I've been committed...

[coachreed]

OK, just wanted to let you guys know that YOU are responsible for MY insanity! I have gone and done it now... I have bought this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2452145672) and will hopefully have it in hand come Sunday. Between now and then, I will be disassembling my VX piece by piece. I must be nuts... oh well... sounds like a fun job. If anyone wants to travel and have a little wrench session, please feel free to drop by... I'm in the Greater Kansas City area... Lee's Summit, MO to be exact. I have spare beds... and will buy what beer I can afford after this purchase! Heck, if you come help, you can say that you helped do it... heck, I'll let you say you did it all! ;pb;

Here are a few threads leading up to this project... as if you haven't seen them yet...

VXVette (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2862)

Transfer Case Questions... (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2905)

My Warranty Woes... (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2869)

ABS Computer... (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2880)

VX Tranny... (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2877)

Rebuild or Replace? (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2780)

Obstacle Number ONE! (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2946)

OK... if you have any input on those threads... or anything to add to the whole coversion process... drop me a line! TTYL!

[VX_PA]

Someone should go help this fellow VX'er as he attemps to make history with his soon to be FrankenVX. All the beer and all the glory too, what an offer! Sorry I can't help Coach, I'll be in Arizona while your tooling. Just remember, lots of notes and pictures. Good luck.;)

[VX crazy]

:smack: you HAVE lost it......your gonna need more than beer!

[AlaskaVX]

Best of luck! :luck: :thumbup: :clap:

So many cool projects going on, Coachreeds swap, Boarzheads SAS, 3d model VX (possibly in video game!), and my soon to be Infinity stereo system! This is too cool post lots of pics!

[StormTROOPER]

:luck: Just go easy on the brew or you might end up with left-over parts :confused: :confused: I'd sure like to hear her when you're finished, a treat for the ears as well as the eyes.:cool:

[Anita]

Starting Sunday evening, Im gonna light my VX shaped candle and put it in the window as a sign of best wishes from this coast.


Good Luck Randy...I'm pulling for you! ;Dr; ;Dr; ;Dr; ;Dr; ;Dr;

[VX crazy]

I want a vehicross candle.........where did you find that???

[Anita]

I made it but Im far too shy to show my first try at making a VX candle. I just purchased some new mold material that looks promising so maybe in time there will exist yet another VX novelty!

;eekr; ;Dr; ;pr;

[Navigator]

... Now that's a project that takes stones as big as mainland China. My hat is off to ya :luck:

[coachreed]

Thanks for the wishes of good luck. I'm may need them when its all done with. I was gonna have the tranny and transfer case out tomorrow... but as luck would have it, our scheduling department set me up with LOTS of work... even though I'm scheduled off! DOH! So, I'll go back to work on it by Friday.

The actual work won't start until after Sunday though... I will be driving 3-5 hours (depending on how far the seller is willing to go) to get the motor... so by the time I get home, it's gonna be a long day. I also think I'm coming down with the flu right now... so I hope to GAWD I recover quickly.... maybe you should burn that candle for my getting better! lol BTW, where did you get a VX candle? ANy pictures? Know where I can get one? I think there's a market for that kind of thing here!

If I didn't feel so bad right now, I'd go work on the thing... my son is already asleep for the night... and I think I might be following close behind... then again, I still have LOTS of work and research to do. I don't know... we'll see.

I'll keep you posted on how things are going. TTYL!

Coach!

[Raque Thomas]

Coach - my hat's off to you for being the pioneer on this project - almost makes me wish my engine would blow - ALMOST! I can't wait to see the results! As long as the engine will physically fit in the bay, you'll be fine - and I'm sure you've already done that calculation. Maybe you can start selling a kit to install the V8 in the VX ala the Scarab kit they used to sell to install a V8 in the Datsun Z cars. Sign me up!! You'll have twice the cost of a supercharger in the project, but man the torque and HP will be awesome. Keep us posted, and MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!!

[XCross69]

Man if I was a mechanic at all I would come help ya out, cause if your in Lee's Summit I'm only about an hour and 1/2 to 2 hours away. But beings I don't know much about engines and I don't really drink beer, I don't see much of a reason to come....unless you want me to come and just be in your way? I am really good at that!! Anyway, GOOD LUCK man....maybe some day you can work on my VX???!!!!:naughty:

[migil]

All has been already said... With such good vibes and fingers crossed from all your fellow VXers, the outcome HAS to be a total sucess!:thumbup:

I bow before your courageous spirit. I wish you hadn't being forced to do it, but once you finish it you'll be the envy of this forum!

