Now that I have finished my dream swap of an LSX into the car, I want to dedicate a thread in the Members Camaros sub-forum just for the purpose of showing you all what this car has turned into. It was my first car when I turned 16, it had 32,000 miles on it when I got it, was a little abused for the mileage but nothing serious. I did a lot of modifications to the frame/suspension/interior/exterior/audio in the last 7 years, but I left the drivetrain completely stock up until last year. When I got the car, it looked like this: I'm going to skip over most of the last 7 yrs of ownership to the good stuff. Here's the COMPLETE mod list of the car taken from my cardomain page: 6.0L iron "Vortec" block -Balanced/BluePrinted -Stainless Steel Works longtube headers by Hawks (1-3/4" primaries, 3" collectors) -Custom stainless y-pipe into dumped 3" Magnaflow bullet -LS6 intake -LS1 dual electric fans -Aluminum 317 casting heads -Scorpion 1.7 RR's -PRC dual valve springs -PBM chromemoly pushrods -Cometic head gaskets -Mahle forged pistons -Eagle forged rods -ARP rod bolts -Texas Speed MS4 camshaft (239/242, .649"/.609" 111LSA) -LS2 crankshaft with 24x reluctor wheel -All new bearings from Scoggin Dickey -PowerBond SFI 25% underdrive balancer pulley -Melling race spec oil pump -2002 Fbody accessories and oil pan -42# injectors -NGK TR55 plugs -MSD wires -Z06 MAF -Custom 4" cold air intake -Custom fuel system with Russel fittings, stainless braided line and Corvette fuel filter Transmission -T56 with Hurst shifter -Spec Stage 4 clutch -Spec aluminum/steel two piece flywheel -Monster master cylinder -Tick Performance one-way bleeder Suspension / Chassis -Spohn tubular LSX k-member -Spohn LSX swap motor mount pedestals -Spohn tubular LSX/T56 torque arm / crossmember -Edelbrock strut tower brace -Alston Racing weld-in subframe connectors -Hotchkis lowering springs -KYB shocks/struts -LS1 front disc brake conversion -LS1 rear disc brakes / 10 bolt with 3.42 gears -Energy Suspension polyurethane sway bar end links and mount bushings front/rear -Factory 36mm/24mm sway bars and "Wonder Bar" -Custom adjustable panhard bar with QA1 rod ends Exterior -Top-Down Solutions convertible top replacement, glass window -17x9.5" chrome ZR1's -Custom black mesh grill cover with Z28 rocker emblem -NightShaded and clear coated tail lights -Clear fender turn signals -20% / 5% window tint Interior / Audio -Re-upholstered Dove Grey leather seats -New Dove Grey carpet and Z28 embroidered floor mats -White-faced gauge cluster lay-over -Hurst leather "H" knob -Pioneer DEH-6300MP deck -Infinity 4x6's in-dash -Memphis Audio 6x9's rear -Memphis Audio 1000watt amplifier -Memphis Audio 10" Power Reference Series subwoofers (x2) -Custom sub enclosure I'm gonna have to edit and finish this post later, but here's some pictures of the car now: And some videos after the swap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBJVi_5U2gA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ExOTr3J7zI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTyddWHDnrw

Looks great! Love it. Nice job!

Looks awesome man, must feel good to have that job done

Looks nice and sounds mean.

Yea it was pretty exciting to finally hear it run, and sound down right nasty instead of pathetic like the old motor did.

Very impressive! Looks AND sounds amazing!

sounds great Nick.. how does it pull compared to the old L98?

It's gotta be a night and day difference! Awesome work on the car man!

Well, it never even had a 350, it used to be a 305TPI (LB9)...so yea it pulls something fierce compared to what it used to. It's like there's no need to downshift in this car, just roll out in the throttle and let it unleash up in the higher RPM range. (the rev limiter is set at 6,800RPM )

car is looking good
ive had my car since i was 15ish. im 21 now
my ls1 has been runing for a year. and it is so reliable
i love how it pulls and weighs a lot less.

Thanks

I bought a set of those LS2 corvette fuel rail covers today, and I'm going to paint them body color with black accents. It should look pretty sweet


Here's some updated pictures:

a little bit of tire shine goes a long way

Ya I'm out, gotta get some more for the new season haha

alright Nick now we need a new video of some good pulls and a burnout or two, lol!

Nick that car has come a long way! how old are you now? I was thinkin we were the same age (21) b/c I remember this car from a LONG time back in the day on this site when I used to be very active on this forum. its crazy man time fly's seems like just yesterday I was 16 with my IROC doin free mods b/c I couldnt afford nothin else, and takin the car apart just to figure out how it went back together b/c I had nothing else to do. Those were the simple times.

haha sorry for the long post, its just been awhile since Ive checked in on this forum its good to see some old names!

Ya I remember those days lol!

I just turned 23 last month, and I have had the car since I was 16. I never would have thought this time would come for my car, yet alone me being able to pull it off mostly by myself!

How long did it take to complete? I am contemplating a similar swap.

Start to finish was from early June to early December. There were some weeks I didn't even touch the car though, it was an on-off project in between work and school.

I don't know if I posted these videos already, but here you go:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBJVi_5U2gA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ExOTr3J7zI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTyddWHDnrw

Now all it needs is one of my high-flow lids and ram-air setups!

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/tp...pi-camaro.html (High-flow TPI Camaro air lid)

Nice job, nonetheless! If I ever get the time/funds to build another thirdgen, I'll most likely build a vert...

