The CAR WIZARD talks LS Swaps

okay well welcome back to the wizard shop Here I am surrounded by hoovy disasters if it isn't one it's two and three and sometimes they come in fours I don't know we've got the parts on this one sent off to be bi to be welded we're waiting on that waiting on the cylinder head to be resurfaced for this one and we can go back together on the previa things have been hopping in the shop and just just seeing these engines remarks to make me think about engines and how it's so common for everyone wanting to do LS swaps that just gots to be thinking about pulling and engines and putting them back in and we recently did a video on engine swaps in general just some general ideas but I kind of wanted to focus today on LS swaps everyone says oh I got a 67 Chevy truck someday I want an LS swap it or I've got a 72 Chevelle sitting out back I'd like two LS swap it what does that entail what is the process to LS swap a vehicle now I'm not talking about car berating the LS motor I'm talking about full-on electrically computer-controlled fuel-injected LS swaps I'll go through all the different steps and let's get started [Music] so one of the first things that you're going to have to think about with your LS swap it's very easy to think that you just bolt the motor in and run a few wires and you're good to go it is way more complex than that the LS swap is one of the simpler engines to swap in and there's a huge aftermarket support for doing the swap but even with that being said it's very difficult it can make you pull your hair out one of the first things you need to look at is the fuel system this is obviously not an LS motor this is a 996 turbo motor but I can still use parts of it to show you some things these little rails right here on each side where this line goes into our fuel rails they're not going to run off of your mechanical pump from your 350 v8 off of 6 psi or 5 psi of fuel pressure this system on an LS motor is going to need 50 50 55 to start and it needs to be around probably 4045 when it's running you're not you're not going to get that off of your attend psi TBI pump or something like that you need to think about a fuel pump you need to think about connecting that fuel pump and its lines to this not specifically this one but you're going to have a fitting on the LS motor how are you going to connect the two how are you going to keep them from coming apart and spraying causing a fire the second thing is a return line there's a few pressure regulator on the fuel rail that any pressure over a certain amount it sends it back to the fuel tank so now you got to route a second line to your fuel tank fuel is constantly being drawn to the engine pushed to the engine running through the fuel rail and either being consumed by the engine or sent back to the few take it's a loop it's constantly going constantly going so you need to keep that in mind you don't just run one fuel line up to it and start running it you have to have a return line the next thing in the fuel system you're going to need is an inertia switch if you get into an accident and you've the car flips and it cuts a fuel line it's just going to pump fuel endlessly and it continually fan the flames bigger and higher you can get these typically off of a Ford Taurus or something they're just mounted on in the footwell or different places on the car that when you get into an impact it separates the connection and shuts off your fuel pump you need to get it some sort of an inertia switch you don't you don't need to be dying for your LS swap also you'll need a fuel filter obviously you need to filter your fuel so that takes here the fuel system the next thing we're going to talk about is the cooling system on the LS motor you're going to have coolant hoses going to the radiators it may not match up to what you have you need to research the vehicle you have where the radiator Inlet and outlet how is that gonna match up to the LS motor that's pretty much research that you'll have to do but that's something you need to think of on the cooling system also your heater hoses you want heat in the winter when it's cold if you're swapping into a Chevy motor you probably be able to make your drive shaft work with minor modifications if you they make kits to bolt up of LS motor to a 700r4 or a th 400 or th 350 if you're putting it into a totally different vehicle if you watch my previous video you'll see that it can get out of hand trying to match up a drive shaft to your transmission now your drive line is going to be something that you're gonna have to research based on the vehicle you have compare and compare that with what the LS motor has the next thing we're going to talk about is wiring and computers I I personally would not go through the trouble of an LS swap unless I was going to do it full-blown computer controlled because I want knock sensors working I want air fuel ratio working so I can not I don't want to worry about all that I'm the type of guy I don't really care for carburetors I know how to work on them I know how to adjust them the thing is is I don't want to I don't really want to mess with that stuff and if you're going to do a full computer-controlled LS motor you're going to have to have a computer the PCM as you see here this is a wiring harness on this Porsche motor you're going to need they make premade harnesses for LS swaps you're gonna have to order one of those it's 500 bucks there's psi conversions that sells those there's painless wiring harnesses that you can buy online it all has the plug ins and everything and it just have simple battery and ground connections and you'll have to run some wire from a fuel pump relay to your fuel pump now it's not just easy as buying a computer online because that computer when you go to crank it it's going to want to see security has has been authorized when you turn the key and and GM vehicles it's called like passkey or vats it's going to be looking for that security chip and if it doesn't see it it's not going to start you need to have you can either buy these PCM pre-program two pre-made for standalone running or you can buy a used one out of a junkyard and send it off and have it done you need to have EGR deleted you need to have EVAP system deleted you need to have that social security system deleted and probably your rear o2 sensors you don't need a check engine light for that because you're probably not going to have one in an older project that can all be done that's totally doable that's the nice thing about an LS swap but you're going