Pondering the LS1 Swap
 

I just blew my motor (again). The motor was a Mandaville built street port, ballanced, blue printed, w/2mm ceramic seals. I have a GT3540R turbo and have been running 1 bar or so for the past 4000 miles. I was actually running 10.0:1 AFR when it went and very concervative timing. I am guessing that the apex seal sucked from the factory and just decided to break. The car never pinged and the knock reading on my PFC was always VERY low. Anyway. I am going to rebuild it (again) with RA seals. I like the fact that they flex and dropping 1500 on ceramic seals is lame if they are just going to break in 3 months.

I am not sure if I want to put the motor back in my car when I am done or sell it. I was running 420-430rwhp with the old setup and it was fast as hell. The fact that the motor lasted under 4000 miles sucks ass!! :mad:

What is the actual cost (DIY labor) of doing a LS1 swap and building the LS1 to 450rwhp or more? I have been looking at LS1s w/T56s on eBAY for $4000.00 or so and it looks like there is $3000 to spend with HSC to get mounts, alumn drive shaft, wiring harness, headers, etc. I like my A/C and intent to keep it.

I wouldnt really get a motor from eBAY but what is the real going rate for a good year. Is the 01/02 years quote un-quote the best years for an FD?

Thanks!

Sorry to hear about your motor.


Figure $8K-$10K for the swap stuff and base motor. Throw in another $2K-$3K to get the 450rwhp. You won't get to an effortless 450rwhp without heads, headers, and a cam (and upgraded springs, retainers, pushrods, etc.), which all adds up pretty quick.

Nothing wrong with Ebay motors. That's where alot of us got our motors.

01+ motors are the most desireable because they already come with an LS6 intake, so that's one less mod you'd have to do. Of course, the intake is only $350 or so, so there's no need to overspend just to get that model year.

01+ also come with better exhaust manifolds, but if you're aiming for 450rwhp you'll be getting long tube headers for sure, so that shouldn't be a concern

If you're serious about the swap, or just interested you should head over to Torquecentral.com and check out the v8rx subforums. There's tons of available information about the swap and related issues/expenses there.

There's also a guy in your general area that had Hinson build him a single turbo car. You should hit him up for a demo ride to see what kind of potential the swap has. His user name over at TC is 500hpls1rx-7

damn sorry about your motor man, i guess thats the downside to the rotary..

and i know v8s into fd's are common now..you dont like the inline 6 layout? like the 2JZ?? :D

i think if i blew my motor and had money, i would do that swap..

amazing potential and power of the 2jz plus the sexy looks of the FD = perfect car :D

2JZ= Heavy, big ass motor that doesn't buy you any more potential than an LS1 does. To eahc his own, but I'd chose the lighter smaller, bigger power potential motor every time.

The reason I like the V8 swap is due to how common it is. I dont wan to mess with gettting some random engine in the car. HSC aldready has everything needed for the swap. I am less of a mechanic and more of a driver anyway, so I want a fast way to have the car back again and running right. Thanks for the input, I will check out tourquecentral.com.

I feel your pain paying for the best motor build and it giving up the ghost a short time later. ALL MY TURBO ROTARY buddies have the same stories multiple times. Make more than 350rwhp and the rotary does not last for most people.

I have a '99 LS1 shortblock with $140 Katech rod bolts, out of the box AFR 205cc CnC'd heads, large cam (totally streetable), LS6 intake, JagsthatRun headers, ported stock TB, and made 439rwhp/385rwtq on 91 octane. 7100rpm redline :)

I'm very pleased with the conversion. You can keep a/c and the car remains 50/50. I think if you sold all your rotary performance parts you wouldn't need to put any or maybe very little cash outlay to convert as long as you can do the swap yourself. It is a big jigsaw puzzle with different pieces than you are used to.. but they do have a home and it isn't that difficult to get thru. The biggest hurdle IMO is the wiring; however on torquecentral.com in the v8rx7 section there are tons of posts to help you.

I made 280rwtq at 2,000rpm and it is pretty flat from 3500-6,000 (350-385rwtq). Bigger cams peak higher and have crazy mid and top end... a smaller cam will have lots of low and great mid with the top end (above 6,000rpm) not as strong.

You should find someone in your area and go for a ride. They are very very fun conversions and reliability is a great thing in addition to the low end torque monster.

I'm gonna do the FC conversion becuase while I'm a maniac for power, Im also trying to save some $$$ LOL.

Does the FC retain the weight distribution as well? And any indication of its handling? I know the FD is much more sexy to look at and looks more aerodynamic, but I was wondering skidpad #s and slalom speeds if there was any way to know, thanks. BTW, only reason I'm asking is because I havent seen them yet.

bump...

good thinking, I was able to build an LS1FC for damn cheap and with peoples suggestions on torquecentral there are newfound ways to save a lot of money without switching to Geico... durrrrrrr!

nope, no numbers that I've seen in print for a number cruncher to look over, but my LS1FC handles right on par with my friends highly modded nonturbo FC that is almost 300 pounds lighter than mine. mine tipped the scales at 2720 with a full tank of gas. my ''heavy'' widebody wheel setup, ''heavy'' tein flex coilovers, LS1T56 with true duals and newer S5 interior added some weight to my car that is otherwise an identical setup to his nonturbo. both are full interior streetcars that we autox as often as possible. we corner weighted both cars and his is something like 52/48 and mine is 54/46, they both handle very very similarly... the changes we can make with tire pressures and suspension stiffness can totally transform either car into a plowing pig or a tail happy flounder.

on another note, there is a local all-stock turbo-2 that has identical weight AND distribution as my LS1T56widebody. So dont worry about weight issues with the LS1 swap, its an old wives tale from mazda's excellent propoganda surrounding the rotary powerplants oh-so-incredible-design, pfffffffffft! I poop on your rotary's so called amazingly low weight, what a joke that is! but of course I believed the mazda rotary hype before I ever heard of an LS1FC and well before I had the numbers from our cornerweight session a month ago.

Hrm.. anecdotal evidence, nice! Any skidpad or slalom #s for a regular old FC to put this in perspective? LOL. Also, I like how the bigger fenders give the FC some curves, Im thinking I'll do that too. But I cant copy your RIMS too, so I gotta find something else that would look nice on that car body :D

I do know GNX7 (I hope I got his name right) took a FD LS1 to the SCC street car event and pulled over a G on good tires, and the FD's excellent double wishbone suspension, but the FC has what, struts front and teh rear as multilink or semi trailing?

But, well, now I'm talking about the FC chassis itself, not the swap itself - mostly because the swap doesnt change the weight!

It seems everyone has different numbers when it comes to weighing these cars. My car with the iron block LT1 is 60lbs heavy in the rear giving me a 49F/51R balance.

Hrm... seems to me the handling issues with a FC comes down to the suspension design itself!

I know with the DTSS eliminators so my toe settings stay put the car would handle mucho better at the limit, but I still wish I could find some slalom speed or skidpad #s.

I know it wont beat a race car with a splitter and wing, but I woudlnt do that unless I got serious about club racing... and with a LS1 FC, Id have the power/weight to do so, so I just might :bigthumb: