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LTX and LSXPutting LT1s, LS1s, and their variants into Third Gens is becoming more popular. This board is for those who are doing and have done the swaps so they can discuss all of their technical aspects including repairs, swap info, and performance upgrades.
Went to work with the fiberglass and got a few problem areas fixed first
We couldn't get the air out from under the fiberglass due to the cracks in the board. It definitely helped strengthen that area though.
It was cracked in this area too, but not as bad. We made a little progress with it at least. Definitely going to need to get more resin though. The fiberboard really soaks it up.
I've been so busy with work & life that I really haven't had much time to spend on my car since my last post. I have slowly been working some of the bugs out of it. (Not actual bugs!) And some of the bugs have just kind of worked themselves out like the gas tank. At first I could just bare open the nozzle when putting gas in it. Now it seems to be pretty close to normal and I can pretty much fully open the nozzle when filling it up. So yay for that. I don't know what changed, but I'm glad it worked itself out. Also, the windshield wiper motor barely worked when I got the car back on the road. Since then I've had to use it a few times and now it works normally again. I guess it just needed to be used.
Unfortunately the car set around for about 6 month without being started. Needless to say, the gas went bad. I topped the tank off with ethanol free gas and put octane booster / stabilzer in it. That didn't seem to help it run any better. So I finally broke down this week and took it over to my trusted mechanic. Today they informed me that at least one of the plugs were bad so they replaced them all and they found three clogged injectors so they put it on the injector cleaning machine. They said the car is now firing on all cylinders. So that makes me happy! They are also going to change the oil and filter, get my a/c system working and a hand full of other things while it's in there.
I ordered a 3.70:1 ring & pinion gear for it today since the stock rear gears started getting loud awhile back. I'm going to go ahead and have the mechanic install those as well while it's in there.
After that I'm going to take it to a muffler shop to get my one low exhaust pipe raised up. It's been hit quite a few times and is quite flat on the bottom. They will probably have to modify my tranny crossmember to make that happen.
Shortly after that I want to get it over to the window tinter and get the windows retinted. The passenger side door glass is pretty much impossible to see out of with the window up. The tint on it is that far gone. From there, the interior work (headliner & seats) are going to get done. The car should be in pretty decent shape after that.
Unfortunately the front end of the car still hasn't settled down like I thought it would. It's still an inch higher than the rear. I considered putting stock springs in the back to raise it up level, but I like the height of the rear of the car. So I decided to get the UMI weight jacks for it. It says you can lower it up to 2.5" with that kit. So that should get the front end where it needs to be. I guess I'll put the Sportline front lower springs in one of my other GTA's once I swap them with the weight jack kit.
Despite my issues with the car, I LOVE the LS swap that I did. It makes the car so much more enjoyable to drive and gets great gas mileage. I'm looking forward to enjoying it more now and getting more of these issues resolved.
I recommend to run any car you're not going to drive at least 2 months out of gas. This crap gas they provide these days is a pain. The last vehicle I worked on was a 5.3 Yukon that had sat for an extended period of time and the injectors had brown crystalized ethanol right over the holes (and probably inside the injector). I wouldn't even bother stabilizing it, just run it empty.
Man, your fuel seems to be really shoddy. We don't have that kind of issue over here, not even after half a year.
Then again, our regular fuel contains 5% ethanol and 10% is just an optional alternative.
Are you trying to conceal your worn interior by tinting the windows? Ist that the real reason for prioritizing the tint? lol
Just got the GTA back from the mechanic. I had him fix the leaking heater core that was brand new. I put a new brass one in it when I did the LS swap. Apparently it didn't get along with the all aluminum engine & the coolant I used. It now has an aluminum heater core & the global coolant. You should have seen the one they pulled out of it. It looked like it had a million miles on it. They also changed out the ring & pinion in my 9 bolt to a 3.70. That was quite a fiasco finding all of the parts that were needed for the bastard differential. Thank you Summit Racing for coming to the rescue. They also put a slightly shorter serpentine belt on it, got the air conditioning working again & put the stock springs back in the rear of the car. The car no longer sits higher in the front. I may try the 1" lowering springs in the back at some point. I just want to get the car level all the way around. That trip to the mechanic worked most of the major bugs out of the car. Still quite a few minor bugs to work on. Glad to have it back in my garage! Unfortunately it was raining while bringing it home so I didn't have an opportunity to try out the new gear.
Last edited by dprest68; Mar 10, 2021 at 02:36 PM.
Reason: spelling error
Sorry guys, I just saw these replies yesterday. The site had my old email. That has been corrected.
Originally Posted by 88FormulaKiller
I recommend to run any car you're not going to drive at least 2 months out of gas. This crap gas they provide these days is a pain. The last vehicle I worked on was a 5.3 Yukon that had sat for an extended period of time and the injectors had brown crystalized ethanol right over the holes (and probably inside the injector). I wouldn't even bother stabilizing it, just run it empty.
Seems like running them out of gas would cause other issues. lol. I think I'll just force myself to keep driving them!
