Builds 400HP 6.2L LS with 6 Speed auto swap....no lift. Plug 'n play swap kit in development (2 Viewers)

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Yeah, but he's doing this on stock height, which won't ever see 37s... Is pan clearance an issue on raised rigs?

I'm planning to run 35s at stock height or very close to it, which I believe will be easier with the wheelbase stretch.

 

[Sam I Am]

Yeah, but he's doing this on stock height, which won't ever see 37s... Is pan clearance an issue on raised rigs?

Depends on where the bumpstops are. But yes. I also would think that the people that are swapping drivetrains will also more than likely change suspension.

 

[Summiteer]

My personal taste is that when tires aren't centered in the fenderwell they make the whole truck look a little goofy, probably more noticeable on the rear axle than the front though. interested to see what it looks like when it's moved

 

[slow95z]

i still dont see why you dont just use the car oil pan... it is not an issue unless you are doing extreme offroad stuff and if you are doing that you will have a lift and can then run whatever pan you want. i just think you are trying too hard to make this work your way when other ways will work just fine.

 

[rockrod]

i agree on the f-body pan statement. it's way easy to swap it out, just be sure you get the matching dip stick and tube plus the internal windage tray and oil pick up tube. this leads me to my reasoning for using the f-body pan. It is a very well built windage tray for the f-body pan that does a fantastic job of keeping the oil in place on all but the most extreme climbs. The extreme stuff is buggy territory and that's where you see the complaints. An 80 is no buggy and never will be. Even on the steepest trails that an 80 can actually run in Moab I seriously doubt there would ever be an issue of oil pressure loss from running the car pan. Remember that the f-body was meant for performance and flying around corners that mimic steeps hills. The pan swap is very easy and requires no sealers. You just unbolt the old one, swap the windage tray and pick up tube and torque the new one in place. took me maybe 20 minutes when i did mine. The dip stick tube slides in and out with no issue.

edit: also the f-body pan hangs no lower than the transmission bell housing and it also adds in additional bell housing bolts to connect the trans to the motor - this helps stiffen the whole assembly too which makes for a tighter package.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I will revisit the F-body oil pan idea before I start modifying my radius arm brackets. I'm still not convinced that an F-body pan will allow 100% full compression of the stock bumpstops which I am not willing to compromise on.

This image shows an excellent comparison of the two pans.

To the best of my knowledge nobody else is running an LS swap at stock height, so I am in undocumented territory. Everything else fits/clears remarkably well, even if I don't raise the engine an inch which I am thinking about doing.

What is everyone's opinions on the decorative engine covers? I can raise the engine 1-1.5" if I do away with the engine cover. Seems like a small sacrifice to gain valuable room for the exhaust.

 

[Izeloz]

I say get rid of the stupid cover if you need to get more clearance.. Like you said, it's purely decorative. However, I prefer the idea of keeping the weight as low as possible as long as everything clears. I know 1" isn't much, but even a light engine is still heavy. I also don't much care for the idea of moving the front axle if the F-body oil pan will get the job done. That being said, I plan on running a 2.5" lift anyway, so it may be a moot point.

 

[Rookie2]

Do you have a without pic?

Do they serve any real function? Personally I like them on there, but if it's the difference between having an easy clean install versus having to go through a bunch of extra gymnastics, then could probably live without.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Here is the top of the engine without the cover. I don't have the cover with me at the shop(it's at home, 200 miles away) to offer you a pic with the cover.

I am personally inclined to raise the engine(cover or not). One could always swap to a car intake if they wanted a better looking intake.

I'm running out of time this week to get much more done as I will be headed home for the weekend tomorrow. The good news is I'll be able to grab the engine cover and hood and bring them back to the shop. I've been hesitant to finalize anything until I can confirm adequate clearance of the hood. I thought about temporarily robbing one off of another 80, but motivation for that was low with the pouring rain we've had all week.

I think I will throw a pair of 35s on the front axle and evaluate the benefits/consequences of the wheelbase stretch concept before deciding one way or the other.

 

[rockrod]

I left my cover off but then again i was running a 2006 model year truck engine so it had the more traditional vortec cap on it. my intake was different too and had a very prominent solenoid mounted right on the top of the intake for the evap tank purge. that valve cost me about 2 inches of potential clearance to raise the engine up higher. I wasn't so worried about having the engine mounted high because in reality it was an all aluminum block and heads and would play very little changing the center of gravity. I say ditch the cover and get the motor up as high as reasonable - this will help when it comes time for exhaust. don't forget you have to snake the passenger side downpipe around the front drive shaft and starter so any space you can gain will work to your advantage. i haven't personally seen the 6 spd auto so I don't know how much bigger it is over the 4l60e but it might make sense to try and mock the whole assembly as a unit to ensure clearance for all the components.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I have the engine/trans/adapter in there together. The only thing missing is the case itself.

I forgot about the purge valve. I stripped it off of this motor early on. I'll have to grab it from the house and see how big it is. IIRC it sat off to the side of the intake itself on a little tab on the driver's side fuel rail.

 

[Rookie2]

If the with cover look is similar to the LS2 pic posted earlier in the thread, I think that's a much cleaner look if you can work it out. Just my $0.02.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I grabbed this pic off of the web. It shows what the stock cover looks like.

This is actually the same engine/configuration I've got, except that I have relocated the alternator to the passenger side, and raised the power steering pump to the location of the alt in the pic. The cover is definitely not sexy, but does look cleaner than no cover. Some have gone to the trouble of shaving all of the ribs off of the truck intake to make it look better, but I think that's a bit much.

 

[scottryana]

I think the axle relocation is probably the wrong demographic? You're spending all this time to make a plug and play LS swap, with correct harness and even OEM manifold for the CA guys and then with everything made as easy as possible they would have to relocate the axle? Seems like two opposing methods. I would think continue down the path of easy bolt in/plug and play and raise the engine a tad or find a pan to clearance or an aftermarket pan that less deep but wider.

 

[JeepinPete]

I think you are going about the axle relocation the hard way. Make up a set of radius arm drop-like brackets, but instead of drop, move the pivot forward. For a kit, this should be a bolt in approach vs mods to the axle brackets.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

You guys make a fair point. I didn't see redrilling the bracket as a big deal, but if a stock pan can be used without the need for that why not?

I will find a pan that clears without the wheelbase stretch. I think I may still do the stretch for myself, but will figure out the details first.

 

[RockJock82]

There is NO pan that fits and clears better than the f-body pan hands down. Swapping the pan out isn't much of a task to do either. If you were running 6inches of lift the stock pan would probably clear ok. I will get you a pic of another pan I use that is perfectly notched to clear the front pumpkin.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

That was the thing I really liked about this H3 pan, it has a lot of clearance on the passenger side compared to the truck pan. I am curious to see what other pan you use. The H3 pan would be great if I was willing to run 3" of bumpstop extensions, but I'm not. You might consider it for your lifted customers as it's CHEAP for the complete kit at $159(includes pan, windage tray, dip stick, gasket, and pick up tube).

I put the H3 pan on the engine 2 weeks ago. In retrospect, I kind of wish I hadn't since I could have returned it, but oh well.

The Holley LS swap pan looks like a potential candidate as well. It looks like they basically took an H3 pan and chopped 1.5-2" off of the sump.

 

[slow95z]

you could also run the fbody top end to move the engine higher. the wiring is all different for the fbody stuff but IMO much easier to work with.

 

[Onefastrx7turbo]

There is also a C5 pan, which is supposed to be even thinner than the F body but to make up for the lack of depth, its wider on the sides.