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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.
Hi everyone, my names kohlton and I'm looking for a Third Gen I can do a lsx swap in and need some advice.
1. If I buy a roller that was a sbc swap can spear tech make a harness that will plug into my cars eom stuff or do people normally get rid of needed wires and that stuff when they do carbed motor swaps? or should I get something stock and remove engine myself? What I'm asking is it hard to wire an lsx motor if it's not original motor or no motor at all in vehicle you are doing the swap on.
2. I have about 12,000 dollars I can work with and I'd like to have all priorities covered suspension wise, t56 built or 4l60e, whatever reareND you guys recommend, brake upgrades body paint, wheels tires ext. Everything.
3. Withe the budget I'm on what motor do you recommend me building. Should I do lq4 with some sort of top end kit and swap accessories and pan or build an ls1 or even boost a 5.3 or lq4 if you guys can steer me in the right directions price for part wise.
4. If I buy v6 car what extra has to be done to do an ls swap
Budget is a little bendable looking for most horsepower, reliable, street driven, third Gen I can build within my budget all advice considered an needed I'm a noob and would appreciate all advice thanks guys.
12k is tight for a total build IF high performance is a priority. Getting a third gen LS converted and a nice street car can easily be done for that budget though. If you can build most of it yourself and not have to buy or pay for skilled labor then 12K will get you a solid performer although at 12k you want to STEER clear of boost imo unless you just want a cheap thrill that will require constant attention. In fact regardless of budget if you go for a lot of power then you can expect a lot of maintenance to keep it tip top.
The wisest thing you have done so far is get your finances sorted out. SMART move imo. Now the goal of most gain fro your investment is what you need to decide. So for that? I'll offer a couple tips.
Find as solid and undamaged car to start with. I find most OEM complete running driving cars easiest to work with as there are often differences in approach and logic between builders on custom stuff and that can lead to increased confusion to what is already a challenging undertaking. So goal 1 is a good clean car to start with. Cost? Hard to say pending area and supply demand or salt issues etc. I havent been following the sales market of late so I cant even guess a realistic number.
So after the car purchase the remainder is what you have to build with. After the years doung this? Id start with a new f-body pan/pick up kit as well as an LS6 intake or one of the aftermarket dorman LS6 clones and again imo id stick with naturally aspirated for street cars unless you NEED to win races somewhere $$$ otherwise boost adds tremendous cost and service. So with that i'll go for a na build plan. First big purchase you NEED is headers. GOOD ones, buy em once and many engines can use em. WISE purchase imo. I like the Hawks SW stuff because I have them and love them but you need to do some homework on EXACTLY which header you will receive.
Now that you have a car and some swap parts your going to need to make a big choice here that will really set the future out for you and thats engine management. Stock oem computers with HpTuners or the like sure can do the task but you will have to do some serious reading, learning, and time to install and tune this way. Total cost around $1k-1500 or so for what you'll need. Or step right to aftermarket Holley management and go. Much of the confusion is already sorted out for you this way but the cost is higher. If I was starting anew? Id buy Holey product and go. I use HP btw
Now after that is done how much do you have left? Whatever that is post up again and I can help you get the most ROI hp wise out of those dollars. Plenty of work ahead for you. Have FUN first and foremost and good luck
Thanks so much for the input guys so you think I should find a clean original drive train car? I figured I could save a penny getting a roller but also don't want to play find previous owners cob jobs. If I found a car with the original motor pulled and still had harness would that be ok? I'm confused as to what the actual lsx harness and pcm will hook to wire wise in the original Camaro other then gauges. I'm just very confused electronically this is my first fuel injected engine swap lol I'm not illiterate or lazy though I think with some coaching from this site we can get this done.
And so no boost? What about cam, heads? Bolt ons? Which motor should I get save money on an iron block? Buy pan and stuff? Or pay up front for the ls1 and t56 and keep clean and stock for now. I know this isn't the place but I want to know more rearend wise and brake upgrades also if yiu could chime in.. do you guys know or have you done any cts-v or corvette brake upgrades or do you guys go aftermarket? Thanks for help again.
Rollers are fine too but I gauged my response based on what your experience level seems to indicate and I was trying to save you some headaches by starting with a car that is basically stock so the published wiring diagrams will apply and the pinouts will still be easy to find online etc. Most rollers have already been "gutted" to some degree leaving you, and ONLY you to be able to decipher whats what or force you to start fresh $$$ and whatnot. A lot of rollers ive seen have almost no OEM chassis wiring left or have been butchered up pretty good for carb race engines and the like.
Spend some time reading others build threads to get a feel for this process. Its more fun than Q+A anyways theres pics and you can see where the bumps in the road are so to speak. You read the LSx swap sticky I would hope?
