lsx-bmc

Hey guys,

Been lurking here for months and finally have enough progress to start posting about my LS swap. Last year I acquired a rust free 92 Camaro for $3,000 which is super rare here in the midwest. The interior is also mint besides the dash pad (I'll post pics of that soon). Only problem is it has the 3.1 v6. It ran decent enough so I drove it around for fun for a couple of months. The brakes were nearly non existent, the tires didn't grip for crap, and the suspension was pretty soft. My goal is to build a car that's street friendly, reliable but very mean and fun to drive. Here's the plan I had outlined:

• 5.3 engine and 4l60e transmission with some top end upgrades
• Koni shocks and struts
• Eibach pro lowering springs
• Wilwood brakes

Got the 5.3 and 4l60e from a nice old guy for $1,000. It's an LM7 out of a 2002 Chevy Tahoe with about 140,000 miles. Here is the build I'm doing with it:

Heads

Sticking with the stock 768 heads but ordered a remanufactured set from eBay for $350. Super pleased with how they turned out. Didn't want to go with upgraded heads just yet as I wanted to avoid having to increase the bore on the cylinders or having to mill the heads and deal with compression issues.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22337254798...m=223372547986

Camshaft

Ended up going with a stage 3 low lift cam from Texas Speed. I wanted the engine to sound and perform fairly aggressive but without putting too much stress on the surrounding components. Here's a link: https://www.texas-speed.com/p-5004-t...-camshaft.aspx

Intake manifold, throttle body, fuel rails, etc.

Decided to try out FiTech's set up which includes an LS harness. It comes with the manifold, throttle body, injectors and everything else to get you up and running. Eager to get it in the car and check for clearance and to see how good this kit actually is. It's no Holley or FAST but hopefully it turns out alright. Here's a link: https://fitechefi.com/products/70002/

Other parts:

While it's apart wanted to freshen up some different odds and ends. Here's a breakdown. It's mostly GM parts (ac delco) or some of it is from Rock Auto. Tried to research LS1Tech to make sure different brands were somewhat reputable before deciding to save some coin on them. Particularly the lifters and push rods.

• Oil pump
• Timing chain & gears
• Lifters
• Push rods
• Lifter trays (these can probably be reused but I read they can deteriorate)

I'll have some photos of the engine clean up later but I also cleaned a bunch of the carbon off the pistons.

Transmission

Was going to run the 4l60e with the 140,000 miles on it but I didn't want to build this entire car and have that end up not being right. So decided to use it as core to get a rebuilt 4l60e from Shift Rite Transmissions in Kankakee, IL. For about $2,000 I got a rebuilt tranny with a shift kit, Corvette servo, and some other goodies.

Headers & Exhaust

Went with Holley's blackheart set up:

https://www.holley.com/products/ls_p.../70501426-RHKR
https://www.holley.com/products/ls_p.../70101516-3HKR

I've gotta run but I'll be back later to post about what I'm doing with the rear end, brakes, suspension, etc. I also need to work on getting all my photos of my progress so far together. Here's one of the "before" pics I took. Stay tuned I'll be posting a lot more content.

lsx-bmc

Got some time here to keep detailing the build list here... I'll get into the actual build soon I need to get all my photos in order. Here's some more parts:

K Member & A Arms

Originally I was just going to notch the factory k member for the a/c. After doing a lot of research though I decided to go with a BMR k member. I know there's concern with the strength of them but I'm not going to be racing this or driving it too terribly hard. I'm still concerned with fitment with the a/c and the Holley trans cross member I'm going to run. I may need to get the slidable engine mounts for an offset. I got the BMR tubular a arms to go with since they're required.

https://bmrsuspension.com/?page=products&productid=360&superpro=0
https://bmrsuspension.com/?page=products&productid=349&superpro=0

Trans Cross Member

Decided to run the Holley cross member since it accounts for their dual exhaust.

https://www.holley.com/products/ls_p...ts/71222005HKR
https://www.holley.com/products/ls_p...ts/71223003HKR

Torque Converter

Got a Yank 3600 stall converter

https://www.converter.cc/Yank_SS_Ser...fslash-ls3.htm

Torque Arm

Got a Spohn adjustable torque arm to accommodate the lowering spring geometry.

https://www.spohn.net/shop/1982-1992...n-Mounted.html

Rear End

I went back and forth for a long time on this. The rear end in it I believe is the 3.23 since it's a v6 car. But it's a peg leg and even rebuilt and upgraded it sounds like these 10 bolts are weak. I decided to go with a Strange GM 12 bolt through Spohn. 3.42 gears. Yukon posi. Super happy with this purchase. You can tell it's a quality product. I also ordered tubular control arms. The nice thing about this rear end is it already has different mounting points for the control arms so you can adjust them. Picked up a set of Ls1 backing plates off of eBay to have them added during manufacturing of the rear end too.

