Thanks for all the compliments I would be willing to help anyone doing the swap, but as far as a kit I just don't have the time or space to take on such a business.

My regulator is set at 55 PSI my regulator is a Mallory too I can't remember exactly but I think I had to take it apart and add a supplied spring to get it to go that high. The instructions are very good that came with it. Pretty straight forward

I will have to go through and look at my pictures. I did change one thing since that write up. The starter is now only extended 7/8", and moved to the side of the adapter plate. I also had it heat treated. The old one was wearing much faster than normal. I will have to find time to do a write up on that. I don't know what it is about this time of year but between work, graduation parties and weddings I don't have much time for myself

My name is Alan Swanson thanks for letting me put a link to that info in my sig. I was planning to ask

here you go this should make it easier to find. if you have any more questions e-mail me, PM, or post here. although I will admit I am not the best at checking my pm's

I thought I would do a little update.... When I put the engine back in I changed the way I did the starter. Before I didn't have the part heat treated and was wearing out fast. So as long as o was redoing it I thought I would try to improve it at the same time. The starter now mounts to the adapter plate rather than the block. This allow for a shorter drive gear. I also redid my water pump to accommodate a manual thermostat. Before on cold days it would take forever to warm up. I used a standard off the self thermostat for a SBC 160 F. I decided to fabricate my own housing to mount to the block. It works great, but if I had to do it again. I would just use the plates I made before and mount the thermostat off the block remotely. Took me too much work to fabricate the housing. While out I also added the GM hot cam set up with ls6 springs, had the heads port matched, and the rear manifold jet hot coated. Hear are some pics.






edit for spelling ...my bad

[This message has been edited by LS1swap (edited 10-19-2003).]

Very detailed awesome.. out of curiousity have you driven an LT1 fiero in comparison to yours? I've always heard LS1's were more beastly

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88 5spd 3800 Series II SC Formula Yes it whines... do you?

No I have never driven an LT1 fiero . I have only drove one other v8 fiero... I think it was a ram jet 350. Stock for stock an ls1 out powers an lt1. It was a friend of mines 99 TA that made me fall in love with this engine, plus the aluminum block, and No optispark either

Yeah, it's a great engine. If Archie had a kit for it with the same level of completion as his Master kit, I imagine he'd do a LOT of LS1/6 swaps. Especially considering a new LS1 with electronics is readily available from GM Performance Parts, and it's standalone ECM is designed for non-original cars with or without electronically controllec transmissions.

Given the aftermarket for the GenIII, I'd jump on that one in a heartbeat, even if stock an LS1 is only 320HP.

Of course, that brings up another question mentioned in another thread. How does the LS1's 320HP compare to a ZZ4's 355HP?

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Pulleeeeeese someone build a kit for this engine. I gotta have the V8 sound and the 3800 SC performance. The LS1 seems like the only way to get it. I want both. I WANNA I WANNA I WANNA!!!!!! There, did that help? Is there a kit yet?

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85 kit, Gotta have a V8!

Just discovered some exiting news tonight. I have been looking for pictures of a holden front sump pan for the LS1. The reason is it is the oiling system that makes the ls1 more difficult than other SBC to put in a Fiero. All the oil goes through a passage in the pan and out through a cover for an external oil cooler (marked stem in top pic which is for a oil temp sensor in the vette). One can't just put a plate over this without blocking oil flow so it has to stay. This forces one to use a 168 tooth flywheel instead of a 153. Which in turn makes one move the tripot joint out a little. if you look at the pic no matter if you mounted the oil filter remotely or not the pan still gets in the way of started engagement for a smaller flywheel. Well tonight not only did I get a pic but a part number too. With this pan one should be able to step back down to a 153 tooth flywheel by mounting the starter under the pan in the center. It would take some fabrication, but the back flange ( which is to the left in the picture of the pan) only serves as a mounting point for the trans. This would simplify the mounting of an ls1 in a Fiero. If one was to cut the pan in the center (marked A) I believe one could get the starter to catch a 153 tooth flywheel. Another option would be to cut the can where it is marked B. Similar to where it is on most SBC. The pan does cost $ 281.21 shipped but using it would eliminate the need to fabricate a rear manifold, so the actual cost would not go up that much if any at all. The part number is 12561541. This pan may also make it possible to hook the LS1 to an auto trans.

this is the old starter set up but it shows the problem

front sump pan

Hell if you can get the starter that close to the engine, you could go with a QM clutch and even smaller flywheel.

