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another LS1 swap


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Hello all! I've been on hybrid Z for a little while now, mostly lurking though. Thought that I would share my project with everyone. ( Not like you guys haven't seen enough of them already. ) Here is my write up. Feel free to ask any questions, give comments, opinions whatever. Here goes...

 

I swapped a 2001 Fire bird LS1 / T56 into my 1971 240z. For starters... heres the car..

 

 

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Here is the motor / trans Pull I purchased from a junk yard down here in Socal. The pull had 49k miles on it, and cost 4,000$ delivered to my front door.

 

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I purchased a set of Sanderson headers from JTR. And a mount kit from JCI, as well as the drive shaft and trans X member. Before I started to tackle installing the motor, I wanted to take the opportunity to install a new cam and valve springs while the motor was in a stand. I went with Comp 918 beehive valve springs and a Texas Speed and Performance 224R cam. I had to make a custom valve spring compressor tool to install the valve springs. Very simple yet very affective.

 

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When I Separated the transmission from engine, I was please to find a bling bling flywheel and a ram power grip clutch! Saved me some money. :-) I also took this time to install a SS clutch feed line, and Tilton 7/8 master cylinder.

 

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Now for installing the mounts, I started with cutting off the square on the side of the block followed by installing the right side engine mount.

 

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Next I installed the factory left side engine mount, also at this time I installed my oil pressure sending unit. I felt like I should extend the sending unit further towards the front so it did not interfere with the collectors of the header. Seemed to work out alright for me.

 

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I also Got the new trans mount installed onto the tail shaft of the T56, easy enough.

 

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Next It was time to yank the old motor so off I go... 5 minutes later the engine was removed! and its time to start preping for the V8 to go in. I cut off the trans tunnel ears to make room for the T56.

 

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now its time to start putting the JCI mounted into the car. I start by removing the steering shaft, and nut/bushing/washer from the strut rod.

 

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Next its time to slip the driver side mount into the car, remembering that there is a spacer between the new mount, and the piece of the cross member that it slides into.

 

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Now its time to reinstall the steering shaft. Then you install the other piece of the driver side mount. You have to drop the X member enough to slide the mount piece in between the frame rail, and the member. Then bolt it all down so it looks like this.

 

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A similar process is done for the passenger side mount (dropping the X member and all ) But at this point in time I did not receive that portion of the kit yet so I do not have pictures. :-( sorry! It was time to drop the engine into the car!! Who Hoo! I was so excited I could hardly contain myself.

 

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With the help of the good 'ol boys in white. ( Mormon missionaries ) I was able to get it angled right, and lowered into the car. It was a lot easier then I thought it was going to be.

 

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Got it all into position, slide the bolt through the driver side mount, and used a jack to support the tail shaft before installing the Trans X member. It took ALOT of work to get to this point and I was very happy to see the motor in the car.

 

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Now it was time to work on the transmission X member. This was very easy to install, and worked out great. Then once the transmission was in place I slid in the drive shaft.

 

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Next its time to work on the fuel system. I purchased a 15 gal. metal cell from Summit, as well as a Walbro fuel pump, a C5 Corvette fuel filter / regulator, and misc. fittings. I went ahead and cut the spare tire hole out, and installed a large piece of sheet metal, screwed it all down, cut a hole for the sump, bolted it all down. Mounted my pump, regulator, and ran my lines.

 

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Not much left to do at this point!! I was getting very antsy and wanted to see my car fire up! I ordered a radiator and mounting kit from JTR, which worked out very nicely. And also made my exhaust. I went with 2.5" off the headers, merged into a Y pipe then went single 3.5" out the back. It turned out very nicely! I also picked up a throttle cable off summit.

 

 

 

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I decided to go with a full set of auto meter guages, and installed them into the factory pods. Turned out very nice.

 

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So at this point, I've got Nothing holding me back from firing her up!! I sent out my PCM to get VATS removed. Got it back and couldn't wait to fire it up. The very first start up was done by using alligator clips to feed the PCM power. I also had NO exhaust on the car, didn't care. connected everything and wished for the best!

 

http://home.tiora.net/davidc/Datsun/V8%20Swap/DSCN0335.AVI

 

Gotta love open headers! Sounded so awsome. I been driving the car since Christmas now, and have done a whole bunch of little things here and there since. I am VERY happy with this swap, and would recommend it to anyone who is considering it. Here is a link to all the pictures I have taken along the way, and here are a few more video's of me driving it around, and one video of me racing at the track. Congrats to anyone who actually read the entire thing! To those who didn't, I don't blame ya. :wink:

 

 

My fuel system in this video was before the fuel cell install. Very ghetto.

 

 

 

 

First time taking the car to the track, Best time of 8.0@94, I was on slicks but had NO traction in 1st gear. 22x8's are way too small for the car. And ya, the announcer is an idiot.

 

 

 

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For me, this has been a very fortuitous post. I was just about to attack my old transmission mounts tomorrow. I was planning on removing all of the mount and the extra surrounding sheet metal. I think your approach of just removing the protruding material is a better way to go. I’m sure it keeps some extra strength in that area.

