6.0 LQ4 Swap Starting Point?

[NC_John]

I finally found and bought what I felt was a suitable swap candidate- a SC area 04 LQ4 (doesn't have all the corrosion of the northern stuff I was finding).

Now I have to start engineering the swap and collect the needed parts. The wide array of parts available sure starts a landslide of questions about their compatibility when you mix and match stuff.

I'm going to mate the engine to my T-56 and I think this is where I can start.

With all the different engine swap mounts available is there one available that will park the back of the new LS at the same spot where the Gen I is sitting? At least that way I won't have to move the transmission from its mounting point and get the driveshaft shortened (or lengthened) again.

I currently have the CPP tubular mounts on my Gen I. Would the dirty dingo adjustable sliders be the way to go? And then would the Doug Thorley headers fit?

Thanks for any help. I don't want to start buying and rebuying parts to make is work. This is going to be expensive enough already......

[NC_John]

No one has any idea which motor mounts will park the back of LS in the same place as the back of the Gen I?

[fast&low]

CPP (Classic Performance)New design sheetmetal mounts.
Just move them 1 hole back & drill the holes needed to bolt down on crossmember.
I also highly recommend the Dirty Dingo slider plates.

[NC_John]

I'll have to see what the difference is between the sheet metal mounts and the tubular ones I have now. My t-56 is a really tight fit and will not be easy to move one way or the other if the engine is positioned in a different spot.

Thanks for the reply.

[fast&low]

Yeah I couldn't tell you the difference the only thing I know it's there new design? What I did was research-research-research for a little more than a year & at the end I just learned from other people's mistakes & ended up copying someone's recipe (parts list) & it worked like a charm
I would say do a search on here for someone that already installed the same trans with there LS swap.
I started with a 69 C10 with a 327/700r4 & finished with an LQ9 Vortec MAX /4L65e using the same driveshaft & the same length.
CPP sheetmetal stands
Dirty Dingo slider plates
2010 CAMARO exhaust manifold because I didn't want to cut my frame & deal with the heat you get out of headers.
I gave up a long time ago trying to upload pictures on here but if you have Instagram you can follow me at (olds69cutlass) & see for yourself what my motor looks like it was put there by the factory the positioning is perfect.
Miguel

[Clyde65]

I used the ECE tubular mounts and trimmed the top flange of the frame about 3/4". It is in the rear most hole and bolts to the crossmember.

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

I used the ECE tubular mounts and trimmed the top flange of the frame about 3/4". It is in the rear most hole and bolts to the crossmember.

Thanks......

[69gmcc10]

you have several options, bu my favorite is dirty dingo. They have the DD mounts with multiple bolt holes locations to put the engine right where you want and use the original perches for about $60, exhaust options might be limited. Or you can go to 73 and later perches and get the dirty dingo mounts for that vintage and have infinite adjustability for and aft with more room around the headers for a more header options for about $105.

there are other good options that can meet your needs, but those are my recommendations.

cant help ya on the cpp stands

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

you have several options, bu my favorite is dirty dingo. They have the DD mounts with multiple bolt holes locations to put the engine right where you want and use the original perches for about $60, exhaust options might be limited. Or you can go to 73 and later perches and get the dirty dingo mounts for that vintage and have infinite adjustability for and aft with more room around the headers for a more header options for about $105.

there are other good options that can meet your needs, but those are my recommendations.

cant help ya on the cpp stands

The 73 and later perches work on the 67-72? I've not heard about that yet. Which perches specifically are preferred? I can sell the CPP's I have now so switching them for something that will work better is not a big deal.

My exhaust choice for now is the Doug Thorley long tubes. Looks like the Holley LS swap pan will be the winner down below.

Thnaks

[fast&low]

Originally Posted by NC_John

The 73 and later perches work on the 67-72? I've not heard about that yet. Which perches specifically are preferred? I can sell the CPP's I have now so switching them for something that will work better is not a big deal.

My exhaust choice for now is the Doug Thorley long tubes. Looks like the Holley LS swap pan will be the winner down below.

Thnaks

The Holly is a good pan but pricey & you have to purchase the LS3 dipstick because it will be on drivers side.
You can purchase the GM muscle car oil pan for half the price & it comes with everything needed. Just FYI

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by fast&low

The Holly is a good pan but pricey & you have to purchase the LS3 dipstick because it will be on drivers side.
You can purchase the GM muscle car oil pan for half the price & it comes with everything needed. Just FYI

With my front end drop I don't think any of the gm pans will work (I don't want to be scared of bumps). I checked out the pan comparison on dirty dingo and the Holley, though spendy, offers the most clearance. Believe me, i'd prefer GM parts because I can get them at dealer cost but I might be stuck with this one.