[bliptrip]

I look forward to seeing the progress on this!

Here's a link that might be helpful. The Datsun Z-car crowd has been doing motor swaps for decades now, and this site has TONS of great info that you can probably use for your VX-treme project:

HybirdZ (http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/index.php)



-Phil

[VX crazy]

Hey, have you measured the LS1 height and width and compared to the Isuzu 3.5L???? I just cant see this working?? But hey, better yours than mine.....

[coachreed]

Originally posted by VX crazy
Hey, have you measured the LS1 height and width and compared to the Isuzu 3.5L???? I just cant see this working?? But hey, better yours than mine.....

Have you seen the way the LS1 is packaged into the F-body? If not you might want to check it out. There is PLENTY of space from side to side, and top top to bottom... the space question is with the front to back... will I be able to squeeze a freakin fan in there?! Its gonna be tight... probably gonna end up with a couple of low porfile electric fans... not sure. I took a tape meansure to my boss's Z28 today... and the overall width of the motor, clear out to the valve covers is narrower than the space between the fram rails. The motor will tuck somewhat down between the frame rails... again, my concern is the front to back spacing. Its gonna be tight to the firewall and probably have LITTLE space to spare for the fan(s).

I'll take pictures and post them as I go. BTW, I read some different posts from the hybridz forum... width and height wise, I think we have more space than they do... I don't doubt though that they have MORE space front to back.

We shall see. TTYL!

[nocturnalVX]

One word... WOW !

:luck:

[MZ-N10]

4 words....more power to you
________
Colorado Medical Marijuana (http://colorado.dispensaries.org/)

[SGT.BATGUANO]

Front to back won't be a problem if you have space to cut and patch mod the firewall. It's done all the time and it's only sheetmetal. Just make sure you have some room behind the firewall to move it back without hitting anything.

[coachreed]

Originally posted by SGT.BATGUANO
Front to back won't be a problem if you have space to cut and patch mod the firewall. It's done all the time and it's only sheetmetal. Just make sure you have some room behind the firewall to move it back without hitting anything.

You read my mind! I was thinking about doing that last night... but I was too sick to get up and post that idea. I didn't however know that people do it all the time. The thing that made ME think of it is that if you look at the F-Body (Camaro/Firebird), the motor is actually tucked back under the dash and windshield partially. One way or another, it WILL fit... no "Nay Sayers" here please! I don't doubt that I will have it in and out of the VX a few times before its permanent... but it WILL go! ;Db; ;pb;

I'll be working tomorrow or Friday... hopefully I can have the whole kit-n-kaboodle out before I drive to St. Louis to pick up the new motor.

TTYL!

Coach!

[johnnyapollo]

Hey Coach,

Pete has some good tranny pics in his gallery here:

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=783&thumb=1

Should give your guy a good idea of the bell housing/bolt pattern (dunno if you still need it).

-- John

[ScubaSteve]

So, uh, coach... what's happening to your current 3.5L and supercharger?:naughty:

[coachreed]

John-
Thanks for the linky... I looked at the pictures earlier this morning... my area of concern on the transmission is the tailshaft adaptor that couples the transmission and transfer case. I will be using a 4L60E transmission which came with the motor... so I don't need to worry about that bolt pattern. Thanks though.

Steve-
Well... to answer your question... most likely the motor is a boat anchor. I have considered cutting it up into small pieces and systematically mailing it to Isuzu of America or maybe to Portolio (my extended warranty company). As for the supercharger... well... don't have one of those, so no plans to do anything with one of those. ;pb; Sorry to dissappoint ya! lol

Anyway, almost time to run out to work on my day off! I would much rather be home working on the VX. I'll check back later today!

TTFN!

Coach!

[SGT.BATGUANO]

Moving the engine back into the firewall was an old racers trick, used to get better weight distribution or fit a larger engine. You can modify/remove the inner wheelwells the same way, if you need some room there also.