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'87 Fiero GT: Northstar, Getrag, TGP wheels, rear sway bar, rod end links, bushings, etc.
'90 Pontiac 6000 SE AWD: Leaking ABS unit fixed, load levelling rear suspension fixed, still slow

Well the smaller ring gear the better..... I don't know how much smaller one could go but this pan will sure help. It is all kind of mute to me for I am happy with my setup, but this is something for someone else thinking about the swap to look into. Digging a little deeper I am also told it uses a different oil pick up, which makes sense. I am also told it uses a different windage tray. Not so sure why this is.... The oil pick up does attach to the windage tray so maybe that is all there is to it.

Where is Archie? I want him chiming in offering an LS1 kit.

I just thought I would add this. I had heard the GTO would get the holden pan and now it looks as if it does. I found a pic of the undercarriage on pointiac.com as you can see it is the front sump pan this would change how I would do the swap if I was to do it again. So who will be the first to drop in an auto ls1 in a fiero to give those 3800 guys a run for their money

Now how do I convince a pontiac dealer I am interested in the car but just need to look underneath first

[This message has been edited by LS1swap (edited 11-19-2003).]

quote Originally posted by LS1swap: I just thought I would add this. I had heard the GTO would get the holden pan and now it looks as if it does. I found a pic of the undercarriage on pointiac.com as you can see it is the front sump pan this would change how I would do the swap if I was to do it again. So who will be the first to drop in an auto ls1 in a fiero to give those 3800 guys a run for their money

Competition will only help the market on both sides of the 3800 / V8 debate. Have you decided on an automatic yet? I still think a 4T65-E would work great for you and would get along just fine with the LS1 computer.

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power corrupts. absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Custom GM Chip Burning | Fiero Engine Conversions | Turbocharging | dtcc.cz28.com

quote Originally posted by LS1swap: Just discovered some exiting news tonight. <snip> The part number is 12561541.

Hmmmm, I just checked this thread for the 1st time since I went to Vegas last month. I bought one of those pans back in early Sept. I had it in the trailer at FieroRama because I was going to show it to you at the show but forgot about it.

It's over at the machine shop right now but I'll post some pics of it when it gets back.

It's still to be determined just how much it will move the starter towards the crank.

Archie

Yes Darth I think competition is good for all...... The auto LS1 is just an idea I have been contemplating. Just wanted to find out what option I had if I did. I will have to check my local bone yard and see what they want for one.

Archie that will be interesting to see. When I was rebuilding my engine I traces the 142 tooth ring gear to the back my stock LS1 F/W I would have been able to get it to catch directly underneath with out a pan at all ( would have been kind of hard to keep oil in the engine though ). So it is all a matter of how much it pushes you down. I wish I would have found out about that pan when I was doing mine. It would have saved me allot of headaches I think. At the time though I had never even heard of a holden and the GTO was still a top secret GM project. Being able to use stock manifold, stock tripot, and off the shelf starter would have been nice. Plus I could have gained a whole inch of space( a mile in engine swaps)

I noticed a sudden rise in questions on the LS1 again so I thought I would give this a bump for those who haven't seen it

bumped for Ron this should make it a little easier to find
Alan

would you be willing to make your adapter plate CAD drawings available to do it yourselfers (for a nominal fee if desired)?

Just e-mail me and I will send you a copy for free. I have it in .DWG or .DFX form