Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Start Up Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JzXu...1aAUAAAAAAAAAA


Not finished yet, but hopefully I can at least get the motor fired up within the next month.

Heres a run down of my swap. It started out with a 305 TPI/700R4.

Motor: 98 LS1
Fast 90 Intake
Nick Williams 90mm TB
AI 243 226cc Heads
AI Cam
SW 1 3/4 Headers
Katech Rod Bolts
Lokar Throttle Cable
LS6 Valley Cover
Mike Norris Catch Can
LS2 Timing Chain
Ported LS6 Oil Pump
LS7 Lifters
LS2 Trays
Trunion Rocker Upgrade
ASP Underdrive Pulley

Transmission: T56
Monster Stage 2 Clutch
Tick Master Cylinder
Speed bleeder

Interior:
4th Gen Firebird Dash and Center Console
Hybrid HVAC Ducting
98 Gauge Cluster
4th Gen Leather Seats
98 Rear View Mirror

Fuel:
99 Plastic Tank
Racetronix/Walbro Fuel Pump
Hotwire Kit

Rear:
4th Gen 10 Bolt
3:73 Gears
TA Girdle
Aluminum DS

Brakes:
Front; KORE3 C6 Calipers
-BigBrakeUpgrades C5 Spindles and Brackets
Rear; 4th Gen Disk
-Ed Miller Ebrake Cables

Wheels/Tires:
10 Spoke SS Rims
Z06 Rims
ZR1’s

Suspension:
TDS Wonder Bar
J&M Camber/Caster Plates
Spohn Kmember
Koni Yellows
Eibach Sportlines
Global West Del-a-lum Bushings
UMI Subframe Connectors
Hawks T56 Crossmember
BMR Trac Pak
UMI Rear Lower Control Arms
UMI Panhard Bar

Donor car; 98 TransAm WS6. Involved in a front and rear end collision. Damage was worse than it looks.

How it arrived:


How it left:


Iroc before:


Motor Out:

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Motor Build:

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Tick Master Cylinder Install:







LS1’s new home:





Front Suspension:

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Lokar Throttle Cable Install:

I followed HP52TA by using my stock tpi firewall grommet, to prevent any cable binding. He provides a great step by step here: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...ld-swap-2.html

I did mine similar except I used the set screw side on the throttle body as I didn’t know how to attach the other side to the throttle body. I was worried the Lokar cable would be loose in the grommet, but its extremely tight and wont be going anywhere.



Set screw side:





Other side:







Heres why I used the set screw side instead of the side showing:




4th gen Battery Tray:

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

4th Gen 10 bolt w/3:73’s



Everything painted:



4th Gen Plastic Fuel Tank/10 bolt Install:





Out with the old…



In with the new.


4th Gen Fuel pump bulkhead connector, and Racetronix hotwire kit.


Only 4 wires are reused off the bulkhead. Two grounds(BLK), Fuel level signal(PPL), and Fuel pump 12v(GRY). All splice into the stock thirdgen bulkhead. Grounds to ground. 4th gen Fuel level signal to PNK thirdgen wire. 4th Gen fuel pump 12v to BRN thirdgen wire.

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

How much I trimmed off the filler neck. This will vary from car to car, so measure:



Koni Yellows and UMI Rear Lower Control Arms:



Eibach Sportlines vs Stock IROC Springs:

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Fuel Lines:

3rd gen hardline used from the engine bay to tee fitting. Tee fitting rearward is 4th gen lines, and custom nylon braided line.
Stock 3rd gen hardline, connects to tee fitting. From there the ls1’s return line, and fuel filter/feed line. A short line was needed to connect the plastic feed line coming off the tank, to where the fuel filter is located.





I had to modify the stock fuel filter bracket to hold the filter in its new position.



Engine Bay Fuel Line:




Interior:
98 TransAm Dash/Center Console Install:

I eventually want A/C so I modified the 4th gen HVAC ducting to the 3rd gen ducting. I cant seem to find pics of it though.

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Im currently attempting to wire up the 98 gauge cluster, and headlight/dimmer/fog light switch.

Gauge Cluster Wiring:

Prokilllsx

How in the world did you post all that in 7 minutes??? Lol
Anyway, super cool project man. Keep up the good work.

BlueZee28

iTrader: (30)

Looks very detailed, excellent work so far.

dprest68

iTrader: (1)

Nice swap. I'm going to do my throttle cable the same way once I finally get to that point.

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Thanks guys.

haha I typed it up in MS Word first.

UnstableAviator

Your basically building the LS1 I plan too next winter when funds allow. Fast, AI 226 heads, custom AI or EPS cam. What kind of AI cam did they spec?

I'm curious as to your dyno results, should be 450rwhp if everything is correct when all said and done. You're gonna need a new rearend before long!

BTW, I have the Monster Stage 2 with lightweight (18lb) flywheel. Only a few hundred miles on it so far, it feels great and grabs like crazy. Zero slippage, but still smooth engagement, its my favorite clutch in any vehicle I've ever owned. Nice build, keep us updated.

coptzer

iTrader: (2)

Nice looking car/project! I am doing my 86 IROC this spring. Keep the pictures coming !

