New member here just wanting to post the beginnings of my LS swap! Been reading a ton of forums, parts price comparisons, and developing a strategy before diving head first. As many have stated, my goal is to get my 3rd gen apart, LS swapped, and back on the road as soon as possible then do any other upgrades from there. I've been working in an excel sheet with all the basic information, pricing comparisons, etc. Attaching it here for reference, but really its a depository of all the info I will be referencing

Third Gen Car - 1992 Camaro RS 25th Anniversary with a 305. Bought this car at an auction back in 2009-10 as a sophomore in high school for about $2750. Runs decent still, but its definitely on the struggle bus these days. I think its about 140,000 on it(Odometer and speedo quit working a couple years ago and have not had a chance to troubleshoot).


Donor Car - 1999 Camaro Z28 5.7L LS1 with a 6 speed manual T56 tranny with 114,000 miles. Bought this car a few weeks ago for $5500. The sellers ran a pretty hard negotiation, so ended up paying a bit more than I wanted, but still think its a decent price. Does have some rear end/quarter cosmetic damage, but overall runs very strong.
- Parts I am planning to use from the 4th Gen: Engine, tranny, radiator, dual fan setup, rearend, and fuel tank with pump, regulator, filter, etc. Still researching the best clutch pedal setup from either a 3rd gen or a 4th gen setup. Hawks does make a conversion pedal setup for about $200-$300 if I take that easy route.
- This car was from Minnesota, so quite a bit of surface rust and corrosion on the underside components. Everything seems to be solid, so I'll bulk buy a handful of wire wheels and black rust reformer to clean things up before swapping them in


Current Gameplan
1) Bring the third gen into the garage and drop the tranny and engine. I think I might try to drop the whole tranny/engine/K-member from underneath - Anyone have luck with this? Otherwise I'll drop the tranny and pick the engine from overhead. I'll stash the drive train on a pallet and put off to the side for the time being. Will likely try to sell it off, but want to wait till the project comes to fruition before ditching on any parts. Will also remove radiator.
2) While pulling the engine and unhooking the wiring I will be labeling everything - I've read a bunch of forums on reworking the stock and 4th gen LS harnesses, but I'm not fully committed to reworking that harness myself means this is my first swap. I have not been on the site long enough the get Pocket's contact info, but once I get access to his email I may reach out if he is still doing harness reworks? Otherwise I am gravitating toward sending the harnesses and computer to speartech to rework for me and flash the ECM. (UPDATE: Called Speartech, they no longer do reworks, but Hawks does. I have emailed Bruce with Hawks, so gravitating that route)
2) Notch out the K-member to fit the 4th gen AC unit and ensure clearance for the oil pan. My father is a welder/fabricator by trade, so I'll have him as backup if I start to fail miserably With the engine bay cleared out I'll do some cleanup and make it lookin good before throwing the engine back in. Will also fit the engine mounts that I will be ordering from hawks along with some new poly motor mount bushings.
3) I am leaning toward some Spohn weld in subframe connectors. I know the vehicle weight needs to be on the wheels when welding these in. Is it recommended to do this with engine and tranny in place or doesn't that matter too much? If so I will likely do this after the swap parts are in, otherwise may do it at the same time while I have my fathers welder here. (UPDATE: Planning on putting the 3rd gen up on stands before starting work, replace the new shocks and struts to get a square body and weld in the SFC before moving forward. Suggestion below for additional lifting points may be helpful)
4) Unhook and drop the 4th gen tranny and roll it under the 3rd gen and cut out the tunnel to allow the shifter to fit. Once cut I'll mount the tranny up in place and install the hawks crossmember with new bushings
5) Unhook and pick the LS engine from the 4th gen, replace the engine bushings, swing it around and drop it into the 3rd gen
6) Make a decision on what I want to do with the wiring harness at this time. Once the harness is done up or received obviously start hooking things up, get the stock gauges wired up and working(Hopefully there isn't anything fried with my non-functioning speedo/odometer), run the wiring for the tranny, and get a conversion sending unit for the 4th gen fuel tank.
7) If I am waiting on a harness Ill be doing all the other work in the meantime. Installing hawks longtube headers and Y-pipe.
8) Fab work fit and finish for the cutch pedal whether I try to modify my existing 3rd gen pedal setup. It sounds like the 3rd gen setup is a bit stronger and more reliable than trying to swap in the 4th gen setup? I'll play this one by ear when I get to that point.(UPDATE: Planning on fabing up the 4th gen clutch and brake pedal and chop off the gas pedal.)
9) Swap the 4th gen rearend and modify the brake lines and proportioning valve(May not need to do the prop valve right away. The '92 might have decent valving to begin with). Will be taking the disk brakes and the aluminum drive shaft obviously as well. Also getting new KYB Excel-G and GR2 shocks and struts. May try to bolt up the 3rd gen rearend into the 4th gen just to allow it to roll.
10) Swap the 4th gen fuel tank and modify the fuel lines
11) Hook up 4th gen radiator and dual fan setup
12) Hook up AC components
13) Finish up overall wiring - See if we can get the engine fired up and running!
14) Wheels and Tires fit and balance - See if I can get the existing rims to fit otherwise I do have the stock rims as well. Might need to do some caliper shaving to make these fit, but we will see. Otherwise I may look for some new ones.
15) Finish up exhaust
16) etc. etc. etc.
17) Once I know the car will be running, I'll start selling off the un-needed stuff and make some money back - 305 engine and 700R4 tranny and radiator(May just scrap). I'll post the 4th gen as a roller to see if anyone wants to ****** it up otherwise I'll start parting it out.

