|
LS7 into an SS
In order to make life easier, and not as costly, I elected to convert the LS7 from dry sump to wet sump. This meant that all of the SS/LS3 accessories and mounts could be retained, no need to get an oil tank/hoses and the radiator/fan assy did not need to be replaced. Basically it becomes a simple LS replacement.
The front snout on the crank is longer on a dry sump engine, but you can run a long snout crank on a wet sump engine and retain the wet sump accessories with a simple/inexpensive spacer from Skoggin Dickie (SDLS7SPCR). The only requirement is that you need to use a dry sump crank bolt. The LS3 front cover is used along with an LS3 oil pump.
The LS3 oil pan, pick-up and windage tray can all be put on the LS7, again, EASY! There is a "gotcha" though with the swap, the dipstick is in the oil tank of the dry sump LS7 and machined in the side of the block of the wet sump LS3. Luckly I'm not the first person to do this, TechAFX makes a drill guide for the wet sump dipstick. It bolts up to the block with two of the oil pan bolts. The boss is cast into all of the blocks, it is machined out for the wet sumps and left alone on the dry sump blocks.
|