Another LS Swap in the mix! '78 Caprice Classic - ProCHARGER Comin' Soon!

[Antbankstwo3]

What up TB fam! So late last year I purchased a 1978 Caprice Classic (rare rear window) from an older lady who was the original owner. It has only 83k miles on it. She had every receipt of things done to car. It's in excellent condition. It came with a 305 and to be honest it was pretty gutless. I changed the intake manifold and carb to a 4bbl and that woke it up a lot, but now it's sucking gas like no other. I debated on throwing a 350 in it or just modding the 305, but after lots of research I decided to do an LS Swap and not "waste" my money on the 305 or 350 when I can spend a lil' more and go LS.

So now I'm in the beginning stages with my 5.3 and 4L60e and it's exciting! Just picked it up a week ago. This car will be driven daily so I'm just going to go with some mild mods and to wake it up a bit and throw a cam in it to give it some bark so people know when I'm next to them that it isn't Grandma's car anymore. The engine has 98k and tranny is new with 4k miles.

Just thought I'd share with you all and will be posting updates as I go. I'm open to all and any suggestions, recommendations etc... as this will be my first build and swap of an LS motor.

 

[Rob_85Ttype]

I remember those cars well when I was a kid. I always liked that rear glass. This is a great foundaction for a very good looking hot rod. I really like the big cars, and can't wait to see more as this progresses.

 

[V6sleeper]

Nice, think it was called the Euro-coupe with that glass...

 

[Antbankstwo3]

I remember those cars well when I was a kid. I always liked that rear glass. This is a great foundaction for a very good looking hot rod. I really like the big cars, and can't wait to see more as this progresses.

Thank u! It's a great car! I love it. The build is going good so far. I'll post pics soon!

 

[Antbankstwo3]

Nice, think it was called the Euro-coupe with that glass...

I believe so as well. Although I have to say since I've owned the car I've heard about five different names of what people call it so it's kind of interesting with the rear glass.

 

[Antbankstwo3]

Tear down is complete. Overall everything looked pretty good. I wasn't going to tear the bottom end down, but decided I should since I noticed a lil' water mixed in the the oil on a couple cylinders. I'm glad I did. Even with that the bores still looked pretty good, I just did some light deglazing with the stone hone and a finer grit with the ball hone. Turned out well. Sent the crank out for a polish. I wasn't going to take the heads since I cleaned them myself, but I'm going to take them in anyway to have the valves worked on and get them resurfaced - with all that they will get cleaned anyway. I cleaned the pistons myself and they turned out great actually. Very mild wear on them. This weekend I'm going to clean the block and prep it for the re-assemble of the bottom end and eventually paint when it's all assembled. I just ordered and received a new cam, 220/224 .575 Lift w/a 112 LSA that should give it a nice bump up from the original. Happy so far and hopefully it will continue to go smooth doing the process.

If any of you have any suggestion PLEASE chime in! This is my first LS Swap and want to make sure I do things right the first time. Thanks in Advance!

 

[GNTIM]

Subscribed. I had a 77 as a teenager

 

[V6sleeper]

I actually have the Pontiac version of this car a 2dr Bonneville, its rare to see 2dr big bodies 77-86 these days..

 

[MCH86GN]

What up TB fam! So late last year I purchased a 1978 Caprice Classic (rare rear window) from an older lady who was the original owner. It has only 83k miles on it. She had every receipt of things done to car. It's in excellent condition. It came with a 305 and to be honest it was pretty gutless. I changed the intake manifold and carb to a 4bbl and that woke it up a lot, but now it's sucking gas like no other. I debated on throwing a 350 in it or just modding the 305, but after lots of research I decided to do an LS Swap and not "waste" my money on the 305 or 350 when I can spend a lil' more and go LS.

So now I'm in the beginning stages with my 5.3 and 4L60e and it's exciting! Just picked it up a week ago. This car will be driven daily so I'm just going to go with some mild mods and to wake it up a bit and throw a cam in it to give it some bark so people know when I'm next to them that it isn't Grandma's car anymore. The engine has 98k and tranny is new with 4k miles.

Just thought I'd share with you all and will be posting updates as I go. I'm open to all and any suggestions, recommendations etc... as this will be my first build and swap of an LS motor.

Light Brown 1978 Caprice Classic was my very first car. I got it when I was 18 back in 1991, it was a FL car so it had no rust. I ended up selling it my cousin in 1995, had to down size.