Obviously a lot more intricate details to do with each of these steps, but I think overall is a good plan. Hoping to keep myself focused hard on this and get things done within a few months would be the goal. Expected a kid to be born within the year, so needing to get this done before that happens. I'm sure I will have lots of questions and speed bumps, but these forums are loading with info! If anyone has any other noteworthy items or input for me I am open to any thoughts or suggestions!

 

You've done a great job making a plan and addressing potential issues!

I don't have experience with an LS swap, but in the middle of putting in a rebuilt 350 in my 85 TA. Have this one comment:

#3 - subframe connectors. I'd recommend installing them first, before starting the swap. With the SFCs welded in, you have much easier jacking points, in case you need to change jack/lift locations. I ran into this benefit last week when sliding my transmission under the car. Been up on QuickJacks, but needed to access side of the vehicle to get the trans in. With the SFC, was easy to jack up one section, slide out the QJ, and put a jack under the SFC.

My example is probably not well described, but if you are planning to put them in ((and with LS power, a good idea), might as well do it right away. Hope that helps!

 

With these cars sitting so low, having additional lifting points is certainly a benefit! Thanks for the suggestion there

 

Keep us Posted! Always fun to see another LS Swap, welcome to the family!

 

As far as the harness work, I did call Speartech and they no longer do harness reworks. I have been in touch with Bruce from Hawks who does them and is very knowledgeable on combining the 2 harnesses and doing the needed ECU flashes, so I might go that route. I like that idea better than getting a standalone harness and tying everything together myself. Wonderbar is on my list of additions once I get into the work. Strut tower brace may get added down the road, but definitely noted!

Do you know much more on the charcoal canister note for the tank? I' planning on ordering the fuel level converter, so that's taken care of. Not planning on doing any of the emissions stuff, so is it just a matter of leaving the canister and all the hoses/tubes attached, deadended essentially? Some forums say they have some very slow refueling issues, so I'd like to avoid/address that right away

I appreciate the input StevenK!

 

I'm a new member here, started working on changing my own 305 TBI to an LQ9 a couple weeks ago and hit some snags. What are you going to use for fuel line? I am going to use the Corvette 58 PSI regulator/filter but that makes three different connection types that have to work together
1) the two factory rubber hoses coming from the hardline on the drivers side
2) the clip-type fuel connections on the regulator
3) the input to the fuel rail on the LS2 intake

 

Both tanks I got on ebay came with the canister and hoses. I didn't hook up any of the wiring and the canister is working just fine. On the first one I purchased years ago, I capped everything off and removed the coal tank and ended up having to do it twice. Honestly not sure I've ever seen a 4th gen plastic tank on ebay without all the parts already on it.

