So I bought a low miles LS1/4L60E with the ECU from a 2000 Z28 to swap into my 98. Im going to be removing mine from the bottom and Ive already started the process. Im getting close to actually lifting the body up. My question is, do you think I can get away with lifting the body over the engine with a 1 ton hoist? Im guessing no because even with the engine and trans disconnected.. wouldnt the car still be in the 2000 lb range? Thanks yall

Edit: also if it matters, the transmission and driveshaft and whatnot are ALREADY out of the car. ill be removing just the engine. also edit: cherry picker/hoist, not a full on lift.. just to clarify

 

yes you can lift the front with a 1 ton hoist. its pretty light without the front suspension and engine.

 

Great! thats just what i wanted to hear

 

Well I got it out. That was alot more difficult than I thought it would be. My lift kept pulling forward towards the engine and the dolly kept rolling back under the chassi. I ended up having to let it down on my jack stands extended all the way then turn the hoist sideways and lift it up longitudinally. And i was an idiot and had the new engine right next to where I needed to pull the old one out on the open side. I just barely made enough room. It felt so dangerous. Definitely going to be easier going in now that I know how the lift will react under the stress of the weight of the body but damn I can't believe I was able to do it completely alone. **** yeah.

 

heres mine with her skirts up

 

New engine and LS1 Removal - Album on Imgur

Heres a couple pics from my attempt and an Imgur album with a few more. A few of the engine that I bought on Saturday and then one when I finally managed to get it out from underneath the car.

So.. it took me about 6 hours to get everything disconnected because I go really slow and label everything. Thats MINUS all the time I spent ****ing around. In total it took me about 3 days giving it a few hours each morning after I got off from work.

so heres the run down. so i originally went at it from the front with the lift.. only problem was.. the further i got the front end up.. the further the legs slid under the engine bay.. also the further the dolly holding the engine got pushed under the chassis. i almost thought that i had ****ed myself because i thought, "well if i bring this down.. is it going to tilt the engine forward and knock it over? or crush/damage it under the chassis?" i figured i didnt have any choice but to chance it. i let it down far enough to set on my jack stands that were all the way extended. then i repositioned it to how you see it there.. only the legs of the damn lift were so long that i had to slide the engine out through that passenger wheel well. if i had left the tires on it it wouldve been so much easier but i was stupid and didnt. also that blue tarp? thats the new engine. GREAT ****ING PLACE FOR ME TO PUT IT. right in the way. so i had to pivot it around and i just barely made enough room to get both the strut towers out which kept getting stuck on everything they could. i literally had to bring it like 5-6 feet in the air. it was insane. it wouldve been so much easier if i had some help even for just 5 minutes someone helping me push that damn heavy *** thing. you think.. oh a few hundred lbs.. on wheels thats nothing! WRONG. its still heavy as ****. it was exhausting, stressful, but so rewarding once i got it all said and done.

New engine and LS1 Removal - Album on Imgur

 

thats how you do it, get it up, then support it from under so you can get the lift out of the way. i used the tires and wood blocks changing the trans. just let it hang there in the shed when i changed the engine. the link to do the engine change is empty or i would have showed it to you.





heres my build thread engine change starts on pg 3 i think. https://camaroforums.com/forum/93-02...-crabys-42437/

 

heres a question for you. I think i stripped the threads on my ebcm during this process. first off, i accidentally removed the master cylinder line instead of the RF. then when i went to put it back in.. it wont go in fully and tilts at a slight angle. Im pretty sure its.. wait for it...... waaaaait for it.... SCREWED UP! hahaha.. ok sorry i just had to do that. are the v6 and v8 ebcm's interchangeable? if so i can get one at the junk yard easy. if not ill probably have to order one from the net. the threads on the line look screwed up and the ones in the master cylinder slot on the top of the ebcm look "thin". is there any way to fix that short of just replacing the whole thing?

Edit: also the engine/trans/ecu that im putting in it are from a 2000 z28. ive just been looking on ebay and some of them list it from 98-02 but some show 99-02. should i be getting a 98 one or a 99-02 one? the car itself is a 98 but ive got the entire ECU from the 2000

OH also! since the new engine im putting in is a 2000 and the 98's had bigger injectors than the 99-00's right? would it be possible or even benefit me at all to take the injectors from the 98 and put them in the 2000 engine? i know its not a large difference in size but i figure even marginal benefit is better than no benefit :P

ok final question: when i was doing this engine removal, the legs of the lift pushed against the pinion bellows and cracked the one on the driver side, causing fluid to leak all over the place. can I just replace that one bellow or should i replace the entire rack and pinion? would this be alot easier to do before i reinstall the whole engine trans? is there a big difference in difficulty between on the car and off?