to have to run all these wires plug them into the write sensors you're going to have to hook up your PCM that can that can be very time-consuming to route all that also a small fuse box for power the next thing you're going to have to worry about which PCM to by during the different years that they made the LS motors which could be the Vortech motors now people say a 5.3 Vortech or a 4.8 Vortech that's not an LS motor and I say that's a bunch of malarkey it is I can take I can take parts off of one and put on another on an LS one LS two I can take the water pump off one and put it on the other you can swap parts all around it's not as powerful in a truck but the same stuff is there the same block the same everything so on the crankshaft there's a little reluctor wheel it has little teeth kind of like it looks like a little gear some of the older models will be 24 teeth some of the newer ones will be 58 teeth if you try to take a PCM for a 24 to 32 it won't work it'll be like what what in the world is going on here it probably won't even start you need to make sure that you have the right crank sensor setup and reluctor will to match the PCM that you're using the crank sensor is right behind the starter on an LS motor it's easy to get to really it's not too hard but just that's not something you can swap out and just slip and change stuff around you have to take the crank out and swap that around if you wanted to change it out but I don't just make just do your research in order the right one beforehand okay next thing is motor mounts make sure you're going to get the motor mounts to match up to where the original mounts are on your project now that being that's an LS motor there's all kinds of aftermarket options out there there's universal ones there's ones you can weld in there's ones you can bolt in that that's gonna be something you need to include in your budget as well motor mounts how are you going to mount it on the Cadillac I had to modify a few things to make the motor mounts work but it wasn't too big of a deal I had to add some spacers and weld them in but motor mounts can be very simple if there's an aftermarket option out there but if it's something crazy that you're trying to like putting an LS swap into a Lamborghini Guyardo or something crazy I don't think there's gonna be any very many options for something like that but we've got past the motor mounts the next thing is exhaust they make kits that have both headers it can be routed this mid mid dumped headers or rear dump headers side dump headers you have to research that online but there's all kinds of options for exhaust I know this sounds like I'm just continually talking but the thing is is an LS swap can easily get out of hand just as well as any other swap is you get the motor bolted in and you start looking at this stuff and you're like oh my god I'm almost out of money and I'm only halfway through this and I have so much to go yet so these are things to think about when you want to do an LS swap it's not like oh yeah I'll swap a motor in and bada-bing bada-boom it's done it's not bada-bing bada-boom it's it's a lot of research and a lot of time involved so you could bolt the motor in but all you've done is made a boat anchor until you get all this stuff that I just talked about hooked up and working properly it's not a running engine it's not a drivable car it has no value until you get it running the next thing is air conditioning do you want AC on an LS motor the AC compressors down at the passenger side bottom and a lot of times it lands right on top of most cross members of trucks Chevy trucks and Camaros and things they make kids to relocate it but that's more money another adapter another part another piece some people cut cut their cross members to fit the AC compressor I probably wouldn't do that does that change your serpentine belt configuration there yeah once you do that you'll have to get the serpentine belt the right one the right length that's more research you'll have to do if your 1a C in your car that's something you need to think about it's going to be down at the bottom of the engine you're probably going to have to move it up top or to the side they have special kits to make it work the alternator is not too big of a deal it's just a you need to have that hooked into your PCM and it'll take care of the rest for you your your starters not too big of a deal there's just a there's the solenoid wire the main battery and you'll have to route that around the starters not too big of a deal now your brakes with the LS swap if typically if you're doing an older project especially it's gonna have vacuum booster and at vacuum brakes that's no problem just run the hose from the LS motor over to your old booster it'll work just fine steering does your vehicle does your project have power steering if it does how are you going to tie that into the power steering pump how are you going to make that work if it's a GM it's probably gonna match up pretty good but if you're trying to LS swap something that's strange or foreign to GM parts how are you going to adapt all that that's something you're going to research I'm just helping you guys out here to give you an idea that even an LS swap can be mind-blowing you can get in and over your head and be in trouble and like I've mentioned in the previous video oil pan there's there's different oil pan configurations you can buy on LS motors now they have they have mid and rear and and low sump short they have shortened sumps all kinds of different setups but you're gonna have to research that as well is it going to is the oil pan gonna land in a improper place on top of the crossmember hit a steering linkage that's something you're gonna have to think of as well typically on the air cleaner air filter you can probably just put one of those K&N style aftermarket air filters on it they'll take care of that or if it's coming out of a truck you could just get the ductwork in the air box and mount it mount it in your vehicle and use the stock setup but that's something that I would look into it looks correct it looks better than just a big comb filter sticking out on the end I'm not a fan of comb filters I don't like them speedometer your PCM is going to be looking for a signal from a 4l60e or whatever for LED whatever transmission was in it and if it doesn't see it it's not that huge of a deal if you're using an electronic control transmission you'll want to wire all that in your your wiring harness that you order should come with all that you're gonna have to