Thanks, that's a really cool idea you have there. The only problem I see with it is, even though it will flow more air than the stock intake, it *most likely* won't flow enough for a setup like mine, my motor is very hungry for air. I'm running a 4" intake tubing into a 4" diameter filter. The thing sounds like a leafblower set on reverse when it's idling.

Just a little update. I've had some issues with the master cylinder (Monster adjustable piece), as the clutch hasn't been disengaging all the way lately. It's gotten progressively worse. So I ended up forking out the money for a Tick master cylinder, which should be here on Tuesday. I can't wait to install it, I've heard great testimonies on that piece, and I'm sure it will fix my problem. I haven't driven the car in over 2 weeks because I'm afraid of hurting the clutch.

The burnout video was taken at the Power Tour back in June. And below that is a little video I made of the idle after the tune has been finished. The loud noises at the end are fireworks lol. Future plans include Spohn tubular a-arms with the del-sphere rod ends, coil overs, FAST 90/90, and a 9" with 4.10's. I'm probably going to have to wait until late next year for most of that though.


YouTube - '91 Z28 convertible with LS2/T56 swap, burnout video

YouTube - LSX '91 Z28 warmup video

Your car has been the inspiration for my 91 z28 vert since i joined this forum.... And two weeks ago I aquired my LS1 long block... thats funny we are same age Im twenty three on the twelfth of this month... the short burnout vid you posted give me goosebumps i am so excited to do my swap.

That's awesome Mitch! I know you'll be really happy with it in the end. It's a lot of work, but SO worth it.

I found myself posting 99% of the time on the LTx/LSx part of the forum the last year and a half.

Nick the car looks and sound awesome. You are about 1 to 2 years ahead of me. I plan to drop in a LS1 or possibly a single turbo 5.3 into my Z28. I'm sure I'll be going through your posts during the build. Keep up the good work...oh and teach your brother how to properly record

Jeleous Here!! Awesome.

sick car. And you owning it since 16 makes it even better. congrats on the build. ill be pm'ing you later when i do mine, lol.

Thanks guys ya I didn't want to be one of those people that regrets selling their first car...

I did something to tidy up the wiring harness on my swap, something similar to what the 4th gen guys do with their wiring by hiding it in the inner fender. I started on the driver side, got my holes made and used rubber hose split down the middle for grommet, and sent the entire headlight harness along with the wiring I added for the LS1 fan relays, and the hose for the windshield washer fluid, all through the hole I made in the inner fender.




Starting with the inner fender area:






And the engine compartment (obviously not done yet, haven't made the grommet for this one yet)




And for good measure, here's the eye sore I'm getting rid of:

UPDATE:

I got the driver side of the wiring mess done as far as hiding the headlight harness, fan wiring, and the hose for the windshield wiper fluid. It looks a LOT better now, I'm very happy I decided to do this. I still have to snip and re-solder some wires on the C100 because there's a bunch of tangled up wires that I spliced at the beginning, once I'm done with that I can start putting the pedals, master cylinder, and steering column back in and enjoy driving it again.

What do you guys think? It looks pretty clean all things considered.

not a huge convertible buff, but i love it! excellent job and that color really makes the car stand out nicely

I freakin love your interior. I know its stock but god damm I would love to have a stock leather interior.

Amazing job on it, take care of it.

Thanks, I love the stock interior too, that's why I don't plan on swapping in a 4th gen dash and interior.

I guess I never posted the dyno results from this summer... here they are. Peak numbers were 420rwhp and 407 ft/lb... not bad for what is really a cam-only 6.0 LS motor. I took it to the track that same day and broke an axle in the water box. This was back in July I think.





Here's the lowest pull, 3rd gear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo84h950c3o



And the highest pull, a 4th gear run


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23kQO7zL8fg

Nice man, is that a LQ4 you did that with?

Yep, out of a '99 or '00 Silverado 2500 HD.

Wow, nice numbers. I wanted to do the same myself, but start with a short block and work my way up. Any suggestions?

Thanks. Yea, when you buy an engine, try and find one you can hear running before you buy it. The one I bought was already pulled and I thought it would be fine to put in the car, when I pulled it apart I found all kinds of sludge in it so I had to have it rebuilt which added a few thousand dollars to the build.

Oh wow. how much did it run you? I know the LQ4 aren't too expensive.

I paid $950 for a complete engine on craigslist that was supposed to be in good working condition. I planned on just swapping out crankshafts so I can use a T56 transmission (more details on that in my build thread in the LTx/LSx section), but when I took it apart the thing was disgusting inside. Considering both parts and labor, I paid something like $4,600 to make the engine brand new. (hot tanked, new crank, forged pistons and rods, new valve springs, new roller rockers, new valves, new timing set, a slightly used camshaft, new lifters, etc...you get the point.)

Man, I was hoping to just pick up a short block, put a LS1 crank in, some nice fully ported heads, a nice cam and headers with a LS2 or LS6 intake which ever is better and will fit. And stroke it while I was at it. But those are my crazy dreams.

Aren't you supposed to make the pulls in third gear when your trying to get a accurate reading? Does it vary from different transmissions your using?

By the way, that is a beautiful car. I love that blue and liked the idea for the wiring mod like the fourthgens.

Also are you using the stock radiator for the ls fans?

That may be true for T5's but with a T56, the 1:1 drive gear is 4th
Yep, stock radiator and I trimmed down the stock fan shroud to accept a better fit with the LS1 fans...more on that can also be found in my build thread in the LSx section.