My Project just took ANOTHER turn,

[andrewt2]

Ok so just when i thought i had my frame just about ready to be a rolling chasis again i got bit by a different bug and my project is taking another turn.. I work for a salvage yard and a 94 buick Roadmaster with 77,000 original miles little old man driven came in wrecked light in the front. i picked up the LT1 and the 4l60E for just over a grand for everything, compresor, starter, alternator, computer, wiring, ps pump. and air box.... ive done plenty of reading about these swaps and decided for that kind of money i think it would pay for itself in gas mileage after to long. from what ive gathered heres what i know... add to this if theres something im missing:

1) will have to notch the frame for the air compressor to fit properly.
2) the motor mounts and tranny mounts are the same however i will need to shorten the drive shaft.
3) the transmission requires a conversion for the electrical speedo to be cable driven, *several websites ive seen on the board advertise them*
4) will have to eliminate quite a bit of wiring, from what ive seen theres books out there to help with this, or custom harnesses are avaiable,
5) will need to address the fuel situation *return line* stronger electric pump etc,

Thats what ive gathered so far. what am i missing guys? do you guys think i got a good deal for the money. this set up looks VERY clean, no oil leaks and no dirt or anything on the motor. still has all the factory heat shielding insulation wrap on all the wires and looks almost brand new and runs like a champ. according to the oem specs the 94 roadmaster iron headed 350 lt1 motors put out 260 horse and 330 ft. lbs of torque, sound about right on those numbers? thanks for your imput!
-Andrew

[jeffspower]

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me! Never been around the swap myself, but I would think if YOU get to pull it & can pick off every donor trinket you can snag... it shouldn't be too tuff. I'm curious how an electric speedo pickup sensor can spin a cable though.

[Blue_71]

3) the transmission requires a conversion for the electrical speedo to be cable driven, *several websites ive seen on the board advertise them*

if you dont mind my asking, where have you seen these? i need one for the NV3500 i just put in my C10... only thing ive found is $320 :|

[andrewt2]

Originally Posted by Blue_71

if you dont mind my asking, where have you seen these? i need one for the NV3500 i just put in my C10... only thing ive found is $320 :|

doing some more research on it it looks like what is mostly advertised out there converts the rear tailshaft back to a mechanical speedo with also the eletrical pulse still there to go to the computer and they run around 300 to 400 bucks. but idk is there something out there someone can do?

[Blue_71]

according to the trans guy i work with, had i thought about the electric speedo before i put the trans in, he could have put a manual gear in it... other than that or the $320 converter i found though, i have no clue how to do it. mine is set up to where a normal speedo driven gear can bolt in where the speed sensor bolts in

[andrewt2]

Originally Posted by Blue_71

according to the trans guy i work with, had i thought about the electric speedo before i put the trans in, he could have put a manual gear in it... other than that or the $320 converter i found though, i have no clue how to do it. mine is set up to where a normal speedo driven gear can bolt in where the speed sensor bolts in

from all that i read phsyically the gear can bolt in and work, or you can swap the tail shaft off a 700r4 to make it work except the pcm needs a vss signal from the tail shaft of the tranny for certain things so i dont know how to achieve both. any help would be good.

[Blue_71]

Originally Posted by andrewt2

from all that i read phsyically the gear can bolt in and work, or you can swap the tail shaft off a 700r4 to make it work except the pcm needs a vss signal from the tail shaft of the tranny for certain things so i dont know how to achieve both. any help would be good.

right, from what i understand, the manual (cable) DRIVE gear can physically go on to the tailshaft of the trans, and the cable DRIVEN (transfers tailshaft rotation to cable) gear will bolt on to the outside of the trans case... but, in your situation you would then have no VSS to go to your ECM

what you need is this:

http://www.bowtieoverdrives.com/hot/

scroll down to the cable X

you could then splice the cable-X into you VSS wires between your trans and ECM, and hook a cable up to your speedometer... pricey lil booger though

edit: found another site:

http://www.abbott-tach.com/cablex.htm

[andrewt2]

thanks for the info, the kit from bowtie overdrives is what ill probably go with. only a couple hundred bucks to get it set up and working correctly, thanks guys is there anything else anyone can think of i may run into thats kind of tricky on a swap like this? maybe someone who's already done this swap can chime in, ill probably be using an aftermarket electric fuel pump, ive got a blazer fuel tank mounted on the frame already any suggestions there?

[71swb4x4]

For your tranny gear speedo issues check out jagsthatrun.com. I bought a converter that I ran off my 205 transfer case that would feed the VSS signal to my computer. I don't think that's exactly what you are looking for, but they may have what you need.

[kamikazekyle05]

Why does the frame need to be notched for the a/c, could you use a diff. compressor?

[andrewt2]

Originally Posted by kamikazekyle05

Why does the frame need to be notched for the a/c, could you use a diff. compressor?

I probably could, although im not sure which one??? and plus i bought this whole set up with all accesories, so i might just make the notch to allow for the compressor i got. its not a big deal from what ive seen,

[72LoBurb]

Originally Posted by andrewt2

I probably could, although im not sure which one??? and plus i bought this whole set up with all accesories, so i might just make the notch to allow for the compressor i got. its not a big deal from what ive seen,

You may want to check into the accessory drive from a 'vette. I know the a/c compressor is placed different, and believe that I have read something about this swap not needing the frame notched. You may just need the 'vette accessory mount.

[andrewt2]

has anyone used www.speartech.com for wiring their project. they seem to have a good looking product, a bit pricey for a new LT1 harness (650) but i imagine if it saved me the headache of wiring it'd be worth it..

[Premium72]

good luck sounds like a winner to me!!

[72BlckButy]

nice sounds like a nice buy andrewt2!

[andrewt2]

Thanks guys, gonna get it home tonight i think, the motor and tranny are both EXTREMELY clean, im thinking ill be bring it home from work tonight and ill post pictures, if i can get some LT1 guys to chime in here... what did you do about your power steering set ups... on this motor the ps pump is on the passenger side and the lines run clean over to the box, did you have them make you some lines with metric fittings for the pump and sae fittings for the box itself? just wondering! thanks guys,

[Pl4yboy]

For that much hassle, I would have found an LS1 instead.

[thump16]

street and performance aka hotrodlane.cc is a good source of all the swaps for classic trucks. they make mounts and also have an install page of prior conversions they performed.


Sledge

[andrewt2]

Originally Posted by Pl4yboy

For that much hassle, I would have found an LS1 instead.

the Lt1 will offer plenty of power for what im after and i didnt feel like spending 2,800 to 3,500 dollars for just a motor with probably twice the miles of the lt1 i picked up. thanks.

[andrewt2]

heres a few pictures of the motor and tranny, like i said i got everything, accesories, wiring, computer, tranny and all for just over a grand, 72k tranny looks clean enough to eat off of.

[winson]

give these guys a call they will send you a catalog and how-to dvds for your swap they specilize in lt and ls swaps.

Street & Performance, Inc.
ph: 479-394-5711
web : www.hotrodlane.cc

doing a LS/460LE swap on my 70 myself and they where best price for the wiring harness which is wired for the tranny too. most places i found only build the wiring harness for the motor and expect you to hook up a th350 or th400.
anyways check em out they are really helpfull and have everything you need to do the swap.