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View Poll Results: LT1 SWAP ON AN SVX
do it! 30 83.33%
don't do it! 6 16.67%
Voters: 36. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 09-10-2008, 11:09 AM   #1
s'ko
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Default LT1 SVX, thoughts opinions

Ok so here is the back story.

I was at a local soobie meet the other night and up rolls this dude w/an LS1 swapped 240sx. It was ridiculously mean sounding and was crazy fast.

That got me thinking and for me that's a dangerous habit.

I have an SVX w/a blown motor. It's got 200k on the tranny and it's pretty much going to take a lot of work to get it back in decent shape.

been pricing LS1 and they are pretty high.
LT1 on the other hand are pretty affordable.
I would be looking to do a complete LT1 engine and tranny swap with this project. Make the SVX RWD w/that mean V8 growl.

Thoughts on this project?
*zips up flame suit*
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Old 09-10-2008, 11:53 AM   #2
Jaxx
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sounds fun should be feasible ..
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Old 09-10-2008, 03:15 PM   #3
Numbchux
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I think that'd be awesome. yea yea, abomination or whatever blah blah.....

it wouldn't be a subaru any more, but it would be sexy, quick, and fun to drive.



now, my concerns.

fitting it. is there enough space in the engine bay/trans tunnel? I'm thinking you'll want to have the whole setup as far back as possible. which I think might help with the length (I'm just assuming the V8 would be longer than the H6). but how about height? the EG33 is a pretty low motor, and doesn't have any extra room between it and the hood. might have to put in a cowl (not all bad ).

rear diff.....SVXs still had the r160. and AFAIK a substantially different rear suspension setup than EJ subarus. I would look into a full r180 STi rear suspension swap, but I don't know what all that would require. head over to subaru-svx.net for that.
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Old 09-10-2008, 04:37 PM   #4
s'ko
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I have a co-worker w/a LT1 Camaro. I am going to take a look at it when he leaves. hope to get an idea of what it looks like in terms of length and height.

The EG33 is a beast of an engine. I have yet to find measurements for the
LT1 but I figure if I remove the AC and get a new radiator it should fit ok. Besides, making it RWD will also allow for more freedom with placement of the tranny. Ultimately I am going to have to drop the engine & tranny from the SVX to get some space to mock things up.

I agree with the rear diff needing replacement.

BTW I found some HP info. SVX stock is 230 hp and 228 lb of torque.
Depending on where I get the LT1 from, I am looking at 70 hp to 30 hp increase. The torque would be roughly 102-97 lbs. The best LT1 motor would be from a 1992-1995 Corvette C4, 300 HP and 330 lb torque.

BW
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Old 09-10-2008, 06:41 PM   #5
ciper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by s'ko View Post
The best LT1 motor would be from a 1992-1995 Corvette C4, 300 HP and 330 lb torque.
Power that is easily obtainable with a STOCK STI engine/exhaust/turbo etc with only a tune. It would also be lighter and therefore should be faster.
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Old 09-10-2008, 08:01 PM   #6
oldhat
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ciper View Post
Power that is easily obtainable with a STOCK STI engine/exhaust/turbo etc with only a tune. It would also be lighter and therefore should be faster.
There is no replacement for displacement. Also, he'd get all them NA throttle response.

You might make an SVX a legitimate terror with this build.
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Old 09-10-2008, 09:03 PM   #7
Seraphinwolf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Numbchux View Post
I think that'd be awesome. yea yea, abomination or whatever blah blah.....

it wouldn't be a subaru any more, but it would be sexy, quick, and fun to drive.



now, my concerns.

fitting it. is there enough space in the engine bay/trans tunnel? I'm thinking you'll want to have the whole setup as far back as possible. which I think might help with the length (I'm just assuming the V8 would be longer than the H6). but how about height? the EG33 is a pretty low motor, and doesn't have any extra room between it and the hood. might have to put in a cowl (not all bad ).

