LS1 swap ... stuck again

[shifty]

Ok, update - I got the mounts drilled out ...Got the mounts mounted...got the engine sitting right on the mounts and ready to bolt down, then I started balancing the engine+tranny out and ... THE TRANNY DOESN'T FIT! Looks like with my particular setup I need a high-hump. This kinda explains why I had so many damned problems getting that bugger in the first couple times. The dang thing would never really balance out right. And so many people here gave me crap about it

So this makes setback number 5,000,000.

I might cut the tranny hump out just so I can get that bad boy mounted in there and secured. Will allow me to move onto other things while I try to find a high hump mount. I really kinda liked having the low hump though.

For those interested, I'll post links to what I'm talking about and include them on the post as attachments also just for reference.

This is where the tranny smacks into the hump. Mind you, the engine is sitting nearly perfectly to be bolted in - if only the tranny would lift another 2-3"....



Here's a picture from the other side .... note the tranny is sitting right on the hump...



I can't even get it up on the crossmember. I'm about 1" away from accomplishing that feat - and the tranny won't jack up another inch....



Otherwise, I'm really happy with the fit and these ECE GenIII motor mounts are pretty kickass. They fit perfectly, no install problems at all. I'm overall very happy still.

I'm also very excited to get up and running with this thing

[Longhorn Man]

I see a few things you can do....
Get rid of the Poly mount and use a stock one. The poly one is taller than the stock ones. (That looks like the energy suspention poly tranny mount)
Replace your cab mounts if old... if not old you could shim the cab (and bed) up 1/4 inch or so
Cut the pinch weld off and maybe a 3 inch hole in the floor where it is hitting, then weld in a bump in that area to clear only the offending portion.

Personally, I like the high hump and miss having one. Gives me a place to lean my foot so I only have a portion of my toe on the throttle... otherwise I tend to speed.

[shifty]

I think I might like the high hump. That is definitely an Energy Suspension poly mount. And, honestly, I measured up to the stock and it's maybe ¼" taller. Not enough to make a diff'ce.

I thought about removing the pinch weld ... but that still only gives me another half inch of clearance which puts me just short. Also thought about doing what FirstGen did and just weld a square tube across the frame rails and mount the tranny to that ... but I still don't have a welder and I''m not sure if it would throw the driveline out of whack. Last thing I want is some shimmies on the highway because my drivetrain is out of alignment....

[FirstGen]

Originally Posted by shifty

I think I might like the high hump. That is definitely an Energy Suspension poly mount. And, honestly, I measured up to the stock and it's maybe ¼" taller. Not enough to make a diff'ce.

I thought about removing the pinch weld ... but that still only gives me another half inch of clearance which puts me just short. Also thought about doing what FirstGen did and just weld a square tube across the frame rails and mount the tranny to that ... but I still don't have a welder and I''m not sure if it would throw the driveline out of whack. Last thing I want is some shimmies on the highway because my drivetrain is out of alignment....

First of all, my entire motor is as low as I could mount it. I have no clearance issues with the trans hitting the small hump floor although it is very TIGHT. I did fab up a crossmember using 1" bar stock although you definatly don't want to weld it to the frame if that's what you thought I did or maybe I just didn't read that right? All you need is some 1" or 1.25" square tubing and a small piece of angle iron to make a nice light crossmember.
My drive shaft has almost no angle in it which is what you want. You shouldn't have any shimmies or anything related to that unless you have an excessive u-joint angle or pinion angle even then, it would more than likely be fine until the excessive force on the u-joint caused it to fail and cause the vibration....

In your case I would just trim the floor and make another piece of steel to cover what you cut and sheet metal screw it or rivet it back down...

Your almost there!

[blazerboy72]

I hope my isntall goes smoother than yours. I plan on installing a lq9 with a th400, do either one of you know if this will clear my low hump in my 71 2wd Blazer?

[724wdcopper]

Originally Posted by blazerboy72

I hope my isntall goes smoother than yours. I plan on installing a lq9 with a th400, do either one of you know if this will clear my low hump in my 71 2wd Blazer?

Blazerboy, i believe that the TH400 dictates the use of the High Hump. someone correct me if i am wrong, but i thought i read somewhere that 4x4's and TH400 2WD's got the high hump for clearance issues...

[67ChevyRedneck]

How far back is the shifter going to be? Are you going to have to install buckets?

Find a high hump floor piece and be done with it. It unbolts from original high hump cabs. Cut out the low hump, drill some holes, bolt it down, done

[shifty]

I'm going to need to install buckets. Borg Warner or Visalia offers a shorter tail housing for the T-56. This tail housing will move the shifter location forward 2 3/8" which is closer to a stock location for the TH400, TH350 or 700R4, I forget which. I got lots of goof info about extra gauge setup and stuff from here:

http://www.hotrodlane.cc/Streetstori...ls1camaro1.htm

there are two pages of stuff there - click "next" at the end of the first page. Lots of good core info there.

[shifty]

Would it help to use a 4x4 crossmember instead? Don't they sit lower? Maybe bending the pinch weld forward and moving to a high hump would help?

I'm really interested in figuring out what the heck to use for headers too, not sure how to jam some headers in here. Clearances are pretty dang tight.

[FirstGen]

Originally Posted by shifty

I'm really interested in figuring out what the heck to use for headers too, not sure how to jam some headers in here. Clearances are pretty dang tight.

It's all about how much you are willing to spend... For now consider using modified 1998-2000 C5 manifolds, they flow well and are cheap.

[shifty]

When you say "modified", what do you mean?

[chevyguy_72]

I think you were looking for one of these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=4590071849
it belongs to a borad member