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The *NEW* LS swap project

WS6

WS6

Stay thirsty my friends
Rather than drag on my old F/S thread, I thought I'd start this project build thread.

So I took on partial trade for the TTA this '89 GTA. It's the color I want and it has a fresh 355 TPI in it w/ T5 and G92 axle with the 3.45 gear set.

All of that will be pulled in favor of an iron block LS that as planned will be a 408 stroker w/ procharger and a 4L80e and the Strange 12 bolt out back.

What I need to do first is get the interior back up to snuff, it's a beechwood cloth interior and what I need help on is what color has everyone chosen for cloth color to be correct or close and what color headliner and carpet everyone used and is happy with.

There's allot of *close* tan/beige/beechwood/camel colors to choose from and the old TTA had leather and Katzkin made that choice for us. I was actually thinking of doing a Hampton vinyl rather than cloth for easy clean up, but I haven't settled on a plan of action just yet. I'm open to all opinions.Since this shares the interior (except the rear seat uppers) with the TTAs maybe someone can share their experiences.
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WS6 said:
Thanks Jarred, and I will post more pictures, as I just found my Camera's SD card that has been missing for a month or more....it was in the PC's SD slot... :disgust:
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It's hell getting old huh ?..:teehee: btw, black car i think i would keep the cloth seats.
 
yeah leather will get hot, and sticky.
I love black GTA's. This is gonna be a monster, I know my LS motor is a monster with just motor never mind boost lol. wow

I hope your motor swap project goes smoother and faster than mine.
 
I like the black GTA too. Looks good.

As for interior options, whatever you go with, I would order all your pieces from the same place so color is uniform. I got headliner/sail panel material/visors from Classic Industries in Beechwood, it is slightly different than the original color. Could be due to sun fade, my car is originally from Texas.

Leather/vinyl or cloth-your call, but I think cloth would be the easiest to care for and maintain.

Keep us posted and lots of photos please!
 
Nice car! The only thing I can help you with is the color for the carpet. ACC sells a color called 9205 Cognac. It is not exact, but very close and actually a nicer color then the original. Here is a pic of one of the mats I bought in that color and you can see the difference in color as compared to the original carpet.
 
im thinking about doing it now with a turbo ls1 ... if it can run 10.70's bad trans converter 2.23 gear what it do in a third gen?
 
Some pics as I finally got it outside to snap a few....It seems Black cars are hard to shoot under fluorescent lights?

I also made a video of the engine running so I could have a record of it before I pull it and sell it.

FWIW, I'll have the complete 5 speed driveline out and for sale in a couple months in case someone wants a stick shift TTA, and that includes the BW 9 bolt with 3.45 gear set.

GTA_zps44c0b4f1.jpg


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GTA2_zpseda0f5a6.jpg

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GTA1_zpsafb21888.jpg
 
Right now...the plan is do an iron block LS2 build with a stroker crank coming in at 408 C.I....but I may hang onto the notion of just leaving it a 6.0. I know iron block LS2 means an LQ4 but it will wear an LS2 upper.

And then of course I will supercharge it, probably with a centrifugal blower. I've always been jealous of the consistency my fellow supercharged buddies enjoy.

Transmission will be the 4L80e, certainly not the typical 3rd gen LS swappers choice, but the 4L60/65 costs far too much to make strong enough to last season after season.

The 4L80e will be the hardest part to fit in, with the mount being so much further rearward and that alters any notion of an easy bolt in Y-pipe out there to use.
 
robert lee said:
Nice car, what are you looking to get out of the drivetrain ?
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I was thinking about $650 from the crank hub to the tailshaft, including pedals, shifter, slave cylinder, flywheel ,pressure plate/clutch transmission and whatever small items that would be needed to convert an auto over to stick.

The 3.45 BW 9 bolt? I dunno, maybe $450? complete as a bolt in ,less e-brake cables.

So, if someone wanted everything then $1K would take it all.
 
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Nice ride Rich! That 5spd console sure brings back memories of my 5sp GTA. I think I would rag that thing out if given the chance, I love shifty cars. Also, I shit you not, I had a dream last night that I swapped a LS turbo into my TTA. Anyway, I dig the car. I'd leave the cloth interior as is, it's nice like that.
 
WS6 said:
I was thinking about $650 from the crank hub to the tailshaft, including pedals, shifter, slave cylinder, flywheel ,pressure plate/clutch transmission and whatever small items that would be needed to convert an auto over to stick.

The 3.45 BW 9 bolt? I dunno, maybe $450? complete as a bolt in ,less e-brake cables.

So, if someone wanted everything then $1K would take it all.
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That sounds like a very good deal, any info on the rebuild or is it a crate motor ? Also why didn't you tell me about this oh about 2-3 weeks ago...:teehee:
 
I have a local buyer that was interested but I'm thinking he's not into the work involved after he thought about it.

