rick piras

I'm in the process of rounding up parts to put a 2002 LS6 motor into my '65 and was hoping for some input from you brave souls that have gone down this road already. My original plans were to put the motor in the existing chassis, get everything on the drivetrain worked out, and then swap to the SRIII chassis. Then reality set in when I worked out the cost spreadsheet, and realized it'll have to be a year or two before the $$$ is there for the chassis swap. So, my questions are based on putting the motor into a stock chassis:
-Are there headers or stock manifolds that will work (I'd hoped to stay with the Z-bar clutch actuation, but if nothing clears, I'll go with a hydraulic clutch set-up).
-Are there front end accessories/pulleys that will work in a stock chassis that you'd recommend?
-Does and F-body oil pan work in a stock chassis? My motor has the "batwing" oil pan that will need to go.

Thanks for any advice,
Rick

Poorhousenext

Rick,

There are several vendors that supply LS kit for what you want to do. You also may find help on this in C3 setion as member there may have kit or info to help you. Also Mikey's car is being done/help out by Company in FLA that is dveloping kit too. Check Digital Corvette C2 for infomation on them.

There is a new startup company in Atlanta, Ga area that should be able to supply all your needs as their kit is is nearing completion that will have SS headers if you want/need them. Below is link to thread on LS1Tech about them. Corvette info is posted on last page of it if I remember correctly. Their website is designed like a Forum board, so I'd just call them for information.

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/conver...things-ls.html

LS1tech is a great site for help with LS engine swaps.

Beach Dude

Like Poorhouse said, check with Mikey here on the forum, his car is at RevXtreme in Bradenton, Fl. it's a 64 with the factory frame with a LS2, there is also a very Large thread in the C3 section in the sticky area, most are c 3's but would be very similar to the C2's, there are several here, some done, some in progress, however many have gone with a aftermarket frame of some type.

Good luck and keep us posted, I am planning on beginning mine approx Nov of 2010.


Poorhouse, any new updates on yours?

mredi1

I did my 65 with a LS2, TKO600 and Street Shops chassis, you can see some of what was done on the CF - http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...-65-vette.html . The stock or Street Shops chassis should be the same. You will need motor mount adapters and an adaptor for the Z bar. For exhaust I use the stock LS2 manifolds to 2.5 Allen side pipes, they had to modify the connection at the local muffle shop but was no big deal. We tried some shorty headers but had clearancwe trouble. Several other CF C2 members have posted their project as well and were a great help on my project. Take a look, will try to answer any questions you have. Good luck on your project. Tim

Poorhousenext

No progress report this week.

Piper called me this morning and said side roads roads over to his shop were iced over and not worth risk of my having accident trying to get there. Also told me main body man doing all the mod work had been out sick since Tuesday too, so only body fill, sanding, etc. had been going on to areas ready to be finished for first primer.

Last major work done was right rear qtr panel and rear tail light panel had been bonded on and exhaust panel fitted, so rear end was ready to be finished out. Picture of that was posted on Ray's "Best Thread of 2009" along with my how to instructions...LOL

78Vette-SA

Good info above and you might also want to talk to Trey at www.speedhound.com. He sells pretty much everything you need as well and is a supporting vendor and helps a lot of the C3 guys.

I did my own C3 using an SRIII chassis. Similar concept though although I added a little bling. Below is a link to the build site.

The one suggestion I would offer is that if you did have near term future plans to swap frames, wait and do it in one shot. Gather the parts you need and start putting together what you can until you can spring for the rest of it.



FrankenSport Build-up

00fxd

mredi1, what LS2 manifolds did you use, Corvette or Camaro?
Thanks, Frank

John S 1961

STOP Before you go too far!, But seriously are you just a glutton for punishment?

Was your car so far gone that having to change everything is of minimal consequense?

I Admire your courage, tell us your vision.

mikey

-Are there headers or stock manifolds that will work (I'd hoped to stay with the Z-bar clutch actuation, but if nothing clears, I'll go with a hydraulic clutch set-up).

there's easy and then there's hard.. what do you want for exhaust? factory style sidepipes? rear exit exhaust? or laker style sidepipes?
the last of these 3 options is what i chose, and it required my shop to extensively modify the header to clear the z-bar and allow for my steering shaft clearance (i installed a manual rack and pinion from steeroids). as others noted, you can use stock LS exhaust manifolds also.. not sure if shorty headers will clear the z-bar.. if you go to hydraulic, you'll need to reinforce the firewall.

