LC80 LEGEND with just one comment lmfao
Racefiend's CA Legal 1992 LS Swap Build Thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Racefiend
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Great work!
Ls 80s are fun to drive
Ls 80s are fun to drive
What’s your plan for the exhaust? Thats where I’m currently at with mine and trying to see if anyone has got a 1,2,3 for it here.
- Thread starter
- #24
So far what I've got in the works is using the factory truck manifolds. I mocked them up. With some light grinding i got the right side to clear the engine mount, and it will dump down inside the right side frame.
For the left side, I'm planning on cutting off the outlet flange and reweld it so it points above the frame. This way it will exit along the factory exhaust path.
Unfortunately that's all I've done so far. In between waiting for all the body mount hardware from Toyota, waiting for the steering box plates from Australia, and being sick/hospitalized the last several weeks i haven't had much time to mock things up. But exhaust is my next step to finish before moving on.
- Thread starter
- #25
So I finally got back around to working on the FJ. I took the advice here and ordered up some frame stiffening plates for the steering box area from Australia from Rampt Customs. I got the outer one welded on. That one went on pretty smooth, other than it being a PITA to weld around the holes for the bolt shafts. I've only ever welded straight pieces, and then only in an easily accessible position (and even then I don't weld often). Filling in the gaps around the bolt shafts while constantly changing the gun angle (same with the two center holes) and contorting myself between the tire and frame to overhead weld the bottom was definitely a learning experience. I'm going to have to drill and tap a hole towards the front of the frame as the plate covered the mounting screw for the brake line bracket.
Then I moved on to the inside plate. That one required quite a bit of trimming. The holes on the plate for the bolt shafts were interfering with the stock welds around the shafts. I had to trim all of the holes, as well as take about 3/8" off the top of the plate as it was too tall and stuck out above the frame. Some of the gaps around the bolt shafts were pretty big and it was a bugger to fill them in. The welds I made filling in the gap around the panhard bar bracket were doodoo, so I just beveled those out.
Next was the bracket for the cross bar, that went pretty well
There is a 4th plate that goes on the panhard bar mount. However, I didn't like the way it was fitting. I'll modify it and weld it on later as that is accessible with the body and stuff on.
Then I moved on to the inside plate. That one required quite a bit of trimming. The holes on the plate for the bolt shafts were interfering with the stock welds around the shafts. I had to trim all of the holes, as well as take about 3/8" off the top of the plate as it was too tall and stuck out above the frame. Some of the gaps around the bolt shafts were pretty big and it was a bugger to fill them in. The welds I made filling in the gap around the panhard bar bracket were doodoo, so I just beveled those out.
Next was the bracket for the cross bar, that went pretty well
There is a 4th plate that goes on the panhard bar mount. However, I didn't like the way it was fitting. I'll modify it and weld it on later as that is accessible with the body and stuff on.
- Thread starter
- #26
Everything painted and ready to go.
- Thread starter
- #27
Next was to check the clearance for the engine against the firewall. The marks4wd instructions mentioned you'd need to massage the firewall, and they were right. I moved the frame around until it lined up with the body, and lowered and raised the body more times than I could count to check, adjust, and recheck clearances. The left side of the engine had no issues.
However, the right side was definitely going to hit. The area with the tape is the section of the firewall that needs modification. This is pre pounding.
I covered the whole area with tape to protect the paint, then took a 2x4 and a sledge hammer and began reshaping. This pic was during one of my checks. I could still not lower the body all the way down without hitting. Still not enough room, and I found the bolt boss at the end of the valve cover was going to be an issue, as I would have to bang on the firewall near a crease to make clearance, which was going to come out ugly. I decided to shave that boss off of the valve cover. It just holds the coil pack bracket. There are 3 other bolts left to hold the bracket on. It won't be a problem.
Some more pounding and checking, and this is the final shape of the firewall. I concentrated on the vertical shaded area, then had to give it some extra pounding along the circle area to the top right to get good clearance on the valve cover.
And here's the final clearance with the body all the way on. You can see the shaved bolt boss on the valve cover.
However, the right side was definitely going to hit. The area with the tape is the section of the firewall that needs modification. This is pre pounding.
I covered the whole area with tape to protect the paint, then took a 2x4 and a sledge hammer and began reshaping. This pic was during one of my checks. I could still not lower the body all the way down without hitting. Still not enough room, and I found the bolt boss at the end of the valve cover was going to be an issue, as I would have to bang on the firewall near a crease to make clearance, which was going to come out ugly. I decided to shave that boss off of the valve cover. It just holds the coil pack bracket. There are 3 other bolts left to hold the bracket on. It won't be a problem.
Some more pounding and checking, and this is the final shape of the firewall. I concentrated on the vertical shaded area, then had to give it some extra pounding along the circle area to the top right to get good clearance on the valve cover.
And here's the final clearance with the body all the way on. You can see the shaved bolt boss on the valve cover.
- Thread starter
- #28
Next I started checking the exhaust manifold clearances. The left manifold points right at the top of the frame. I found this out earlier when I test fit it with the body off. My initial plan was to cut off and reweld the outlet flange so it goes over the frame rail like the stock exhaust did. During the test fit, the right side manifold looked like it would be fine. However, when I test fit it with the body in place, the outlet flange hit the firewall. The exhaust bolt was in on the last bolt hole near the firewall, but the front part of the manifold could not come down to match the front bolt hole on the head because that flange was hitting the firewall.
