1dirtyZ's Conversion by 1dirtyZ

7 minute(s) of a 304 minute read

1dirtyZ's Conversion 

Compliments of 1dirtyZ @ www.ls1tech.com

7/16/08

i was planning on starting this project a bit later , but i guess things happen for a reason 

i was planning on converting my ls mustang from a nitrous car to a forced induction car. why?? cause it already had my camaro's old 8.5:1 408 swapped in it and i got tired of refilling bottles and worrying if i had enough juice to finish a few rounds of racing .

so to make this short , here is a link to the thread in the N2O sction showing you what happened that made me decide to begin this swap.

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showth...63#post9751263

so , future plans include the following :

-F1-R ( off the camaro offcourse )

-fixing what ever is the problem with the engine 

-front mount intercooler and plumbing

-complete new fuel system

-redo the electrical wiring through out the car

-new fiberglass hood 

-rebuild the tranny

-new guages for boost and fuel pressure

-fix the non functional rear brakes

-trying to clean up the car in general and maybe , just maybe a paint job 

i have most of the parts in ( will snap pics tomorow), i just need to see what is wrong with the engine and order what ever needs to be fixed and hopefulley it would be a quick process ( i just jinxed it ).

wish me luck!

7/18/08

started to rip the engine apart , i got everything off of it , just too lazy to unbolt the torque converter. 

i should have the short block out today, and then i can see if there is any rod damage or bearings hammered. i'm also worried that i might have to ditch the stock fans inorder to get the blower to fit. and i might need to move the radiator forward. which will suck cause there is barely enough room infront of it already to fit an intercooler .

the game plan is:

-get the engine out

-fix it 

-redo paint and wiring in the engine compartment 

-relocate tranny cooler to the pass fender opening

-put the engine back in 

-start mocking up and fitting the blower 

-the other stuff 

here are a few progress pics:

7/19/08

check the link above for the latest findings 

i'll be taking the heads to a machine shop soon to have them checked. 

i'm starting to get worried about intercooler fitmen right now. the radiator is tilted with the bottom part sticking out a bit , and the intercooler needs to go there , and i barely have enough space as is to fit the blower. i know i'll have to ditch the stock fans and put thinner ones. my options are as follows:

- push the intercooler as far forward as i can ( having it stick out throught the bottom of the bumper ) while still retaining the ls1 radiator .

- get a smaller radiator off a toyota hilux ( see the "mother of all mustangs build" for pics of that) that is smaller , which gives me room to mount the blower and the intercooler , while sacrifising cooling as well as requiring a seperate pressurized expansion tank. 

- hacking the bottom core support and fabbing mounts for the intercooler and a mitsubishi evo radiator ( its just as wide as the engine bay but not as tall, can be mounted vertically - see same thread as above).

we'll see how bad it is when i take the crap off the front end 

here's how it looks so far

ripped the whole block appart and i can't find and exact cause of the knocking noise. 

on a positive note, i found a set of weisco pistons locally that would fit the bill just fine all i need to do now is order a set of rings.

i removed the direct port stand alone fuel system that was in the passenger side front fender: ( one of the few things i was proud of )

i also took the front end off the car as well as the bumper: ( here you can see how much space i have to work with if i kept the bumper )

i then proceeded to mock up the intercooler :

i was planning on relocating my tranny cooler to the hole in the pass. side inner fender left after i removed the fuel cell, after mocking the intercooler in its place , it almost seems i don't need to move anything . i might just do it to help cool the motor down ( one less heat sorce infront of the radiator). it would probably be done like azooooz's stang ; with a cooling fan bolted to the cooler.

i was also planning on ditching the front bumper and slicing up the front facia, but it seems like i just might be able to use the bumper with very little cutting , and the same goes for the facia: the only cutting would be to the outer edges of the bottom opening to clear the pipes going into and out of the intercooler.

it also seems like i can still run the ls1 radiator as is but with slimmer fans. will have to put the motor back in and mock up the blower to see if that holds true 

tomorow i'm planing on removing the single nozzle N2O system , removing the big pile of old ford engine harness i bundled up behind the pass headlight and claning that up. i might also mount the water injection pump somewhere. if i feel like it after all that , i might even raise the rear of the car high enough to get the tranny out from under the car to tear it down and inspect it .

what i really need to do is redo the engine bay wiring , but that will be an all day progect for the near future