Hello third gen lovers. I've spent many hours reading on this forum, but have never posted before. I'm about to begin an LS1 swap into my Iroc, & I plan to document my progress here with hopes that my project will help others the way the many posts I've read have helped me.

I'm parting out an '02 Trans Am for the parts I'll need for my swap, & everthing I don't use will be for sale. Please PM if you see anything you may need from this TA. What I plan to use from the car is the engine/trans, radiator/fans, HVAC & front/rear brakes. Anyone intersted in seats, dash, wheels, rear axle etc. please let me know.

 

Here's some more pictures of the Trans Am.

 

Welcome! Yellow IROC, NICE! Can't wait to see the progress! Oh yeah, and we love pics here. Keep em coming.

 

Thats one clean yellow Iroc there nice car for this. Perfect donor car too this is going to be a sweet swap when its done.

Where are you located? How much for the front and back seats? PM me if you prefer.

 

When I was reading up online before I bought my parts car, I wondered what the factory LS1 converters & y-pipe looked like, but couldn't find any good pictures. I hope these will help someone.

 

Man, the red car got tagged pretty good, didn't it? Welcome aboard & good luck with the swap, I hope it goes well for ya.

(BTW, I have a real soft spot for Dusters, so I really like your nick/avatar! )

 

The frame in the back is folded really bad. The radiator support got pushed about 2" to the right too. Overall pretty bad. Only 70,000 miles though. Perfect for what I needed.

I'm glad someone likes the nickname. Mopar is my primary brand, but I love 3rd gen Camaro's. I was in grade school when I first saw the '82 Indy Pace Car Z28 & fell in love with it. I had no idea at the time that I'd become a car guy. Then in '85 I saw an episode of MacGyver called "The Prodigal" that had a yellow Iroc, & wanted one from that point on. Even though my car is an '88 I've been shooting for the looks of an '85.

 

As I was dismantling the T/A I realized there was still a lot of gas left in the tank & wanted to empty it because moving & draining gas tanks after they're removed can be a real pain. I was able to think of a really safe & clean way to do it. I released the pressure from the system at the service port at the front of the fuel rail, then removed the valve from the port. I attached a piece of 3/4" heater hose to the fuel rail & ran it to a gas can. Then jumped the teminals for the fuel pump relay so the pump would run continuously. In about 10 minutes the tank was empty & not a drop was spilled. I've tried to illistrate the terminals I jumped with the probes of my multimeter in the picture.

 

I had a fairly productive week taking the parts car apart. I took the engine/trans/suspension out as a unit from the bottom. I set the assembly on a furniture dolly I bought at Northern Tool & raised the car off it. It was easy as pie once all the proper wiring was disconnected. I thought the starter could be left attached but the battery cables, starter solenoid & oil level sensor (I think) were part of the harness that goes inside the car.

All that's left to take apart are the interior, fuel system & HVAC, which I hope to get finished next weekend. Then it's off to the crusher for 4th gen junk.

 

This will turn out to be a really nice project. Its really cool the donor car you picked up only had 77k thats just a bonus. Ill def. be checking in to see your progress on this. I myself am in the process of swapping a 400 SBC/TH400 into my Thirdgen.


Also, Ill PM you about some interior pieces I may be interested in.

 

Nice project, im currently doin the same with mine, but Im swapping the interior too. Im interested in that dash, I dont need the cluster or anything, just the dash with passengers airbag, and the plastic gauge surround.The parts car I bought blew the airbags and cracked the hell out of the dash. Pm me a price if you can, Thanks

 

Dont forget the fuel system bulkhead in the back seat, the PB bracket and maybe the shifter bracket (I am thinking of swaping that).

 

xflgkingpin - From everything I've read the fornt & rear seats are a direct bolt in. I'm trying to sell the front/rear as a set. If that interest's you, please send me a PM.

screeminchicken - Good idea on a couple of those. I'm planning to take off everything that will unbolt & a few that don't. I need to sell everything I can off this car so I can fund the rest of the conversion. HA

 

The track will not be an issue.. if u want to have power you just need to wire the seats up.. If you dont care.. just bolt them up..use a battery to adjust where u want it and leave it un wired.

I would just wire them up .. its not that difficult.

 

Yep...I've done it in my 92 & now in my 87 & they are a DIRECT bolt in. The rear bottom cushions are about a finger widths narrower, but you've gotta REALLY look to see the difference after their in.

 

I got the Trans Am stripped. Now I just need to get rid of the carcus & sell some parts to pay for the rest of my swap.

