Another way to skin the cat; the High Torque 292 LS swap

[solidaxel]

Thanks, got it
You have WAY more clearance than we have in that location, but I do like your idea (Many) of grouping 4 together

Did you machine the valve cover adapters or are they a product of the later sbc center bolt adapters?

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

Did you machine the valve cover adapters or are they a product of the later sbc center bolt adapters?

The valve cover adapters are from a company called ICT Billet. I bought them on eBay and they seem to work well (no leaks so far). They are purpose built to put SBC valve covers on an LS head. They have an o-ring grove machined in the bottom to accept the factory LS valve cover gasket. My only complaint is that they didn't come with any hardware.

[aggie91]

Very nice job. Love the old school look you gave the new engine!

[lt155ruck]

[QUOTE=dayj1;7147162]

I've had this taking up room in my shop for the last year or so waiting on the right vehicle to come along for a swap:



It's the "littlest" LS; a 4.8. Since 4.8L converts to 292.9 cubic inches, I decided to round down and call this a 292 swap

The 4.8 came from a 79K mile 2003 Tahoe. I bought it over a year ago and slowly gathered parts. It's got a mish-mash of truck and Camaro parts for the accessory drive and a LS1 'vette intake

Very cool build! Can you explain the mish mash of truck and Camaro parts of the Acc drive? Maybe what is from what or part numbers? Or what you did to make it work? the water pump looks like the l99 part number 19207665? Thanks in advance

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by lt155ruck

Very cool build! Can you explain the mish mash of truck and Camaro parts of the Acc drive? Maybe what is from what or part numbers? Or what you did to make it work? the water pump looks like the l99 part number 19207665? Thanks in advance

Thanks!

I had actually written all that up for a guy on the trifive board (notice my '57 BelAir behind the completed engine in the last pic). So, I cut and pasted from my post over there...

Originally Posted by dayj1

Here's what I did along with the exact cost, part numbers, and vendors. I did sell my truck parts to recoup some of my money, but I didn't play any magazine tricks where I had high dollar parts stashed under the workbench.

$125 shipped for 'vette LS1 intake and fuel rail (online purchase on Corvette Forum).
$50 LS1 fuel injectors (local purchase on Craigslist).
$27.65 shipped for EV1 harness pigtails part #PT113 (RockAuto).
$26.97 shipped for 10 intake bolts (eBay).

Total cost for LS1 Intake --> $229.62

$123.32 shipped for 2010 Camaro L99 water pump part number 19207665 (Amazon)
$51.82 shipped for 1998 Corvette LS1 Tensioner part number 89049312 (Amazon)
$86.25 shipped for 2010 Camaro P/S pump part number 92229662 (Amazon)
$25 for 1998 S10 Blazer alternator (4.3 engine) (local purchase at LKQ salvage yard)
$3.50 for miscellaneous bolts for brackets (local purchase at LKQ salvage yard)
$7.50 for M10 x 1.5 x 150mm studs for alternator bracket (local purchase at Fastenal
$47.71 shipped for 2010 Camaro P/S pump pulley part number 12610794 and P/S bracket part number 12610792 (GM dealer)
$45.40 shipped for 1998 Camaro alternator bracket part number 12563327 (eBay)
$17.50 shipped for rear alternator bracket part number 12556915 (eBay)
$15.31 Idler (part #89052) (Advance)

Total for all belt driven accessories and brackets --> $423.31


I sold the following items:

-$30 for truck water pump and truck tensioner (local Craigslist)
-$80 for truck P/S bracket and pump and bolts (local Craigslist)
-$40 for truck alternator (local Craigslist)
-$77.39 after fees for truck flex fuel injectors (eBay)
-$27.65 after fees for truck fuel rails (eBay)
-$47.08 after fees for truck intake (eBay)

Total truck parts sold -$302.12

Grand total for everything --> $229.62 + $423.31 - $302.12 = $350.81

L99 water pump and power steering pump bracket:



P/S pump and pulley installed:




Studs for alternator (the upper one must be drilled/tapped on an iron block):



Alternator brackets:



Close-up of spacers:



Finished product:

[lt155ruck]

Wow, thanks for that..that's even more comprehensive than I expected. That's awesome. Lol but you did forget to mention what belt you used... What are the details on your 57?

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by lt155ruck

Wow, thanks for that..that's even more comprehensive than I expected. That's awesome. Lol but you did forget to mention what belt you used... What are the details on your 57?

You're welcome! The belt is 79.5". The Gates number for that belt would be K060790.

As for the '57, I've had it since '99. It's all stock except the wheels and the drivetrain. It was my second LS swap. It has a 5.3 with a Radix blower running 11 psi. HP/TQ is about 450/490 to the rear wheels.

[lt155ruck]

Nice, that is sexy. I'm guessing you surprise more than a few people. Funny how we seem to hold onto things. I've had my 55 since 97.