EDIT AGAIN: ok.. for the reinstall.. since the engine and trans are connected and im reinstalling them together.. is there anything I should look out for when putting them back in? anything special I should do? i should note that the old transmission was already removed when I bought the car, meaning the driveshaft was in the trunk lol. I keep reading about people saying to make a "mark" on something where the driveshaft connects to the tail end of the transmission? can you elaborate on why that is and what i should do if there is no "mark" due to the previous owner being an ignorant dumbass? i should say that i read about this on transmission removal how-tos where the trans was the only thing that was being removed, not the engine. that or im totally off the mark completely lol.

thanks

 

bummer got it cross threaded. did you tighten it hard? sometimes if you dont you can back it out and clean up the threads and get it in straight. not sure about the abs module, if its interchangeable. i have always had the dealer do stuff with those, takes some special tools to do some things on em. i have heard of guys swapping without issue and guys that had issues. mostly with bleeding air out.
the steering rack should not be leaking oil even if you punctured the boot. lol, if thats what your talking about. if your leaking ps fluid from the ends of the rack then it would probably be best to replace. i dont recall them being that expensive for a rebuilt unit.
the drive shaft end to mark is the back. front can be marked to try and get it back in the same but if anything moves in the trans then its off. not really a big deal in my book.

 

yeah the brake system kind of scares me. hell i was hesitant to even mess with the 2 brake lines needed to remove the engine.. i was worried i would mess something up and.. oh lucky me! i did JUST THAT lol. good thing it doesnt seem to be too expensive of a fix. that ebcm on ebay is between 50-150 for a used one and 450 for a new ac delco oem replacement. ill replace the line going from that ebcm box to the master cylinder as well.

ok so heres the thing about that steering rack boot.. yes i cracked it, yes it is leaking.. BUT ive been looking at it and i dont think that its power steering fluid. i think its oil that the old engine had leaked down(im thinking from the timing cover or hell maybe even the oil pan as the grime and buildup on the edges of those is pretty substantial. heres what im thinking. oil leaked down into it at some point and practically filled up the boot. the crack is very tiny and its been leaking consistently EVEN AFTER disconnecting the power steering lines from the reservoir. its been a kind of dark yellowish fluid pooling below the now-separated(-from-the-old-engine) suspension. i even drained the reservoir 3 days ago when i noticed that the two lines going from the suspension to the reservoir, one going from the rack to the bottom of the reservoir which is basically just a clamped rubber hose, and the other on the left side of the reservoir which was like.. a 5/8ths nut on a metal pipe(kind of like the brake lines) going directly to the rack. i might as well just replace it to be sure. its only like 150 bucks for a reman'ed one and even less for a used one.

i figure im going to wait to put the new engine/trans/ecu in and do a few maintenance/replacement items.. maybe even as long as a month if funds are short.

ive still got ALOT of work to do as the guy who i bought the engine from kind of mangled a few of the connectors to the harness that I have to fix. he got MOST of them but he totally whiffed on some of the ones near the starter like.. everything on the front of the starter, the low oil level sensor, the crank position sensor(i think, the one hiding between the starter, the block, and the flex plate on the passenger side), he also broke some of the ones near the oil pressure sensor like the MAP sensor as well as the one directly below that one, the passenger side rear injector, and i think one of the ground wires. I managed to fix some of the ones that didnt snap directly at the sensor buuuut...

heres one for you: say a sensor had its wires yanked out and broken RIGHT at the sensor so that basically there is NO wire sticking out from the sensor. can it be repaired? i kind of made a feeble/ghetto attempt at this. i was able to use the 99-02 LS1 PCM pinouts to find exactly what wire goes to where. my problem is that once i strip the wire and find the right terminal, what can i do to connect the wire to the terminal where it was ripped out? it looks as simple as stripping the wire, inserting it into the A,B,C, etc, terminal and finding some way to connect it securely. can the plastic from the sensors handle a drip of solder? can i glue it in there? am i screwed and have to get a new sensor for that particular one? am i missing a better way?