LS1 Conversion, A Retrospective Build Thread Options

[andys]

Here's the start of a retrospective build thread of my LS1 conversion. It took a few years to get it done mostly due to not wanting to be a slave to the project, and work on it for the enjoyment; and of course when family obligations allowed......teen daughter and high maintenance wife (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

What I started with was a local orignal owner '75 2.0 with 139K miles. The original owner "drove the heck out of it" until something died in the electrical system and he parked it in the garage for 14 years, as evidenced by the renewal tags. Only body damage was when he submarined the rear of a Mustang and creased the hood and flattened the left signal light pod. Otherwise, it was a good condition rust free (SoCal) car.

Brief specs are: '01 LS1 Z28 motor, Audi 01E 6 speed tranaxle, 911 front suspension, custom made rear trailing arms, Koni shocks, 993 wheels, and AC.

Below, are photos of what I started with, and what I ended-up with. I'll do my best to re-trace the build process, so if you have any questions along the way, please ask.

BTW, how does one place text between photos in the same post?

Andys

[andys]

I mentioned earlier the need to move the firewall hump by 1 1/8" to get the water pump and accessory drive to clear. I wasn't sure how I'd deal with the intrusion into the cabin, but it seemed to be something I could tackle later in the build....I actually don't like proceeding without figuring everything out in advance (typical engineer!), but I though it was low risk.

The firewall hump only needed to be moved forward at the top. The crank pulley and alternator clearance at the bottom was adequate as is. What I did, was to cut the outline of what I needed, but not cut the bottom. I simply cut and inverted 'U', (attached at the bottom) and bent the it forward at the top. I made filler sections, and welded them in. Also, as all us 914 types do, an access panel was fabricated. Notice too, I had to make a sort of pie cut portion on the drivers side of the hump to clear the accessory drive serpentine belt.

One additional area that required clearance, was the thermostat housing. The firewall needed a small hump there too, so I decided to make a removable hump thingy. I don't have a photo of the removable hump, so I'll describe it briefly. I only needed about 3/4" worth of hump, so I took a sheet metal pan I found at McMaster-Carr that was about 4" x 8" x 2" deep and cut it to 3/4" and welded a flange around its perifery. Not as easy as it sounds, since if you notice in the photos, there are stiffening ribs in the firewall which required the flange to change planes, so it was a bit involved. As with the access panel, I made this hump thing removable as well. To get the motor out of the car, the thermostat housing needs to be removed beforehand....things are that tight!

Photos are out of order, and some show the result in its final painted form, but you get the idea.