https://www.spohn.net/shop/1982-1992...-Complete.html


Suspension

I did end up going with the Koni yellows all the way around and Eibach pro lowering springs. We'll see how she looks and rides. I also ordered a BMR sway bar kit to replace the front and rear sway bars. They're pretty crusty.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/k...t/model/camaro
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/k...t/model/camaro
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/e...t/model/camaro
https://bmrsuspension.com/?page=prod...211&superpro=0

Steering

To my surprise the steering is super clean on this car. It looks like all of the components have been replaced recently they aren't all corroded like other parts on the car.

Brakes

After much debate I decided it'd be way more cost effective to run Ls1 style brakes instead of Wilwood. For less than the front Wilwood brakes I can have brakes all the way around. Decided to go with NAPA brake parts for now. We'll see how they perform. My guess is they'll be significant upgrades over factory and for what I'll be doing give me plenty of stopping power. I ordered stainless brake prebent lines from Jegs.

Fuel Supply

Spoiler alert for when I start posting about the build itself: The fuel tank was full of crap and the fuel lines were rusty. So I grabbed a new fuel tank off of Amazon for $150. Going off of lsxmatt's youtube video I also got a Corvette fuel filter which also supplies a return and a regulator. So I'm going to run the factory hard lines off the sender unit, add AN fittings off of that and then run steel braided line to the fuel pump and back to the return. Then I'll just run the steel braided feed line up to the fuel rail. I'll try to post links to this stuff once I make sure it all fits together but you can check the description on lsxmatt's video for what he used.

Fuel tank:

I also found out the FiTech's fuel pump kit is a no go for me. I could have possibly used theirs as purely a fuel pump assembly and then still used the factory sending unit for the fuel gauge. To me it was just easier (and way cheaper) to pick up a Walbro and either wire it up with the factory part of the harness or work the LS harness into the fuel pump relay. The LS swap harness I got just has one 12v wire for the fuel pump. Stay tuned here.

Fitech no go: https://fitechefi.com/products/40015/

Walbro kit for cheap off Parts Geek: https://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/19...l?brand=walbro

Accessory Drive

I got Holley's f body kit for the accessory drive including the a/c and mounting hardware. I picked up a water pump from them too. Very expensive for what I got but saves the hassle of fitment and mismatching parts here.

https://www.holley.com/products/ls_p...s/parts/20-162
https://www.holley.com/products/cool...s/parts/22-101

Cooling

Went with a Frostbite radiator and cooling fan set up:

https://www.holley.com/products/ls_p...rs/parts/FB303
https://www.holley.com/products/cool...s/parts/FB523H
https://www.holley.com/products/cool...ys/parts/FB403

Oil Pan

Got the oil pan, dipstick, pickup tube and windage tray as a set from Hawks:

https://www.hawksmotorsports.com/98-...-kit-lsx-swap/

Other Stuff

• I'll be adding in the fuel pump access door much against the wishes of many people. Plan on doing it the right way with a rubber gasket. While I have the carpet up in the trunk I'll also put down insulation.
• Going to add some rust encapsulator wherever I can underneath the car. There is some surface rust on the floor pans. Want to protect the car as much as possible
• The car has a sound system in it the previous owner had professionally installed. This thing is bad to the bone but needs cleaned up. Things are positioned kind of clumsily.
• Need to rebuild the trunk latch motor it's killing my battery
• Replace the cracked dash pad
• Fix lights behind the dash
• Some other electrical odds and ends ie: the horn doesn't work
• Will be adding a steering bar, strut tower brace and sub frame connectors

I'll try to document and share as much of this all as I can. This website has been such a fantastic resource and I want to give back to it. I'll post soon about the engine/trans removal.

freaky

IM DOING A 6.0 LS WITH A 7875 TURBO . IM TRYING TO DECIDE IF I NEED TOO RUN NEW FUEL LINES . IM USING EITHER A AEROMOTIVE 340 OR A WALBORO 400 FUEL PUMP . I WANT 600 WHP . ANY IDEAS OR WHERE TO LOOK FOR MY ANSWERS ?

lsx-bmc

It'll come down to how much pressure the fuel pump is putting on your lines and if they can handle it. I'd search around the forums here.

freaky

yeah im searching . i dont mind changing line sizes if i have to .. i found a good deal on two 16 ft rolls of braided line an 22 piece an fittings for 140 dollars . its -8 like . im wondering if that would be enough

86iroc504

Nice build. I will be following this. I have a 86 camaro in which I put a FI 95 Lt1 combo in. Now im doing an iron ls1 combo. Good luck with your project.

