De Jeeper

Im sure it will take some digging and figuring out. Im not worried about the ac. I think the only thing u have to tie in is the wire to kick on the fans and the ls computer can do that. The rest of it doesnt use the porsche pcm, from what i have read. Guages will be a little challenging. I have piggybacked jeep ecu's with products from Dakota Digital. Im sure if i leave the porche ecu in the car and feed it the correct signal from the ls motor then the factory guages will work. The mk1 dash is easier to work with.

pdxmotorhead

On the topic of the emissions... In my state (OR) they finally did it,, drew a line..
1996 (OBD1 and newer) the engine must be the same year or newer and be an
engine that came in the chassis from the same manufacturer.

So you could bump v6 to v8 but it would have to be same builder.

Oh and more fun,, they don't accept out of state referee/waiver etc when licensing here..

Thank goodness my jeep is a obd1 1994,, its gonna like the 5.3....

kondata17

Their "kit" is nothing more than 3rd party parts that they assembled and labeled as their own. Kennedy Engineering makes their adapter plate which is the bulk of the swap. They do make their own engine plate, which works, but is designed poorly (in my opinion). Even the bolts they send to secure the engine plate are cheap and rust within 2 months. They recommend the use of a electric water pump which is barely adequate for a low horsepower street application, not at all adequate for anything else. The water port adapter they sell is bulky, ugly and feels like an afterthought. Their intake elbow is restrictive and hideous. They provide little to no instruction on their own products. When I called to chat with them about accessories, they were clueless (which really struck me as odd). Specifically, I called to ask if I can use corvette accessories (they are the closest spaced accessories from the engine block). The response I got was "absolutely" -which wasn't even remotely true. Their power steering "kit" is just a re-purposed prius unit with a custom bracket (pretty but super expensive and unnecessary). They dont even send you the lines without you sending yours to them first, and its 1300 (which is insane, you can get an MR2 pump and custom lines for under $400). no wiring harness, no coolant line adapters, no gauge integration...just basic hardware to get you stared. All this for a cool 4K+$$

All this aside, I've seen more than a handful Renegade built cars that people bought for 30K plus only to realize they purchased a rolling project. From wiring issues, to cooling issues all the way to mechanical nightmares. Again, nothing about this swap is rocket science (regardless of which direction you go), which is why I found their lack of understanding simple things all the more confusing. My recommendation for anyone looking to do the swap, bypass Renegade all together and purchase the items you need directly from the people that make them. Save yourself money and frustration.

I'll leave it with a final note: When I asked renegade about accessories and was told corvette would work, I was then offered these accessories for $1300 which they claimed were at cost. A quick trip to Rock Auto quickly showed these same accessories at about $450 (crank pulley, alternator and water pump). Due to the design of their engine mount (which pushes everything out preventing the use of closely spaced corvette accessories), non of these would work. You would think that a shop that specializes in these engine swaps would know what parts work with their own kit.

dak911

You would think that the STATE, would have more important decisions to make laws about than a few hundred (?) engine swaps...what a waste of time and money...

De Jeeper

Luckily delawarenis pretty good about motor swaps. As long as it passes all the emisions standards for the year of the car and original motor u r good. Basically u can put an old motor in a new car if its clean. U dont even need the engin computer vin to match the car.

Coopduc

I think this is the problem where I live in NC...I don’t know any way around it, but will double check if it is really an issue.

De Jeeper

It is an issue in nc. I have a good friend with an ls-1 in a miata. There r guys that will burn your vin into the ecm when they do a tune as a work around. Some inspection guys still have a problem with that so this last time he just went to a non emissions county and got it inspected.

pdxmotorhead

Yes you would.. I do to.. idiots..

Rdrcr

That's good to know.
Having an OEM appearance and function is something important to me.

Regarding the A/C controls...that's reassuring.

Mike

Rdrcr

That's disappointing and a bit surprising for OR.

A good friend of mine has a 1995 Mazda RX7 with an LS3 swap and it is legal in CA and fully CARB certified. He used a LS3 E-rod for his build.

Mike

TechSavvySam

Personally, I not surprised about much of anything I hear coming out of Oregon these days...

gtxracer

Also another LS 996 swap going on here. I have the 996, which is a 1999 model year and a Tiptronic. I sourced a '99 G96 with limited slip to swap in at the same time and bought all the factory components to swap to a manual. I'll run a custom line instead of using the P car hydraulic lines ($$$ and require removing entire interior). I bought my adapter from Eric at A&E Machining (http://www.kitcarchassis.com/) and includes a starter and SPEC clutch (stage 2) for around the same at Stuttgart Muscle. I had already placed my order with Eric, who is extremely nice and knowledgeable, before finding Stuttgart Muscle. I'd likely order it all from SM but no regrets so far besides a longer than usual lead time from Eric. Again, nice guy and typical got back to me same day if he didn't pickup. I called Renegade and their tech department wasn't there and the sales guy couldn't answer any questions pertaining to the swap, accessories, or if using a Tiptronic was advised (it's not).

I ended up buying a disassembled LS1 for a great price so I have built that up with a Tick Performance SNS cam, 243 heads, 92mm FAST intake, 92mm DBC TB, and some other odds and ends. I'm using the Holley Terminator X kit with LS3 injectors to get it going. Should be a great little combo, hopefully the cam isn't too much. I have just about everything I need to start, just need to finish my LS swapped Wrangler first which has been a never ending project. I might post a build thread here once I've started though.

pdxmotorhead

Its the California influence, the wall needed to be between OR and Cali.

De Jeeper

I was gonna link your build thread on Pirate but i was lazy. Welcome to Rennlist. U seem to have a good handle on the performance ls stuff, i may bounce some stuff off u when i start building mine.

gtxracer

HAHA! No worries, there isn’t much in that build thread anyway. Mostly talking exhaust which I’ll do in the thread here or LS1tech. 180 degree headers aren’t that bad to make with a good plan and we have CNC mandrel benders now. Hoping to have each piece CNC bent to my specs and I just weld it up. Should sound pretty good and I’ll be using some smaller mufflers to get the sound I want.

Feel free to hit me up with any LS questions! I have gained some knowledge but am no expert. It’s just me and my buddies building budget power plants. Hoping my little warmed up 5.3 in the Jeep makes 400 at the crank and this 5.7 LS1 will be 500 peak.