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Turbo LS Supra Swap

39K views 82 replies 32 participants last post by  rycrok8 
#1 ·
So i figured it was about time to create the build thread for this. The rundown is I bought an '82 back in December with 23k original miles. It had a GM V6 put in back in the 80's and then had sat in climate controlled storage since '92. The body and interior are almost mint. It came with beefed up rear suspension with a corvette zr1 rear end with 3.45 gears and a big 4 core aluminum radiator. Here is how it looked when i picked it up.







The engine bay is pretty normally. The previous V6 had the motor mounts/stands made to fit on the stock cross member. I just bought some s10 V6 mounts to slide into the stands and then universal v8 to ls motor plates and it bolted right up.







I will be dropping in an LQ4 truck motor that has upgraded valve springs, head studs, cam, oil pump, timing chain, pushrods, rockers and rod bolts. Still working on what intake I will be running. have a few options but size is a limiting factor. i have already bought an S480 T6 race cover with 1.32 AR. It is a pretty big turbo but once clocked right should fit behind the headlight. The transmission is a 4l80e that will need some massaging of the tunnel to get it to fit but will just have a converter, cooler and shift kit. These have held all day with 7-800hp with just that. Fuel system has been put on hold because I am waiting on some responses from people regarding a quiter fuel pump, but not a big hold up. To run everything will be a Holley Dominator ECU that has boost control, traction control, meth control, can control the trnasmission and hopefully will have the RacePak dash configured soon to go in as well.

Below is as of last night I dropped it in and installed the accessory brackets to see which side the turbo should go to get the 5" downpipe to fit and if the holley hi-ram I bought would fit, doubtful without a bigger baking pan on that hood and even though not sure if a 4" charge pipe would make it with the radiator. Space is obviously tight.




 
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#6 ·
That intake is ridiculous, why not go with a FAST manifold? I don't think Pro Stock hood scoops look that great on these cars.
 
#8 ·
The price of a fast new with fuel rails is about $400+ then this one. Plus the longer runner length increases the power band. Also going to a car intake would require all new accesories that I was trying to stay away of. I did not know that this intake was as big as it is. I had read it was large but assumed since I got the truck intake to fit with the current baking pan scoop. I do not want a cowl or anything bigger on the hood. The only possible change would be one that centers it out. Im not opposed to the look of it at all as it doesn't take away from the overall car.
 
#11 ·
It was already on it. not the cleanest as it is off centered towards the passenger side.

LS6 style intake would fit a lot better and probably make more power. What oil pan are you going with? Glad to see another person joining the LS camp.
Yes they are great intakes, might end up with one all depending upon water pump if I can fit that kind. Still debating that or just a vic jr singe plane with an elbow that will clear the hood as it is. And the oil pan I am using is the holley ls oil pan for swaps. dead even with the bottom of the crossmember.
 
#14 ·
The paperwork i have says that it was Katech I believe. The guy had said he spent around $40k back in the 80's for everything. It was a supercharged V6 but they never could get it set up right so they took the supercharger off and it was NA. i don't have any pics on me but can get some this week for sure next time I work on it.

Ditto, would love to see what was done to the rear end.

Are you keeping this thing as a street car? Hopefully that low miles body and interior will be preserved, so few left in this condition and milage!
Yes this will be a street car with AC and heat(fingers crossed) and will remain pristine. I searched for a while after selling my Trans Am trying to find the right vehicle to get into that was clean, not chopped up and would make a perfect candidate for this swap.
 
#16 ·
No real update as I have been terribly busy with work since we just ended our fiscal year. Luckily I will not have to travel for the next 4-6 weeks so I will have more time to get this finished.

This weekend I placed orders for the last of almost everything minus transmission items and some miscellaneous. Hopefully everything will come in the end of this week. I am just waiting on the below"

Fuel Setup (Magnafuel 4303, -10 feed/return, sump kit, pre/post filters, regulator, fuel rails, the good stuff)
Turbo drain/feed lines
Precision 66mm Race wastegate
JGS 60mm BOV
eBay interooler 31"x12"x4" (has done 1000hp on other lsx motors)
LS6 intake manifold
3/8" Pushrods
Holley dominator ECU (I received the wiring harnesses and everything just need the actual ECU)

Still trying to figure out wheels. I know the Weld Draglites fit, not a huge fan of the looks. I want to stay at a 15". Possibly looking at something custom made. i sent some emails to a couple vendors, waiting on responses. Rear tire will be a Nitto 555R 275/60R15. if that doesnt work I will step it down to a 50.

Now the transmission I want to run is a 4l80, basically turbo 400 with overdrive. It is super heavy, bulky and I am contemplating not running it. Where the motor sits I will have to BFH mod the tunnel for the droop from the bellhousing to clear the converter. I will be spacing the front end down .5" to 1" this week to see if it will give me the clearance I need, but I am afraid that this will cause the tranny oil pan to hang too low. If this is the case then I will go with a built powerglide and call it a day.

