87 T/A LT5 swap
 

First off I wanna give a big thanks to BajaDaze. He helped me out a lot on this project as I had many questions about this project and he helped me out. Go and check out his sick 89 IROC with this swap. A few years ago I started a thread about this swap I bought the engine parted out the electronics and stuff I didn’t need. I left it in a engine cradle as eye candy for the garage. I slowly started gathering parts like the K-member I had a MS3x I was planning on using. I was doing research but not much was out there so I put it on the back burner. Fast forward to now and it’s finally a runner been driving it locally so far so good. This car had a perfectly running Ls1 swap cammed 243 heads LT’s t56 and 4.10 gears. I pulled that perfectly running engine and rolled the dice on this LT5 not even knowing if it was a good engine. I started this swap on November of 2022 so it’s been down a few months.. it’s not perfect but we are getting there. anyways here are some pics



https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...c16c083c0.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...4c1b50a80.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...489e96ff6.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...4f88af1fa.jpeg

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

Looks incredible. How is the power difference?

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

I really can’t tell a difference but then again I haven’t done a full 7k rpm pull with this one.

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

Where did you find this motor? This is one of the few swaps where removing a cammed LS1 is acceptable.

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

haha I’m sure these engines are reliable as long my wiring is all good i shouldn’t have any problems. I bought this engine a while back.

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

Fantastic job!!

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

thanks brotha

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

Tell us more about the swap. Exhaust? Mounts? Etc.

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

Oh yea that’s right so for this I used an AJE Kmember with their mounts. I had to mod the mounts a bit because this one uses for mounting holes the AJE one didn’t lined up also I had to Notch the oil pan to clear the Kmember. For the headers I had bought some OBX headers for the Zr1.. I’ll tell y’all these where easier to install than the hawk budget headers I had on the swap. The driver side collector did need some work but it wasn’t to bad. I’m also running Texas speed true dual exhaust 3” over the axle. They do hand a lil by the diff but can move them up a bit.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...c4a417ebc.jpeg
This is how much I notched the oil pan.. I know some said I was nuts to do that .
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...d9a38c8b1.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...c6361cc82.jpeg

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...7d3c33257.jpeg
Mocking up the T56 which I had to convert to an LT1 style. I did have to notch the bell housing on the passenger side for the header collector to clear
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...a56d1b5cd.jpeg
LT5 next to the Ls1
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thi...521a3ebb6.jpeg
My Ls1 setup before the swap

Re: 87 T/A LT5 swap
 

Both set ups were/are clean, but cant beat that LT5 look under the hood, great job.