1987 Corvette Z52

[wxo]

In case you haven't seen this new Haltech ECU for LS swaps: https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/halte ... em-review/

[Basement Paul]

If I was starting from scratch, that is an interesting piece of hardware. I like the flexibility. What I'm trying to do is get one already ready to function with the factory harness, computer, sensors, etc, so I should just have to worry about fuel hookups, power, and things like exhaust and intake, and throttle cables.
I left a message for a guy on FB this morning about a 5.3. He sells them ready to run with VATS tuned out, and ready to swap in. He has really good ratings, so hopefully he gets back to me so I don't have to chase someone else. This guy is within driving distance. I think I posted a link to one of his listings a little while back. A complete and running 5.3 ready to drop in for $1850 makes it pretty budget and time friendly.

-BP

[wxo]

The FB guy's 5.3 is a no-brainer. Great deal for your purposes. I can't wait for the wrenches to begin turning.

[GMJohnny]

I found this fitting for BP’s current situation.

GM

[Basement Paul]

Ok, that's pretty funny!

-BP

[Fred32v]

Pretty slick!

[Basement Paul]

Well, I'm in deep now:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/135150839550

This will be headed my way. Lots to do in the meantime. It's more than I wanted to spend, but it's a BIG upgrade so I shouldn't have to do much to it in the future or buy a whole lot for it now that isn't swap related. Next up, transmission stuff. Working with RPM transmission for that...

-BP

[Basement Paul]

Saturday we got the trans out so the bay is ready and waiting for it's new powertrain. The new motor is supposed to arrive today according to tracking.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

The "new" motor made it safely to it's home in Chardon. Today I started taking advantage of the no tax days in Ohio and bought a wiring harness of sorts, LS to C4 motor mounts, and a 1996 Corvette automatic transmission core. This will be sent to RPM Transmissions in Indiana for a Level V rebuild. These guys built the trans in my S10 and I've beat the balls out of it for over 20k miles, so I figure they're good. The trans core from a '96 is critical because it's a one year only, OBD2, C4 Corvette automatic.
More parts will be ordered this week as well. Just getting the major stuff going.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275986763540

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265899758116

https://www.ebay.com/itm/223229422407


-BP

[TireSmoker]

What kind of progress while Tiresmoke was offline?

[Basement Paul]

We pulled a bunch of parts we weren't going to use off the LS1 so I could get them promptly on ebay for sale. The AC, throttle body, egr tubes, flexplate, and motor mounts. We got the new swap engine mounts bolted up and did a quick attempt at setting the motor in the car. Unfortunately we have a couple obstacles, so next week we'll pull the wiper motor out (which I knew would be a problem) and try again.

In the meantime I ordered a bunch of tune up parts, thermostat, serpentine belt, oil change, and EGR block off plates. The trans should be arriving today for rebuild at RPM Transmission. I've talked to the torque converter company and know what it takes to adapt this LT trans to this LS motor and will order those parts over the next couple weeks from them (Circle D).

-BP

[Basement Paul]

This past Saturday we tore the L98 engine down to nothing but the rotating assembly. These parts will also end up on ebay for world to purchase at a reasonable price. I did list all the extra LS1 parts and already sold the throttle by wire throttle body. I also bought an old used cable operated t-body from the "Mad Scientist" collection. If you've ever seen any of Chris Hill's vehicles, you'll know why I call him that. He's the one with the mid-engine Silverado and Express Van to name a couple.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

The past few Saturday mornings have been spent trying to get this LS1 to sit on the engine mounts. It's been in and out no less than five times, and each time learning something new. At this point the exhaust manifolds are removed, the alternator came off, the power steering pump and bracket have been removed, and the rear wiring harness has been moved. We got to the point where I was able to get the bolt in the driver's side mount, but the passenger's one is about a 1/4" shy of going in the hole. After further inspection, the oil pan is now touching the frame. Some guys say it fits, some guys don't. Ours don't. So I've found a pan that is shorter up front than our pan by about 3/8". Hopefully this is enough, but I'm betting it is. My pan is just over 2" from the mounting surface to the bottom of the pan, and this one claims to be 1-5/8". I also like the baffling design inside the pan, which is basically identical to the Canton road racing pan.

Here's the pan:

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/LS-Swap- ... raEALw_wcB

The torque converter and adapting parts are ordered too, and should be arriving in the next couple weeks. Since there's dirt drags for the next couple weeks, there won't be a lot of progress on this thing.

Lots more to come.

-BP

[Basement Paul]

So as I'm doing more reading, a lot of people are just notching or modifying the crossmember where the pan hits, so before I blow a few hundred bucks on a pan and pickup that may not work, I'll look into modifying what I have...

-BP

[Basement Paul]

And this is just for my reference:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c4 ... u-use.html

-BP