Been searching around, I see a bunch of different mounting kits for the LS1 in the FD... Of all the kits I have seen, the Hinson kit keeps bringing me back to look at it...

The kit includes the following...

Mounting Equipment

* Subframe
* Bumpsteer Kit
* Transmission Brace
* Torque Arm
* Steel Driveshaft

Cooling System

* Radiator
* Twin Fan
* Hoses/Clamps
* Upper Shroud
* Steam Tube
* Vibration Dampeners

Fuel System

* Walbro 255 Fuel Pump
* Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator
* Fuel Filter
* Preassembled Stainless Steel Braided Fuel Lines
* AN Fittings & Adapters
* Fuel Rail Connector
* Fuel Pressure Gauge

Clutch Hydraulics

* Wilwood 7/8" Modified Master Cylinder
* Stainless Steel Braided Modified Clutch Line
* Firewall Adapter
* Banjo Fitting & Bolt

Electronics

* Modify your Harness
* Modify your PCM
* Speedometer Correction
* Battery Relocation Kit

The base price for what is listed above is $3892...

They give you add on options that for me, bring it up to around $6000 plus shipping...

In addition to the base kit, I would add the following options...

* Engine Mounts
* Mid Length 1 3/4 Headers
* 3 1/2" Cold air intake
* Optima Redtop Battery
* Power Steering Kit
* Trans tunnel cover
* Pro 5.0 Shifter

my question is, do you think it's worth the $6000? Is there a better way to do this without hand fabricating a ton of custom stuff? I'd like it to be as drop in as possible. Obviously the exhaust will be custom, and a few other things, But I am trying to minimize fabrication.

Opinions are welcome!

Thanks!

Phil

 

I've been pondering this for the entire time I've been here in Japan. The cost of Rotary Modifications for reliability and tuning (stateside and here) makes this seem that much more of an acceptable cost. I have seen many custom mounting setups in my google searches, but as far as a *drop in, bolt up* setup, I agree this is hard to beat. Hopefully someone with this kit installed or perhaps another manufacturers will chime in. If you do go this route, and plan to do the work yourself, please take tons of pics (bribe a friend who always watches and never helps to be your cameraman) and create a walkthrough. If I go this route next year, I'll be doing just that. Best of luck!

 

google v8 swap and go to a no rotors site. A couple different kits out there now that rival hinson.

 

I'm in a similar boat. I have sourced a nice semi-local shell, but I am still too green to fully jump in. Need to keep reading. I'll have to check out norotors, thanks for the heads up.

 

yeah,theres plenty of options these days for swaps,anything you can fabricate yourself you should,hinsons stuff alot of it is overpriced,their 2 hrs from me and im going with diff setup for my fc cause i prefer a newer kit that just came out recently,blows my mind that people are spending over $1000 just on custom radiator setups when you can just use a oem setup like i am for less than a third of that,so do alot of research and compare and even mix and match componenents from diff. vendors

 

Unfortunately I do not have proper tools to be fabricating major things such as radiator shrouds, engine mounts etc. And for the money you would spend having someone else fabricate a part that might not work right, you can usually buy something tested and proven.

That's why I am kinda looking into kits and parts etc.

 

I'm all for the guy who can build his own setups and I applaud the time and ingenuity to make your own setup at a fraction of the cost of what people are selling theirs for.

For me, the cost outweighs the time and trouble (and incompetence I have) to do it myself in the quality someone else does it.