That is one clean looking motor/trans. Did you paint those or what? I also like the color of your valve covers & intake. I can't wait to see what those wheels lok like on the car. Good luck with swap.

1ADan

iTrader: (4)

wow, lots of pics, so little time! great looking swap so far

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

The cam is pretty mild; 226/230 .601/.602 111 LSA.

Wasn't to concerned about rwhp, I told him I was looking for power under the curve. He did say 450 to the wheels wouldn't be difficult with the setup though.

Ive heard nothing but great things about Monster. Really looking forward to slamming some gears.


Yup motor and trans are painted with high temp silver. Thanks

Appreciate it.



Got these today: Used set of Hawks/SW 1 3/4 swap headers. Unfortunately they have 2 1/2" collectors.

UnstableAviator

Looks to me like you could easily swap collectors to a 3". If you got a good deal, I think it would be worth the effort/money. Plus, since you're running a T56, it would give you a good chance to re-align the collectors to prevent the interference with the passenger side frame. I went with V-band clamps, and I'll never use a 3-bolt collector again. Simple, easy, effective, and require minimal clearance.

BTW, a 226/230 cam with those heads will be awesome. From what I've read, you could literally run a dowel rod for a cam with those AI 226 heads and make big power.

Stevo

iTrader: (45)

Great pics and nice stack of parts! Where did you find the donor car?

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

I was thinking the same thing about the collectors. Working on installing the headers, to get it running and see how/where to angle the collector.



Found it on LS1Tech, down by St. Augustine FL. Picked it up for $2500 The car was very well taken care of, and had a bit of suspension/brake goodies.



After moving the fuel lines a bit I got the drivers side in. Moved to the passenger side and it looks no wear close to being able to fit. I keep getting hung up between the Spohn Kmember and bellhousing. I measured barely 3" between the Kmember and bellhousing. Top, bottom it didn't matter. I think I need to loosen up the motor mounts and pry it over??? If anyone has any close up pics of this area and wouldnt mind posting them Id appreciate it.

HP52TA

iTrader: (4)

Great looking build you have going. That sure was an awesome find on the 4th Gen donor car. Congrats.

For header install, do you have the car lifted off the ground at all? I found on the passenger side header, that it had to be almost vertical to get it installed from the bottom.

As UnstableAviator already said, go with the v-band clamps for the collector connection. I was going to go slip fit, till I seen his v-bands and was converted.

Keep up the nice work!

jamieschott

iTrader: (2)

Looks like there isnt alot of room for the battery in the picture of the 4th gen coolant overflow. Maybe Im just looking at it wrong...

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Success.





Basically tried what you said. I had to undo the passenger motor mount and lift the engine, but its in. Good part is I know how I have to install it, bad part is its was a pain in the butt.

Definitely going with vband clamps at the collectors, and before the rear axle. Going to run true duals with an xpipe so It needs to be easy to remove.

Not allot of room, but the battery fits in there fine.

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Worked on the headlight switch wiring today. Dimmer, parking lights, headlights, high-beams, fog lights; everything works like they should.

I also had to get the trunk release to work now that Ive got a 6 speed. I took the yellow wire going to the hatch release relay, and spliced it into the tan/white wire on the e-brake switch. With the key in the run position the trunk will only release with the e-brake up. Key off, e-brake position doesn't matter.

I'll be making a little diagram on how I wired up the headlight, dimmer, and fog light switch in the near future.

Zrated83

iTrader: (17)

Damn bro looking good Can't wait to check it out.

camarozz383

iTrader: (2)

awesome job! great looking work, great info as well cant wait to see more!

cprmn14

iTrader: (3)

Awesome build man, looks very clean.

Speedfreak391

iTrader: (1)

Great work man! Just be careful when you get that thing running, your TCS is off. lol

BlueMagicSS

NICE!!!!

daddy33

iTrader: (5)

Very nice work!

Just do what I did with the headers, I cut off right where it starts to bottleneck down to 2 1/2", and welded a 3" piece in.



After that, just had collectors welded on and made a 3" into 4" y-pipe (since clearance sucks lol)

513camarors91

iTrader: (1)

very clean swap so far....nice job

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Hmm no one told me your coming down, I could use the help

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Not much progress as of late. Wired up the 4th gen rear view mirror, and got it mounted. Dug up the lower radiator hose from the donor car, and it fits pretty dang good.

Got my new O2 sensors, upper radiator hose, power steering line, and a used power steering pump in today. Unfortunately the power steering pump has chips all around the pulley. Why anyone would just throw it in a box and ship it baffles me



The 4th gen rear view had; BLK, WHT, and BLU.
My thirdgen has the dome light, with the wires being; WHT, and WHT/ORN.
I extended the BLK wire to a ground near the hood release. I spliced together the WHT wire off the 4th gen rear view to the WHT wire leading to the dome light. Then the BLU wire into the WHT/ORN wire. The rear view lights up when the doors are open, when you turn on the interior lights via the dimmer switch, and of course when you use the buttons on the mirror. Another thing is my 4th gen colors varied from this guys post: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...w-4th-gen.html

The new mirror fits over the stock mounting piece just fine abit loose though.The stock mirror has a screw to secure it, so I drilled one in the 4th gen. Fits great and is very secure now.



