So ive been thinking about putting an ls1 in my fd allot lately.. ive done some searching and have come up with a few things.. but i want to know from you guys what you think.. my main thing is money.. i basically want to know around how much it will cost me.. ive gotten some mixed answers in searching, some said it will cost 4k to have it put it in, others said 8k.. well you get the point..

Anyways i have a brand new engine with less then 2k on it, stock ports.. my mods are (that i could sell) apexi power fc + commander, greddy fmic, greddy elbow + greddy type s bov, koyo n-flow radiator, pettit catback, midpipe, intakes, power pulley kit, and crank pulley kit, walbro fuel pump and thats about all that i could sell. Now saying i sold all those items, around how much would i be looking at for the engine + tranny and installation. Thx in advance. -Eric

 

well depends on the deal you can get on your ls1 and tranny. And if you can do it yourself or with some buddys or if you have to take it to someone to do it. the v8 rx7 forum could help you ALOT.

 

if you need someone to do the whole swap for you, i would not swap. If you just need someone to button up the wiring and other things, it shouldn't be that bad.
Most people come out around $20k for the swap including the roller. But it just really depends on what you wanna do and what you have access to. You could steal a car take the LS1/T56, have an FD, have a bunch of metal already and be crazy good at fabricating and spend $1k total.

 

Well im sure i could put the motor in but setting up the motor mounts and what not i could not do myself.. and yes stealling a car would be a good idea not really what i had in mind though...

 

look on ebay for ls engines. And it doesn't have to be a 5.7L. I have seen the 6.0L and the 5.3L also. But you see ALOT of ls engines that are on ebay around fla. Well atleast I would when I thought I wanted to do that. go to yahoo.com and type in something like car-part.com or something like that it is and search the ls engines on there also. And check local wreckers

 

Keep your Fuel Pump and Catback as you can re-use those IIRC

 

Right now on ebay there is a few cheap LS engines that are in the states.

 

I have to asses my money situation first thats why i made this post.. i wanna know what u guys think i can get from selling my engine + mods.. and just generally how much it costs to do something like this...

 

I can't help you on that part of it as my **** I got was all that.... **** lol so I wasn't really able to sell any of it back. But as for finding parts that I can do !

 

It really depends on the market and how good of a reputation you have, especially when selling a rotary motor. I sold my single turbo setup, rebuilt motor that I rebuilt, PFC, fuel system, IC, exhaust, cooling system, ignition, etc for around $12 or 13k over a period of 6 months to seed my V8 conversion. I've since spent a little more than that and there is still some cool stuff to do to make me happy, but I also did a refresh on the bottom end with a set of ported heads, cam, and electric water pump. I did all the install and most of the custom work myself, except for the V8 engine work and ECU tuning that was done by some local nationally know LS1 shops.

I'd say if you do this conversion, go ahead and do a big head/cam setup for 440+ rwhp or a big cube motor for 500++ rwhp along with some 10" wide rims/tires and a good set of suspension mods as well as maintenance such as new rear pillow ***** and bushings. I've got such good traction that putting dow 400 ft-lbs is no problem, so it's time for upgraded diff internals and nitrous. I guess what I am saying is if you are going to do it, go big from the start and have fun with it.

 

if you dont want the LS1 then do a SBC. I didn't have all that money so I made a 388 stroker engine instead. ALOT easier and cheaper then the fuel injection

 

A carb'd engine will not fit under an fd hood and most of us are pretty sensitive about cutting holes in our hoods. In all honesty a hood scoupe really doesn't look bad on an fc though.

I have a good friend who built a carbed 38x sbc with all the good stuff for his camaro, while his torque was better than mine his hp was about the same as my mild cam/ budget head/ bolt on 346 ci ls1. In the end we had about the same invested in our engines. The difference- my car doesn't require constant f'n with to run right and I get MUCH better gas mileage, I'm talkin nearly 2 to 1 here folks, around town (his tko t5 vs. my t56). He is now looking to swap in a stroked ls2/t56 combo.

If you plan to drive the car a lot, an efi setup will pay for itself pretty quickly with these gas prices and if you can put a cash value on headaches and tinkering......

 

I've budgeted around 10k for the swap not including the shell and Im right on track.

 

thats true you will get **** poor gas mileage outta it. And just looking at a FD here a while ago it wouldn't look like with the cowl hood on it like a FC would be. But even if he just wants to get his feet wet with the V8 and you WANT EFI then get a LT1. Sure they aren't as nice as a LS1, but I mean it is efi and not carbed if that is what you are looking for and it is cheaper then an ls1.

 

Sell the engine, power fc, greddy elbow, BOV, pulley/crank kits. Keep the rest of the items you have listed. Also keep your stock oil coolers as you can utilize them as well.

If you decide not to go forced induction on the V8, then sell the fmic and piping, otherwise keep it as most of the kit is already done/installed for you.

You will also need to sell your stock transmission, drive shaft, clutch/flywheel, and motor mounts as you will need them.

One option to try and achieve the "cheapest" way to do this conversion is to buy a wrecked F-body car (from the rear or side) and take out the engine/trans/drive shaft, computer and wiring harness. Buy the Granny/Hinson install kit and do it yourself. Then sell off the remaining parts from the f-body and junk it to help recover the cost of the conversion.

Good luck with whatever route you choose!

 

Lets break it down. These are average costs. It could be more or it could be less depending on how detailed you want to go:

$4,400 shipped for LS1/Tranny/ECU
$1,600 shipped Hinson mount kit
$650 Hinson radiator/fans
$300+ Fuel System (Fuel Pump, FPR, Lines)
$250+ Battery, Relocation kit, electrical lines
$800 Headers (Average cost)
$400+ Y pipe, modifications to exhaust, welding labor, etc
$100+ Power Steering Lines
$160 New master cylinder clutch, modded clutch line

There's probably some other little things here and there that will add up to the cost such as A/C line modifications, line crimps, fittings, etc.

You're probably looking at around 9-10k for the swap - whatever you make from selling the rotary.

And of course, your labor. If you pay someone, it will be costly. If you do it yourself, you'll save a lot of money and learn at the same time, but it will take time.

 

I wouldn't use a hinson kit. I have the grannys kit and parts are better built and have a professional look to them. Not to mention hinson hasn't had the best of luck recently with welds breaking

 

and you could use a Be COOL rad like I did and a tauras 3.8L Fan and that set up is cheaper and will work better IMHO

 

Thanks, this information is really useful, but i also need to know how much i can get for my parts. Im sure some of you guys sold your engines to do the v8 swap, how much did you guys get for it?

 

on that list if buy the parts yourself and make them work then its a lot clheaper

 

How easy is it to make power out of an lt1? I wanna be anywhere in the 350-400whp range.. does anyone have a pic of an lt1 in an fd?

 

You can pick up a radiator for much cheaper for i believe 86 vette right? from Jagsthatrun.com

 

I can't think of one off the top of my head that has a LT1 in it that I have seen. But I will search some forums and try to find it. And it shouldn't be that hard to make that power

 

Put a stroker crank in it, ported heads and upgraded connecting parts, roller rockers, springs, etc, and cam - you will be in that range to the wheels.

Or...another option is to not change the motor at all and put a supercharger on it, use your FMIC and run about 8 psi and you'll be right in the area as well.

 

What kind of power does the lt1 make stock? Some website said it made 300bhp.. any idea on the whp?