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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.
I finally started the long road installing a 2017 Gen V LT1 6.2 engine and TR6060 transmission into my long dormant 88 IROC. I have been spending the last month or so just getting all the old 305 engine and transmission out of the car. The weather has not been co-operating to good so its going slow. Plus, doing all the research and finding all the parts needed has proven difficult.
Some history: I found a really low mileage Gen V engine and trans on Ebay last summer and drove out to Ohio to pick it up. Over the next six months, I started gathering parts, some needed, some not needed and finally started work.
Pulling out the old engine was straight forward. I unbolted everything and pulled the engine and transmission out together. I even bought one of those plugs for the end of the transmission to prevent the fluid from leaking out. That is until it caught on something and I quickly drained the transmission onto the floor. What a mess.
I prepped the 6.2 by replacing the oilpan with a Holley Gen V pan. That took over a week. I removed the old pan, opened the box for the new pan and the bolts/gaskets/o-ring bag was missing. Holley sent one right out but it was a delay.
I then installed the Holley Gen V accessory drive system. I started, at least. It didn't come with water pump gaskets. Rock Auto to the rescue but another week lost.
I then installed the Dirty Dingo adjustable mounts and proceeded to do a test fit.
Found out the hard way that its a tight fit.
First, the engine hoist boom (harbor Freight) wasn't long enough. I had to remove the front end nose to get the room needed. I found a good video on youtube and it was easy to remove.
Next try, I found out I had to remove the exhaust manifolds
Next try, I had to remove the motor mounts.
Next try, I had to remove the windshield wiper motor.
Next try.....WORKED. I put it in place, loosely bolted on the motor mounts, with the big motor mount bolt. Everything fits so far
Thats where I am right now. Next up is to see how far off the crossmember is. I got a holley swap crossmember. The TR6060 transmission will need a lot of work to get the motor mount on, and get the shifter mounted. I bought the Hawks Retro shifter but that is made for a 2015 and earlier TR6060. I didn't check before I ordered. I have to fab something. Also, the slave cylinder line is located on the passenger (right) side of the transmission.
Future battles to fight:
Custom driveshaft
Upgraded Clutch master cylinder
PWM fuel system
Gen V Swap harness
Dakota Digital gauges
Upgraded rear
Upgraded brakes
Should be a heck of a journey. Itll be much harder since you're blazing a trail for it. Hope you document the process with lots of pictures and post up the obstacles encountered
For the shifter, have you considered sending the trans to a builder for a Fbody tail conversion? Might make things a little easier so you dont have to fab everything
Id save the DS for after the axle. Then its really simple: load the suspension and measure. A competent shop can knock it out for you
Since its still a basic T56 derivative, with a HTOB, the basic hydraulic system should be roughly the same with many interchanging parts. Obviously, the 8 bolt clutch may be tougher ($$$) to come by, but that goes with the territory
PWM fuel system is another module to add. More wiring and components to deal with, nothing major. I did a quick search and many people are simply using a GEN III/IV static pressure pump with good results. Why over complicate things?
Harness is up in the air. Since the platform is so new, there arent alot of options, so what you do find will be pricey. Seems like simple stand alones run $9-1200 from reputable companies. Once you pick a solution, it'll be no more difficult to connect than any other LS swap
Thanks Pocket. Unfortunately, I am doing this alone, so picture taking isn't happening yet. I climbed underneath to see if the Holley crossmember fit and looks like it will. The torque arm will need some work. I am trying not to send the transmission out for the F body conversion just yet. I wanna see if I can get the stock to work. What I am trying now is to change the tail housing to a 2015 TR6060. Seems to fit fine but I need to order a bearing that I cannot swap. I that doesn't work, then I will consider the conversion. The shifter location seems to be in an ok position. I may need to trim the hole a little
The engine and transmission was a complete set with clutch/pressure plate/flywheel/slave assembled. Thats why I want to try to use what I have.
Do you have a recommendation on who to use for the harness? Hawks says they make them, and maybe Current or Speartech. I agree, once the shifter and torque issues are solved, then it is a normal LS type swap.
