Registry 8x Series V8 Swaps (14 Viewers)

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I’m getting ready to pull the trigger and LS swap my LX450. I’m curious if any of you own a 200 series as well as a LS swapped 80. I love my 200 for pulling our expedition trailer and it is very plush. I’ve spent a small fortune outfitting my 80 with lockers. 4.88s, drawers, BP-51s and the list goes on. I planned to use it on our last vacation and got about 80 miles from the house and noticed the temp at 210 and climbing and absolutely no power to pull the trailer so we turned around and quickly setup the 200 and rolled back out. Everyone was really happy except me. I really want to use the 80 and I’d like it to be at least as good as the 200 at pulling the trailer. Comfort will never be close to the 200 and I know that but I do think I can take some reasonable measures to make the cabin quieter.

So, how does your LS swapped 80 stack up agains your 200?

I am currently considering a GMPP LS3 430hp long block and I am completely torn on transmission choice. I hate the 6spd indicator thing people put on the dash and it looks like the 6spd can not be controlled by the Holley efi setup so I would have to do something different. I’m open to suggestions but I’m thinking with 4.88s the 4l80e is probably going to be just fine or possibly built 4l60e but I really don’t want neck snapping shifts. Nice and smooth is more like it and maybe set the over drive button to a more sporty shifting tune.

After having said all this what accessory drive would you guys suggest and what manifolds seem to be the easiest to work with?
 
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girupb said:
I’m getting ready to pull the trigger and LS swap my LX450. I’m curious if any of you own a 200 series as well as a LS swapped 80. I love my 200 for pulling our expedition trailer and it is very plush. I’ve spent a small fortune outfitting my 80 with lockers. 4.88s, drawers, BP-51s and the list goes on. I planned to use it on our last vacation and got about 80 miles from the house and noticed the temp at 210 and climbing and absolutely no power to pull the trailer so we turned around and quickly setup the 200 and rolled back out. Everyone was really happy except me. I really want to use the 80 and I’d like it to be at least as good as the 200 at pulling the trailer. Comfort will never be close to the 200 and I know that but I do think I can take some reasonable measures to make the cabin quieter.

So, how does your LS swapped 80 stack up agains your 200?

I am currently considering a GMPP LS3 430hp long block and I am completely torn on transmission choice. I hate the 6spd indicator thing people put on the dash and it looks like the 6spd can not be controlled by the Holley efi setup so I would have to do something different. I’m open to suggestions but I’m thinking with 4.88s the 4l80e is probably going to be just fine or possibly built 4l60e but I really don’t want neck snapping shifts. Nice and smooth is more like it and maybe set the office button to a more sporty shifting tune.

After having said all this what accessory drive would you guys suggest and what manifolds seem to be the easiest to work with?
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I have a mildly built 200 (lift, tires, sliders and front bumper), as well an 6.2L in my 80 series. My 80 has a 6L80, 37's and 4.88's. It can tow my loaded utility trailer very well, but the lift/tires and IFS vs SFA setups makes them a bit different in terms of towing capability. If I'm going to tow a notable load for hours on end out of necessity (not for fun), I'll always choose the 200 for comfort and ease purposes. My 80, even in its current form, does feel more powerful than the 200 so the "power" element isn't an issue here.

I love my 6L80 and wouldn't want a 4-speed, but dont have personal experience with it either, so take my comment with a grain of salt.

As for accessory drive, I'm running a Holley 20-143 and Hooker headers.
 
Gauging interest. Would anyone be interested in plug/play harnesses to have working Park/Neutral safety function as well as reverse lights and complete dash gear indicators for swaps with 4l60e or 4l80e? Harnesses would be about $350.
 
girupb said:
I will order one now.
Click to expand...

nice. I need to make a working prototype first and make sure I can get the connector housings and terminals in bulk first. Will be a few months but I figure the interest will be strong.
I am close to having my FJ62 harness ready for market but that is a much simpler harness as they don’t have any kind of interior gear indicator
 
cruisermatt said:
nice. I need to make a working prototype first and make sure I can get the connector housings and terminals in bulk first. Will be a few months but I figure the interest will be strong.
I am close to having my FJ62 harness ready for market but that is a much simpler harness as they don’t have any kind of interior gear indicator
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Could you also include the a/c and power steering adapters or possibly hoses? Maybe even pick a front drive system and become a vendor for them and offer the motor mounts, al hoses and the harness.
 
girupb said:
Could you also include the a/c and power steering adapters or possibly hoses? Maybe even pick a front drive system and become a vendor for them and offer the motor mounts, al hoses and the harness.
Click to expand...

so like a complete swap solution? :)

@FJ60Cam @ Mosley Motors has the PS and AC hose solutions.
For accessory drive the very best setup in my opinion is the common GM truck setup. It puts everything in the perfect spot for a LHD Cruiser.
The only issue with this is for guys with fancy LS3 or other car engines need to swap balancers.
All parts are available new from GM though.

I have a 80 series motor mount kit to use the common 2808 style motor mounts that I just need to finalize some details on before bringing to market. Prototype set is installed on @masong 80 swap.

I need more hours in the day.
 
cruisermatt said:
so like a complete swap solution? :)

@FJ60Cam @ Mosley Motors has the PS and AC hose solutions.
For accessory drive the very best setup in my opinion is the common GM truck setup. It puts everything in the perfect spot for a LHD Cruiser.
The only issue with this is for guys with fancy LS3 or other car engines need to swap balancers.
All parts are available new from GM though.

I have a 80 series motor mount kit to use the common 2808 style motor mounts that I just need to finalize some details on before bringing to market. Prototype set is installed on @masong 80 swap.

