maichor

Any of you delete the drip rail from the front windshield? It would require re-welding the entire thing. I was thinking of doing this on my VR project. By the way, this is my ride. As you can see, I am not going for authentic, since the VR isn't. I'm going for more of a hot rod. The photo is form Xmas 2004. Sorry to say that not much has changed since then, but I am committed to getting it done. When I finished the drivetrain, there were only 2 other LS1 conversions on this board. Anyone else have an LS motor in their GTO? http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=1198

I have never seen a post about John Washington and Reaction Research that wasn't positive. I purchased a VR kit from John several years ago. He made a special effort to come see my project on his way through Texas. He is such a cool guy. We even fed him and put him up for the night. I was sorry when he had to go. He seems more like a friend than someone I did business with. You can't go wrong with him and the parts are quality. That being said, make sure you have the follow through to finish the project. I still have body work, paint and interior to finish 3 kids later. I love my kids and would not trade them for a show quality completion of my VR. Well, most days I wouldn't trade them . . . Anybody looking to trade a car for 3 boys?!

See, then you did the right thing, if you grind off that "w" then the bolt will fit in the hole! Sorry about not adding anything to the tech discussion, but I couldn't resist. For alignment issues, I usually get as big a punch as I can and stick it through the holes and use the brute force techique. However, it sounds like maybe Phantom's car, which was the prototype, was a little different that yours and so the holes don't line up.

What's a whole? Twice as much as a half? JK ;p

I'll reply, since I started this thread. This will just be opinion, because as far as I know, nobody has done what you are proposing. First of all, anything is possible. You can fit these subframes under the car without cutting them. However, especially with a 2 + 2, you will have to mount it lower to clear the unibody of the Z (the 2+2 body is different). That will increase your ride height. I am referring to the front arms of the subframe. You need to decide what is more important for you. If you run your car with shortened lowering springs etc., you may not want that. As far as width goes, you need to measure hub to hub on a 180sx and decide if you can get a set of wheels with more backspacing to clear you fenders. You will likely need fender flares. As far as performing the swap, you will have to do some modifications to the car or the subframe, or even both. How committed are you? Good luck!

I love the gearing of my T-56 LS1. I have 3.7 rear gears though, probably different than yours. I would also say it depends on your use. If it is a daily driver, traffic car, or drag car, I say go auto. If it is a road course, auto-X, or hot rod, got T-56. I love to row gears and put the RPM's where I want. You can look up my first drive impressions at the link below, but my car does not run anything stock in the rear and I run a much larger tire. It might not be as useful to you. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=96038&highlight=alive

I agree. Most likely VATS is still active. If you don't have an OBD II port on that harness, IMO you should send it right back. It sounds like the guy plugged into your OBDII to get you that code. If that is the case. Find someone with a programmer, or buy one. Get to know some of the people in your area that work on LS motors. They will charge you, but not an arm and a leg. You will need to make other tweaks as well. Are you going to have the computer control the fans, etc. etc. If you don't want do get a programmer, decide on all of the changes you want made and have them all done at once. If you had someone program you PCM already, I would send it back in and tell them your problem. Good luck. Love the LS1! (but now I want an LS7)

The guy is not a liar. If you take the shaft and measure, it is larger at the splines. If you cut them shorter there won't be enough material. You will have to ask MKelly what he meant by shortened and resplined, but the Q45 axles I had could not be shortened. I just had them make custom axles, same spline, shorter length all of the same larger diameter stock. Good luck!

All the best Bill. I'm sure you will always be coming back to visit. Again, best of luck to you.

All of the arms are the same length (infiniti and nissan.) The subframe is different in each car. It is not very hard to narrow the subfame, put the diff where you want it, centered or not to achieve what you want. If you go narrower than I did, you will have to cut more clearance for the front upper arms. EDIT P.S. Remember how wide my tires are. If you used my setup and ran 295's you would be 4" narrower than me and 275's would make you roughly 6" narrower. That should easily fit under ZG flares.

