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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.
Need more forward movement of the engine. Pan is butted up against k member. Going to take a break and reavaluate Monday.
You want rearward movement of the engine. The UMI kmember is in front of the sump on the pan. I feel your pain. Hang in there, we all go through this. I did loosen all mounting points for the kmember and was able to move my engine a bit. That's all I ended up needing. I have about 3/8" to 1/2" clearance now. UMI said that is plenty.
Yeah I meant to say rearward engine movement. I’m going to loosen everything and go from there. I’ll let you guys know Monday how things go. Appreciate all the help. And as far as that crossmember, it resembles nothing like when I got it from a Hawks. When I get this issue sorted out, I will be giving a review of it in the appropriate section.
see some of the posts inside the LS3 swap my son and i did in his 87 Formula... LS3, with Holley Pan, UMI K Member, Customized UMI Motor Mounts, T-56, Holley Crossmember, Hawks 2" Long Tubes Customized
it works real well and is basically what you are trying to do, just with a T-56. If you can fabricate and weld it is pretty straight forward and makes for a very nice set-up
how about making an integrated kit that takes your k-member and has a set of mounts that fit a Holley type cross member of your own, that interfaces with a good tubular torque arm... you aren't far away from this... if you would invest in making your own version of the holley type cross member and then adjust your motor mounts and torque arm you would have a really nice complete set up that works out of the box for both SBC and LSx. I am sure bruce would think about having his Hawks LSX swap exhaust adapted to this... it is no problem for me and others to mod this ourselves but a lot of people don't have the equipment or ability
also how about a truly repeatable adjustable set of camber/caster plates...
Removed engine assembly and removed k-member and motor mounts. Talked to Ramey from UMI and we determined "badge" plates need holes slotted longer to give me more reward movement. So having neighbor do that on his end mill.The saga continues...
Removed engine assembly and removed k-member and motor mounts. Talked to Ramey from UMI and we determined "badge" plates need holes slotted longer to give me more reward movement. So having neighbor do that on his end mill.The saga continues...
Yes. I was about to do this as well, and you are doing the right thing. I think the UMI four bolt mount is dimensionally over constrained and it fights you because the four slots are not jiving with each other. When I had it installed there was extra slot length in one of the holes the but not the others. Almost like they needed to rotate but couldn't (too many anchor points). I think they need to reconfigure that mount to a three bolt setup with wider slots.
this is how we did the mod on the UMI mount for the ls swap my son and i did utilizing the holley cross member. we also though utilized the holley oil pan. this allowed us to move the engine forward a little which in the end provided great access, ability to utilize the holley cross member and also have the exhaust based around hawks 2" stainless set
Yes. I was about to do this as well, and you are doing the right thing. I think the UMI four bolt mount is dimensionally over constrained and it fights you because the four slots are not jiving with each other. When I had it installed there was extra slot length in one of the holes the but not the others. Almost like they needed to rotate but couldn't (too many anchor points). I think they need to reconfigure that mount to a three bolt setup with wider slots.
this is how we did the mod on the UMI mount for the ls swap my son and i did utilizing the holley cross member. we also though utilized the holley oil pan. this allowed us to move the engine forward a little which in the end provided great access, ability to utilize the holley cross member and also have the exhaust based around hawks 2" stainless set
Do you have a pic of what you described, from oil pan to crossmember? And which Holley engine oil pan did you use (#)?
Removed engine assembly and removed k-member and motor mounts. Talked to Ramey from UMI and we determined "badge" plates need holes slotted longer to give me more reward movement. So having neighbor do that on his end mill.The saga continues...
Also going to mill a bit off the end of the ICT motor mount to give me more rearward movement. If I dont need it I can use a washer in place of the area I removed to keep it in it's original width. This was also a suggestion by Ramey of UMI.
Got my engine mounting plates and motor mounts back from my machinist. Elongated the holes in the plates and milled 3/16” off the front of the motor mounts. This should give me the rearward movement I need. Will reinstall engine assembly tomorrow.
I'll have to take a photo of mine. FBody oil pan, UMI road race K member, Holley transmission crossmember, LS3 based engine, T56 Magnum-F transmission, UMI tubular torque arm no fitment issues with the provided motor plates on the K member in the rear most position. Been running that way for almost 4 years. No modifications to any of the suspension pieces, motor mounts or trans crossmember. We did cut a little over 1 inch off the front of the torque arm to keep it from hitting the speed sensor but that was it. The other car is set up the same way with the Hawks T56 crossmember and also has no fitment issues. Nothing is close enough to touching the k member at any point to be within the tolerance for engine movement to allow it to touch.
I'll have to take a photo of mine. FBody oil pan, UMI road race K member, Holley transmission crossmember, LS3 based engine, T56 Magnum-F transmission, UMI tubular torque arm no fitment issues with the provided motor plates on the K member in the rear most position. Been running that way for almost 4 years. No modifications to any of the suspension pieces, motor mounts or trans crossmember. We did cut a little over 1 inch off the front of the torque arm to keep it from hitting the speed sensor but that was it. The other car is set up the same way with the Hawks T56 crossmember and also has no fitment issues. Nothing is close enough to touching the k member at any point to be within the tolerance for engine movement to allow it to touch.
