Hi all, my name is Matt!
I had been coming back to the Grassroots Motorsports forum for a while now taking notes from another members build thread, and since my "build" isn't exactly like most other typical Nissan V8 swaps I figured it wouldn't hurt to share :)
I bought this car in 2008 after keeping an eye out for over a year I pounced! Picked it up with 180k miles from the second owner for the low low price of (wait for it...........) $2,200. Anyone who is familiar with these cars know they can fetch $5k in stock form at times. This is what it looked like then,
It had a nasty front main seal and valve cover leak at the time of purchase.
Which had lead to a very nasty engine bay. . .
The interior however, clean as a whistle!
After a quick pressure washing I tackled the little things like an overheating issue, bad radiator hose and a ton of other little issues that were so long ago I've forgotten. . .
After getting those drive-ability issues squared away I shifted my attention to the stock green color that I really didn't like. I've always wanted to paint a car charcoal gray metallic, so now was as good a time as any!
I love the way this color looks on this car. . .
Around that time I also decided to upgrade the brakes, for the time being I slapped Infiniti Q45 brakes up front, out back I installed the 2003 Altima rotors, Z31 caliper brackets, and Hawk pads all the way around. The fronts didn't stay for long, the rears are still on there today, and balanced the whole set up perfectly!
For reference, here is stock rotor compared to the Altima rotor. .
Not too much later my friend John and I tackled removing that auto-tragic transmission. I have a rule, and it's simple. Only my daily driver can be automatic.
Out came that old POS auto-thingy,
and in went a 5 speed manual trans... sadly there weren't many pictures taken after I got the manual trans is, too much excite going on lol (yes, you read that right.)
Then at some point I installed the Wilwood Forged internal superlite calipers with Z33 rotors.
I enjoy driving this car so much, the balance, the braking, the handling, I enjoy everything but the lack of power. I would eventually throw Eagle rods, Wiseco pistons, and Brian Crower cams at that little KA24DE and still only manage to make 150 whp. Not cool.
Now my options were boost, or displacement. . . I think you know what route I took. Those in the know will recognize quickly that an LS1, this ain't. All my progress from here on out has taken place within the last two months. Just to give you an idea of how recent this all is.
So began the strip down of this Chevy 5.3, (engine code LM7) which came from a 2003 Chevy Tahoe with 91k miles on it.
on went the Holley motor mounts and Creative steel isolator bushings.
I'm a firm believer that you don't install an engine in a car without popping the oil pan, and in this case, the stock oil pan wasn't going back on, especially if it's going in my engine bay. So Canton got the call and sent the goods :)
Increased oil capacity, and baffled, doesn't get any better unless you go dry sump!
And you can't just keep stock cast exhaust manifolds. . .
Beautiful.
Goodies everywhur lol, you'll notice a bellhousing, input shaft and trans front plate, I had picked up an LT1 T56 to use, and am planning on converting it for use on this LS based V8. I still haven't figured out if that's going to happen. . . I guess we'll see.
Rigid Racing makes the adapter pictured here to allow you to use the Wilwood clutch master cylinder which is required for this swap.
With this being a truck engine being installed in a smaller car engine bay, the truck intake manifold has to go, it won't work in my car due to the hood hitting it. So in goes an LS1 intake manifold, and instantly problems are found. The LS1 intake won't work with the truck accessories. Below you can see my contact points.
Here the throttle body and water pump outlet.
And here throttle body and accessory bracket.
At this point all the LM7 accessories have to come off.
On went the LS1 water pump (which I'm already thinking about replacing with a CTS-V)
Then the Spec clutch I got with low low miles on it
Then the mating of the trans and engine.
And eventually the drivetrain went into the car, from the bottom
Then just like that, it seemed too good to be true, the engine and trans went in with little fuss! There was a reason. . .
And sadly this is the where I'm currently at with the build. I have a few loose ends that need attention and a parts list I need to sit down and check off to see what all else needs to be ordered. I got married 6 months ago, we're house hunting, trying to start a family, and I just started a new job 4 months ago. . . I have quite a bit going on right now and I'm trying to accomplish as much as I can when I have time to tinker.
Thanks for checking out my build, hopefully I'll have an update soon!
-Matt
