LS kits

[Northernregal]

Kinda depends on what you want to do yourself. Someone with fab skills and time could do it for a couple hundred bucks, buy a junkyard motor and double the cars HP pretty easily. Might take some time but you can do it.

Or buy the stuff from holley and be swapped and running in a weekend. Hardest part is running a fuel line and wiring a fuel pump relay.

 

[Tony1968]

Some of us did so much fab work on the frame that if we fabbed up much more it would be a 10 year project.

 

[pagrunt]

I still think these LS's are the easiest of all swaps.

 

[BuickBroke$]

Go with the Holley setup, as long as you don’t need heat and ac...

 

[Tony1968]

Go with the Holley setup, as long as you don’t need heat and ac...

You are going to have to explain that one

 

[oldsmobile joe]

Go with the Holley setup, as long as you don’t need heat and ac...
[/QUOTEthe holley ls setup does allow you to have heat and a/c if you wish.

 

[PBGBodyFan]

I love these " I wanna LS" threads. I don't think I've seen any of the recent ones started.
- new member
- undetermined skillset
- undetermined funds
- no clues, just want an LS
Where'd they all go?

You should see the g-body/Monte Facebook groups I’m in, every day someone is posting wanting or planning to do an LS swap and likely is in way over their head and doesn’t fully understand all that’s involved. And many of those posts happily “show off” the previous engine pulled or an empty engine bay and/or the LS series engine sitting by the car or in the garage. Guessing that’s about as far as some get and am already noticing aborted LS swap g-bodies pop up for sale, think it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Not trying to take away from the OP here, if you found this forum you are already better than the lemmings on Facebook. I also hear Holley makes nice stuff to convert if you aren’t capable or willing to do some of the work. Not sure what route I’ll go when I get to that point myself.

 

[64nailhead]

I love these " I wanna LS" threads. I don't think I've seen any of the recent ones started.
- new member
- undetermined skillset
- undetermined funds
- no clues, just want an LS
Where'd they all go?

Good question.

It would be nice if they found a source of information that would help make the swap as easy as possible. I believe that most everyone can find someone local to them with the knowledge to help get it done as well.

Regarding 'new members' - the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned;
'undetermined skillset' - if you cannot change a rear wheel bearing (perhaps in Cecil's parking lot lol) or a ball joint, then you definitely don't have the skill set to complete an LS swap on your own;
'undetermined funds' - unless your skillset is through the roof (very high), don't jump in with less than $3K for a NA build;
'no clues, just want an LS' - can't hate them for it. If BBC, BB Olds, Pontiacs or Buicks were as readily available in the same price range and as reliable as a stock LS swap, then LS swaps wouldn't be popular.


One thing for sure, the aftermarket has taken off for only one reason IMO, and that's not a bad thing - it means that there will be good parts available at economical prices.

 

[BuickBroke$]

You are going to have to explain that one

First they sent me misboxed mounts (for C10 truck) then when you place the frame mounts in the location they tell you, the pass side valve cover and coil pack most definitely hits the factory ac box. As you can see in the pic it popped a hole in it that I’ll fix. So needing heat and ac I decided to move the frame mounts to the next set of holes forward. That gave me the heater box clearance but then my power steering pulley hit the steering box. Ordered the “direct fit” 5” pulley off Summit, went to put that on and what a fiasco. To line up the 5” pulley with the rest of the pulleys you have to push it past flush by about 1/4”, but doing that hit one of the power steering mount bolts. Then the pulley removal jaws wouldn’t reach back far enough since the pulley was past flush so had to turn down the shaft to get the pulley back off. Then ground down the bolt it was hitting and now it finally fits and lines up with the other pulleys. Now I have to compensate the trans mount to make up for the 1” forward the engine sits now. Fun! I completely agree with the other guys on here that if you have the capabilities, make your own setup. Would have saved me a bunch of money. Not to mention the cheap paint/powder coating on the trans mount is all flaking off and I haven’t even test fit it yet! I am happy with the 302-2 oil pan though, it’s a nice piece.

 

[Streetbu]

The entire problem with LS swaps is there is actually TOO much information. Because there are literally dozens, if not hundreds of ways it has already been done, now when you try to tailor a swap to your situation it can get very confusing real quick. Then add in the well meant help of well that didn't work for me, but another poster will swear it worked for him and it only muddies the water. The key here is reading, more reading, research, and realizing you'll most likely still have problems and waste some $ along the way. If you accept that now, it will makes the whole process go much smoother.