V6 Engine Removal
Parts Needed:
LS1 Engine and Transmission
LS1 PCM and Wiring Harness
LS1 K-Member and Motor Mounts
LS1 Radiator
LS1 Coolant and Heater Hoses
LS1 Steering Rack and Linkage
LS1 Throttle Cable
Custom Fuel setup
Custom Wiring Harness
For purchasing of these parts I HIGHLY recommend Trans Am Creations. I worked with Brent from TA Creations and he was a GREAT help. He was very patient with all of my questions and provided me with everything I needed to have a successful running swap. Not only do you receive what you are promised, but also their customer service is TOP NOTCH!
Timeline:
Sat, 3/22:
Removed exhaust from y-pipe back
Removed torque arm
Removed drive shaft
Removed heat shields underneath gas tank
Removed intake
Sun, 3/23:
Drained oil and coolant.
Removed coolant hoses
Removed heater hoses (to body)
Disconnected PCM harness from body and dash harness. PCM sits on engine now.
Disconnected and removed battery.
Disconnected starter ground to body
Unplugged brake sensor wires for front brakes.
Unbolted power steering fluid reservoir.
Wed, 3/26:
Picked up LS1 99 plastic fuel tank for $125
Tue, 4/8:
Removed radiator and fans
Tue, 4/15:
Disconnected brake lines
Disconnected tranny lines and linkage
Removed brake fluid reservoir
Wed, 4/16:
Dropped K-member w/Engine/Tranny/Wheels/Shocks
Thu, 4/17:
Removed Charcoal canister and EVAP pressure sensor from LS1 fuel tank
Fri, 4/18:
Ordered radiator from speed auto for 125 + shipping
Removed fuel tank.
Removed unneeded fuel lines (VAC and fuel return)
Removed 3.8 charcoal canister (pass rear wheel well)
Sat, 4/19:
Picked up LS1 k-member
Mon, 4/21:
Parts arrived from TACreations.
Assembled LS1 K-member.
Removed EGR/EVAP/AIR from LS1.
Removed motor mounts for poly mount install.
Tue, 4/22:
Assembled poly motor mounts
Put LS1 on K-Member
Unwrapped LS1 wiring harness
Wed, 4/23:
Removed EVAP/EGR/AIR/A/C wires from harness
Removed V6 throttle cable
Moved fuel PSI gauge over to the other side of engine bay
Installed engine/tranny/k-member into car
Transferred poly trans mount over
Connected tranny linkage
Thu, 4/24:
Connected throttle cable
Connected fuel pressure gauge
Installed torque arm and drive shaft
Installed brake fluid reservoir and reconnected lines
Fri, 4/25:
Installed fuel tank and connected fuel lines
Started to rewire the car.
Sat, 4/26:
Rewired the car some more.
Installed V6 radiator for temp use.
Started up the car.
Drove the car.
Sun, 4/27:
Found out MAF wasn't getting power.
Drove an even faster car.
Miscellaneous Info:
Little differences in the F-Body through the years
93-98: Metal fuel tanks w/0-90 ohm fuel level sender.
99-02: Plastic fuel tanks w/40-240 ohm fuel level sender.
93-97: Dash fuel level input comes direct from tank.
98: Fuel level signal goes to PCM. Gauge has a formatted signal from PCM.
99-02: Fuel level signal goes to PCM. Gauge grabs reading from Class-2 Data Bus.
93-98: Accurate 3 wire coolant temps.
99-02: 2 wire coolant temps. Cluster gets readings from PCM Class-2 Data Bus.
Fueling
I swapped to an LS1 tank for weight reduction. To use the LS1 tank/pump I had to rework my fuel lines in back. Note the pictures below. I had to bend the stock feed line and insert a T and a return line I purchased from GM. I completely removed my fuel return line and EVAP line. I have pics below of how I plugged up the EVAP as well. I had to plug up a connection on the intake for EVAP also. I just spliced the 2 ground wires for the pump/sender into 1 so I could retain my factory body harness. My 97 car was not wired for a fuel tank pressure sensor so I did not hook that up either. The 97 tank is one solid piece including filler neck, the LS1 piece has a detachable filler neck that mounts to the LS1 body. Well my 97 body doesn't have the mount. I have to custom fab up a bracket. You can keep your factory tank/pump but will have to use a AFPR. The LS1 pump assembly has one built in. If you swap a LS1 into a 99+ V6, you can re-use your tank and use a LS1 pump assembly. You cannot fit a LS1 pump assembly on an LT1 style tank. LS1 style twists on, LT1 bolts on. It will not work.
GaugesWiring:
I stuck with my 97 v6 cluster. Since my cluster has the 0-90 ohm fuel gauge and the LS1 plastic tank setup uses the 40-240 ohm sender, I had to fab up my stock fuel level sender to the LS1 fuel pump assembly. I had to cut away a little bit of the housing to seed the sending unit in a little bit so I was able to slide it into the tank. With the LS1 fuel level sending unit, I would run out of fuel when my gauge showed half full. Now I have a accurate fuel gauge.
Because the 97 cluster uses the 3 wire coolant temp sensor and I have a 99 engine, I purchased a coolant temp sensor from the dealer and had to custom route the wire from the sensor to my gauge cluster.
Also, the LS1 gauges get oil level from the Class-2 bus, so I had to tap a wire onto the oil level signal wire and ran that to my dash as well.
I was unable to use the LS1 trans cross member. I had to re-use my stock automatic one and had to elongate the hole back more. The LS1 trans cross member will NOT bolt up to the LT1 style body. I also had to shim the transmission up a little as it sat at a lower angle not perfectly even with the driveshaft.
Wiring harness plug pinoutsFueling
I had to splice the 2 ground wires for the LS1 pump into 1 to mate up with the LT1 style body harness.
If your car is pre 99, To maintain EVAP you will have to run custom wires through the body back to the tank so the PCM can control the canister on the tank properly. You could also run wires for the tank pressure sensor back there if you wanted to. I chose to just remove EVAP and the sensor.
Air Pump
To use the AIR pump for emissions on any V6 swap, you will have to run the wires to the pump assembly. Even the 98+ V6 cars do not have the wires built into the underhood harness.
PCM Harness
Swapping a 98 LS1 into a 98 car is semi-easy as is a 99-02 LS1 into a 99-02 car. The only reason I say this is due to the fueling changes between the 98/99 year (EVAP and fuel level sender). You will still need to modify the PCM to underhood harness. The LS1 uses a power wire for each bank (IGN/INJ) where as the V6 uses just one for all. Pin B on the gray LS1 connection isn't present on the V6 plug. You will have to pull it and splice it with another power wire. You can use my wiring diagram as reference for which wire you should share power with. If you remove a lot of your accessories, I recommend using that wire. If you do not do this, only half of your engine will run.
Swapping an LS1 into a non LS1 car requires complete PCM harness rewiring. It is so in-depth that I cannot go into it all on this page. Use my wiring diagram as reference for your project. I kept my stock harnesses in-tact and just mated my LS1 harness to work with them. Main differences are though, that the LS1 PCM grabs its powerup, starter and fuel pump relay from the underhood harness where as the LT1 harness goes under the passenger side firewall.
V6 Engine Removal
The Bare Car
V8 Engine Install
Fueling
Wiring
Miscellaneous
