Heard something different on TV!!!
 

Hello All,

I was watching the TV show called Muscle Car on Spike this past weekend. The host is doing a carb'd LS engine swap in a 70-72 nova.. He had some S&P engine plates and was talking about the oil pan clearance issue and what options you had to correct it. He then said something I have never heard before. He said that he was going to raise the engine up about two inches to clear the steering rods, and he wouldn't have to cut the pan and all would fit and work fine....
My question is this possible on a first gen camaro? Has anyone tried it or heard about it? I am doing a swap and would like to keep stock steering if possible, but was looking for a cost/budget way to avoid the oil pan and new pick up route. Thanks for reading, chime in if you like. :willy:

Thanks.

I can't imagine how he could raise the engine 2", without needing to also raise the top of the trans tunnel (sheetmetal work, etc)...then there is the driveshaft angle....raising all that mass 2" in the car is also not a good thing for the center of gravity...Ugh...

Sounds like he is hell bent on ignoring all the good work and experience base which has been well-shared by many of the folks who have done this swap already...

I saw that episode and he DID cut the trans tunnel top off and said he would raise it a few inches :yes:

Anyone have a comment about this? Ya'll think it will work being raised? If the tunnel is cut could it be raised without any oil pan mod's?

Thanks. :thumbsup:

Why in the hell would you create MORE work by raising the engine, cutting the tunnel, and re-fabbing new mounts, when you could just do it correctly in the first place?
An oil pan can be modded for under $300, and a brand new pan that is designed to fit into the chassis can be had for $499. Don't listen to everything you see on TV, they aren't always doing things the best way.

Tyler

Yea ya'll are right, why create more work for yourself. He was trying to get that engine to fit which took several test fits. The tunnel work would be a bear. Thanks for all ya'lls input.

trust me he got a cluster f--k going the trans is so high in the car the tunnel will be huge. i heard him say somthing about not needing the back seat.wll see how it plays out
barry

On the episode today they showed the trans in the car in the "raised" position....... its WAY high in the car... it looks stupid and the shifter is going to sit as high as the dash pad !!!! The tunnel is going to be ridiculous....I'm also curious if he's going to have the hood clearence since the LS motor is going carbed and not throttle body.

Not to mention the linkage for the clutch etc etc etc. Seems like alot of extra fabrication to do it that way.

Fist off, I had to raise my trans tunnel .75" to get the T56 to fit with lower body mounts...not the most fun job to do if you want it done right (butt welded and all new metal).

Second, why would you spend the money and time on a bad ass LSx motor just to f-everything up with a real bad mounting decision! Talk about pissing in the wind!! Why not just get the correct mounts and oil pan?!?

Third, I do TiVo that show and liked it alot, but now that it's just Lou I'm not so sure it's the same without Jared....

Fourth, he even mentioned the floor not to mention the rest of the car was in mint condition with just over 30k on the clock!! What a retard!! Whay in the hell would you take the plasma to that!!

Fifth, Listen to Tyler!! He has the answers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Liked the show this weekend. He seems to have alot of work to do with the tranny. It looked like he had 2 2"square tubes under the trans to hold it up, on the insde on the floor pan. Ya'll were right that thing is way high even for a bench seat car. It woild be like a rat rod shifter in a 1st gen. I will be watching him to see the results.

I will ask this question again. Has anyone ever been down the road Lou is going? I know we want see everything becase its a TV show but its got a good start. My $.02 worth.

Thanks.

on my 69 camaro I am rasing the engine so I can lower the car and I like the lsx motor sitting hi in the engine compartment. if that sovles other problems why not

Why the hell would anyone want to raise the COG raising the engine 2"? Talk about a stupid move!

I saw the episode and was very happy and excited to see a 3rd gen Nova getting an LSx. Thought the curb feelers were a bit wierd but still a cool project. At the end of the show he said that he would like to get some feedback on the project and said to e-mail him. I looked on the spike web site for a e-mail address for muscle car tv, but could not find one. Do any of you know what it is? I have a T56 in my nova and it does fit without raising the trans tunnel using ATS trans mount, but it is extremely tight. We are talking like 1/4 inch between tranz and tunnel. I used Global West solid body bushings to eliminate the trans slapping the tunnel when I get on it. I wonder if they just don't know that companys like ATS have already done the home work and figured out how to do it without raising the engine and COG.

I have never done a swap into an 1 gen but I have been putting the Ls2 oil pan in stuff with limited clearence. I was not sure if you guys had tried that pan yet. It is even more shallow then the Corvette BATMAN looking pan.

it is hard to see pic but here is vague side profile of the pan, I believe it is 4.75 from rail to bottom of pan.

Rodger

I'm alittle confused are you guys saying raising the engine up for clearance issue's is something you never heard of or am I missing something here

I think the issue is that by raising the engine 2 inches to solve clearance issues with the oil pan, you are creating more clearance issues with the trans tunnel, changing the cars center of gravity, as well as other problems regarding driveshaft angle and etc etc.

The main point that i've gathered is that modifying the oil pan would not only be a more cost effective strategy for clearance issues, but would also require much less time and work to execute.

Thats just what I gathered. I could be wrong, but it makes a lot of sense. If there was another reason to raise the engine 2 inches, other than for clearance issues, then perhaps it is a viable option, but from the way it sounds right now, it just seems like they are creating a lot of extra work for themselves, and complicating the install more than it needs to be.

aris

I appreciate that I was looking at from a differant angle.thanks

Yes, they opened a BIG can of worms by raising the motor...they should have done a little more homework and saved a lot of fab work and screwing up the COG and driveline angle....I bet Jared is rolling his eyes!!

As said.. why would anyone want to RAISE the engine??.. it's just wrong on every level.. and to do that just to keep from modding a pan or buying the right pan??

I have seen that one, hard not to since all they do is play the same crap over and over.

That was the last show I watched, and probably will be the last for a while.

I think it was stupid for them to swap a carb onto it. If you are swapping in a LSX, you have already spent money on the engine, so now you are going to go cheap by skipping the wiring and fuel system to run the fuel injection?

Plus you are completely tossing out the cool factor of popping the hood of your nova to reveal a late model powerplant. Sure it's still late model, but 1/2 the people who see it won't know it. Yeah, there are those of us who like sleepers, but if that's what you were going for a well planned 383 would have done that in spades. Most of us like to take pride in popping the hood and revealing something enviable.

I was sure that someone made oil pans to swap the LSx into other chassis, if not I thought he would fabricate that, not the rest of the car to keep the stock oil pan.

I think that guys annoying anyway.

I could have saved him a ton of work.

This is all he needs. www.autokraft.org/products/

I raised the motor in my Camaro by 2"..............




by channeling the body over the floor pan. Now the pinch welds on the rockers are the lowest part of the car.

Mike

so its ok to raise it Musclerodz?

No, not the way they did it on TV. I was being sarcastic. The engine in my car will actually sit at stock height or slightly lower. What I did was raise the stock floorpan 2" in the car effectively raising everything on the car 2" in relation to the body. That way, I am sitting 4" off the ground with full suspension travel. Very similar to what Frank at Prodigy did on the vert. except he built a new floor.

Mike