im looking to do the ls1 swap the guy im might buy it from is selling the tranny with it. will that fit in my 88? also i know since i have a v6 now that ill need new front suspension, new exhaust, and a new radiator. also all new accesories that bolt on to the engine its self. is all that right. then drill holes for the mounts and it should go right in right? im olso gonna make it a carb so i dont have to mess with all the wires. if some poeple could please let me know if this is all right or if theres something i forgot i would very much appreciate it. thanks.

nix the carb part hes gonna sell me the engine harness and computer too. plus who knew it would be so much more expensive to go carb.

 

Tranny will fit whether it is an auto or manual. Either one will require a transmission cross member that you can get from Spohn.net. If your car is not manual right now then you need to cut a whole out for the shifter. You also need the motor mounts from Spohn.net. You do not need to drill any holes for the mounts they are already there. Even for the sixers. You still need to mess with wires but not with many. Front suspension will not need that much tweaking. If anything you need springs from a V8. Preferably new exhaust but you can make yours work as long as you use the exhaust manifolds or headers for the LS1. No new accessories. Just use the same ones. Air condition needs to be taken off unless your cutting your original cross member or you can keep air cond. if you use the tubular one that Sophn.net sells. The power steering lines connect to your original steering box. Just use LS1 power steering lines or you can use yours but you need to bend them to work.

 

you can use the v6 mount stands in the car. just buy some motor mounts for like a tri five. They have the rubber inserts on the mount. They will drop dead on the v6 stands. You just need an adapter plate from s&p. I reccomend s&p for just about any thing fabricated. You can get an after market pulley setup from them that will relocate the ac to the top and you won't have to worry about cutting anything. you can leave the alt and power steering as is and the water pump and crank. just get the relocation bracket for the a/c and get the sanden 508 compressor. this compressor does not run off the ecm. It will run using your old system. You can even use your v6 springs since the ls1 will be lighter than an old style v8. it will probably be equivalent to the weight of the v6. It's all aluminum. If you want to use fuel injection give jesse at wait4meperformance.com a call. he will reprogram you pcm and make your harness a stand alone with only a few wires to connect not to mention he will sit and walk you through it. This service is only $300. Where as if you go with carb. you will have to buy the edelbrock setup which will allow you to use the coils instead of a dizzy. Downfall to this is price... About $800-$900. Your choice though..

 

i dont have an ac so dont have to worry there and it turnes out the guy im buying it from is gonna sell me the harness and the computer so there goes the carb. that leaves a crossmember for the tranny, motor mounts, front springs(maby), exhaust(since im not getting his), and possibly a radiator. sweet thanks alot guys youve helped alot. hhhmmmmm will it fit under my hood or will i need to get a new one to make it fit?

 

it fits under your hood. have you done any research into this? its not as straightforward as you think. ive been researching for well over a year and mine goes in end of august

 

yeah make sure you do your research. I started looking into this in may. I'm hoping I can start min in the next couple weeks or so.

 

i can stack 3 phone books on my LS1 intake, and close the stock RS hood.


soo.. uhhh.. yea.

it'll fit.




seriously though, its not a straightforward enough swap that you can just plop in it there and learn as you go along.


if you research it ahead of time, learn and prepare, you can just drop it in there, and do everything in a weekend....

if you dont, it will cost alot more, and take up several weeks, if not months of your time.



my suggestion to you is to first break it down:

mounting the physical components.

then move on to each system:

fuel system
electrical system
cooling system
power steering system
ECM/tuning
accessories
Air conditioning


and thats just to get it running.. then you need to start thinking about the rearend.. driveshaft, clutch.. tires... ect.
----------
just to show that its hard to think of anything.. i just remembered...


air intake system... how are you going to do that?



its not something you should just jump into unless you have extra money to burn.

 

Dito with what everyone said. Dont take offense to this at all, because we're here to help, but I can tell from your posts alone that you havent done a whole lot of research. Some of those questions are found 1000 times in the swap threads.

But in any case, just read read read. Print out pages, take notes, put it all in a notebook. Start making a list of parts you will need. You can figure this out from those of us that have done the swap. There will be things that you run into that you will need to make or fabricate... Just the nature of the project...

Mr. Dude also brough up a good point. Really try to finish each "system" that you start. If you go at it and start everything, you will start to get overwhelmed and it will look worse than it is. Especially when it comes to wiring...

Good luck and post any questions you may have after you do some homework here and over on ls1tech.com... there is a TON of info there.

Justin

 

alright while thatks for all the advice. and your right i havent done much reasearch yet thats why i was asking. and thanks for pointing me to ls1tech ghettocruiser its alot of stuff there. truth be told i dont know a whole lot about cars but i am a mechanic(on helicopters) and i really learn by looking at it. if the engine fits though and i get mounts for it and my trann i dont see how it could be that hard to just hook the rest up to the front of the engine maby move a few lines around to make it all fit and im golden. im getting the wirring harness and the computer so wiring shouldnt be that hard. then exhaust. if im missing something please let me know thats why im asking??

 

Go with the "Drews Trans Xmember" instead of the spohn one....

As for going carb to avoid hooking up 8 wires....I wouldnt do it, but its your car...