After much prep work under the car (the stuff you don't see on 'Overhaulin), the Porsche engine goes out the bottom of the car. Quite the experience if I say so myself

Looking a little empty in there, don'cha think? Not to worry - American muscle on the way!

UPDATE - RH stopped kit support for the LT1 engine. This forced me to search for a replacement engine. Thanks to CRAIGSLIST, I found another. A 1999 LS1 with only 15,000 miles on it. Hope it runs as good as it looks!!

5.7L Corvette Powerplant preparing itself for the first parts of the conversion - engine mounts and oil pan/pickup.

Oilpan removed to access pickup - need to replace this

Pickup replaced with RH unit.

RH Oilpan installed along with Energy Suspension (not RH) engine mounts.

No throttle cables here! Going to use the Corvette 'Drive-by-Wire' throttle capability. Provides precise throttle and cruise control without alot of other hardware.

Renegade Hybrids sells a remote oil filter mount and the oil pressure sensor separately. They suggest that the oil pressure sensor go where the OEM unit goes on the block. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit there. RH should drill and tap the oil filter mount and install the sensor like I have - at least you'll still have the OEM unit to send status to the ECM.

Had to do the same with the water temp sensor. RH suggests drilling and tapping the heads to match the size of the sensor. I'm a little nervous drilling on the heads, so I drilled and tapped the thermostat housing. I lot less risk if I screw up (and a heck of a lot cheaper too!!)

Could have gone with the aluminum flywheel, but heard stories of possible issues with engine running rougher at idle - this is the steel CENTERFORCE unit weighing in at 27lbs

Attempting a test fitting of the engine. The suggested way is to put it under the car then lift the engine into place. I have heard of others dropping it in. I really don't want to take the nosepiece off the car, and it looks like I clearance issue with the master brake cylinder - - so it looks like I'll be going in through the bottom

Here I deviated from the Renegade Hybrids Design. As part of the kit, RH sends an 11.5" clutch disk (on the right). What they don't send is a pressure plate, and they want $335 for it seperately.

Did some research on www.porschehybrids.com
website and found out that the needed center
spline specs are 1" -23. The same specs for
the '67 Baracuda clutch disc. The
CenterForce 5.7L LS1 Pressure plate was 11"
and the 'Cuda clutch disc came in several
sizes up to 11". BTW - part numbers are
CTF-384070 for the clutch disc, and
CTF-CF360010 for the pressure plate
(if you order from SummitRacing.com)
Still looking for suitable clutch disc.
the 'Cuda disc hub was too thick and was
preventing the disc from coming in contact
with the flywheel. Have several other choices
to check out, so the search continues

Here is the issue - in this photo, you can see the pilot bushing extending about an inch or so. The clutch disc hub hits the bushing.

Found another disc - this time from a Borg and Beck assembly. The hub springs aren't as large and the hub on the flywheel-side doesn't protrude as much. Ground down the hub 1/16" to 1/8" to ensure clearance and full disc contact with the flywheel.

Clutch and pressure plate installed

In the 2 above photos, I finally got the Porsche 944 crossmember fitted to the LS1 engine - going to try to use the stock manifolds. Was really worried about clearance issues, but it looks like I am going to clear with tons of room without having to purchase new headers

Feeling good about resolving my flywheel/clutch disc/pressure plate issues, I went for a test fitting today. I was really suprised how well things went and how nice that LS1 engine looked in the engine bay. Even with my stock manifolds!

02 DEC 2007 - THE BEAST IS IN!!

For those of you that didn't think it was possible - here are the photos!!

Only problem that I have is the driver side valve cover has a crankcase ventilation port that hits the master brake cylinder. I'm going to have to take it in and get that port shaved off. Here's a shot of the offending port
Here you can see the RH 'cereal bowl' adapter that the valve cover is hitting.