 

Sorry dude, I really want to sell them as a set. After sitting in them a couple times, I'm really startin' to dig 'em anyway. They may end up in the Iroc if I don't sell them soon.

 

Could you give me some advice on how the tailshaft of the 4L60E works with the torque arm...also anything special with the linkage?

Thanks...

 

The 4th gen 4L60E uses a torque arm....The torque arm is a direct swap (just the possibility of differently facing front ends that use a different bushing), the driveshaft is a direct swap. So nothing special needed, except MAYBE the bushing, for the differently facing end.

 

Sorry, I have a 4L60E from a 5.3 4X2 truck and the shaft looks differnt than what I would imagine a gen four looks like. Can I use the rear tail shaft or am I going to chase a gen four?

 

Well...it's been 4 years since my last post. Some of you can probably identify with life events getting in the way of progress on your project...which is the case for me.

Last fall I decided to get back on it, & began to gather parts still needed to do the swap. In my time off from the project I changed directions a bit. I'd intended to use the 4th gen dash, seats, radiator & entire wiring harness for simplicity. I've since decided to keep it as 3rd gen as possible. I bought several swap items from Hawk's, including long tube headers (1 5/8" primary, 3" collector), engine mounts & transmission cross member, swap a/c hoses, swap radiator hoses, swap fuel lines with Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator & swap harness.

Unfortunately, I have not been taking many pictures as I've gone along, but will post the ones I have.

 

I removed everything from the engine compartment so I could paint it to match the body.

 

I am in the same boat. Life got in the way of my project, but back on course now. Good luck with your swap!

 

I think it turned out pretty well for aerosol cans. I ordered the paint at automotivetouchup.com. 3 cans each of primer, color & clear coat. Choose year, make & original color code (if you're using a factory color). I used code 50, WA8740, 1985 Yellow Gold.

 

Great build! Subscribed!

 

The tubes for the collector on the passenger side were very close to the frame rail, so at Bruce Hawkins suggestion, I removed about 1 1/2" from the bottom of the frame rail. Then was able to push the vertical part of the frame rail over & weld it back to itself. The headers had no clearance problems on the drivers side, but I wanted to use v-band clamps to connect the collectors to my y-pipe, so I took about an inch out of that one too. It all worked out...

 

Here are a couple more pictures to show the header clearance with the frame rail modifications.

 

I had my k-member notched by Hawks while I was waiting for my conversion harness to be made anyway. No problems there. What I wasn't expecting was that after the engine was in, my oil pan was touching the k-member on the passenger side. I don't have any pictures of the before, but here's some after I notched it. Anyone who says the stock k-member is weak has never worked on one. They're made out of stamped 1/8" steel, & f'n stought.

 

Backed the Iroc out of the garage under it's own power for the first time in years. Still have some wiring to do for the HVAC, 4th gen cruise & Cable-X box to make the mechanical speedo work. After that I'll need to take it to others to have exhaust made, front end alignment & have the A/C charged.

 

Awesome to see someone re-use that stock airbox. Looks Perfect!

 

Others have done it. Most don't because it is pretty restrictive.

 

I love the way it looks too. It's a smooth transition between the 3rd & 4th gen parts.

 

You're right, the stock air cleaner is very restrictive, but this will be my daily driver with a stock LS1. I plan to eventually upgrade the air cleaner with the Ram Air (it doesn't seem right saying that saying that about a Chevrolet) boxes from Hawks. Nothing against anyone who uses them, but I don't like the looks of the cold air kits. They just don't look like they belong there to me.

 

I drove my car to work yesterday for the first time in over 4 years. It's a good feeling... Please excuse the bad phone pictures...

 

That is awesome. Great feeling to accomplish a goal like that I am sure.

 

How is the performance? And if you had worked on it constantly how long would it have taken you? Also, did you use the stock gas tank or use the 4th gen one?

 

I'm very impressed with the performance compared to the Tuned Port. The LS1 has a lot of bottom end torque (which I like) & revs much quicker. More power with better economy & dependability is a win/win situation. This is the engine these cars should have come with. Other than the long tube headers, I made no mods to the engine. I unbolted it from the donor car & bolted it into mine.

