PJMjunior

Are you going to sell the M96? If so, what do you want for it? I'm not necessarily in need of one but it would be interesting to take one apart.

De Jeeper

Check out this guys headers for sandrails for some ideas. he has a bunch of ls pics.

https://www.facebook.com/hotheadheaders/

gtxracer

AC will be the OEM GM Camaro pump unless I need more room. I have one in the garage, just need to bolt it on and start mock up. Sanden makes a mini AC compressor if I need smaller.

The steering isn't terrible without the pump. Most people run a Toyota MR2 pump or some go with a GT3 pump. I am not sure which route I'll go but both are electric and I will likely take that route if I do decide to use power.

Thank you! Small web-world I plan to not build anything else after this 996 for a while, I need a break.

Yes, I have the M96, Tiptronic transaxle, and exhaust for sale. I have a local 996 owner interested in the M96 that should be picking it up this weekend. If he doesn't end up taking it, I'll send you a message. Hopefully his wife is okay with the purchase, that was the last piece of the puzzle.

gtxracer

He does nice work! Thanks for the reference, I may need his help. I haven't decided if I'll fabricate the headers myself or not. I am definitely leaning towards having the tubing CNC bent.

SoundnSpeed

Puzzle complete gtx, I'll see you Saturday!

gtxracer

Sounds good! I still need to disassemble from the transaxle and exhaust tomorrow morning.

shft22

Question, do you have any insight on how the car balance will be affected after the swap. You mention on an earlier post about tracking the car after done, I’m just wondering how the car will handle with the engine weight further back.

gtxracer

I haven’t run an analysis of the two different setups. Ideally I’d like to compare the center of gravity of each engine but the flat six versus vee eight operation seems like a very cool comparison. From what others have said, they can’t feel the difference.

As far as length is concerned, I don’t consider it to be as big of a factor as height. The M96 is about 14” from bottom of pan to the intake mounting plane. The LS1 is also about 14” from oil pan mounting plane to intake mounting plane but the heads extend slightly above the intake plane and the oil pan is below the mounting plane for itself. This is where the mounting height and oil pan clearance really play a large role. Either way, the LS1s center of gravity will be higher than the M96. I’d guess it’s about 2” higher looking at the two designs.

The difference comes in weight. The LS1 is supposedly 100 pounds lighter but that’s also dependent on engine setup and exhaust design. The factory 996 exhaust is not lightweight but also not extremely heavy. I straddled the entire exhaust in a front squat position, I’d say it weighs about 100lbs. I also picked up the M96 on one side, so it’s not THAT heavy. Having said that, the LS stuff seems a bit lighter which will bring it a little closer to the same overall center of gravity, in my opinion.

This topic has gotten a lot attention in other posts and some purists, bless their hearts, want to claim the M96 is lighter and has a significantly lower center of gravity. This is without any facts or analysis, 100% hubris driven. I’m not interested in that and I don’t care either way. I just know any difference in center of gravity and mounting length is negligible to me and most others in the interest of cost to fun factor. Having said that, I didn’t weigh the car or M96 prior to starting the swap because I am more interested in enjoying the car with its new American heart.

gtxracer

Here’s the thread where the hubris misleads the poster away from the truth...ironic the user name for the purist. I get that people love their cars and some love the M96, but that should never cloud the truth.

https://www.renntech.org/topic/51222...-ls-swap-talk/

Also, mounting the accessories on the LS at the same level of the oil pan would help quite a bit. If I use a low profile dry sump pan, I can possibly get the center of gravity much closer to the M96...

Nein_11

Curious to see how you plan on doing your gauges. Doing a similar swap myself and looking at all options from stock to full digital display.

gtxracer

Do you have a build here? Always fun to check out other swaps.

I’m planning to reuse the factory gauges. I have no interest in replacing them. I want it to look as factory as possible. I pulled the original M96 sensors off the engine prior to selling it for oil temperature/level, oil pressure, and coolant temp.

shft22

I am of the opinion that we should do with our car what we want, i am not a purist at all.
Reason for my handling question is because I do track my 996, and it handles very nicely. I am playing with the idea of buying a roller and do what you are doing and have it as a dedicated track car, but I am concern on how moving the car’s center of gravity further back will affect the handling.
The LS may be lighter but by been longer it places it’s weight further back than the m96, I’m just wondering what this will do to the car. Wonder if putting a few bags of sand in the front will bring the balance back.

ttt123

I purchased my adaptor kit (3 kits to count now) from Eric.. he does top notch work. I'm in the process of doing my swap as well but not the ls platform I went even more sinful then you and doing an odd ball engine(build is on here)

love how your really thinking out the exhaust. I just finished making my headers(super shorties) and now onto the X-pipe and routing. I went with dynomax bullets after watching to many videos and reading to much from the Ferrari forum. you might want to check out Scienceofsound mufflers as well. They are pricy but seem to have some unique designs. For me I think the dynomax will get me there. Cant wait to hear what sound you develop.

I am planning on swapping out my dash and will be redoing all my gauges. I will be using Glowshift gauges. I love the look and I can get them to match my sexy green paint job lol. Just an FYI incase you haven't found the ones you want yet.

gtxracer

I can see how my response looked aimed at you but I was not at all! Sorry about that, I didn't meant to imply anything negative towards you.

The center of gravity is different for the LS1 compared to the M96 for sure but there are advantages to both. The M96 is wider, meaning more weight outside the roll axis of the car creating a longer lever arm when cornering and maneuvering. When I used to setup RC cars, I'd completely strip down the car and sometimes make a completely custom chassis layout. I'd drill new holes for the mounting locations of all the components and move them towards the center-line of the chassis. This increased the handling characteristics dramatically. I also would split up the weight as evenly as possible from side to side and front to back. After doing this a few times I was able to achieve a better balance and handling than even brand new cars with my 2-3 year old car.

The M96 has a lower center of gravity but the weight is more towards the outside of that center when looking at the engine from the side. Even with the LS being slightly longer, the argument can still be made that the LS1 can be equal in performance as far as placement and weight bias. Having the weight closer to center-line is a large advantage but I feel the slightly longer LS1 assembly plus the slightly higher mounting height of the center of gravity defeat any advantage. I think this is why I haven't heard of a difference felt by others that have LS swapped their P car. It's a very different design but I think people assume too many things are advantages about the flat six design and aren't really accounting for all the factors. Just my two cents.

I've actually read your build and have been following along! I will definitely be looking at the Scienceofsound mufflers and probably asking you more questions. I like how the Ferrari engines sound, they seem to know how to put the magic in the air. If you have any interesting threads you've read that would help, please share! Dynomax has been great in the offroad world so I don't think you'll have any issues there.

I will keep Glowshift in mind. I actually like the way the car looks and feels at the moment but that could change! I'm planning to use Holley EFI dash for my Jeep after this is over so I can appreciate the digital gauges and customized layout. It might help to be able to see more sensors and keep an eye on things.

ttt123

I have read sooo much over the last few months on exhaust systems and sorry but I have not saved any of it other then MY INTRERPRETATION in my head. I say that in caps cuz everybody.. and there mom has an opinion on this lol for me the take away was smallest diameter mufflers and a must have X pipe to the shortest exhaust you can muster. But and this is a big one, my motor fires differently then an ls1. I think you on the right track doing the 180 degree headers. there is some sick ls1 sounds on youtube. check out that 8-1 exhaust video on my thread or on youtube.. that made me teary eyed lol

Sorry I thought I read something about the swapping out gauges in your thread.. I'm a thread skimmer lol