[dkauffman05]

I absolutely love the setup man ! I also did something very similar but used a cable t.b

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by dkauffman05

I absolutely love the setup man ! I also did something very similar but used a cable t.b

Sweet! The smaller breather and bare aluminum parts gives it quite a different look than mine. I'm assuming that you went with a speed density tune?

I also noticed the low mount AC compressor. I'm also in the middle of that right now. I should be making snowballs by the weekend if the rest of my parts get here

[dkauffman05]

It's not tuned yet but my tuner assures me he can make it run good on sd. If not I'll hide the maf sensor kinda like you did.

[gringoloco]

This might be my favorite LS swap ever. Do you have a good overall pic of the complete engine bay?

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

This might be my favorite LS swap ever. Do you have a good overall pic of the complete engine bay?

Thanks! Is this what you want? I'm in the middle of adding A/C right now. Please excuse the bulkhead connectors above the heater core housing with no lines attached

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by dayj1

Thanks! Is this what you want? I'm in the middle of adding A/C right now. Please excuse the bulkhead connectors above the heater core housing with no lines attached

Yes, exactly what I was looking for. Super clean. It's like you were in my brain. Love it.

[smbrouss70]

Are you doing an under dash A/C?

[HSRACER]

Great work, thanks for sharing!

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Are you doing an under dash A/C?

Yes. I'm building my system around a $69 universal evaporator unit off eBay. I should finish it up by the weekend (waiting on more hose fittings) and I'll post up some pics if it works out OK.

Originally Posted by HSRACER

Great work, thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

[SierraMtns]

Are you still running in cab gas tank? Any plans on switching to under bed tank?

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by SierraMtns

Are you still running in cab gas tank? Any plans on switching to under bed tank?

I'm still running the in-cab tank and I do not plan on relocating it. The two concerns that I see most often about the in-cab tank center around sound and baffles.

I have run it below "E" on the gauge and have not experienced fuel starvation or pickup problems. The tall, narrow shape appears to have negated the need for baffles.

For sound, I made sure to buy a genuine EP381 AC Delco pump (watch out for the cheapo gray market knock-offs on eBay). I wrapped the tank in a layer of Dynamat Extreme to add some mass and 1 layer of Raam Audio's self adhesive Ensolite foam. I can't hear fuel slosh in the tank at all anymore. The buzz of the pump is very faint. I can hear it with the truck idling, but the road noise drowns it out at anything over 15 MPH. With the windows rolled up and the AC on, the evaporator fan is all I hear, even idling and sitting still.

[smbrouss70]

So how did the A/C turn out? Any pics?

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

So how did the A/C turn out? Any pics?

I started by mounting the stock truck A/C compressor.

Notice in this pic that the bracket extends behind the compressor by a couple of inches. That's important because it interfered with the engine mount.



So, I marked the bracket even with the back of the compressor and cut it off:





Here's the fit of the trimmed bracket:



And the compressor:



A little paint:



And bolted up for good:

[dayj1]

I bought a universal 14" x 24" parallel flow condenser on eBay. I made a three bracket mounting system as well as a bracket for the receiver/drier:




I called Vintage Air and ordered the 3 hard lines that are used in their condenser kits to mount the receiver drier and run through the core support and under the battery. Here it is mounted.:



I made this simple bracket:



To hold the end of the hard lines under the battery box:

[dayj1]

The last major component of the system is the evaporator. I bought a universal under dash unit off eBay. Here are a couple of pictures of it mounted:





In case someone tries to duplicate my setup, there was a major problem with the evaporator unit as delivered. It moved very little air through the core. Upon inspection, I noticed that the blower motor was rotating the wrong direction! Since it's a DC motor, that's a simple fix. Just swap the positive and negative leads going to the bower motor. That made things much,much better but I made one more "improvement". I swapped the blower motor fan blades side for side. This result is that it reversed the slope of the blades. A squirrel cage fan will move a higher volume of air with reverse pitched blades than with forward pitched blades.

[dayj1]

The last part of the system is the lines. I already mentioned that I used hard lines from Vintage Air on the condenser.

The discharge line from the compressor to the condenser required some fabrication. I started with the end of a condenser line from a 2000 Tahoe that picked up from the salvage yard. I bent it up as needed and added a M10 switch port fitting and a weld on bead lock fitting.

Here is is before welding:



And a closer pic of the joints to be welded:



Here it is finish welded and crimped:





Here's the compressor suction line:



And a better pic of the compressor end:



And here are the evaporator hoses that go inside the cab:



The bulkhead fittings on the end of the evap lines exit the cab just above the heater box:



Here's an overall shot of the lines:



At the firewall:



The compressor:

[mattcrp1]

Looks good, I noticed that your compressor does not have the high pressure switch on the back. What year is the compressor? Top notch build.