I was asked to chime in here so I will do the best I can. First of all, my reasons for doing the swap are posted in my initial writeup here: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthrea...0&highlight=s14 So, on to the questions. Ed260Z asked: 1)What insulators are you using to mount the new Sub frame to the Chassis? **I bought a complete Rear IRS Z32 bushing set for a Z32, Solid mounted the front and used the extra front pieces as spacers for the rear to correct my driveline angles. 2)Will I have drive shaft problems since the Diff will be mounted in the center, instead of offset by 3/4"? **That depends, short answer, no. Your driveshaft will be longer and slightly more forgiving since the angles created will be less and they tranny output and diff will both still be parallel to each other. Since I did a motor swap as well, it was better that it was not offset as much. Mine is still 1/2 offset because I took 1" out of one side of the subframe. (won't change any of the arm geometry) 3)Can I bolt on the S30 Shock "Hat" to mount the 240SX Strut to the stock location on the Chassis? **Yes, I used S14 coilovers and the S30 upper insulator. 4)Why use the S14 over the S13 sub-frame? **I think the S13 sub-frame will work just fine, but you definitely want to use other arms. To quote myself-"S14, however, all of the arms are swappable except the lower control arms. For example, if you wanted to run the aluminum hub housing from a 300ZX (Z32), you could, but you would also have to have the lower control arms from the Z because the ball joints on the LCA are different. Also, I believe the S13 hub assembly is different than the S14 so you would have to use S13 axles with the hubs (Smaller than Q45 and 300ZX). With the S14 there are four bolts holding the hub on and one giant nut holding the whole assembly together. Maybe when I get home I can post a pic of the hub assembly. I would go S14, just so you have more options later." This means that if you use S13 lower arms, you cannot swap hubs with Q45 and Z32 unless you buy a different hub carrier from one of those cars and the corresponding lower control arm with it. 5)Do you need a spacer in between the rear mount and the frame? Most likely yes, unless your motor is mounted lower than stock. That is to keep your driveline angles correct. You can use the rear spacer height to get it the vertical angles right. Or, you can do it at the front diff mount, but I wanted that to stay stock or it might put pressure on the studs coming out of the rear of the diff cover. Now for everyone for or against: There are no upper arm mounting point issues with my swap and I didn't move the arm. You can get the axles made any width custom from Moser for $375 for the pair. I used the larger Q45/Z32 size. S14 hubs will use a smaller axle. PERFORMANCE: I have had this in running in my car for some time now and I love it. I am NOT however, a racer. I drive on the street. I feel it is more predictable and forgiving than the Z was in stock trim. Straight line stripes are awesome. The car settles very nicely in the corners and I only get in trouble when I stand on the gas and give the wheel a little jerk, but that is usually on purpose to slide the rear around. In fairness the tire size surely changes everything, but that was one of the reasons for the swap. I can now buy off the rack 10.5" wide mustang rims and run 12" Z32 rear brakes. I have 335/35/17s in the rear but will swap to 315's when these are toast. Also, there is rear tow adjustment, and some camber adjustment built right in. No aftermarket arms required. However, there are fully ajustable arms available if desired. My car is nearly 10" wider than stock. My guess is that you could run 275's on all for corners if you wanted a really balanced handler without the big butt. Then again, I like big buts and I cannot lie! No matter what you do, you probably won't outperform a C6 with either setup. I am not sorry at all that I did the swap. I love the way the car behaves. I now have upgraded brakes diff, axles etc. and it was cheaper for me. Easier to find the parts too. Take it for what it is worth. Ed I wish you luck whatever you decide. I know what I would do.

I have S14 coilovers on mine and they are the perfect height for my setup. photos.yahoo.com/maichor75104 I used the stock S30 insulators. The rest bolted right in.

I'll have to agree with Mikelly, MAF descreening requires a retune. You wouldn't think so but, it does. A few friends that have done it say just leave it in. Since yours is gone, you may have no other choice than to reprogram.

