white out

Over the past few days I installed the LS3 water pump.






Steve’s mounts and gaskets placed the pump just far enough away from the engine mount and lined up the LS3 pulley with the LS1 F-Body crank pulley. I rotated the thermostat 180 degrees to clear the rear bumper.






I had to re-route the hoses to the water pump, now there is a 1.5” hose and 1.25” hose vs. two 1.25” hoses. Somehow the heater hoses are the same dimensions for the 996 and LS3 (5/8 & 3/4).

I mounted the upper tensioner pulley and realized there is a very tight clearance between the belt and 1.5” hose coming off the thermostat. After installing the belt, I found that the belt slightly rubs on the hose. I am going to leave this as-is for now and let the belt notch out a groove in the hose. My schedule clears up in August, so then I will work on a spacer for the thermostat housing to clear the belt, but not run into the bumper beam.




I read many different suggestions on belt length without power steering (usually 52.5”) and found the belt to be too short. It looks like the Renegade alternator mount moves the alternator to a different location than stock, even though to the eyes it looks the same. I ended up having to use a 56” belt.




Now the car runs and has heat!!!!!! Woo!!!

The electric water pump dilemma added months to the build. If I was ever to do this again, I would cut more out of the back of the car from the get-go and run a mechanical pump.

For reference of what it looked like with the electrical pump:

TrackDays247.com

Just too cool............knew a guy who installed an LS1 in a 318ti BMW - TONS of work it was.........

Imo000

Keep an eye on the hose, doesn't take much of a cut to make them bust when pressurised. If you can get paper gaskets for the thermostat, might want try stacking them to clewr the belt. As the engine is revved the belt will move arpund and cut more into the hose than when only idling.

alpine003

So would you say the Renegade kit IS NOT plug and play?

white out

After driving the car around today in 80+ temps, lots of stop and go, it is not going to overheat again.

The car drives really nice. I don't have power steering or a/c and I do not miss them. The taller wheel/tire combo I have from running turbo wheels has done a great job at keeping the gearing more in order with the LSx cars, most street driving I keep it under 2k rpm. The cool part is a blip of the throttle and it's instant torque, no need to downshift. It's similar to my Viper now, no need to touch the throttle in stop and go, just release the clutch and there's enough low end torque to pull you along nicely.

I still have a redline of 4000rpm. I need to change over to a different type of GM throttle body to work properly with the 996 pedal and make some adjustments to the pedal. But for now, as a daily driver, 4000rpm is perfectly fine.

The E36 swaps are awesome. But yes, tons of work.

Yeah, I definitely will. Luckily, that part of the hose is over the thermostat neck, so it is moving with the belt when the engine flexes (which isn't much).

I'm working with a guy to build a billet spacer for the thermostat to raise it away from the belt, but not hit the bumper beam.

Definitely not plug & play. Basically an engine mount and trans bracket/flywheel/etc.

Wiring harness, cooling system, exhaust, intake, throttle control, cutting car up, etc is all on your own.

white out

Some pictures from today. Apparently there is still grease on my phone's camera.

Cosmo Kramer

I see a couple of empty bolt holes below the water pump pulley, any way to bolt on a plate and add an idler to pull the belt away from the hose?

alpine003

I would've expected more from a $8k+ kit.

white out

There's not enough room to add another spacer. The belt/hose rub is only a few mm off, so I'm going to have a spacer made for the thermostat housing to come out 1/4" or so.

me too. The engine mount is really nice and the KEP spacer is too.

RF5BPilot

Sounds like an opportunity to sell what the kit doesn't include.

white out

Aside from the water pump spacers, it's all OEM GM equipment to use my set up. The Renegade mounts are really nice and I did find it to be a decent value for the standard $4k kit.

But their cooling systems are a complete nightmare, it's almost like Renegade doesn't know what they are doing with the cooling systems: all of their diagrams are backwards; wrong size hoses; clearance issues, they don't have proper flow for the overflow tank.

If anyone is considering a swap and wants to know ANYTHING about it, feel free to PM me. I am glad to give some insight on the info. Renegade is HORRIBLE at giving information about the swap, even after you buy it.

white out

Since Thursday I've put 70 miles on the car.

Imo000

Instead of people PM for the cooling info, why not just post it so it stays here for the future.

white out

I did. It's above.

But a break down:

LS3 water pump & tensioner
LS1 f-body crank pulley
Renegade's alternator mount (comes with kit)
Steve's 3/4" water pump spacers
56" belt
1 1/4" hose
1 1/2" hose
5/8" hose
3/4" hose

TrackDays247.com

I'll try to dig up pictures of the LS1 in the 318. Months of work then POOF destroyed in a wreck on track when a Morgan or some such English thing dumped oil...