Richard Oben

I am not an electrical guy at all in reality. So take everything I say with that in mind. A lot of people are way better at this than I am. I/we did a stand alone EZ for the chassis, having used just about every other manufacturer in the past, Haywire, Painless, Ron Francis, AAW, and I squared. It was ok some of the wires were poorly marked and most are marked only at the ends not all the way along like Painless. We tried to put it in the same spot as the factory fuse box, I would not do that again, put it on driver side by clutch pedal. Then I would put a new hole in the firewall for all the front EZ harness. we went all on the pass side for everything. EZ, LS and all. The worst part is wiring all the switches. Ignition was easy, headlights high/low not so easy, never even tried the flashers, signals work and were not bad. Wipers/headlights are still not 100% right. The wipers we got to work, then I found out the wipers don't work with headlights on (law in my state is wipers on = headlights on), the wipers lose their ground when headlights come on. Work on park but not headlights (found that out on a rainy day, RainX is great). Still have not figured it all the little things but everything now works, some not perfectly but works. Wipers can always be turned on (not ignition fed) and only park manually. We tied the rest of the EZ into the Datsun wiring at the passenger foot well for everything as it was easier than running the new. It was in good shape also. On the LS side we used the guys from Arkansas (eBay) and they did the diet on the Donor harness. We ran the wires for 12V constant, 12 switched, fuel pump, fan etc. all from their supplied fuse and or relay block. We even used the LS computer to run the AC. Speed hut, tach and speedo, Datsun for everything else. Clock still works, LOL. As said above even if done by you it takes time, a lot of it. I had the Dash and harness out of the car and on the bench with a column and switches for a month figuring it all out. I had a buddy who is pretty good electrically, (jag owner) help finish the job as I was mentally spent. So far no issues have come up except for what is listed above. My wife even drives the car. AC heat etc. all work. About as honest an answer as I can give HTH, Richard.

On mine I just went without reverse lights. As it was too tight. Not required in my state. R

Manual steering on my LS swapped 240z, my wife drives it no issue. No big tires though. The only thing I'll say is power steering could get in the way of the AC compressor if running the JCI stuff. HTH, Richard.

Small update on LSZ as my wife calls it Leslie, other woman etc. My wife drove the old girl to Branson Z fest from home. 3.5 HOURS each way, No issues, AC running all good. Now the list, needs tunes, cruise control and a cup holder. I trailered the yellow car down as it was too close not to attend a national event. Richard.

dddrrrrooooooooollllll R

I thought $10K would be easy also. The extra drivers of cost for me were: the in tank pump and all the stuff for it, re line tank, weld in sump, buy pump etc., all new stainless brake and fuel lines, HVAC from compressor and mount ($450) to new unit in car etc., 8.8 rear with all the supporting stuff to make it work. But it is what it is and I am happy. I think $8,500 is a bit of a pipe dream, I guess if you craigslist everything and go el cheapo and can fabricate almost everything else sure it may work out that cheap but it would be tough. JMHO, and you get what you paid for it..... Richard.

Well it was Hot, a Heat index of 114 some days. But it was a lot of fun. Bailed on the drag strip as it was too hot for me. My wife drove the Leslie (LSZ) down to the event. 3 plus hours each way, never missed a beat, the AC struggled a little in the oppressive heat but I think that is more of a needs new seals than anything else thing. Did the hi way 125 cruise with a bunch of other Z cars had no issue keeping up even with 14 inch tires. One other guy from Canada drove his LS powered Z down. YES FROM CANADA, he laughed at our 3 hour drive. Eric Burkhart I believe was his name LS with an 4l80e. Custom everything made his own everything, mounts exhaust all of it. Super clean install and really clean car.

Don't sweat it. Alternator is low driver side on my car (long way from battery). Wire runs up and over engine and then to battery. Depending on alternator that may be more challenging unless it is a one wire. HTH, Richard.

The national Z car convention is going to be in Branson MO in July, besides me any other LS Z cars going to be there? Or non LS Z cars? Being fortunate enough to have a pair of series one cars I am taking both.

Had to buy the JCI AC bracket. There is now one that fits on the pass side like a stock LS AC but it is a smaller Compressor that fits and uses the second belt. The CXR does raise the engine a little. Had the notch the CX motor mount to clear the steering shaft. HTH, Richard.

It could be pin 45 in the above diagram. They were a bit surprised we wanted it but once explained they totally understood. When we built an FFR GTM, we did it this way. On the Hot Rod power tour the painless guys were confused also, they just let the AC be the AC and ECU be the ECU. Which makes no sense to me but who am I. Oh yea the guy that never blew up a compressor from over revving, or bad pressures.

We used the John's cars compressor kit. We also had the LS1 Wire diet guys do the wiring of the computer. If they are not listed above I have the receipt, found them on eBay. There is an AC request on all LS1 computers as far as I know. We sent the Vintage air 12 volts to that, used the trinary switch from the GTO to talk to the computer. The computer then sends a 12 v signal to the Under hood fuse panel that has a relay. We just put a relay on the fender by the compressor with 12V from the battery. Works fine. We did have to get a fitting and TIG in the trinary switch though. Used the one from the GTO and used an in line port fitting. The advantage is the computer runs the AC, WOT cut out, under or over pressure, over 40 MPH no fan, over 4000 RPM cut off. Lots of good stuff happens. GM engineers are a lot better at this stuff than we are. This may help on the pin out info. http://lt1swap.com/2004gto_pcm_pinouts.htm We had the LS1 diet guys do the fan control also. They gave us Fan out, fuel pump out, OBD 11 out, AC out, great work on their part. We used a Z shroud (came with car) and some brackets to mount a fan from one of the suppliers, 3000 CFM single speed. Works great. HTH, Richard.

