Love it or hate it: its still awesome. 6 speed GN

Stroker-ace

Boosted-brick
Joined
Oct 6, 2008
This is the story of my project that has taken every ounce of energy and patience I have had. as far as I know, I have the ONLY 6-speed, LSX swapped GN out there.

bear with me, as this thread is copy/paste from another forum I am on. SO ignore some of the comments LOL. From start to finish, enjoy :)

PROJECT STARTED MARCH 17TH, 2010


Some know, but some dont. So here's my build thread.

I took $10K out of savings to do some mods to my Buick and after some long hard thought and may discussions with fellow car enthusiasts and engine builders I have known for a while, I decided that it was time to make the shift to an LS power train.

Lots of people have done LS swaps in G-body cars, but few have done them to ACTUAL grand nationals and I will be the first to be putting a 6 speed in one.

Plans for the car include a forged 5.3 with 317 heads, pushing 15#'s of boost with water/meth injection backed by a T56 from a firebird. I have almost everything needed to do the swap and i will update this thread along with the 5 others on various boards that I am on with this build.

The goal for this car is 550 RWHP, I am not trying to get crazy with it since I have the six speed. i want something fun to drive on the weekends and I miss having the reliability and gas mileage of the LS1. If you don't like what i am doing to MY car, please press the back button and keep your negativity out of this thread. thanks.

I'll start with what parts will be going on the car., I have 98% of these, anything in RED I have to still buy.

ENGINE:
5.3 from a silverado
317 heads
Yellow Z06 springs
LS6 cam and intake
67MM garret turbo
Blackworks FMIC
60# BOSCH injectors
Full stand-alone harness with ECU
Ported stock throttle body
ARP Head bolts
aeromotive A1000 regulator
160* SLP thermostat
twin Walbro 255LPH pumps
Fuel pump hotwire kit
LH8 oil pan (for frame clearance)
SNOW water/meth inection
Custom turbo manifold setup header wrapped
STS oil return pump
Pypes exhaust


TRANSMISSION:
Stock t56 from an 02 firebird, 20K miles.
LS7 Clutch
LS7 Flywheel
ARP flywheel bolts
HURST short throw shifter

SUSPENSION:
SPOHN front and rear sway bars
UMI upper and lower rear control arms
UMI upper tubular A-Arms
2WD blazer brake upgrade (dual piston calipers)
New wheel bearing hubs and calipers
Slotted/drilled rotors for front
Eibach lowering springs


INTERIOR
Autometer Cobalt gauges in custom dash panel: (speedo, tach, volts, fuel level)
HURST pistol grip shifter
AEM wideband
Cobalt boost gauge on dual A pillar pod


WHEELS/TIRES
Black XXR model number 521 rims, 18X8.5 front, 18X10 rear
GOODYEAR Eagle F1 rears, dunlop sport fronts.


I'm sure I am missing some stuff, but here are some pictures to entertain you until the motor gets pulled on Saturday I'll update it tomorrow when I install my cam and springs in my heads.

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Also received my upper and lower rear control arms in the mail today...

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Here is a pile of crap we have discarded that we no longer need. Never mind the ford intake manifold, that's been in my garage forever, it finally found its way onto the scrap pile lol.

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And finally, here is Steve attempting to clean off the rockers that were immersed in sludge. we spent half the day doing this to other random parts :/

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More updates as time goes on, engine may or may not be coming out tomorrow. i may just disassemble MY motor for machine work instead and pull the engine Monday out of the Buick.
 
MOTOR IS OUT!!

Started work at about 10ish this morning> started the car up for the last time, revved the hell out of it a few times and backed it half in, half out of the garage, and yanked the ECM out. No going back now. The next few pictures are my progress throughout the day. HOLY **** this motor was a pain in the ass to pull. Also a little pissed off because i ruined my 6 month old water temp gauge which was $75 and also found out I have to go to vacuum brakes becuase the current setup works with the ECM :(

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AAAAANNNNDDDDD................
 
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That's all for today, Pulling Stevens motor fro the camaro tomorrow. Also got this in the mail today: My standalone harness :D


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Updates fro yesterday...

Finished cleaning up the engine bay, removed the cruise control unit, brake pedal assembly and old powermaster unit. Bunch of random screws and clips came out too as well as my old motor mounts.

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My inner fender wells are ****ing plastic...which sucks cause I cant shave and fill them. :/ but I can armor-all the **** out of them and make them look new again lol. I also started on the interior by removing the old cluster, center console and drivers seat for easier access. I am off to go work on it now for another 12 hours today woohoo!!

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OK I didnt wake up till 10 this morning lol, and it took a while to host all these damn pictures.

Wiring harness work, routing it and tucking most under the dash...

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Wiring is %50 done now need to finish my gauges and route them.
 
Assembled my intake manifold as well.....


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Here is what I am working on right now....

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And as soon as I get my springs, all this goes on.

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....:hi:

Nice Build man...how much power do you expect to put down?

not much, I only plan on pushing about 550 to the wheels. I don't want anything crazy, I want to drive the car as much as possible and not destroy my rear end or transmission, yet.

UPDATES!

I pushed the car in the garage on friday, since my springs arrived, I figures i would do my suspension since my rod bolts are in never never land :mad:

Here is my stock setup: Stamped steel lower and upper control arms, stock springs and a hollow sway bar. the only suspension upgrade I have don so far is the shocks lol..

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AAANNNDddd here is whats going in the car: Solid boxed upper and lower control arms with energy suspension bushings, a Spohn rear sway bar and Eibach lowering springs. I had to go to Lowe's and get new stainless hardware for most of it though, I didnt trust the bolts that came out of the control arms and my new ones didnt come with hardware. oh well.

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And finished. here is my pile of old **** left over. next update will be the long awaited wheels!!!!!! they come tomorrow, I am getting the tires mounted Tuesday and finishing front suspension Wednesday.


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Its not much but its an update. i start 6 days of leave on tuesday, to pretty much turn and burn on the car 24/7 until the motor and transmission is in, the brakes are functional and the fuel system is done.

New front brakes and lowering springs are on. I had to re-use the stock a arms because I am an idiot. I'll explain later.

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Yes I knwo i didnt paint anything, its all coming apart again in the near future anyway.




And here is a teaser pic of my new rims.... I PROMISE I will have more **** next week.

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And the madness has begun. Finally got off my asss and got the car out of the garage, new tie rods and front sway bar installed then pushed it outside. Got my rims on the rear, bad pics so pay them no mind.

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Got my power steering pump assembled

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New pedal assembly I fabricated;


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And got my transmission crossmember buttoned up and shifter installed


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This took me all day.... But the pedals, braking system and clutch hydraulics are 100% fucntional

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Gauge panel is wired and ready to install


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interior is slowly coming back together. borrowed a shifter boot from a 4th gen camaro to close up the hole I had to cut in the floor for the shifter.

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then I took care of the rust spots with a grinder, the welder and some rustoleum. The interior is coming back out in the year and the car will see MAYBE 2 days of rain if its lucky.

and then i got my carpet and center console installed,


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Along with the gauges.

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