Hey All,

I'm ***** deep in my LS1 swap and getting to the point where I need a bit of advice.

I did a 24x conversion a while back so I have half the wiring done to plug and play the wiring in which is good, but lining up everything is where I'm, a bit worried.

I bought a set of TP-81100 ls1 adaptors to run with the clamshell mounts but they didn't come with any instructions.
I've put them in front-most position on the LS block and the adaptors and seeing as I had the K-Member out I decided before mangling it to clear the pan I'd check how close it is, and it looks like there's plenty of clearance.
I'm assuming I've used the wrong positions on the adaptor plates to position the engine/trans in the thirdgen position, but wanted to see if anyone can help.

If it is in the wrong position, what exactly would that do?
...Would it just throw out the trans cross-member location?
...or would the tailshaft need to be shortened as well?

EDIT: Sorry guys, just checked and the photos hadn't uploaded correctly. See below

 

Thought I should include a picture of the car for reference

 

What oil pan is that? Have you ensured your clamshell mounts are oriented correctly?

 

Pan is from an Ls1 4th gen from the states. I realized once I got it that it didn't have a dipstick provision but just had to drill the hole on the LS1 block.

Clamshell rubber mounts are on the same holes as the SBC engine, front most on the K-Member.
The metal brackets I engraved with "Left" and "Right" after I put them on the wrong sides for the SBC the 2nd time it came out and went back in.
The throttle cable would get stuck on the hood and keep the gas on when the engine was under load, then when I turned the car off, it would work fine. It took a while to work that one out and ended up cutting at a bit of the hood frame to temporarily (1+ years) fix the issue until the Ls1 was ready to swap in.

I could probably go one set of holes back on the bracket and have VERY little clearance on the sump, but it looks good as it is, which is why I'm hesitant to think it's correct if everyone else had rubbing issues...
Or is it more to do with the lowering in of the engine rather than the end clearance? I couldn't see how cutting some of the k-member would really give much more clearance.

 

Anyone?

 

I dont see the problem. If your oil pan has clearance thats great. Might not be much firewall clearance though. With my swap i had to notch k member 3/8 inch and i had decent firewall clearance. Theres no telling how your tranny mount will line up being its not in the car yet. Stick it in and try it if something is off change it not a big deal.

 

Thanks for that.

Not sure what I can do about the firewall because it's on the front-most position I can put it on, my main concern was if there would be enough tailshaft to secure in the yolk.
Transmission mount is already an adjustable custom job for when I put a later model 4L60E in the car and the stock mount didn't line up.

 

My engine was further ahead than yours will be and I am having no issues with the slip yolk on stock driveshaft, so no worries there. Sounds like you got the transmission crossmember sorted out so only issue is firewall clearance may be tight. The engine will fit fine Im sure but may be tough tightening bolts on backside of engine, I left the intake off until everything else was done and that made things much simpler and I could see what I was doing.

 

Ok cool thanks.

I'm going to try and have as much assembled as I can, eng/trans and then install the engine and k-member in from the bottom if I can. I'm just waiting for some brake line to get delivered and I'll be able to get my firewall sorted and then see if everything is going to fit.
I'm doing a complete brake overhaul at the same time and going to run the new lines along the back of the firewall instead of under the engine and try and tidy it all up a bit more.

 

Im from Aus as well and just starting the process of getting parts to do a LS conversion so interested to see how yours goes. Especially when it comes to headers etc.

Are you running bigger brakes? if so what did you go with?

 

The rear brakes are from a 1997 LT1 Camaro as I'm swapping the whole rear end, so it's going from rear drum to rear discs.
Fronts are staying the same for now, but with a new master cylinder, new brakes lines run throughout, and a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve.
Still weighing up whether to plumb the valve into the cabin so I can adjust it when needed without having to stop, open the hood, make an adjustment and test and repeat.

 

Sounds good how far along are you with the swap? ill keep following the progress

 

Well the 400 motor and trans is out, I've stripped back all the wiring for the headlights and old body wiring that was still in there, removed the k-member and most of the brake system.

