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LTX and LSXPutting LT1s, LS1s, and their variants into Third Gens is becoming more popular. This board is for those who are doing and have done the swaps so they can discuss all of their technical aspects including repairs, swap info, and performance upgrades.
It's finally gotten to the point with my car where I can start on my 4.8 swap. Long story short, I bought this car a few years ago for $1000 and found it had rusty floors (Repair thread: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...st-repair.html). I have replaced them, put in subframe connectors, and finished up my 8 point rollbar. I will probably make it a 10 point cage sooner or later, but I wanted to drive this on the street which is why I went with the bar for now.
Here are some pics of the car as I have it right now.
In a month I will be moving to Ohio and my goal is to get the 4.8 in without the turbo so that I can get the tune setup for the 4.8.
I am ordering the MS3X v3.57 in a couple days along with some other parts for my engine.
About the engine
I bought this 4.8 from a friend that had it sitting around when he took it out of his truck because of a ticking lifter. It had under 100K miles on it when that happened. I decided to take the pistons out and hone the block, put new file fit rings on the pistons, and some good rod bearings. I am using 862 heads that I have ported and polished myself along with a ported LS6 intake with a ported throttle body. I have 60lb injectors on it aswell. As for the cam, I am going to use the GM ASA cam that is made by Howard Cams because I didn't want to spend a ton of money on new valvetrain stuff at this point in time. I did get LS6 valve springs and LS7 lifters though.
What I plan to do
I am building up my 700r4 to stay alive for a little bit with some abuse from the 4.8 in NA form and so that I can make the drive to Ohio without any problems. I will be getting a 3,000 stall converter, corvette servo, and a mild performance rebuild. Suspension wise, I am getting Spohn's crossmember mounted torque arm, LCA's and adjustable panhard bar. For the fuel system I will be getting a new tank, putting on a sump, and using an aeromotive A1000 pump along with the A1000 regulator. I'll pretty much have everything setup on the car for it to be ready for the turbo and make a respectable amount of power safely. Once I get to Ohio, I plan on getting a 4L80E, some brand of 76 MM or 88MM turbo, and putting in a Ford 9" that I have laying around.
I am getting the body assembled at this point because I am waiting on parts to get the transmission and engine hooked together, but they will be dropped in soon. I will try and keep this thread updated very often as I do more and more to the car. I have a lot of ideas for it and it will be a long term project for me.
A good bit of progress has been made in the past week. I finally got around to putting the lower end of the engine together because some friends pushed me to do it
I also got a new carpet from ACC, so I have been putting that in throughout the week.
I ordered the SLP double roller timing chain and ported oil pump combo since I think this engine had a problem with it's oil pump before being taken out. Always good to stay safe as well as get some better stuff.
I got a brand new F-body oil pan from Super Chevy. Was $270 for the pan, windage tray, sump, dipstick, and dipstick tube. Pretty happy with that.
Got the Advanced Adapters flexplate for older GM transmission put on.
And finally, I got my Megasquirt III in today! It has the MS3X board on it for all the extra stuff I needed. Don't know when I'll get around the wiring up the harness for it, but I don't think it will take too long.
Been awhile since I've updated the thread but I've gotten a lot done.
Started the MS harness. Not much progress after finishing the MS3X portion of it.
Oil pan all torqued down and aligned.
Got the transmission back from being rebuilt. Apparently it was rebuilt very badly by someone and then raced very hard, lol.
Bolted together and ready to go into the car.
All bolted up. Went in with no problems. Was incredibly easy to drop in the car with the transmission connected and f-body oil pan. No notching of the crossmember needed either.
About to bolt the heads on. Doing the TTY bolts is much easier when it's in the car so that there's a resisting force from the torque you exert on the engine.
Top end is attached. The wiper motor is blocking my fittings on the back of the fuel rail.
The AC stuff needs to be removed so that I can fit the other coil pack group on. Good thing there's no need for AC in Ohio.
