LS1 Motor Mount options

[qwik240z]

Joey,

 

One more thing. What year is your Z?

 

Thanks!

[mas28O]

JOEY the LS1 will give you a 4 cyl tac output, I used all aftermarket gauge's so it was not a problem.

[Phantom]

LS1Z -

JCI kit was intended for you to reuse the senders from the original engine.

 

In my car the Speedometer sender is mounted behind the kick panel on the drivers side where the Datsun ECM currently is in the 280Z models. Wrap it in some foamed tissue to sound deaden a bit and encourage a snug fit.

 

I'm using the original T56 shifting mechanism and a shortened and mofified Datsun gearshift lever. It was "adjusted to put the shift knob right where I wanted it for my seating position, arm reach etc.

 

Not sure about the tach as I have never even looked at the JTR manual. Depending on how much you've purchased from John he may do it for free or at a reduced price. At least with JCI it will be guarnteed to work.

 

JCI headers - spent some time looking at those this week. These are very custom for use on the Gen 1 Z cars. The passenger side header ends about the level of the front frame rail which allows the starter to be accessed easily by just disconnecting the tail pipe at that point and lowering it a bit. John used a 3-bolt flange and used double-length brass nuts with lock washers to ensure easy removal at a future date. On the drivers side the header comes all the way down and the collector turns 90° aft to allow tailpipe to come straight into a properly positioned 2-bolt flange - again with the brass nuts. this was well thought through and will save some folks some fabrication headaches and exhaust pipe expense/work.

 

I had the car in a shop in Irving, TX looking at the exhaust this week with the thought of going to a single 3.5" and they raved about the install on the engine.

[jeromio]

Just so you know that you are actually paying about the same $ in order to keep the stock guages (vs. going with aftermarket).

 

Curious about this brass plug in the left head. Only plug I saw was the steel one in the pass head, near the firewall. This is where my temp sensor went.

 

Are you using the (now broken) orig. oil sender as a plug for the orig LS1 hole (behind the manifold)?

[Phantom]

Jeromio,

You must be getting a good deal on gauges where you can get a speedometer/odometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, oil pressure gauge, voltmeter, and water temperature gauge along with any necessary senders for around $250. What kind are you using? Also, what have you done to replace the turn signal indicators that are on the stock speedometer?

I guess since the cost is about the same I made the right decision for me though. I wanted to have a very OEM look and most of the gauge conversions I have seen have looked very "after market". I also didn't want the additional effort of identifying additional gauge locations, manufacturing the housing and then wiring them in to make up for the double OEM gauges. This is all opinon though and each person has to do what they prefer for their specific goals. It all depends on whether you're going for a fully custom look and wanting to change everything - Maichor is a great example there with his Vela Rossa configuration - or just a drivetrain swap which is what I went for - or something in between.

[LS1 Z]

My Z is a 1977. The car is super clean. I bought it from a long time customer. I could have put in shows, just was missing 2 cylinders!!!! HA HA!! Car has 3k in paint, All chrome has been powder coated black. Interior all done with a SCCA 4 point roll bar (painted to match the car). All polyurathane suspension, Tokito springs and 5 way adj. struts, oversized sway bars and 3k in stereo equip. It Rocks!! The motor had some mods too but that is all in the past!! Paid 3300 for it! A screaming deal! Customer got tired of dumping money into it! His loss my gain!!

The brass plug is in the left side just forward if where the original motor mount is. As for my broken O.P.Switch, if my harness comes with it I will plug it in if not I will put a plug in it. Johns trans bracket looks similiar to JTRS, except it bolts to the frame rails not the floor board.

As for my tac. might as well send it to JOHN and have him convert it.

HAVE A HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

JOEY

[Phantom]

Joey,

Wow! Sounds like you really got a deal there. I'm green with envy!

JCI stuff should work very well for your car since mine also is a '77 and it was his development mule. Let me know if you encounter anything unusual and I'll do what I can.

[mas28O]

[LS1 Z]

Thanks mike!!!!!! Mike stopped by Friday with camara in hand! Great pictures. I too have taken pictures with my camara from the beginning, Will find out how to post. Mike also said the Sanderson headers will work with Johns Kit. As for this sunday.... Install trans adapter, Intake manafold and so on. Seems to be moving right along!!!

[qwik240z]

Joey,

 

It's looking great. Did you have to make any mdos to the trans tunnel to make the auto fit? How is the shifter location?

