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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.
That's a really nice build you've got! I'm using the exact same mount setup in my build, and I've ran into a little bit of an issue with one of the transmission fittings.
Did you have a clearance issue with the rear transmission cooler fitting? I'm not able to get an AN hose on it, and I wanted to know if you had to do some massaging to get it to fit.
That's a really nice build you've got! I'm using the exact same mount setup in my build, and I've ran into a little bit of an issue with one of the transmission fittings.
Did you have a clearance issue with the rear transmission cooler fitting? I'm not able to get an AN hose on it, and I wanted to know if you had to do some massaging to get it to fit.
Thanks! No clearance issue for me. I’ve got AN adapters on the trans and have a 90 deg fitting on the hose end. My hoses were made at a local hydraulic shop so the 90 may be a little tighter than the one you’re using. I can take pics if you like.
Thanks! No clearance issue for me. I’ve got AN adapters on the trans and have a 90 deg fitting on the hose end. My hoses were made at a local hydraulic shop so the 90 may be a little tighter than the one you’re using. I can take pics if you like.
That's very odd. I only have the AN adapter installed right now, and I'm unable to get a hose on the rear fitting due to how tight it is there. I'll try and snap a pic tomorrow morning of my issue. I might have to get creative with that line.
try to get a picture of the crossmember itself showing the trans mount and where it bolts to the subframe so i can see if anything looks different on your setup vs. mine
here is what mine looks like (not showing the cooler fitting)
Here's what I've got going on, it's hard to get a good picture of the trans due to the car being on jack stands. It's hard to tell in the picture, but there's maybe about half an inch of clearance between the car and the fitting. My finger can get to it, but a hose end definitely won't fit.
heres a picture of the hose ends on my lines. i do remember it being a tight fit but the lines were not hitting the trans tunnel, no clearancing/hammering was required on my part. i dont have a picture from underneath unfortunately
got the new dewitts radiator in and it is a beautiful piece, pics below. temps are definitely better vs. stock. However the story continues; at highway speed, temps don't drop as they used to before the swap and the fan constantly runs even running 70 mph for long period of time. after i finished my swap i did not put back in one of the air baffle pieces behind the nose of the car that directs all the airflow towards the radiator. im guessing this is why so i picked up a replacement off of ebay and will put it all back to factory baffling shortly
this is the baffle which i removed during the swap. anyone have experience with running the car with or without it? its clear that it directs air from the airfoil/airdam setup directly into the radiator. I have all other factory pieces installed except for this one
There is enough airflow on the highway that you should not even need the fan. I think your gut feel is good that you need to get the air up through the radiator.
There is enough airflow on the highway that you should not even need the fan. I think your gut feel is good that you need to get the air up through the radiator.
got some ls1 fans behind the dewitts radiator. still wasn't satisfied with the factory single fan. these fans are no doubt an upgrade however got them installed now that the hot weather is over here in philly. these took quite a bit of modifications to get a good fit i was satisfied with, much more than most will post here on third gen. also ran a new dual relay harness and added a pin to my pcm for fan 2 control and have staggered fan on/off temps:
this is the baffle which i removed during the swap. anyone have experience with running the car with or without it? its clear that it directs air from the airfoil/airdam setup directly into the radiator. I have all other factory pieces installed except for this one
When I did my swap I just used the 4th gen radiator, fan and hoses. I do not have the air dam on the bottom or the peice that you have pictured. I have no problems with overheating. I dropped my current setup in on Memorial day weekend and put 10,000 miles on since. I have not made any adjustments to the tune regarding the temperature parameters to operate the fans.
I am not seeing the steam vent tube. What was done about that ?
I am running these spacers which have a 1/4' NPT port with hose barb that connects to the steam port line. For the steam ports themselves, I am using factory truck setup (2 rear blocked off, front two connected to to hose barb on water pump spacers). Works great for me!
I don't know what to make of your description. You are using the truck tube in front and going from that barb to one of the water pump spacers or one from each head port in front to each spacer ? Either way if that tube is going down to the spacer(s) it could be trapping air your heads. Did these spacers come with the port(s) already there or did you have to modify them ? I have not come across a setup like this, have you seen anyone else do it in this fashion and claim success ? I am aware that GM blocks off the rear 2 ports a lot of or most of the time. I made my own using all 4 ports and maintaining a constant incline to the port on my radiator. I know hindsight is 20/20, but considering that you are now using the ls1 fans. That new radiator (which looks very, very nice) could have been outfitted with 4th gen provisions for the fans and steam port.
I don't know what to make of your description. You are using the truck tube in front and going from that barb to one of the water pump spacers or one from each head port in front to each spacer ? Either way if that tube is going down to the spacer(s) it could be trapping air your heads. Did these spacers come with the port(s) already there or did you have to modify them ? I have not come across a setup like this, have you seen anyone else do it in this fashion and claim success ? I am aware that GM blocks off the rear 2 ports a lot of or most of the time. I made my own using all 4 ports and maintaining a constant incline to the port on my radiator. I know hindsight is 20/20, but considering that you are now using the ls1 fans. That new radiator (which looks very, very nice) could have been outfitted with 4th gen provisions for the fans and steam port.
all very true! it would have been nice to have just upgraded the cooling system at the beginning and properly matched all parts instead of going piece by piece. I will say it is very difficult getting all of the air out of the cooling system, however once properly burped all is good. I know many people tap the water pump body and put a 1/4" npt barb on it for steam port connection and seem to have good success. I haven't heard that you need the steam port line level higher than the rest of the cooling system but i by no means know it all. The spacers are predrilled for the hose barb connection and this location taps the low pressure side of the water pump.
You don't need the steam tubes going incline the whole way. The inside of the engine is pressurized, as long as you're going to the low pressure side of the cooling system there will always be coolant flow from high pressure to low pressure.
I am not 100 percent familiar with the pressurization aspects of the cooling system. I had the radiator with the port so I used it. I plumbed the steam tube to let the air out as easily as possible and it seems to work. I do not have the air dam or ducting pictured above installed on my car and have no issues with overheating.
I highlighted the wiring below in yellow. Simply put, you need to:
Splice wires from the factory cruise control module plug (located in passenger dash next to factory ecm location) to the donor vehicle TAC module (not the PCM). The TAC module is the component between the electronic gas pedal and the PCM in your DBW setup.
The other catch is that the TAC module uses a 12v(+) signal when brake is applied. Third gen factory is set up in the OPPOSITE way. To get around this, I spliced the brown wire from the brake switch near the pedal to the yellow (3rd brake light) wire. This ties a 12v(+) signal when the brake is applied to the signal wire (brown) that you will splice to the TAC module.
in a quest to replace my driver seat and finding only torn up ones just like mine, i decided to find a passenger side seat in good shape and swap everything over to the driver seat frame (foam padding, covers, etc). i finally found a decent seat on ebay and began the process. its a little time consuming as you need to fully disassemble the seat but well worth it in the end! the ONLY side specific piece between driver and passenger that doesn't interchange is the upper seat frame (pics below).
these pics show old vs "new." for anybody else in this situation, this is a great solution! my passenger and rear seats are all in great shape so it didnt make sense to recover them all. plus i love the factory interor!
Looks good! Similar issues for me and my seats were already non-82 high back buckets from another base model. I replaced mine with Sunfire seats, from a '97.
