do you know any shop who do engine swap for thirdgen like ls1 or lt1
?
I m in arizona and I m looking to do an engine swap, looking for so\erious shop or engine bulder with experience,
I know I want a manual trans and either a tpi, lt1 or ls1

any idea ?



Cedric

 

I live in Texas and am planning an LS1 swap, and I'm driving clear to south carolina to have hawks install it. They do it all the time and you can see pics on their site under project cars. I called the other day and talked to john (I think), he was very helpful.

 

yes I call hawk and they say it would cost between 7 to 10 k for a full ls1 swap, I m not sure if that include a manual trans,
Its not really my budget right now, but it would be nice to do a real total restauration and they seem to be good with third gen
do you know if they do any other swap like lt1 or modified tpi ( maybe cheaper...)

any other idea


thanks cedric

 

TPI swap is relatively cheap. You just need the wiring harness and the TPI setup. A hotrodding shop would/should be able to do it. Or you can do it yourself (it's really not THAT hard).

The quote that you got from Hawks is a great price really. If you look at some of the guys doing it themselves, they're spending roughly 10-12k to get their LS1's running. I'm sure that Hawk's does LT1 swaps as well, and probably for a lot less, espescially if you can find the tranny and engine. The LT1 is basically just a SBC - SBC swap assuming you dont want to keep A/C. It shouldnt be all that hard or expensive for them to do it.

 

I m thinking about installing a tpi with a manual setup. I know its nothing compared to a ls1 but it fit my budget for now and it still would be a great difference in power compare to my tire 305 tbi,
a guy here is asking around 1000 to change to do the swap
do you think its to much?

do you know where I can find a good tpi /manual tranmission ?


thanks

 

1000 in labor, or parts, labor, get everything set and you're on the road?

One's too much, the other isn't near enough, that I would be scared what he is actually doing to the car.


Are you looking to get a 350 TPI put in? Or just make your 305 a TPI? If you just want to make your 305 a TPI then that will just defeat the purpose of "freshening up" your car. A "tired" engine is one that needs the bottom end (crank, rods, pistons, bearings, cam, oil pump) freshened up, with new or be re-worked within factory specs. Putting a new intake on your 305 will not "liven" the car up any more than if the TBI unit was still in good tune.

You may want to just save yourself some money and replace the TBI unit on your car with a new one, then you can save up for a while, and still drive the car.

I seriously wish I had this option. Right now my engine is on the ground (spun bearings), and I am building a 350 for it on a budget, but with my part time work, full time $chool, I wont be able to make it near as fast as I want it, so I am trying to make it cheap and reliable. for now.... but boy are new engines expensive!