This thread shows some pictures and text that will act as instructions for the Vorshlag LS1 swap Drivetrain mounts we make for the Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 chassis.
The picture above shows our Engine + Transmission mount kit for use with any LS series engine (GenIII-GenIV LS1/Ls2/LS3/truck/etc engines) along with the Tremec T56 Magnum XL 6 speed manual. We do not make a kit to use any other transmission model at this time.
TRANSMISSION TUNNEL MODS + INSTALL
The 86 chassis transmission is held in with a small crossmember, which is visible on our Alpha customer's FR-S (with an aftermarket turbo) shown below.
The first step to do this part of the swap is to remove the FA20 engine and factory 6-speed manual, as shown below. You can see that the transmission length on the factory transmission is VERY long, which is partly why we need to use the T56 Magnum XL transmission - which itself is 5.5" longer than the T56 Magnum design.
With the drivetrain removed its time to cut some spot welds and remove some brackets. There's no going back from here, so make sure you really want to tackle this swap before you cut anything...
Looking from the engine bay down into the trans tunnel you can see the sheet metal bracket that the OEM trans crossmember bolts to. Its too narrow and must be removed.
We tried to test fit the T56 Magnum XL with this bracket in place, as shown above. The OEM tunnel bracket simply prevented the transmission from going high enough in the tunnel, which would have caused serious ground clearance issues.
Above left is a T56 Magnum XL is attached to a generic LS engine with the 1998-2002 Camaro bellhousing above. This is what our kit is built around - not anything else - so don't buy our kit if you are using some other transmission or engine or chassis. You won't find this transmission for sale used (it was never installed in any factory car), and its even tricky to get them new for use with GM engines - call Vorshlag and we can supply this at a good price for you.
you will want to get a good set of spot weld cutting tools, like this unit shown above. This kit has a small hole cutter aruond a spring loaded pointer. What you do is find the spot welds, use a drill punch to mark the center of the weld with a small dimple. Then use line up the spot weld cutter on the dimple and use pressure to cut through the outer layer of sheet metal. DON'T DRILL ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE FLOOR! This takes patience and a little skill, but is relatively easy. Once you have ALL of the spot welds cut the bracket should be fairly easy to remove.
This is what the tunnel should look like with the forward-most bracket removed. Much more "width" to house the bigger and stronger T56 Magnum XL.
The image above shows approximately the size of the piece of the top of the tunnel that needs to be removed to clear the shifter section of the T56 Magnum XL tailhousing.
The direct mounted shifter will poke through this hole into the cabin, as shown above. We will try to make a template to send to our customers to help locate and show the shape needed when trimming the top of tunnel for the shifter.
The image above shows the prototype transmission crossmember assembled and bolted into the car. The production version has two tabs that "key" off the to M6 threaded holes visible in the picture above. To mount the side brackets you need to drill several holes through the tunnel and bolt through the tunnel.
You can see the large washers for the 4 bolts per side that pass through the tunnel in the picture above. The carpet has been removed from this car to show the location of the bolts, but the carpet can be put back over these bolts to cover them up.
This is what the transmission looks like with the production style bracket assembly bolted to the car and to the transmission. The red polyurethane bushing provided with the kit is placed between the new crossmember and the T56 Magnum XL.
With the included T56 Magnum shifter installed you can see where the "stub" handle sits relative to the OEM plastic center console. Right where the stock shifter landed! This was no accident...
With a custom "long" shift handle and knob (which we built for this customer) installed above the shifter location is complete. There was no need for an offset shifter for this swap - any off the shelf shifter for the T56 Magnum will work.
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