LS6 swapping a 87 Sunsetter

[SquareWind]

 

I purchased this ole girl back last fall with a blown SBC and the intention was to replace with a used motor and flip it. Months later I found a Mercruiser Vortech complete engine that was running. I sent my father to pick it up and the guy fired it up hanging from a cherry picker. Got it home and I mounted the tranny then was going to replace the intake and saw some glittery material in the valley tray between the lifters. So I flipped it over and pulled the pan to find a destroyed crank on two journals. At that moment I was beyond frustrated, I own a Corvette salvage yard and we have installed LS engines in everything you can imagine. I always wanted to drop one in my 88 Skier but it cost so much I never did it. Well after this used motor I wasn’t about to buy another one used. New rebuilt vs the money to LS swap was really close considering I had 5 LS1’s sitting on the shelf.  I had started to really like this boat and had so many hours in it after finding soft spots in the floor and bad spots in the stringers. I ripped all of that out and went back all new. The interior/seats had been done previously with no wood and nice vinyl. I decided to do the swap and here are some pictures just after sitting the engine back in for the last time. I have several small things to finish up so it is not finished. I am replacing the electric water pump due to not having room for the filters to protect it. I will be done wiring in a few days and will breath some life into this old girl. 

 

Edited April 23 by SquareWind

[Murphys]

Looking forward to seeing pictures of your project.

[BlindSquirrel]

2 hours ago, SquareWind said:

I purchased this ole girl back last fall with a blown SBC and the intention was to replace with a used motor and flip it. Months later I found a Mercruiser Vortech complete engine that was running. I sent my father to pick it up and the guy fired it up hanging from a cherry picker. Got it home and I mounted the tranny then was going to replace the intake and saw some glittery material in the valley tray between the lifters. So I flipped it over and pulled the pan to find a destroyed crank on two journals. At that moment I was beyond frustrated, I own a Corvette salvage yard and we have installed LS engines in everything you can imagine. I always wanted to drop one in my 88 Skier but it cost so much I never did it. Well after this used motor I wasn’t about to buy another one used. New rebuilt vs the money to LS swap was really close considering I had 5 LS1’s sitting on the shelf.  I had started to really like this boat and had so many hours in it after finding soft spots in the floor and bad spots in the stringers. I ripped all of that out and went back all new. The interior/seats had been done previously with no wood and nice vinyl. I decided to do the swap and here are some pictures just after sitting the engine back in for the last time. I have several small things to finish up so it is not finished. I am replacing the electric water pump due to not having room for the filters to protect it. I will be done wiring in a few days and will breath some life into this old girl. 
 

 

To post pictures you either need to be a paid member of this site, or post your photos to a third party site and paste the link here. I use a free Flickr.com account to post photos from. Lets see those photos!

[Michigan boarder]

13 hours ago, SquareWind said:

 

I purchased this ole girl back last fall with a blown SBC and the intention was to replace with a used motor and flip it. Months later I found a Mercruiser Vortech complete engine that was running. I sent my father to pick it up and the guy fired it up hanging from a cherry picker. Got it home and I mounted the tranny then was going to replace the intake and saw some glittery material in the valley tray between the lifters. So I flipped it over and pulled the pan to find a destroyed crank on two journals. At that moment I was beyond frustrated, I own a Corvette salvage yard and we have installed LS engines in everything you can imagine. I always wanted to drop one in my 88 Skier but it cost so much I never did it. Well after this used motor I wasn’t about to buy another one used. New rebuilt vs the money to LS swap was really close considering I had 5 LS1’s sitting on the shelf.  I had started to really like this boat and had so many hours in it after finding soft spots in the floor and bad spots in the stringers. I ripped all of that out and went back all new. The interior/seats had been done previously with no wood and nice vinyl. I decided to do the swap and here are some pictures just after sitting the engine back in for the last time. I have several small things to finish up so it is not finished. I am replacing the electric water pump due to not having room for the filters to protect it. I will be done wiring in a few days and will breath some life into this old girl. 

 

That's a beauty!  what are the torque and HP specs?

[Steve B.]

Looks very cool. Did the bellhousing mate up directly to the tranny ? Used a custom ECM? Analog gauge?

Edited April 23 by Steve B.
Added a few questions

[justgary]

More photos, please!

[Woodski]

Very nice, awesome work, congrats.  Great to see such a pristine conversion. 

A few questions:

1.  What transmission is coupled to the LS, Velvet Drive?

2.  I notice only 1 O2 sensor, is that how the Fast FI system reads mixture v 1 on each side?

3.  Are you using the same engine mounts?  Was install / conversion as you dropped it in the hole smooth?  Fingers crossed the engine box doesn't need a modification.

4.  Is the high pressure fuel pump the one laying on the floor?  You decided against an in tahk version, good choice if yes for any downstream service.

For such a gorgeous showpiece, I suggest you search for the Mapple Nautique 200 ZO6, it had a clear / see thru panel on the top of the engine cover, your artwork deserves similar:-)

Please keep us posted on how well it runs.  Thx for sharing.

