Sabenott

Last year I bought a 1991 firehawk clone. The body(except rear bumper) was cloned by the previous owner. I came with the 305 TBI and auto trans. Lets just say when honda accord and run away from you in a race its time for power. I know the LS is the swap of choice these days but I wanted to do two things. Make the engine look original and see If i could do it on a budget. I bought the car for $3000 and didn't want to spend more than $2000 on the swap. The LT1 can pass for an orig motor where the LS looks kinda out of place as far as originality. Secondly The Lt1 was more doable in the budget. In the end after buying whole cars and parting out what i didn't need and selling the old engine I beat the budget. I got the engine, trans, computer, harness, headers, exhaust, umi sub-frame connectors, console, and all other needs for a net price of $1000 out of pocket cost after all was parted out.(I cheated a little because my brother has a shop so the exhaust work and tune was at cost) Lets start with the build!

Drive Line:
The engine and trans are out of a 1997 ram air. lt4 hotcam mild port work and supporting mods. Was told it dynoed at 386RWHP. I personally don't see that number but runs way stronger than stock. The only Mod I did was buy a hawks t56 cross-member.

Cooling:
4th gen radiator and cooling fans as well as hoses.

Wiring harness:
I kept the factory harness and removed all wiring not needed and reloomed in smaller tubing. I installed a factory 95 harness and computer in the car. I wanted the computer in the car in the factory location so I breached the firewall/trans tunnel for point of entry.(pic) I then tagged the new harness with the old one inside the car to use the factory relays etc.

Fueling:
Installed High pressure pump in tank. For the connections to the engine I used the factory throttle body fuel lines and modded them to the Lt1 plastic lines. Made a custom bracket for the metal lines to use the factory hoses from the body.

Accessory drives:
This is where I got unique. What I decided to do was put the alternator from the 3rd gen down low where the a/c compressor was so I didn't have to mod the cradle. one bolt bolted up to the a/c bracket and was spaced perfectly for the belt. On the top of the alternator I cut the aluminum bracket so that the alternator would get in close to the engine and made a simple bracket to span the the last two a/c mounting holes and hit the alternator top mount in the middle. (pic) This means I moved the a/c compressor to the top location. For this I used an new compressor for a 1994 gmc truck. The reason for this is that the pulley diameter is smaller than the 3rd gen which is needed for clearance to bolt up to the bracket. (PIC). Once again it bolted up with the perfect spacing for the belt. Also the factory a/c lines bolt up to the compressor. Only one bolt hole fits on the compressor so I had a bracket made to mount the other side of the compressor. I also took an intake bracket for the alternator and modded it to fit the back of the compressor for support because I did have to cut the aluminium engine bracket to get the a/c compressor to drop down enough to clear the hood.(pic) I have not seen this type of bracket mod yet. I have seen alternator relocation to the bottom.

Power Steering:
My care had the power steering cooler so for the return I just cut that and bent it up on the passenger side and ran a hose to the reservoir. I bent the factory lt1 pressure line straight and made new bends to make it go down to the bottom of the core support and over. Since the fourth gen radiator is narrower I had room to take the gear box pressure line down next to the radiator and connect to the Lt1 pressure line. (pic)

Everything else:
pretty common swap with pedals and hydraulics of the clutch. Lots of measuring to make sure everything would work before I cut.

Questions:
If there is something I didnt cover you want to k ow about feel free to ask.

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Drew

iTrader: (58)

Photobucket.com, copy & paste the IMG code into the message.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

interesting

Sabenott

had to add pics from computer not phone

LT1/TA

I did that to my a/c and alt about a year ago, did you make the a/c bracket?I need to make another a/c bracket due to hood clearance.
I started a thread on here back in may.

Jaysz28

iTrader: (30)

great job!

wish I would have thought of swapping the alt and ac when I did mine 12 yrs ago!

Sabenott

My buddy owns a fabrication shop and made it for me. He has all the specs as I can have more made. I had to cut the aluminum bracket where the AC mounts directly to it to get the pump to rotate down for hood clearance. By doing so I had to reinforce that mount with a bar bracket from the lt1 alternator.

LT1/TA

I finally got my hood back on and the hood clears just fine,this makes two of us that I have seen do this. Much better option over notching the frame and custom a/c lines.

I will post some pics of mine when I get a chance.

Sabenott

Yes great minds think alike. Does your tach work right? Mine works up to 3000 Roms and drops down to zero.

LT1/TA

Mine is working,but I am not certain about its accuracy.I will need to compare it to my scanner,I have my tach signal coming from the pcm rather than the coil.

Sabenott

I too am from the pcm

LT1/TA

Here is mine when I had it on a run stand,the brakets are very crude.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Cool build, subd.

hotrodf1

Nice build, nice ideas. I swapped mine for pretty much the same reason (got a whole donor car for 800). The LS1 stuff is nice and certainly has its merit, but demands a premium price these days too, especially the T56 to go with it. Since no one seems to want the old LT1 "junk" it makes it cheaper for guys like us to ****** em up and build some nice stuff for cheap. I set of LE1 or 2 heads and a cam, and you are at 375-425 rwhp. That ain't bad at all for $1500 or so. Or leave it stock and run 5-7psi via a turbo.

Thanks for the AC bracket pics / ideas fellas.

Sabenott

This engine actually died shortly after the build. I found a 383 stroker with the trick flow heads on it. It was freshly built 4 yrs prior by an engine builder but never installed in the car. I gave the guy $2500 for the engine and only had to replace the lifters from sitting so long. It runs great and has tons of torque. The car turned out great and is fun to drive. Have a great day! New stroker engine

hotrodf1

Well crap, you can't beat that find!

How do you like your PVC intake? Does it help with IATs some, or was it just a $ / time thing? I've thought about going that way since I don't have a TIG

Sabenott

I don't know how to Tig and trying to find a universal 3.5" kit was near impossible to find with all the correct bends needed. I was going to the 1/8 mile and the iat temps were too high. I ran over to home Depot and put this together quickly. I cut a 4" hole through the battery tray and took it 90 degrees towards the front bumper and put a conical filter on it. It really helps the iat temp stay a lot cooler. It works fine that I haven't really got around to getting a better one.