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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.
Hello LSX Fans. I have been slacking laely as their has been lots going on lately at home with the kids wifes school etc. Not much time left for the project.
I am at the stage that I need to diagnose and reasearch symptoms which most projects have. This process is called sorting. Most projects have this period involved with the build. It is time consuming frustrating and tests your muturity as a man. Friends are essential during this process. Yes you can do it yoursealf, but it is less frustrating when you can rely on local experts to help you. but you have to give to get. Please keep this in mind when you are continplating YOUR project. Joining a car club is a great option if you dont have buddys to fall back on. Some call it schmoozing. I started 2 years ago with guys I met at the junk yard. It is paying off now.
A view of the aluminum drive shaft. Notice I still have some cleaning to do underneath.
Monza exhaust on a camaro? No, these gotta go!
They are the wrong size and put on uneven. I would love to score some nice tips in the junk yard! (Sure I could order some new ones but what fun is that?
Jhon bolting up the t56 to the hawks cross member. (I know its out of order but everyone needs to do this step.
I bolted on the stock air filter to start the car. It dose not fit in its present configuration but it is very close.It almost looks like its meant to be there.
John and I bolted the last body part togeather before he left for home in Florida. Thanks buddy for all the help!
So today was the second attempt to start the car. I feel like an idiot. Sorry Jose for not being fully ready when you came over. The dash fuse was missing. I should have caught that instead I had us chasing grounds. All is well now. the dash lights up as it should, the engine cranks over. We are sooo close to starting!
I still need to do some wiring, install the cooling system and of corse tuck the interior wires and install the interior.
Looks like your almost done. If you can get the stock air cleaner to fit well enough (even if the hood doesn't fit) use that when you go to the ref. it will save some head aches with the after market parts and carb stickers.
Thanks shaggy and nhra. I do feel like i am close. I was on vacation for the last 7 days so sorry for the slow response. I will be checking into the exhaust issue next and concentrating on tightening up misc. bolts. My engine guy should be here by next week with a vats solution. Either way i should be running soon.
Hello again LS Fans. I have been busy with family (2kids under 2) but i also have been chipping away daily at the cars wiring problems . Mostly little stuff, Like figuring out VATS, mystery grounds and the like issues. I finally got Jose over ( my LS1 Expert) and the issues which were preventing me from starting were minor and we resolved them quickly.
The first thing was VATS. It took me a while to bypass it and get the security light to go off. Then the fuel pump wouldn't turn on, There was a bad mini fuse (20amp) and no ground for the pump. Jose quickly figured out these issues and we finally got it started.
Thanks shaggy for all your help. your photos are my template to successfully installing my exhaust system. I am in the finial stages now. tucking wires. finalizing the cooling system and installing the smog pump. I installed the stock Z28 intake system and it looks like it will fit, but we will see if I can get the cooling system underneath it. ( I am planning to later go with a 04 GTO cold air intake.)
No Its not necessary. I do have the stock LS1 air filter assembly but it dose not fit the car in its stock form. It covers the 3rd gen hood latch. It would need extensive modification or you could use hood pins if you really wanted to use the LS1 filter housing. BAR requires only that engine air is supplied from OUTSIDE the engine bay. All the swapped cars you see that have a filter in the engine bay don't really get a smog check if you know what I mean.
The intake may be a gray area. Legally all smog equipment that came from the donor car needs to be on the engine swapped car this would include the air intake. That being said you can also legally remove a stock airbox and put on a cone filter because the filter is befor the maf/iat sensors. So as long as the maf/iat sensors are properly installed the ref probably won't care, the rest is just filters and aren't smog equipment.
Its been a while since i up dated this so I will get you guys caught up on all my progress. Since starting the engine, I have been finishing up the engine compartment. Starting with electrical, and progressing to the cooling system, a/c lines and heater hoses etc. I had to fabricate the radiator top hold down, Its still not right and I will be redoing it shortly. Just about everything is in place, which was a challenge as I have never worked on an LS1 before. The smog pump was placed under the fuse box in stock LS1 location. It took me a while to place it correctly as little info exists online, and it mostly refers to smog pump removal. I needed to orientate the pump correctly for hose and electrical connector routing.check out the photos and let me know what you think. their is always more than one way to do things.
Fuse box location is the same as stock
I finally managed to tuck the harness between the booster and strut tower support
I cut the 93-97 v6 radiator support on the top to fit the 3rd gen air filter. I have seen cars with this system have passed California bar inspection.
