battery has been in the trunk since well before the swap. the gas tank was about 1/4 full.

weld a bung and run an oil temp. very nice thing to have

weld a bung and run an oil temp. very nice thing to have


I dont think that will work it will not be in oil like it needs to be it would end up being just above it in that location.

What about taping the hole and putting a plug in there.

hmm i dunno i can get a half coupling at work and weld it in and put a plug it in. just any supply carries them.

i have a couple quick question, are you still running the stock fuel cell? if so did you install a fuel level sending unit or using the stock one to run the autometer gauge? also, did you relocate the factory relay box into the cab or is it no longer used with the gm harness?

he used painless. painless has its own box haha

i kinda used painless.

its a painless switch panel but I did the chassis harness without painless. just bought wire, generic fuse panel, etc etc etc. i REMOVED the stock fuse boxes and consolidated everything down to the center console (about 20 total circuits and 5 relays)

stock fuel tank and i used an autometer gauge that is close to the calibration of the stock fuel sender.

oh and over the weekend i got a solid hour in the car on track. performed flawlessly.

how big is it? can you use a rubber stopper kinda thing that has a lever on it to tighten it (expand the rubber part) once its in the hole? like they use on boat drain pipes and some e-z-fix oilpan drainplug emergency replacement thingamajigs?

That is what I did...but made my own with a stainless bolt and rubber "stopper".

Sounds good Kamin! Glad you got it running good, I love the Kouki S14's.

The hole in the block... I just used a tap with grease caked on it. The grease will hold all of the shavings to the tap. Put a bolt in it with loc-tite and cal it a day.

I wanna hear more about the track day performance!

it was one of my events so i was busy running around taking care of all the organizational and logistic crap along with trying to drive and keep 45 drivers and 500 spectators happy and entertained haha. all i know is the car ran awesome and i had no issues other than some boiling power steering fluid. ill have to add a cooler soon.

wait till next weekend for a real report if i can get to PIR, thats the big dog track. its about a 90-100mph initiation.

all i know is the car ran awesome and i had no issues other than some boiling power steering fluid. ill have to add a cooler soon.

While you're at it, use Red Line or RP p.s. fluid as well. The road race/open track/HPDE LS1 f body peeps have almost no problems with a good cooler and these fluids. (IF they do, there is always the Turn One pump, but I would wait until you cook/destroy the OEM pump first.)

this is probably gonna be my last update. over the weekend i FINALLY got to really beat on the car. ive already been to 2 parking lot events but its really hard for the ls to stretch its legs with low speeds.

sunday i was at PIR (Phoenix international raceway) we ran the 1.5 mile road course.

lets just say im in LOVE. heres a few pics

http://dmspec.com/test/gallery/albums/uploads/pir/IMG_0072.jpg
http://dmspec.com/test/gallery/albums/uploads/pir/IMG_0058.jpg
http://dmspec.com/test/gallery/albums/uploads/pir/IMG_0059.jpg

thats 4th gear ;)

lets just say tires dont last as long as they used to hahaha.

car took a little time to get used to on track but at the end of the day i was getting super comfortable in it again. i cant wait to get back out on fast tracks. so far its got about 120 miles on it (80 miles on track) and the *ONLY* issue thats come up is im boiling power steering fluid. i even added a giant cooler on the return side but am still boiling it. ill address that later.

christ dude that looks like fun. maybe ill make it to some az events one day. come down to texas sometime. mineral wells is a huge place, 4th gear entries all day buba

yea ive heard about those events. too bad parking lots suck.

PIR makes men out of boys. ;)

mineral wells is a sweet ass parking lot though. the one time i took my ls13 out there i was doing 5th gear entries into a 2nd gear corner, it was rad.

its not worth justifying a 1000 mile long trip though by any means.

i avoid JB weld like the plague haha


yah but when you put in a motor and forget about it and dont feel like pulling the pan or risking the good ol tap, its about the only answer.

i took an m8 bolt, jb weld, put the jb weld on the top of the bolt and put the bolt in never had a problem with it. no its not the right way, but in your situation it will do the job.

btw your swap is hot.

and from experience, even 275 2xs with no air in them will leave you wanting more.