Hey guys, first post here. Had my '97 LS400 for about 5 years now. Absolutely love everything about this car. Been lurking these forums for years.

So let's cut straight to the point. I will be building a drag car. First I wanted to do a C5, but that's too common. Then a diesel swapped Foxbody, too much fab work. Then I looked in my driveway and got an idea. LQ9 powered nitrous breathing LS400.

Here's the gameplan: Pick up an LS400 with a good frame and suspension. Sell the motor, tranny, ECU, wiring harness, everything I won't need anymore. Drop in a stock LQ9 (frequently sold in my area with ECU and harness for cheap). Why an LQ9? Powerful motor, holds nitrous well, and only 70lbs more than a 1UZ so no suspension or frame reinforcements are immediately necessary. For the drivetrain, I'm planning on sticking with the Toyota family and using a MK4 Supra auto tranny, driveshaft, diff, and rear axles. The idea is to build a completely stock looking run-of-the-mill LS400 that packs a serious punch. I apologize to the Lexus purists, because this is going to be a down and dirty, nasty, no-frills build.

I understand there's going to be an extensive amount of work required to make this a reality, but that doesn't scare me to any degree. It's all just nuts and bolts. I'm curious, though, if anyone notices any glaring issues with my plan or if anyone has a better suggestion for the drivetrain.

Thank you all, and glad to be here.

 

this sounds fun! all i say is find some LS that already has a ruined engine so you're not hacking up a perfectly running good condition example that's getting harder to come by, but definitely keep the progress posted.

 

Ideally I'd like to grab one with a decently strong motor so I can recoup some money by selling it. I do plan on updates. I've seen the LS1 swapped LS400 and got just as disappointed as everyone else when it just kind of disappeared. I'd really like to see what the LS400 platform is capable of, and I'm sure quite a few other people are curious as well.

 

Your main problem is you will never find an LS with a good frame. Why? because they were never built with a frame, they are all unibody type cars. If I was going to do that sort of thing I wouldn't want anything less than an LSX for nitrous or anyother power adder. And if its going to make any good times you will need to loose some of that close to 4000 lbs of plush. You will likely have to gut the interior, get rid of the floor, inner fenders and build a frame and roll cage, other wise its just a high powered taxi cab that every car at the strip will beat. You know there is some double wall construction for deadening sound, and other non weight saving features on these cars. Weight removal is very important in drag racing. Everything about the LS is not for drag racing.

 

of course you can do as you like but 1UZ's really aren't worth very much. i see many for sale at only like $1000 and sometimes even less, so it's not like you're gonna make THAT much from selling it.

 

I am aware the LS is a bad platform for a drag car, but that's why I want to use it. Nobody will expect it. I'm not trying to break records and destroy everyone at the strip quite yet. Just get the framework for what could end up a serious fast, unique machine. I am familiar with gutting and reinforcement, I'm on an endurance race team and we've gave a couple cars the weight reduction special. This is not my main concern yet, a reliable and relatively quick street/strip car is. It will be interesting to see how far I'm going to have to go to lighten this monster up, though.

As far as selling the 1UZ, there's quite a few 240 guys who want em for drift cars out where I live. I figure I can get some decent cash. Plus decent LS400s out here are incredibly cheap.

 

I think its a good idea, if done correctly you will have something special. It would be nice to see one at the drags and keep the image alive.
And its better than one of them getting smashed at Pick N Pull.

 

there are a couple truck based LS swapped LS' already present. Feel free to ignore the nit-pickers and the haters, there were over 500,000 LS400s made, do whatever you want with yours.

I would avoid keeping the toyota transmission, it won't run properly with the GM ecu (if at all) and won't hold the same power as a run of the mill 40-60LE or similar in order to keep the ECU happy and get rid of all the crap you'll have to deal with getting the GM motor connected to the A340 series trans.

Conversion driveshaft will let you keep the rest of the rear end factory. Gearing will need to be determined upon your trans choice (gearing) and tire size (if you intend to run taller slicks, for example.)

If this is your first drag car or performance build I highly suggest you reconsider doing a more well-supported chassis to learn your way around before trying to one-off a car that hasn't been set up many times for the 1/4 or 1/8mi track.