[coachreed]

Well things are moving fairly slowly today... got the prop shafts out, crossmembers out and transfer case out. I have also disconnected all the wiring to the trans but now I'm stuck... first off, I'm used to wrenching on things with a little more SAE sizes... not used to ALL metric! lol To top things off, the bolts that hold the torque convertor to the flex plate are inset so far that my regular box wrenches won't reach back in there... gotta get ahold of a friend and see if he has any before I blow a bunch of money on new wrenches. Does anyone know the size of the bolts holding the torque convertor to the flex plate? I'm having a hard time seeing really clearly through my goggles! I've had enough dust, dirt and rust in my eyes. They look to be somewhere around 18mm'ish... but like I said, they are offset enough that regular box wrenches won't reach and a socket and ratchet won't fit either. I think I'm gonna go down and drain the rest of the bodily fluids (trans and motor) and probably pop the hood off so I can get a hoist in there. Anyway... I'll check back later... I'd post pictures, but theres not much to see so far... just a typical disassembled VX... oh btw, I have a Vehicross jig-saw puzzle... its ONE genuine VX exhaust system that has been cut into a few parts so far... I'll end up gutting it all before its over with... a good friend of mine runs an exhaust shop... the VX is gonna get treated to a new system when done!

I'll TTYL!

Coach!

[VehiX]

Please do post your pics!

After seeing the recent tranny swap pics and SPAZZ's VX all disassebled it was nice to see a side of the VX all of us hardly ever get to see.

I think they will be usefull for any custom and future mods to come for the VX to see it all broken down like that. That way we can get an idea of what we have underneath the skin without taking everything apart to find out.

Might as well since you are one of the few to go this route and take pics along the way.

:)

[coachreed]

Well, I drained the tranny fluid, removed the tailshaft adaptor and sent pictures off to Rob at Advance Adaptors. Hopefully he will look it and tell me its gonna just bolt right up OR he will tell me he has a way to adapt my TOD to the 4L60E tranny. I also took the hood off and started pulling the motor apart on the upper end a little... just yanking stuff apart for the fun of it. Its actually a VERY intersting engine... I've never had a DOHC motor apart. To start with, the intake manifold! Dang... talk about complex... I have heard that it has variable runners... but DANG they went to a lot of work to make this motor... also, the fact that if you pull the coils for the spark plugs... the dang spark plugs are nearly six inches down inside the head! With the variable runner intake, DOHC and deep spark plug holes, this motor is WAY deeper than it needs to be. I'll post a few pictures later... or this weekend... not feeling too good after laying on the COLD garage floor for about six hours today! And heck, I feel that I didn't get that much done! Look for pictures later!

TTYL!

Coach!

[vx queen]

I want one, where can I get one? I have a day off next week to do it

[coachreed]

Originally posted by vx queen
I want one, where can I get one? I have a day off next week to do it

You want one what? An LS1? A day off next week isn't gonna be enough time... I have spent a fairly solid day so far and I don't even have the stuff completely gutted yet... heck, its gonna take me another 1-2 days just to get the motor out... Then I have to slip the new motor into place... test fit... have my master welder do some mount fabrication... then probably pull it back out to prep the engine bay. I also have to completely rewire the VX... NOTHING's gonna be simple here... The more I look at the prject though... the more excited I get! Once it runs I will be pleased... but I'm sure its gonna take another couple weeks to get'er done... at LEAST! Once I get it done, I will post any notes that I make... along with pictures along the way... AND I will try to put a do-it-yourself guide together for that forum.

TTYL!

Randy!

[coachreed]

Just wanted to attach a link to the latest thread... Obstacle one rears its UGLY head! (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2946)... TTYL!

Randy!

[warr`s auto]

you need to fabricat the engine mounts after you get the trans. and tod unit together as the trans mount should be put back in the same place as it was so the drive shafts dont have to be mod. this will save you from having to fabricat the engine monnts more then once ... how about the tod is it going to work as it not only uses the speed of the front & rear tires but also uses input from the tps to ingage the front axle ?? geting the engine & trans in will be the easy part you stell have to get the tod to work , tech , temp. oil light , cruse control ect...... good luck !!:wave:

[StinkBug]

Originally posted by warr`s auto
you need to fabricat the engine mounts after you get the trans. and tod unit together as the trans mount should be put back in the same place as it was so the drive shafts dont have to be mod.

Speaking from experience here, the tranny mount is the last of his worries, and I'd put money that it wont be in the same place. Tryin to fit that big motor behind the radiator is gonna force you to push the tranny back. Pretty much no matter what you're gonna need new driveshafts, or at least lengthen/shorten your stock ones.

I cant wait to see pics of this one :)

Dallas