If you have the money to have the harness rewired, spend it. By the time you add up all the fuse boxes,relays and the extra wires, you will find that it was not worth your time.
I had mine done by current performance, and for what I spent, I think I did alright. After getting it back and seeing what was done, the only regret I have is I wish I made myself clearer on were I wanted the controls, other than that current did a nice job. In the end when looking at what I received, I only spent about $200 in labor and the rest in parts.

How many hours will you spend on this harness, how much hair will you lose, if you're a busy person it's not worth the hassle.

There are several shops doing the harnesses and at different prices as well. Some will rework your old harness, and some can build you a new harness.
In what ever you decide to do, make sure you chose not to locate the ECU, and fuse center on the driver side fender, either locate it inside the car or on the passenger side in the engine bay.


Riggs.

 

Riggs, thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to take it, and pay to have this done. Electrical work is not my strongest suit, and while this may be a good enough reason to dive into this and attempt to increase my knowledge on the subject, I think I may hold off on that for a later build. Plus, I have so much other work to be done...

I got the steering colum pulled fairly easily today. I give it a 5 on the PITA meter. Also pulled the brake booster, and got the stock brake assembly unbolted and removed. This was also a bit of a PITA, but not too bad. Took the better part of my morning, though.

After I got that done, I started breaking down the LS1. Got the exhaust manifolds off, and all the old EGR and AIR stuff removed. Pulled the intake to be cleaned and painted, and then popped a valve cover off to take a look. Everything looked very clean inside. I'll pull the water pump off, and then the balancer so I can get a look inside and replace the timing set and oil pump.

 

OK, so I have been buying parts right and left...

-Clutch/brake pedal set for C3 corvette (Thanks Kevin @ www.vettesbydesign.com)
-New LS2 timing set for the LS1
-New LS6 oil pump
-Dirty Dingo multi-position engine mounts
-LS1 conversion wiring harness from PSI Conversion. Was able to sell my complete stock harness on LS1tech for $225, so ended up coming out of pocket $275 for the PSI Conversion harness. Probably well worth it, in my opinion.

And a bunch of little stuff like clutch master cylinder, mounting brackets, EGR plug for the LS1 intake manifold, belt tensioner, etc. Now I have to address the trans mount and the fuel system (among a million other things). Also going to modify the radiator support to accept the stock F-body radiator and fans.

I also sanded and painted my brake booster. It's a charcoal gray color...not stock appearing, but that's OK. I think it looks pretty good. I'll snap a pic and see what you guys think.

I'll try to get some pics this weekend. I'll be splitting the engine from the trans and getting things cleaned up and painted on the motor.

 

Quil,

Fantastic build so far. I look forward your progress.

Have you considered going to a hydroboost sytem? I think BeeJay did this swap several years ago and liked it. It would save you from refinishing all the old booster stuff.

 

I would love to do a hydroboost setup eventually...but for now, every red cent I can muster is going to have to be put toward the LS1 and T56 swap. Maybe one of these days...

 

I have been slacking on providing updates, and especially posting pics. I have been working hard getting the engine and trans broken down and cleaned up, prepping for paint. I've also started to receive a lot of the parts I ordered, and have sold some more parts lately, so I'm in good shape to purchase most of the rest of the major stuff I'll need.

On to the pics...

Here's the engine and trans with the wiring harness removed, along with the coils, wires, plugs, etc. NASTY



A shot of the brake booster. I gave it just a quick sanding, and shot it with some charcoal gray paint and then a light coat of clear. Just wanted to do a little something different...



Timing cover removed. This timing set and oil pump will be replaced with a new LS2 timing set and LS6 oil pump.



My pedals received from Kevin at vettesbydesign.com. These things look great, and at a steal of a price.



Painted some of the accesory items, along with the exterior of the throttle body. Should really sharpen things up in the engine bay.



Also painted the bellhousing...for the hell of it. I figured a little of it might show in the engine bay...



Here's a shot of the motor, cleaned and painted. I like how it looks...I think I'm going to pull the valve covers and the timing cover and paint them gloss black. Might be a waste of time, since most of the timing cover is obscured by the water pump, and the valve covers will ultimately be hidden by fuel rail covers, but it's the little details, right?



New LS6 oil pump



And finally, my Dirty Dingo motor mounts.



Anxious for my PSI Coversion wiring harness to get here, so I can check it out. Have a few more details to clean and paint, and purchase the rest of my parts. Then I'll have a look at the budget and see about a cam, valvesprings, and new pushrods.

 

Also, the plan is to sand and paint the intake. I'll sand and spray a high build primer, sand again, and then paint with a bright silver, and then clear over it. I'll also paint the fuel rails silver with a shot of clear to sharpen them up.

I think I'm going to get a set of C5 Corvette Fuel Rail Covers, sand and prime them, and then go with a gloss black with a clear coat on them. May go with some silver or even stainless lettering to fill in the "Corvette" letters on the FRCs...

 

Nice progress, at this pace you'll be driving soon.


Riggs

 

The PSI harness is very nice. I have one and am putting the finishing touches on installing it know. I did modify it slightly due to the coils being relocated. Other than that it is going in with some effort but no problems so far.

 

Just so you guys don't think I'm slacking...







I got all my fuel system parts ordered, as well as a Lokar throttle cable, the straight water neck and 90 degree bends, and exhaust flanges. I also have an order in for a clutch speed bleeder. Still have quite a few parts to buy, but I've got more than enough to keep me busy for a while.

I'll be installing my pedals and clutch hydraulics next, and then its under the car to do the fuel system stuff.

 

Amazing what a little time,elbow grease, and color will do, It looks great.

Riggs

 

Looking real good.

 

Quick question about fuel system...

I am assuming that I will delete the EVAP solenoid that was attached to the intake manifold previously, and plug the port at the front of the manifold. Do I need to run a vented gas cap when I do this? I'll be using the C5 regulator/inline pump combo that is returnless. What did you guys do for this issue?

 

You can run the stock cap with the inline pump and reg. At least that is how I have mine.

 

The system will have to be vented somewhere, either the Cap, which can be drilled, or through the vapor vent system up through the carbon canister. If the system is not vented, it will vapor lock.

Riggs.

 

I still have the charcol cannister on mine. I just vent the tank through it and leave the cannister open to atmosphere. Just never took it out and it does not weigh much so i left it alone. You need to vent the tank somehow.

 

Is the canister in the driver's side fender area, near the windshield washer fluid resevoir? Mine is still there...

 

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

 

Quil,Yes that is where the charcoal canister is located. As long as the check valve at the tank is still functional, then just leave the charcoal can open to the atmosphere, the Hose that used to run to the motor to burn off the vapor is the hose you will now leave open. If your going to run the E vap system on the LS you could tie the charcoal canister to that, most people aren't running an E vap system, they have deleted them.


Riggs

 

Got it. Thanks guys.