LS1 swapped into an EVO! by Scream

5 minute(s) of a 45 minute read

LS1 swapped into an EVO! 

Compliments of Scream @ http://ls1tech.com

6-12-2007

guess i should post up the writeup:

Started with a regular run of the mill evo 7 , decided to make it a “real” car by putting a real engine in it.
First the stock evo engine and transaxle were removed from the engine compartment for the mock up process. After placing the mockup ls1 in the engine compartment ( with the proper north-south orientation) it came apparent that the stock evo cross member had to be modified to fit. The [problem was interference with the oil pan and the placement of the steering rack. To address this issue it was decided to relocate the mustang steering rack from the rear to the front of the cross member (converting it from “rear steer” to “ front steer”) , to make this swap possible a whole new cross member was fabricated . The stock front lower control arms attachment points were left in place and the rest was chopped off and replaced with the custom made unit that attaches to those points and frame. To make the relocated steering rack work the left and right steering knuckles were swapped around so the tie rod attachment points were in front of the front axle centerline. Furthermore, the steering shaft had to be modified; it was lengthened because the rack was moved forward and had to be moved outward due to interference with the engine block. The nice thing of the cross member is that it provided ample room for headers to pass through.
The cross member utilized stock Lumina motor mounts and stands to locate the engine, which was placed as far back as possible. The plan was to run a t-56 six speed but it was decided to simplify the process by installing a th-400 first and getting the car running, and then convert it to a six speed. Due to the placement of the engine, the firewall had to be cut and the transmission tunnel “formed” to clear the bell housing. The tranny was mounted using a custom cross member ( read : a welded bar with a hole in the middle ) the cool thing is that the hurst auto shifter pokes up at the same location as the original.

Stock evo radiator handles the cooling, but the fan was swapped to one that cleared the water pump and pulleys. A custom drive shaft connects the tranny to the stock rear diff. Fuel system consists of a Toyota Echo tank placed in the trunk, with dual bosch 420 lph pumps that feed an Aeromotive regulator in the trunk and feeds the engine through –8 braided line. The interior is as stock as an evo can be , except for the hurst shifter that will be shortened to make it look like a stocker and the addition of an 8 pt. Roll cage, the rear seat bottom has been temporarily removed, and incase you are wondering , yes it has a fully functional AC.

The engine is an iron blocked LS1 6.0 with forged diamond pistons and forged rods and crank. Ported heads and victor jr. intake manifold with a 100 mm throttle body. Compression is at 8.5 :1 with a big cam to help with the D1-SC procharger . The intercooler is a custom front mount air-to-air cooler. The only drawback to this setup is that the hood had to be cut a bit to clear the throttle body. The headers were custom made in alotaibi exhaust shop and are full-length headers with one bullet muffler on each side (no H or x pipe yet). Incase you were wondering why the gas tank was relocated to the trunk its because the stock tanks were removed to make room for real mufflers in the near future.


as for the blower piping , its all there , including the intercooler. its just off cause the drive pully was damaged.
the engine angle is just fine, its the slope of the hood that is big.

as for the oil pickup , its just a camaro pick up and pan.

and incase you are wondering, it didn't cost an arm and a leg. most of the done was done in his garage. a major part of the funding for the project came from selling the old evo engine,tranny and xfer case ( i even think he still some left ) . the blower came off his gto. and he assembeled the engine with forged pistons and rods.

as for the AWD system , it will come eventually. planning to use the tranny, transfercase, front diff and oilpan from an envoy to make it work.

currently the car is lighter than original. the front coilovers are lowered all the way and the tire/fender gap is bigger than stock!