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Yet another LS Swap


Menesing Drifter
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Hey everyone, I'm Brandon! My bad in advance if I write a novel here, I tend to get carried away when it comes to cars and going fast. Anyway I've been cruising the forums here for a few months now trying to gather as much information as I could before I finally pulled the plug on my dream project. Ever since I was in high school I have wanted to own a Starion. I seriously think it is one of the best looking cars made to this day and I longed to own one but I was enveloped in my past addiction.... Mustangs! I had an S197 for years and made it into a beast of a car. I showed it, I raced it, had it in SEMA a couple times, and even drifted it. Drifting is kinda my current obsession (hence the name) I was doing it for fun for a few years before I moved away to attend college. So now I've had to step back and focus on school, of course with the occasional messing around in the rain and track days. I do plan to get back into in hopes of competing in Formula Drift one day. With these current goals of mine I new my current car had reached its potential as a drift car and I could simply not afford to run it. So to everyone's surprise I sold the car I once said I was gonna past on to my kids one day and decided what I was gonna do. I was ready to finally get serious and buy a starion but there was a problem, I have been driving American V8 cars all my life and couldn't see myself driving a 4-banger. I loved the look of the body so much but just wanted to put a gnarly motor in it. After talking with many people (mostly Convette) and looking over build forums I was confident in my goals and well, I bought a SUPER CLEAN 1988 Starion in Oklahoma for a steal (I live in Texas when i bought the car ). Then shortly after I bought the drivetrain out of a F-body Camaro in the hopes of building the ultimate drift sleeper keeping my focus on drivetrain and chassis, while ignoring the outside for now. For now this is gunna be my daily driver and also take it to local open drift days but over time I plan to really build this thing using John's (convette) car as an inspiration. Right now the surgery is underway. The new motor is currently put in along with a whole new floor, role cage, custom tunnel, and many many other things. I'm super excited about this whole project and also hope to take advantage of all y'alls advice and knowledge as I am truly a newb to this car and the LS platform. I also really wanna thank John (Convette) for all his help so far as I've probably been texting him more then a stalker ex girlfriend. So this is my build thread. This project was suppose to take 10 weeks but like anything custom that didn't happen. Its coming up on about 8 months now but its about a month away from being done so I've been racking up the pictures waiting to put a thread together. The car is currently in Texas while Im living in florida but I am moving back California where the car will live and be driven daily. This is what I got

 

 

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1128_zpsd38e0b14.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1131_zps88ebd931.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1150_zpsf563fbe3.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1157_zps90b4af79.jpg

Edited by Menesing Drifter
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First thing was to place the motor in the car to mock it up. I wanted to try and not cut into the fire wall as regulation for most drift competitions states there can be no modification to the firewall.

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1465_zpso1nnvixm.jpg

 

This obviously wasn't going to work... So we went ahead and cut the firewall

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1802_zps7yfc8ldg.jpg

 

This gave us plenty more room to be able to work on the engine down the road and have space for a big radiator.

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1801_zpscx8jsa9n.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1800_zpsvvqxqvwv.jpg

 

Motor mounts were next

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1799_zpsokuqhhx4.jpg

 

It was decided to mount it to the A support so the motor can just be dropped and easy to work on as I plan to build the motor down the line. Its basically stock right now besides a few bolt ons.

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1899_zpsokekwnwk.jpg

 

I was lucky that this was the only rust that had to be fixed

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1992_zps90avb4zp.jpg

 

Then one day I came into the shop to find that the whole floor was missing.

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_2033_zpshjd2tezc.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_2034_zpsogl4kqub.jpg

 

I was not very happy. This build was already 5 months behind schedule at this point so the fact that this was done without me knowing kinda pissed me off. I was assured that it was for the better though. This would allow for more ground clearance and would integrate with the role cage and tunnel much better.

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_2040_zpsxcyzl1gd.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_0613_zpsiuccbvwy.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_2043_zpsy2jza622.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_0629_zpsyzaynk8b.jpg

 

I was excited to see some seats in the car, starts looking like progress.

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_0611_zpshfvchztt.jpg

 

Engine is sitting pretty too

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_1900_zpsh9sewcvc.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_0627_zpsqepnhlxs.jpg

 

Just last week I got this picture, it is finally sitting on the ground for the first time in months.

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_0657_zpsk0wfdpwf.jpg

 

Interior is finally coming along too

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_0668_zpshdbmkiss.jpg

 

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/carsmart28/IMG_0667_zpstuyoqtwa.png

 

Thats all i got for now, I will keep this up to date as much as possible.

Edited by Menesing Drifter
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when u gonna stop by Temecula ..........ha haaaa......are .u jn texas or florida....??great to see your progress.............

 

I wish I could afford to go this fast. I'm putting people to sleep with my build. HAHAHA Awesome build!!!

 

 

Im in florida now but will be back in california this summer. I actually got family in Temecula so I'm gunna try to head out there sometime soon.

 

This has not been fast in any way, going on 10 months now haha

Edited by Menesing Drifter
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Awesome work on that floor frame and interior, that looks good. LS can fit in without touching the firewall but it's all good, hopefully nothing comes of that rules wise. LS motors also seem to be pretty easy to keep cool, a huge radiator isn't needed if you could use the space for something else. Just my opinion Edited by LSQuest88
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  • 2 weeks later...
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What are u going to do now that you cutted the firewall with the new drift regs?

Is cutting the whole trans tunnel and floor allowed?

You machinist is doing one hell of a job,i really admire all the fab work done to your car

Its going to be a great street-track car but i don't know if they'll allow you to run with the bigger classes

Either way,keep up the inspirational work

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What are u going to do now that you cutted the firewall with the new drift regs?

Is cutting the whole trans tunnel and floor allowed?

You machinist is doing one hell of a job,i really admire all the fab work done to your car

Its going to be a great street-track car but i don't know if they'll allow you to run with the bigger classes

Either way,keep up the inspirational work

 

 

I'm gunna enjoy it and drive the balls off of it! Haha

As far as the rules go I'll deal with it when it matters to me. I'm in no way ready to be competitive in the world of drifting so I'll drive it to small events where competition rules don't apply. Erik Lister, the owner and lead fab at the shop that is doing this is a true craftsman. What ever the rules are for where ever I go and participate I'll make it work and have a blast doing it

Edited by Menesing Drifter
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what are mufflers? lol Hey man, not sure if you have a driveshaft yet, but I have one that should work with your setup. you will need to have an adapter made so it bolts up to our rearend, but let me know if your interested.
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