You have your favorite vehicle sitting in your driveway. It doesn’t have an LS in it, which makes it a prime candidate to receive the Lord’s engine. In order to perform the swap you will need to do some planning and parts ordering. Some components needed for an LS swap are pretty obvious, such as engine mounts, but there are other components you didn’t think about or realize you needed until you’re elbow deep in the process. This is where ICT Billet comes to the rescue. Their team has not only thought of potential hurdles a person may encounter while performing an LS swap, but they’ve created solutions to these hurdles. Many of these issues are repeatedly heard by the customer support team at ICT Billet, so we’re going to highlight the five most common things their customers contact them about and the solutions that ICT Billet offers.
With the LS swap sheets you can order the right parts the first time to make your swap project go smoothly from the start.
The first thing on this list isn’t a hurdle, but if you start your LS swap project with it you’ll save lots of time and potentially save money. ICT Billet has created vehicle specific LS swap sheets for many popular cars and trucks. We’ve previously covered these fantastic cheat sheets in depth, here, with Jared Hill of ICT Billet. Using the LS swap sheets removes the guesswork from the equation by providing precise fitment information for many popular vehicles. These sheets give you a blueprint to follow so you not only know which components are needed, but exactly which parts offer a proper fitment. “Our goal is to ensure you purchase the right parts the first time, giving you confidence in your build,” Hill said.
It’s all about making your swap project smoother and more successful from the get-go. — Jared Hill, ICT Billet
Number two on the list is the engine mounts. This part of an LS swap may seem pretty obvious to some, however, not all engine swap mounts are created equal. When performance an LS swap it is important that the mounts don’t change the location of the engine. Altering the location of the engine can cause fitment issues, particularly with the transmission bellhousing interfering with the transmission tunnel in the floor pan. ICT Billet offers OE-style LS swap engine mounts that keep the engine in the same location as the vehicle’s factory engine. For example, part number 5510-KIT001EM is for mounting an LS in 1988 to 1998 Chevy OBS two-wheel-drive pickup trucks. These engine mounts place the LS in the same location as the trucks’ original small-block Chevy engine. This means there’s no need to measure for a new driveshaft or modify the transmission tunnel in the floor pan when using the factory 700R4 or 4L60E transmissions. Additionally, all of ICT Billet’s LS swap engine mounts are designed this way so you can order them for your specific vehicle with confidence.
ICT Billet has all the parts needed to LS swap OBS trucks like this bad fast hot rod. Image courtesy of RevLimitRP.
With an engine mounting solution in place, number three on the list is the mounting of the engine accessories. The factory accessory brackets and locations may not work due to clearance issues in the engine bay. ICT Billet offers a range of accessory brackets for LS swap applications, ensuring you have the right bracket for any swap scenario. Their brackets off high and low mount options as well as your choice to only use the accessories you want. Number four on the list goes hand-in-hand with the accessory brackets and is a solution to retain the AC compressor. ICT Billet offers various AC compressor brackets that allow you the choice of mounting the vehicle’s OE compressor in approximately its factory location, saving you the hassle of fabricating new AC lines, or mounting an aftermarket compressor system to increase AC performance. Those living in the south with greatly appreciate these AC compressor brackets for their LS swaps.
ICT Billet’s variety of accessory and AC compressor brackets allows you to choose which accessories you want to run on your engine and where to mount them.
Last on the list is a solution to a potential hurdle that many people may not think about until they have the transmission bolted in and attempt to bolt the torque converter to the flex plate. It’s no fun having to pull the transmission back out because the converter won’t mate to the flex plate due to the bolt pattern being different or the center hub of the converter is a different diameter. ICT Billet offers flexplates that mate LS engines to a variety of transmissions, and when combined with their Converter hub to crankshaft adapter you can use a Powerglide, TH350, TH400, 700R4, 4L60E, 4L80E, or 2004R transmission.
The ICT Billet LS swap flexplate and converter to crankshaft hub adapter allow you to use a variety of transmissions behind your LS engine.
There is a lot that goes into LS swapping any vehicle, more than we’ve touched on here. Luckily, the experts at ICT Billet are enthusiasts like the rest of us and have encountered the same scenarios and hurdles their customers have experienced during LS swap projects. Because of this, their team is continually developing parts to make LS swaps even easier. Visit their site or give them a call for your LS swap project and you will save yourself time, money, and headaches.