LS1 swap...

Alrighty guys, the time has come to shoehorn this engine into my jeep. Here are the details; My roommate has a '99 Camaro Z28 and he has swapped out the ls1 for a lq9 6.0 truck motor, leaving me with a nice pretty aluminum ls1 with 60k miles. The debate i have is this, what kind of wiring harness and computer to use? The options i have are a custom built hand made harness from a friend who builds them for most of the hot rod shops around houston, OR a painless stand alone unit that is completely waterproof and can be submerged. The problem i run into with all this is cost. The custom harness built to my needs will use the stock computer, however it will only cost around $500-700 + computer $250 easy. However the painless is somewhere in the neighborhood of $1200. I am using a 4l60e trans with a novak adapter to mount up my np231 in the 99 xj. I will loose approximately 80 lbs off my front end and have an explorer 8.8 sitting in the garage for when i pretzel the d35. Anyone have any input they would like to kick in to give me some other things to think about ?

all the driveshafts will probably need looking closer at, the front axle will die fast if its a d30, might want to compare fuel pressures between the two motors, see if you need a higher volume fuel pump, figure out how you're gonna do the exhaust, throttle linkages, radiator, fans, dude, the list goes on and on. pretty much rethink your entire setup and make sure that it can handle an ls1. you could end up spending quite a bit more making the thing work.

Might want to do a search here at the archives for Chevy 350 engine swaps-I am one of those here who has ACTUALLY done a Chevy 5.7 liter engine modification and would suggest to you that ALL model years of the Jeep XJ lends itself quite favorably to this horsepower increase-Rather than the Chevy LS1 + 4l60e trans you have I ulitized a slightly de-tuned 1995 LT1 Chevy 5.7 liter and 700-R4 transmission with the 31-spline Ford Exploder 8.8 rear-Advance Auto has the engine mounts and a aluminum radiator from maybe sombody like Be-Cool might be a good starting point-Nothing too crazy here just a tried and true engine modification-
bxj

As far as harness for engine management I would find one in the junk yard. Plenty of wrecked LS1 camaros. Use the XJ factory one ofr lights/accesories adn the amaro one for engine management.

being a former f-body guy, 2001 trans am 550+ HP on a warm day at the wheels, the ls1 is an AMAZING motor, that would be my dream powerplant for my xj.

problem is im poor and i sold my transam 2 years ago. and your buddys IMHO an idiot for going with that heavy cast POS when the LS7 block and the LS9 blocks are so close by. nm dont get me started there,


make it work. as far as wiring goes, find a ws6 or a z28 some asshat teen whos parents paid his payments so he wrapped his crap around a telephone pole but its okay cause weve got full coverage and jimmy wants a honda with NOS now carcas from an insurance lot of a slavage yard and yank your own harness and everything, hell put the bucket seats in your xj too.

it all depends on what kind of wheelin you do. for real wheeling which everyone KNOW involves large sharp boulders:

screw an 8.8. ya people will give me crap for that but the 8.8 is a mediocre axle at best, ya disc brakes whatever, its not strong enough for REAL wheeling with an LS1.

if you have the $$$, true hi9 or rock jock the rear and forgetaboutit.

i know money doesnt grow on trees so:

for the rear: sell the 8.8 to some 4.0 with 33"s xj guy and go to a yard and snag a old 9" rear throw in some 33 spline chromo shafts or bore it out and put in some 35 spliners and mash the gas. then of course theres the dana 60, find one, weld some perches keep the 4.10s and with the ls1 power you might be good. or 14 bolts are everywhere, no clearances and super heavy of course but for a 100 its a prettty strong axle just watch out for the ones with c-clip shafts.

for the front its always a hassle, a 44 with 37s and an ls1 might not hold up even with ctms and chromos, even with the 4.0 people are seeing this. so try and score a rare d60 front or go to the big guys and have one built for you. $3-4K and call it a day. or put up with breakage and try the 44.

now you got me all fired up on my dream rig, lol. currie shaved heavy duty 9"s front and rear with true HI 9s 35 splines and 39" comp crawlers all behind an LS2 block etc......


you could always just wait till uncle sam sends me to iraq and back in a year or so and ill show you how to build a ls1 xj for the rocks........

Double check the spline count on the tranny output and the transfer case. The rest of the job is just level 7 fab work....oh...don't forget the wheelbarrow full of $50's.

Ive got the cooling issues figured out, i think. and i the cheapest i can find an engine harness is 550, so i belive i am going to have jimmy build that harness for me. However as for the rear end i came from mustangs, and trust me the if the 8.8 can handle an 1100 hp strip car when built right i think it can handle what im doing with this jeep. btw, what the hell is an ls9? sounds like fiction to me.... and the 6.0 has a d1sc procharger with 11lbs of boost coming out of it. Im waiting for him to grenade the stock little 10 bolt in that camaro so we can bolt in the 9 inch and get it out of the damn garage.... ah the general misuse of school loans.