1) I build plug and play harnesses. Dont worry about wiring it up, thats the easy part
2) $12k for the swap is more than enough IMHO. If you're overhauling the whole car, thats a huge stretch. Suspension/paint will eat atleast half of that. If you start with a decent/mechanically sound chassis then you can play with alot more car in the end
3) Find the chassis first, figure out what it needs then move on to the drivetrain. You also need to honestly think about how much you want to pinch pennies on this. Spend 1-2 years hunting deals on everything to piece it together or pay a little extra for a dropout thats one-stop shopping. You also need to think about your goals with the car
4) Upgrade the rearend. V6's are all open diff 10 bolts. Making sure the suspension is in good working order is a good idea as the newest 3rd gen is 24 years old. Driving habits play into axle choice too. Much like a T5, a 10 bolt will live a long life if you dont drive like a teenager. If sticky tires and clutch dumps are a part of your driving habits, you may want to upgrade the axle regardless of what comes under the car
When considering a chassis, think about the exterior, rust and what parts you can use or sell to recoup the swap costs. A nice V6 is alot better candidate than an old IROC in primer thats been to hell and back. When looking at a roller, inspect the dash harness for hacks. Thats under the steering column near the fuseblock and same area under the pass side of the dash
1) I build plug and play harnesses. Dont worry about wiring it up, thats the easy part
2) $12k for the swap is more than enough IMHO. If you're overhauling the whole car, thats a huge stretch. Suspension/paint will eat atleast half of that. If you start with a decent/mechanically sound chassis then you can play with alot more car in the end
3) Find the chassis first, figure out what it needs then move on to the drivetrain. You also need to honestly think about how much you want to pinch pennies on this. Spend 1-2 years hunting deals on everything to piece it together or pay a little extra for a dropout thats one-stop shopping. You also need to think about your goals with the car
4) Upgrade the rearend. V6's are all open diff 10 bolts. Making sure the suspension is in good working order is a good idea as the newest 3rd gen is 24 years old. Driving habits play into axle choice too. Much like a T5, a 10 bolt will live a long life if you dont drive like a teenager. If sticky tires and clutch dumps are a part of your driving habits, you may want to upgrade the axle regardless of what comes under the car
When considering a chassis, think about the exterior, rust and what parts you can use or sell to recoup the swap costs. A nice V6 is alot better candidate than an old IROC in primer thats been to hell and back. When looking at a roller, inspect the dash harness for hacks. Thats under the steering column near the fuseblock and same area under the pass side of the dash
I found a very clean 84z28 77000 miles with engine ac and Trans out of it sub frames tied some other suspension mods original 10 bolt he says wiring harness is all there not cut but I asked about the wires in picture on passenger floor and he said that was from heater core being unplugged? It has been sanded to bare metal originally red no dent no rust before paint. With paint and subframes being done I figured I could save a penny but wanted your consent on that wiring lol "he said it was all unplugged this is not a cob job" all new weatherstripping as well lights and dash all work haven't gone to see in person but owner now claims to have ten k invested ... he said I could take it for 3000 rolling chassis with clean title. Is that worth it with body already being done?
Last edited by KOHLTONR1993; 06-09-2015 at 05:57 AM.
Go see it in person. Good paint will be a big deal with that and if he has all the exterior pieces that arent installed like the spoiler and ground effects. Wheels come with it?
Those wires in the floor arent a deal breaker. No the heatercore doesnt have any wires to it. Just spitballing, but could be speaker mods or wires he passed through the fender grommet right there to avoid drilling holes in the firewall. Take a closer look
I'll end up doing another Third gen LS swap eventually.
My #1 priority is a CLEAN solid car that hasn't been messed with... So a stock car with a T5 and any engine is what I would look for so I avoid messing around with someone else's work. Best part is, if you find a car with engine issues you can dicker the guy down with the repairs you will have to make. He doesn't need to know you're swapping.
Wiring... Easy easy. I had Pocket make me a fuse/relay block and I did the rest. I learned so much doing it, I had an issue last week and 5 minutes of thinking I knew what the issue was, because I built the harness.
I've spent around 10G doing pretty much all the work myself, I have LS1/T56, subframe connectors, some interior work and paint. Suspension, founders has good value, I'll be using some lowering springs (front of the car lifted with the lighter engine), KYB AGX shocks/struts and tubular adjustable stuff in the rear, and I'll be doing a C5 brake upgrade from Big Brake upgrade. Everything is done with budget in mind while making sure I get some quality/performance as well.
Rear end, I'm not sure but I'm looking towards an 8.8 build... I thought I could control myself and be nice to the 10bolt, but I've stressed it a few times already so I need to upgrade before I explode the thing.