Looking good. You will like having the liberty to move things around. I changed mine about 3 times before I got the exact position I wanted for the motor. I am running PS as well.

It takes me about 2 seconds to plug in a reader and five to look up the code, c'mon Bill, are we being a bit lazy here. Set your alarm 1 minute early and get 'er done. Your first post on this was 2 weeks ago! Don't make me come over there!

Correct about the Q45 diff, it is an R200VLSD. And, Terry, I believe that you can get one from Cannon Engineering in SoCal and Tim240Z may still have the part #.

I think you misread that post Phantom. He said the FUEL RAIL WAS GOOD for a 10 second quarter mile which is true. I also know of one guy doing it with the stock fuel pump on nitrous which is risky, but so far he's okay.

Terry, here is the text I posted before about part #'s- It was in this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=93863&page=2&highlight=powertrain+industries Speaking of adapting the 6 bolt R230 300ZXTT, You do not have to machine your own adapter. There is a nice one you can get from Powertrain Industries. They are used to convert to a one-piece driveshaft, (the ZX had a 2-piece with weird joint in back). However, they are always backordered and takes about 1-2 months. Plan ahead and order it early in your swap. EDIT: Uses a 1310 series U-joint. Here is the contact: Part #3102-42 http://www.powertrainindutries.com (714) 893-4585 7532 Anthony Ave. Garden Grove, CA 92841 Price is steep at $116. You will also have a hard time finding 10 X 1.25 X 25 Allen head bolts. The round head is necessary to clear the yoke. I searched everywhere and finally went with Gardner Wescott 1-800-521-9805. 10 X 1.25 X 30 Chrome grade 8 was all they had and were $2.46 each! But they look cool!

Great looking car and beautiful engine bay. Let us know how the drive goes. I personally have not driven my car for more than an hour at a time yet. Phantom, the reason the covers are not compatible is because you have supply and return lines on the rails and need two slits in the drivers side cover, not one. Personally, since I am building a psuedo GTO I think I will opt for those covers, silver and black. That comes after paint, body and interior which are still on my list.

Mikelly, I may never put my car through the paces like you do, but is this a vette specific problem. I believe the camaro pan is ~3/4" deeper and the pickup is different. Wouldn't that help with some of the starvation issues of the vette?

What do you want to know about the swap? Everyone who has done it from scratch has done it differently. The only kit out there for the swap is from John's cars (brokenkitty). If you have questions about using his kit, Phantom's car was the prototype for the kit. I swapped more than just the motor, including PS Brake booster etc, because I had a donor car and the parts were in better condition. The reason you have not had many responses is probably because your original question would take a long time to tell you everything all of us know about swapping and LS1 into an S30, and just about all of it has been discussed before. So again, what do you want to know? Are you asking about difficulty, cost, engine placement, accessories, fuel system, electrical, cooling etc.? I put my motor slightly closer to the firewall than the JTR position and used Corvette style biscuit mounts and a new crossmember. I kept the power steering in the stock position and relocated a small GM alternater high on the passenger's side. I used the F-body fuel tank and my harness was reworked to get rid of uneeded electrical circuits by Speartech. Fabrication skills are required unless you hire someone to do it. The Johns Cars kit only requires a little drilling etc. If you ask specifics we can give better answers.

You seem to have the tools and knowhow to fab your trim, but there are some nice pieces here under the catalog section if you can spare the $. http://www.scorpionzcars.com/

Yes, the Z31 has a trailing style arm, the S13/14 is like the Z32. Most agree that the Z32/S14 is a better setup.

Congrats! It looks like this has turned into one of those Honda threads. I enjoyed the posts by those recalling their slowest cars. Back in high school I drove my Dad's Dodge Ram Turbo Diesel (the baby version made by Mitsubishi). That thing was as slow as a turtle turd. I always had the pedal to the floor, which my explain the cracked head at 80K miles! You gotta start somewhere!

It probably has the Velo Rossa rear tub, but the front clip is not a VR. It the Alpha style hood.