vl conversion

[duggy_2001]

i was wondering if anyone knows about trying to put a lc 400 motor into a commodore, what else i will need for the conversion and a ruff cost of all this, thanks troy

 

[MaxPower]

LS400 motor is what you want, it has a front sump. The headers wont fit and making extractors will be, putting it nicely, FUN!! There is not much room to work, the Crown headers will fit with some modification around the steering. I had some log manifolds made out of stainless (dont have a welder otherwise would have made them myself). All the other details can be found in the other thread you posted in.

If you want to use the toyota auto gearbox, it may be easier to use a crown box with the slip yoke rear otherwise you need to adapt the LS400 rubber coupler (Id say it will fit but will need to be very carefully aligned to the center CV joint and bearing mount in the tailshaft).

All up cost of my conversion was just under $2500, including aftermarket ECU, using factory ECU would have made it closer to $1000 after selling my old engine and gearbox.

 

[duggy_2001]

maxpower do you have a list of all the little bits and pieces i will need, plus a ruff cost if possible for a N/A or supercharger setup. thanks heaps troy

 

[duggy_2001]

by the way maxpower thanks for all your help so far as you can tell im new to all this and trying to understand all this info about this engine. the other option was going to be a rb26dett. but this motor im enquiring about sounds alot better again thanks heaps troy

 

[MaxPower]

Its a tough call as to whether a RB26DETT or 1UZ (turbo of course) would give better bang for your buck. An RB26 with the boost wound up a touch will see a 12second quater, a stock 1UZ powered VL will see maybe a 14sec quater but with turbos should go deep into the 12s. Initial outlay starts at about $5k for a R32 RB26, whereas a 1UZ can be had for $1000, the $4k saving can get a budget TT setup on a 1UZ if you do it yourself.

If you can do all the work yourself a 1UZ with a turbo or two is probably better but if not go the RB26 as it is a bolt in job. The 1UZ is a snug fit in the VL engine bay and will take some work to make manifolds and turbo/turbos fit.

Have a read of page one of the other commodore thread, if you still need more Qs answered post em here, it covers all the parts i felt were important with the conversion - you will most probably have a few other Qs though.

 

[duggy_2001]

thanks for your help so far i was more tempted to do the 1uz just because of being a v8, what if i was to put a supercharger on instead, and after getting a quote for a rb26dett i was going to need about $15000, but i am willing to learn at the moment, and i have some friends who will be able to help me with this job. plus what is the difference between the tt or supercharger. which has more power and also what about the price. thanks again for your help and yes i probably will have more Q's. also what city a you in? thanks heaps troy

 

[MaxPower]

15k for a RB26 conversion!!! An RB25 swap is very cheap but also very common, thought of going down that path?? Should be able to get out of a 26 swap for under 8k doing it yourself (plus whatever you can sell your old engine and trans for).

A 1UZ TT setup using some cheap internal gate j*p turbos (VG30DET[not the TT], EJ20T [rex], SR20DET [S13/14 or the best would be the S15 ball bearing T25], RB25 [R33 has ceramic wheel so not the best choice] and probably heaps of others) should see 250-300rwkw very easily on low boost (6-9psi) and be very cheap if you do it all yourself, a supercharger setup (talking positive displacement here) will cost more but will more than likely give better street power/torque or in dyno terms more power under the curve - just remember HP wins at the pub but torque wins races.

I prefer turbos for the sound and will be going that way eventually - some small turbos shouldnt give very much lag, with 4L of displacement there are enough cubes to spin some turbos up quickly.

 

[thefastj]

$5k for an RB26?? is that engine only with no tranny??
with a tranny these go for more like $7k- $8k for an R32.

if you got one with no tranny for $5k you've done well.
maybe for a bare engine with no loom etc.

 

[duggy_2001]

thanks the fastj but im more interested in the 1uz now so im going to need all the info on that engine now, i plan on starting the project in about 6months so i need to know what i need and how much its going to be, either N/A 1 turbo or 2 is still the question. thanks again for your help hope to here from you all soon. troy

 

[AGRO64]

mate what ever you allow for in your budget add a good 10% or more, these things always blow out

 

[duggy_2001]

yeah i sought of guessed that, but just looking at a ruff figure at the moment, just something to work with... also do the brakes need to be changed for this?

 

[thefastj]

10%?? at least.
get your rough final estimate....then double it if its your first converison.

hmmm VL brakes... ask ur engineer.
may need (VN) V8 spec on there. not sure. wouldn't hurt anyway.
i would think they would be fine tho.

 

[MaxPower]

Totally agree with thefastj about the cost, double the expected budget!!

May be cheaper and better to use VT brakes, also they are bigger with 298mm rotors and twin piston calipers compared to 289mm and single piston for the VL Turbo/V8 (same as VN/VP V8 and VR/VS V6/V8). There are a few people around selling conversion kits (need a different hub setup and slightly longer hoses than stock VT) that include new rotors, calipers pads, the longer hoses, custom hubs and bearings for around $400, good value IMO.

The calipers, pads and rotors come from HSV, new cars are sent to the HSV factory from holden to be upgraded with HSV spec gear - the parts that get removed cannot then be sold as "new" so are sold at very reduced costs even though they have probably zero kms on them (my brake pads did not even look like they were ever fitted!).

 

[duggy_2001]

well thats the brakes out of the way, what about suspension, gear box(wanting to go manual) and diff what a going to give the best power but easy to fit. also how much hoesepower can the TT version put out. i going to have to start buying the parts soon so does anyone know good places in brisbane to get most of these. thanks again to everyone for your input. thanks troy

 

[n4087607]

duggly, ive bought quite a bit of stuff off pete at quad cams australia eg. engine mounts, sump, headers. If he could get it to all fit in a lc torana without any engine bay modifications a commodore is not going to be a problem. He is in warick and is on this forum as QCA.

 

[duggy_2001]

thanks for that.just one thing if anyone has a list of main parts i will need to buy can you plz post it that would be great..