So I am picking up a 2000 SS donor car on Saturday.

I plan to use as much of the donor as possible.

Gas tank, fuel lines, radiator, engine, trans and driveshaft.

questions:
I am thinking I should just notch my k-member or buy an aftermarket k-member?

If i do a k-member, i will need one with spring perches and ls mounts. Which one currently has the best fit and finish, as most of the treads are older.

I plan to keep air conditioning. What compressor should I buy? is the sanden compressor smaller than the regular ls compressor?

Thanks,
Chris

I guess you'd have to answer some of those questions yourself. Do you want the car to be a regular street cruiser, light-weight, .., ?
I've kept my K-member as-is and looking at options of relocating the A/C compressor.

Since your donor car is an F-body I would use those accessories. That being said, you will have to notch the factory K-member so there is proper room for the AC compressor. Aftermarket k-members are up to you. There are pro's and con's to every modification. You don't have to get one specifically for an LS swap if you choose a unit that requires engine mounts. Some K-members, such as the BMR unit, have welded stanchions for an LS and you cannot use your own mounts. Others come with provisions for you to buy any number of mounts to dial in your engine position (trans options etc). There are very few, if any, k members that will allow you to run the AC in the 4th gen f-body position. Despite what many manufacturers say, I have not found that to be the case. What they don't tell you is that you cannot run the factory triangle brace in front of the k-member and just normal variation in these cars don't guarantee a perfect fit (big hammer to new k-member). They (Hawks maybe?) sell a cheap patch kit for the OEM k-member that you could take to any competent welder to have stitched in. My sample size is limited but I am impressed by my UMI k-member and am not very fond of the BMR unit. There are a few other manufacturers in the game, but they are lesser used.

If only your questions had been answered in the past, ad nauseam, and there were a place where you could search and research the answers.........


Using the fuel tank and the lines are a great use of the donor that many people don't do. You can even use the 4th gen filter and 3rd gen fuel line and deadhead the fuel system like the LS uses.

I have been a member here since before you.

If you don't have anything constructive to add, just keep quiet.

There are a lot of posts about these things from many years ago and I was looking for current opinions and not dated ones.

Thanks,
Chris

Thanks for the reply, I am leaning toward notching the k-member.

Lol, I was on this board when it was a BBS and I actually helped pay when they were asking for money to start up, your "seniority" is not relevant (if only a few months difference). And I have thousands of posts, and you don't! The point is that all your questions HAVE been answered, repeatedly. I am not sure why people keep asking these over and over, except they want spoon fed answers.
I have done multiple LS swaps and I have asked almost 0 questions because I, wait for it, researched! Then I researched some more, then I researched some more. ALL from this website! All your questions have been answered recently, not dated, and almost all the answers are the same anyway, with little variance.

With the ICT billet setback plates you don't have to notch the kmember. It will clear. But for piece of mind go for it. In terms of aftermarket kmembers I'm all for the heidts one. Very nice piece that looks better built then some of the other kmembers I've dealt with. I have a factory style R4 compressor that works great but have thought about switching to the sanden or the scroll R4. For some reason I can really feel the load of the AC when its on.

I have actually done a lot of research into this swap. That is why I chose to use the fbody donor instead of piecing it together. I may not have posted a lot, but I don't tell people to use the search when they are starting their build thread either. There is a lot of misinformation on ls swaps and the information is constantly changing as new products come to market. I was looking for the most relevant information for my swap. I didn't ask for info about pedals, or wiring harnesses, or even fuel systems. Just the basic opinion on compressors and k-members that pertain to my situation. So, if you don't see a lot of posts from someone who has been here since obtaining their first fbody, you can assume they are either lurking and enjoying the content, researching, or living life. Don't just assume that someone hasn't researched because they ask a couple questions. If you don't want to answer, just ignore the post and move on.

Thanks, I have been looking at the ICT brackets already. They look like quality parts. I was considering using truck accessories until this car fell into my lap, and ICT has some good brackets for that scenario.

My car is going to be 99% street. I like having the ac blowing with the top down, because hot air gets trapped behind the windshield

Like ShiftyCapone said, there are pro's and con's to every modification. On my ‘84 Trans Am, I’m using a Sanden A/C compressor with a Kwik Performance high Mount bracket. My biggest challenge was adding a high pressure cutoff switch. Some say it’s not needed and that sanden has a high pressure relief valve. The 3rd gen a/c compressor had a high pressure switch built into it, so I wanted to stay with that system design. Also, the Sanden A/C compressors come pre-filled with oil. Knockoff sanden compressors don’t. I found that out the hard way.



I didn’t replace the k-member.



For engine mounts, I used the Hedman LS Engine Swap Kit. I bought new Hedman long tube headers from a member who decided to go a different route. It was good deal, but it required the Hedman mounts. Their mounts and headers are supposed to work together…so says the Hedman website.



I also used the 4th gen plastic tank. I made a fuel pump access panel when installing the tank (a controversial mod). I had to access the fuel bucket multiple times, so I’m glad I did that. There was some trial & error matching the grand prix fuel level sensor with the 4th gen pump.. What transmission are you planning to use?

I am going to use the t56 from the donor car, my car is already converted to manual. I am planning to install a new clutch while the engine and trans are out of the car.

My donor car is missing the compressor. I am probably going to go with the low mount sanden kit from dirty dingo, but I was also looking at the high mount options.

I am planning to use the stock manifolds with custom y-pipe (no cats and no inspection here), and probably an slp cat back.