I started working on the project again in February, but wasn't able to spend much time with it, just a few hours each Saturday. If a person could dedicate all their time to the swap, & always had the parts they needed, & never ran into anything unexpected, the swap shouldn't take more than a few days to a week. For me however, things did not go smoothly. The things that some folks have good luck with on clearance, I did not. My A/C box did not clear #8 coil & had to be ground down for clearance. My oil pan was touching the k-member so I notched it. My notch in the k-member for the A/C compressor was installed too low & interfered with the control arm fitting. I wanted more clearance for the headers because I wanted to use v-band clamps on the collector's, so I trimmed the frame rails to make more room. Installing the proper drivers on my laptop so I could use HP Tuners was a pain in the butt. All these things were overcome-able, but could not be predicted & added time to the project, but those things happen when you're putting something where it doesn't belong.

I used the third gen gas tank. I'd upgraded to the Walboro 255 lph pump while the tpi engine was still in the car. I used the Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator & braided conversion lines from Hawks & a fuel pump hot wire kit from Racetronix.

 

Wow, cool! Good job on the swap it looks amazing man. I've actually read about the AC notching issue because of the #7 coil, there is a company that sells a relocation kit so you don't have to notch it I think.. Can't remember exactly who tho.. How did the wiring go? That to me is pretty intimidating.. The gas tank I suppose isn't a huge issue although the 4th gen one has the evap canister back at the tank (cleaner engine bay, less weight over the front of the car) plus it already has a decent pump in it, mine's stock so I would probably use a 4th gen one.

This motivates me like crazy to put one of these engines in my camaro! Thanks

 

And now you can take the "(in progress)" out of your user info!

Funny you say it has a lot of bottom end torque. That's what most would say LS1's lack...

 

I would assume compared to a 305TPI it has more torque all around, but compared to a 350tpi, a stock LS1 I doubt has more low end torque

 

Good point, I'll have to update my user info!

I guess it's different for everyone. I've always liked my power on the bottom end. I've never been a top end horse power guy. It really doesn't matter to me how fast anything goes on the top end. What I enjoy most is burning tires (without using the brakes) & chirping gears...

 

nice clean build, looks fantastic.

 

Thanks guys! There were some headaches & heartaches along the way, but it was totally worth it. It's an incredible feeling hearing it fire up that first time after doing all that work!!

 

I've never driven a 5.7 TPI car, so I'd have to take your word for that.

I've seen the kit that allows you to use the 3rd gen compressor, but wanted to use the 4th gen piece.

I can't take any credit for the wiring. I got a conversion harness from Hawks. They have a plug & play harness made from the 3rd gen & 4th gen harnesses that you provide. It was expensive, but the project was taking me to long, & building a harness would have taken me even longer. Now that I've worked with the harness & learned some things while troubleshooting some problems that turned out to be bad connections, I think I will make the harness if I do another swap.

I was initially going to use the 4th gen gas tank & all the emissions equipment since I'd intended for the car to pass the GA state emissions test. My build took so long that now the car is old enough (25 years) that it doesn't need to. With that said, I decided to eliminate the cats, evap, AIR & all the other emissions bs...

 

Yeah I probably would have used the 4th gen AC if I was gonna keep AC.

How does it run / smell without cats/emissions/evap? I would have kept atleast the EVAP, doesn't it smell like gas now?

 

There's no gas smell. The exhaust smells a little rich to me. Because all the emissions equipment is gone? Who knows... Maybe that will change after the tune.

 

I've had a request for pictures of the conversion fuel lines & regulator from Hawks, so here they are...

My car had TPI originally, so I used the original feed & return lines. I liked how Hawks mounts the regulator to the front of the master cylinder on some of their conversions, so I did the same thing.

 

Heater hoses. Since a/c is very important to me, I wanted to retain the heater bypass valve & plumb it all up as clean as possible. My TPI car had a steel tube mounted on the frame rail for the hoses. I re-mounted it as close to the inner fender as possible to give more header clearance. I turned the heater bypass valve upside down, so the hose that would have gone to throttle body on the TPI was now facing toward the inner fender. I used all the stock TPI hoses except those that went to the water pump: "heater core to steel pipe", "heater core to heater bypass valve" & "steel pipe to heater bypass valve". Then found molded hoses that were the right sizes & cut them to fit for the "heater bypass valve to water pump" & "steel pipe to water pump". I thought it turned out nice & clean.

 

I received a request for pictures of the conversion a/c hoses from Hawks. Here they are. They use an adapter block that attaches to the back of the 4th gen compressor, which both hoses attach to. One hose goes to the condenser & the other to the receiver/dryer.

 

I got the Cable-X dialed in, so I don't need to use the speedometer app on my phone anymore. It's pretty smooth. Now I can start adding miles to my NOS Z28 speedo!