[SquareWind]

It has a BT Stg 2 truck cam and cnc ported 243 heads. Bottom end is stock. 
Realistic numbers would be 450-470 at the crank. I am not after big numbers and 450 is going to be a massive improvement over the SBC that was what 250 on a good day? 
 

The bell housing bolted right up no issues at all. 
 

I went with the Holley Terminator X due to the fact the GM computer would be hard to tune at the temps this engine will be running. 

 

I will post some more pics today and as soon as I get her fired up I will post videos.

 

[SquareWind]

14 minutes ago, Woodski said:

Very nice, awesome work, congrats.  Great to see such a pristine conversion. 

A few questions:

1.  What transmission is coupled to the LS, Velvet Drive?

2.  I notice only 1 O2 sensor, is that how the Fast FI system reads mixture v 1 on each side?

3.  Are you using the same engine mounts?  Was install / conversion as you dropped it in the hole smooth?  Fingers crossed the engine box doesn't need a modification.

4.  Is the high pressure fuel pump the one laying on the floor?  You decided against an in tahk version, good choice if yes for any downstream service.

For such a gorgeous showpiece, I suggest you search for the Mapple Nautique 200 ZO6, it had a clear / see thru panel on the top of the engine cover, your artwork deserves similar:-)

Please keep us posted on how well it runs.  Thx for sharing.

I will check that boat out!

Doghouse clears and you will never guess what I purchased last week. A Corvette ZR1 hood lens and is going to work perfectly on the doghouse to expose the engine.
 

Yes a velvet transmission.

 

the fuel pump is bolted right above the aluminum brace for the steering cable. I used rubber isolators on the aluminum mounting bracket and again where the pump bolts the the aluminum. No vibration being transferred through the boat. It is below the fuel tank and close enough to it so it shouldn’t struggle to keep up. It should be fine but if for any reason I am not satisfied with it I will be making changes. 

Edited April 23 by SquareWind

[SquareWind]

Sorry I missed a few question that have been answered.
 

Gauges for now will remain analog, to buy all new gauges as most know it’s expensive. Before I pay a lot of money for that I am probably going to buy the Holley Pro dash display. It is $1300 but damn it is so nice, whatever you can dream up that would look good as a a gauge cluster you can have it. It’s really a cool piece and should be for what it cost. 
 

Engine mounts are from the old motor, paid $90 for adapter plates that bolt up the the LS and all of that was super simple.

 

Edited April 23 by SquareWind

[solorex]

Man.... drool... and you have the nice Marine Torq manifolds as well.  I dream of purchasing a set one day but I still can't justify the $$

[Steve B.]

Upgrading to 3rd party injection systems looks attractive in some cases of these boats. Thanks in advance for follow-up on your install and programming, etc.

[Woodski]

18 hours ago, SquareWind said:

At that moment I was beyond frustrated, I own a Corvette salvage yard and we have installed LS engines in everything you can imagine. I always wanted to drop one in my 88 Skier but it cost so much I never did it. Well after this used motor I wasn’t about to buy another one used. New rebuilt vs the money to LS swap was really close considering I had 5 LS1’s sitting on the shelf.  

 

Forgot to add, this comment elicited memories of my high school / college days combing through salvage yards for various goodies, lifting the hood on something and having to run for your life being chased by a nest of bees, teetering on the fender of a car pulling some part ... fun times.

 

Edited April 23 by Woodski

[martinarcher]

1 hour ago, Woodski said:

Forgot to add, this comment elicited memories of my high school / college days combing through salvage yards for various goodies, lifting the hood on something and having to run for your life being chased by a nest of bees, teetering on the fender of a car pulling some part ... fun times.

Boy can I relate to that!  Good times!

[martinarcher]

Man, I was still feeling good about the 350hp my new SBC I built is putting out.     Great work and an awesome project.  Looks like it came together very nice!  I'm taking notes. 

[shawndoggy]

raw water cooled?

[John I.]

Heck of a first post @SquareWind !!   

[Steve B.]

Just spent the last two hours watching youtube video's of Holley system tuning. Looks like a lot of fun if you have a pretty good clue about engine systems. Be cool to be fluent at this programming.

[SquareWind]

Finally got it fired up last night. I purchased coil pack harnesses from Amazon and they were causing a no spark issue that took me on a wild goose chase. Moral story is don’t buy cheap China wiring harnesses! I will get some more photos and a video uploaded in the next day or so. Tomorrow evening I’m gonna take it to the lake and do the first official test, super excited!

[martinarcher]

6 minutes ago, SquareWind said:

Finally got it fired up last night. I purchased coil pack harnesses from Amazon and they were causing a no spark issue that took me on a wild goose chase. Moral story is don’t buy cheap China wiring harnesses! I will get some more photos and a video uploaded in the next day or so. Tomorrow evening I’m gonna take it to the lake and do the first official test, super excited!

Yeah boy!  That should be a fun outing.