LS1 swap 318IS

[!RocknE30!]

L92 is definitely best bang for the buck, if you can find one. Join AZLSX on facebook, theres always 1-2/week listed on their by the local LS dismantlers, grab one with a lifter failure since you want to do cam anyways and you can snag one for $1500 or so. AZLSX is my go to group for engines, both my swap engines have come from there and I've picked up 5+ others off there for locals swaps.

You will be hard pressed to find a *good* aluminum block in the yard. 99% chance you'll never see a 6.2 in the forseable future as even the salvage yards pull those before they hit the u pull its. I've found a few 5.3s but most are stripped quick. Really though I tell everyone to grab the first good AND as complete as possible engine as they can find in their budget. The 80lbs of iron block on the front end isn't going to be huge and an LM7 complete can be had for $3-400. I got lucky with my LS1, otherwise I wouldve grabbed an iron 5.3 or 6.0 like my montero has. I feel less bad shelling a $300 5.3 over a $1500 6.0 and these are easy enough to acquire/swap that if you do kill one it's not a big deal to fix, or upgrade down the road.

Sweet, I will join that group! That's a good tip on finding a discounted L92 too. I've never researched these engines in depth, so I've been on an internet crash course lately. I looked into M/S5x swaps many years back but never strayed outside of BMW options. I figured it was a pipe dream to find anything aluminum in decent condition in the yard unless you are there the day it shows up haha. The 6.2's are so easy to pick out being in a Denali/Escalade it makes sense they would yank those instantly with how much they go for online.

I found a channel yesterday that goes out to junkyards to find engines to flip or potentially use in projects and they mentioned the same thing about ls swaps. Just get a cheap iron block that runs and use it as a working mockup engine to get the swap done and then you can wait for the engine you really want to pop up that will drop right in. And you have a drivable car in the meantime. I like that idea a lot as well because I would be a lot more willing to at least source an engine and get it cleaned up on the side if I'm only a couple hundred deep into it vs a couple grand for a larger displacement aluminum block.

And that leads me into another question, how did you handle the wiring harness (and ecu) setup since the stock one was melted? I don't recall seeing that ITT. That's one area where my brain just flatlines thinking about figuring it all out. Doesn't appear to be overly complicated, it just looks like a disaster anytime I see one yanked out. That's definitely one of the more intimidating area of the swap for me. I know sikky has a harness ($$$), there's the diy painless harness or you can use the factory harness and pull what isn't needed. I assume if I go LM7 -> L92 I'd be SOL on reusing a harness since the LM7 is gen III and the L92 is gen IV? Trying to find some build threads that go more in depth on the various harness setups but there's a lot to sift through.

[tyeler18]

Awesome, thanks for the extra info! I figured really any of the aluminum block engines would be more than enough regardless of displacement. I guess it will come down to what pops up on the market when I am serious about doing the swap and starting to get pieces put together. My dad had an 01 Silverado with the 5.3 and I think just an exhaust and that thing was pretty damn fun to drive for a truck, it could move. I remember whenever I got to drive it on my own I would just stand on it any chance I got haha. That's awesome to hear about how it handles, glad it doesn't turn into a complete pain in the ass to keep it on the track. As long as you're not driving like 17yo me in my dad's truck.

It seems like the L92 is the best bang for the buck based off the ebay market for the various engines. And now I am curious if the chip shortage and lack of new cars/inflated used car market has bumped prices up on used engines as well. Swap out the manifold (doesn't sound like the truck variation would come close to clearing the hood), delete the vvt and throw a mild cam in it and that's that.

Since you've got at least two LS swaps I know of, do you normally just keep an eye on CL/FB marketplace/OfferUp? Any other places you check? I don't think I've ever been to any of the local junkyards, but I would have to imagine any aluminum blocked LS variation that isn't hand grenaded is getting snatched up quickly, especially the 6.2's.

When I've got more free time I'll definitely take you up on that offer! Much appreciated.

L92 is definitely best bang for the buck, if you can find one. Join AZLSX on facebook, theres always 1-2/week listed on their by the local LS dismantlers, grab one with a lifter failure since you want to do cam anyways and you can snag one for $1500 or so. AZLSX is my go to group for engines, both my swap engines have come from there and I've picked up 5+ others off there for locals swaps.

You will be hard pressed to find a *good* aluminum block in the yard. 99% chance you'll never see a 6.2 in the forseable future as even the salvage yards pull those before they hit the u pull its. I've found a few 5.3s but most are stripped quick. Really though I tell everyone to grab the first good AND as complete as possible engine as they can find in their budget. The 80lbs of iron block on the front end isn't going to be huge and an LM7 complete can be had for $3-400. I got lucky with my LS1, otherwise I wouldve grabbed an iron 5.3 or 6.0 like my montero has. I feel less bad shelling a $300 5.3 over a $1500 6.0 and these are easy enough to acquire/swap that if you do kill one it's not a big deal to fix, or upgrade down the road.