Nothing to update for the engine setup really. Ever since I moved to Ohio I've been working on finishing up the rollcage, putting a 9 inch in, tubular front, etc.
Once I get all of that stuff done and can channel my money back towards the engine, I will post updates
I got a question. I just stuck a 5.3 in my 87. I also got the new fbody oil pan, tray, pickup and gasket. I didn't put any rtv in the corners and now it's in the car. I didn't know about the rtv trick till after. Did u put rtv where the gaskets come together? I thought the 1 piece inner seal would have sealed it up good. But now I'm told if I don't put the rtv then it will leak.
I got a question. I just stuck a 5.3 in my 87. I also got the new fbody oil pan, tray, pickup and gasket. I didn't put any rtv in the corners and now it's in the car. I didn't know about the rtv trick till after. Did u put rtv where the gaskets come together? I thought the 1 piece inner seal would have sealed it up good. But now I'm told if I don't put the rtv then it will leak.
Since it's brand new and the gasket hasn't been used, I don't think it will leak if you have your front and rear covers perfectly aligned with the block. I tried to get my covers as aligned as much as possible and I only put a small bit of RTV in the corners for some protection. I don't think it was needed though.
Well I just want to make sure as I would have to pull the pan to do this and I dont really want to lol. The inner silicone seal is one continuous seal from the looks of it (from my memory) so I dont see how silicone will be needed. Also I'm not sure if mine is perfectly aligned but Im not running a full LS1 style trans, Im running a 2004R so its only the top half of the belhousing and doesnt require bolting the trans to the pan so alignment isn't an issue.
Also looking at your picks your motor mounts seem to have pushed you farther back much farther than mine. Or maybe its an illusion but I have setback mounts which allow 1" forward (towards radiator), Stock SBC mount, and 1" backwards (toward firewall). I have it at stock SBC location and it looks closer to the sway bar than yours. I couldn't set mind back any farther bc of driveshaft length and I already had to custom make a trans crossmember which was not fun given how high I wanted to tuck my exhaust up.
Your fuel line routing is interesting, a single Y feed to both fronts of the fuel rails... no return line? I would have just feed one line at the rear and cross over at the front and then return out the back of the other. Thats basically how I have mine but Im running the truck intake.
Other than that yours looks like a nice clean install. I would love to remove my intake and swap out the valley cover like yours but I dont want to delete the knock sensors. Your not using them I'm assuming.
Sorry, I just realized you also have your TV cable hooked up!!! I need to figure this out on my 2004R... Did you make that bracket? can you make another one? lol. I've been reading up on how to get the angle correct (for the sweep of the arm) but haven't tried as of yet to fab something up. I just recently got my Lokar throttle line and Im using a lokar TV cable on my 2004r.
Also did you have to mess with your trans crossmember? Yours seems father back than mine and my stock trans mount wouldn't work but mine is much father back than a 700r4 due to the mounting pad on the 2004R being almost at the very end of the tail housing.
Also looking at your picks your motor mounts seem to have pushed you farther back much farther than mine. Or maybe its an illusion but I have setback mounts which allow 1" forward (towards radiator), Stock SBC mount, and 1" backwards (toward firewall). I have it at stock SBC location and it looks closer to the sway bar than yours. I couldn't set mind back any farther bc of driveshaft length and I already had to custom make a trans crossmember which was not fun given how high I wanted to tuck my exhaust up.
Your fuel line routing is interesting, a single Y feed to both fronts of the fuel rails... no return line? I would have just feed one line at the rear and cross over at the front and then return out the back of the other. Thats basically how I have mine but Im running the truck intake.
Other than that yours looks like a nice clean install. I would love to remove my intake and swap out the valley cover like yours but I dont want to delete the knock sensors. Your not using them I'm assuming.
