pillagenburn

Like the math on that one? Yeah, me too. Though it's not really THE L92 motor that I swapped, it's the cheaper iron block 6.0L variant of the L92 that I swapped in; complete with variable valve timing, L92 heads, forged powder rods and everything. Oh, and all at 9.6:1 compression

So my brother has been doing automotive wiring for years now and suggested that I find a car to do a conversion and he'd do the wiring. I set out to find a good F-body to swap something into, but I was unsure of what I wanted. I came across a near perfect-bodied 1994 Pontiac Firebird Formula that needed some paint and had a LT1 with rod knock for $1450 - I took it.

Fortunately for me the Firebird had a LT1 T56 in it... which I in turn sold for $1200... I haven't even sold the rest of the parts and got my money back out of the $1450.

I knew I wanted L92 heads, that much was certain, and I wanted at least 400rwhp so I began looking around at my options. I'd looked at cammed LS1's making that kind of power, LS2's and LQ4's, LQ9's and so forth. LS1's were too expensive for what I would get, stock, and LS2's were WAY too pricey. LQ4's and LQ9's required too much screwing around with pulling heads off and replacing all kinds of garbage. I then came across the L92, and while it had everything I wanted, it was a bit out of my price range..... then I saw the LY6.

The LY6 engine, for those of you that don't know, is the 6.0L iron block engine found in a lot of 2007+ 2500/3500 pickups and vans. It runs 9.6:1 compression, has forged rods, an iron block, drive by wire, 90mm throttle body stock, L92 heads and oh yeah... Variable Valve Timing.

If you don't know what Variable Valve Timing is and why it's better than a fixed cam timing setup, Google it.

I searched the boards to see more about the Ly6 engine, and to my surprise no one had heard about it. I then saw threads about people carb'ing LY6 motors and wondered why on earth anyone would do that?

The LY6 I found I got for $2140 out the door and is from a 2007 Chevy Silverado 3500HD and has about 8,000 miles on it. It came complete with all accessories, wiring harness and ECU. This pic is after I'd gutted it a bit:



Anyway, so I assembled a list of mods for the swap that I'd be getting and here's what I've got:

• -LY6 engine (of course)
• -M12 t56 from a 2004 GTO
• -Harwood fiberglass Firebird ram air hood
• -UMI Tubular road race K-member
• -strano 35mm front swaybar
• -UMI rear 22mm rear swaybar
• -Hooker long tube headers
• -true duals with bullets, dumped at the axle
• -L76 intake
• -stock firebird ram air intake
• -poly front a-arm bushings ($50 instead of several hundred for aftermarket a-arms)
• -UMI torque arm
• - UMI rear LCA's and panhard rod

there's probably more but I can't think of it right now

One issue we (my brother and I) ran into was the spacing of the f-body accessories to match the LY6. This was accomplished with a 3/4" aluminum plate and a few additional spacers to use the f-body accessories. I only had to buy the power steering pump.

I had to swap the oil pan as well for a LS1 ... here's the pan removed (you can see the UMI K-member too):



Other than that the swap went pretty cleanly.. I deleted the PCV system and installed an oil cap breather as well as another breather on the other valve cover. My brother took care of all of the wiring.

so here's the car, finished - all of the stock gauges work (oil pressure, coolant temp, oil level, ses etc) but the speedo and tach need calibrating.



and here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi7jYJYMrek



If I think of anything else to write about I'll post it up... but I can tell you this, the car pulls like freaking crazy... I had a F13 cammed LS1 Camaro SS before and the power delivery was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING like this thing is. The power and delivery of it on this LY6 is far superior to my old cammed LS1. I've driven a lot of chevy 350's in my lifetime, but the Variable Valve Timing makes a HUGE difference.

The swap is pretty much done at this point.. the wiring is loomed and taped, the tach and speedo need to be calibrated then it's done. This car is the ultimate daily driver in every way, shape and form. Also, since the thing has forged rods (albeit powdered metal), and runs a low compression ratio; if I ever want to run 8-10 psi through the thing I can pretty safely.

To me, this is going to be THE swap to do for LT1 f-bodies in the future... It's cost-effective (the WHOLE project was $7k even with the UMI K-member, purchase price of the car, harwood fiberglass hood, M12 t56 from a GTO, engine etc etc) and can be done even MORE cost-effectively if you dont need that stuff. If you have a modded LT1 already, you can swap this thing over for just the same price (possibly less, aluminum block motors are expensive) it'd cost to swap a LS1...

ONLY YOU GET L92 HEADS - which are the equivalent of a HEAVILY ported LS-series head (300+ cfm intake for a factory L92 head). Oh, and not to mention Variable Valve Timing... Comp gained 70hp from a cam swap on a VVT L92; go look it up

Anyway, this car is everything I've wanted in a daily driver and more - I'm really excited about it. I'm expecting over 400rwhp out of this thing. If you have questions, ask away!

edit: oh, and you get a 180amp alternator on the LY6.

mknabz28

Very nice swap and write up. Never knew about the LY6 engine but now I do. This engine will for sure be in my mind whenever i consider doing a swap, good information

pillagenburn

I posted this up on LS1tech but not yet on here... but here are some demo videos... just an awesome build and an awesome motor


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxJmnKJ0ZJ0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_yYCX12IWM