I shaved that flange down to gain extra clearance, but no dice. It was not enough room for the the front of the manifold to line up. I was left with either pounding out the firewall or cutting and rewelding the flange. This was going to be a lot of work rewelding both manifolds, so I just ordered some G8 manifolds from the dealer. Hopefully I'll get those this week and can test fit to see which route I want to go.
I shaved that flange down to gain extra clearance, but no dice. It was not enough room for the the front of the manifold to line up. I was left with either pounding out the firewall or cutting and rewelding the flange. This was going to be a lot of work rewelding both manifolds, so I just ordered some G8 manifolds from the dealer. Hopefully I'll get those this week and can test fit to see which route I want to go.
Great build! I admire your skill and perseverance!
Great thread. I'm sorry for the unfortunate hurdles thrown at you here. I probably would have given up after the bent frame.
Nice subaru!
Nice subaru!
- Thread starter
- #31
Hey, it wouldn't be any fun if it was easy!
The Subaru is a customer car. We're working on an 06 WRX swap on that one.
after hearing the bad news i thought my truck was dunzo. i don’t know what i did to deserve this man.
- Thread starter
- #33
I see you have a 92 which is OBD1. I've gone through the ref process before back in 2001 in a 96 Honda civic and a B series swap from a 99 Integra Type R. It was a bit of a pain because of tighter OBD2 restrictions.
You think there is any hope for a 97 LC swap as a DIY in CA? Or should I just move now? lol
You think there is any hope for a 97 LC swap as a DIY in CA? Or should I just move now? lol
- Thread starter
- #35
It should be the exact same amount of work as on a 92, minus welding in new engine mounts, just modifying that passenger mount if you want A/C. All of the emissions components from the donor vehicle have to be transferred over to the LC. You would need to transfer over the OBD2 connector from the donor, as I don't think the 97 Toyotas use the same pins. It needs to be refereed with the donor vehicle specs, plus a dyno smog, which would be required whether you have a 92 or 97. The only thing I'm not sure of is what tailpipe criteria they use for the dyno test. Having a 97 might be a bit stricter. But either way the LS is going to spit out way less pollutants than the original LC. Plus the donor for this car is E85, which I plan to incorporate on the LC, so smog should be even cleaner if that's in the tank.
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- #36
Well I got the g8/Camaro manifold for the driver side today. No go. Half of the outlet flange hangs over the frame. Dammit. Ordered up the cast manifolds from Summit. I'll have those on Monday.
Do they require you install the fuel tank from the donor vehicle as well? I know they started doing that for later year swaps, not sure if they still do or what that criteria is. Looking good!
- Thread starter
- #38
You should not have to install the tank. You just need to make the EVAP system work with it. In some cases you have no choice but to use the tank to make it work. Since the fuel pump hanger is metal, it's easily modified. On newer stuff with plastic hanger assemblies, there's little you can do. For the FJ and this LS swap, you need to get a fuel level signal to the PCM, and you also need to have the fuel tank pressure sensor signal as well. I'm going to weld a boss onto the stock fuel tank bracket to fit the pressure sensor. I'm also going to run dual level sensors, one for the gauge and one for the PCM. I tried to come up with a circuit using opamps to convert the factory signal to something the PCM could read, but I don't know much about them, and trying to learn about them made my head hurt, so I'm just going to run dual senders. I'll have to modify the fuel pump bracket for a few extra wires.
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- #39
So I got the Summit Racing manifolds in today. Test fit them and it looks like these are ticket (part number G9080). Here's the clearance on the passenger side. It clears the frame and the firewall with plenty of room.
The left side is a close fit, but it's going to work. I'll need to bring the exhasut pipe off of the flange at a bit of an inward angle for best clearance. The thing I'm not liking is how close it is to the brake lines, especially the coupler for one of the new brake lines I made. I'm going to reroute one brake line a bit lower then up into the splitter for the front left brake, and the other I'll run up and on top of the frame. Looks like I'll have to scrap one of the new brake lines I made and make another.
That's it for today. Time to gather some vinegar, salt, and hydrogen peroxide and age these manifolds.
The left side is a close fit, but it's going to work. I'll need to bring the exhasut pipe off of the flange at a bit of an inward angle for best clearance. The thing I'm not liking is how close it is to the brake lines, especially the coupler for one of the new brake lines I made. I'm going to reroute one brake line a bit lower then up into the splitter for the front left brake, and the other I'll run up and on top of the frame. Looks like I'll have to scrap one of the new brake lines I made and make another.
That's it for today. Time to gather some vinegar, salt, and hydrogen peroxide and age these manifolds.
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- Thread starter
- #40
Well, I got some more work done since last update. I took care of the brake line routing to get more clearance from the exhaust manifold. The lines running along the frame had a bend around a weldment that were pretty extreme. Being as how I'm going to run the exhaust between the drivetrain and frame, I wanted to get more clearance there too.
So I decided to just make new frame lines, and get rid of the union I installed originally. Less points of failure and all that. I figured why not make them out of stainless steel. They should last the life of the car and we'll never have to worry about them again.
You can see they're hugging the frame a lot closer now.
So I decided to just make new frame lines, and get rid of the union I installed originally. Less points of failure and all that. I figured why not make them out of stainless steel. They should last the life of the car and we'll never have to worry about them again.
You can see they're hugging the frame a lot closer now.