wire all that into your PCM if you're gonna use the mechanical speedometer then you're gonna need to have make sure when you get your PCM that no not to worry about speed a speed sensor because it'll throw a code no speed or something like that the next thing and the last thing I'm gonna go over there's probably many other options but I'm just giving you guys a quick video some some of the main things to look into is the throttle the older LS motors will have an actual cable actuated throttle just like the old days there's a throttle cable that manually opens your butterflies and if that's the case that's really not that big of a deal but if you have throttle by wire or a newer LS motor you're gonna have to get the PCM to run that you're gonna have to get an electronic gas pedal that goes inside the cabin right where your old gas pedal went typically you can get these off of a Camaro Corvette or truck or whatever and you have to run the wiring for that otherwise there's no way to interface your old gas pedal with a modern electronic throttle body and in closing one last thought something to think about with doing any swap or especially an LS swap is tools if you have a small little craftsman set 200 piece set then you're working out of your garage you're you're going to be in a world of hurt trying to make an LS swap work things it's just going to be very hard I have all these tools here probably 50 60 grand worth of tools obviously you're not going to have as a do-it-yourself backyard mechanic but you need to invest in a few tools if you're going to do a swap because you're gonna get to stuff and be like man I can't make this work I don't have the sixth inches I don't have this and it'll make it so much harder so invest in a good set of tools and if you got standard sets of tools standard sizes you're gonna need metric for an LS swap there's everything's gonna be metric everything is there's not going to be standard bolts on now your project in a car you're putting it into may have standard bolts but the LS motor and everything involved with it is not going to be it's gonna be metric loads metric tools it's going to be very time-consuming as I mentioned in my preview video about swamps you're going to get to this point or that point and be like oh this starter isn't gonna work or this isn't gonna work well I'll have to go order this part and now you wait a week or two to get the part from especially eBay you're waiting on the seller to get the part in the mail then the shipping time starts that was a video that I recently did on crazy part stories watch that video it'll give you an idea of how difficult it can be getting parts together he's like man I got a weekend free here and I could get this in this and this done I was still waiting on parts there's a little delay and shipping it can be crazy if you think you're gonna have an LS swap done a couple weekends it's not gonna happen I guess if you're a millionaire and you just buy up the whole store and everything that you want and just have a mountain of parts come in you could I guess you could make that happen but most of us aren't that way we would have to order as needed what what do we need now okay now we order the park now we're to this point we see that we need this and this and that now we can order those parts it's very time consuming some of the stuff can be hard to find like if you're trying to adapt a different power steering gearbox or a rack to a GM power steering pump having to research is there adapters there's a guy that in town that can cut and splice the hoses is this or that I mean it can be pretty aggravating figuring out stuff if you got a local parts store that you're real in real good relations with and there's a guy in there who knows what he's doing get in good with that guy because he could tell you oh yeah this year 82 Camaro blah blah blah do you have these parts that'll line up for you here let me go get it and he'll bring it to you and wow it works just make sure you're getting good with your parts guy so a lot of you will also think I'll just I'll just email the car wizard no that won't work because during the span of a week my inbox just gets crammed full of question car questions there's no way I can answer all those and also run a shop check the forum's out there's forums and people that may have already done this swap that you're doing that have already been through all the pitfalls or got past the two hurdles but emailing me we're not gonna be the option for you and the people in the forum's may also have access to where to get the parts or the links or even say hey I ordered this part here's the link here's where I bought it and here's where you can get it and there you go so in closing I just wanted to give you guys a heads up it's easy too it's it's like a catchphrase these days LS swap they even make t-shirts about LS swaps and it's oh it's easy no no it's not very easy if you don't know about fuel-injection that can be very difficult make sure you get a budget together make sure you understand that you're not just going to be ordering 10 or 15 parts there's probably a hundred parts and if you're getting a used motor make sure it was a running verified running motor it's easy to find a four hundred dollar at four point eight motor on Craigslist and you get it home and find out it's trashed or something's wrong with it make sure you got a verified good running motor that you're going to use if you're using a crate motor then that you'll have a warranty but if you're getting a used motor verify that it was running before you purchase it so if any of the tools and previous videos that you've seen that you're interested in to purchase or if you want to see what kind of tools I use check my Amazon affiliates in the link below and as you've seen in the previous video with the Aston Martin and if there's a lot of cool cars coming in I just got a Lotus Esprit turbo in we're going to be doing a video on that it's an s4 s very very nice car hit the subscribe button you guys won't be disappointed thanks for watching [Music]

Channel: Car Wizard

Views: 131,759

Rating: 4.9009666 out of 5

Keywords: car wizard, david long, hoovies garage, tyler hoover, car issues with tyler hoover, chrisfix, omega auto clinic, scotty kilmer, car repair, car maintenance, tavarish, Doug DeMuro, vehicle virgins, watchjrgo, jalopnik, smoking tire, samcrac, vinwiki, Hoovie, mechanic, Car issues, LS swap, LS, Engine Swap

Id: tS8GiVW40NA

Length: 20min 50sec (1250 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 24 2019