LS1 Vette engine in an SC400?

[jibbby]

Well there has been alot of talk recently about the 5.7 liter LS1 GM/Chevy Corvette/Camaro engine which at stock can dyno around 300whp.... With exhaust mods and cams you can get get an additional 100hp or so...That is good NA power in comparison to the smaller 1uz-fe 4.0L motors... I have to ride the nos to get close to those power levels with my 1uz.... That would be slamm'in to have that LS1 motor under the hood of my SC400... 375whp or so out of an NA LS1 motor....nice...

What will it take to drop one in?...Does anyone have any thoughts on this?...Motor mounts, belhousing, flat side headers, would the engine fit in height wise under the SC hood? Weight differences between the stock 1uz motor and the LS1 and would the front end suspension and steering of the SC4 suffer with the swap?...What do you guys think?

It appears from my research these used LS1 engines are absolutely the best bang for the buck... Getting an LS1 for cheap at the yards is not the problem...I am thinking of picking one of these LS1 engines up today at the yards along with the wiring and ECU..I found a complete engine and ECU setup for just a little over $1000 cash..89,000 miles on it which is a good deal from my searches....Just may tinker and swap it into something in the future if not my SC4......

 

[JBrady]

This is something that I would consider. The xUZFE engines are wonderful but expensive and limited. The LSx line of engines has many benefits. It is still unknown what power is available out of the xUZFE engines. 1000+hp with turbos is very plausible. Cost of required upgrades is also unknown.

To swap you will need many parts as mentioned: mounts, brackets, connectors, transmission considerations, driveshaft, integration with instrumentation and any other engine interactive programming. Once completed the LSx line offers tremendous options at very accessible pricing. The actual external dimensions is probably smaller and weight is very similar so suspension mods will not be affected.

Once a swap is completed you can upgrade to your hearts content including the brand new LS7 engine with 7 liters, 500+ hp and titanium rods for around $14k brand new from GM.

 

[jibbby]

Thanks John, I forgot about the integration of the instrumentation which could get tricky...Welding in new motor mounts and fitting in a new custom driveshaft is not a problem...Adapter plates could be tricky to make or find and wiring up correct transmission signals and other components would be challenging for sure.....It might be best to use the Chevy/GM drivetrain as well to perform this swap....I got experience in welding so fabing new custom mounts are not a problem.....It sure would be nice to be sitting and driving in an Sc400 and sitting under the hood rumbling is a 5.7 liter Chevy Corvette engine and drivetrain..WOW.. That sounds good to me and like you said you can build away on these engines for much cheaper and easier then the xuz-fe's......

I still believe the 1uz-fe motor is a much better motor, the dual overhead cam design and engineering of the import motor is superior for durability and reliability. Simply said the 1uz-fe motor would be missed for those reasons alone......But for us hotrodders some sacrifices must be made to achieve power goals....

There is much to consider when swapping...If it were that easy everyone would be doing it...

 

[Lextreme II]

Since the 5.7 is in might as well putting in a T56 along with it. I see those deal all the time LS1 with T56.

 

[jibbby]

Lex- the T56 would most definetely have to go alone with it...Just for HP holding capacity alone over the stock LEXUS tranny... What about the rear end?

This is just a discussion topic, not sold on doing this swap in my SC4 just yet, just aquiring thoughts and suggestions... I really don't think anyone has tried this swap yet...Being the first to do so would be awesome....

Apparently alot of these engines are being dropped into Mazda's from what I am learning and some are running 10's in the quarter...Not too bad at all...

 

[WDoherty]

I say do it man. I'm not bashing the 1uz or anything like that, but it sounds like for your needs this is the perfect way to go. Get a complete package if you can with engine, pcm, and trans all together. That way you have the clutch, and you know everything is there. If not you can still pick up a t-56 in the 700-800 range. Instrumentation, i would talk to dakota digital about that. Your rear end should be perfect, you'd have nice accelleration and a good overdrive with that .5 6th gear. You would just need a driveline shop make you a custom shaft to mate them up. Clutch pedals and console could come from an sc300 5 speed. Then add your nos on-top of that, your car would rip. Go to the conversion section on ls1.tech and you'll see how people are getting conversions to work from a wrx ls1 swap to ls1 preludes converted to rwd, the sc platform should be relatively easier and a natural.

 

[WDoherty]

Oh 1 more thing. You need to research this more but, i think the 98 doesn't have a programmable ecu or something of that nature so go with a 99 or later, but if you look into it you'll find out what i'm talking about. This is important though b/c one of the blessings with that powertrain is that is pragrammable b/c there are like 2 or 3 major programs out there, ls1 edit for example, that authorized tuners used to tune for mods, like cams, or whatever. You want that so that you'll never have a tuning nightmare again b/c their are authorized shops that tune these everywhere. I could be wrong about the 98, but at least check it out.

 

[sloshua]

http://http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Thats the conversion specific forum. Lots of build diaries. Check out the whole site for info on the potential of that awesome motor.

 

[jibbby]

I can see there are a few LS1 lovers out their even on LEXUS forums...Wdoherty, the newer 98+ LS1 are not that cheap the older ones are.... How about the automatic trannies that come in the Camaros and Vettes? I would think the auto would suit me better in all this LA traffic...Anyone does anyone know the HP holding capacity on those auto trannies? I owned a covertable 91 Vette many years ago, it was a rattle box, but had some good puill to it...It was almost as fast as the 300zx twin that I owned.....THe engine and drivetrain held up well with 130,000 miles and was very responsive to the throttle but the rest of the car was a nightmare. I have always been impressed with 5.7 LS1 motors I just kind of forgot about them.... I will continue to read up on all the info on these motors, years, swaps, etc...

