ok guys here's how it goes.
a lot of people will be confused as to my using an LSJ for all motor stuff, but please read my rod ratio thread in order to understand my reasoning. Also, the LSJ has better internals stock, better aftermarket, and better clutch selection than the L61.
so after my L61 bled to death I was stuck in a position trying to decide what to do.. another L61 or do something a bit crazy... so I decided to do something a bit crazy. LSJ bottom end with the L61 head
so this thread will be an account of my journey through this and comes with information in regards and pictures.
initial information: the L61 has a 6+1 trigger wheel while the LSJ (and all newer ecotecs) have a 60-2 trigger wheel (7x and 58x reluctor wheel) this tells the ignition when to fire. Needless to say, the LSJ won't happily run on the L61 computer if at all. YOU CANNOT SWAP THE RELUCTOR RING OFF THE L61 CRANK its cast on. The only way I can see around this is a stand alone ECU.
well... unless you custom machine a 6+1 trigger wheel, and space it JUST RIGHT we're stuck with the 60-2 wheel. Also, keep in mind you'd have to pull the girdle and the crank in order to install it so the extra electrical flexibility of a stand alone is a nice convenience without having the responsibility of tearing the whole engine apart in order to utilize it. The LSJ has put down around 350hp at the wheels with relative ease when utilizing a turbocharger instead of the M62. It isn't a ticking time bomb unlike the factory L61 at those power levels.
so today's findings yielded these results:
the L61 and LSJ have vastly different cooling systems. The LSJ also has an oil cooler thats piped with coolant. a water-to-oil-cooler if you will. This is mounted on the oil filter boss. Initially i planned on using the LSJ water neck, thermostat housing, and oil cooler but upon further investigation I realized the LSJ thermo housing doesn't like the F23 transmission shifter brackets. pictures...
this is the L61 thermo housing: please note the bevel
this is the LSJ thermo housing: please note the LACK of the bevel
when mounted on the block, the arc of the thermo housing runs dead smack into the boss for the shifter cable brackets. there is NO way to modify the bracket to accommodate this. you cannot modify the thermo housing because its hollow and grinding will cause it to leak.
the L61 thermo housing fits perfectly on the LSJ however.
now this brings up another problem.. since i can't use the LSJ water neck and cooling pipes, I now have two oil holes on the oil filter boss that need to be dealt with. THESE CANNOT BE PLUGGED or else the oil system will not be complete and all the oil will get stuck inside the boss until it blows out the filter thru the hood or cracks the block, and starves the engine of oil. there's two possible ways around this:
1) make a bypass pipe or section to take the place of the oil cooler. you can't run the cooler in place and just plug off the coolant lines because its dead smack in the way of the lower radiator hose. the fore hole is 9/16" and is the OUT hole.. in other words oil will come out of here, and the aft hole with the sleeve in it is 1/2" even, and is the IN hole or oil goes IN here.
looking inside the oil boss you can see a pipe that isn't there on the L61. you can put holes in this pipe to let oil flow from the filter into the block, and then tap the holes on the outside of the boss and plug them.
2) tap the holes on the outside of the oil filter boss and run them to an external oil cooler OR run a small hose from one to the other to effectively "bypass" the oil cooler.
i'll post pictures of this issue tomorrow.
comments/questions
and here's the skwirl being disassembled late last night/ early this morning.
as the swap progresses, I'll post my findings complete with pictures and explanations. Keep this bookmarked as I'll also be setting up a spectre eMS stand alone to run not only fuel but ignition as well on this engine. My factory ECU will still be in place for sub systems and gauge control, but I will nullify it completely with HPT and run the entire engine on the spectre alone.
!
MMMM, HIDs
