My S13 240 : Ls swap, Corvette trans,ITB's, Widebody, Stupid wide wheels,

[d0wse]

Wow. Subbd

[DER E30]

I know all those pains, I did the same things with my truck. If you have any weird questions, I've done a similar swap to my truck (link in sig) so don't hesitate to shoot me a pm or something..

Looks really good! I can't wait to see the 180degree headers, I've been dreaming of making my own set ha

[DeltaAlpha9]

Looks like rear plugs will be fun to change when you're done. Also I'm glad you'll be getting an aluminum LS in the future. You're much more brave than I am with a grinder haha.

[laextreme5]

I know all those pains, I did the same things with my truck. If you have any weird questions, I've done a similar swap to my truck (link in sig) so don't hesitate to shoot me a pm or something..

Looks really good! I can't wait to see the 180degree headers, I've been dreaming of making my own set ha

My biggest concern is integrating the wiring for the trans. I can source a harness easy, i just **** wiring haha. And if i have any questions i will, thanks.

Looks like rear plugs will be fun to change when you're done. Also I'm glad you'll be getting an aluminum LS in the future. You're much more brave than I am with a grinder haha.

Rear plugs will be a little diffcult but not that big of an issue. The engine bay will be fairly sparse so lots of access room. Worse Case ill have to drop the headers, which i doubt would be necessary. But that is an area i need to pay attention to, thanks for bringing it up.

[DER E30]

My biggest concern is integrating the wiring for the trans. I can source a harness easy, i just **** wiring haha. And if i have any questions i will, thanks.

Trans should be fairly easy, the solenoid on the top is the reverse lockout solenoid, which you want to keep, as R is over next to 5th... (Thanks Chevy why didn't reverse go next to 1st where you can't powershift into it on accident?) the one on the driver's side is the CAGS 1st-->4th solenoid, I wouldn't even bother, its stupid. I cut that crap off mine. (again WTF Chevy?) Pass side is the reverse light switch so that's easy. The diff has a regular speed sensor/triggerwheel in it, pretty standard

What kind of gauges you planning?

I wouldn't worry at all about the placement of the shifter, put the diff/engine where you want/need first. You can easily cut the aluminum bits the shifter box bolt to the tq tube off and reweld to put the shifter wherever you like, just extend the shift linkage to match.

Honestly I'd focus on the diff/driveshafts/rear first, nailing that down will make the engine mounts simple, just connect the dots

[laextreme5]

Trans should be fairly easy, the solenoid on the top is the reverse lockout solenoid, which you want to keep, as R is over next to 5th... (Thanks Chevy why didn't reverse go next to 1st where you can't powershift into it on accident?) the one on the driver's side is the CAGS 1st-->4th solenoid, I wouldn't even bother, its stupid. I cut that crap off mine. (again WTF Chevy?) Pass side is the reverse light switch so that's easy. The diff has a regular speed sensor/triggerwheel in it, pretty standard

What kind of gauges you planning?

I wouldn't worry at all about the placement of the shifter, put the diff/engine where you want/need first. You can easily cut the aluminum bits the shifter box bolt to the tq tube off and reweld to put the shifter wherever you like, just extend the shift linkage to match.

Honestly I'd focus on the diff/driveshafts/rear first, nailing that down will make the engine mounts simple, just connect the dots

Thanks for the info. I actually have a buddy that is good friends with Dinos Corvette Salvage who is half an hour away from me. So ill probably pick his brain on what i need and dont need when the time comes. Wiring is the one thing i dread doing, so ill get my biddy who is an electrical engineer to come help out and pay him in beer haha.

Right now plan is to run Autometer gauges, the ultra series i think it is.

As for the shift linkage Ive got a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do. Going to be an exposed linkage setup. In the trans mock up pics you can see where i put a breaker bar and flat head sticking up to get an idea. Thats the gist of what ill be doing.

As for the mounts your right its fairly simple. Luckily me wanting there engine far back matches up well with the length of the torque tube and no section of it is required.

[laextreme5]

After getting the rough idea of where the motor was going to sit, pulled the front subframe to get it cleaned up and to cut off the steering rack mounts, as I'm going to modify it to get it to sit as low as i can get it so that i can get the motor as low as possible.
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Also had some shiny parts come in today. As i mentioned before my shell i purchased didn't come with a steering rack or any of the brackets or bushings. So i had to source some separately. Today i received the factory mount brackets, which btw weigh a TON for what they are. Gong to drill some holes in them and lighten them up bit. Also got in some energy suspension steering rack bushings. These are just for mock up and test fit duties. Ill be getting a set of aluminum solid bushings for the final install. Also received the ARE dry sump oil pan. Currently only ordered the pan as thats all i need right now to mock up the motor and get it mounted. Ill ordered the rest of the kit later down the road when i need the additional parts and when i can afford it lol
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[laextreme5]

