IM COMING TO THE DARK SIDE! TIPS?

Hello everyone! I am excited to say I have decided to come to the dark side and stuff a LS1 in my 951. I am in the tear down stage currently. Does anyone have some advice for me? Any cheap short cuts I can take? Any things I should not skimp on? Will the stock 951 radiator work?

Educate me please!

Will the stock 951 radiator work?

Hey welcome to the club! You'll find out we're okay Regarding your radiator question,
the jury is out in my case - depending on any bodywork, local air temps, the 951 radiator
should work. In my case, I'm going to change my fans to stay on at all speeds (currently set
to shut off at speeds over 35MPH), and hope that resolves my elevated temps issues.

Someone said this before and it was good advise, make a plan. Decide what you want out of the car and create a step by step plan of how you are going to make that happen. Otherwise you will end up with all the "while I am in there" projects that add up.

A lot of your work is going to depend on how you intend to use the car. It it's strictly a boulevard racer then you won't need to do much. But on the other hand if you decide it's going to a track monster, then that's a whole other matter and you'll be spending as much on suspension and brakes as the engine.

You can do this without spending a fortune. I have done all of my own work in half of my garage using basic hand tools. TPC and Xschop have all the swap parts you need fabricated. There is enough information on here to make your own wiring harness. Everything else can be bought from good speed shops.

I thought about doing it myself but ended up sending it to TPC and am glad I did.

I also sent my car to TPC and am glad that I did. It would've taken me forever to get the car done myself and certain tasks would've been above my skill set.

For a street car the factory 951 radiator is fine. For a track car, at the very least a new 951 radiator should be used and I'd recommend the Ron Davis radiator instead.

I'm currently using my stock 951 radiator and things get toasty on the track, I see water and oil temps of 250+ and that's with a large Mocal oil cooler. My plan is to get the Ron Davis radiator soon....

You are smart to start with a 951. The previous comments are good ones. Depending on what you are doing with the car, will answer the radiator question. I have the Ron Davis and ran my car around Daytona and it stayed cool, so that is a sure-fire data point. My tips for the build;

TEST the oil pan for leaks. Several have had leaks on the drivers rear side including me.

Sort out the master cylinder you will use before putting the engine in so there is room to work.

Pay attention to looks. A clean wiring harness will make you proud. Replace the yellowed radiator expansion tank. Its the best 40 bucks you will spend.

Depending on the yr LS1, you may have PVC boss interference with the master cyl. Get it milled off and replace it with a welded cap and an AN fitting to attach the PVC hose.

I didnt do this but wish i had; design and plumb a cold air intake before fitting the engine.

I wish i had mounted the remote oil filter closer to the pan to avoid the long run of hose out to the nose.

Get the coated headers. They get pretty hot and rust prematurely.

If you dont have a limited slip diff, hard on the accelerator can be directionally entertaining in all but 5th gear.

I would be happy to chat with you with any other questions. PM me a phone number and tell me when to call. OH, and get some good lotion to moisturize your face so the permanent smile will not leave wrinkles! Welcome to the dark side. We seldom say , "luke, i am your father" but we often think "who's your daddy when we go up against other cars.

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2011 One Lap of America winner, VF class.

Wait, where are you finding a new expansion tank for 40 bucks?

Here's a few more tips to mention:

- Vortec truck motors are cheaper. You will have to get more parts for them, but when you get a dressed long block for 250-500 (iron vs aluminum), it's hard to argue. From there, you can determine your own route when it comes to mods and budget. You will notice how cheap it is to do this compared to modding a Porsche big 4.

- Look into the LS6 PCV setup. For 50-60 dollars, you can replace your current valley cover with a LS6 one, which incorporates its own PCV setup and reduces the amount of clutter. It also reduces the amount of oil consumption compared to earlier motors like the LS1.

- Slot the engine and transaxle crossmembers. This will help get the motor and trans as far back as possible, which will help with fitting of other pieces. If you go with Rob's (xschop) transaxle mount, slotting the rear becomes moot. While his mount is the cheapest in the Porsche community, you also have the option of ordering 30 dollars worth of poly and filling in a stock mount. Both will yield close to the same results, but Rob's mount will be a lot cleaner of an install.

- Headers seem to be a big problem in the community, so adjusting your budget to include either custom headers or Eric @ TPC's headers is ideal. I ended up with a set of Eric's headers and the fitment could not be any better.

- Brendan @ lt1swap.com has a TON of swap information which has helped me and a few others with the wiring. If you do the wiring yourself, you can save a nice chunk of change in the process. Brendan can also flash your ECU to delete any emissions/security related equipment for only 75 dollars + shipping one way, which should get you on the road for cheap. Sourcing an actual tune later on would be a good idea, though Brendan seems to know his stuff.

- Read as much as you can on this forum. There is a ton of information available at your hands. If you do have any questions, ask here and I'm sure someone will help out.

Oh, and welcome to the community! I am glad that the purist side has not engulfed your ideals and when you get the car running with some big displacement, you will be glad you went this route.

Definitely do the LS6 PCV mod. I haven't yet and I burn oil at the track. I wish I'd known about this when my motor was at TPC sitting on the engine stand. Eric could've done the mod in under 30 minutes then.

It's on my list of things to do, I just need to order the parts and take the time to do it.

Many of us are running S&P headers, there was a run of them made specifically for this swap. TPC now has long tube headers for this swap, those are the ones I'd use.

There's no denying the cost savings involved using a truck motor, but they are smaller displacement and heavier, so you need to decide how you're going to use the car and what power goals you have.

Additionally there are several choices for the bellhousing. Most people go with the aluminum 2 piece C5 corvette housing and a custom adapter. You can get a direct fit (ie, no adapter needed) bellhousing from Quicktime which also has an integrated scatter shield. It's made of steel though, so is heavier.

Spec makes a direct fitment clutch for this swap too.