We did the math, finally, we have almost $17,000 in the complete running car, still with some stuff to do. HTH, Richard.

Update time again. We have been driving the car without vibration for a few months (woo hoo). All is going well. Going to re-balance the tires before the upcoming trip to Branson for Z con. We dug up the file and for those who asked what it costs to do a V8 LS1 T56 Z, I have MY answer, not THE answer. We started with a $1,000 240Z shell, and a $3,200 Donor car that consisted of a 2004 GTO. Bone stock LS1, LS7 clutch, T56 CXRacing kit, 8.8 out of a Lincoln, with mounts, 930 CVs, custom axles, AC, rear discs, etc. yada, yada, yada. A lot of explanation is above. Grand total 16,888.00. We think we got everything, but may have some ancillary parts we forgot. Do yourself a favor get a Camaro or Firebird, replacing parts on the GTO was not worth the extra money. Pan, alternator, shifter, etc. It was wrecked hard enough I couldn't and didn't take the time to part it out completely, never found the clutch master cylinder!! Did part out some of it and used it to pay to fixed the head on the driver side that was smashed in the wreck. The up side is the car had to be low mileage, everything was very clean inside and out, no issues so far. We have not painted the car or finished the interior (have the parts here so they are in the above total). No Stereo yet, either, thinking Box in the back and blue tooth. In short this is not a project for the faint of heart or wallet. For the $17K I could have bought a used C5 corvette or a 996 Porsche. So plan wisely, double the budget, I hoped to be under $10k, and double the labor time. BUT I would not trade the car for the fun it is and conversations I have had with it and about it. We did everything on the car, from welding the bad dog rails in to wiring the car and connection to the paid for cut down harness. HTH, Richard.

The JCI kit is based on the F body shifter location. I used the standard Datsun ground from the battery to the body by the batter location. I guess it could be run to any trough bolted place on the chassis. JMHO. R

Great work, thanks for the great pics. R

I have not installed the Hoke or Apex. No idea how complete they are or are not, or how complete you need, this is a much bigger statement than you realize. Do you have exhaust expertise? or not. Hoke, I think quit making them. Apex is just a cross member I believe. Again beautiful stuff but it is just a start. JCI has some great stuff also, bought AC compressor mount from them. I went with the CX Racing as it was the most complete in my opinion. Mounts, for Engine and trans and complete exhaust. We did end up modifying the exhaust ($450 worth) to make it work the way I wanted it to. That was because of the 8.8 rear I installed, not because of the CX kit. All in all very happy with it. The exhaust under the T 56 is pretty low but the full length headers and lack of room dictate a lot of that. I have a build thread where I go over some of it. A few thousand miles later, every time I get in the car I laugh as it is just a blast to drive. 80 mph is 2100 rpm in 6th LOL. In short a lot depends on the skills of the builder and the amount of work that has to be done by them or having the work done for them. So far only the tank modifications and exhaust were farmed out, everything else I struggled/stumbled through. So far dead reliable and super fun. For what it is worth, painted the entire engine bay before install and had no issues. All of the above is just my opinion. Take it for what it is worth, and what was paid for it.... Richard.

Really cool holy cow that thing revs fast. Nice work. R

Personally, I put the Tanks Inc sump and all in my stock tank, got the idea on this forum. Would not go any other way. Not super cheap but it just works and works well. Clean install no starvation issues, and relatively quiet. Pics on build thread. HTH, JMHO, Richard.

Hope this works. Porsche CV with 8.8 IRS.

Nice goals and way to go get them! I think real half shafts are in you future... Nice job!

Stock LS1 computer from the donor. 400 For the wire diet and 'tune'. All I had to do was a few wires, and it is OBD II so no issues with diagnostics. JMHO. Richard.

Lot of respect for all you have done for the Z community. I have personally got your help. So I am just curious why you got rid of the EFI?

Thought I would give this an update. I had been chasing a vibration for a while, since I first drove the car. Changed Diff, changed rear outer stubs, put struts and springs on at the same time. See above. All kinds of stuff, tires were swapped, everything but the inner stubs. Could not find the vibration. Well, we put the car on my lift with the tires just off the lift and ran it. (Scary stuff for sure). We found the issue, the inner new DSS stubs were jumping a lot. Some one once said new and good are two different things. Sent an email to DSS asking the run out spec, .020 max, ours were almost double that. Took them to a machine shop and they put them on a lathe. Once on the lathe it was easy the see the parts were bent. I can tell everyone we did not bend them, no idea how I could if I tried. The machinist thought it was a result of an incorrect heat treatment process. Sent a bunch of videos to DSS and a few other car guys I know. Everyone agreed, bent. Sent them to DSS, they grumbled a bit about the age, 3 years since purchase, but only 1,700 miles though. And the fact they were bent, I just can imagine any way to bend them, without major trauma like an axle breaking. The stubs are in some pictures above. Both were bent. To DSS credit, they did a full warranty on 3.5 year old parts and replaced the stubs at no cost.

Having done this pretty much as well but inexpensive as possible. Spent 1,000 on the car, spent 2,200 on the donor ls1 with T56 (net 3300-1100 sold off), CXRacing kit 1,500, tanks inc fuel system installed 500, DSS stubs and 930 CV witch custom axles 1,000. That is pushing 7k and all I hit was a few things. Under 10K will be tough, very tough. I'm afraid to add it all up really, I think I am just past 10k and have not painted the car. Partial list: new stainless lines throughout the car, struts, springs, rear control arms, rear discs, radiator, hoses, fuel regulator, drive shaft, diff mount. That is just the top 10 or so. It is a lot of fun. I have some stuff detailed on the build thread on page 2. HTH, Richard.