SSflyer

Tulsa, eh? That's where I got my car. The guy who owned it before worked at some theatre downtown, and the day I got there he was all excited that Bob Dylan had been out in the parking lot looking at the rusty hulk I was buying. Small world...

93TA.... The best info to use is what's available here. Search out posts from Jeromio, Phantom, and other folks that have already finished what you're about to start. For things like the cruise, foglights, etc., I stayed with the F-body harness & plugs so it would all work together. My donor car was an 01 Camaro, which is probably different than the generation before. The bulk of the wiring I did was to put those two big underhood fuse boxes into the cubbies behind the seats, and the hiding all the engine bay wiring inside the air vent passages to the front of the car. By relocating the fuse boxes I had to extend all the wiring to reach headlights, horns, fans, etc. It's all easy, just time consuming. As for the gauges, get a factory service manual for your donor car and find the connector pinouts for the F-body gauges and work them one at a time to your new gauges. For my SES light, hi-beam indicator, turn signals, low oil, & low fuel warning lights, I used 12v LEDs mounted into the Autometer gauge panels. There's some posts here about how to do that. For me the biggest challange in the wiring was just the volumne of it all. All the wiring to the underdash fuse panel had to be shortened or deleted and pretty much everything else lengthened. I thought it would be worth the time to have a Chev steering column and have all the Camaro controls work, along with a tilt wheel. Lots of work!

For my conversion I used: Engine Trans Driveshaft Fuel tank A/C stuff Steering column Engine & interior harnesses (inc. PCM, fuse blocks etc.) Fans & shroud Cruise control module Brake & clutch pedal switches Headlight switch Horns Foglights Maybe the power antenna There's mega hours of wiring to use the F-bod wiring harnesses, but everything else (except the inst. cluster) is a plug and play. If you're creative you could probably find a way to use the stock inst. cluster too, but for me it was easier to buy Autometer and do the wiring. Plus, the stock Datsun dash looks so much better.

Took my PCM to a local tuner to have it reflashed, and had them also do a base tune. When I told the guy that I had installed a GM HotCam he said that I had wasted my money on such a mild cam. I'm no expert, but it's my understanding that the HotCam is more aggressive than the stock LS6 cam, and when I put an LS6 cam in my Camaro I picked up over 50rwhp. It seems to me that 50+hp for $300 is a pretty good mod. Any opinions from you other LS1 guys? (ps. My engine is stock otherwise, but has shorty headers.)

Here's one I found yesterday.... http://www.autobodystore.com

I'd go with a lower tire profile...

If you're concerned about clearance there's another option. Go to a 40 series tire, or even a 35. I had the same clearance problem, and when I went from a 45 tire to a 40, I gained 1/2" of additional clearance. No more rubbing.

The engine looks so stinking clean, is it a crate motor or did you do that yourself? I sent your post to a buddy and the first comment was about how good the motor looked. We're both curious...

Since you're in Arizona..... Call All Mustang in Tempe. I got an a 2001 LS1 (8k miles) with trans, steering column, gas tank, complete car wiring harness, driveshaft, torque arm, y-pipe & cats for $3750. It was a couple years ago, but they usually have some late model F-bodys in their yard. I also bought a low mileage 305 throttle body engine and trans from them for only $1800 that went into my S-10 Blazer. Sometimes you can negotiate a good deal....

Dale, Thanks for the info! Also, how do you like your SPEC clutch? I have the same one in my Camaro SS and I love the grab but hate the chatter...

Beautiful! Love the color. In the first picture it looks like your proportioning valve is fairly close to the header. Do you anticipate any heat problems with the valve?

Pop, I have a F-body torque arm that's not going to get used. You can have it if you'll pay the freight...

That one picture looks like pretty serious rust, in fact it looks like it's rotted all the way through the firewall. . Mine was about that bad and I ended up cutting it out and fabbing replacement patches. If only the design guys had made the panel roll up a couple inches so the seam wasn't on the bottom...

