LS2 swap under way - Corvette Forum : DigitalCorvettes.com Corvette Forums

riggs 74 · 10-21-2011, 06:38 PM

Well I pushed back some of the things I should be doing in order to make some progress on the LS swap. I pulled the old motor out about two weeks ago and for the past week in my spare time I cleaned up the engine bay and sprayed in some lizard skin on the fire wall, trans tunnel, and floor boards to give everything a fresh look and to knock down the last of the cabin heat issues.

Well tonight I installed a new battery cable and a section of reflective insulation in the trans tunnel as one last item to guard against heat.

I decided that tonight I was going to drop in the motor and trans, and while it was tight fitting it in on an angle to clear the rack and pinion system and to get the motor mounts set it when in with out any problems. The truck balancer clears the front cross member by more than a inch and I still have plenty of room in between the motor and fire wall. The motor fell into place and the motor mounts bolts slipped right into place.

Here are some photo's to get this thread started.

Early stages of the LS setup,

motor ready to drop in,

ready for the motor to be dropped in,

Clearances looking a little tight all the way around,

but with a little time and Patience,

The balancer looks close, but really there is more than an inch in front of and under it as well.

I'll keep the post up dated as I move forward with the install.

Riggs.

80vettel82 · 10-21-2011, 07:33 PM

Effin' right!

haha

Looks awesome so far Riggs, nice job!

Just motor looked gorgeous just sitting there waiting to be dropped in... but now it looks even better sitting in the car

Oh, and keep the pics (and videos once running) coming!!!

riggs 74 · 10-21-2011, 09:21 PM

Went a little further tonight with the project. I installed the accessory bracket to see how well it fit into the car with the accessories, Well the power steering fit greet, but I had to modify the spreader bar mount in order to still use the spreader bar.
here are some photo's of my progress.

Here is what the bracket looked like before I modified it, the photo is from when I built the brackets originally.

The cuts made,

back on the car to check the clearances,

And a shot of how the accessories look.

Riggs

brent319 · 10-22-2011, 06:19 AM

Damn that looks sweet! I am glad you got time to work on it.

riggs 74 · 10-22-2011, 08:13 AM

Thanks Brent, I am forcing myself to make time right now while I'm getting backed up on the responsibilities. I will be working on it to day for most of the day, but after today, I will have to return it as my side project and work on it as I have time.

D_B · 10-22-2011, 08:15 AM

Riggs I love that engine. If I had not built the 405 for my '77 my other plan was a 6.2L LS engine as well. I really appreciate how you retro-built it with the orange paint. You really dressed it up nice.

raidmagic · 10-22-2011, 01:28 PM

Very nice!! You are going to love that thing. Is there a thread or post with more info on the motor?

brent319 · 10-22-2011, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raidmagic

Very nice!! You are going to love that thing. Is there a thread or post with more info on the motor?

http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/foru...d.php?t=151427

riggs 74 · 10-22-2011, 09:20 PM

Well I made more progress tonight. I modified the cross member, droped the fuel tank, ripped out the old fuel lines and believe it or not ran a new line in the same location as the old with most if not all the same bends as the original.

Here are some shots from today,

Modifying the cross member,

The new mount location is 1.5 inches lower than the stock location

Here are some shots of the new fuel line, in another post it was said that you couldn't run a new solid fuel line with out moving the body off the frame. I love a good challenge. I need to replace the old straps with new one's, the old are only temporary

And just a shot of the under side, still lots of work ahead of me.

Riggs

7TRoadster · 10-22-2011, 11:15 PM

Looks like you adjusted some priorities!

Last I heard you were strapped for time to work on this bad boy. Glad to see you are going for it, this will make the '74 light 'em up.

I like the photos of the power plant, are those the 1-3/4" Melrose headers? I am working on adapting the smaller Envoy PS pulley to the Corvette pump, if you have a need let me know. The big Corvette pulley may have some clearance concerns.

Looking good.........keep up posted.

riggs 74 · 10-23-2011, 08:06 AM

7TRoadster, Those pulley and accessories are all from a 2008 TrailBlazer, The clearance on the 6'' power steering pulley is good, I just had to modify the spreader bar bracket a little.

Riggs

7TRoadster · 10-23-2011, 08:19 PM

Yea, I noticed the smaller pulley after I made the post. I saw the alternator bracket and thought you were using the Kwik Perf. setup. My bad.

Marks76ray · 10-23-2011, 09:41 PM

Nice Job Riggs

I wish I could have moded my cross member that way. My transmission pan hit the cross member so I ended up having to relocate the center section. If the trans hits the tunnel I'll have some more work to do.

Keep up the good work

Mark

tektrans · 10-25-2011, 09:41 AM

everything looks great!

Very nice job so far.

riggs 74 · 10-25-2011, 01:36 PM

Thanks tektrans, I had a good three days to work on it last week and got quite a bit done, how ever it's back to my priorities and work on the car will be slow at this point. the LS swap is now a distraction, I would much rather work on it instead of everything else that seems to keep me busy. I still hope to work on it a little at a time when I can.

Riggs