All I needed to do was remove the vent, right??? WRONG!!!
Shaved off a good 1.25" - looks like I'm going to need a machine shop to take this down a little further, then weld aluminum stock to seal the opening.
Here's the cover shaved with the plate in place - going to test fit it to see where I should put the breather port
Profile shot of the cover
Drilled and tapped the cover to put a 5/16" breather port in
Put the port in one of the baffles hopefully no oil will make its way out
Russell Proflex stainless steel oil hose and fixtures make the connection to the remote oil filter - didn't think it would be so painful to make hoses. Those braids hurt!!
Remote oil filter mounted where the horn used to be. Need to find another place to mount those . . . later
Started work on fuel system - ewwww......rust.... I should be glad the car hasn't blown up!!

Good thing I picked up some of this Russell aluminum tubing from SummitRacing.com

Relocating battery to spare wheel well - fabricated a frame to support 2 batteries. Enough for future technology :)
Wiring for ignition, drive by wire and cruise control - not mention creature comforts are now routed through the area where the battery used to sit.
Ex-battery box will also be the future home of the PCM. Need to fabricate a mount for it, as well as the throttle control module
Finally figured out the fuel delivery system. Here is a shot of the aftermarket EFI pump that should be able to handle the flow issues
Running braided stainless steel lines - no leaks or fires with this stuff! Inline fuel filter from Russell.

Critical component for the cooling system - the H-Valve. Looks like the hoses are hitting the headers, but they're not.
Shot of the top radiator hose and tee for throttle body warmer and overflow. May lose the TB warmer to gain a couple extra horsepower !!
Gratuitous engine bay shot
Finally got an intake installed - courtesy of intakehoses.com and PepBoys

Thinking about putting sidepipes like these on - that is if I can get enough distance between them and the fuel lines.

11 Sept 2008 - As with all great plans, I have decided to go with a more conventional exhaust setup so I can get the car on the road faster.  Here are some shots of my first attempts at butt welding (not bad if I say so myself).  I am using 3" pipe (going for the low rumble...I hope), doing my part for the environment - this is MAGNAFLOW 59959 Performance Converter, butt welded to MAGNAFLOW 3" Y-Pipe

Welding flex joints to the Y-Pipe.  Hopefully these will prevent my headers from cracking from twist of the engine.

                                           Just doing it!

Had to shave of a good inch of the reducer to get the right length off the header for the bend

Exhaust hanging temporarily for test fitting - had to touch up the one flex couplings.  Will make it pretty later!

Welded up the driver's side pipe - was a lot harder than the passenger's side.  Looks good though, I think . . . . .

 This is an audio-only recording of my newly installed 3" exhaust system.

The next couple photos are shots of the cleaning of the CV joint bearing and installation of the speed sensor reluctor on the passenger side half-axle.  It was a very messy job, requiring disassembly and reassembly of the bearing.  BEFORE disassembly of the bearing, don't do what I did!  Make sure you mark the bearing so you can put it back together without having to wonder if everything is aligned properly.  In some of the shots it's almost like you can smell the 25 year-old grease!! 

One step forward . . . two steps back!  Decided to take the other side of the axle apart and found that the inner race has some damage.  Looks like new axles are in my future . . .

New half shafts in from PartsAmerica.com, remanufactured units for a quarter of the price of new ones.  Only $87 after core charge of $100.

Half shaft installed with Renegade Hybrid Reluctor and speed senson. 

Installed Schnell speed shifter kit - shift throws are MUCH shorter now.  Top part is the stock part - bottom one is the new Schnell part.  The little knobbed thing above the stock part is a windshield wiper removal tool - perfect for taking the part off the shaft that it's mounted to.  12 bucks well spent!

20 April 2009 - Finally took some time off from the job to try and get the A/C working.  No pictures for this update, but if you are interested in getting air conditioning in any LS1 conversion working, you need to have +12VDC to pin 47 of the ECM (AC Request [on/off]): Pin 39 (AC Clutch Relay Control) of the ECM to the relay used to energize the compressor clutch: Pin 14 (AC Clutch Status) is tied into the +12VDC used to power the compressor clutch.  If you have any questions feel free to ask!!

Page 1 - Introduction
Page 2 - Engine and Drivetrain <- You are here
Page 3 - Interior and Related
Page 4/5 - Bodywork and Paint
Page 6 - Suspension/Tires
Page 7 - Letter to the Posrche Purists (Haters)