PFF - Pennock's Fiero Forum, PDA Edition

LS4 / F40 swap - fieroguru (Page 39/216)

fieroguru

DEC 13, 10:01 PM

Yeah... I have been slacking!

kennn

DEC 14, 12:04 AM

It looks like your tester may have given a good report.

Ken

------------------
'88 Formula V6
'88 GT TPI V8

fieroguru

DEC 18, 07:24 PM

OK, enough with the slacking... it is time to make progress.

Installed the flywheel on the engine. I used this home made tool to keep the crank from spinning as I torqued down the flywheel bolts:

Here are the flywheel bolts - they are the GM Performance Parts longer versions for using a crankshaft spacer - they work great with my aluminum flywheel:

Flywheel installed:

Then moved on to the clutch installation. Spec Stage 4+ for a 4.0L Ford Ranger

Used tape the build up the end of the ford alignment tool to fit the LS4 pilot bushing support (for the torque converter):

Notice the flange is on the transmission side to help with the recessed input shaft on the F40:

Pressure plate:

Notice the dowel pins locate the pressure plate to the flywheel:

Flywheel installed:

Then I installed the transmission and all the other mounts/brackets that were fabricated for this swap. To support the cradle while all this work is going on, I pulled out my electric/hydraulic scissor lift to keep things are a good working height:

Rear transmission mount:

Modified Intermediate shaft (modified Saab unit to make it longer) and fabricated bearing support:

Rear engine mount (the unpainted arm supports the muffler/exhaust):

Front engine mount, AC bracket, Alternator bracket and Idler base... yes this is a very busy area:

Front transmission mount and starter bracket to use the stock LS4 starter and starter placement:

Coil relocation bracket (there is another one on the other head):

Custom shifter cable bracket for the F40:

Here are some overall pics:

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 07-02-2016).]

AkursedX

DEC 18, 10:21 PM

Amazing! I love watching this build progress. I wish I could give you another '+' as not only have you provided a very detailed build thread,but you also take time for measurements along the way.

------------------
'04 Mazda RX8 Build Thread
'88 GT- 3800 Turbo 11.367@121.03mph (Sold and gone now)
GM Tuners

[This message has been edited by AkursedX (edited 12-18-2011).]

fieroguru

DEC 21, 08:17 PM

One of my goals with this swap was to drop the curb weight about 100 lbs vs. the old SBC/Getrag setup. The car with the old setup tipped the scales at 2960 lbs with 1720 on the rear (58.1%). Dropping 100 lbs from the rear would change the rear weight bias to 56.5%.

After I finished putting most of the accessories and other parts on, I went ahead and weighed the engine/transmission/cradle on a crude scale setup (2 6x6 beams and 4 bathroom scales - zerod out the weight of the 6x6). Here are a few pics of the setup on the scales:

So right now the weights are:
DS PS Total
381 346 727

The last SBC/Getrag setup I weighed in this manner in a similar state of assembly was:

DS PS Total
318 446 764

Granted there were some minor differences in components and state of assembly between these two setups so exact #'s are not as meaningful as the relative changes. The big thing to notice is that the F40 adds quite a bit of weight to the DS and the LS4 reduces quite a bit from the PS. It almost looks like a LS4/Getrag setup would be within 25 lbs from side to side.

I never weighed my old SBC setup in this manner, but it probably was a bit heavier due to my cast manifolds, heavier intake, custom water pump setup, and 2x3 cradle crossmembers. I think the drivetrain will end up contributing about 50-75 lbs to my weight loss goals and the other 25-50 will come from the chassis (removed trailer hitch as an example). I will only know if I made the weight loss goals once I have it running again and can take it back to the same scale used to weigh the car the first time.