[crustysarge]

A buddy here at the base wrecked his 05 GTO a few weeks back and I am considering the car for parts. He had just installed a $3k 4L65E tranny and about $900 for the converter. the engine has been modded with heads/cam/etc and was putting down about 470HP. The car is not worth saving IMO but the interior and some body parts are good for resale. He will take $4,500 for the whole deal and I am going to bite. He never really thrashed the car but damn it was fast. It has lots of mods like a big ass radiator and other stuff.

I have a 70 Lemans Sport I was building a 455 for but I think I will go with the LS2 and 4L65E swap.

I am tired of reading a million pages on the net. What are the real costs of doing this swap and give me the big headaches.

[drailed]

$4500 sounds like a good price for the whole car seeing it will include the built trans, harness and computer which was a big chunk of change for my swap. There is a lot of variables in price depending on which parts you go with, harness, mounts, pan, headers, gas tank etc. Good thing is there many threads here and over at LS1tech.com which people have documented good and bad results with there swap parts. You should be able to gather a lot of info from Fbrowns thread alone as his car is close to yours as far as fitment.

[fbrown]

The major things you need
1) Motor Mounts $100
2) Headers $500-$1000
3) Purchase PCM harness or have the GTO one reworked $400-$1000
4) Gas Tank - Rick's runs about $1000, the Spectre while cheap tends to suck air and die when hard cornering.
5) Drive Shaft - The stock one is not going to cut it with nearly 500 RWHP $400
6) Rear End - 12 Bolt required, you will probably destroy anything else. $2000
7) Radiator and eclectic fan combination. $400-$700
8) Air intake $150
9) If you want AC you need to move the AC compressor - Kit is about $200.
10) You will probably need to run new fuel lines. $100-$300

The GTO + about $5000 should do it. This could be less depending what you might already have, 12 Bolt etc. A lot of the cost depends on what you are able to do yourself. If you buy a PCM harness you will spend between $400-$1000 depending on source. If you rework the existing harness your cost is almost zero.

See my post for a 68 with LS3, most of my problems are restoration related, not engine swap related. I got my engine running a long time ago. Your 70 Will be the same as my 68 in regards to installing a LS2/4L65E. Everything you need to know is covered in my thread.

The GTO seats will make a nice addition to your 70. I cover how to install them in my thread.

BTW $4500 is a great deal for the GTO. The transmission would cost you $2500-$3000 alone. GTO seats go for $600-$1000 and junkyards quote $3000-$5000 for GTO engines. You can probably EBAY some of the left over GTO parts to help recover you cost.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=584076

[crustysarge]

Thanks, I have been following your thread. I already purchased a 9 bolt set up and I am a pretty good electric gy so sounds like the harness will be worked by me.

Think I could reuse the GTO aftermarket radiator without too much pain?

How about the goat's headers he had on it? Guess I'll have to try and see.

I was just looking at the fuel tank by Spectre. On the cheap I could sump mine and runa an external pump I guess.

[3 Chiefs]

I think you should go for it. Most everyone who does this swap says it is worth it. You will need a different oil pan as the GTO will have a front sump and you will need a rear sump. There are many options here from other GM pans to aftermarket pans. I have been told that Rock Auto sells fuel tanks that are set up for the in tank pump but the tanks look OEM. Somewhere around 300 dollars. I have not looked into that though.
Good luck and keep us up to date on your project.

Paul

[crustysarge]

Yep, making the deal tomorrow, gonna get his tuning software an old tranny along with some other parts. Great, another project...

[fbrown]

I have been told that Rock Auto sells fuel tanks that are set up for the in tank pump but the tanks look OEM

Rock auto sells the Spectre tank. There are problems with this tank. There is a fuel starvation problem when hard cornering/acceleration. The sending unit has is not correct, will not read correctly on your fuel gauge. Spectre is aware of the sending unit problem, but does not intend to correct it unit they use up all sensors they already have. There is a second design of this tank that is supposed to correct the fuel starvation problem, but it may be hard to determine which tank you get. (They didn't change the part number) The included fuel pump is know to be deficient when approaching 450-500HP. Last point the tank only holds 17 gallons, which means only 15 gallons will be usable and some people say you shouldn't go below a quarter of a tank since the fuel pump depends on gas for cooling, if you fill at the quarter point you only get you use 13 gallons. Personally I hate going to the gas station and want the largest tank I can get. I also want a decent cruise range. With the Ricks tank and planning to use no more than 17 gallons I should be able to go 400 miles with interstate driving. The Spectre tank would reduce my range to a little bit over 300 miles.