 

I’m always searching for a photo of the reshaping required of the transmission tunnel to clear the reverse lockout. From your photos it looks as though you didn’t need to do that, although I noticed you seem to have given a few hits lower on the tunnel closer to the floor. So is that reshaping only require to install the t56 rather than to have it operate effectively? Can you provide a few more details on that point of the swap.

 

By the way, congratulation.

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Hey Guys! Thank you very much for the compliments!!! Its always nice to hear other people appreciating your work.

 

I’m always searching for a photo of the reshaping required of the transmission tunnel to clear the reverse lockout. From your photos it looks as though you didn’t need to do that, although I noticed you seem to have given a few hits lower on the tunnel closer to the floor. So is that reshaping only require to install the t56 rather than to have it operate effectively? Can you provide a few more details on that point of the swap.

 

By the way, congratulation.

 

The hits that I made to the lower portion of the tunnel are kind of a funny story. I guess I read the instructions wrong??? I thought I was hitting there and making room for the reverse switch, when in reality I was absolutely no where near the reverse switch. So right now I do not have the reverse switch plugged in at all since its sitting right up against the tunnel wall. The reverse lock out solenoid cleared with no problems what so ever. You are even able to plug / unplug while everything is all installed. (I had to remove the trans after having clutch problems at the track) So you do not have to make any room for that. Removing the stock trans mount pieces was going to be easier if I just chopped them off rather then grind down the spot welds. I never actually thought it would add strength to the tunnel, but now that you point it out.... :wink: Sounds good to me.

 

 

 

 

What 60 fts were you cutting on the slicks?

 

They were 22x8" I was heating them up pretty good. Launching from just under 2krpm I would get nothing but wheel spin. 2.0 was my best. The only local track that we have around here is the WORST track you can imagine for traction. Literally, its in a parking lot. You can see in the video that I'm pedaling it through the entire first gear. I decided to step up the slicks another notch and went with some 28x9's Before I actually take them to the track, I am up grading the rear end to a Q45 diff. with the bad ass 6 bolt CV axles.

 

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Great write-up. Should be in the member's projects forum. I think it's hilarious that you got the mormons to help you out. I'm assuming you're not friends with them but just got their help - I totally need to do that!

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Sweet car and great write up. How do you like the 224R? I've got my eye on the 224R or 228R w/114LSA.

 

 

Thanks! The 224R is a great small cam. Idled smooth and had good driveability through out the entire power band. I actually upgraded to a Torquer V.2 Because I wanted a more aggressive sounding idle and a tad bit more top end. I do have the 224R and a set of 918 Beehive valve springs up for sale if you are interested.

 

Great write-up. Should be in the member's projects forum. I think it's hilarious that you got the mormons to help you out. I'm assuming you're not friends with them but just got their help - I totally need to do that!

 

Thanks! I am actually a non active Mormon myself. But they're always coming around here to check on things and ask if I need help with anything. So.... As a matter of fact I did! they were willing to help out so I put 'em to work. :D

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Welcome to the LS1 club. Looks like yo have a well done conversion. It's nice to see a clean one when I've seen so many that aren't. I notice that there is a huge smile on your face at the track. It's hard to wipe it off when you're astride an LS1!

Found your 60' time interesting as that's what I get with street tires and a 1,500 rpm feather launch. What are you running for rear end gears? I have 3.70's. I have trouble holding traction most of the way through second also.

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I saw your car down at the stadium the last time you raced it,absolutely awesome car man I really like it. Next time you have it down there you should run it on the left side, They dont do any prep on the right side at all. I have a vega that I run down there and I have get between 1.4-1.5 60fts on the left side all night long. Looking forward to seeing your car run on the slicks next time out.

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Welcome to the LS1 club. Looks like yo have a well done conversion. It's nice to see a clean one when I've seen so many that aren't. I notice that there is a huge smile on your face at the track. It's hard to wipe it off when you're astride an LS1!

Found your 60' time interesting as that's what I get with street tires and a 1,500 rpm feather launch. What are you running for rear end gears? I have 3.70's. I have trouble holding traction most of the way through second also.

 

Thanks dude! Ya.. My 60 ft. times are pretty horrible. The track that I race is is not known for having traction at all. Literally, its in a parking lot. I've got a welded R200 Diff with 3.54 gears. I should see quite the improvement in 60 ft. times with my new slicks.

 

I saw your car down at the stadium the last time you raced it,absolutely awesome car man I really like it. Next time you have it down there you should run it on the left side, They dont do any prep on the right side at all. I have a vega that I run down there and I have get between 1.4-1.5 60fts on the left side all night long. Looking forward to seeing your car run on the slicks next time out.

 

Cool dude! Come by and say whats up next time you see me down there. I'm going to go again as soon as I get my Q45 swap under way. What tires do you run on the Vega? Anything sub 1.8 at Qualcomm is impressive to me. :-)

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