V8 240sx FAQ

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by qwarnon

A) can i modify the oil pan and pickup to fit with out hacking up my crossmember
(this is what i would prefer) i was thinking possibly extending the oil pickup tube to the front of the pan and just fabricating a pan with basically a front sump.

Yes. The more you bring the motor towards the back of the car the easier it will be to fab the oil pan.

Originally Posted by qwarnon

OR can i buy a premodified oil pan that would allow clearance with little to no crossmember modding

I don't know of any available.

Originally Posted by qwarnon

B) do i need to notch my firewall at all and if so where? im using an old
T-10 4speed with some internal upgrades. I picked this for its small size and mechanical simplicity. i figured that with its small size it would make less firewall fabrication necessary.

Maybe. How big is it compared to a T5?

Originally Posted by qwarnon

C)what have most Gen 1 swappers done for mounts? i know there is always full custom (which may be best) but also there are universal small block chevy mounts that hot rod and rat rod builders use. would these work well?

Custom subframe mounts and standard Chevy mounts on top of that.

Originally Posted by qwarnon

D) power steering. ill be using block hugger headers and should be able to perform any mods needed to get them to clear.. any special tricks to getting clearance?

No.

[qwarnon]

thanks alot sir! also when u modded the pan.. did you go with basically a front sump or did you leave the sump in the rear? if you went front sump did you just extend the pickup tube to the front?

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by qwarnon

did you go with basically a front sump or did you leave the sump in the rear?

In order to do a front sump, you have to move the motor towards the front and possibly raise the motor up as high as possible because the motor stradles the subframe.

With the rear sump, the further back you move the motor the easier it becomes to put the motor lower and fab the oil pan.

I went with the rear.

Originally Posted by qwarnon

if you went front sump did you just extend the pickup tube to the front?

This question is moot.

[RUTH'LESSDET]

just curious is any body running oil pressure, or water temp guages on your ls1 or ls2's if so im would like to see how you hooked it up.

[Sir]

not yet there bud.
(BTW I'm jealous your of progress)
But there is a place for water temp in the head. Planning or reusing stock gauge there. Look for the pic on LS1tech.

[jmauld]

Originally Posted by RUTH'LESSDET

just curious is any body running oil pressure, or water temp guages on your ls1 or ls2's if so im would like to see how you hooked it up.

I plan on using this in the water passage on the passenger's side head: Speed Inc - Pure Power

[RUTH'LESSDET]

Originally Posted by Sir

not yet there bud.
(BTW I'm jealous your of progress)
But there is a place for water temp in the head. Planning or reusing stock gauge there. Look for the pic on LS1tech.

old picture but....top left

Originally Posted by jmauld

I plan on using this in the water passage on the passenger's side head: Speed Inc - Pure Power

I used it for the stock gauge already....I guess I could just disconnect it and run my guage there without a problem.....what about the oil pressure sender thing on the back of the motor......

will i get a check engine if i run my gauge here?

[jmauld]

Originally Posted by RUTH'LESSDET

I used it for the stock gauge already....

There's a matching hole on the driver's side head (at the front of the engine), can you use it, or is there something in the way?

I guess I could just disconnect it and run my guage there without a problem.....what about the oil pressure sender thing on the back of the motor......

will i get a check engine if i run my gauge here?

There are a couple of ports in the GTO oil pan. I haven't researched it yet, but I was hoping those could be used for oil temperature and oil pressure.

[Sir]

Originally Posted by jmauld

There are a couple of ports in the GTO oil pan. I haven't researched it yet, but I was hoping those could be used for oil temperature and oil pressure.

those will work for oil temp. But there is no oil pressure in the pan.

[RUTH'LESSDET]

ok i found a solution for oil pressure & temp :
solution #1

solution #2

[Sir]

will solution 1 even work with GTO pan?

I think when I looked at it last, there seemed like it wouldn't clear the pan, but I could be wrong.

[RUTH'LESSDET]

Originally Posted by Sir

will solution 1 even work with GTO pan?

I think when I looked at it last, there seemed like it wouldn't clear the pan, but I could be wrong.

yeah it should just screw on and then you put the oil filter on after like a sandwich... i ordered it so we will find out shorty if it works!

[lost_generation]

has anyone here looked into the L33 5.3 yet?... something that has been in my mind for along time(and i recently aquired a s13 shell).... but the L33 is the 05+ 5.3(327) that came in the truck, but its all aluminum finally, 310hp and idk tq... but i'm sure its right up there... but you can find the motors for under 1g no problem, and the t56 mounts right up to it, and if you were to get corvette accessories, intake and a gto pan it would be the same thing as a ls1 looks wise and power for half the price

[Sir]

it would work, just getting the other stuff like non-truck intake, as I'm not sure if truck one will clear the hood.

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by Sir

it would work, just getting the other stuff like non-truck intake, as I'm not sure if truck one will clear the hood.

Look in my engine placement thread in this forum. My placement is the lowest I've seen.

Measure the top of the block to the top of your intake manifold.

[slydwyssr20]

I've just spent the last 4 hours reading up on the lsx threads on various sites and I still can't seem to find an answer to what I'm looking for. I've got a JDM S13 and have plans for a 5.3 and t56 conversion. My concern is that it seems that the clutch master cylinder will not clear the engine. Has anyone done this swap in a RHD silvia and experienced this potential problem? Is there a way around it if it is a problem? What sord of clearence is there between the ls motors and the firewall? This seems like an appropriate thread to ask this question, and if it's been answered somewhere in the previous 15 pages, forgive me for the redundancy as I'm growing impatient with searching on the internet and not finding any results. Thanks for the great thread and keep up the good work.