I guess I'll be the one dissenting voice. The price seems a little high. I got my 2001 with 8k miles, all engine accessories, engine harness w/computer, air box, interior harness, steering column, gas tank, y-pipe & cats, driveshaft, and torque arm from a local yard for $3500. Maybe you could get them to throw in the gas tank and interior harness and maybe some other stuff, like the instrument cluster, for that price. If you get those items too, you'll have pretty much a plug & play swap. I've used the entire Camaro harness in my swap, and although I've had to rework some of the wire lengths, I have the complete functionality, right down to the washer bottle and horns. Maybe if you go with cash in hand they'll come down a little...

My engine bay is about ready for paint, and I'm thinking of using either a spatter paint or a black bedliner spray. I know how the spatter paint will look, but I have no experience with bedliner stuff. I think it would work really well but have no idea of how well it could handle the heat, especially down close the the manifolds. It seems like it would be a good coating for the whole front end of the unibody from the windshield airbox forward, including the framerails, and both sides of the inner fenders. Everything under the front fenders could be coated and any worries about rust would be just about gone. Any ideas, especially about the heat thing?

I have a 75Z that's getting an LS1 install. The engine is in place, 1/2" to the passenger side in order to clear steering, exhaust, etc, but even with the A/C bracket milled down by .45" the compressor wants to hit the frame rail. It looks to be about 1/8" interference. It seems there's three options: move the compressor to the high drivers side position, get an aftermarket compressor, or notch the frame rail. (OK, four options, go without A/C.) The compressor sits right over the crossmember mount point. My question is, can the rail be safely notched in about 1/4" at that spot? Would a 1/4" plate reinforcement on the three open sides be enough, would it be better to find a thick wall tube to insert into the frame rail as a bridge, or would it be better to just go a different direction? Any ideas?

North Phoenix here..... In the middle of an LS1 swap. Let me know if you need help.

Try the Borgeson website. They have steering universals of all types and sizes...

I'm so jealous! Another year and maybe mine will be on the road too...

A guy at work told us he heard that over 20% of new Vipers get totaled on the drive home from the dealer. I wonder what the percentage is for Vettes...

Yup. This is one of those "If I only knew then what I know now" type situations. There would have been a few things done differently, but this is a learning deal. If I ever do another Z conversion it will be done 4 times as fast and probably alot better...

"Must be a fed......". For some reason that strikes me as one of the funnier lines I've heard in a while. I can just see the report on CNN now...."Fourty-three Federal ATF agents raided a Harbor Freight portable garage today in a search for illegal painting activities. The raid was accomplished with a minimal loss of life."

UPDATE: I actually won an EBAY auction for set of the Hooker shorties before I could call Sanderson, and wonder of wonders... they fit like they were made for the car! The flange will still need to be removed and extensions welded on, but they tuck in nice and tight, the drivers side will clear the steering (shaft will be moved to the outside by 3/8"), and the passenger side dumps perfectly between the starter and the frame. My engine is set 1/2" to the passenger side, but with the flange removed there might be another 1/4" if it's needed. So now I guess I can sell my ls1, ls6, and GTO manifolds!!

I've seen in other posts that the stock A/C compressor can be left in the stock position if the mounting bracket is machined down. Mine just came back from the machine shop and when I went to install it I discovered that there's a boss on the block (approx. 1" x 1.5") that indexes the bracket and now holds it about 1/4"-3/8" away from seating tightly to the block itself. (Exactly the amount that was machined off.) Can the boss on the block be ground down without getting into the water jacket or some other internal passageway? If so, I planned to use an abrasive disc on an angle grinder. Any better ideas?

I tried JTR and the ones they carry won't fit. The Spicer 2-2-1309 has been recommended as an acceptable alternate to the 2-2-1819, and the driveshaft shop told me this morning that it will indeed work and is still available. Hopefully I'll have the driveshaft back this week and can verify fitment.