Fyi I have done the fuel door mod years ago. Much much better than dropping the tank...

lsx-bmc

I'm planning on cutting and flaring the hard lines and adding AN fittings to make removal through the access door easier. Going to base it on what lsxmatt did here. Seems pretty effective:

lsx-bmc

Just an update guys.. Got the rear end and engine/trans out:


Fuel and brake lines are gone. I coated the underbody in this Rustoleum undercoating spray:


Pretty excited with the results, here is a before and after on Instagram:


Once the front end was out (that was a learning experience with the front springs) we started mounting the new BMR k member. Unfortunately the driver side mounting bolt holes were off by 1/4". We measured two different points of the new k member and it seems like one side is higher than the other - and it looks visually twisted a bit. I'm still waiting to hear back from BMR on it, but in the meantime we're going to notch the factory k member and probably just run with that. I also got new ball joints and a arm bushings for the factory control arms. So it's a bit of a set back and change but taking it in stride.

This week I'll be focusing on the fuel system. I'll be cutting and fabricating the fuel pump access door. I need to clean up the fuel sender and install the new fuel pump. Going to run the fuel lines up to the engine bay. Then this weekend the hope is to get the new rear end in and put the k member back in.

03glide

Why was the FiTech pump a no go?

lsx-bmc

It doesn't have a fuel sender on it for the fuel gauge to work off of. To make it work I'd have to cut another hole in the fuel tank just for the fuel pump and then reuse the stock fuel sender unit. For cheaper than the FiTech pump I was able to pick up a brand new fuel tank (mine was pretty grimey) and a Walbro 255.

GASPEDDLER

iTrader: (2)

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scooter

iTrader: (11)

Stock 3/8" lines are good for, theoretically, unlimited power on a pressurized system. It is about how much flow the pump can flow more than the fuel lines, should be fine up to 1000 horse. Not sure why people decide they need rubber lines though, they will need to be replaced periodically and are fuel permeable, just stick with stock or stainless replacement hard lines, work better and don't need to be replaced under normal circumstances.

lsx-bmc

Super productive weekend, guys. I got the fuel pump access door in. It was my first ever real fabrication project and you can tell (nothing is quite square or straight) but hey the carpet will cover it up, right? Here's a gallery of progress. I basically measured the square, cut some slots with an angle grinder, then cut the rest out with the saw zaw to avoid setting my interior on fire. I threw down some adhesive backed weather stripping type material. Then cut out my cover and put it in with some sheet metal screws. If it was straight and painted it's sturdy enough that you'd think it was factory. I need to stop looking at it now because it's driving my OCD crazy.


After that was done I put the new fuel tank in and strapped her down. The straps weren't particularly straight so it took some work to get them back up around the new gas tank but they took shape easy enough. The next day me and my buddy got the new Strange Engineering 12 bolt GM rear end in. Complete with BMR control arms, a BMR sway bar and end links, and a UMI panhard bar this thing is a quality piece. The Eibach pro kit springs and Koni shocks set it off too.


I threw one of my NAPA brake rotors up on the studs for fun. It was awesome to see something resembling an actual car rear end instead of the empty space that had been there for a few weeks. Very satisfying to be putting parts back on the car instead of taking them off.

Fun story from the weekend: We accidentally crushed my buddy's tube of never seize. So I brought out my handy bottle of it - the ol' grey canister with the brush. That stuff gets all over if you just look at it wrong. Well somehow while it was under the car it sprung a leak so not only were we getting it all over just from using it but now it was just doing it on its own. Who can relate to THAT?

Plan for this week is to get some work done on the fuel system. Going to clean up the sending unit and install the new Walbro 255 pump. Going to cut the old hard lines and get them ready to install AN adapter fittings on them. Might even start running fuel lines. My buddy is notching the k member for the a/c compressor and installing the new a arm bushings and ball joints. Friday we're hoping to put the front end back in and finish putting together the top end of the 5.3. Cheers guys!

lsx-bmc

It's front end Friday y'all.. Ended up ordering a new fuel sending unit. The factory one was way too crusty to warrant putting in the brand new fuel tank. Hoping to get the front end in tonight and assembled. Also hoping to get the motor together. This project has taught me to expect the worst though, so fingers crossed. I'll try to take lots of pics and post an update soon.

lsx-bmc

Been a long time since an update! Life and stuff. Got the k member notched and painted. Also installed the new front springs (that's a fun life threatening experience), struts, and spindles.

Here is the k member notch:


Finished:


And here it is painted and back in the car with a photo of the struts/spindles:


I had to hit pause on the project for a little while as I had to do some traveling for work. But I decided to splurge on a ATK rebuilt 5.3:


Fun times ahead!