Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxster 50
How is the Ls conversion coming? I am very interested in how complicated the conversion will be. Does the kit require welding and or extra fabrication and do you think this would be over a weekend warriors head?
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Greeting everyone,
The conversion is just about to kick off in full swing as Fedex is currently lurking around with my new LS3 crate motor which should be here today! I have also finally recieved the remaining bits from Renegade so i'll get some pictures up ths week. The car is currently torn down and ready to get started with the major surgery which should begin this week.
Boxster 50 - to answer your question simply, no, probably not, but that depends on the tools and skills you have more then anything. This is MAJOR surgery and definitely more then initially expected.
It is a lot more then just nibbleing away some of the firewall to make room for the valve covers, you have to cut out a section about 2 feet long that hollows out the frame then you have to weld in the "optional" side plates and reinforcement brace, which also serves as the new place to mount the emergency brake bits, which also have to be relocated.
***BREAKING NEWS*** MY MOTOR HAS JUST ARRIVED!!!!!!! Now to figure out how to get it out of the back of the truck! Can you believe there are 480 horses in that little box! BTW shipping weight on the LS3 is 556 pounds for those of you keeping score.
Sorry about that! Ok so to say the least there is a good bit of cutting/welding so it is not a project for the faint of heart.
I'll be back with more updates soon and some pictures of the progress once I start cutting its guts up this week. Although I must go ahead and say that I do wish Renegade offered a bit more guidance on the install process. The only actual instructions recieved came with the Kennedy engineering adapter plate. Otherwise I recieved about 40 pictures from Renegade and that is about it.
Plus nothing was labled which for the most part it is somewhat self-explanatory, but would it really be that hard to come up with a few labels for this stuff?
Also if you are looking to purchase the kit, don't pay any attention to the "optional" listing section, NOTHING IS OPTIONAL. Ok I say nothing but if you want the car to retain normal creature comforts such as A/C and power steering, oh yeah and the alternator... then nothing else is optional so just go ahead and budget the $6800 for the whole shebang because while you "can use the stock clutch", it won't hold the power.
For those who have asked about the motor etc. I did a bit of shopping around and I ended up buying my motor from Scoggin Dickey Chevrolet in Lubbock, TX. Travis helped me out and was VERY knowledgable about the motor and the hot-rod aspect so I would recommend talking to them. I bought the LS376/480 with the optional GM Hot Cam, along with the ECU/harness/gas pedal assembly and total on it all was $7,836.79 including shipping.
Be back soon!
Thanks!
J