Still looking to be completed in April sometime...
 
#17 ·
So no real update. ECU is still back orderered along with the injectors, both Holley. Have not received my fuel system. The tank has been removed along with all fuel components previously installed. I can say it was a complete bitch to remove those hardlines and pump with the rear end in place. Have ran degrease in the tank to remove all fuel residue for when welding in the sump. I have not done much else with it. Miscellaneous parts have came in. A great deal came up locally on a powerglide that pushed me to get the transmission fitted to see if it would work with out cutting up the floor pan/tranny tunnel. Well in the first pic the center bolt need to come up to the cross line.



Measured and it needs to go up about 5 more inches. I can't really lower my engine mounts any because the oil pan will hit the cross member. I had talked about spacing the front end down about .5", not sure if I will or not. On both sides of the tunnel there are these drop downs that the previous tranny mount was. These will definietely interfer if I don't remove them with this transmission.






Now I want this transmission because it will hold 800 with just a shift kit and a converter plus it has overdrive so that .75 last gear will drop the rpm's down a lot for cruising on the highway. But if it won't fit then I will simply go to a powerglide. Locally one is for sale that has all the bells, whistles plus an awesome converter for about the same price I will be into this stock one with shift kit and converter. The size difference between them are astonishing along with it be less than half the weight of the other. such a tough decision on what to do...

This is the best I could do with size comparison.

 
#19 · (Edited)
My laptop crashed or I would post some more pictures. Ended up going with a glide. Picked it up yesterday and it bolted right up without any modification to the transmission crossmember that was already there. So this makes this ls swap truly bolt in since I have not made a single custom mount, just some clearancing. I tank the gas tank on Friday and to talk to the guy about building the turbo kit. Hopefully will drop that off this next week. Fuel system should have shipped yesterday. Appearetly they shipped red/blue fittings instead of black. My injectors shipped today. I just need to order some wire for extended the fuse block to next to the brake booster and we are good. Here are some teasers.









Last but not least. Top is with the v6 and bottom is v8. Definitely will be going with coilovers but not bad.

 
#20 ·
that intake manifold fits much better than the old one. the word tight is going to be used often in this build thread.
looks good keep it up!
 
#21 ·
Well no update. Been relocating the fuse box in the nook next to the brake booster. I hate electrical a lot so it has been slow. Fuel system is still not here. All i have received is injectors. I dropped the tank of to get sumped yesterday and talked to the guy about building my turbo kit. he is moving shops so it should be dropped off the first week of may.
 
#22 ·
Well picked up the tank from getting sump. I think it looks pretty badass. Fuel system should arrive tomorrow. Hopefully start mounthing the pump and running the lines. I have set the schedule where I dropped the car off next Friday to ge tthe turbo kit built. Not sure on when it will be done but my fab guy just moved in to a much larger shop so he should have more time to work on multiple cars.





 
#24 ·
Slow updates as I went to Vegas for a bit and that taxed, my body, time and pockets. Got the tank and fuel pump mounted. Finally got the last fitting in so will start making fuel lines. I also got everything in the engine bay where I should be able to find spots for the catch can and overflow tank. The battery and tray are mounted in the hatch so hopefully run lines up front as well.







 
#26 ·
Its official, think I am parting it all out...





JK not really. Should measure for the driveshaft within the next couple of weeks. Not even sure if it will get traction and thinking of just building the turbo kit myself out of mild steel and cut back on costs. Don't even want to mention the quote I got for the kit but it was more than I wanted to spend.
 
#29 ·
Been forever since I have done any updates. Well I ended up moving so that has tied me up quite a bit this past month. Currently I am trying to wrap up the battery relocation. I am sure I have said it before but made light progress this week. I got the intercooler mounted as well. Will post some pics of the battery tray and everything. I am looking to purchase a welder and all of the tubing for the turbo kit here within a month or so. I want it built so I can pull everything and paint the engine bay before it gets too cold with the winter. I should have plenty of time with the living in Texas. Now in the process of this I ma trying to get everything "almost" in its final position so I know there won't be any interference of parts when routing the hotside.

My question is does anyone know how the heater works out? I have the two ports off the firewall. One tube goes up to that module, but where does the other tub go? I have an inlet and outlet on my waterpump and want to run the lines.

Thanks
 
#30 ·
On my swap(LS1 water pump), I ran the forward most port on the water pump to the diaphragm on the firewall and the rear outlet to the outlet on the heater core on the firewall. I haven't used the heater yet but that's how the factory set-up is on both the engine side and the body side in their respective chassis.

Hope that helps.
 
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