 

Update about 3 months later from start.....Taking things pretty slow and methodical just learning the ins and outs of everything! I pulled both wiring harnesses from the third gen and fourth gen and sent them off to Hawks for rework along with the computer for a flash/tune. A bit more expensive than I would have liked compare to a standalone harness, but got things back quickly and the whole thing seems to be pretty high quality. In hindsight, wiring harness removal would have been waaaaaaaay easier if I pulled both engines and trannys first. Some connections that are a PITA in tight areas! Exhaust was cut out and drive shaft removed. Removed original radiator and tried to clean it up. Was pretty packed with a lot of plant material and rocks......Not sure how to get those rocks clear, but will try some pressure washing carefully. If I'm not confident in it I will likely utilize the 4th gen radiator and fans if those look cleaner.

Engine and tranny is out of the thirdgen! Removed the hood, Jacked up the rearend about 18 inches on blocks, had to use a couple jack stands up a tad right behind the front wheels(Which kind of sketched me out as I was scared of it shifting forward) and take the front drivers wheel off to clear the cherry picker arm. Having the back end up allowed for a pretty smooth angle coming out. Worked a lot better than expected! Plan is to drop engine and tranny from the '99 out the bottom and pick the car up after I address fuel tank, rearend, and Ebrake cables first




Next Steps:
1)Complete - Drop rearend from both cars and clean up the '99 as its pretty crusty. I bought a POR15 kit to help with cleanup of the rearend as well as underside of the car. Will probably pull rearend cover and put new fluid and gasket.
2) Complete - Drop fuel tanks from both cars
3) Complete - Reinstall '99 tank into 3rd gen - I purchased a fuel level sending unit from Hawks to get the fuel gauge to work properly, so will hook that up. Will also start to think about fuel line hookups to the existing lines
4)Complete - Reinstall rearend from '99 after getting it cleaned up. Got new rear sway bar bushing and links, so will replace these at this time as well as the new rear shocks/struts
5) Complete - Run brake lines from the new rearend to a T-block and hook it up to existing lines going forward
- I purchased an adjustable proportioning valve from Classic Industries(PB1113) similar to the wilwood units, so may reflare and hook this all up about the same time as well - May wait to install at a later date once the car is running to see how things perform
6) Acquiring new ebrake cables. I think I'm going with Raybestos BC94264 as they may work well. Also they are $11.76 a piece compared to a set of conversion cables form Hawks or Flynbye for $99.95 or $135 a set. Will update the group when I get to hooking things up. This is easier to do with Tranny out and access to the tunnel
- Raybestos BC94264 were too short and would not let the Ebrake disengage very well, so I ditched these. I think a longer Raybestos cable would work, but I caved in and purchased the Flynbye cables
- Flynbye cables fit very well - Seem pretty high quality with more adjustment, but am disappointed that it didnt come with return springs and none of the cable had the shrink wrap protection on it like the Raybestos do. I'd think that would help with future corrosion or wear. Either way, got these to fit nicely and found a set of 5" springs from Ace Hardware to help facilitate disengagement
7) cut tranny tunnel for manual shifter
8,9,10, . . ., 100, 101, 102) proceed with the rest of the swap, modify K-member, dropping LS engine & tranny, and progress forward from there

 

I still need to delve into this yet, but I am using the 4th gen tank which includes the pump, regulator, and filter downstream a bit. Sounds like a lot of people use the stock hard lines from the 4th gen tank up the car using 4th gen filter, but may need to add a rubber or flexible portion somewhere to tie into the existing fuel lines forward toward the bay. I plan on using braided lines from the stock hard lines in the bay up to the fuel rails on the LS1 intake(or an LS6 intake if I ever pull the trigger on that swap). If you have any good suggestions on braided line or connections let me know!

 

Hey, hope you’re having a great day so far. I was just getting ready to start on a swap on my 1982 z28 camaro. I have a 1999 ls1 with a t56 as a donor car that I can pull parts from. Is there any recommendation on what I should do different from your thread since you’ve done the swap.

 

Great spreadsheet - thanks for the info!

Did you finish the swap... any updates??