[fast&low]

Ok but if you decide to use the Dirty Dingo slider plates remember it will lift your motor up some.
I used DD sliders along with CPP sheetmetal stands & my pan is almost flush with crossmember maybe 1/4 inch lower or less if any but I can easily stick my hand & wrist between pan & crossmember.
And my truck has a 4.5/7 static drop with no problems in 2 years.
But yeah if it makes you feel safer go with the Holley pan 👍

[72MARIO]

If you use the dirty dingo sliders the gm hot rod pan should have the pan flush with the crossmember.

I used the ctsv oil pan in my 1968 suburban and its at least 1 1/4" above the crossmember. I have all the part numbers listed in my build thread.

[fast&low]

I'm pretty sure mine is flush

[69gmcc10]

Originally Posted by NC_John

With my front end drop I don't think any of the gm pans will work (I don't want to be scared of bumps). I checked out the pan comparison on dirty dingo and the Holley, though spendy, offers the most clearance. Believe me, i'd prefer GM parts because I can get them at dealer cost but I might be stuck with this one.

CTSV pan is the way to go!!!

Originally Posted by fast&low

Ok but if you decide to use the Dirty Dingo slider plates remember it will lift your motor up some.
I used DD sliders along with CPP sheetmetal stands & my pan is almost flush with crossmember maybe 1/4 inch lower or less if any but I can easily stick my hand & wrist between pan & crossmember.
And my truck has a 4.5/7 static drop with no problems in 2 years.
But yeah if it makes you feel safer go with the Holley pan 👍

I in my 69 GMC I am running 73 and later engine stands and dirty dingo mounts and the pan just hangs below the crossmember as well.

Originally Posted by 72MARIO

If you use the dirty dingo sliders the gm hot rod pan should have the pan flush with the crossmember.

I used the ctsv oil pan in my 1968 suburban and its at least 1 1/4" above the crossmember. I have all the part numbers listed in my build thread.

again CTSV pan is the way to go, it is cheaper than any other option and gives the most clearance of any pan.

[69gmcc10]

Originally Posted by NC_John

The 73 and later perches work on the 67-72? I've not heard about that yet. Which perches specifically are preferred? I can sell the CPP's I have now so switching them for something that will work better is not a big deal.

My exhaust choice for now is the Doug Thorley long tubes. Looks like the Holley LS swap pan will be the winner down below.

Thnaks

This is the write-up about it I did on my build thread.

"In order to strengthen the chassis a little (slight), have an engine mount that is "captured" even if it fails, and most importantly free up space for exhaust manifolds/headers, I went the rout of installing 73-87 engine mounts. Rumor has it that if you stick your tongue out and bight it just enough that 3 of the holes will line up In order for the mounts to fit/work, but to be honest the crossmember and frame rail need to have some holes added to them to have them fit as designed. The 67-72 engine mount holes are very close to working and if you use the 3 existing holes methods the mount doesn't lay flat on the crossmsmber, has a very small bind on it, and does not allow for any adjustability of the mount itself.

Existing holes on the top of the frame rail will allow you to bolt it up, but when you do the oblong holes on the mounts are fixed to the frame at the inner most points and the mounts cannot move fore or aft. When looking at the mount you notice that 3 holes are oblong, both uppers and the lower forward, and the lower rear is just a round hole. When you take the bolts off and set the mount in place it is clear to see that 2 holes line up perfect, the front upper (circled green in the pic) and lower rear (blue), the lowers round hole is complimented for adjustability with an oblong hole in the crossmember. This adjustability allows the mount to move forwards or backwards. Bolting up theses 2 holes, forward upper and rear lower, and sliding the mounts as far back as possible will give you a natural template to where the upper rear and lower front holes need to be drilled in the frame and crossmember (red circles). Making sure to be in the center of the top of the frame rail, mark the upper rear mounting point in the forward location of the oblong hole and do the same for the lower crossmember mount hole. Doing this will give all 4 holes the freedom to adjust the mount forward and backwards if needed and if so desired, get that engine as far back as possible using stock equipment.

In this pic you can clearly see where I located the drilled hole in relation to the mount's oblong hole on the lower crossmember when the mount is moved rearward as far as possible."

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

CTSV pan is the way to go!!!



I in my 69 GMC I am running 73 and later engine stands and dirty dingo mounts and the pan just hangs below the crossmember as well.


again CTSV pan is the way to go, it is cheaper than any other option and gives the most clearance of any pan.

Copy that then. There is enough of a consensus that I will get the Cadillac pan.

Thanks fellas.

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

This is the write-up about it I did on my build thread.

"In order to strengthen the chassis a little (slight), have an engine mount that is "captured" even if it fails, and most importantly free up space for exhaust manifolds/headers, I went the rout of installing 73-87 engine mounts. Rumor has it that if you stick your tongue out and bight it just enough that 3 of the holes will line up In order for the mounts to fit/work, but to be honest the crossmember and frame rail need to have some holes added to them to have them fit as designed. The 67-72 engine mount holes are very close to working and if you use the 3 existing holes methods the mount doesn't lay flat on the crossmsmber, has a very small bind on it, and does not allow for any adjustability of the mount

........