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by slydwyssr20

My concern is that it seems that the clutch master cylinder will not clear the engine. Has anyone done this swap in a RHD silvia and experienced this potential problem?

You are probably the only one with RHD LS-series combo. So no, I have not seen this problem before.

Originally Posted by slydwyssr20

Is there a way around it if it is a problem?

The lower you place the motor the more clearance you will have and the better the weight distribution will be.

Otherwise you will have to go with a master cylinder mounted inside the passenger compartment.

Originally Posted by slydwyssr20

What sord of clearence is there between the ls motors and the firewall?

It's highly dependent on the mounts you make. All the bolt in kits I've seen place the motor really high to clear the subframe.

[slydwyssr20]

That is all common sense remedies (for myself anyways), except that I'd like to keep the oil pan level with the bottom of the x-member and still keep the weight as close to the center of the car as possible, which means as close to the firewall without running into problems with clearance and shifter placement. Has anyone else seen this at all? I don't mean in any way to dis your reply, it just seems like it's not a common swap and after searching all night, it's a little frustrating. Not that I'm not up to a chalenge or anything. There is always the option of an in car master cylinder.

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by slydwyssr20

keep the oil pan level with the bottom of the x-member

The subframe is not what you should use. You need proper driveline alignment with the diff. The rest is just moving the motor as far back towards the firewall as possible.

Originally Posted by slydwyssr20

keep the weight as close to the center of the car as possible, which means as close to the firewall without running into problems with clearance and shifter placement

You will be extremely lucky if your mounts place the shifter in the stock hole. That should not be your primary concern though. Focus on engine placement first and proper driveline alignment. Then just cut a hole to accomodate the shifter.

Originally Posted by slydwyssr20

Has anyone else seen this at all?

Same issue everyone with a GM v8 has gone through, minus the clutch mc issue.


This is not a clearly articulated issue, and not many people have the swap. Any info you find will be speculative at best.

[Sir]

As far as shifter placement - no need to mod firewall and the shifter will line up in the hole.
Where in the hole depends on how far back you'll push the motor.

[trsilvias13]

daft sell a rhd mounting kit now... iirc it cost $50 more than the lhd version.

Originally Posted by slydwyssr20

I've just spent the last 4 hours reading up on the lsx threads on various sites and I still can't seem to find an answer to what I'm looking for. I've got a JDM S13 and have plans for a 5.3 and t56 conversion. My concern is that it seems that the clutch master cylinder will not clear the engine. Has anyone done this swap in a RHD silvia and experienced this potential problem? Is there a way around it if it is a problem? What sord of clearence is there between the ls motors and the firewall? This seems like an appropriate thread to ask this question, and if it's been answered somewhere in the previous 15 pages, forgive me for the redundancy as I'm growing impatient with searching on the internet and not finding any results. Thanks for the great thread and keep up the good work.

[slydwyssr20]

Thanks. I just found this out late last night. I just needed to know it was possible. As far as shifter placement, you are absolutly right. Should line right up with the hole, just need a 5.0 shifter to line up shifter with my hand in a comfortable position. They even have a clutch master cylinder relocate kit, which doesn't seem too hard to replicate. I'm going to check into it more, but for 400 bucks for that, it doesn't seem like too bad of a deal, I guess.

[trsilvias13]

By any chance anyone has the vacuum diagram for the ls1? Also maybe the location of all the sensor?

I cannot locate a FSM anywhere online.

[KA-T_240]

What have you guys beed doing for using your factory speedo and key?

[Sir]

Dakota Digtal box to get the factory speedo working.

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by Sir

As far as shifter placement - no need to mod firewall and the shifter will line up in the hole.

Questions:

What's more important, driveline placement or shifter fitment?

Would you mod the firewall for driveline placement, or shifter placement? Both?

Originally Posted by KA-T_240

What have you guys beed doing for using your factory speedo and key?

What do you mean key? The ignition lock and be wired up to work as normal, or you can bypass and do a custom push start switch panel.

Originally Posted by Sir

Dakota Digtal box to get the factory speedo working.

Have you been successful with Dakota stuff to get GM VSS pulses to convert to Nissan VSS pulses?

[blu808]

Why dont you guys just use an obd2 gauge system like we do. No additional senders needed, no additional wires.

You can use something like this mounted where the stock gauges would be with a nice cf panel.

GTech-Pro Model SS


Or you could use the plx one.

PLX Devices Inc. - DM-200 OBD II 60mm Universal Gauge

Or you guys can wait for the obd2 version of this like I am doing.


Racepak Data Systems - Professional Motorsports Data Acquisition Systems

Stock gauges fail anyway.

[rb20hatch]

sikky.com has some parts packages for the ls1 one in a s13 or s14

[PXRdriFT]

Originally Posted by g6civcx

Have you been successful with Dakota stuff to get GM VSS pulses to convert to Nissan VSS pulses?

I've had the dakota installed on my swap for two years. The first time was difficult and a pain but I've done a few others and it gets easier.

[Sir]

Originally Posted by g6civcx

Have you been successful with Dakota stuff to get GM VSS pulses to convert to Nissan VSS pulses?

GM uses 4000 ppm signal. Nissan uses 2000ppm signal (IIRC)
there is a 2000ppm oc signal coming out of the DD box that you hook up to stock speedo. Done.

Originally Posted by g6civcx

Questions:

What's more important, driveline placement or shifter fitment?

To me it was more important to move the engine back enough to allow me to install front sway bar w.o cutting up the pan.

Originally Posted by g6civcx

Would you mod the firewall for driveline placement, or shifter placement? Both?

Since the T56 is just a little shorter than KA trans, no mods are needed for shifter placememt.

Did I mod the firewall - no. I don't consider swinging a hammer a few times "modding".