tr8todd
tr8todd Dork
2/6/16 7:57 p.m.

Picking up a LS3 powered Camaro SS with 11,000 miles. Plan is to swap the engine and tranny into a caged TR7 body shell. I'm new to this LS stuff. What do I need to keep besides the engine, bell, tranny? Where is the computer? How much of the wiring do I need? Whats up with keeping the gas pedal? Anybody need any orange body panels or orange and black leather interior pieces? Besides eBay, where is a good place to sell the spares and determine what they are worth?

MrChaos
MrChaos GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
2/6/16 8:04 p.m.

pull everything then sell what you dont use.

Gearheadotaku
Gearheadotaku GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
2/6/16 9:15 p.m.

What year is the car? This thing might be a CAN-BUS wiring job. The type where the ECM wants to talk to the BCM with wants to talk to the cluster.....

Some one with waaay more knowlege is sure to show up soon.

You need to keep the gas pedal to run the throttle by wire stuff.

Stampie
Stampie GRM+ Memberand Reader
2/6/16 9:22 p.m.
MrChaos wrote: pull everything UNTIL IT RUNS then sell what you dont use.

FTFY

MrChaos
MrChaos GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
2/6/16 10:27 p.m.

all else fails sell everything not the engine and trans and buy a swap harness and ecu

bentwrench
bentwrench Dork
2/6/16 11:24 p.m.

Keep everything until the swap is running

novaderrik
novaderrik UltimaDork
2/7/16 12:10 a.m.

GM sells a swap harness and ecm to put a lot of the LS engines into anything with only a few wires to hook up, and they are not priced too bad. The ecm and harness for the 5.3 that I intend to put in my Camaro someday was like $1000 about a year ago..

tr8todd
tr8todd Dork
2/7/16 1:44 a.m.

Its a 2010. Where is the best place to go on the web and read up about this stuff? I plan on making a whole new wiring harness because why would I want to try an adapt a 40 year old British wiring harness anyway. Car is completely gutted and on a rotisserie now. Its completely caged front to back with a cage that is fully integrated into the body work. If an interior was to go back into this thing, most of the tubes would be hidden inside the trim. Only the door bars and the rear diagonals would show. Once I install the engine and transmission, I am sure I will need to do some more cutting and welding so the car fits the driveline. By Summer it should be back on the ground, painted and ready for wiring. Probably start with a Painless wiring harness and go from there. I'd like to go with a Megasquirt system if I can get my carbeurated brain to figure out the ins and outs of programable FI. Once its done, the only thing Triumph left on the car will be the outer package. This will be my ultimate track car. The race car I always wanted, not what the rule books say I have to make. I want to keep it just barely street legal. Think something as bare bones as an Exocet, but inside a TR7 coupe shell. Once its up and running, I will probably enhance the engine, so I need a system that can expand as I go. Nothing worse than building something and then realizing everything you bought can't be used beyond what you have.

TheEnd
TheEnd New Reader
2/7/16 3:45 a.m.

Ls1tech.com, conversions and hybrids sub forum.

novaderrik
novaderrik UltimaDork
2/7/16 10:53 a.m.

another option is that new MSD Atomic EFI that has the computer integrated into the fuel rails, and only power and ground wires and a few sensors needed to be hooked up to get it running. i think it's like $2500, tho.

LuxInterior
LuxInterior HalfDork
2/7/16 1:27 p.m.

LS powered little British doorstop. I love this place!

What are your suspension plans for the car? The body-- box flares? Curious to know what your evil plan is

patgizz
patgizz GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
2/7/16 1:49 p.m.

i would pull the computer and engine and leave harness and get a swap one. yes pull gas pedal.

the easiest way is pull what you need and put the rest up for sale. the most profitable and labor intensive way is part the car piece by piece. if the front seats were all black i'd want them

tr8todd
tr8todd Dork
2/7/16 1:55 p.m.

I have a leftover Exploder 8.8 rear end from another TR8 project. I'll probably install that for now, but I just might do something with the Camaro independent rear end, or follow the lead of the V8 Miata guys. I welded in some 2" square stock and tied it into both the cage and the floor of the car, so there is plenty of meat there for the rear end to attach to. Up front, it will most likely be circle track type upper and lower tubular A arms and a spindle. Original plan was for Wilwood 6 piston calipers, aluminum hats and hubs, and vented 13" rotors up front and 4 piston jobbies in the back, but the Camaro comes with some massive Brembos. Maybe I'll use them or just sell them off and buy what I had planned on. Car already has the Wilwood reverse mount pedals, just need to size up the masters. In the past, I have only been able to get 225s up front and 245s in the back by rolling the fenders. On this car I am going to slice the inner fenders and pull the outer fenders out like flares, then weld in a piece of metal to bridge the gap created in the inner fenders. I'd like to get at 300s in the back and 255s in the front. Already have fiberglass bumpers, hood and trunk made up, altho I'm sure I will have to do some modifying of the hood to get fresh air into the engine. Goal is at least 400 at the rear wheels and no more than 2500 pounds. We'll see how close I come. My buddy spent a boat load of cash building his 300 HP TR8. I told him I could build a whole car with 400 for less than he had into the driveline. I get a case of beer if I can pull it off. In case you are wondering, 300 in a TR8 doesn't feel unreasonable or dangerous, just fast. Like low 12s on street tires fast. There has got to be a couple of dozen TR8s and bunch more MGBs running around with over 300HP now.

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
2/7/16 3:06 p.m.

Unless it's all CAN (which I don't think it is), keep the factory harness. They're not that difficult to modify and you'll have OE-quality wiring instead of aftermarket quality wiring. Much better. Remember, GM built that harness to last for a quarter million miles. The stock PCM can be reprogrammed fairly easily and you won't have to worry about the hard parts of tuning, like cold start and idle compensation for idle. If you've never dealt with a Megasquirt, you are responsible for EVERYTHING. Dyno pulls are easy. Real world drivability is hard.

If you really, really, really don't want to use the stock wiring, grab the GM Performance Parts controller for their LS3 crate. It's a complete OE-quality wiring harness stripped down for swap use, including the programming. Even comes with a throttle pedal and a fuse/relay box.

My LS1-powered MG is at 2400 lbs. You should be fine on weight unless the Triumph is a pig by comparison. It used the factory PCM and harness if you haven't guessed by this point. Splicing it into the MG wiring wasn't difficult, as most of the engine functions are standalone so you really just need to feed it B+, switched 12v and ground.

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