Grayguy LS-egacy build

[grayguy]

This is going to be an attempt at a back dated build thread/log of my LS turbo Swapped 1998' GT sedan. As a back story, I bought this car in March 2007 https://sl-i.net/FORUM/showthread.php?3280-Grayguy-s-Silver-98-LGT-(3-22-07), and ended up blowing the stock motor up and going on to a 22t/25d + Standalone ecu build by May 2007 https://sl-i.net/FORUM/showthread.php?3529-EJ22T-into-a-BD-What-all-is-needed. That swap was fraught with issues (like the 22t bottom being trash 5 miles into driving it) and the car eventually got returned to stock. Once it was returned to stock my dad drove it for a year, and then my younger sister drove it and ended up killing it because of an oil leak. And thus began the long dark road that eventually ended up as an LS swap.

After my little sister blew the car up I didn't know what to do with it. I couldn't decide if I wanted another subaru powered swap or not. I remembered Mike Rantel's epic drift outback and decided it was time I owned/built a rwd car. Once that was decided I looked at SRs, RBs, JZs, and LS'. I eventually landed on LS for it'd lowest price point and relatively "small" physical size. Once that was decided, months of research and planning ensued. And eventually... It was time to actually begin...

[grayguy]

The car actually sat for something like 2 years with the blown motor. I stole the bumper off it for the other EJ205 swapped BD I had for a few years and then sold to fund this project.

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[Tylerhartman]

Oh it’s time

[grayguy]

I started by buying a full pullout from a 2002 Yukon, for $800 I got the gen3 5.3, 4l65e, harness and ecu.

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Once all the pesky Subaru stuff was out of the way i was able to start mock up. First order of business was seeing if the trans remotely fit in the tranny tunnel. I borrowed a bare case from a buddy that made this way easier.

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I took the oil pan off the motor because I realized almost immediately that the stock cross member had to go, but the length and width of the LS actually fit the engine bay quite well.

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my first plan was to try to use the factory flange to build an oil pan, so I gutted the pan, and then I gutted the factory crossmember. I spent quite a bit of time getting the motor to sit where it needed to be in the bay. It basically landed where the Throttle body clears the hood by about 1/8". Once I had it blocked up in place I made some temporary engine mounts to hold it there.

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[grayguy]

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at somepoint I realize that the stock oil pan rebuild was just too much effort and time. After looking at a few other LS subaru swaps I decided on using a CX racing 240sx LS swap oil pan. once I had the pan I basically cut the core support out completely so I could rebuild it to maximize the space I had. I lowered the core support roughly 4"s so that it was lower than the oil pan.

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[grayguy]

Next I decided on Accessory drive/locations. I used an ICT billet low Alternator mount, a 10'+ camaro water pump (this opened up radiator options because the outlet is opposite of the lower rad hose and still uses the truck accessory drive spacing). It was at this point that I decided I was going to adapt the subaru power steering pump to the LS. This worked out nicely because it is SO much smaller than any chevy option, and I didn't have to worry about over/under driving the pump and negatively affecting the handling. I accidentally ended up using like a 2003 legacy pump just because it was laying around. I built a bracket that bolted to the pump using the pump case bolts and then adapted that to the LS heads.

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[grayguy]

Somewhere early in this build I discovered the SloppyMechanics facebook group and I honestly don't think this project would have been completed without them. I learned the ways of cheaply boosting LS motors with success. I ended up buying a VS racing 7875 T4 based turbo for $399. As soon as it arrived I started the CAD design on the hot side layout.

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[grayguy]

At this point it was time to start building the new front crossmember. As luck would have it, I happened to have a car I could cut the entire front frame out of to build a Jig that would give me all the suspension and mounting points.

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[grayguy]

Once I had the jig, I was able to measure down from the frame rail to the bottom of the oil pan, add 1/4" for clearance, and start bending tube. I used 1.5x.090 DOM for the crossmember.

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After i bent the tubes I realized I needed a little more height on one, i ended up slicing the tube, adding 1/4" via plate, and then gusseting it back together. Then I chopped the rack mounts out of the stock crossmember and adapted them to my tube. Then I built mounts for the control arms.

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[grayguy]

Crossmember finished!

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Now that the motor was mounted for real, I could figure out how much I needed to Modify the CX racing oil pan. That's right, I bought a $400 oil pan just to still cut it up. we ended up cutting the front sump off and sliding it forward around 2"s to clear the steering rack and crossmember.

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I added the oil drain at the same time the oil pan was put back together. I did not weld the pan back together, I had my much more competent buddy do it. I did fab and weld the oil return onto the pan though!

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[ryu_haneda]

It's been almost 10 years since I was behind the wheel of a BD. I hope this turns out great for you.

[grayguy]

It's actually done and driving, I am doing this thread as a post mortem lol