LS1 V8 fd conversion progress thread

[Spartacus]

A piece of advise from experience carry a spare fuse and correct allen key just in case you do blow the main fuse! i had a set up in a previous car with the battery\'s in the boot and had a short and cut all the cars power,problem was i was over 100 miles from home and rac man was not very helpfull when he seen i had a modified car.:p

Spot on with the fuse, I have a couple of spares but some how I didn\'t think about the alllen key:Hammer :cheers

[Spartacus]

Well the engine is finally now in without too much trouble. There are a couple of issues with the clearance of the brake master cylinder and one of the coil packs which will need either a dent in the vacuum chamber or slightly moving the coil. Also the aircon pump connections are very close to the chassis rail but I think that an earlier type of pump had it\'s connections at the back of the pump rather than the side like my GTO type (Craig, able to confirm?) so I might be able to swap them.
Anyhow must go, lots to do while the sun is out.

 

[antnicuk]

oooh nice........ shoudl be running by next week.

[SmbFD3S]

Nice one, you picked a good day to work on it today
 
I\'m currently doing a lot of research on this myself and reading on the "Grannys" website (http://www.grannysspeedshop.com/) about the conversion process as i will be doing this eventually (hopefully), just wondering if there is a better "how-to" site from the UK you\'ve been referring to ?
 
Anyways, looking good there chap

[Spartacus]

Nice one, you picked a good day to work on it today
 
I\'m currently doing a lot of research on this myself and reading on the "Grannys" website (http://www.grannysspeedshop.com/) about the conversion process as i will be doing this eventually (hopefully), just wondering if there is a better "how-to" site from the UK you\'ve been referring to ?
 
Anyways, looking good there chap

Grannys is a good place to get an idea of what’s involved. The best site/forum I found is http://v8rx7forum.com/index.php. Here you can find a good few builds using different options etc although 99% is US based there isn\'t too much difference for RHD.

[Rixio]

That Dynamating is nice and neat! Should help keep road noise out! I did the same last year...but no-where near as neat :p

Are you gona do the boot aswell?

[Spartacus]

That Dynamating is nice and neat! Should help keep road noise out! I did the same last year...but no-where near as neat :p

Are you gona do the boot aswell?

I took my time as I couldnt do much else as I was waiting for parts. I have enough left over for the boot but I\'m not sure I like the look of it where you can see it if you know what I mean.

[shaunwil]

Do you have a link for the rear sub frame

Shaun

[Spartacus]

Sorry no, I got mine from a guy in Canada who made a small batch of them. I dont think he was planning to make any more but if you want i could dig up his details?

[shaunwil]

If you could that would be great, may want an uprated rear end

Shaun

[tinker-27]

hi spartacus i have a pump at work i will look at it to see where they come out (cant remember as i dont run air con),i dont think the rear subframes are being done as there were issues with some types,its coming along now looking good,how many hours so far ?

[Spartacus]

hi spartacus i have a pump at work i will look at it to see where they come out (cant remember as i dont run air con),i dont think the rear subframes are being done as there were issues with some types,its coming along now looking good,how many hours so far ?

Thanks Craig that would be great if you could. Touch wood the people who have my rear subframe haven’t reported any issues but I know what you mean, as there have been reports of problems with other designs.
As for how many hours it\'s very hard to tell the actual hands on time as most of it has been taken up waiting for parts etc, although I’ve tried to keep busy by doing other bits and pieces. If I was to do another one I would definitely project manage all the parts better so they are here when I need them and I would defiantly want to have at least a double garage as doing it with just a small single is a real pain.

[Spartacus]

If you could that would be great, may want an uprated rear end

Shaun

Shaun, PM sent.

[shaunwil]

cheers, reply sent :Giggle

Shaun

[Spartacus]

Time for an update on what’s been happening since the engine was put in. Firstly I’ve not been able to do things in the order id have liked to as our house is in the process of being sold and I may need to move the car without much notice. So my first priority was to get it into at least a rolling state, putting on the suspension, brakes and steering rack etc. I would have liked to get the engine running first to check for any problems etc but hey. Here it is with its nice shiny new brakes and coilovers



Now that it can be moved the next job was to put on the exhaust manifolds, which look lovely but are very close to everything! subframe, chassis, steering column, fuel line and clutch line. For piece of mind I think some heat sheilding may be a good idea here and there. I’ve also put on the exhaust Y pipe but left the rest of the exhaust for now.



The rad and fan has been fitted and some of you who are in the building game might just recognise my rad mounts….. yes they are joist hangers and do the job really well. Eventually the top of the rad will be fixed too.



The remote clutch master cylinder has been fitted and bled and seems to work ok but the proof of the pudding will be seeing what its like once the engines running. In this pic you can also see the bottom rad hose which took some finding. Apparently a Camaro hose is close but funny enough my local motor factors were all out. Then after the obvious “well what car is it for” and my reply its for a 94 Mazda RX7 with a Pontiac GTO engine and a Corvette rad, I got to delve through their shelves of hoses until I found one that works. The top hose uses one of the original Mazda hoses and one of the GTO hoses joined easy eh?



The power steering was next. The LS1 pump is over rated for the Mazda rack so an easy and effective mod is to cut a few coils off of the pressure relief spring.



You also need to join the high-pressure hose from the LS1 pump to the Mazda rack. I had both sets of ends Mazda and Pontiac so off they went to Pirtec in Harlow who joined them for me with a flexible hose.



 The low-pressure return side I’ve routed via one of the redundant oil coolers (not strictly necessary) on the driver’s side, which as luck would have it has simple push on connectors as my RX7 was originally an auto.



Just for a change and because it was raining I thought Id have a go at the gear lever surround. I’m using my original auto surround and using the GTO’s boot and lever.



Considering the GTO has a square surround and the Mazda  roundish it fits really well without any modification. The only thing I’ve had to make is the ring to hold it in place.



Now for the wiring. Most people in the US seem to layout their harness on a board and strip it, adding in what wires they need. But as Pontiac did a fine job of getting everything working I thought Id trust them and try and leave as much of it intact as I could.
My theory is that the engine ran with the harness plugged in as is leave it alone, this excepting any plugs that are now dangling. After a lot of research it seems the only other connections that are needed to get the engine running can be found on just 2 plugs from the original harness.

One of them ends up at the front of the car (near the fuse box:) ) and the other inside the passenger footwell with the ecu :Thumbs-up






The electrical side of things are still ongoing, fingers crossed:2Rolleyes