Things I've discovered.....(Long)
Just wanted to pass on some things I have discovered, and some vendors I have located to supply some swap parts for conversions. There are a whole lot of things you don't need in a factory harness, and ECM. The cheapest route is to do it yourself, and I have an extensive electrical background, but this is far too time consuming, and one mistake and you are back at square one.
Harness and Wiring;
There are good companies out there that can rewire your harness, but they are pricey. A new harness from a well recognized company is too far out of the ball park for me. I found a company in San Antonio Texas, that makes new hot rod harnesses and will configure them any way you want too....they even have an ebay store, and a lot of their prices are well below 400 bucks. The company is techrods, and the email is
[email protected] Shane is the persons name and is very knowledgeable.....a warehouse of information...and absolutely helpful in all ways......:yes:
ECM,PCM....... the computer
There are many types of these. As it happened with mine, GM only made this 2 years, and completely changed it in 1999, so ECM's are not interchangeable to a point. The 97 corvettes, and 98 Camaro's etc used the same ECM. After that they changed to a different design, and the pin connectors are not compatable. There are guides out there to repin the connectors, and they do work, but if you are wiring shy...don't even try, there are two connectors, and 80 pins in each one.
Once again, I found a company on ebay that sells hot rod ECM's, for all year models, except 1997 and 98...go figure. Apparently, these are like gold, and usually get sold with the motor and harness. He did not have any in stock at all, and could not get them.....just my luck......
The guys name is Rodney, and his ebay store is spareecm. His website is getting reworked right now.
So I talked to him (Rodney) and the harness guy (Shane), and they both gave me information as to what needed to happen. Techrods will build a harness for a 1999-2002 Camaro style, everything will be turned off, except what is absolutely necessry to run the engine. I will only add two outputs for fan control, to energize fan relays for cooling at 180, and 200 degrees. There are other outputs for A/C etc, so you can order whatever outputs activated you need. I then spoke to Rodney, and he will program the parameters in the ECM to the fan signals etc. The ECM will come with a basic tune for a stock engine, which is what I have, but the possibilities are endless. He is turing off VATS, transmission torque management, speed control, etc. Everything these guys do is listed on their ebay sites......so this is truly mail order programming......
Fuel Tanks
I looked at several things here. Install a sump in existing tank, fuel cell, manufactured tank. There are several companies making these components. Even Chevy2only sells a modified Nova tank, but the wait is 5-6 weeks. I opted for the Rick's tank...it was just delivered today. Built in sump, 225 lph pump with internal filter, and 90 ohm sending unit. -AN fittings for supply and return.
Fuel lines, pumps
As far as fuel lines, you can use a 1999+ Corvette regulator filter, it as in inlet, and two outlets, so you don't need two lines to your fuel rails. Whatever fuel is not used, is returned to the tank, this can be mounted at the rear, and use your existing supply line, it is already internally regulated....it uses proprietary fittings, but there is a company that sells it as a kit, filter, and all fittings to tie it in, even the -AN line, right around a hundred bucks. It is Nasty Performance, the guys name is Nate.
Exhaust
This is the choke point. While I am using a clip, there seems to me no clear answer for those wishing to use a stock clip other than modifying the shock towers, as if it were a big block install. Seems most any header will work with a clip, as you have a bunch of room. Same space problem will arise if you decide to run turbos in the stock clip, so that also needs to be figured out. No clear path there.
Tranny's
Pretty clear by now, most standard trannys will require the floor pan to be operated on. As for the 4l60E, it is 3/4" longer than the 700R4, at the mount, and the yoke is the same. So if you are running a 700, and converted your crossmember, this is a wash. The ECM controls the tranny, so you can electronically set shift points etc......
As I have learned since I started this swap, there is a whole lot of information to be absorbed, and many hours of reading. The industry is very alive, and moving every day....seems LSx anything has caught on fire.....As always, once I get further along, I will post pictures as the swap progresses.
T,