But just to be clear...those prices are for the 5 speed changeover and not the 355 TPI engine itself.

I'm holding onto the 355 probably for the convertible I have.
 
Well, not much new has happened. I am however, picking up the UMI K member next week and a panhard relocation kit so I can maybe run one of those 4" sewer stack single exhaust systems.

I did get my headliner recovered, yes, the original old board....it did not come out as nice as I thought it should.

It's getting harder and harder around me to find shops that actually cater to fussy customers....I mean, I'm willing to pay for the work, I just don't want shoddy work and then be told "well, I didn't charge you much"

On a plus side I replaced the P antenna with that delco replacement all the TGO guys recommend , It works like a charm and wasn't too hard to get to fit.
Plus, I found an NOS steering wheel (like the TTA's) NOS steering wheel control and NOS console lid....Came all the way from up near Jarred's neck of the tundra.

Don't know why I'm getting all into fixing up the interior? That's not in this project's mission statment, but when you've had a low mile TTA you become accustomed to a near perfect interior.
 
WS6 said:
Well, not much new has happened. I am however, picking up the UMI K member next week and a panhard relocation kit so I can maybe run one of those 4" sewer stack single exhaust systems.

I did get my headliner recovered, yes, the original old board....it did not come out as nice as I thought it should.

It's getting harder and harder around me to find shops that actually cater to fussy customers....I mean, I'm willing to pay for the work, I just don't want shoddy work and then be told "well, I didn't charge you much"

On a plus side I replaced the P antenna with that delco replacement all the TGO guys recommend , It works like a charm and wasn't too hard to get to fit.
Plus, I found an NOS steering wheel (like the TTA's) NOS steering wheel control and NOS console lid....Came all the way from up near Jarred's neck of the tundra.

Don't know why I'm getting all into fixing up the interior? That's not in this project's mission statment, but when you've had a low mile TTA you become accustomed to a near perfect interior.
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Yep... i feel ya....
 
Interior is what you see when you're driving the car, so it is important! I did the headliner on Maggi's car and it as wrinkled. Only in one small area. I had to pull it out and trim it and do it all over again because it was killin me to look at the wrinkle.
 
WS6 said:
Don't know why I'm getting all into fixing up the interior? That's not in this project's mission statment, but when you've had a low mile TTA you become accustomed to a near perfect interior.
Click to expand...

A car's different area's compliment each other. Why do a great engine build and have a shi--- interior or paint? Its the total package that makes the car. That's why you are getting the interior nice, you were used to having it in the TTA. Nothing to question yourself about.
 
Okay, so an update as some things have actually happened!

I did take everyone's advice and went ahead and ordered leather seats from Lethal Interiors. I picked a leather that was closest to the Camel SEM vinyl dye I'll be using as that is the closest to the original Beechwood, but it's not exact as many of you have found out. I also ordered a complete Cognac color carpet, and I agree it's not original but I like the slightly darker color as a contrast...matching full floormat set too.

My spoiler has arrived, so that's in the hopper to do.

Here's where I went awry ...I pulled the drivetrain from the '92 convertible simultaneously along with the '89s. Because that has a very lame and oh so tired 305 TPI. So I'll put the fresh 355 TPI from the '89 into the 92. I'll be taking the 700R4 to Janis for him to go through and convert the MAF TPI to an SD TPI and get Brian Harris to burn me an appropriate chip....during teardown I discovered that the 355 has 19# injectors which is a no-no and see it has an adjustable FP regulator so someone was trying to crank up the pressure to mask a too small an injector for that engine. So I'm on the hunt for some 22# injectors if anyone has them?

I'm also going to go ahead and put a set of vortec heads on the 355 and break down and buy the vortec TPI base. I really don't know what I want from the convertible, but I want it to be at least respectable against late model mini vans, right?

So both cars are sitting "nose up" side by side with no drivetrain save for the rear ends....it's pathetic really and I didn't intend to have the convertible siphon time and funds from the LS build but "in for penny, in for a pound" right?

I was however, fortunate to score a free 89 Firebird with a 305/auto to scavenge parts for the manual to auto swap on the Black '89. And almost weekly I discover some small(or large) item that is specific to automatic cars and am able to just walk in the parking lot and pull what I need.

If somebody needs something from this 89 that I don't need let me know. Because hopefully I'll have everything off it and I'll it'll be off to the scrap yard.

I'll get some pictures up soon.
 
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jarredsoon said:
Interior is what you see when you're driving the car, so it is important! I did the headliner on Maggi's car and it as wrinkled. Only in one small area. I had to pull it out and trim it and do it all over again because it was killin me to look at the wrinkle.
Click to expand...

Exactly, it needs to be perfect or it will bug you. Kinda like a nice lady, with nice curves wearing a swimming suit. But she has hairy legs, just just can stop looking at those hairy legs. It will drive you mad to the point you will have to just get up and leave... But still looking back as you go....:thumbdwn:
 
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