Engine SwapEverything about swapping an engine into your Third Gen.....be it V6, V8, LTX/LSX, crate engine, etc. Pictures, questions, answers, and work logs.
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Hi Guys im new here, but been around for alittle while but now stepping things up a gear and thought now is as good as time as ever to join.
Myself im a young guy and been a fan of the 3rd gen car shape since i was around 4 years old but truth be told I didnt know what it was only that it was on Knight Rider, when i was alittle older I twigged what "knight Rider" actually was and it was only a short step and quick google search to discover what the base car was and the rest is history.
Now i dont know how the you guys will react to Knight Rider as im sure most of you are into your 3rd gen without all the flashing lights etc... however i was hooked and my car will be a knight rider replica when its all done and theres nothing you can say that will convince me otherwise lol
With an ever increasing knowledge about the car and the past generations and how the 3rd gen was born i realised that there was no hidding the fact the engine were absoutly crap! and didnt have the performance that i wanted (all show and no go) so i planted in my mind that i would have to change the engine at some point.
The plan was to put an LS1, or LS3 in it as they would give want i wanted, but an offer came up that i couldnt refuse an LT5 within a hour of where i live, so i went to see the guy with my dad and the rest is history i am to become the owner of an LT5 and the intention is to put it into my 84 firebird Trans am.
At the moment its still with its orginal owner in his track day car but in a few weeks the engine will be removed and be on its way to me
I have read this has only been done a few times and i have only seen camaros with it in so a firebird although should not pose any problem you never know. I know they will be problems and whenever your doing something abit unsusaul youve got to work the problem and find the best solution you can.
Okay finally alittle about the engine at the moment its in a track day car, its has custom headers and produces alittle over 400hp, it painted red but will be changed to suit the coloured scheme of my car. I will know more when i have it home. Its has the smallest oil leak that there are known for but runs like a champ and sounds great
Heres a vid of it starting up and reving, be aware this isnt reving hard, barely past 2000rpm the sound is turely amazing and when its proberly poked can be heard miles away
Welcome, and congrats! First, I see no problem fitting it under any stock or aftermarket hood, as they all are better than the '90-'95 ZR1 hood, clearance-wise. Your installation issues should be the exact same as for Camaros.
Thanks for the welcome, I will post pics hopefully as and when, as you can imagine progress will be slow until i have the funds since the LT5 is not a cheap beast lol
Well from the video link you could see that it was still "a car" however this has now changed it is home in my garage.
A few early set backs are that the wiring that was installed was a bit crap and was actually causing the engine to under perfrom, thjis of course will be sorted out, in the coming weeks and months just gonna be getting my head around all the aspects of the engine as well as whats involved in hooking it up to a transmission
the custom made headers are also not what i expected them to be so I wont feel so bad now if i decide to replace them entirely.
another thing is i wasnt gonna go with aircon, purely because of the power drain issue, but it seems the drain isnt as bad as i thought it would be, any thought on this (you guys can chip in)
a/c doesn't drain any power when you turn it off, and the LT5 ZR1s were set up to make the a/c cut out at WOT anyway. Some corvette-specific salvage yard should have the ZF 6-speed from a totalled ZR1, if you don't want to think about adapting a trans. If you want an automatic, GM themselves did adapt a 4L60 to an engineering mule. Will Handzel could help, if you can find a way to contact him.
Will Handzel used to work for Hot Rod magazine, and drove their Camaro to like 240 mph at Bonneville, before becoming the manager of GM's Performance Parts operations.
Will Handzel used to work for Hot Rod magazine, and drove their Camaro to like 240 mph at Bonneville, before becoming the manager of GM's Performance Parts operations.
Oh thanks mate, appreicate the info, yer theres alot to do and gotta have a plan of every other part of the power train before i can think about putting the engine in and out.
We are learning fast as much as we can about the engine (more the things like the a/c, power sterring pump etc... that sorta thing) like I said its gonna be a long road simply beacuse of the amount of money plus shipping of parts.
Well last night me and my dad went out back to garage to seal the engine, to protect it while in storage until funds merit progress again, we took some pics I'll try and post them as its stands now, its really is a good looking engine, but as much as I want to to be done over night It just wont be
(just want to give you guys a heads up to to expect rapid progess....lol)
Be sure to turn the crank about 120 degrees every month, so you don't end up with some springs being weak from their valves being open for months on end.
I guess I should've phrased that differently. In such a way as to show what I get for my assuming. I freely acknowledge I haven't seen an LT5 engine or non-L98 ZF myself, but GM knew they would be using the ZF, and with the same ratios in it as the one behind the L98, and the LT5 was a clean sheet design, so why wouldn't it have the traditional bellhousing pattern? Especially with Chevy being so noted for engine interchangeability? But I did note that they had to adapt a 4L60, rather than just bolt it up.
Should be a nice fun swap. I just hope it doesn't give you too much trouble swapping it in! The LT5 is definitely a quick motor stock. So you should have some fun with it.
Sweet. I love that engine. I almost picked one up on ebay several years ago, but my highest bid didn't meet the reserve price.
Post pics when you get a chance.
I'm reading your posts with an accent.... British? If so I'm sure finding old GM parts over there must be fun.... Where are you sourcing from?
Sweet. I love that engine. I almost picked one up on ebay several years ago, but my highest bid didn't meet the reserve price.
Post pics when you get a chance.
I'm reading your posts with an accent.... British? If so I'm sure finding old GM parts over there must be fun.... Where are you sourcing from?
I will, ive been super busy I just need to find all the cables for the camera and the sum spare time.
Your correct im British, and im sourcing the part out of clean fresh air lmao!
nah jks... its just time, money and alot of luck. Also atm every part of the drive train is being replaced, and since it'll be new aftermarket stuff "generally" I might as well go ahead a buy it from the states. For the other stuff Im in a real good area for enginerring and plenty of american business as well.
Theres always gonna be problems, and I have a few already but we'll work the problem and normally end up with something that was better than it orginally was.
e.g The wiring when it was put into the car it has just come out of was shocking (nothin to do with the guy i brought it from) but the guy he had to remove the engine said the second bank of injectors are intermitant, so thats gotta be sorted which atm is my biggest problem so far with the engine, but it can all be fixed.
being in the UK,england to be more precise Lotus are just around the corner lol
well, its going slow with time and effort on other parts of the project atm, but I took some pictures of the engine, so thought id share them with u guys
oh yer the intake is on the wrong way round to the standard configuration but, thats how it was since it was in a car where it was mid engined.
Yep planning on using a tubular K member, looking like getting the spohns one, they seem to have all the bases covered.
Its on the soon to buy list lol
88 Firebird Formula 350- 85,XXX miles *G92* *Ws6*