So with this post brings us up to date of where I'm at on the build. Today has been a whirlwind to say the least. I hit an animal (still never figured out wtf it was i actually hit) in my daily driver 05 wry, my wife nearly ran over a body on the interstate (something had just happened and no one was on the scene yet, cops were right behind her). And then a little bit of good happened. The last few weeks i have been searching for a set of Nismo Lmgt2's to buy. Ill be rebuilding them and converting them to 3 piece wheels so i wasn't looking for a mint set. My biggest stipulation was i wanted all 4 correct center caps in decent condition with the wheels. Turns out as rare as these wheels are i happned upon a set 10 minutes away from my house. I couldn't believe after searching for weeks with multiple dead ends i was able to find a quality set with all 4 center caps right down the road from my house.
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[Grime]

This shit gon be cray. With the quality of your wrx build, this should be amazing. Sub'd as I'm in for more!

[laextreme5]

Thanks for the info. I actually have a buddy that is good friends with Dinos Corvette Salvage who is half an hour away from me. So ill probably pick his brain on what i need and dont need when the time comes. Wiring is the one thing i dread doing, so ill get my biddy who is an electrical engineer to come help out and pay him in beer haha.

Right now plan is to run Autometer gauges, the ultra series i think it is.

As for the shift linkage Ive got a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do. Going to be an exposed linkage setup. In the trans mock up pics you can see where i put a breaker bar and flat head sticking up to get an idea. Thats the gist of what ill be doing.

As for the mounts your right its fairly simple. Luckily me wanting there engine far back matches up well with the length of the torque tube and no section of it is required.

This shit gon be cray. With the quality of your wrx build, this should be amazing. Sub'd as I'm in for more!

Thanks man! should def be a little crazy once its done. doing what everyone else does is boring and stale, got to keep it fresh.

[DER E30]

Wow WTF did you hit? A freakin' small cow? Looks like it spun down the side of the car! My mom hit a deer with her Suburban a few years ago with the blinker, like hit it by 3 inches, and the stupid thing dented every panel down the side whilst spinning.

[kevvy_dawg]

Ah man, sorry to hear and see the daily.. Glad to see you take the good with the bad

[laextreme5]

Wow WTF did you hit? A freakin' small cow? Looks like it spun down the side of the car! My mom hit a deer with her Suburban a few years ago with the blinker, like hit it by 3 inches, and the stupid thing dented every panel down the side whilst spinning.

Ah man, sorry to hear and see the daily.. Glad to see you take the good with the bad

Smoked a couple hogs doing about 50-55, Car will more than likely total. Im not to worried about it. Wife and i had just talked about selling it so now ill get full retail price for it lol Not sure whats next for a daily tho. Still need to figure that out.

[laextreme5]

Got my steering rack in today. This allowed me to mock it up along with the dry sump pan to see how low i could get the motor.
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After setting the steering rack in place of where it goes stock, I was able to see how far i could move it over to gain more clearance for the driver side header. The downside of this is now one inner tie rod is too long and one is too short. In the future i will measure exactly how far over i moved the rack, cut that much out of the longer tie rod and add it to the other side. Ill probably have to add a bit of small tuning reinforcement, kinda like a sleeve, over the modified areas that get back welded together
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With the modified distance for the steering rack confirmed, i mounted up the dry sump oil pan and lowered the motor in to see how low i could get it and what would be in the way of getting it lower.
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With the motor dropped into the engine bay i was amazed how much more room i had with the steering rack over. Def a helpful modification in the space department. Also got a bit of a visual of where the Altenator, Ac compressor, and Dry sump pump will be. Plan is to mount the oil gear pump on one side of the motor and low near level with the motor mount under the head, and the alternator and ac compressor on the other side in the same position, all below the head. Ill be running a electric power steering pump from a vauxhall astra so there won't be a mechanical pump mounted on the motor. With the few accessories i have being mounted so low and out of the way and running an electric water pump, the front of the motor will be extremely clean and simplistic.

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I realized after setting the motor in roughly where it is going to sit that there is going to be a monumental amount of space for the radiator and condenser, which both will be mounted on a roughly 45* forward angle, with the air coming through the from bumper, passing through the radiator/condensor and then up and out a duct through a center vent in the hood, more than likely a koguchi power item.

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I also took a minute to mock up one of the rear wheels. I know its not anywhere near what its gong to look like, between missing about 6" of lip and a massively wonder qtr, but you get the idea. And who can't give in to the temptation to mock up a new set of wheels on the project car?!
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[scotto]

Looks like things are coming along nicely, sucks about the wrx, but if it all works out in the end then why worry.