I'm using holley motor plates that set the engine one inch back that I bolt the original clamshells to. Also using solid Spohn mounts on the crossmember. The transmission bolted in with a BMR 4l60E crossmember, so I assume it's the stock 700r4 position. Driveshaft fit in perfectly fine.
Regarding the fuel lines, I have two return lines that go to the regulator. It's kind of backwards, but it works better for this because the fuel pump goes directly to the Y, fuel gets used, then it's regulated down after the rails. Holley said to use it this way because it's also less strain on the pump.
And yes, I'm not using the knock sensors. Depending on how I tune it during some dyno runs and if I feel that it needs them, I'll put them back in.
Sorry, I just realized you also have your TV cable hooked up!!! I need to figure this out on my 2004R... Did you make that bracket? can you make another one? lol. I've been reading up on how to get the angle correct (for the sweep of the arm) but haven't tried as of yet to fab something up. I just recently got my Lokar throttle line and Im using a lokar TV cable on my 2004r.
Also did you have to mess with your trans crossmember? Yours seems father back than mine and my stock trans mount wouldn't work but mine is much father back than a 700r4 due to the mounting pad on the 2004R being almost at the very end of the tail housing.
I also made the bracket out of some crap metal I had laying around, it was just to see if it would work. I made the TV cable mount point diagonal from where the throttle hooks up so that when I pull on the throttle, the TV cable has the direct opposite pull
Yup, I just wanted to make sure you were running a return line. Thats how I have mine as well as its the best setup (hence why OEM puts the regulator at the end of the fuel rails instead of before). I just have 1 line going in to the driver rail, then loops to the pass rail at the front and then returns out of the driver rail to the regulator which returns fuel back to the tank.
Its interesting to see the TV bracket. There are a bunch of angles/etc that need to be correct for the TV cable to pull at the correct angle/length during the sweep or your TV line pressures will be off and burn up the trans or cause weird shifting issues. Its one of the next things on my list to do lol.
Yup, I just wanted to make sure you were running a return line. Thats how I have mine as well as its the best setup (hence why OEM puts the regulator at the end of the fuel rails instead of before). I just have 1 line going in to the driver rail, then loops to the pass rail at the front and then returns out of the driver rail to the regulator which returns fuel back to the tank.
Its interesting to see the TV bracket. There are a bunch of angles/etc that need to be correct for the TV cable to pull at the correct angle/length during the sweep or your TV line pressures will be off and burn up the trans or cause weird shifting issues. Its one of the next things on my list to do lol.
I fully intend to redo the brackets because I just tried to copy the swing of the TV cable from how it was on the carb.
In other news, I picked up a very nice 85' Iroc for a great price. This is the car that will be getting the LS turbo swap now. This one is very complete and has every power option available which seems like a better candidate for a powerful daily. Going to try and leave it as stock as possible looking. The 84Z28 I have will be getting back halved along with a funny car cage and either a 406 nitrous SBC or a 540 nitrous BBC. Won't be starting on that project for awhile.
Anyways, pics:
How it sat when first delivered.
Looks worse than it actually was
When I first got it, I saw the brackets on the side of the buckets for headlight covers. Found one cover on the back hump.
Vacuumed out and cleaned the junk out
Original radio wiring was intact. Hooked the radio up and played the Cyprus Hill IV tape I found in the back seat, LOL
Washed all the crap off from it. It had been sitting under a tree for the last seven years. No rust at all on this car though.
In the garage with my other Z28
Going to try and get the LS swapped in and running by the end of December. Turbo will come in the spring.
Update time!
I've been swapping everything over to the new car and getting lots of the little stuff that need to be done for the engine to run, done.
Here's the old 350 being pulled from the 85'
Ready for the 4.8. I pressure washed the engine bay but it didn't get much of the crap out. Paint is still nice though.
Painted the valve covers and got the harmonic balancer on. This one is for a Corvette because I wanted the accessories closer to the engine for more room up front to fit the hot side piping and such, but I am going back to F-body accessories because there's more clearance on the sides. I may also switch to truck coils because they're better and the LS1 coils don't fit with the AC housing.