rear diff.....SVXs still had the r160. and AFAIK a substantially different rear suspension setup than EJ subarus. I would look into a full r180 STi rear suspension swap, but I don't know what all that would require. head over to subaru-svx.net for that.
+1 on fitting it. YOu want more? You want reasonable priced? Dont do it. You want too crazy to deal with? Get a running EG33 or a nonrunning(or your old one) Built it with internals and Super Charge or Turbo Charge. Another would be doing a EZ30D, EZ30R, EZ36R(this one's not the best of ideas) and Turbo charge this. EZ30R+Garette GT30R = 600WHP in 06 STi(Perrin Sytle) Good luck on what ever you dicide but LT1 won't really give you what your looking for and not for the price range is seems your looking at.
-Gaddis
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Old 09-10-2008, 09:41 PM   #8
oldhat
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Seraphinwolf View Post
+1 on fitting it. YOu want more? You want reasonable priced? Dont do it. You want too crazy to deal with?...

Good luck on what ever you dicide but LT1 won't really give you what your looking for and not for the price range is seems your looking at.
You're talking to s'ko, dude, he's kind of more of a guru than everyone here. He shoehorned an EJ18 into a lifted Brat with handtools and then turbocharged it. He knows exactly what he wants and what he's doing.
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Old 09-11-2008, 10:46 AM   #9
s'ko
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldhat View Post
You're talking to s'ko, dude, he's kind of more of a guru than everyone here. He shoehorned an EJ18 into a lifted Brat with handtools and then turbocharged it. He knows exactly what he wants and what he's doing.
Yes on the EJ18 BRAT, still have to do the turbo....

might be another back burner project. I can't really afford to have a long term project right now.
Landlord is getting upset at all of the oil stains near my area

Anyways will be poking around a junkyard on the 20th will see if I can find a LT1 to take some measurements out of.

BW
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Old 09-10-2008, 08:00 PM   #10
oldhat
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Sounds like a really interesting build. Big V8 in an SVX would slay.

Do it.
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Old 09-10-2008, 08:09 PM   #11
oldhat
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The chassis flex sucks on the SVX. Didn't they have a bad habit of blowing out windshields on sharp turns?

Which means you should seam weld it, foam the chassis rails and weld in a rollcage.

RWD SVX sounds so nice...do it, s'ko.



"Take a look at what I am wearing people! Do you think anybody wants a roundhouse kick to the face while I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it!"
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Old 09-11-2008, 10:53 AM   #12
kahunaking
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Well I have built many high performance LT1 engines. You want to get one out of an F body (camaro, firebird) or a vette as they are all aluminum headed. GM rated the hp of the vette higher than the fbody but they have everything else the same down to the cam. The only diffrence is that all vettes had 4bolt mains vs 2 bolt, and on anything under 700hp wont make a diffrence. While you are doing the swap I would recomend putting in a comp cams cc305 cam or the crane 224. Or an LT4 Hotcam setup. You can easly put down 330rwhp with that combo, drive it every day, and have a bit of chop to the idle. Give me a pm if you need any help with making it run or picking parts with compatability. Also an LT1 for measurments is physicaly the same as a regular Small block chevy but you have more clearance on the back due to the optispark.
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Old 09-12-2008, 01:01 PM   #13
Benhart21
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Boo opti-spark! I like my Camaro and all(95 Z28) but I've paid more trying to maintain the damn thing than I did for the car. Even with that, the car's been sitting for over a year not being driven because the head gaskets are bad and something in the valvetrain is broken.
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Old 09-12-2008, 01:14 PM   #14
blackfang
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kahunaking View Post
Well I have built many high performance LT1 engines. You want to get one out of an F body (camaro, firebird) or a vette as they are all aluminum headed. GM rated the hp of the vette higher than the fbody but they have everything else the same down to the cam.
Not sure if you are referring to the LS1 or LT1. However, for the LS1 motors you will find all 98-02 LS1 vettes made the same hp as the LS1 f-body. GM rated them higher to justify the cost just as they underrated the F-Body LS1 for insurance purposes.

