The Official LS Swap Info/Questions Thread
I went with Chase Bays, which I highly recommend.. They will get you everything you need in-terms as wiring goes. Then just change out your tech gauage and you are good to go.. All other gauges will work fine.
I believe Chase Bays is in the process of getting a company to make custom a/c lines for the swap. Chase Bays also has been working on getting the factory nissan tach to work with the GM ecu.
Check with Logan at Chase Bays (brew_haha). He said a 240sx pedal was a direct replacement when he went throttle cable. Unsure if it was s13 or s14 though. I have searched on ebay for 240sx pedals and they all look different
Sparkle this will not allow the stock tach to work. There are four solutions:
1. Use speedhut tach.
2. Use Racepack dash.
3. Disassemble the stock tach and find the circuitry used to run the "stepper" motor and wire the tach signal there. (This one has only been done on Cass's car). I may have left out some details, but this is the gist of it.
Sparkle this will not allow the stock tach to work. There are four solutions:
1. Use speedhut tach.
2. Use Racepack dash.
3. Disassemble the stock tach and find the circuitry used to run the "stepper" motor and wire the tach signal there. (This one has only been done on Cass's car). I may have left out some details, but this is the gist of it.
1. Use speedhut tach.
2. Use Racepack dash.
3. Disassemble the stock tach and find the circuitry used to run the "stepper" motor and wire the tach signal there. (This one has only been done on Cass's car). I may have left out some details, but this is the gist of it.
We have done one but the tach is still glitchy and for the price of including the stock ECU to retain a stock gauge cluster you could have a nice aftermarket one. I know some people might not like this but we might have a future option available for the stock cluster.
So, I have very serious about doing an ls swap, but I can't pull the trigger on which motor, I have been trying to read up on the dIfferent motors and this is what I have come up with, PLEASE critique me,
LS1, cheapest of the 3 I will talk about, makes pretty good power
LS2, seems to make strong power and torque, not that much more expensive than LS1, but alittle more involved swap
LS6, seems like you can swap heads, Pcv and intake manifold and make a ls1 into an ls6
I am not swapping this into a 350z, this will be going in a 3rd gen rx7, tighter fit and kinda restrictive in some places ie, can't run a fast intake
LS1, cheapest of the 3 I will talk about, makes pretty good power
LS2, seems to make strong power and torque, not that much more expensive than LS1, but alittle more involved swap
LS6, seems like you can swap heads, Pcv and intake manifold and make a ls1 into an ls6
I am not swapping this into a 350z, this will be going in a 3rd gen rx7, tighter fit and kinda restrictive in some places ie, can't run a fast intake
if your looking for price vs/ hp capability, lq motors are the way to go. those are indestructible.
the main difference between the ls1/ls2 heads is the cathedral ports on the heads, knock sensor location, and as you stated, pcv design.
the main difference between the ls1/ls2 heads is the cathedral ports on the heads, knock sensor location, and as you stated, pcv design.
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 4,293
Likes: 2
From: Spartanburg(SparkleCity), SC
I'm looking at the prices for the LQ4 or LQ9 motors and they are so much less than the LS1 or LS2. It looks like the weight difference is about 75-85 pounds, so I'm thinking that the several thousand dollars that I could save on using the heavier block could be invested in power adders to more than make up for the added weight.
I know this isn't pure science, but per this online estimator/calculator http://www.wallaceracing.com/et-hp-mph.php it looks like:
A 3000lb car @ 400hp should be around 11.4 ET and 117.5mph.
For a 3100lb car to have an 11.4ET, it's estimated that it will need 415 hp.
So I would just need an extra 15hp to get the same ET if the car was 100 pounds heavier. I realize that there are questions of handling with that extra weight being in the front of the vehicle, but I'm thinking that I can relocate the battery and do some other things with the money saved and still come out ahead.
It also sounds like I can swap the heads to aluminum, and then it wouldn't be the whole 75-85 pounds heavier.
Opinions?
I know this isn't pure science, but per this online estimator/calculator http://www.wallaceracing.com/et-hp-mph.php it looks like:
A 3000lb car @ 400hp should be around 11.4 ET and 117.5mph.
For a 3100lb car to have an 11.4ET, it's estimated that it will need 415 hp.
So I would just need an extra 15hp to get the same ET if the car was 100 pounds heavier. I realize that there are questions of handling with that extra weight being in the front of the vehicle, but I'm thinking that I can relocate the battery and do some other things with the money saved and still come out ahead.
It also sounds like I can swap the heads to aluminum, and then it wouldn't be the whole 75-85 pounds heavier.
Opinions?
Last edited by SparkleCityHop; Mar 23, 2012 at 01:49 PM.
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 4,293
Likes: 2
From: Spartanburg(SparkleCity), SC
Ah, I saw something on LS1Tech about a guy swapping to the aluminum L92 heads, and he was talking about the weigh savings, so I made a bad assumption there. Huge difference in price considering what I've been able to find so far. And I'm throwing my current NANO nitrous with progressive controller on top of it, so I just don't know that the aluminum block is worth the extra $$$ for me based on the facts/numbers that I'm looking at. But I'm wanting one of the guys in here with the swap experience to either confirm that I'm not crazy or to lead me down the path to why I should do the LS instead.
Remember, I'm a broke country boy shade tree mechanic, so speak slow and with a drawl so that I can understand.
Remember, I'm a broke country boy shade tree mechanic, so speak slow and with a drawl so that I can understand.
^lmao, also mind that when people add twin turbos etc to the vq they are adding alot of weight up front, something that often i feel gets neglected when brought up. the ls isnt much heavier than the vq, and the lq isnt much heavier than the ls, but with the proper relocation and placement of parts, i feel it can maintain close to the factory 53/47 distibution