I'm not saying you should not use the Spectre tank but you should be aware of the problems before you buy one. It's hard to beat the price of around $350/Shipped but you need to know all of the draw backs. The Rick's tank is stainless steel, does not look stock but holds 20 gallons and no one has reported fuel starvation problems. It is also very expensive at around $1000.

There are other options for fuel tanks, but the Spectre and Ricks are made for the application, the other solutions can be cheap and work well but require more effort.

There are hundreds of posts on LS1 Tech about Spectre fuel tank problems, you can read more there if you are interested. I have reduced the posts that I read to a couple of paragraphs. To be fair some people have had no problems with their Spectre tank, but a lot of people are reporting problems. Some of the no problem people also admitted they don't push their cars very hard.

You will need a different oil pan as the GTO

I forgot about the oil pan when I made the list of things you need. Common solutions include a modified Camaro pan, autokraft and Mast. The mast is the newest and is reported to clear the tie-rod ends for an a-body. I used the Autokraft and had to space my engine up about 3/4" for clearance. The modified Camaro pan has been said to clear. Other GM pans tend to have problems, in that they hang below the crossmember and may not clear the tie-rod ends. (That is at full turn)

[fbrown]

Just thinking about the gas tank issue, since your getting the entire car, you might measure the GTO gas tank and see if would fit behind your rear seat just like it is placed in the 05 GTO. It would take some of your trunk space but you would have a lot more trunk space than the 05 GTO.

[Ollie]

Another solution for the fuel pump is to use a 4th gen (99 to 2002) Fire Bird / Camaro, fuel pump module. This is what I am using on a 79 Trans Am. With this fuel pump the tank needs to be a min. of 9 inches deep. To get around the fuel level sender problem, retain the stock sender, the fuel lever sender on the 4 gen. pump is easily removed. On the stock sender, loop a length of hose around from the fuel out let to the return line.
This link show the Fuel Pump Modification.
http://www.vetteworksonline.com/ls1_conversion_fuel.htm

[crustysarge]

Good idea on the 4th Gen parts.

I closed the deal today and will pick the car up on Tuesday.

[stobin]

If you really want to save money on the fuel tank, get a '90-96 Impala gas tank. I installed one in my Grand Am when I converted my 455 to EFI. The tank cost me $35 at the wrecking yard. You need to get the LT1 version in order to retrofit a Racetronix fuel pump kit which uses the 255 lt. Walbro pump. That kit is complete and very high quality. Cost is $200. The tank is plastic and baffled. It fed my 540 HP 455 with no isssues. I used one can of SEM plastic black paint after cleaning it, and it looks brand new and factory original. It holds 23.5 gallons. I will be retaining this set up for my LS7 swap taking place now. Hope this helps.

[crustysarge]

How is the tank fit under the car?

[stobin]

I used the Impala tank straps. I only had to cut off the rear attachment point, and weld on the original rear strap attachment from my old tank. The strap had to be shortened a few inches. That allowed it to be bolted into the original mounts. It was one of the easiest mods I did.

[bonneville Joe]

I'm pretty sure Hedman makes a kit with ceramic coated headers and the trans crossover for either auto or manual for A and F car for around $1200 now.

[crustysarge]

And so it begins. Started dismantling the GTO today. Will start taking pix. man, the guy had a lot of high dollar parts on this car. Ron Davis radiator that cost $700+, crazy.
AFR heads and Callie stroker and some headers that just look pricey. Wow, I made out for once! HP tuner software to boot!

[Ollie]

Off to a good start. Post photos of the progress.