I am pretty sure that by now you are ready to turn the key and fire up the engine. Now take a deep breath and slowly walk away from the car. Yes, that’s right. Walk away. This may sound counter intuitive because you’re itching to get your LS-powered F-Body car on the road. However, the […]

Often the exhaust portion of a build is left to the very end when everything is bolted up; it’s often quite literally an afterthought. As I stated in Chapter 2, a sound strategy is to select the engine mounts, transmission crossmember, headers, and related parts as a kit. The header routing and clearance of the […]

As with other LS components, a massive number of computercontrol, harness, and electronic equipment options exist for this popular engine platform. Most swappers adapt the factory electronics to the particular F-Body, but installing aftermarket controllers are certainly an option. If you don’t want to adapt the EFI and drive-by-wire gas pedal technology to your F-Body, […]

You have a universe of transmission options for swapping an LS into an early F-Body, and like other components of your equipment package, the transmission you select should be based on application. Most owners stick to a transmission that has a compatible bolt pattern for the LS because it’s convenient and many superb transmissions simply […]

A high-performance LS engine generates much more heat than a Chevy Gen I small-block engine or a Pontiac V-8 that originally came in many of the F-Body cars, so you need a cooling system that effectively and efficiently dissipates and manages the heat. Therefore, you need the correct components, adequate capacity, and proper calibration for […]

As has been mentioned before, the LS engines were not expressly designed to go between the frame rails of the first- or second-generation F-Body. Every modern LS engine is fuel injected while every early F-Body car carried a carbureted engine. Fuel injection has many different requirements than carbureted engines. To run the Efisystem on an […]

Many front-drive pulleys and kits are available from the aftermarket to suit a particular LS engine setup and accessory arrangement. Obviously, the LS engine was not designed specifically for first- or second-generation F-Body engine swaps. However, this engine series delivers exceptional performance, and with the correct complement of parts and some chassis modifications to the […]

You need to upgrade the suspension and chassis to harness and fully utilize the power of an LS engine, While the Camaro’s unibody frame and suspension were modern manufacturing technology for the 1960s, these are antiquated now. The stock stamped-steel suspension arms and multileaf rear springs cannot offer a modern level of performance for an […]

Years ago, installing an LS engine between the front fenders of first- or second-generation F-Body car was a challenging endeavor. That is no longer the case because aftermarket engine mounts, transmission crossmembers, and peripheral equipment are now readily available for about any combination. When swapping an LS engine into a 30- to 45-yearold F-Body, you’re […]

Many choose iron blocks rather than aluminum versions because they are inexpensive and are easily stroked. They are cheaper and can handle bigger power loads and this is why you see iron-block versions juiced to the hilt with nitrous. However, to be fair to the aluminum versions, I’ve seen some twin-turbo versions of the aluminum […]