I still need to get a longer hose for the throttle body
This is a view of where everything comes together in my 99 LS1 set up. Notice the A/C lines, smog pump hard lines and dip stick all want to occupy the same space. They will move a little.
This shot shows the pass side of the radiator. Notice how close the condenser is to the radiator core support. A little massage (bending) is in order here to get the A/C line to fit.
Another view of the convergence of lines at the dip stick.
Here you can see the orientation. Notice the ai dam lower right.
smog pump electrical connection. I needed to be sure the stock pump comector could reach this location. The hose in photo has not been routed to air box yet.
you can see her the pass side exhaust is tight but will fit with out much modification. I got it to sit correctly with no problem.
Clearance on lower pass tube.
The y pipe will come together with the existing flow master system perfectly.
Another shot of the two systems coming together.
Pass side o2 sensor clears. (drivers side dose not!)
Drivers side cat is located on a 99 model up close to the manifold causing clearance issues. you can see here however it almost will fit.
Another shot of the drivers cat. Close but no cigar.
You can see clearly her the o2 sensor opening which will have to be relocated due to hitting the k member. A SMALLER o2 from an aftermarket manufacturer might fit.
Here you can see clearance is also an issue at the rear of the cat on the drivers side.
I am looking to get the exhaust done soon. I do have a few things left however to finish up.
1 Bleed brakes
2 bleed clutch master cylinder
3 Wiring for clutch pedal/hatch release
4 fix gas tank access panel
Again lots of stuff to do still. The kids have been slowing me down but thats life. also the anticipated expense of the exhaust shop Yikes! (4-5 bills) had me in a holding pattern, but it looks like i will have it done very soon.
I am close to putting in the interior now and have started getting that ready. (Cleaning up and treating the leather.)
Hello NCdave. I just finished reading your thread on your travel through your swap. Looks great to me. When you get hot you can just roll over into that pool. I'm installing my plastic tank in my swap. You say you are going to make it Smog legal. Are you using the Evap system on the tank? If so, I have some questions about a few of the connections and wiring. The only difference between your swap and mine is that I'm using an older LT1. You progressed much faster than I have. I've been working on mine since 2013. Keep up the good work, it motivates me.
Thanks shaggy, I feel like its taking forever. Its hot now in san diego, temps in the 90's.
the kids are constantly needing my attention. (My son just hit terrable twos) And this little finishing up stuff is just killing me!
Question; Did you drive to the muffler shop or tow your car on a trailer? What about to the ref? Were you able to get a temporary permit for more than one day?
Hello Strick1 and thanks for viewing my build thread. I tried to make this swap as easy as possible concerning the wiring. I did use the evap system but I hear you can delete that from the computer and it wont come up as an check engine code because you can fail smog for that. I used the stock 2000 ls1 wiring harness and tank so i did not need to figure out any wiring. it was plug and play for me. If there are any photos you need or specific questions feel free to message me or ask here.
Here is a quick question for you, On top of the fuel pump there are 2 plugs, one for the fuel pump and fuel level and the other is a black plug unit. Do you have any idea what that black unit is?
I'm curious about the black item. What does it do?
I drove to the muffler shop with no exhaust what so ever on the car, but the shop was only like 2 miles away. I was only able to get a 1 day temporary permit. Once again after it failed the first time (for no carb sticker on intake) I drove it without a permit to the ref. not recommended to drive with out exhaust or without permit. As for the evap you can delete it from the PCM but it will fail the ref if they want to see it installed (they never looked at mine just asked if it was there).
Hi swap fans. It has been a while since I updated this but please don't think I have been idle. I have had computer problems and could not upload.
The wife's transmission went out so my exhaust money went into fixing that instead of putting me closer to my goal.
I almost had the brakes done but I let the brake master cylinder run empty and I decided to wait for my buddy's mighty vac. In the mean time I decided to experiment and attempt to lay in 4th gen carpet. It fits but its not perfect. some wholes don't line up (seat belts) and others are slightly off. But over all it looks good, and is a big improvement over the third gen carpet as far as quality goes. I also fitted in the seats and console. the seats are from an eirly third gen and have a SINGLE airline insted of the usual dual air piping with electric harness. (the harness part dose fit my seats) Here are a few pics to check out. Let me know what you think.
