RSR LS Conversion
 

Just got my RH kit today. I still have some small items to purchase before I start. Like, for instance, an engine.

But, here's where it starts.

Hal


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325872598.jpg

For "Good Luck" you should remove "Mazda" sticker and get "Pelican Parts" OR "Porsche" :) LoL...
Good Luck..
-Y.

sorry that we could not link up over the holidays. looks as if you are about to get started. if i can help with advice or input feel free to ask.

Yeah, sorry about that. My mom got a new dog and it shredded the house. We had to give it away and I had to fix all the stuff it broke or ate or chewed up. The last thing my 90 lb, 80 yr old mother needed was a 65 lb puppy. I don't know what she was thinking. That ended up taking all our available time.

Thanks for the support. This project looks substantial. Not quite as easy as welding on fenders and painting, I don't think.

Agreed. Except that it's the last evidence of my latent racing career; Miata autocrosser, Yamaha KT100 kart racer.

Broke down the boxes to see what's inside.

Here goes.

First we have a very nice aluminum radiator with the fans already attached and wired to the temperature sensor. It also has a bleed screw. Nice.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891167.jpg

The RH engine cradle.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891193.jpg

This is called the F-Pipe. It aggregates the coolant hoses.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891210.jpg

Kennedy Engineering Adapter Plate.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891222.jpg

RH coolant blocks. These mate up where the water pump normally goes and diverts the coolant.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891239.jpg

Fill Tank. This is part of the cooling system. It's remote mounted so it's the highest part of the system, thus making it easier (possible) to bleed the air out of the system.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891251.jpg

These are the sides of the cooling shroud. RH provides a complete cooling shroud to keep air heated by the radiator out of the front trunk. This is a good idea because the "firewall" in a 911 is porous. Since the engine's in the back it isn't a true firewall so it doesn't need to be sealed off. Once you start heating that area though, you need to do something. This is the slickest way.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891262.jpg

I guess it comes with all the hardware you need. There's too many bolts for me to figure out at this point and I'm not opening the bags till I get further along. I think I also detect part of a mount for an alternator maybe. Not quite sure. Also hose.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891275.jpg

Clutch plate.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891287.jpg

New Ring gear. The Porsche Ring gear is too soft. After a few starts it begins to lose teeth. Wrap your head around that one. It's just another indicator of how much more power an LS engine can produce than the old flat-6.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325891297.jpg

Part two.

New Flywheel.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325892083.jpg

Electric water pump. This frees horsepower and shortens the LS motor so it will fit in the allocated space.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325892107.jpg

This is one of those pieces that cause most people to rethink this. It's a weld in panel that goes in the nose. It makes enough space for the radiator and, I suspect from looking at it that it stiffens the nose a little bit - which is good since you're removing some material. Personally, I don't care. There's nothing I can cut off the car, that I can't weld back on. And, if that's not enough, I already welded in one of those panels from Patrick Racing that makes room for an oil cooler. I'll have to cut that out completely, then weld-in a new panel to put the car back to stock before I cut it again for this panel. That's what I get for changing my mind, I guess.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325892151.jpg

Check these next two out. RH built a custom aluminum gas tank. It fits in the stock hole and adds capacity on top so you don't lose out. Also, if you look at their website, with this tank installed behind the cover it almost looks factory. It's very nicely made. I'm very impressed.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325892330.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325892346.jpg

Last piece. This is the cover and back of the radiator shroud. If you can picture it, the notch is there for the hood latch and the back of it is vertical between the radiator and the gas tank.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1325892513.jpg


That's all for now. I have some additional parts to acquire. The motor is next, then I'll do the electronics and starter from RH. I just need to make sure which motor I'm using to start with.

I have my eye on a nice LS2 out of a Trailblazer SS, at the moment. We'll see how that one works out.


Also, my 3.2 motor is now officially for sale. It's still in the car so PM me with offers or questions.