 

More Pics, More Pics.

 

I am leaning more towards this kit now that I have seen your install.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[LS1 Z]

For the weekly update!!! One of my tecs built my rear end last night. R200 w/3:54 gears Motorsports (nismo) Posi unit 650.00 and 350.00 in bearings and seals from Concord Nissan. Thats resale prices and in all reality... MAS280 is running a R230 out of an Infiniti with a total cost of 400.00 from what he told me. Shudda coulda woulda!!!!!

Had a hell of a time with the trans cross member. I dented the tunnell for the reverse servo as directed by John's manual. but..... With the cross member inplace with John's trans mount, the trans was tucked totally tight with zero clearance everywhere. After much thought and help from friends I got it to work. What I did was dent the passenger side of the tunnell where Itook off the original mounting ears about 2 inches where the support starts and used the trans mount that came with my motor-trans(it's atleast 1/4 inch shorter than the one supplied with the kit) all clears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did e-mail John and Phantom to let them know.

As for a shifter. I'm gonna use a Camaro shifter.

Got the LS1 intake on,injectors,alternator and so fourth. The motor is looking like it was made to be in there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROCK ON AND HAPPY SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JOEY

[qwik240z]

Joey,

 

Glad to here it's moving along. I had a feeling the trans would be a problem. From what I have been told the trans tunnel on the 280Z is wider than the 240Z so I don't know if I will be able to make it work with the auto.(Mas280 what did you have to do in the 240Z?)

 

 

The diff you built sounds great. I can't wait for you to drive it so you can feel how the 3.54:1 ratio works with the motor and trans. I have an R180 LSD with the same ratio that I am hoping will live through the abuse of the monster torque the motor puts out until I can find an upgrade. . I guess it's time to scour the JY's to see if I can find an Infinity for an R230 upgrade.

 

 

Did the alternator clear the steering rack and everything OK?

 

I can't wait to see some pics of the trans mount.

 

Again, thanks for paving the way for us.

 

Keep the updates coming!

[mas28O]

I had to use a hammer on the trans tunnel, but only in a few spots. The 4l60e is tight but it fits. qwik240z if you do not want the 4l60e I will buy it from you.

 

 

 

Mike

[LS1 Z]

I'm working on more pictures. Typo on the LS1 intake, I'm using a LS6. Funny you asked if the alternator cleared the rack. Yes it does but...... It did hit the mounting bracket!! All i had to do is trim back the plastic cover on the rear of the alt. All good!!

[Phantom]

Interesting as to the small differences. My alternator just rubs the motor mount very lightly so it was installed with no trimming at all. Maybe there is a slight difference in the mounting points between my '98 LS1 and your '00 LS1? From what I have seen on these cars the fits are so tight that just the standard OEM manufacturing tolerances can cause some interesting opportunities to overcome.

[LS1 Z]

A friend of Mikes (mas280) stopped by with his headers for a test fit. He is also a Hybrid member doing the LS1 swap, sorry don't know his A.K.A. What worked out great was he was heading to Sanderson Headers for some concerns about his and took a deposit check for mine. Should be able to pick them up monday!!! And yes the price is still 700.00 ouch!!

Called on recoring my rad to 4 core. My cost 380.00. I believe I will go with a Griffin aluminum like MAS, Whats that part number Mike??? From what I'm told the radiator uses JTR lower bracket and Mikes upper is from a camaro. Still gotta see it. More advice from Mike is to use a accel cable from a 88 to 95 Acura integra. The cable mounts to the bracket on intake, is adjustable, locks into firewall and slight modification atatches to pedal.

Hey Phantom, Did get quick responce from John on my slight trans adapt problem and filled him in on my project and the great responce I'm getting on his kit. He was thankfull and will take care of my tach. By no way would I ask for any freebees (except advise ofcourse) He offered!! good guy!!!

Last but not least... Any of you guys live in the S.F. bay area. The guy I bought my LS1 set up will be at the Good guys show this weekend in Pleasanton. His name is Merv Cray, Business name Emerald Coast Engineering and His cel number is 850-240-7171. Talked to him a couple of days ago. And he will have a flat bed trailer with LS1'S. He will be located left front of the swap meet kind of close to the main enterence to the show.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!

