Powerplants > LT# & LS#
1981 Pontiac Trans Am LS1 Swap - South Africa
Picard:
The floorpan is in good condition. No rust here.
Roof lining also came out...all fairly easily....lets see how easy it's gonna be to put it all back in :)
The old horrible exhaust needed to come out to. This has always been something I wanted changed, and now it will finally get done. Looking forward to seeing some proper Stainless pipes under there.
I started removing some of the paint off the doors. I was quite surprised to find quite a lot of damage on the passenger door. Who knows what happened there, but lots of body putty was used. Yes, that's my door! ;)
The driver's door also has a little damage on it, but this was the nasty bit.
I'm going to have to get that rust cut out and the door repaired. Shouldn't be to hard. Luckily, my one of my friends is a master at metal work and will help me get this sorted.
Picard:
So, next up, before I start removing the subframe etc...I need to get the LS2 and the manual box lined up. We quickly did a test fit of the motor and gearbox and here you can see how the "Lumina" oil pan won't clear the cross member on the Trans Am.
So, to sort this out, I had to import a new Oil pan for it. You don't even want to know how much this cost to get it here. I had a couple of different options, including a Hummer oil pan that fits, but from what I've read on the web it hangs to low, so I ended up ordering a 1998 - 2002 Camaro/Trans Am oil pan which has also arrived. It's a genuine GM pan and includes the windage tray, pickup and dipstick.
So now that this has arrived, I want to do another test fit. This should now clear the cross member. I will need to do some cutting to get the gear lever to come into the car. At the same time, I'll be doing the gearbox mount and measuring up the prop shaft etc...
Here's a crappy pic of where the gearshift is trying to poke a hole into the cabin.
Picard:
I sent the two front fenders, bumpers and bootlid in to my friend who is going to be painting the car for me. Here's some photo's he sent me with some progress.
--- Quote from: BigKriss ---Marco, post a pic of the gearbox for me please, as much detail as possible bud.
Cheers. 8-)
--- End quote ---
Picard:
Thought I'd quickly update this. I've changed my mind with the transmission on the Trans Am. I was keen on doing the whole Manual conversion but after lots of mulling it over, I've decided to stick with and Auto box. The 6 speed manual has been sold, and a temp 4l60e has been arranged to do my mounts etc. The 4l60e is a 4 speed with overdrive gearbox, and should work nicely.
Slowly I've been sanding away at everything. Trying my best to get the panels back down to metal. Unfortunately this becomes boring, but slowly slowly I'll get there.
The rear spoiler has been sanded back down to it's original fibre glass.
The rear spoiler sides are a type of rubber.
The bonnet's pretty much done on the outside. It had quite a bit of filler on it in certain places and I think may need a bit of strengthening. I need to do the underside now, but that's a pain in the butt.
The mirrors have also been done...They've come out nice and shiny.
I'm a little sceptical to get things sandblasted, but I decided to have the inner fenders and the core support sandblasted. The sandblaster guaranteed me he would go slow and easy and they've come out really nice.
I'm going to have to do some serious work on the door, as the rust has eaten right through.
The bootlid also has some rust issues. Luckily my buddy Quinton knows his way around metal.
Picard:
Ahh, hopefully one day this will all come together. :)
The whole interior is out and I'm in two minds as what to do with the seats.
I don't know weather to just import the original foam and seat covers or take it through somewhere locally and get them to recover as close as possible. Importing the foam and covers is going to be expensive, but if I see how my brother's Corvette came out, they'll look dam good.
I've also been toying around with the idea of upgrading the seats with something a little more modern, but I'm worried it will make it look....Common. Trans Am's you have to be very careful with them. I find "standard" they look good but if you start messing around with them they can end up looking real hill billy very quickly. This luckily, is something I only need to worry about much later on.
Last weekend I had a bit of fun. I managed to get the auto box and the LS2 hooked up temporarily and we did a test fit into the car to see how everything lines up.
We hooked it all up
And Bob's your uncle it all went in nicely.
The Dirty Dingo engine mounts worked like a charm and there's tons of clearance everywhere.
The gearbox mount is the only thing that needs to be modified. The cross member is currently being chopped up and a proper mount made to fit. Quinton's helping me out with all the cutting and welding.
The 2002 Camaro Oil Pan I brought in clears nicely.
And this is how she's looking at the moment.
Next steps is to finish up the gearbox mount and get the box back to the suppliers. They're sending it in for a full refurb with stronger internals. The engine will come out and onto a engine stand. The whole front clip will now come off and get stripped down and parts sent in for relative sandblasting etc.
Thanks for watching :)
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