Once things start moving along a little better, then I will create a better writeup. So far, all I can say is Yes, the engine fits, Yes, the Adjustable Dirty Dingo mounts fit (all the way back!) Yes the Holley crossmember SEEMS to fit.
One more thing: I pulled the old factory engine harness out but didn't label anything. Now I have to go back and find the wires I need, like AC, Ignition, etc. Should I just trace back from the main connectors or a diagram or something I could follow somewhere?
Be very careful about shifter alignment. Too much up or down may lockout even/odd gears and accelerate wear on the synchros. A magnum tail/shift rail may be a cheaper route with tons of magnums being converted for Fbodys
Dont worry too much about the TA. At worst, Id make a big L bracket and bolt/weld the old TA clamshell on to that so nothing mounts to the trans
I build wiring so Im a bit biased to my own work. That said, I dont yet have the parts/info to do gen V yet. I can tell you to steer clear of Hawks. Id recommend a new stand alone for any swap
If you want to strip the old harness down in preparation of accepting the new stand alone, then look through the LS swap sticky at the top of the forum. 3rd gen harness prep thread will give a step by step. I do offer new 3rd gen harnesses to replace all the messy 30 y/o stuff
Pocket, Changing the extension housing to the 2015 housing looks promising. I want to try that way before I convert to the F body tailhousing. A few more parts and I will know for sure. So far, the Hawks retro shifter fits perfectly
The holley crossmember has a bracket for the torque arm. It may need to be modified to fit. Does not look like a big deal.
Finally, the harness. I am leaning toward the GM Performance controller kit. It has everything I need. Please PM me with the cost of a modified 3rd gen harness with AC
Sort of fell by the wayside. I am still buying parts but I haven't be doing any work. Just been to busy doing everything else for everybody else. I hope to start working on it soon. I bought the Chevy Performance crate engine controller kit for the LT1 so I will be doing no programming.
Finally, after all the sweat and tears (from money spent) I finally got it running. Still some stuff to do in the interior but the engine and trans seems to be good. More info to follow once I get it off the jackstands and back it out of the garage.
Finally, after all the sweat and tears (from money spent) I finally got it running. Still some stuff to do in the interior but the engine and trans seems to be good. More info to follow once I get it off the jackstands and back it out of the garage.
There are so many parts to this swap. I really haven't done a good job documenting everything because of the enormous amount of trial and error. I will try to cover everything that I did and had to fight with.
This swap is basically a 2017 Camaro 6.2 LT1 Gen V with a stock TR6060 transmission. The TR6060 will not work as is. I gambled and bought a rear case and assorted parts from a 2015 TR6060 and swapped them onto the 2017 TR6060. Everything fit but I will not know for sure until I get it on the road. I can go through all the gears and reverse on jackstands, though. One problem I had to conquer was that the slave and bleed was on the passenger side of the transmission. Longer slave lines and remote bleed solved that problem. I custom slip spline driveshaft connected to the stock rear. A new rear is a future project. PWM fuel system was not a problem. Me being a swap novice, I thought it was easy. Exhaust was harder then it should have been, mainly due to the fact that I had to learn how to TIG weld.The engine harness was a standalone harness made by Speartech, with PWM fan control.
I'll start with motor mounts. I used Dirty Dingo Adjustable Motor Mounts, # DD-6550C in the all the way forward position. This allowed for good firewall clearance and allowed the use of the Holley LS trans crossmember. I had to remove the mounts before installing the engine and bolted them in after the engine was in position. I must have installed and removed the engine and trans together about a dozen times. I used a Harbor Freight two ton engine hoist with a Harbor Freight load leveler. An impact wrench on the load leveler made it easy to shift the engine/trans. Holley LT oil pan was used
Transmission: As stated earlier, the stock TR6060 transmission will not work as is. Tremec made a change from 2015 to 2016 that made it impossible to use the Hawks LSX swap shifter. I switched the rear case so it would fit the shifter and so far, it works. Only a road test will confirm but it does shift all gears and reverse I used the Holley Hooker Blackheart # 71222005HKR LS crossmember. I used a MusleRods Trans Mount Adapter 000-2960-56. I used the Energy Suspension 31158G trans mount because its about an 1/2" shorted then the recommended mount. I had to cut down the torque arm bushing to fit and fabricated a new bracket. REALLY tight fit getting the bolts in. Things fit tight but with some prying, the mount bolted up. Assorted AN fittings and stainless hoses were used to plumb the slave. I have to modify the slave bleed to use the remote bleed. I basically welded on an AN fitting to the end of the bleed and drilled out the bleed so it would work without crawling under the car.