JOEY

[qwik240z]

A friend of Mikes (mas280) stopped by with his headers for a test fit. He is also a Hybrid member doing the LS1 swap' date=' sorry don't know his A.K.A. What worked out great was he was heading to Sanderson Headers for some concerns about his and took a deposit check for mine. Should be able to pick them up monday!!! And yes the price is still 700.00 ouch!!

Called on recoring my rad to 4 core. My cost 380.00. I believe I will go with a Griffin aluminum like MAS, Whats that part number Mike??? From what I'm told the radiator uses JTR lower bracket and Mikes upper is from a camaro. Still gotta see it. More advice from Mike is to use a accel cable from a 88 to 95 Acura integra. The cable mounts to the bracket on intake, is adjustable, locks into firewall and slight modification atatches to pedal.

Hey Phantom, Did get quick responce from John on my slight trans adapt problem and filled him in on my project and the great responce I'm getting on his kit. He was thankfull and will take care of my tach. By no way would I ask for any freebees (except advise ofcourse) He offered!! good guy!!!

Last but not least... Any of you guys live in the S.F. bay area. The guy I bought my LS1 set up will be at the Good guys show this weekend in Pleasanton. His name is Merv Cray, Business name Emerald Coast Engineering and His cel number is 850-240-7171. Talked to him a couple of days ago. And he will have a flat bed trailer with LS1'S. He will be located left front of the swap meet kind of close to the main enterence to the show.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!

JOEY[/quote']

 

 

Are the Sanderson headers Jet hot or other ceramic coated. For $700 they should be 24Kgold plated. Do they have O2 bungs on them?

 

Good to hear that John is responding quickly to problems. Did he offer you a refund of the cost of the rubber trans. mount?

 

JCI only charges $275 to recore the rad. How much is the Griffin unit?

 

Thanks!

[LS1 Z]

I tried thi yesterday and couldn't get the post to work. Soooo this is the third time writing!!

Sanderson... No they are not coated, They can be for another 160.00. Also There are no holes for the o2 sensors, Reason being from all my automotive training and expierence(mas280 agrees) You want the o2's away from the motor, in your down pipes. This lets the motor run a little richer a little longer.(more power)!!

Ask John for a refund on a 15.00-20.00 mount? no way, no reason. I knew going into this project I would run into problems. So far nothing major. I had a mount here that worked. If I would have dented out the tunnell like the JTR book says. And if I believe the trans crossmember was bent slightly down. perfect!! John knows about it and I'm sure it will be corrected. No-biggie!!!!!!!!!!!

As for radiators, Mas280 said around 200.00 for the Griffin from Summit and he is going to get me a part number. I'm starting to lean towards the G.M. rad and lower support in the JTR book, Just gotta see if my fans will line up.

Dynatec is supposed to get my harness and ecu back to me in a week or soo!!!

HAVE A BIG ONE!!!

JOEY

[Phantom]

Joey,

I guess the JCI headers are out because of the CARB certification requirement? That is where Sanderson gets you. At $385 you could jet coat the JCI headers and still be over $150 cheaper than the Sandersons.

sure glad I live in Texas and don't have to deal with that. Of course you are getting 1.75" primaries instead of 1.5", right?

Glad to see things are rolling along for you. What are your plans for fuel delivery? You gong to use a fuel cell or a Z tank? One bonus for the fuel cell is that it makes it possible to run dual exhausts and getting some decent size exhaust is a big deal for the LS1. The lowest thing on my car right now is the exhaust and it's gong to get an inch lower when I go to the 3.5" from the 2.5".

[jeromio]

Actually, if you are going to use O2 sensors at all, they need to be as close to the engine as possible. They depend on heat to work accurately.

 

What you do with that signal is up to the tuning. I don't think altering the performance of the motor by degrading the accuracy of the O2 signal is a reliable way to tune.

 

Great thing about the LS1 is there are ways to to tweak the programming. You can buy LS1 Edit (which, since you have a shop you might consider doing - then you can hop up C5s and FBodies). Or you can either send in your PCM to a tuner or take the car to a shop. There's also the hand-held tuners like Hyper-whatever it's called and Diablo. And the New Zealand company Starr Performance that makes the diag tool (which I hope to buy soon) efilive has a new package out that lets you alter settings also.

 

You can also run without O2 sensors (unless your state requires an inspection of course). I have problems with mine so I just disconnected them and the car runs in Closed Loop mode. I will be buying new sensors (they're $$$) and paying to get my car dyno tuned this summer.