Ended up getting a 1982 z28 88,xxx auto hardtop all original except wheels and radio. Where do we start? I want to do actual motor and tranny 4l60e last. I want to do all suspension and wheels first pertaining to my budget of 12k. Everything we do I want to buy needed parts for reliability . No extras no less. Quality not over kill moneys tight haha. Let me know where to start guys thanks. Also 4th Gen seats are a direct swap right? Also is there actual dashes I can buy or only covers? Thanks for the help guys
First Id make sure the suspension was in full working order. New bushings up front, possibly rear, but the founders rear kit is inexpensive and comes with better bushings already. Dont forget shocks/struts, KYB GR2's are very good for the money. Its be a good idea to replace the upper strut mounts with either new stockers or aftermarket adjustibles. The steering is super important and often for these cars original, inspect and replace as needed. Also Id go for a set of SFCs. Home made or off the shelf, any weld in will be a huge improvement
For the interior, I like to keep it simple. New aftermarket carpet and 4th gen seats. Make sure your panels all match or follow a color scheme. A new headliner is never a bad idea
Beyond that, its nitpick stuff and gathering parts for the swap. Mounts, headers and fuel system parts go with nearly any conversion so stock pile for later. Id look for a different rearend too
Hey everybody just a couple questions and a little update. I got seats out and carpet about ready to come up its $289. On hawks for front and back does anybody know of a place any cheaper? Also I'll post a picture of the issue I'm having... I've found carpet for the sides of center console which is $25. For set. Or can you remove carpet clean up plastic and it look good without it? I guess I'll see when I remove it lol.
But can't seem to find where to get the carpet for under dash on side of trim..
Update long time no see: Got the interior finished 145 mph instrument panel, new carpet and 2000 t/a seats.
Threw a rod in the old crossfire 305 2 weeks ago.
But I have a 99 manuel camaro I'm ready to put the ls1 in the 82 (change of plans not a 5.3 turbo) both have uncut harnesses and I'm wondering how or who can help me find adapters or who will modify mine for a reasonable price or give me the pinout differences hooking up to a cfi harness ive only been able to find info on TPI and TBI. Ive called speartech haven't got back with me yet and don't want to pay 630. Also if I get tubular k member who is cheap and durable I've heard bad about spohn.. but with mounts and k member will ls1 be ready to JUST SIT in engine bay? Thanks guys.
18 iroc replicas I thought maybe they are 16s I don't have the car at my house right now in the middle of a move or id let you gus know. I just sold a set of wheels off my 82 regal
For $500 bucks paid alot more then that for them last year I'm not sure how much these are worth but I'd let these go for pretty cheap too but idk if it'd be worth it after shipping if any body would want them on here. I want to by some black 5th gen wheels . I see pocket on here does alot with wiring and seems to be really knowledgeable is crossfire injection any different wiring? That's where I'm really stumped on this whole thing
Last edited by KOHLTONR1993; 10-20-2015 at 10:40 PM.
I think those are Formula seats. Full leather back, no plastic. Always wanted to find a good set of those.
Paid 200 then 100 for repair on driver seat at local upholstery shop. Got them for a decent deal i think. I've seen some of them seats for. rediculous prices lol.
Youve got yourself a good looking car there! Great way to start! Nothing was better than swapping my unmolested 86. So clean, no one elses mess to deal with.
As for the wiring, the engine has little to nothing to do with what you're going to need to mess with. Pocket's harness plugs into the C100 plug, the big square one next to the brake booster. That is split into two sides. One is mostly engine, the other is body stuff. Lights, horns, etc.
The beauty of the LS wiring harness, is that if you give the pinks 12v, and the grounds ground, maybe a couple oddballs, put fuel in the motor, it will run. So on your car, you're only keeping things like ignition power, starter motor trigger wire, and a few other little things.
The wiring is probably one of the scariest parts to this swap for most people...but it really shouldnt be. ESPECIALLY if you are getting a harness from someone like Pocket. Trust me..it'll plug right in, and work great.
IMO the worst part is exhaust. Anyone can learn to work with wiring. But fabbing the exhaust so it works well and is clean is a PITA. I would start planning your supporting mods. Rear upgrades, brake upgrades, and crossmembers/mounts for getting the motor in. Think about exhaust too, because if you go with some of the kits that are offered, you are looking at some decent $$$.
Thats what you call a 3rd Gen Passionate Lover! You all did good and Im proud of you all. Wow what commitment and dedication can do. I just bearly purchased my baby and believe me it was like picking the PERFECT WIFE lol. She had to come with everything I wanted. Well after 36 years of hard looking since I was a kid I found her in AZ. 1987 IrocZ O.G. 5.7 350 c.i. Ttops and comes with a manual T56 tranny. Im in Love ! Yet theirs always room for improvements. The project still continues. Its a neverending story with these things.....Anyways anybody know where I can find a good electrical cluster tech in San Fernando Valley or LA area....Help Help Mayday ?!
06-07-2015, 09:15 AM
lol I'm not illiterate or lazy though I think with some coaching from this site we can get this done. 
I'm not sure how much these are worth but I'd let these go for pretty cheap too but idk if it'd be worth it after shipping if any body would want them on here. I want to by some black 5th gen wheels . I see pocket on here does alot with wiring and seems to be really knowledgeable is crossfire injection any different wiring? That's where I'm really stumped on this whole thing 