A look at the seat belt mod. The bracket needs to be bent upwards to about a 45 degree angle. Also, the plastic sill plates need to be cut to allow room for the 4th gen seat belts which are now in a slightly different location. ( If you look closely you can see my cut)
The seatbelt plastic needs to be trimmed to seat properly.
A view of the SINGLE air tube in the eirly 86-96 air lumbar seats. I am still not sure how to mod this without preventing mysealf from one day finding the right tube and going back to stock.
Amazing effort. Takes big huevos to dive into that project. and a lot of tenacity to see it through. Plus most people don't realize that SD is one of the hardest smog places in the country. There are not a lot of good speed shops/resources here and you basically have to figure out everything yourself. The heat has been killer the last two weeks as well (not just hot, but the humidity).
All I can say is good job, and hopefully we'll see you at the qualcom 1/8 mi drags this winter. Once you get it to pass - then all the engine/chassis tuning starts to get it dialed in.. never ends.. Hopefully you have a good wife.
Thanks for the kind word Kennerz. I showed your message to my wife to get her to understand the scope of what I am doing. Thanks to you She sees that not everyone can or is willing to attempt these modifications. You might say i am smart enough to do the project dumb enough to try. you are right on when you say their are few resources to help you figure the swap out. I found a 4th gen expert but he lives an hour away.
Th weather is finally getting cooler. With temps in the 90's and humidity at 80+% many days were a wash. I try to do something every day no matter how small.
I am nervous about BAR but I feel confident their gripes will be small and manageable.
check back in often as I will keep busy with small projects like the interior.
Thanks again for the kind words. see you at qualcom soon!
Hello ls fans. Sorry I have not updated this in a while. I have been busy getting the exhaust done. It turns out that it was more complex than I anticipated because of ground clearance issues. Yes it is completely possible and maybe advisable to use the stock y-pipe and cat configuration. However, that configuration hangs low (at least on my car) and the shop advised me to go with a system that would tuck the exhaust and cats safely under the car. (see photos) We will see if it gets by the BAR inspection. Although the exhaust has been re routed, the cats are within 3 inches of their original length from the engine.
In addition, I added a beefy z28 rear sway bar as I stupidly included my sway bar with the posi drum rear end I sold. I will finish the reverse lock out and reverse lights today as well as the rear hatch wiring today. Meanwhile enjoy the photos.
You can see how the exhaust wraps around the frame for clearance. Also, they relocated the drivers side LS1 o2 sensor because it hits the k member on third gens. I know its not what I wanted with all of the bends but my car is lowered on ebach sportlines. The lowest part of the undercarriage is the hawks trans cross member. (which looks like it can be trimmed)
To the right is the new z28 sway bar. the one that cam with the rear end I got was from a 99 firebird 3.8 v6 the car had a 5 speed and the rear is 3.23 posi
A side to side comparison. These photos don't really show the HUGE difference in circumference.
A view installed.
Notice the exhaust cat back is not mandrel bent.
I will be replacing the cat back as funds allow, as well as the tips.
Awesome build! I am in the process of getting my Ls1 swapped Iroc BAR legal. Can you keep posting pictures on how you work the exhaust as well as how you finish the dash. So far your swap looks awesome! Thanks for posting all the pictures.
I don't wish this on you, but I think your gonna get some crap for that set up. The main issue is the moving of the factory cats, I would have stuck to the LS1 style set up. If it does fly (I hope it does) you should add some shielding above the cats, they get pretty hot (I have a 2000 ss) and there needs to be space for airflow arround the cats/ sensors etc.. I would keep a close eye on it. until you know it's ok heat wise.
You are really doing a great job, want to see you succeed. Your breaking trail by doing it here in the on eof the most heavily regulated counties probably in the country.
Thanks Bullydawg. I am working hard to get this done asap. I do have more exhaust picks I can post but I need to get better ones on a lift to get the big picture. Keep working hard every day on your project even if its little stuff. Start your own post here so we can follow your build as well.
Kennerz, Thanks for the constructive criticism. To tell you the truth all I wanted from the exhaust shop was for them to do as little as possible and make the factory setup work. The shop took it upon themselves to to the modifications for clearance. I was shocked, but it was already done and since I have been told 3 inches either way is ok lets hope that's true.
As for shielding, that is another great point. I will go back and add it just for safety sake no matter what. I also bought a fire extinguisher just in case. I am starting to drive it now so as I drive further, I will begin to see and fix problems.
07-21-2015, 12:24 AM
