Ok so this may be jumping the gun a little for a build thread, but I wantd to share what I picked up today. I'm starting my swap and my plan is to have it finished around the holidays (I hope).

Today I picked up two KA transmissions, a driveshaft, and a clutch pedal setup. I currently have my SC that I am parting out and I'll be taking the hand brake and cables out of it. My goal is to do as much as possible and keep the car drivable until I am ready to pull the trans out. I want to have the clutch pedal and hand brake in the car and ready to go before I drop that big automatic paper weight out.

I saw on the SC forum a guy used the nissan driveshaft also, so I grabbed it from craigslist along with everything else. Everything I picked up is from a S13 240sx. I do understand that I might not be able to use the nissan drive shaft for the LS, but I grabbed it just incase I could make an adapter like on the SC. I'm pretty sure the LS is longer though. If money allows, I will most likely have a one peice shaft made.

I got one trans without the speed sensor for $75. Then found the other guy that had a parts car. I went this morning and pulled the clutch pedal and master and the driveshaft. I asked the guy if he had the transmission out of the car because I needed a speed sensor. He said he still had it, and I made a deal with him for $60 for everything!

So far I'm only up to $135, and I now have to save up for the big expenses. I know this is a long shot, but I want to keep the entire swap cost as close to $1k as possible to show people that this swap can be done on a smaller budget.

The trans adapter plate is $300, and the flywheel/clutch are about $400, then add in the pilot bearing adapter and the modified throwout bearing. Parts wise I should come out right under $1k. Then most likely I will have to have a drivshaft made, so we will see how it turns out in the end as far as cost.

Oh, and I'll be using the collins adapter.

Here's a pic of what I got so far. Hopefully I'll start this week in getting the ABS out of the car and have the clutch pedal mounted.

 

you're also forgetting that you will probably need to modify the linkage so it comes out in the right place in the tunnel.

 

Color me subscribed! (Well, not really, but I'll definitely keep an eye on this one.)

 

Thanks PD, but I didnt forget. I'll cover everything as I go along.

As of right now the only thing that I am not 100% sure about is what to do with the ABS stuff. I'll have to go back and re-read some stuff on that.

 

Interesting....



Sub'd

 

ABS shouldn't be an issue, it doesn't interface with the drivetrain.

I meant in the cost breakdown, you didn't mention possible cost of extending the linkage.

 

I'm going to do something just like nismo4life did on his swap. I'm basicly coping his setup for the most part. I wont be drifting my car any time soon so I'm not going to put in the hydro brake but everything else will be pretty close to his. Most of the fab stuff I can do myself so I'll save on some cost. I'll be doing everything but the driveshaft.

 

ahh, got it.

 

I have to finish pulling the motor out of my SC before I start on the LS. I'm going to use this motor for a future turbo build. Hopefully I'll have this out in the next day or so, and then I'll get the LS in the garage.

 

Ok so I got the motor out of the SC. Now I just need to pull the e-brake and cables out of it, and I'm done with that car. Getting the hand brake in the LS and working will be the first step for my swap.

Also I noticed that the front portion of the KA driveshaft is a very simliar design to the front portion of the lexus. I'm wondering if I might be able to have some sort of adapter made just like the factory rubber disk but out of aluminum. If it's possible I could use the factory lexus driveshaft with the KA yoke. I wont be able to tell though until the transmission is in. Now that I think about it, the manaul trans is longer than the auto. So maybe just a custom front shaft will do? ...... we will see soon enough.

 

it's not the cost of the swap that concerns me, it's the way the parts are mated to the car, block, mounts, etc. good job on taking this on! i suppose the more folks that do this, the more knowledge is gained, and the cheaper the build can become!

 

That's the way I see it too.

I want a manual LS so bad. I love everything about these cars and its a shame the at the minimum the v8 coupes did not have an option for a 5 speed. If they did, it would have made the LS 5spd swaps a lot easier. I would think that for most people that have an older LS, we are not loaded with funds to throw at a project like this. So the KA transmission is a very good choice as far as cost goes.

My plan is to ride out with the KA trans for awhile and then do the single turbo setup. Then upgrade the trans to the 350z 6spd.

 

Update :

I got some work done on the car this morning before work. Did I mention this was going to be a slow build. I work full time and have a little 19month old girl that takes most of my time I start school in Jan, so I'm hoping to have the car driving as a manual by then at the latest.

Ok, so today I pulled the foot E-brake out along with the cable. Now I'm going to use the cable from the LS and modify it for the hand brake from the SC. Then once that's done, I'll mount it in the car. That's it for now and here's a couple pictures of the car. Hopefully if I have time tonight at work I'll modify the cable so I can install the e-brake tomorrow and be done with that portion of it.

 

I got the hand brake in today and its almost done. I had to make some spacers to space it out away from the tunnel a little bit so it clears the side of the console. I just have to finish welding it up in the morning. I'll take a few more pictures in the morning of the spacers and how the cable is attached. Here's how the hand brake sits in the car though.

 

looks great but if my memory serves me correct, spacing out the handbrake to clear the console now adds the problem of it hitting the stock seats. bucket seat time!