[!RocknE30!]

I have zero regrets with the LS1, but really a 5.3 with cam and bolt ons would be plenty of power with my current setup. That being said, if the LS1 ever dies I'll be sticking a 6.2 in it. The car is very predictable but on the mussleman track it still has way more than enough power to get away from you if you're not ready. I've let a few people drive it, my girlfriend and one of my buddies both did a few laps at the last track day and both like how responsive the car is and were well aware of throttle requirements on corner exit. I still have yet to bomb off the track in this car, whereas my wide tire C5 I send off the track with slower lap times every single event. I really dont think you can go wrong with the swap in any way, it's the perfect all around setup.

If you ever want to check the car out let me know! I do bring it up in the area every so often, I'd gladly take you for a spin

Awesome, thanks for the extra info! I figured really any of the aluminum block engines would be more than enough regardless of displacement. I guess it will come down to what pops up on the market when I am serious about doing the swap and starting to get pieces put together. My dad had an 01 Silverado with the 5.3 and I think just an exhaust and that thing was pretty damn fun to drive for a truck, it could move. I remember whenever I got to drive it on my own I would just stand on it any chance I got haha. That's awesome to hear about how it handles, glad it doesn't turn into a complete pain in the ass to keep it on the track. As long as you're not driving like 17yo me in my dad's truck.

It seems like the L92 is the best bang for the buck based off the ebay market for the various engines. And now I am curious if the chip shortage and lack of new cars/inflated used car market has bumped prices up on used engines as well. Swap out the manifold (doesn't sound like the truck variation would come close to clearing the hood), delete the vvt and throw a mild cam in it and that's that.

Since you've got at least two LS swaps I know of, do you normally just keep an eye on CL/FB marketplace/OfferUp? Any other places you check? I don't think I've ever been to any of the local junkyards, but I would have to imagine any aluminum blocked LS variation that isn't hand grenaded is getting snatched up quickly, especially the 6.2's.

When I've got more free time I'll definitely take you up on that offer! Much appreciated.

[tyeler18]

Nice pics! Those canvas prints turn out awesome, gf and I have a few of them with pics from camping trips and cool shots of our dogs (I do photo as a side hobby) that look great. I will probably have to do the same and get some nice pics of my vehicles printed. So I've been mulling around the idea of throwing some money aside over the next year or two and doing a LS swap in my 318is once my gf finishes up med school and I have more disposable income for fun/projects. And it just so happens you have the same starting vehicle as me and the engine I'm split 50/50 on going with while mulling it over in my head.

If you did the swap again and the engine cost wasn't an issue (dont know if that factored in for you at all) would you still do the LS1? My initial thoughts were the LS1 is super prevalent and cheaper, plus, do I really need the extra horsepower from a 6.0/6.2? Then I ended up down the youtube rabbit hole and have seen a few LS3 swapped E30s and I'm having second thoughts, because they look like a total blast...at least in a straight line. Granted, I am sure I would end up doing full bolt-ons with a LS1 and at that point you likely aren't that far off from a LS3 with your basic intake/exhaust for the swap.

The LS1 swap would still easily out power to weight ratio anything else I've driven, I'm just trying to determine if I'd regret not going with more displacement. I drove my parents E36 M3 and subsequent 07 335i a bunch in HS/college and had a '13 WRX for 7ish years after graduating college, so it'd be my first vehicle with a V8. So the appeal of going big just for the fun factor of having a car with borderline too much power is definitely there, but I also dont want a car that is too much of a handful to comfortably take on the track. Granted, you've mentioned yours is really predictable with the suspension upgrades.

To sum it up:

1) What are your thoughts on LS1 vs LS2/3 if you did the swap again
2) How big of a hindrance do you think the extra power from a minimally modified LS3 vs your LS1 would be on the track?

Appreciate it! If I end up serious about the swap or even if I bail on the idea, I'd love to check your car out in the future if you're cool with it. I'm in north glendale. Need to get my 318is running again before that so I wouldnt have the shame of rolling up in the 07 prius that I'm currently DD'ing (although I thoroughly enjoy only filling it up once a month).

I have zero regrets with the LS1, but really a 5.3 with cam and bolt ons would be plenty of power with my current setup. That being said, if the LS1 ever dies I'll be sticking a 6.2 in it. The car is very predictable but on the mussleman track it still has way more than enough power to get away from you if you're not ready. I've let a few people drive it, my girlfriend and one of my buddies both did a few laps at the last track day and both like how responsive the car is and were well aware of throttle requirements on corner exit. I still have yet to bomb off the track in this car, whereas my wide tire C5 I send off the track with slower lap times every single event. I really dont think you can go wrong with the swap in any way, it's the perfect all around setup.

