Ls1 into 75 cruiser info

[Stackson45]

Hi Guys,
Long time between posts...
Short and sweet - i've been thinking about putting the ls1 from my commo into the 75 (the one in my avatar) searched for info but not holding my tongue right - just after any links/info on members builds on this conversion? basic how much work and $$$$ to consider before i waste anymore brain power on the idea...
A quick run-down of my rig FYI - 1996 75 ute, petty, extended chassis, sprung over, twin locked (chinese air rear , lokrite front) 35's, extra cab box thingy... i've got a VX commo with lpg, and thinking of either selling it, or engine conversion. I've also got a sprintex supercharger for the petty motor, which would be the other option...
Thanks in advance,
Rob

[Stackson45]

PS: i put this in General Tech in case anyone has gone to the dark side - or one of the darker sides...

[crankycruiser]

Have a look in the Toyota section, there's a fair few threads on putting them into 80s in there (basically the same). There is a new thread in there about this as we speak.

[Shadow]

Theres a thread in there with a ls1 into 75series (but on an 80 chassis) so they definitely fit in the 75 engine bay.

i would say cost ill be $5k to $10k depending on how much fabbing you do yourself etc.

[Stackson45]

Yeah i've been looking at some of the ls1-80series in there, i'm not up to date with chassis and bracket differences between the 75 and the 80, but they have been done and do fit, from what i have seen.
Using Marks kit it looks like $5000 minimum, and up from there. Both my commo and 75 have gas already, so most of that should convert straight over, then wreck the commodore from there. I'm just thinking for similar $$$ i can get around the same power from a stock engine, or forced induction on the cruiser motor, which i would assume would wear out quicker.
Anyway, i'll keep mulling it over and researching before i touch it with any money or spanners.

[SCANAS]

Get your IFZ a stand alone engine management system and get it on the dyno with a car guy not a 4b guy, Your probably going to get get gains of 20%+ above standard. How much power are you looking for?

[Stackson45]

I guess if i'm going to spend some decent coin, i'm liking the idea of an ls1 producing good power stock, as opposed to getting more out of the 1FZ, and from some little reading i have done it seems you can get more out of the ls1's with out too much work, if for some reason i want more grunt, which i doubt.
My 1FZ has 320,00 on it, and still going strong, so no real need to swap it out, just a want. I was even thinking of trying to be a little different with a 454 or something like that, but from what i've read they stopped producing them in 1996-7? to run petrol i need to have an engine same year or newer for emissions (with the 454 emissions gear on it) or run straight gas, which i'm not sure i want to do.
But I'll keep looking and thinking... a mate of mine is looking at a V8 80 series... the V8 bug might start to win sooner if he buys it...

[rockcrawler31]

I think you'll struggle with a bbc in a 75. I've got a 454 here and they're called a BIG block for a reason

[St Jimmy]

Be differant, go hemi

[sadam_husain]

we did an LS into my 75 cruiser last year, we used a 6.0l lq4 which is a truck version LS2, cast iron block instead of alloy but all just the same as an LS1. We used the old dellow bellhousing from the 350 chev that was in the truck, there was one bolt hole not tapped into the block other than that the bellhousing bolted straight up to the new block, the heads sit back further than an old cast iron 350 so you'd be better off with a marks kit that will shift the engine forward. you need a good clutch in there so your not spinning everything up , we managed to get a homemade twin plate clutch in mine and it clamps up solid as a rock. Wiring and ECU is probably the hardest bit to do, we found a guy on ebay in the states that re-writes GM computers and he remapped a computer and took all the security stuff and auto trans stuff out of it and sent it over to us for about $120 USD and the truck pretty much fired straight up on it, the truck drives real nice with the engine, about 350hp and plenty of torque

[Shadow]

I did the wiring on my ls1 engine harness myself, followed some guides on the internets, its all pretty basic stuff. the biggest hurdle is the confidence to start ctting. with some good pinouts you can stumble through it really easily.

I got a guy down the goldcoast to remove the vats security and put a very basic mafless tune on the PCM for me cost about $50. he plugged it into his statesman and it ran fine.

Will ge a full dyno retune done but at least this lets me start it and not have to install the MAF to get it running only to remove it and redo the inlet stuff later on.

I've kept the stock commo auto, 4l60e, which ca be built strong enough for my application i think. if i was building a comp truck then i would think about a 6l80e.

I used the marks kit to bolt the transfer to the 4l60e, and got some generic LS1 engine mounts that i welded onto the cleaned chassis.

So many of these LS1/LS2 instals have been done with sooo many writeups on the net that it really is pretty easy if your capable of removing and reinstalling a stocko engine.

I will be rewiring the whole car eventually and will probably use a kit like the painless wiring 7 circuit kit(theres cheaper aus made units available).