BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

This will be the second LSX powered 3rd gen in my family. For those who haven't seen my swap in my convertible, there is an abbreviated version of the swap here:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...-z28-vert.html


But for this particular swap, which belongs to my father, we're going to go for a more stock build. We're going to be purchasing a stock 5.7L LS1 crate motor and putting a 4L60E behind it with a small aftermarket stall and possibly a mild cam. The goal is for it to drive like a factory car but have some oomph to it.

A little bit about the car:

'89 IROC-Z hardtop, manual windows, power door locks, gutted into a track car by the previous owner (race weight was 2800lb). It was bright red with silver and black IROC pinstriping, it is now Ultra Blue Metallic and will get the silver and black package. The interior was not in the car when we got it, so we bought a '91 RS parts car with grey interior that is getting swapped over along with the dash. Everything else on the car will appear factory except for the drivetrain of course.

My dad got the car shot in blue with clear coat today and after it hardens for a day or so we'll sand it and re-spray the clear to ensure there is no orange peel.


Just some pictures to get you guys caught up:



Here's from the day we he bought it:












Here's the '91 parts car we bought solely for the purpose of having interior for the car:

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Here's from a few days ago when we really started hunkering down on it.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

This was just yesterday:

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

And today he decided to lay down the blue and first coats of clear coat while I was at work. I didn't want to take my nice camera in there to take pictures today because there was still a lot of clear coat fog in the garage and it would ruin the lense on my camera, so these are from my phone.

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

Nice work! Subscribed.

NT-Z

Cool build. Cant wait 4 more pics. How long did the disassembly take?
good luck on the rest of the build

Ca[maro]88

iTrader: (2)

wish my dad loved camaros as much as i do. have fun bud.

quick question, why didnt you just take the power brake booster out instead of wrapping it with plastic??

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Disassembly took a few hours here and a few hours there...we worked on it a handful of days off and on.

I tried to talk him into taking the booster off but he didn't want to mess with it. I checked out the paint around that area and there's no red anywhere, it got covered pretty good.

TheMuskr

wow looks great already

92RS(real slow)

looks great already cant wait to see it finished

Camrs89

Looks great so far, you are painting it pretty much like I am, just the shell with the fenders on. Im not pulling the engine but I think I will black out mine after its painted. Cant wait to see your new project done!

1bad91Z

iTrader: (1)

What do you think it will weigh after the LS swap?

Could be interesting! 2,700 lb. maybe?

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

My guess, which is uneducated, is going to be around 3,200-3,300lb. The interior is going back in the car so that will add quite a bit more weight to it. The goal for this car isn't to make a complete brute, but a really fun car for an old guy, which means a/c is a must.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Today we got the shell and doors sanded, put a final two coats of clear on it with a better gun, sanded that and buffed it out, and now it looks AWESOME. All we have to do now with painting is the ground effects, spoiler, hatch, front bumper and mirrors. It's coming together really nicely. We are VERY pleased with how well the body and doors turned out, we really spent our time on this one, even though it wouldn't seem that way since about a week ago this thing was red haha!

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Frenchican

What a great project! Giving me a really good idea here. I have a 2001 Corvette coupe I've owned since new. It only has 33,000 miles on it and is my show car. Looking to have a built 427 for it and was going to sell the modified LS1 that it has now.

More of you guys are putting these LS's in our 3rd gens and I considered it, but my IROC has a new 5.7 tpi crate in her. This thread has pushed over. Thanks... I think.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Do it! Even if you swapped in a bone stock LS1, just the look on peoples' faces when you pop the hood and they see the plastic intake and go "that's not TPI!", makes it worth every penny

Brisk

iTrader: (25)

you guys do good work. once you get a system worked out, you can do one of my cars

Sickness91Z28

iTrader: (1)

absolutely awesome


Thats what I plan on doing to mine in a few years

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

It's what I'm going to do with my vert hopefully this fall or next spring, also

9014josh

iTrader: (1)

nice job so far! im gonna watch this one.

Spike-Z

iTrader: (4)

Great car. Its gonna be a blast. Those 2 cars found the best families to have them restored/modified. When Im done with the Camaro Ill buy a pickup project to do with my son too.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

You should, its a great bonding experience for sure.

The teal '91 RS we are using for parts is the unlucky one in the family though, unfortunatly it is getting stripped down completely and the shell will be scrapped after we have removed all sellable parts.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Did some more work today. We tackled the doors today, man that was a job haha! We got them lined up perfectly though, the gaps are better than they were when he bought the car. We also started putting the interior back in it (donated from the teal '91 RS parts car), starting with the hatch area. He's going to be getting some carpet ordered and get the headliner and sun visors re-upholstered and then we'll start throwing the seats and the rest of the interior back in it. Then it's on to the dash, we're taking the dash completely out of this car and replacing it with one of the dashes from our parts cars because this car has cut wires all up under the dash from when the previous owner made it a "race car".

PowerHour84

nice job on the paint it looks great

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

I've been bouncing back and forth from working on my vert and working on dad's car. We got the carpet in and almost got it where we want it as far as fitment, still needs a little work. Then we'll have the seats re-upholstered and install the rest of the interior, from there the rest of the work is in the drivetrain.

