robert lee
Gold Member
Well you know how we , crazy.... i found a chicken bone behind the brake booster of my h/t, if you know what i mean's...
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The *NEW* LS swap project
- Thread starter WS6
- Start date
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
Not much has happened because I moved the convertibles engine swap up to the front of the line, but in the meantime I did manage to bolt up the tubular K member and since it was a complete front end teardown I opted to upgrade the front brakes to the 12" LS rotors. This required me sending my spindles to bigbrake upgrade and modified them and made me hubs and such. I sourced my own rotors and calipers to save a bit. I'm happy how it turned out, although I did need to use .140" spacers to get the backside of the GTA wheel off the calipers.
I also finished converting the 5 speed column over to auto and got the shifter mounted and the interlock cable installed along with an auto pedal assembly ,but I have no pictures.
I also finished converting the 5 speed column over to auto and got the shifter mounted and the interlock cable installed along with an auto pedal assembly ,but I have no pictures.
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
So The carpet is all in and I re sprayed all the interior plastics, had the seats recovered and here's the almost finished results.
The carpet was one of the worst fitting I've ever used and of the 6 or so I've done 3 of them were 3rd gens.I used ACC cognac full set.
The plastics took weeks to do and I did them in camel, I feel it's closest to Beechwood that's available. The flash makes them look like they don't match but in regular light they are damn near identical to leather I picked.
Now the seat covers, I went with Lethal Interiors out of Florida, I liked her attitude and I couldn't find anything but glowing reviews either. She hand makes every set and you pay to get in line but it's well worth the wait, she sent me samples a couple of times so I could match the Camel SEM paint.
My upholstery guy said they were the best covers he'd seen in 40 years and there's no gaps near the side upper bolster accordion plastics or anything, they're perfect. And I thought the Katzskins were great but they are Chinese knock-offs compared to her work.
My only complaint is with the above mentioned upholstery guy, he didn't tell me he was getting his gizzard out halfway through and he let a buddy finish my seats up. That buddy did not replace the front lower seat foams like I specifically asked, so now I have to take at least the driver seat back to have it stuffed....I should have looked at them more closely upon pick up.
I repaired the radio pod and the console, installed NOS lid, window switches, mirror switches and I sent the radio to United Radio for a once over that got me new buttons and cassette unit.
All that's left is to finish some small wiring for the auto conversion underdash and I'm currently building a complete aftermarket gauge cluster. That's turned into quite a project itself, after that the NOS steering wheel can go on for good. And I need to get the E-brake handle recovered too.
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The carpet was one of the worst fitting I've ever used and of the 6 or so I've done 3 of them were 3rd gens.I used ACC cognac full set.
The plastics took weeks to do and I did them in camel, I feel it's closest to Beechwood that's available. The flash makes them look like they don't match but in regular light they are damn near identical to leather I picked.
Now the seat covers, I went with Lethal Interiors out of Florida, I liked her attitude and I couldn't find anything but glowing reviews either. She hand makes every set and you pay to get in line but it's well worth the wait, she sent me samples a couple of times so I could match the Camel SEM paint.
My upholstery guy said they were the best covers he'd seen in 40 years and there's no gaps near the side upper bolster accordion plastics or anything, they're perfect. And I thought the Katzskins were great but they are Chinese knock-offs compared to her work.
My only complaint is with the above mentioned upholstery guy, he didn't tell me he was getting his gizzard out halfway through and he let a buddy finish my seats up. That buddy did not replace the front lower seat foams like I specifically asked, so now I have to take at least the driver seat back to have it stuffed....I should have looked at them more closely upon pick up.
I repaired the radio pod and the console, installed NOS lid, window switches, mirror switches and I sent the radio to United Radio for a once over that got me new buttons and cassette unit.
All that's left is to finish some small wiring for the auto conversion underdash and I'm currently building a complete aftermarket gauge cluster. That's turned into quite a project itself, after that the NOS steering wheel can go on for good. And I need to get the E-brake handle recovered too.
.
.
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
Thanks fellas!
I was just really frustrated with the carpet, like I mentioned, I've done a few and I expect trimming but the tails of the front piece formed this bunched up mess under the rear seats no matter what type of cuts and folds I tried, and the rear well isn't nearly a nice fit.
And don't get me started on the pre cutout console fiasco.
I was just really frustrated with the carpet, like I mentioned, I've done a few and I expect trimming but the tails of the front piece formed this bunched up mess under the rear seats no matter what type of cuts and folds I tried, and the rear well isn't nearly a nice fit.
And don't get me started on the pre cutout console fiasco.
robert lee
Gold Member
How does the price compare with Jax ?
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
The material I picked sans the perforated centers, like the TTA, was almost a third less than Jax.
My choice was based on color mainly with 2 choices that were really close, I opted for the material that had a lower luster.
You could pick some really high end leather that would have jacked the price up, including some that had had perforated centers and gotten close to a grand, which I considered on par with Katzkins, but her work is far,far better.
It was great that she asked for the accordion bolster pieces and she sewed them in place making them truly a DIY install if you wanted to.
robert lee
Gold Member
That's good to know, my upholstery guy is still bitching about the Katzskin covers almost two yrs later.. thanks for sharing.
jarredsoon
Gold Member
That interior sure is clean and new, looks fantastic!!
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
So, on to the next and final stage of the interior. The instrument cluster. One of the things I disliked about the TTA as I had it, was I was forced to use a pillar pod to house FP, boost gauges. It's just so close to the driver's face and at night those LED lit gauges were too, too, bright. So I decided I needed to make the existing instrument panel more functional than the factory gauges could provide and keep them out of my face.