In this pic you can clearly see where I located the drilled hole in relation to the mount's oblong hole on the lower crossmember when the mount is moved rearward as far as possible."

Have you got a good source for those newer mounts? Any of the usual truck parts vendors?

Will they mount the engine higher than the original position of the small block? I do not have a lot of room to spare with my tremec. I won't even be able to remove it without unbolting my high hump (my transmission does not hang below the frame rails). If it goes much higher it's going to be difficult getting it all back together.
Thanks

[69gmcc10]

I sourced the stands from a junk yard, cleaned them up and painted them.

I cant speak on the engine setting any higher because I don't have a point of reference any other way, but for what it is worth, the front of the truck pan I have rests about 1" above the crossmember. At the rear of the pan where it drops down it is about 1/2" lower that the crossmember, based on the ol' calibrated eyeball. I did ask Dirty Dingo when I ordered them if they had any mounts that set the engine lower and he said he was unaware of any mounts from anyone that would do that. I was thinking maybe their car mounts set the engine lower based on the photos, but he told me I was mistaken. I am still not quite convinced the retrofit car mounts wouldn't set it even lower.

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

I sourced the stands from a junk yard, cleaned them up and painted them.

I cant speak on the engine setting any higher because I don't have a point of reference any other way, but for what it is worth, the front of the truck pan I have rests about 1" above the crossmember. At the rear of the pan where it drops down it is about 1/2" lower that the crossmember, based on the ol' calibrated eyeball. I did ask Dirty Dingo when I ordered them if they had any mounts that set the engine lower and he said he was unaware of any mounts from anyone that would do that. I was thinking maybe their car mounts set the engine lower based on the photos, but he told me I was mistaken. I am still not quite convinced the retrofit car mounts wouldn't set it even lower.

My engine/transmission are coming out this weekend. I'll take some measurements of the bellhousing in relation to the firewall and get my target points for the 6.0. I think I'll try the DD mount plates on my current mounts/perches and see how that works before I go to the next step.

My bellhousing / transmission placement is the primary concern. Then I'll mess around with the oil pan fitment.

Thanks

[69gmcc10]

Ok, for posterity sake I went home and measured my freshly installed lm7's installed dimensions so people cold have some answers of fitment of Dirty Dingo adapters on 73+ engine mounts.

Photo one, DD-2500c dirty dingo conversion mounts used.

I have adapted the 73+ mounts to fit the 69 gmc crossmember as it would fit in a 73+ truck (posted above). I also have the polly mounts placed on the lower setting on the engine stands unlike the placement in the photo above

Photo two, clearance from top of crossmember to the bottom of the truck oil pan I am using, which is 1 5/8" of daylight.

Photo three, view of how far below the crossmember the pan sits, 1 1/4" below the crossmember! (sorry for crappy photo, I really did try)

Looking at these mounts installed it appears to me that the conversion mounts could have been safely engineered or can be modified to moved the engine lower by about 3/4" before any interference would take place between the polly engine stand housing and the plates that mount to the engine. But if this was done the pan would then hang 2" below the crossmember.

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

Ok, for posterity sake I went home and measured my freshly installed lm7's installed dimensions so people cold have some answers of fitment of Dirty Dingo adapters on 73+ engine mounts.

Wow, thanks for the effort with this. This thread is becoming a solid reference for guys just starting the swap with fitment questions.

[69gmcc10]

Originally Posted by NC_John

Wow, thanks for the effort with this. This thread is becoming a solid reference for guys just starting the swap with fitment questions.

I wish this info was around when I was ordering my mounts. Maybe we can get some other people to get some photos and measurements of other mount and stand configuration for some comparison. I am interested in seeing what the results of 3/8" adapter plates and factory engine mounts for both 67-72 and 73+ mounts will produce.

[NC_John]

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

I wish this info was around when I was ordering my mounts. Maybe we can get some other people to get some photos and measurements of other mount and stand configuration for some comparison. I am interested in seeing what the results of 3/8" adapter plates and factory engine mounts for both 67-72 and 73+ mounts will produce.

I'll certainly return the favor and measure/document what I come up with mine. My Dirty Dingo mounts are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. (of course, I have to still get the SBC out)

[fast&low]

Guy's it's easier than you think just use the search box it's your friend just enter your motor/trans combo & let it work for you someone out there has used the same combo you are using believe me your not the first & you won't be the last.
LS swaps have been done practically since the motor has existed once you find that guy just copy his parts recipe (parts list) if it worked for him with the same body style you have most likely it will work for you that's what I did & it worked like a sharm learn from his mistakes so you dont do the same.
I wish I could remember who's swap I coped but I used exactly the same parts he used & BOOM!! It worked perfectly
Hope this helps good luck guys
1969 Chevy C10
LQ9 Vortec MAX / 4L65e