LS Swap

Its taken me three months to finish this engine swap. The rotary didn't take anywhere near as long and was much easier to do! A V8 does NOT belong in an S30 chassis, the frame is simply too narrow to accommodate the exhaust manifolds PRACTICALLY. Basically everything below the heads is extremely cramped, it would be very difficult to fix anything on the bottom side of the engine on a track day.

I drove the car for the first time at Willow Springs Walt James Stadium, which is a 1/4 mile paved oval with no walls. The engine was perfect, it was 100 degrees the whole day and the engine coolant temperature stayed between 190-210. Oil pressure around 50psi. Also, nothing broke!

The engine is a Chevrolet LS3 480hp 475torques with an aggressive cam. Bolted to a 4 speed dogbox. Clutch is a Quarter Master 3 disk clutch. OC Drivelines driveshaft and Driveshaft Shop axles. The R200 differential has been more than enough to handle the power so far.

All fabrication, welding, wiring, assembly, and design done by Alex Grimm.

If you like the car and want to see what I'm up to follow me on Instagram @DriftTheZ

This was the most difficult engine swap I have ever done, the space around the bottom end of the engine is extremely limited. The engine mount bolting points are bellow the top of the frame rails and way behind the front subframe, so the engine mounts had to be substantial. The exhaust is all around the oil pan and has to be extremely close to it. 

The wiring was simple, just plug and play ECU and Harness from Chevrolet. However for some INEXPLICABLE reason Chevrolet pretty much took a harness and all these parts from some random car they make, so the fuse box, ECU, pedal assembly, and all the gauge sensors on the engine are car specific making this "Universal Harness" more difficult to install. Nonetheless it works extremely well, after completely changing the pedal mount, installing all new gauge sensors, mounting a hilarious fuse box, and adding some wiring to make the tachometer work.

 I decided to cut out the original front end and replace it with something a little more efficient.

I was getting frustrated trying to understand all of the strange LS serpentine belt configurations and all of the different alternator choices so I JUST MADE MY OWN! Works perfectly.

Driver Side Engine Mount

Passenger Side Engine Mount

 Transmission Mount

The exhaust was very difficult as well, the X Pipe complicated everything. Every bend in the exhaust has been done with 15 degree pie cuts and fully TiG welded. The tubing is 2.5in Stainless Steel.

 The engine is also MUCH lower than the rotary was, the bottom of the oil pan is 1-2 inches lower. This was fine since I had to make a new skid plate and also had to raise the car up 1inch so that the rear wheels wouldn't hit the fender flares when it squats.