Hal

Hal, take my advise on one thing - Buy a new ls1, 2, 6, 7 or 9 long block or crate motor. Everyone one of the builds, including mine now, has had major engine problems with used motors. I just got a new long block for $3100. It is brand new from one of the GM dealers - I used crateenginedepot but they all are good. A crank bearing went. We started swaping all the components off the ls1 in my car with the new long block. Wish I never bought used!

Congrads on build! Any questions feel free to ask!

Yan

I've thought about that. I'm kind of in a different situation. I'm planning on buying a junkyard motor. If there's any issue, I think I can build it for less money than a crate motor costs. But then, I'm sort of surrounded by people that race and have machine shops that are focused on Chevy motors. It's one of the things that motivates me to put an LS in the car instead of trying to build a big horsepower Porsche motor.

Also, LS motors are like Lays Potato Chips. You can't have just one.

H

Hey Hal --- looking good. what's your completion goal date? If you're cutting out that front oil cooler panel, I might be interested in it if it can me modded to fit my long hood. Enjoy this project, I tink it's gonna be a good one.

Hey Jeremy. I'll cut it out as gently as I can.

I just ordered a new replacement front pan from Restoration Design. I guess I'll start butchering the porsche by restoring the previous butchering thereby proving that there's nothing that you cut off a 911 that you can't weld back on.

I'm targeting the completion date to be start date plus 60 days. I don't plan to start until I think I have all the parts. I'll post everything I buy and I'm planning on putting the car on corner scales both before and after. I also have a nifty little 500lb scale so I can weigh engines and subassemblies. I'm really interested in the outcome myself.

H

Holy crap! Just sold my motor. Guess I'm committed now.

It's kinda scary, actually.

Oh well. Here we go.


H

subbed. how much did you pay for everything? I'm planning on doing something similar to my track car.

Maybe it's because I'm an engineer that I just can't seem to leave well enough alone, but here I am, on the eve of starting this project and I realize that I have to rebuild my gearbox. And, of course, if I'm gonna rebuild it, I might as well change a few things.

So I graphed out the speed in gears for the crazy thing, and, frankly, I just don't get it. Although, it's easy to see from the graph why 3rd gear is so much fun. Take a look.

From here, I don't know what. But at the very least, I now understand the 'box a little better. And, of course, I realize how utterly inappropriate these gears are for a big power v8 car.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1327025036.jpg

RPM on the left, speed at the bottom. 6000 rpm shift point.

Since there's a chance my wife might read this, let's just say it was free, shall we?

H

it's awesome you made that graph but are you sure that at 6000rpm in second gear the cars only going about 48mph? i could of swore i can almost hit 70 in second and around 100 in third..... maybe i need to take a look at the diameter of my tires....

Not completely. Im sure of the math im not sure of the gear ratios. I got them from the guard transmission site. I got the final drive from california motorsports. I cant confirm it until i pull the gearbox apart.. Although i guess i could compare to emprical evidence, huh?

What are you starting with? A carrera? If you have a 915 then you may want to think about selling your box and getting a G50 instead of rebuilding. Without heavy mods a 915 won't take the torque of the LS and even with mods it won't take 350 ft-lbs, which I think even the 2000 LS1s came stock. If you're going to have a strong LS, which is EASY to get 450 hp/tq, then definitely get a G50.

HA! I thought the same thing about Porsches.

An LS with a 915??? Good luck with that. You might as well take a bunch of Benjamins and burn them out in the driveway.

Scott

Great pictures of lots of really cool looking hardware!

I do have an engineering question for you about your graph though....

That's the weirdest non linear scale I've ever seen for the X axis. Please in engineering terms explain it, also explain why you chose such an arbitrary non linear function. Why is there a speed increase from the shift point of 6000 RPM to the next point on the graph where the next gear is selected at a lower RPM? I always like to learn from an expert engineer why these strange things are done. ( I assume the units for "speed" is MPH?)