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HybridZ

The LT1 is finally in!!!!!!


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Well, just wanted to share the latest pics with you guys. The motor and tranny are both in and no worse for the experience. I'm both impressed and ticked off with the JCI kit. The quality of the mounts was really good. I feel much better about these mounts than I do the JTR mounts, mostly due to the fact that they are in one piece, no plates, etc. That said, the illustrations and directions were crap, and were a big reason for having to pull the motor back out once. Hardest part about the whole swap was having to cut on the Z and beat it with the mini-sledge. I felt like I was beating my wife or something.....I think I've been staring at that car for too long. :)

 

As far as setback, the motor does sit farther forward, but no so much that it'll affect the performance of the car as I'll use it. I measured the T-56 several times to get an idea of where I was going to have to clearance the tunnel and got it right the first time. Haven't gotten my Sanderson headers yet, so I can't say anything about fitment. But it sure does look tight!

 

It sure was nice to see the see sit level after so many years of no motor. Now to finish all the details!

 

Here are the pics:

 

Motor Prepped and waiting:

Ready_1.jpg

 

Going in:

Going_In.JPG

 

It's In!

Its_In.JPG

 

Engine from above:

Engine_Wide1.JPG

 

Slave Cylinder Clearance:

Slave_Cylinder_Clearance1.JPG

 

Engine from front:

Front_View1.JPG

 

I will say this, without the information resources here, I would have had a lot of headaches that I was able to avoid. Big thanks to those of you who have done the swap before!

 

Bryan

Dat240zg

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That looks pretty far forward, is this the final position? If so I'm surprised you needed to do any clearancing for that position. I'm wondering if you're going to have problems installing headers, or does John have special headers to go with his kit. How well does you're shifter line up with the stock opening?

 

Engine_Wide1.JPG

BTW, congrats on getting the engine installed.

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Yeah, that is way forward of where the JTR setup places the engine, looks like a Scarb mount except seems to be lower.

 

Woluld you take some close up shots of the mounts and position of the oil pan in relation to the crossmember so we can see how low it sits in the engine bay.

 

Have you decided which radiator/fan setup you will run yet?

 

Where did the T56 shifter come up?

If I'd tried to place my engine that far forward the shifter would be right against the heater controls.

 

Wheelman

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Yeah, that is way forward of where the JTR setup places the engine, looks like a Scarb mount except seems to be lower.

That's what I was thinking. It looks like its maybe 2 inches back from my Scarab setup.

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I'm sure it is better than the original Scarab mounts, at least from what I saw from the pictures of the kit; the mounts look very very strong. The placement looks to be about the same as the Scarab mounts, but it's difficult to tell. Thanks for posting the progress pics! Looks like you are well on your way to "getting 'er done!"

 

Davy

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The pic of the engine bay is the final position, with the mounts down tight. Before I dropped the motor in, I measured twice and clearanced once. I probably widened the tunnel a bit more than I had to, but didn't want to have to take the combo in and out more than once.

 

As it was, the installation instructions were so poor that I had put the actual engine mounts on backwards and had to pull the motor and tranny out, swap the mounts and re-install.

 

As far as the exhaust, I'm a little concerned. I don't have a JTR kitted Z to reference, but it does look tight. Tomorrow I'm going to get in touch with Mike to get some info/measurements on the Sanderson Block huggers.

 

I'll take more detailed pics with a measuring tape for reference tomorrow.

 

I do like the positioning of the motor. From what I can gather it seems like its a happy medium between the JTR setup and the original Scarab placement. I'll try to get DSommers to bring his scarab over to compare.

 

I did have to cut my tranny tunnel for the shifter, as it came out about an inch short of the hole. I'm going to take the shifter to a guy and have him fab an elbow to move the shifter back a bit.

 

As far as the radiator goes, I'm a little torn. I'd really like to go with an aluminum radiator that would allow me to incorporate the SLP oil cooler. But, I'm afraid that that would force me to mount my electric fan pusher style and I'm not certain how that will affect the cooling.

 

Anyways, thanks for the encouraging words. This week should see the gas tank out and getting sumped, the throttle cable setup, the rest of the fuel lines finished and then I'll have to pause as I'm starting a Graduate course next monday.

 

Bryan

Dat240zg

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I've still got the oil cooler on my LT1. If you still have the stock radiator, go buy the one recommended by JTR and take them to a radiator shop and have them swap the endcaps. Poof, your stock hoses work and line up and you can even retain your radiator fluid level gauge (if you had one). I was amazed at how well this worked with mine. Then I got the taurus fan. It only needed minor mods (put some metal "shims" on) and I used the plastic hangars on the radiator to mount my fan. Only issue: the radiator cap has clearance issues with the hood, either mount the radiator about half an inch lower than the JTR parts place it, or you can lean the top back a little bit. I'd take some pictures but I put my digital camera thru the washing machine......:fmad:

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