If you ever want to check the car out let me know! I do bring it up in the area every so often, I'd gladly take you for a spin

[!RocknE30!]

Nice pics! Those canvas prints turn out awesome, gf and I have a few of them with pics from camping trips and cool shots of our dogs (I do photo as a side hobby) that look great. I will probably have to do the same and get some nice pics of my vehicles printed. So I've been mulling around the idea of throwing some money aside over the next year or two and doing a LS swap in my 318is once my gf finishes up med school and I have more disposable income for fun/projects. And it just so happens you have the same starting vehicle as me and the engine I'm split 50/50 on going with while mulling it over in my head.

If you did the swap again and the engine cost wasn't an issue (dont know if that factored in for you at all) would you still do the LS1? My initial thoughts were the LS1 is super prevalent and cheaper, plus, do I really need the extra horsepower from a 6.0/6.2? Then I ended up down the youtube rabbit hole and have seen a few LS3 swapped E30s and I'm having second thoughts, because they look like a total blast...at least in a straight line. Granted, I am sure I would end up doing full bolt-ons with a LS1 and at that point you likely aren't that far off from a LS3 with your basic intake/exhaust for the swap.

The LS1 swap would still easily out power to weight ratio anything else I've driven, I'm just trying to determine if I'd regret not going with more displacement. I drove my parents E36 M3 and subsequent 07 335i a bunch in HS/college and had a '13 WRX for 7ish years after graduating college, so it'd be my first vehicle with a V8. So the appeal of going big just for the fun factor of having a car with borderline too much power is definitely there, but I also dont want a car that is too much of a handful to comfortably take on the track. Granted, you've mentioned yours is really predictable with the suspension upgrades.

To sum it up:

1) What are your thoughts on LS1 vs LS2/3 if you did the swap again
2) How big of a hindrance do you think the extra power from a minimally modified LS3 vs your LS1 would be on the track?

Appreciate it! If I end up serious about the swap or even if I bail on the idea, I'd love to check your car out in the future if you're cool with it. I'm in north glendale. Need to get my 318is running again before that so I wouldnt have the shame of rolling up in the 07 prius that I'm currently DD'ing (although I thoroughly enjoy only filling it up once a month).

[tyeler18]

Another track day in the books. Uploading videos still but my phone mount for track addicts didn't want to stay put so the videos I do have are pretty poor. The good news is I picked up a second on my lap time with the coilovers, brakes, front sway bar and on a slower tire. I've run 65's on stock brakes and suspension and went 64.6 this time out. I had a 62.XX predicative lap on track addicts and put the car into a hard drift coming into turn 3 (don't watch your lap timer in the braking zone ) which killed my lap time, but the car is working wonderfully. I let a couple people drive it and one of my buddies that's a much better driver knocked down a 64.7 and kept commenting how predictable the car was. I'm very confident a good driver can get it down to a 61 if not 60 with some seat time. The car has the potential, I just like the loud pedal too much and still don't have 100% faith in the hydroboost braking system despite it taking everything I can give it so far. One of the only pictures I have of the event with my buddies ST165

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

I had some friends in town a few months back and the one does automotive photography, she's shot a few of my cars and I actually have a wall of canvas car photos in my house from photos shes done of mine. I was waiting for her to finish editing the rest to post these but it'll be a while before she's done. I cant wait to add another one to the wall when these are finished editing.

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

[!RocknE30!]

So long as you can adhere to the 94dB sound limit AMP up by you would be your best bet for racing close. NASA AZ and Pro Auto both race at AMP and WHP as well so you can get in with them for about $160/event until they close WHP like it appears will likely happen in the next few years. Definitely a few tracks semi close. Even chuckwalla isn't TOO horrible of a drive for a big track too. I look forward to seeing your car out there! I've got a few we run so I'll keep an eye out.

Appreciate the info! I am looking into NASA and Pro Auto clubs, I think I went out with BMWCCA back in the day. I'll likely be running the stock M42 with no exhaust mods minus a new muffler, so it should definitely be under the dB limit unless my exhaust decides to fall off during the test haha. There's definitely more tracks than I thought there was, so that's pretty rad. I'll let you know when I am able to get out! Looks for the silver e30 waving everyone by on the straights and there's a good chance it'll be me haha.