Almost in stock position, maybe a half inch to the right Torque arm fitting clearance to output flange Had to flip the boot 180 degrees to fit. Not sure how this will fit the console Crossmember fit Output flange Trans cooling line Slip Spline driveshaft Slave Slave and bleed
Exhaust:The exhaust manifolds from a 2014-2017 Silverado/Sierra will fit these engines. I used Holley Hooker Blackheart 70301411-RHKR headers. The drivers side fit unmodified. The passenger side needed to be modified. You may get away with notching the flange but I chose to add an extension to bring the flange lower. I cut the flange off and welded on a short piece to bring the flange away from the frame. The flange I cut off, I used on the drivers side to mate up to the header. I used the stock catalytic converters with pre and post O2 sensors. The harness had the post O2 sensors wired in so I had to add them. The exhaust system is a Holley Hooker Blackheart dual 70501439-RHKR header back. I had to fabricate two small transition pieces.
Drivers Side Passenger side Drivers side with Cat Passenger side with cat Drivers side Transition piece Passenger side transition piece Dual exhaust Dual exhase rear
Engine: The harness I used was from Speartech. At the time I bought this, they didn't do harness reworks but it looks like they do now. They had obtained a 2017 LT1 engine and TR6060 trans and made up a standalone harness thinking they would sell the whole thing but ended up selling just the engine. I bought the harness, ecm, and PWM fan control. It fit my setup almost perfectly. The harness had two issues: They kept the post O2 sensors and the Speed sensor had three wires. No problem, added another couple bungs and they helped me with the speed sensor. Ignore the A wire, Grey/Black. Harness came wired for PWM fuel and Fan control.
I moved the battery to the trunk to make room and moved the windshield washer tank to the front, also to make room. A four gen overflow bottle was added. For power, I ran 1/0 cable from the battery to the starter, then 1/0 to a fuse block terminal from a 2011-15 Chevy Cruse mounted above a charcoal canister from a C6 vette. Alternator power ran directly back to the battery. No battery box or switch for now.
ECM mounted above the 4th gen coolant bottle PWM fuel pump controller mounted next to the 4th gen coolant bottle Frostbite Radiator and dual fans Windshield washer relocation Trans cooler Chevy Cruze power center PWM Cooling Fan Controller Fuel Line Firewall Clearance
Fuel system: PWM fuel control was straight forward. Harness had a lead the went to the sensor. I went through the body behind the back seat near the existing fuel pump connector. From there to the sensor. The harness also had a lead going to the fuel pump. Through the back next to the PWM wire and to the fuel pump. I used an Aeromotive 340 fuel pump # 11569. Problem came up where whenever the key was turned on, the pump would pressurize the system. Turn off then back on again, the pressure is now close to 100psi. Aeoromotive told me that this pump needs a pressure relief device or a bleed. I opted for a bleed. Aeromotive recommended a 1/32" bleed. I put a tee in the line with a bleed going back to the tank in the unused return line. Worked great and pressure now goes to zero quickly.
The vapor line from the tank goes to a vapor canister from a C6 vette. From there, a line runs to the Evaporative Emissions Port. PVC lines run to the Intake
Fuel Pump and PWM wire From fuel pump PWM Fuel sensor Fuel Filter
I have a 2018 Camaro SS and man what a beast a 3rd gen would be with that engine in it!! I look forward to seeing you get it on the road... Nice job!!!
I'm making good progress. Other things are taking up my time now.
Things left to do before getting on the road:
1. Exhaust manifold leak. Left a few bolts loose and it blew out the gasket. Replaced the gasket but didn't get all the old gasket out. Gotta repeat.
