LS3 Swap (In Progress)

[Madhatter]

so much easier if you get a mafless tune done. Don't need to position the sensor in the intake and you'll notice no difference in running (other than more power).

[Reyhan335]

lord i was at that step too, tried to crank it to build pressure and valve destroyed the piston :/

[beggs]

More parts! Got the driveshaft, and paired it with the 1350 flange.

Tensioners almost done, just need a brace then we are good! Got a new belt that fits as well.

And since we got the tensioner problem fixed, the intake can be made! Just need to cut some and that'll be done pretty quickly.


It was filled with oil! So we cranked it.




We aren't finished wiring yet so that was just to build some oil pressure. Just a tease...

[beggs]

It's for a r32 skyline. I went with it because the water outlets are both on the passenger side. It does require making some brackets for the bottom but nothing too bad. I definitely ditched the abs pump with my booster delete. Great progress though. Looking forward to seeing it hit the road!


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Oh, I almost went with that radiator, pretty common for LS swaps.

Big update! Started wiring, it's not too difficult I find the hardest part to be making everything look pretty. I don't want this to be one of those very sloppy swaps with wiring everywhere.
Starting wiring. We went with a fuse box to organize things.

This is after around 6 hours of figuring things out, routing, soldering, then taping them all together. The fuse box will be going in the battery tray.

Another shot of the fuse box.

Close to being done with all of the wiring. Have just a few mire wires to route and solder. Going to the junkyard tomorrow to pick up various things for the clutch and accelerator pedal. And we are also getting a tensioner to build ourselves, probably easier that way rather than spend 150 on a aftermarket one. Ordering the driveshaft Monday.

Small problem, both balljoints were ripped and needed to be replaced. quick fix and was only 26 bucks.

[90e30ls]

Is that a Mishi radiator made for an E30? My Z3M radiator has the hose in the way so I can't route the intake that way. And plus the ABS pump, I don't really want to get rid of it. But thanks for the pics! I'll probably have to go with MTI's tensioner because it has more travel.

It's for a r32 skyline. I went with it because the water outlets are both on the passenger side. It does require making some brackets for the bottom but nothing too bad. I definitely ditched the abs pump with my booster delete. Great progress though. Looking forward to seeing it hit the road!


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[beggs]

Small update. We got all the materials to build the exhaust and the intake. With the exhaust we just need someone to come out and TIG it all together, but for the intake we've had to make a lot of room. We pulled the rad as close to the front as possible, shaved down the throttle body motor a bit, bent parts of the radiator, and we have to get a new tensioner. Possibly the MTI racing one.


Wiring has also been started. Just prepping until we get a fuse box that has been ordered. Shouldn't be too difficult. The hardest part seems to be making it look pretty.

Hopefully we can get a guy to weld the exhaust this week, finish wiring, get the custom driveshaft, then tune. Not to far away from being back on the road! The final steps are very exciting.

[beggs]

I'm going with the katech tensioner. Not sure if it will give you clearance but I'm running my intake to the drivers side. I'm also doing a remote power steering reservoir on the drivers side.


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Is that a Mishi radiator made for an E30? My Z3M radiator has the hose in the way so I can't route the intake that way. And plus the ABS pump, I don't really want to get rid of it. But thanks for the pics! I'll probably have to go with MTI's tensioner because it has more travel.

[90e30ls]

I'm going with the katech tensioner. Not sure if it will give you clearance but I'm running my intake to the drivers side. I'm also doing a remote power steering reservoir on the drivers side.


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[beggs]

Got the radiator mounted with the slim fans, they have a tiny bit of clearance left. Here are some pics to show you how tight it is.



Also the bypass valve is all hooked up in the OEM location, very tight squeeze but it's on. Also, the coolant reservoir bottle surprisingly fits with the OEM mounting points.

How are you guys mounting the washer fluid bottle? I was thinking of getting a small custom aluminum box made to fit in the front battery tray. And for the LS1 guys is the tensioner pulley right in the way for the intake? I might need to get a low profile pulley just so I can have a 4" pipe all the way.

[beggs]

hell yeah man!!! keep it up!

looks good!

Thanks! I appreciate it.

With all the ls swap builds going on, we need to arrange a meet somewhere when we all finish up. :)

Definitely! How about airstrip attack? Once I get proper tires I'll definitely be doing that!

Not a big update, Just sorting out a few things. The shifter base was hitting the top of the tranny tunnel, so it was cut and repaired to fit. It's put on with only sheet metal screws for easily removal.
I'll have to snap a pic of the finished product.

So it turns out the big fan from Mishimoto is too thick to fit with the condenser so that's being removed until a later date. Once I decide I need A/C I'll have to figure out a solution for that.

Here is the clutch bleeder line. It's a bit longer than anticipated but it'll make bleeding the clutch much easier.

Last but not least some oil lines were tucked to the side neatly so I don't destroy them on the ground. Only a few things left to do.

[sgtskid]

With all the ls swap builds going on, we need to arrange a meet somewhere when we all finish up. :)

[90e30ls]

looks good!

[Reyhan335]

hell yeah man!!! keep it up!

[kalib0y]

great progress!

[beggs]

FINALLY! The project was put on halt waiting for a complete poly suspension kit and a clutch line. Both of them came in and then we could finally put the diff and engine back in the car.. I hope to God the engine doesn't have to come out again.
Sorry for the bad pictures in advance, it was late.
Poly Bushings from Garagistic in the diff and the diff is back in! If we can find a large case diff in a junkyard nearby we might be upgrading. The stock diff is a ticking time bomb with this TQ.


After a few hours the motor was put back in. Nothing broke thankfully.

How the shifter lines up. Not bad the shifter hole did need a little bit of cutting in the rear but nothing bad.

Radiator back in. Need to modify that hose a bit.

Here is the car finally sitting on the ground again. It's been too long since this has happened. I think it sits noticeably lower. Maybe half an inch or more. Ill have to take a better pic in the light and compare. Only a few things left to do.