Finally starting my LQ9 Swap-In California🤦‍♂️ (1 Viewer)

[dude47]

Here we go. Been a couple years in the work. Started when I bought a 2005 Denali Yukon with an LQ9 and low oil pressure. I rebuilt the engine and transmission then got busy with my first kid.

He's now 19months old and will have a little brother in 4 months so I need to get this going or I will never get it done. I have read through a lot of other swaps and done a bunch of Research. The biggest challenge I am going to have is getting the factory Yukon intake and exhaust to fit under the hood and in the frame rails.

If anyone has done a California emissions legal swap please feel free to let me know what you did.

So far I have the factory harness de-pinned and cleaned up. The factory LS harness is pretty close to being done and I have an aftermarket fuse/relay box wired in.

Old engine/trans is out and already sold to another mud member.

 

[dude47]

I also cut up the GM Throttle and welded on the stock pedal as well as a steel plate that allowed me to mount it to the factory holes. The pedal is very close to the stock location.

 

[dude47]

Right now I am trying to figure out the proper placement for engine mounts. Dropping the engine low enough to clear the hood doesn't leave much clearence for the Power Steering or A/C Compressor. I am debating on finding a P/S pump with an external reservoir. Easier than modifying this one or moving the steering box.

 

[panamacruiser]

Nver done a swap, but how about taller rubber body mounts? That way you may clear the height you need

 

[Outsane]

Watching!

 

[dude47]

Nver done a swap, but how about taller rubber body mounts? That way you may clear the height you need

The current position is with the intake manifold up almost touching the bottom of the hood. There is no room to go up. Body Mounts would provide some room but I am not a fan of increasing my CG or body lifts in general.

 

[TriaxialBulls]

Where in CA are you? Anywhere near LA?

 

[White Stripe]

Did you remove the coils? You want to make sure you have clearance at full compression. Keep in mind when you hit a bump at speed the bump stops will compress some too.

 

[dude47]

Where in CA are you? Anywhere near LA?

Pinon Hills in the high desert. Close to Wrightwood if you know where that is.

Did you remove the coils? You want to make sure you have clearance at full compression. Keep in mind when you hit a bump at speed the bump stops will compress some too.

No I did not. I was measuring the oil pan to axle and upward travel distance of the axle. I am running an F-body oil pan so it sits decently high up.

 

[NorCalFJ100]

Very cool! Watching!

 

[smritte]

One of the venders here has some nice looking mounts. Mounts.
I live just over the hill from you in Ontario. I'd like to see your progression some time. Been eyeing that conversion for a while.

 

[dude47]

One of the venders here has some nice looking mounts. Mounts.
I live just over the hill from you in Ontario. I'd like to see your progression some time. Been eyeing that conversion for a while.

Yea I saw these previously. I have ran trucks with the standard poly tube bushings for engine mounts and they tend to do a poor job at limiting vibration transferring to the frame. I will probably be going with something similar to dirty dingo mounts or using the factory GM mounts with the horns I removed from the GM frame.

 

[DannyG]

I've been doing a lot of research on a possible swap for my LX. Holley has several accessory drive kits to make LS swaps easier. Pricey but what isn't: Holley Accessory Drives

 

[cruisermatt]

Pricey but what isn't

Uh, using the stock GM truck accessory drive that comes for free on the motor and already puts the accessories in the ideal location for a LC? Just swap in a remote reservoir pump from a Express van from the junkyard.

 

[dude47]

Uh, using the stock GM truck accessory drive that comes for free on the motor and already puts the accessories in the ideal location for a LC? Just swap in a remote reservoir pump from a Express van from the junkyard.

Thanks I'll look into the setup off a van. That will probably make things work alot better. If I can offset the motor slightly to the driver side it will rotate the drivetrain closer to where it was as well. Factory the 1FZ FE sits slightly to the driverside. Of the vehicle.

 

[dude47]

Well my green turd is coming along. I've been pretty busy with work and my prego wife and my kid but here is where we are at. I adapted the factory sifter to take the GM cable.

The GM harness is cleaned up and I have an aftermarket fuse/relay box wired in, I have the connections that go to the body on waterproof connectors so if I have to ever pull the engine I can pull it with the harness on.

I adapted the factory GM fuel pump and in tank pressure regulator to work in the toyota tank. I know I could have gone with an aftermarket pump and corvette pressure regulator/filter like many others do but I figured I already had everything since I had the donor car and I like using factory stuff as much as possible for ease of part access,. If I don't like the results I can always change it out. As far as the GM level sensor which is required for the GM EVAP system (again going for smog legal here) I did not integrate it because my father designed a circuit using an op amp that takes the toyota sensor level range and outputs the correct GM sensor range for the ECU.

As far as the exhaust manifolds I ordered some stock LS3 manifolds from ebay that were brand new. They needed a little tweaking to clear the frame so I decided to mill the heads down with a slight angle . Well first I had to buy a mill and some tooling and some other stuff that I used this project to be a reason to buy. Then I milled the cylinder flange down . Adjusted the angle by 6 degrees and the flanges just clear the frame now. I had to keep GM factory headers for the smog legal deal.

No pictures right now but tonight I pulled the drivetrain and burned in some engine mounts. I also modified the bracket for the transfer case shifter. The marks 4wd kit is designed for RHD so it is not aligned correctly.

And that is where I am at.

 

[HDJdreams]

Awesome work so far.

Do you have the 4 speed auto?

 

[dude47]

Awesome work so far.

Do you have the 4 speed auto?

Already sold the Toyota drivetrain.

 

[midfat]

Once you get the swap done, you'll need to schedule an appointment with the local ARB (Air Resource Board) office for an independent inspection. They will likely also require an enhance emissions test will cost you some money to have a full dyno test completed. There are a few places locally that do this, but the backlog may be long, so be prepared. The biggest thing right now is to keep ALL emissions related equipment on the engine stock and in place to ensure you don't run afoul of the original Chevrolet EO (Executive Order showing emissions compliance). This includes just about every component that touches air or fuel. The full EVAP system needs to be in place. Cats on both down-pipes need to be present and CAN NOT be moved further down the pipe. Keep them as close to the block as possible. Factory ECU, injectors, even the air intake if you can. If you can show that all systems are in place and functioning as designed, AND the overall emissions of the new engine are equal to or better than the original 1FZ, you may get a BAR approval.

https://www.bar.ca.gov/Industry/Engine_Change_Guidelines.aspx

 

[smritte]

The place I use hasn't required the advanced emissions testing yet on the swaps I've done. The local community collage has a guy who does the certification for the ARB here. The last swap I did was three years ago. One of my buddies had an LS motor put in his TJ up north two years ago. The inspector was a jerk. They made him jump through hoops before certifying it and advanced testing. There was no reason for it, the conversion was done exact.
The only time I've seen issues down here is when someone tries to "sneak" a mod in, things aren't labeled correctly or you don't have the paperwork on the doner car.

I really wish I had the money to do this to mine.