Originally Posted by NCC-2569
Nice to see you around again, buddy!
Man, your fuel seems to be really shoddy. We don't have that kind of issue over here, not even after half a year.
Then again, our regular fuel contains 5% ethanol and 10% is just an optional alternative.
Are you trying to conceal your worn interior by tinting the windows? Ist that the real reason for prioritizing the tint? lol
Thanks Antony! I haven't heard from you in awhile. You must be a busy camper. lol. Yeah, not sure about other areas of the US, but our fuel in Florida does seem to suck. You guys over there are lucky.
Yes. Isn't that what tinted windows are for? haha. I'll post a picture looking out my passenger side window & you'll see why. You almost can't see through it it's so bad.
Originally Posted by Jaysz28
Dave!
Glad to see you back working on and posting about the car
I gotta try to get back up your way, its been too long
-jason
Jason! I haven't heard from you in ages. Yeah, I'm glad to be making progress on it again. Any progress on yours?
Yeah, head over this way sometime and let's hang out. I'm in Apopka now. So I'm a bit closer to you than I was before.
Here's the other thing I've been working on... I got my '88 GTA back from paint last week! Lots of detailing to do now. I'll probably start a new thread about this one. Fixing it up to sell it. The body shop said it was in really good shape other than needing paint.
Just FYI, if any of you need a wrap-around rear wing from Hawk's order it way ahead of time. They said the build time for them is 3 to 4 weeks. As you can see, the '88 is missing that piece for now. And they said they stopped making the Ram Air II hood because of mold issues. So that didn't make me too happy either.
Do you guys think it would make the car more valuable to restore the factory wheels or to just put an affordable set of aftermarket wheels on it? Probably not much difference in price I'm guessing.
Hey dude!
Yeah, I haven't been around much lately, that's true.
It's been a real busy time these last couple of months, causing me to go into ultra lazy mode as soon as I got home, lol
Latest thing happening to me was my car jack giving out on me just as I was swapping the last of my new tires, cranking it down.
Kinda just ratcheted down into it's storage posture, so I'm keeping an eye out for a replacement. Still works, but haven't put it under any load since then.
Hey, let us see pics of that new spoiler, will ya?
Hawk's doesn't even bother to reply to my inquiries anymore, so I don't bother ordering anything from them. What do I know if they'll ever come through with their stuff, if they won't even reply to a simple email?
And as for the wheels... if you can find cheap stock ones, stick them on and sell the spokes separately if you're out to get some extra cash from the sale.
Hey guys. It's my annual check-in, although I missed 2020 all together. lol. Anyway... I finally got the GTA over to the transmission shop. And the verdict is in; I'll never buy another Monster transmission again! The transmission has less than 5k miles on it and the bands were all burnt and the reverse input drum was not flat across its surface. This means that the band that clamps on to if was only gripping on the edges of the drum. There was maybe a half inch of contact on both sides of the band and zero contact in the middle of the band. Also the TCI torque converter was no good. Other than that everything looked okay. Hopefully I got all of the terminology right, since I'm not too educated on trannies. (Hmm, maybe I should say gender neutrals? lol) The transmission is now rebuilt properly and we are waiting on the custom billet torque converter to be build specifically to the specs of my car by Bowler Transmissions. And boy oh boy that was not cheap!!! The new converter should be in by the first of next week. Hopefully by the end of next week I can have the car back on the road and if be correct for a change.
Next up is getting the weight jacks on the rear of the car and getting the Koni Yellows installed back there as well. After that I'll be ready to get it out to the Autocross tracks and get some seat time. I can't wait. Should be a blast! Who's going to join me?
Last edited by dprest68; Mar 10, 2021 at 02:40 PM.
Latest thing happening to me was my car jack giving out on me just as I was swapping the last of my new tires, cranking it down.
Kinda just ratcheted down into it's storage posture, so I'm keeping an eye out for a replacement. Still works, but haven't put it under any load since then. That doesn't sound too good
Hey, let us see pics of that new spoiler, will ya? I don't have the spoiler on the car yet, but I will snap some pics of it beforehand and during the process.
And as for the wheels... if you can find cheap stock ones, stick them on and sell the spokes separately if you're out to get some extra cash from the sale. Not a bad idea. We'll see.
And some of the bugs have just kind of worked themselves out like the gas tank. At first I could just bare open the nozzle when putting gas in it. Now it seems to be pretty close to normal and I can pretty much fully open the nozzle when filling it up. So yay for that. I don't know what changed, but I'm glad it worked itself out. Also, the windshield wiper motor barely worked when I got the car back on the road. Since then I've had to use it a few times and now it works normally again. I guess it just needed to be used.
lol) The transmission is now rebuilt properly and we are waiting on the custom billet torque converter to be build specifically to the specs of my car by Bowler Transmissions. And boy oh boy that was not cheap!!! The new converter should be in by the first of next week. Hopefully by the end of next week I can have the car back on the road and if be correct for a change.