2. Install sound deadening in interior, then put seats and console back in.
3.Program the Dakota Digital dash to use the OBD2 hookup
4.Register the car and get historic license plates and insurance
5. Fix high beam switch. Seems out of adjustment per YouTube videos (i hope). Messing with the steering column might have messed it up
6. Put the hood back on.
Future work:
1. New rear, maybe S60
2. Paint job, still original crappy 80's paint
I have a 2018 Camaro SS and man what a beast a 3rd gen would be with that engine in it!! I look forward to seeing you get it on the road... Nice job!!!
I know just what you mean. I have a 2016 2SS automatic. A blast to drive but still an automatic. Nice 6 speed will be fun
I finally got it on the road. Classic tags and insurance. $286 a year, not too bad. First thing I had to do is fill the tank. Found out right away that I need new tires. There are flat spots on them which made the steering shake at 40mph. I was hoping to get the kinks out before investing in new tires. I ordered Hawks OE replica wheels and will be getting new tires once they come in. So far, all is good. I am able to go through all the gears and the shifter has a real nice, close shifting pattern. Usual nagging things to fix. Headliner decides to start falling, right above my head. Seatbelt tone kept going off. Rearview mirror fell off. Just so much power, I am afraid to get on it since I haven't replaced the rear yet. My experiment with putting a 2015 TR6060 rear case on a 2017 TR6060 seems to work so far.
TJ, congratulations of the swap, and a LT1 at that!
I am working my way through a LS3/TR6060 swap from a 2015 Camaro. Have a question for you on the cross member as I just got engine and transmission in. While back I bought a Hawks T56 swap cross member. I tried test fitting it and looks like it will work. I have Holley Blackheart swap items; oil pan, mount, headers and exhaust. I was thinking of getting their cross member too as it has torque arm mount bracket. I am glad to see you made it work. Did the Holley cross member fit in stock bolt hole locations and bolt up like their instructions say for a T56? Why did you have to cut down torque arm mount and make new bracket? From your picture, thinking that transmission flange is too wide and you needed clearance. Holley instructions say cross member is not for TR6060 transmissions. I want to call them and see why. They should make one that works as I think more people will be swapping in TR6060's moving forward.
I replaced my stock rear end with a Strange S60. They are a good price and very stout. Big selling point for me was their helical worm gear differential. Ordered mine in 3.73 rear end gear as will work well with my cam only engine. If you buy any rear end, worth spending money to have them powder coat as well. Wish I would have.
Since you have the 2015 TR6060, you will avoid all the crap I ran into with the rear case. Yes, the Holley crossmember will fit. Make sure you use the Holley Hooker Blackheart # 71222005HKR LS crossmember along with the MusleRods Trans Mount Adapter 000-2960-56. Depending on how much room you have on the top of the trans tunnel, use the Energy Suspension 31158G trans mount. If you are using the transmission as is with the flange on the transmission, you will need the a slip spline driveshaft with a Sonnax flange. I had bought my custom driveshaft on ebay and it looks well made but I think it got damaged in transit. I have severe driveshaft vibration. I had cut the torque arm bushing down to make clearance for the driveshaft flange. I would assume Holley says its not for the TR6060 because of the flange clearance. I think if I used the rubber spacer that is on the stock driveshafts, it would still hit what I have. The Hawks LSX swap shifter was basically made for your transmission. Please note that this shifter is forward about 2" and to the right about 1" from the stock location. I have no problem shifting. Real tight pattern. The shifter plate will need modifying. I dremeled out the ashtray. I bought a small tray that I will modify to take up the extra space. Also, the benefit of the hooker blackheart crossmember is that the hooker blackheart dual exhaust runs through the humps on the crossmember. I don't think the the hawks one has the humps.
Yes, I agree with your TR6060 comments. All I ever read about is having the magnum rear case put on. Yes, thats the best but there goes another load of money changing a perfectly good transmission. Plus, I purchased mine engine and transmission in one piece. I didn't want to separate them. I guess eventually, some vendor will do the changes since there will be more TR6060 coming out of junkyards
01-17-2018, 07:53 PM