[tyeler18]

Awesome, thanks! The tucson track was my guess from a quick search on google maps but I wasn't 100% sure. That Attesa motorsports park looks really promising! That's awesome you're so close, I'm up in north glendale so it will be a bit of a drive but it beats driving to Tucson. Sucks that PIR got rid of their road course to squeeze every dime they can out of Nascar events, I went there a few times back in the day when I was in HS and had only owned the e30 for a few years and had a blast. I will have to get it back on the track once it's up and running!

So long as you can adhere to the 94dB sound limit AMP up by you would be your best bet for racing close. NASA AZ and Pro Auto both race at AMP and WHP as well so you can get in with them for about $160/event until they close WHP like it appears will likely happen in the next few years. Definitely a few tracks semi close. Even chuckwalla isn't TOO horrible of a drive for a big track too. I look forward to seeing your car out there! I've got a few we run so I'll keep an eye out.

[!RocknE30!]

That's mussleman honda circuit in tucson. They just expanded the track so it's going to change quite a bit from where it is and be much more favorable to some of the bigger power cars like mine where it was a bit more challenging to drive something like this out there. Attessa motorsports park just broke ground about 10 minutes from my house in casa grande though and that'll be a 2.25 mile multiconfiguration track to start. Theyre supposed to be open by end of year and then have a 3 track expansion once they're open.

Awesome, thanks! The tucson track was my guess from a quick search on google maps but I wasn't 100% sure. That Attesa motorsports park looks really promising! That's awesome you're so close, I'm up in north glendale so it will be a bit of a drive but it beats driving to Tucson. Sucks that PIR got rid of their road course to squeeze every dime they can out of Nascar events, I went there a few times back in the day when I was in HS and had only owned the e30 for a few years and had a blast. I will have to get it back on the track once it's up and running!

[tyeler18]

Awesome build! I'm in AZ with a 318is as well. Dumb question but what road course are you going out to? I've been out of the game for a while and haven't paid attention to what has popped up and I don't recognize it - looks like a fun track!

That's mussleman honda circuit in tucson. They just expanded the track so it's going to change quite a bit from where it is and be much more favorable to some of the bigger power cars like mine where it was a bit more challenging to drive something like this out there. Attessa motorsports park just broke ground about 10 minutes from my house in casa grande though and that'll be a 2.25 mile multiconfiguration track to start. Theyre supposed to be open by end of year and then have a 3 track expansion once they're open.

[!RocknE30!]

Awesome build! I'm in AZ with a 318is as well. Dumb question but what road course are you going out to? I've been out of the game for a while and haven't paid attention to what has popped up and I don't recognize it - looks like a fun track!

[tyeler18]

Always fun to get the car to the point that you're just doing those small touches. One I will suggest is the lower trim thats faded away. Get some SEM Trim paint and mask the OEM line and spray it all black again. I never prep mine and it always comes out good haha Do the sides and the rear valence and the car will be ready for some fancy pics *wink wink, hint hint*

Only reason I haven't bothered to touch anything up on it is the future plan for paint/either Mtech2 kit or just some IS skirts and rear diffuser. I have half of my VR4 galant in paint right now and this thing should be next in line to make it look nice.

[2mAn]

Always fun to get the car to the point that you're just doing those small touches. One I will suggest is the lower trim thats faded away. Get some SEM Trim paint and mask the OEM line and spray it all black again. I never prep mine and it always comes out good haha Do the sides and the rear valence and the car will be ready for some fancy pics *wink wink, hint hint*

[tyeler18]

Yesterday was exactly one year since my first drive on the swap (and an e30 in general) so I think that meant it was time for more upgrades. Ordered one of the cheap IS lips since I full expect it to get beat up and mines been MIA since I've owned the car. It took some grinding at the clips to get it to snap into place but overall not a huge deal and it fits good enough for $60 to be fine with it. Much better than without for sure.

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

My shift knob in the car was some cheap-o screw on piece of junk that came with the donor car. When the knob gets hot the threads expand enough to just spin loosely on the threads which makes it kind of difficult to shift when the ball is spinning in your hand. I have an MGW gripper knob in my C5 and it's by far the best feel shift knob I've ever used, so I ordered a custom gripper for this too. 7.5oz weight and man did this make so much difference in shifter feel. Wish I had done this a year ago.

Untitled by Tyeler Andersen, on Flickr

[tyeler18]

Oh cool, I've been considering this with the Garagistic sale. This review may put me over the edge...

For the price it's hard to beat. They gave us free shipping by ordering 2 which made it even better. Had it installed in about 20 minutes, didn't even pull a wheel off to do it either.

I really like that Teflon tape idea

Found that on the corvette forums after tearing up all my bushings from dirt imbedding into the grease. It's been 2 years since I installed my bars on my C5 and the teflon is still on there, it works really well!