LS1 engines make anywhere from 295-325 rwhp stock depending on what year the engine is.
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Old 09-12-2008, 01:12 PM   #15
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You can get a LS1 for $1500-2500 and they make 50-70 more hp in stock form and respond great to mods.
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Old 09-12-2008, 02:02 PM   #16
kahunaking
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I have never once had any issues with the optispark. And for best performance results get a 95 LT1 as it has OBD1 and a vented opti. Yes the LS1 is better in every way exept the price is much higher. But LT1's do build torque at lower rpms.
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Old 09-12-2008, 02:28 PM   #17
blackfang
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kahunaking View Post
I have never once had any issues with the optispark. And for best performance results get a 95 LT1 as it has OBD1 and a vented opti. Yes the LS1 is better in every way exept the price is much higher. But LT1's do build torque at lower rpms.
Very true. Personally, I would prefer the 70 extra hp and over a little low end torque.
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Old 09-12-2008, 11:13 PM   #18
69subaru360
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I think the biggest problem will be that the starter and oil pan are where the steering rack needs to be on the SVX.
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Old 09-13-2008, 12:52 AM   #19
s'ko
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Originally Posted by 69subaru360 View Post
I think the biggest problem will be that the starter and oil pan are where the steering rack needs to be on the SVX.
RE: the oil pan. I might go dry sump.
RE: starter. Need to take a look at this to see about fitment.
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Old 09-12-2008, 11:34 PM   #20
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I voted "yes" to this swap. I know for a fact that an SVX will handle any twisty road you can throw at it (PM Porter) and to add some V8 power to the car would be sweet.
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Old 09-13-2008, 03:19 PM   #21
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I'm all about a GM swap, but don't do it with an LT1.

Wait it out 'til you can find a sweet LS motor to put in there.

As for the extra torque, meh. Anyway, you're going to want more than an R180 if you're gonna put it all to the rear wheels.
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Old 09-13-2008, 03:30 PM   #22
turbobuick6
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do it your just looking at the wrong ls series motor they did make a 5.3l iron motor that are a dime a dozen look in later model gm trucks or you may get lucky and find a 6.0l iron motor there all good and respond well to forced induction
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Old 09-15-2008, 12:49 PM   #23
s'ko
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Thanks for the input about the iron block LS motor definately something to keep in mind.

pulled out the EG33. Eye ball guestimation is that it's about 2 feet long. The engine was a good foot from the firewall so depending on how it's all mounted I have about 3 feet or so to play with before I have to relocate my radiator.

The best thing is that I might have secured a place to work on the car w plenty of room. I usually work on my cars in my puny 1 car garage and my landlord is getting a little ticked at me wrenching all the time.

Does anyone know the external dimensions of a Chevy small block. Tried to google it and did not get firm figures.

THanks
BW
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Old 09-15-2008, 03:22 PM   #24
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Have you tried www.ls1tech.com ? They have a ton of info for the LSx motors

Edit- Here is what I found
26" Bellhousing flange to crank pulley
28" Bellhousing flange to front of water pump
25" Bottom oil pan to top of manifold
12.5" Bellhousing flange to center of motor mount
15" Bottom of oil pan to bottom of exhaust ports
26" Wide to outside of exhaust manifolds

http://www.hpsalvage.com/
http://www.fuelinjection.com/

Last edited by blackfang; 09-15-2008 at 03:33 PM.
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Old 09-16-2008, 12:38 PM   #25
s'ko
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blackfang View Post
Have you tried www.ls1tech.com ? They have a ton of info for the LSx motors

Edit- Here is what I found
26" Bellhousing flange to crank pulley
28" Bellhousing flange to front of water pump
25" Bottom oil pan to top of manifold
12.5" Bellhousing flange to center of motor mount
15" Bottom of oil pan to bottom of exhaust ports
26" Wide to outside of exhaust manifolds

http://www.hpsalvage.com/
http://www.fuelinjection.com/

Here are some of the figures for the SVX.
22' from the Bellhousing to crank pulley.
23' from the bottom of the oil pan to the top of the manifold.
31" is the width of the motor.
I couldn't get to the measurements underneath for the motor mounts b/c I have to remove the torque converter to get to engine on the stand.

Looks like the overall length of the engine is 6 inches shorter than the LS motors. From looking at the LS motors, it looks like the throttle bodies are facing forward. The SVX motor's back most portion is the throttle bodies. I would say that it's about 4 inches for the plastic intake assembly.

Well see about placement.

BW
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