LS1 swap into the IROC underway

[WMCCjames]

A big thank you goes out to Carl, Steve and Teresa for stopping by today to help slide in the new T56. Was a snap with three people!!

[1BadMoFo]

James, congrats and nice job. this is a project I've wanted to do for quite a few years, and probably will some day still.

I'll make sure and keep in touch when I do it.

Scott

[ITSSLOW]

Any pics of the LS1 sitting the engine bay yet?

[WMCC Gary]

LOOKIN GOOD!

[WMCCjames]

I figured out how to resolve my temp. sender dilema. Most guys doing swaps like these will actually drill out and re-tap the passenger side head for fitting an old school (3/8 npt) temp sender. I however, did not like the idea of sending all those aluminum shavings down into the coolant cores of the head and block. Instead I decided to drill and tap out an area on the water pump. Six bolts and the pup comes off, this would allow me to blow out al the metal shavings and re-install the pump.

Here is the pump before drilling



Here it is after I drilled and tapped the hole for 3/8 NPT




And here it is with the sender installed and the pump back on the motor.



Here's a pic of the room between the firewall and the back of the motor.....more than I expected! You can see my Autometer oil pressure sender...plenty of room! I might try and sneak my oil temp sender in there too.

[WMCC Dino]

[kammi10]

damn james. whens it gonan be done. what did i hear autorama

[WMCCjames]

Also, I finally finished up installing and hooking up the new pedal assemby. All pedals are hooked up and functional Just have to re-install the steering wheel and the shifter and the interior work will be done....minus wiring.

Just a side note...I ended up using a 4th gen throttle cable and it worked pretty decent. It is about an inch too long, but I have an idea on how to fix that....gotta make a trip to the hardware store. I have heard some guys tie a knot on the cable or re-bend the gas pedal arm...none of which sound like a very good idea to me.

Here's a pic of the room I have between the oil pan and the K-member. I was very pleased at the way this turned out. I have heard most guys have only 1/16th of an inch clearance here. Luckily I knew this going into it and modified my K-member ahead of time. I still have to work on the routing of the brake line obviously.

[SoulTerror]

Looking good man!

[meissen]

Can't wait to see the final product!

[Orange Terror]

Dude, you rock!!!!!

[WMCC Gary]

Dude, you rock!!!!!

now .................................................. .

[ITSSLOW]

Looks like its gonna be one clean ass install!

[WMCCjames]

Progress seems to be slowing down somewhat. I guess since the major work is done, it's now down to the details of the swap Anyways, I was had a brain fart on that coolant temp sender. I forgot that I also need a place to plumb in the steam vents from the cylinder heads. On a 4th gen f-body this is plumbed right into the top of the radiator. I don't have that option with my Griffin radiator. So..I came up with a new plan. Where I drilled and tapped for the temp sender I am now using as the point to plumb in the steam vent. I removed the waterpump AGAIN to drill and tap a new spot for the temp sender. I actually like this set-up a little better because now the sender is hidden from view.



Here you can see it better, it's on the bottom side of the block passage on the driver side...



Here you can see the pump back on the motor showing the new steam vent location

[WMCCjames]

I finished up the power steering today I was able to re-use the stock 3rd gen lines. I just had to re-bend the hard line a bit to go around the pump. It actually turned out quite well, I was concerned this was gonna be a *****.