LS1 Motor and trans are all ready to go, i was waiting on the flexplate bolts that turned up yesterday so I should have engine and trnas all connected and ready to drop (well lift) in this weekend.

Items left to go are:

• Finish off the firewall plate to block off the old holes for wiring
• New brakes lines with bends and flares for the front
• Bench bleed and install the new master cylinder and the proportioning valve
• Drop the new 3.42 LSD rear end in
• make up some exhaust bits to join the headers to the rest of the exhaust
• bleed the brakes
• Load the base tune
• and hopefully drive

I've got Powercruise on 9th September so I'm really hoping to get it all done by them, but who knows if that'll work.
The kmember is getting welded at a shop for the notch because I don't trust myself to do it properly
The diff is getting assembled at a shop as well'
So if everything aligns in the universe and comes together I should be able to post the whole process and pics in a few weeks

*

 

Sounds good, what headers did you use? were they a bolt in fit?

 

Ill find out tomorrow haha.

I got a set of clipster style LS1 headers.
These are the same style I had on the 400SBC but obviosuly with the ls1 exhaust port locations. Overall the seem to fit fine, they clear the k-member and look to be about 2 inches shorter than the SBC ones, with some luck I'll just need to make a small extension/straight join for both but I'll let you know.
I have a modified steering shaft too so instead of running all the way down the chassis rail it jumps up the rail and then angles back to the HQ steering box which gives some more clearance for the exhaust.

 

Well I hit a few more hiccups on the weekend...

The diff got checked out and everything looked good, except the piece of **** ebayer that sold me the gears lied and said they were designed to go in a series 2 carrier which they weren't they were just regular series 3 gear and pinion so now I had to go and buy an Eaton Detroit TrueTrac to fit the gears.
Firewall is done
Front brake lines and proportioning valve are all done.
The rear 6mm line is too stiff to bend properly to fit in and flaring it is going to be a pain in the *** so I'm going to run a new 3/16" line all the way from the wilood valve to the rear axle and then get Enzed to make me a custom hose with a 3/16 male end to connect the hardline to the t-piece on the axle.

Tune is sorted I managed to get the Tuner-locked ECU "unlocked" binned across and then opened and converted to EFILive .ctz file. Still trying to find a way to get the file loaded back on the PCM so I can tune it using my HP Tuners software, but for now it'll run the car enough to get by.
I may try going through the EFI Live tune and copying and pasting the values into a fresh HPT OS file but I'll see how it runs when it's up and running.

Tomorrow I should get the engine and trans rolled under and start to see if everything will line up ok and by the weekend hopefully be back on schedule.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow and post.

 

OK so it's been a little while since an update, had consecutive bouts of flu and sickness so I didn't get much time to work on the car, but I got a bit done:

The rear end is installed now. I had to buy a TrueTrac carrier but it's all in there and installed with the 3.42 gears. Just left to fill the diff with oil and flare the 3/16 bubble flare for the connector.
Currently using the stock 97 hand brake lines, but it looks like they will work so long as I wind the handbrake adjuster all the way back.


Engine and transmission went in with issue. Hoisted the front of the car up with an engine hoist and rolled the engine trans and k member under with ease.
Lowered the car on and then pulled the engine up through the engine bay to line it up and bolt up.

Surprisingly, the ebay exhaust headers cleared everything and fit perfect.


I've got the 90degree thermostat house to stop it clipping the steering box, and a high mount a/c bracket set up for a sanden compressor to fix that issue.
Good to note that notching the k-member for a/c on RHD cars is a waste of time because the steering box will not let the compressor fit anyway.

So now I just need to install the rest of the LS accessories, finish the wiring tidy up, and get the brakes bled and sorted and some fluid top ups and should be ready for a test fire-up.

Exhaust lined up pretty well with the original flange location, so may be able to get away with a flange or 2 for spaces or a cut n shut for the joining pipes and will be good to go.

So to answer a question that comes up a lot on here from Aussies....
If you relocated the steering column using LXSS's method, stock headers will fit for the RHD LS1 swap.