I'd love to see pictures of your pan clearance since this is exactly the set-up I am running. I will feel better, as I am sure so will OP, if we see a 3rd person with the same clearance.
Well got engine assembly in car to my liking. Just have to “fine tune” placement and bolt down. What a PITA. I’ve built several cars over the years and never had this many issues mounting a engine. Live and learn. More pics to follow soon.
Got my spacing correct between oil pan and k-member. Trans crossmember still needs some mods. Should have just fabbed my own from the start. Headers installed, had to lift passenger side a bit to slide header in from top Driver side header went in easily from the top. Starting to look like a real car again
That's the spacing I was looking for. Any pics of your mounts? I should buy a new set, machine them and install like you did.
I didn’t take any pics of them but I used 3 stainless washers(2 standard thickness and one thin one , (to compensate for the amount of material removed. I’ll measure the thickness of the washers tomorrow so you’ll know how much to remove.BTW I talked to UMI. Said shoot for about a 1/2” clearance between pan and K- member.
I didn’t take any pics of them but I used 3 stainless washers(2 standard thickness and one thin one , (to compensate for the amount of material removed. I’ll measure the thickness of the washers tomorrow so you’ll know how much to remove.
Elongated all slots in mounting plates. UMI calls them “badge plates” cause they are shaped similar to the Star Trek uniform badge. Also took ICT solid billet motor mounts and milled off about 3/16” off one end. This allowed engine to move back some more and gap created between plate and motor mount filled in with washers described in last post.
Going back through this, where did you get the new 3/8" hard feed and return fuel lines from? I'm going back to that idea. Also what did you do you do about a fuel filter?
Going back through this, where did you get the new 3/8" hard feed and return fuel lines from? I'm going back to that idea. Also what did you do you do about a fuel filter?
I got the lines from FineLines.Com./SS Tubes. The feed line is 3/8” but the OEM return is 5/16”. You have to tell them to make the return in 3/8”. Available in stainless or steel. If you’re doing a LS swap or running a different crossmember you may have to relocate lines like I had to. The steel lines are easier to move around versus the stainless.
No work done on car lately, building fence on property. Also installing sprinkler system. And it’s starting to get hot. This project is going to take longer than I planned. This pandemic crap has delayed everything. Hope to get rear end and rear suspension started next week. Stay tuned.
I got the lines from FineLines.Com./SS Tubes. The feed line is 3/8” but the OEM return is 5/16”. You have to tell them to make the return in 3/8”. Available in stainless or steel. If you’re doing a LS swap or running a different crossmember you may have to relocate lines like I had to. The steel lines are easier to move around versus the stainless.
I emailed the SS tubes folks this AM and they were adamant they wouldnt do a 3/8th return line. Do you know who you worked with?
Another place, Inline tube, recommended buying two feed lines and making it work.
Off topic but I had to post. I have a 2010 Camaro SS with a 402 LSX supercharged E85 conversion. Puts dowm 825 to the rear wheels. No BS. Went to auto parts store to get some supplies and upon entering Counterman asked me what I was running. Car is loud and does rattle windows. Told him and we started talking cars.Told him about my current project (my 85), and showed him some pics.About that time guy who was in store starts bad mouthing everything Chevy. Also starts telling me all the things that are wrong with my SS and how it's over rated. Too heavy, LS engines are no good, blah,blah,blah. So I ask him where's your car? Points outside to a new Mustang GT. So I tell him I eat Mustangs for lunch and when I'm done here, I'll show you. He instead just walks out. Gets in his car and revs engine, backs out, and floors it onto the street, right in front of a County Sheriff. Lights him up and starts writing him up. After ticketing him Mustang Boy leaves and Sheriff comes into parts store. Seems Mustang Boy told him we were supposed to race. As I start to leave Sheriff wants to know why I would waste my time wanting to race a POS GT Mustang. I'm still laughing at what that Sheriff said.
Goddam. See, this is why the rest of the Ford community dislikes Mustangs.
It seems like they attract the biggest douche bags.
That, and they get all of Ford's attention when it comes to high performance these days. When's the last time Ford made a high-performance car that WASN'T a Mustang?
It's really annoying.
Getting ready to hang rear end and discovered I have front shocks instead of rear shocks. A call to UMI and they will be here Saturday. Hopefully rear diff in by Monday.
Got correct shocks and now am installing rear lower shock mounts on Moser diff. Requires using a nut and bolt through original lower shock mount hole and also drilling a hole for second mounting bolt. Does not fit completely flush due to Moser not duplicating the OEM shock mount perfectly.
Panhard Specs PleaseDoes anyone know the bolt hole to bolt hole length of a oem panhard bar and lower control arms? Need it for a baseline on installing a new rear end and suspension.
Panhard Specs PleaseDoes anyone know the bolt hole to bolt hole length of a oem panhard bar and lower control arms? Need it for a baseline on installing a new rear end and suspension.
43 1/8" for the panhard bar center to center and the LCA's are 19 1/4" center to center. I've really enjoyed following this build, great job!