I need more hours in the day.
Click to expand...
I’m of the opinion that my time is valuable and sourcing all this stuff is not how I want to spend my time. However, 25k for a swap is out of reach so me being able to quasi bolt in an engine and plug up harnesses myself in the 12k range without too much fuss would be nice.

Thinking some more on it I believe manifolds and oil pans could be included as well as the various trans pans.
 
girupb said:
I’m of the opinion that my time is valuable and sourcing all this stuff is not how I want to spend my time. However, 25k for a swap is out of reach so me being able to quasi bolt in an engine and plug up harnesses myself in the 12k range without too much fuss would be nice.

Thinking some more on it I believe manifolds and oil pans could be included as well as the various trans pans.
Click to expand...
Doing a master kit wouldn't be a profitable way to do it as most of the partsare off the shelf parts that are pretty readily available to everyone That whom ever was to do that would have to have in stock for you to just order up and these parts are not all that cheap and there are quite a few of them. At that point one could just buy a 80/60/62 or whatever the vehicle is and build it out themselves and charge for their build and cut you out of the equation completely. Im starting to see this trend now and makes perfect sense as a builder myself. Just saying if someone is going to take the time and compile all parts when I say all I mean all and basically tell or give you a drawing of what goes where and make it plug and play for ease of someone who doesn't want to pay someone to actually do the job is shooting them selves in the foot by not just building a vehicle out and selling it and make an actual profit and not nickel and diming parts.
Just my opinion
Tommy.
 
tmxmotorsports said:
Doing a master kit wouldn't be a profitable way to do it as most of the partsare off the shelf parts that are pretty readily available to everyone That whom ever was to do that would have to have in stock for you to just order up and these parts are not all that cheap and there are quite a few of them. At that point one could just buy a 80/60/62 or whatever the vehicle is and build it out themselves and charge for their build and cut you out of the equation completely. Im starting to see this trend now and makes perfect sense as a builder myself. Just saying if someone is going to take the time and compile all parts when I say all I mean all and basically tell or give you a drawing of what goes where and make it plug and play for ease of someone who doesn't want to pay someone to actually do the job is shooting them selves in the foot by not just building a vehicle out and selling it and make an actual profit and not nickel and diming parts.
Just my opinion
Tommy.
Click to expand...

agreed and from what I have seen the VAST majority who are DIY swaps are willing to spend the time to shop around for deals.
nothing wrong with that. That’s what I do with my own projects.
But yeah not worth the overhead as a business to have that much variety of parts for such a singular purpose.
 
For example look on bring a trailer I dont know how to post a link there is a 62 on 80 chassis and suspension swapped with a nasty engine interior done all kinds of stuff and I think it was built by @torfab correct me if im wrong. Lat time i looked at the listing it was up to 96500.00 and will sell for more .
 
tmxmotorsports said:
Doing a master kit wouldn't be a profitable way to do it as most of the partsare off the shelf parts that are pretty readily available to everyone That whom ever was to do that would have to have in stock for you to just order up and these parts are not all that cheap and there are quite a few of them. At that point one could just buy a 80/60/62 or whatever the vehicle is and build it out themselves and charge for their build and cut you out of the equation completely. Im starting to see this trend now and makes perfect sense as a builder myself. Just saying if someone is going to take the time and compile all parts when I say all I mean all and basically tell or give you a drawing of what goes where and make it plug and play for ease of someone who doesn't want to pay someone to actually do the job is shooting them selves in the foot by not just building a vehicle out and selling it and make an actual profit and not nickel and diming parts.
Just my opinion
Tommy.
Click to expand...
I think you are likely correct Tommy. I'm not sure that you could setup drop-ship relationships with vendors that would make it worth while either.

I'm working on locating all the parts now and just learned from @cruisermatt about Mosely Motors having some of the pieces. Is there a sticky on here that has vendors providing various solutions? Am i missing something?

I think Wit's End is kinda doing what I was saying in regards to other projects on the 80. He even lists his part numbers for those looking for a deal. He gets the fact that some of us do not want to go all over the internet hunting stuff and he puts logical kits together and makes a little $ off of it though probably not enough. If his model could work for these swaps it would be awesome.
 
girupb said:
I'm working on locating all the parts now and just learned from @cruisermatt about Mosely Motors having some of the pieces. Is there a sticky on here that has vendors providing various solutions? Am i missing something?
Click to expand...

I don’t think there really is. I’d bet that was partially the idea behind this thread. Maybe the 1st post could be some sort of FAQ? It would definitely help with repetitive questions.
 
No vendors that i know of have a compiled list some guys that have done the swaps themselves have done so on their builds but mainly on the 60 section most of those builds they have searched for the parts and figured what they should use. Over here on the 80 section you see alot of giys wanting the I don't want to think or waste my time looking when someone else has already done it wanting part numbers and or a kit so i can just order and Joey has stated thats why he makes kits for people. Yes Cameron makes ac lines power steering lines and radiator for 60s don't belive he does for 80s @FJ60Cam ? At least there is this thread as @cruisermatt said that should have all the info you need and more.
 
cruisermatt said:
Maybe the 1st post could be some sort of FAQ? It would definitely help with repetitive questions.
Click to expand...

This is definitely my biggest complaint about this thread. Lots of information but it's not a good reference, but more of a chat, which isn't particularly helpful if coming at this fresh. A wiki would be perfect, as I imagine 80/LS swaps will only increase.
 
napir said:
This is definitely my biggest complaint about this thread. Lots of information but it's not a good reference, but more of a chat, which isn't particularly helpful if coming at this fresh. A wiki would be perfect, as I imagine 80/LS swaps will only increase.
Click to expand...
I used this thread and others build threads as a bible.
Sure you gota dig a little, but that's w/ almost anything.
I also PM'd a lot of people w/ questions
 
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