-Are there front end accessories/pulleys that will work in a stock chassis that you'd recommend?

which accessories do you need to run? the f-body setup works pretty well with this chassis.. i'm only running alternator and vintage air sanden a/c compressor so i mounted the two of them high and wide up top with custom brackets.

-Does and F-body oil pan work in a stock chassis? My motor has the "batwing" oil pan that will need to go.

at least one build i saw used the batwing, but the f-body pan provides plenty of clearance.. this is what i used and do most others.

each of these builds is unique, because there are many options to choose along the way. which accessories, which trans, manual or hydraulic clutch, which exhaust style, what steering setup, etc, etc.. combinations of options sometimes dictate other choices..

good luck!

rick piras

Thanks for the responses and info so far guys, it is all greatly appreciated. There were a number of questions for me, so I'll try to answer them:
Poorhousenext: Thanks for the suggestion, I'll be contacting RetroLS this week to see if their mid-year headers and mounts are avilable yet.

78 Vette-SA: When I've looked at the SRIII website, your chassis/drivetrain usually results in saliva all over my keyboard. That is stunning! And while I agree that your suggestion to "do it all in one shot" would be the preferred method, there simply isn't enough $$$ or garage space to pull it off right now. I'm trying to convince myself that by doing it in stages I'll appreciate it more when it's finally finished, if I live long enough. But when I'm finally ready to swap to the SRIII frame, I hope to have it look like yours.

00fxd: I have the same question. Were the LS2's only used in 'Vettes? And if not, will F-body stock manifolds work? If anyone knows, please gimme a shout. I have the impression that on the LS motors that the stock manifolds don't lose much HP to headers, does anone have data to support or refute that?

John S 1961: Yeah, I AM a glutton for punishment.
Actually, the car that I'm starting with was complete, and in decent condition. It only took me a month or so, and about $300 to get it running again after sitting for about 8 years. The car is here:
http://livesofrickandlisa.9f.com/photo.html
My vision for years has been to build an old car with jaw dropping performance in all aspects, especially handling and braking, with the build concept focusing on weight reduction. 20 years ago I had a 240Z with an aluminum V8, but the unibody wasn't stiff enough to handle that kind of power. Then I got into Chevelles, and when the Pro-Touring movement came along (with all of the cool aftermarket parts support) I jumped on board. For years I've wanted to build a Cobra replica, but when this Corvette came along, at the price I got it for, I realized it could be like a Cobra with a more sophisticated ride.

mikey: I plan to run rear exit exhaust. Once I swap to the SRIII chassis I expect the car to sit pretty low. As much as I love sidepipes, I'd be to nervous worrying about clipping them going over speed bumps. As for accessories, for right now, I'm running the alternator and P/S pump. I don't plan to deal with the A/C until I switch to the new chassis. Did you fab your brackets yourself? If so, did you happen to keep drawings for them?

Thanks again for all of the support/info.
Rick

mmaliszewski

Rick,

Last winter I put a 2005 C6 LS2 into my stock frame 65 Convertible. I swapped in a set of C5 exhaust manifolds that fit pretty well, I just had to grind off a little bit of metal for the stock Zbar to clear. I was told that the C6 manifolds would work with a different Zbar (big block maybe?) but I got a good deal on the C5 manifolds so it all worked out. I used Street Shop engine and zbar mounts. Using those mounts the 2005 accessories fit with 2 exceptions: Power Steering pump pulley needs to be swapped for a smaller one, and I did not try to mount the AC compressor as I do not have AC in the car. The 2005 pan will just clear the stock steering, at least in my case it did by a fraction of an inch. I later changed to the Bourgeson P/S conversion which made the pan a non issue anyway as the stock ram is no longer needed, freeing up some space in fromt of the oil pan.

Matt

mredi1

I'm not sure if you check the pictures in the post of my build you can see them. Sorry, that never came up, so not sure what they were off of.