 

[Antbankstwo3]

UPDATE: Well I took the my block, heads, valves and crank to the machine shop. The block, I got new cam bearings installed and wanted to get an overall 2nd opinion on the cylinders I deglazed. It all checked out great and he installed the bearings in less than 20 mins. Great guy I found here locally. Old school, honest, straight up and reasonably priced. Hard to find these days. I also had my heads looked at and the valves. Nothing major and for miles he said all looked very good. So I will just end up doing a valve grind since they are out and of course new springs with the new cam. I recently got my crank back as well from being polished. I took it to a different shop that I was referred too before I got the cam bearings installed. They did a great job on it, but I didn't really like the vibe and the way the owner acted towards so I won't be going there anymore (long story). So I'm blessed and fortunate I found the other shop I took my block too.

I've ordered a handful of parts, piston rings, main and rod bearings and a few other parts. Still got more parts ahead to order and then will be ready to reassemble. Should be able to paint soon thereafter.

So far so good and have learned lots a long the way. I appreciate everyone's help here. More updates to come...!

 

[Antbankstwo3]

ANOTHER UPDATE: It's been a while, but I've been HARD at work on this Caprice. Since my last post, I've assembled the entire bottom and most of the top end. Just waiting on my chromoly push rods and decided to upgrade my rocker to the trunion style. I installed brand new 4.8 Flattop pistons along with new iron rings. I left the ring gap stock. I was going to boost the car and hear it's better to run a bit bigger gap, but in the end I decided not too. I already have a TTYPE so that'll be my boosted toy.

Installed new timing chain, cam, Melling Oil Pump, Billet Oil Barbell, and a few others. Painted the block engine bay and various parts.

I also decided to do my own wiring harness. It's been time consuming, but not as bad as I thought it'd be.

I'm putting a big order in on parts this week. Hopefully I can get it done and on the road in the next 3-4 weeks.

Pics below on my progress...

Cam: 220/224 @.50 112LSA .575 Lift
Paint: Dupli Color GM Blue, Dupli Color Engine Enamel Semi-Gloss Black, Dupli Color Aluminum

 

[Antbankstwo3]

More pics...

- Sealed Power 4.8 Flat Top Pistons - Used my original 5.3 Rods
- Sealed Power Main, Rod and Cam bearings
- Iron Rings - Stock specs
- Painted all front end accessories myself. Aluminum
- Engine Covers are GM Blue painted by a friend of mine.

 

[Antbankstwo3]

More pics...

- New rear main seal
- New Billet "Barbell" Oil Gallery plug
- Melling M295 Oil Pump
- Painted Chassis with Summit Chassis paint. Pretty heavy duty. Gets everywhere so if you use it, be in a well ventilated area and cover anything you don't want overspray on.
- Inner Fender wells, I scrubbed with a non-scratch scotch brite pad, soap and water. Just used semi-gloss Acrylic Enamel. Turned out more of a flat color, but I'm totally fine with that.

 

[Antbankstwo3]

Been a while since I've posted an update, BUT I've been hard at work. Finished the build of the motor and installed the new stall torque converter (2800-3200 stall). Dropped the motor and trans in last weekend. Now I'm waiting on a few parts to complete the fuel system, radiator and had to get my drive shaft shortened. Also a few lil' odds and ends. This thing should be fired up by next weekend!

Here are some updated photos. I have done a COMPLETE rebuild and have done 99% of the work myself. In lifting the wiring harness. It's my first time doing so and I'm pretty proud of this. Hopefully, the next few weeks will continue to go smooth so I can enjoy this thing this summer. Let me know what you think?

 

[Pronto]

Looks like it fits in there well. My B body friends would be either jealous or mad you got rid of the original engine. Cool project. This is the kind of LS swap I can get behind.

 

[Antbankstwo3]

Looks like it fits in there well. My B body friends would be either jealous or mad you got rid of the original engine. Cool project. This is the kind of LS swap I can get behind.

Appreciate that! Yeah, there were a few different reasons why I chose to do the swap. More were personal (long story). It did have a 305 with really low miles but that thing was so sluggish I probably could run faster than what it could do. Lol! Overall, I think this will be a better fit.

 

[Antbankstwo3]

Well, I know I haven't been the best at keeping this thread updated, but I have been hard at work and am proud to say the build is pretty much complete and the Caprice Classic is on the road. Still needs a good tune and a few parts, but I'm driving her and it's so nice. I recently showed it at a car show locally and people were blown away and loved it. The responses I kept getting was "Ultimate Sleeper!" It's great to be able to share this experience with others.

I'm still not completely done yet. Some cleaning up of wiring, adding cruise contro, air intake and A LOT more in store for this ride. I'll keep this thread updated as I go...

 

[turbojay]

Nice job.

 

[Antbankstwo3]

Nice job.

Thank you!

 

[Pronto]

Looks fun. Good work.