Some might remember me mentioning or seeing pics of a 85 TA i gave to my little brother, other than that, it has been all his coin to make it go. Had a HO 305 that was not running originally, swapped to a 5.7 from a truck that did not want to be solved with a mystery oil leak, so with income tax upon us, i told him price wise a carb LS swap would undoubtedly the best thing to do.

So, a trip to the junk yard and we scored two assumed 5.3s for 800$, ended up being 4.8s, so i swapped one for what was supposed to be a 4.8 that was a 5.3 for a S10 that is getting a 4.8 swap. Backwardsass luck i know.

Anyway, i told him that he did not have a cowl and the usually carbed ls needs a bit of room for a air cleaner, but since it was a formula hood, i could probably make magic happen with a spare carb hat i had laying around...

Yanked the motor out, put the new engine in with a bit of clean up, after cleaning and prepping the engine bay, all is well that ends well, it is a TH350 already, so trans issues should not arise from the lack of 700R. It did go through a governor gear, big deal. 12$ fix.

Used the 1 inch set back adapters and they also sit down a touch for that perfect drop in, made the truck alternator bracket work with a stock alternator, as i thought, it fits under a formula hood.

Performer intake, no cam was used, 6010 ignition, also this was a fan clutch car, so to prevent the buying of a electric setup, i modded a fan shroud to fit and it works perfect. Stock replacement length BBK shorty headers, straight pipe out the back, the old exhaust from my 89 RS actually.

Car still needs paint(and a new nose clip), a larger converter would help, still a 1 wheel peel rear i swapped in when i got the car, otherwise, it is on the road and he drives the snot out of it. Runs damn well too. Bypassed the power steering after we removed the pump since it has a S10 manual steering box.

Here are the pics:



Like magic, wham!:







His first LS motor and swap, how cute:







What the carb hat looked like originally on a 95 Z28 i had with a SBC swap:



Chopped:

 

Covered and painted:





And the hood closes without contact to the carb hat:




Sooooo....am i the first to do a LS swap with a carb AND air cleaner with a stock hood???

Not 100%, but with the luck of a formula hood it sure can be done.

Price:

Motor: 400$
Ignition:320$
Intake: 276$
Headers used: 270$
Oil pan new: 275$
Adapter mounts: 60$
Blue foam air cleaner: 25$ vato zone special
Exhaust work: 70$
Starter: 50$ Ebay
Dipstick: 25$

Total:1800$, i usually would have saved on headers and oil pan, but time did not permit the searching for a 150$ used pan and a set of the headers i used on my 86 TA that were 86$, they dont sell them anymore but people do post them that did not even put them on a car, that would have saved 300$ off the total for a normal for me 1500$ swap.

Sounds fantastic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USvCJ...&feature=g-upl

 

Wow man, that looks like a real nice project and very afordable too! Congratulations!

 

Nice budget build! Congrats man!

 

Looks great, but one question. I am not familiar with a carb ls swap, but is there not enough room for even a drop base air cleaner on top of the carb or other style dropped air cleaner?

 

wow these budget swaps are getting cheaper but in a good way. How much power did u end making with that setup. probably around 280rwhp?

 

Thanks gents.

I will try to measure one day, but all the room on this was due to the one side cowl, i think there is a 1.5 inch gap normally, not much to allow breathing if there was a air cleaner goofy enough for a half decent fit. I could be completely wrong, but i have yet to recall a stock hood, carbed setup and a air cleaner, probably not a stock hood and carbed LS swap period off my recollection with no cleaner.

 

looks good man. yall goin to that roundup?
im gonna be in my ss. igot nothin on the rs.....yet...

 

No alt problem contacting the hood, or is the formula bulge in just the right place?!

 

Does that carb hat and little air cleaner flow enough air to feed the motor at high rpm?

 

Yea, will be going.

Never had a stock flat or GTA style hood to test fit, but it would be close, here is a side pic from my 5.3 swap in the 86 TA:



Yes, the engine pulls 6000 and rarely goes there. From no cleaner to with, it has been the same, with a cam and 7000? That might be a different story.

 

Well, primered the car last night, getting ready for a tird gen meet tomorrow, once i got done spraying, i told the little brother i would see him later, and he put the car back together...all except these:



Looked good, but the hood flew up after he left.....so it doesnt look as hood, needs a new hood, windshield, fix a few dinks...but, before he forgot that, here is what happened:

 

Oh man... that sucks! Well, at least the primer looks good.

 

Yea, except where the hood contacted the roof and fender. Down side is the Texas third gen round up is today.

 

Here is the new craigs list find hood after install, they had the hood pins in a spot i can only assume some bracket was used to make it work for the front, they were about where the headlight motors are. Anyway, i glassed the old holes and set them where the existing pins belong.



Little bit of customization for he heck of it:

 

Awesome budget build! Is there a way to incorporate power steering and a stock alternator w/o having to get 4th gen accs?

 

There are aftermarket setups that will work great, but you have to pay to play. The F body accessories allow the use of a stock hood, but you will pay 250$ usually at minimum. The truck parts are CHEAP.
Flad you like the budget builds, i want him to run this at the track next chance i can get out there with the 86 TA, see how his does and mine before the 5.3 in the 86 comes out in favor of the 6.0 from the RS i just wrecked.

 

Would just the plenum without filter fit on a regular trans am hood? I really dont want to lose the stock hood when i my carbed lsx swap. Id run the intake to the front of the bey to get it out of the way if i could, this might solve one problem anyway.