We're trying to figure out what we're gonna do for a gas tank, the tank that's in it was sumped and has AN fittings out the bottom. I'm thinking it was setup for an external pump, but for the sake of having the fuel gauge working properly, we might pawn off the tank (should sell pretty easily with the work that was done to it), and put a stock tank in with a Walbro pump.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Major update:


My dad and u just went and looked at a '98 Z28 off of craigslist. He ended up buying it for $2,800. It's a high mileage car with a newly rebuilt 4L60E, has some title issues which helped us get it so cheap. It's going to get parted out anyways.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Update:

We painted the gas tank, and undercoated the whole car. We also painted the 4th gen 10 bolt, which has 4.10 gears which will be pretty fun to scoot around in. We put the Walbro fuel pump in the tank and got the tank and rear end in the car, and we just ordered the double hump transmission crossmember from Hawks. As soon as that comes in along with the wiring harness that Pocket re-pinned for us, we'll be putting the engine and trans in the car within the next 2 weeks.

Duane's 91 Z/28

iTrader: (1)

Car is looking awesome. Cant wait to see it finished

Coolwheels84

iTrader: (5)

I'm really liking your build. Can't wait to see more progress.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

The Hawks' 4L60E cross member came in this week along with his wiring harness that Pocket made for him, so we're ready to rock n' roll now!

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

The IROC-Z is at a friend's shop getting the drivetrain put in. My dad and I decided that with everything else going on and Christmas coming up, we wanted to have it installed by someone else than take the extra time and work a little here and there on weekends to get it done.

And in the meantime, I just dropped off the rest of the interior parts at an upholstery shop to get the headliner, rear speaker covers, sun visors, and driver seat reupholstered and get the new window sweeps from 1A Auto installed on the brand new door panels we got for it. I can't wait to get the inside of the car buttoned up!

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

The car has been at my dad's friend's shop for close to two weeks now, he's been working on it as he has extra time at work.

We will be bringing it back home sometime this week. My dad went over there this past week after the k-member was cut and re-welded for the a/c compressor, he painted it with some POR-15 and says it looks pretty good. Also, my dad got a cheap set of Hooker shorty style headers, and had his friend cut the emissions tubes off and weld them shut, then they got painted also. Today my dad told me that the engine is in the car, and his friend is just finishing up a few other smaller things.

It should be running in a couple of weeks I would imagine. My wife, grandma, and myself got him some stuff for the car for Christmas that he'll be opening up soon. We got him the billet EGR blockoff for the LS1 intake from Hawks, a '99 C5 fuel filter, all the Russel fittings that are needed for the fuel line setup, 10' of stainless braided line, and one of those hood latch area filler panels for a non-TPI car.

Dartht33bagger

LS1's are cool, but they look like crap. I hate the look of them, I wish they could make an LS1 that looked like a gen I small block.

Otherwise, great paint and bodywork so far! Can't wait to see it all put together!

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Everyone is entitled to their opinion... I think SBC's look ugly. I love the plastic intakes and coil settle with the LS motors. I think carbs are hideous and the TPI unit is almost as bad. The only pre- LS intake that looks good in my opinion is the Holley Stealth Ram

M G Brewer

I absolutely love the LS1 look. I don't like the way carbed engines look.

86T/A_Ram_Air

subbed, good looking project

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

i like the way both look

Dartht33bagger

I've never actually seen a picture of the engine bay with an LS1 in it.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Why would you say that they are ugly then?

86T/A_Ram_Air

i wouldn't say its pretty under there.....but certainly not ugly, if you don't like it don't pop your hood. the LSX swap is not about how it looks, its for the power, realiability, MPG, and of course the WOW factor, because when you do pop your hood for someone who is into 3rd gens, they expect a TPI or a TBI......not a LS

and Nick, great car, you did a great job on your vert and im sure this one will be done to the same caliber, and i was happy to see you made it in GMHTP

Dartht33bagger

Well I have seen LS1 out of cars and in other cars. I still don't like how they look, but I'll probably have to get one in about 6 years when I engine swap because SBC won't be worthwhile anymore.

d2harris

Great Build!

JimmyDavidson

All your builds look awesome. You make everything look like it came that way from the factory.

I assume you don't like either the intake or the coils, or both? If so, there are options. For one you can get a carbed intake, or a custom EFI intake that looks similar to a carb. And I'm sure you can relocate the coils to a different spot. You can make them look like a SBC but you can't make them sound like one. :P

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

We got the car back home last night, with custom made a/c and power steering lines to boot! My dad knows a guy who knows a guy...lol


The powersteering high pressure line goes underneath the reservoir instead of over the top and behind like the factory ones do I think.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Thanks, that's what I strive for!

And yea there's guys that relocate the coils and run long plug wires like an SBC, but you can't make them sound like an older block. They've got a unique sound, although I think mine sounds pretty mean


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

d2harris

Looks great! I wish I could do this swap myself, but strapped for cash. Keep the updates coming, I love this thread.

Ramair21

iTrader: (3)

Nice work Bluezee!! how did you make those power steering lines and A/C lines. Looks slick.. I must know lol

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Lookin' great, how does the ol' man's car run?