LS Swap Day 12 - Engine is In!!!

[Bandit]

Today was another productive day and a lot got done. Having the motor finally in the engine bay has reinvigorated my enthusiasm for the project.

The engine was remarkably easy to put in, the compactness of the LS along with the tucked exhaust manifolds made it surprisingly simple to put into the car even with the transmission attached. It was interesting working with these dirty dingo adjustable motor mounts, I positioned the tail of the transmission in place on the trans crossmember and that dictated where the motor mounts bolted to the engine. This means my transmission tail shaft is in the stock location so no modification to my driveshaft is necessary. There was also plenty of clearance between the block and engine crossmember so working on the starter wiring, reaching the motor mount bolts, etc is simple.

I also got a new heater blower motor installed. For some reason the previous owner put in a blower out of a 1998-2005 S10/Blazer which was too big for my application. I removed the AC years ago with an AC delete panel so a new non-ac stock style fan fit great.

I started sorting out the wiring for the swap. This photo is of the wiring for my wiper motor. All five wires are broken down and have exposed copper, this was all hiding under a gross mass of electrical tape the previous owner put on. I’m honestly surprised the wipers have been completely reliable for the 9 years I’ve had it. Got two chassis grounds installed between the block and subframe, also hooked up the key/ign wire. Luckily I’ll be able to reuse my 0 gauge battery cables from the Pontiac block.

Tomorrow I hook up the LS harness and try to do cable management. It’ll be easy to install wires, but I can already tell from mock-ups managing the long harness wires cleanly without cutting and shortening connectors will be difficult.

[MM54]

Nice progress!

That looks to be the standard GM wiper/washer wiring that they used forever, replacing it shouldn't be too difficult.

[Shop-Teacher]

@bandit Nice to see things starting to go right

[Bandit]

@shop-teacher said in LS Swap Day 13 - Engine is In!!!:

@bandit Nice to see things starting to go right

I noticed I was complaining too much about the various setbacks so a change of mindset was required.

[Shop-Teacher]

@bandit said in LS Swap Day 13 - Engine is In!!!:

I noticed I was complaining too much about the various setbacks so a change of mindset was required.

We've all been there. Wrenching can be a cruel hobby.