hey all, i am thinking over the spring-summer i want to do an LS1 conversion on my 95 3400 v6 firebird, i am not aware of what kind of work i need to do beside getting the motor and putting it in and than having it tuned somewhere. I plan on doing this all at my friends house once he finishes restoring his 1969 GTO which will be sometime in spring. Will i have to change the engine mounts? Its an auto but will i need a different, possibly stronger trans? please if you guys have anymore information it would be GREATLY appreciated

THANKS MUCH!

~sam

 

You'll need new mounts i'm pretty sure, and definitely a new trans. you should just drop a LS1 with a 6spd. Cause if you put a LS1 auto in it, you'll be using a computer controlled tranny. If you use the full LS1 pcm and harness, putting a auto in wont be too bad. You're prolly gonna wanna put a new rearend in too with some good gears and posi. You really should just use use a full LS1 k-member, that would be the best way. Take a LS1 with k-member out of a wrecked LS1 car and bolt the k-member into your car.

 

http://www.camarov6.com
Search for V6 to V8 swap in BOTH these forums... This has been covered MORE than enough...

... Basically to answer your questions... It would be a hell of alot cheaper to just buy an LS1 as EVERYTHING in your car would need to be changed to accomidate the Engine / Weight / Power...

Here's just a brief summary of things that will be MANDATORY you change...

Transmission
Rearend
Front Suspension (Rear aswell to keep the car more of ballance)
Fuel Lines
Fuel Pump
Fuel Tank
PCM
Wiring Harness
Gauges (If you want to see how fast you're going, and get accurate RPM's)
Driveshaft (The LS1 will snap the stock two piece like a twig)

There's more but I can't think of it off hand, there will also be alot of error, tuning along the way that will be a PITA down the road... It's just not worth it in my oppinion unless you were going for a larger engine than a 346 CI LS1 or a 350 CI LT1... I would aim for nothing less than 383 CI if I was going to swap...

 

so im better off just buying and working for an ls1 car? what are your opinions? i dont know if ishould do the conversion or just keep the bird as a daily driver for when im older

 

Yes, get the LS1 car that came installed from the factory.

Look, even I have a dead (How dead? Not sure yet...) 3.4L in my car....and I'm not looking towards LT1 swap thoughts, mainly because it's a PITA to work on, not really because I didn't know what goes into an average engine swap these days, but my 8 spark plug Ranger is enough to deal with.

Then again, I wanted a more reliable cruiser (with auto tranny) than the carbed 1980 MGB I had as a project. Not into racing, myself, but the auto tranny is good for hurricane evacs.

Thinking about it, the LS1 isn't that much heavier than the 3.4L to NEED the suspension all around. It's a "nice to have thing" for track use, I bet. The rear axle? Heh, a 305 might rip that apart.