Lower radiator hose from a 98 LS1 Fbody fits great. I'm using a stock 3rd gen radiator, with the smaller hose end on the water pump. Some have trouble getting the hose on the water pump but mine went on without much trouble, probably because its not brand new.

TPI TERR

iTrader: (9)

Nice build I took out a few LEDs from several lights on the cluster that were bugging me. Air bag abs etc

But are u really jacking up your car from the oil pan?

dprest68

iTrader: (1)

Looks like you should maybe put a sleeve over that lower hose by those pitman arm bolts so that they don't eventually wear a hole in the hose from vibration. Just my two cents

KiLLJ0Y

iTrader: (1)

hey quick question, regarding the wiring for the rear view mirror, what colors or wires go to from the rear view to the thirdgen wiring up there?

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

No the car was on stands. I had the passenger side motor mount unbolted, and needed to tilt the motor to get the header in.




The 4th gen rear view had; BLK, WHT, and BLU.
My thirdgen has the dome light, with the wires being; WHT, and WHT/ORN.
I extended the BLK wire to a ground near the hood release. I spliced together the WHT wire off the 4th gen rear view to the WHT wire leading to the dome light. Then the BLU wire into the WHT/ORN wire. The rear view lights up when the doors are open, when you turn on the interior lights via the dimmer switch, and of course when you use the buttons on the mirror. Another thing is my 4th gen colors varied from this guys post: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...w-4th-gen.html

dprest68

iTrader: (1)

Good idea. I like it!

camarozz383

iTrader: (2)

Hey how low do thoes headers sit underneath the car? they look great! do any other company sell headers for this kinda swap?

dynodanmanda79

iTrader: (1)

Looking good Rich! Can't wait for you to get this thing going! My Wife and I just bought a house in Lee Farms in December so I'm just a few minutes away from you now, let me know if you need any help buddy.

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Pretty low when you consider that Ive got Eibach sportlines, and the front end sits kinda high for me. It will do for now though. Hedman Husler mid length headers are the only other headers I know of.





Thanks, and congrats. Still got your number, so I'll give you a ring if I need a hand.

camarozz383

iTrader: (2)

yeah i have sportline as well, they do sit low hey! lower than you oil pan, anyone else make nice headers for our cars...or headers that actually fit? a lot of people are complaining about fitment with some types, nice car by the way

Chuck!

Swap looks great. How do you like the Spohn k-member?

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

If your talking about non swap headers than either hooker 2055's or dyno dons are the way to go. I've had both and the fitment was fine.

I'm not sure if I'm just one of the lucky ones or if they've "fixed" the problems, but I haven't had much trouble with it.

513camarors91

iTrader: (1)

great looking swap so far...did you paint or powder coat the valve covers...and what color is that?

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Its graphite wheel paint, from the autoparts store.

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Bought and installed the heater lines along with a heater control valve; with the help of ghettocruiser's threads and heater hose part numbers by Jaysz28.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...-valve-ls.html
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...iring-vac.html

Heater valve:
5930 Everco
Heater hose:
E80405
E80416

Bought two of each heater hose, so I could have 90 degree bends coming off the heater core and water pump. I Also put in a flush tee. Still need to buy more clamps, before buttoning it up. After that I got the coils mounted on my cheapo coil brackets. There just a piece of iron, some bolts and spacers for the coils. Too bad the stock wires are to short for them, but I needed new wires anyway so no biggie.

Quick question:
Whats everyone using for the brake booster hose? 4th gen hose was to big on the booster side for the 3rd gen brake booster.

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

Motor cranks, but doesn't start. I can hear the fuel pump priming; So just have to figure out if I'm not getting fuel or spark. Ive got three wires where I hook up the pcm bundled together labeled cable x, individually they are labeled Speedo, IGN, and Ground. Anyone know what they are for? I'll be using speedo for the 4th gen gauge cluster, but what about the other two?

UnstableAviator

The PCM needs IGN power too, and obviously the ground needs to be grounded to the car chassis.

IIRC, for an LS1 to run, you need the following:

PCM/ALDL Constant Power (hot)
PCM/MAF IGN (switched power)
INJ 1
INJ 2
HO2 Left/Right

Start by checking your ground continuity, since that tends to be more problematic than a powered wire. If you wired everything through the stock fusebox, then be sure all the fuses are making good contact. I know my ol' 84 stock fusebox sucks, I typically have to bend up the tabs on my fuses for them to make sufficient contact to run the basic things like heater fan. I have a custom fuse/relay panel for the engine power....

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

She lives... First things first; Fuel pressure checked out, and I verified i was getting some volts at the coil pack harness during cranking. I took a look at my pcm connectors, and they didn't seem seated all the way. Tightened them up and it fired right up

Uploading the start up vid right now.

Still along way before it hits the road, but should have some longer idle clips this weekend.

Rich92 RS

iTrader: (16)

First start vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JzXupDPkik