So after seeing what others had done on 3rd gen I decided to go a similar route except adding one more gauge than the 5 that the right 2 pods could contain. This required me making an entire ABS front and locate all the gauges in a near similar fashion to the 3rd gen and it turned out nice so far and it ended up with quasi 2nd gen T/A look as well.
I can't take too much credit as my tool shop racing buddy did most of the set up and cutting either with his metal break and Bridgeport.
After we got the original skinned down to what was needed for support I attached the .125 ABS sheet and cut all the gauge and LED holes.
I then sprayed the entire thing in a Charcoal SEM vinyl/plastic paint and went about mounting everything. I even angled the smaller gauges with 15* spacers to point them in the drivers direction.
Now what's left is wiring it all up with Molex connectors and tying it into the original instrument panel's C1 and C2 connectors.
...
..
So after seeing what others had done on 3rd gen I decided to go a similar route except adding one more gauge than the 5 that the right 2 pods could contain. This required me making an entire ABS front and locate all the gauges in a near similar fashion to the 3rd gen and it turned out nice so far and it ended up with quasi 2nd gen T/A look as well.
I can't take too much credit as my tool shop racing buddy did most of the set up and cutting either with his metal break and Bridgeport.
After we got the original skinned down to what was needed for support I attached the .125 ABS sheet and cut all the gauge and LED holes.
I then sprayed the entire thing in a Charcoal SEM vinyl/plastic paint and went about mounting everything. I even angled the smaller gauges with 15* spacers to point them in the drivers direction.
Now what's left is wiring it all up with Molex connectors and tying it into the original instrument panel's C1 and C2 connectors.
...
..
jarredsoon
Gold Member
Rich where did you get the tiny little check engine light?
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
Thank you very much everyone for the compliments.
And Jarred I think either e-bay or amazon. Search LED check engine or SES light. Isn't it the coolest? it was only a couple bucks too.
And Jarred I think either e-bay or amazon. Search LED check engine or SES light. Isn't it the coolest? it was only a couple bucks too.
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
Because I have about 15 hours into it so far, and more so for anyone else who may want to do an aftermarket gauge project, here's the spaghetti harness it took to make it all happen minus the stand alone Fuel pressure gauge's harness which I have no time in at all because it comes with the gauge.
The first is the C1 and C2 dash connectors that all the gauges and idiot lights feed into to what would have been the printed circuit. the rest is where I'm at and just short of tying in the other half of the Molex connectors into the car's dash harness.
This *should* make it removable and repairable . The only flaw in my plan is the mechanical oil pressure and boost gauges....I guess I'll leave 2 ft. of coiled hose behind it so I can at least lay it on the seat.
..
The first is the C1 and C2 dash connectors that all the gauges and idiot lights feed into to what would have been the printed circuit. the rest is where I'm at and just short of tying in the other half of the Molex connectors into the car's dash harness.
This *should* make it removable and repairable . The only flaw in my plan is the mechanical oil pressure and boost gauges....I guess I'll leave 2 ft. of coiled hose behind it so I can at least lay it on the seat.
..
jarredsoon
Gold Member
Looks very neat and clean for all those wires there, and yeah the SES is cool.
Raymond Bunch
TTA #1416 / 1BADDAM
Man, I loving this car! Great job thus far...and can't wait to see it when done.
RB
RB
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
Thank you, thank you... I should be making some progress in the next week or so. My LS swap harness came in this week and I'll detail that come the time, but next is the knuckle bustin' , mock-up motor install and then the part I've been dreading to do....the crossmember and Y-pipe fabrication portion :disgust::disgust:
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
I set the whole mock up 6.0/4L80e down in yesterday. Still need to do some wigglin' with the UMI mounts. The tranny crossmember is going to be a PIA. I thought, as TTop350 does, that using my spohn 200R4 crossmember would be damn near close, but the trans mount is way to high and I'd have to cut out the center section and make a hoop mount as it's nearly 2 1/2" rearward. So why hack up a perfectly good spohn mount just for the angle iron sides? I can buy that stuff for a few bucks and make my own. And that also means cutting the adjustable torque arm down too.
here it is as of now...
here it is as of now...
WS6
Stay thirsty my friends
So, it's been awhile since I did an update, I was busy with it for awhile but I haven't touched it in a few weeks. But here's what's new.
I built the 4L80e crossmember and it's not a great picture, but it came out well, I had to modify it twice because the slip yoke was interfering with the torque arm mount, which also means I had to shorten the torque arm about 8". Only thing left there is weld on the DS loop but that'll have to wait.
..
Next I hung the 4" spintech, mufflex single exhaust system so I can start on the Y-pipe fabrication....it's huge! Looks like a 4" sewer stack under there.
I got the new 4L80e transmission, Vince did it and tells me it's 1000HP capable
and here's the cluster installed.
That's it for now, the convertible has been occupying my time trying to get the chip dialed via mail order tuning, which can be frustrating. But we're gaining on it.
I built the 4L80e crossmember and it's not a great picture, but it came out well, I had to modify it twice because the slip yoke was interfering with the torque arm mount, which also means I had to shorten the torque arm about 8". Only thing left there is weld on the DS loop but that'll have to wait.
..
Next I hung the 4" spintech, mufflex single exhaust system so I can start on the Y-pipe fabrication....it's huge! Looks like a 4" sewer stack under there.
I got the new 4L80e transmission, Vince did it and tells me it's 1000HP capable
and here's the cluster installed.
That's it for now, the convertible has been occupying my time trying to get the chip dialed via mail order tuning, which can be frustrating. But we're gaining on it.