That is the direction I am heading in for sure....Again, no better engine for power VS. money spent...None.....

 

[WDoherty]

jibby i thought you said you found one for 1,000usd? Anyway you say the 98+ aren't cheap, they only came out in 97' so maybe what you were looking at is not an ls1. The LT1 is the earlier engine and it is not the same at all, it was in camaro's from 93-97 (and other gm cars) and is based on the original 350 and has an iron block, so its heavy and doesn't make as much power, the ls1 is all aluminum. As far as i know the auto's that come in those cars are weak (you can research this) and people either swap in the 6 speed or a th400. If you don't want to deal with all this complexity you might look at the twin screw supercharger set-ups aussie's are doing and price it out vs. pricing out an ls1 swap, but you'd still have the lexus transmission problem. Look on ebay i see ls1's complete with t-56, computer, basically the entire swap package for 2,500. Add the cost of a custom driveshaft, alot of work, and the cost to get instrumentation to work. Of course, it will also cost you to supercharge the 1uz, engine management, and still no solution for the tranny. I guess that's how i see it all. As far the ls1 conversion, the biggest thing to me that's scary would be getting instruments to work, but calling up dakota digital maybe they can tell you how hard and the cost for that.

 

[jibbby]

Yeah, I am confused...

I have the opportunity to purchase the LT1 in a 1993 Corvette auto that is wrecked with 79,000 or so...Engine and ECU $1200..Tranny $1000. That would be the earlier model as you say and not the same engine... The LS1 97+ is the alluminum block pre are iron...Damn thought they were the same...Like I said I kind of forgot about these engines over the past 10 years.... the 98+ motors are more like 2 or 3 grand.... Still not bad for a good motor with few miles...and 300+hp....Thanks for the input..

Remember I am Lexus junky so my searches and learning is usually directed towards the Xux-fe motors.... However, I do know alot about the new Z06 vette real well, but that again is a whole new ball game....That currently is my dream car...

 

[Nick M]

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213148 A very good FAQ and general information somebody put together. The 01 and newer is noticably stronger than the 97-00, as pointed out in the other thread.

 

[jibbby]

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THanks Nick, good info link.....

 

[verylost]

If you are going to do a LS1 swap, you might as well put the engine in a better handling car.

The FD or FC swaps come to mind and you can get a complete kit. Most of the unknowns have already been worked out.

 

[WDoherty]

If you are going to do a LS1 swap, you might as well put the engine in a better handling car.

The FD or FC swaps come to mind and you can get a complete kit. Most of the unknowns have already been worked out.

What is an FD or FC?

 

[jibbby]

True these SC's even lowered and with stiff suspension don't compare to the handling of a let's say a new Vette, or Porsche that is for sure...

Quick story: I was just driving down the 10 freeway west bound near Los Angeles earlier today in my SC4 and with the nos armed. One minute I am cruising and feeling pretty good about my ride and then what happens next is what had to be a suped up, lowered and fat BMW ? that must have been absolutely modified to the hilt.. This mid size car pulled up next to me riding super low, and the guy looks my ride over and then just absolutely blasted off from 60mph to ? in no time at all, like I was standing still.. then this crazy driver turned hard from lane number 4 to lane number 1 then back to lane number 4 in a split second and the car was like it was on rails..So damn impressive and crazy....I just sat there still cruising at 70mph or so with eyes wide open and my jaw dropped...Didn't even bother to hit the nos and try and hang, no shot......

That was one of the fastest and best handling cars I have seen in a long while, and I am still in awwwwweee over it..... True story..

I have raced M3 and won, M6's and lost but this BMW was in a whole other league...I don't feel so good about my car any more after that....I was humbled big time...

 

[WDoherty]

interesting, do think it was an M5, i believe those are 400hp and a 6 speed manual stock.

 

[jibbby]

No way, it had to be modified with AFI or nos big time...Not stock no way...I think this car would have smoked a Z06 it was that fast...Way up in horsepower....Like I said I am still in awe.... I didn't have a chance to see what the back emblems said...You could tell this car was modified and lowered... It was nice looking and oh sooooo fast and the owner was showing off.........

 

[JamesN]

What is an FD or FC?

FD is the last gen of the Mazda RX7. And FC is the earlier gen of the RX7.

John, I do admire you for thinking up this kind of swap for the SC. If it work it would be one hell of a swap. You will have a very unique car and with all the bragging rights. But do look up the instrumentation work because it is very hard (I think) to make it work. But good luck to you if you decided to go with this.

 

[jibbby]

Thanks James, If and when I ever have the time I would love to give it a go....I am not ready just yet to disable my sc for months during a swap of that magnitude...Although, The desire is there, but again just aquiring info for right now....I first go fromm ideas of turbo'ing to supercharging and now the best yet would be the NA LS1 engine swap....I think the LS1 swap would be my first choice at this point...

Yep the Insturmentation wiring would be the hardest part of that swap by far, but if there is a will there is a way....I'm sure it can be done...Do you think a good Stand ALone ECu will help sort out any of the instrumentation...Or is the ECU strickly designed for engine management only? I have not looked into that possibility..

I will be definetely looking for a deal on the LS1 engine, and that will be the first step....