Engine is in!
Got the FPR mounted and my lines run. I still need to put on the DS header because I have to get the wiring for the transmission done and set up the shifter. Need to get a new cover for the wiper motor, too.
Got the front back on and all lined up. Something must have happened to the driver's side because the fiberglass piece that houses all the headlights was busted up as well as that fender having bondo on it. Pulled the headlights from my other camaro and put it on. All fixed :-D
That brings this thread up to yesterday when I started the roll bar. It's just a basic 4 point for now.
The bars are just in place to check fitment. I will be putting the plates under them tomorrow.
The only thing left on the car after I get roll bar in and the interior back together is to get f-body accessories and figure out how to get the tank to an AN line. I'd rather not weld a sump on it, just incase anything would happen. I'd rather use an external pump so that I could easily service it incase it goes bad.
There are also some AN to compression fittings I found that are rated for 50 PSI, though if using an external pump I doubt they will be at that pressure considering they will be before the pump. What about the pressure on the return line, what's that usually at?
My goal is to get the car running and dyno tune it before February 28th, which is the start of my spring break. I will also be selling the old drivetrain from the car to buy most of the turbo parts, which will hopefully happen over summer.
That brings this thread up to yesterday when I started the roll bar. It's just a basic 4 point for now.
The bars are just in place to check fitment. I will be putting the plates under them tomorrow.
When I pulled up the rear carpet, I found this piece of paper. Does anybody know what it is?
The only thing left on the car after I get roll bar in and the interior back together is to get f-body accessories and figure out how to get the tank to an AN line. I'd rather not weld a sump on it, just incase anything would happen. I'd rather use an external pump so that I could easily service it incase it goes bad.
There are also some AN to compression fittings I found that are rated for 50 PSI, though if using an external pump I doubt they will be at that pressure considering they will be before the pump. What about the pressure on the return line, what's that usually at?
My goal is to get the car running and dyno tune it before February 28th, which is the start of my spring break. I will also be selling the old drivetrain from the car to buy most of the turbo parts, which will hopefully happen over summer.
Cars code and vin. Not the build sheet. Prob a dealer thing so they got the cars they ordered. I found my cars actual full build sheet behind the driver seat under the carpet.
I've run those compression fittings at fuel pressure psi and never leaked. You should be fine. Return line pressure should be 0psi but could be low psi if your return line is undersized and your pump is upgraded.
I would not weld the rear bars there. That area over the rear axle is thin metal and not structural. Run them to the top where rear shocks bolt through as that's right next to the rear spring perches and the strongest part of the car. Or run them all the way to the back but by the rear shocks is still the best place.
Last edited by customblackbird; 01-27-2016 at 07:52 PM.
Cars code and vin. Not the build sheet. Prob a dealer thing so they got the cars they ordered. I found my cars actual full build sheet behind the driver seat under the carpet.
I've run those compression fittings at fuel pressure psi and never leaked. You should be fine. Return line pressure should be 0psi but could be low psi if your return line is undersized and your pump is upgraded.
I would not weld the rear bars there. That area over the rear axle is thin metal and not structural. Run them to the top where rear shocks bolt through as that's right next to the rear spring perches and the strongest part of the car. Or run them all the way to the back but by the rear shocks is still the best place.
I ran them to the shock mounts other car, so I guess I'll do it the same way on this one.
Ignore my response. I read what u wrote wrong. Best parts to weld do is the shock mount and before the rear seat hump.
I know these cars very well because I've had my other one stripped completely when replacing the floors and doing that roll bar. I know where all the "frame rails" are, torque boxes, etc. And where I have the main hoop, it actually connects to thicker pieces of metal on the torque box than where you are talking about. While it may be hollow in the center, the welds for the plates are only on where the torque box is butted right up against the floor pan as well.
05-16-2015, 07:33 PM
