LS1 swap kit for FR-S for $1500?
 

I've been looking into engine swap options lately and today I found a company called CXracing that makes the full swap kit with the engine mounts, transmission mounts, headers and Y pipe, and a couple other little things for $1500. It is the first one to the market as far as I can tell and apparently well priced.
Has anyone had any experience with this company or maybe even installed one of their kits into an FRS/BRZ? I might be interested in buying it but would love to hear independent review of this kit from someone that actually used it. Their stuff is on ebay and their website if you want to google it for pictures and prices. They have pictures of the swap and it looks pretty good to me.
Only downside is you would have to cut off the two heater tubes at the back of the engine to make the engine fit, which means no heat inside the car?
Anyone have any input on this?

I think someone install one of their turbos and it blew up on them like right away haha. I am not sure I would trust "China Express" (Thats what I think CX stands for :p )

Yeah CX racing makes crap. There is a forum member who was the r and d car for both their ls1 kit and 2jz kit. I'm sure he will chime in.

I figure it probably won't be the best quality but the price is very attractive and there isn't much to go wrong with things like motor mounts and transmission mounts. I suppose they could be made of thin material or poor welding, but the pictures they have of these parts look pretty solid and well made. Don't know much about headers but as long as fitment is correct, I don't see much that can go wrong with them, at least not something that could damage anything else.
I would love to hear from the guy that provided his car for R&D.

I just saw that they include a baffled aluminum oil pan as part of this kit for $1500. Seems like most of the hard work would be done for a swap like this for cheap.

The member is @Amir Ghadiri

Below is his journal:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74391

Thanks! Couldn't remember his name!

No problem :D

They could also be made to bad measurements (or a bad jig) and put the engine into a place where it rubs (or is fully in the way) of something important like steering parts or the firewall.

Headers would be in the same ballpark.

It might work, or you might be spending A LOT of time and money to correct them with custom parts.

They're fine, and they have plenty of room for adjustment / fine tuning. The "jig" that they were made on was an actual FRS belonging to a forum member. The fitment is apparently spot on.

The big hurdle is the heater hoses on the firewall. You have to cut them to make the motor fit far enough back. Relocating them (if you want a working heater) will be a pain.

Other than that, the LS will fit with a stock corvette/camaro LT1 front-end accessory drive package (which includes alternator and A/C compressor).

As you all know I am running their product on my car - LS Swap kit, LS Turbo kit (turbo kit isn't released yet) - The product is good, and the quality is there. I let CX use my car for R&D for their FA20 turbo kit, and brought it back for my LS swap because I was happy with the turbo kit (It outlasted my motor twice). You'd be hard pressed to find a better swap kit on the market today.

As far as the heater lines go, you actually don't have a problem. Mine were bent over during R&D, but they didn't need to be (now I need a new heater core lol, thanks CX). You can fit heater hoses without a problem.

If anybody has any questions, feel free to ask me. I'm not endorsed by CX, they only use my car for R&D. So I would tell you it's crap if it were crap :thumbsup:

Oh, and CX is the initials of the two owners. Not China Express :lol:

Thanks for the info. Only 1 more fitment question. Which version of the T56 did you use to get the shifter lined up? Did you have to make a shifter extension?

T56 with the GTO shifter setup fits dead center in the factory location :burnrubber:

How has the handling ben effected by the swap? I really want to go this route, but i do't want to drift. I want the car to handle very similar to stock so that I can still enjoy twisty roads and tracking.

Thanks in advance.

I believe with the LS engine swap the front sway bar has to be removed to fit the engine, so handling isn't going to be like it is with the FA in there. I know there is a company I forgot the name that is making a sway bar for the LS swap.

No. It doesn't. The reason somebody removed it in *another* swap was because it interfered with the factory oil pan on the chosen motor.

You will not have to remove the sway bar if you have a suitable oil pan.

Ahh ok, thanks for the correction!

This is correct. The CX oil pan clears the factory sway bar, subframe, etc. Nothing needs to be cut or removed. The factory crossbars will even clear everything except the rearmost coil pack on the passenger side (which is easily relocated to allow mounting of the crossbar). In the 'other' swap's defense, it is ideal to have a rear sump oil pan (mine is a front sump), but a proper dry sump system (or even wet sump, although less desirable) fixes that problem (and really should be utilized anyways).

The car still drives and handles great. It is very well planted, it will go whereever you point it. I've been driving it for the past few days and it really doesn't feel any different than with the FA, it just has real power. :burnrubber:

Any other input on the CX swap kit? Thinking about pulling the trigger on it before the CDN dollar gets worse. I'd like to wait for the vorshlag kit but still haven't seen anything yet

Whats involved from the electrical side?

Standalone ECU, custom wiring for the engine, appropriate tuning.

Only CANBUS enabled ECU's with a preconfigured profile for the FRS are viable (without a ridiculous amount of extra work). That leaves you with MoTeC, Haltech, and very few others.

Can-bus integration is everything for this swap,..the steering is sluggish when its in the default mode and having the big tach on the dash to work would be nice....abs..traction control...everything else is pretty straight forward and fundamental....There are fixes in the work as we speak using stock ECU which will be.....yes... a retail product..i.e.less costly. And I'm sure others,.....because this car screams for more power that's reliable and N/A and I'm sure many will hit the streets before long....

I am honestly surprised we do not see more LS-swapped 86s running around the streets here in Dallas.



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I predict we will once warranties run out and the used prices go done and more kits are available

I totally agree


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Off subject.....I sure would like to buy your differential......just don't have the cash right now......its the last weak link in my set up....have DSS drive shafts....but need your diff for a complete bullet proof drive train.

Come on get it bro. I'm right next to Plano lol

I'm in Keller.....love to....Christmas an all....hopefully you have it in a month or two....then I will.

I just got this kit in the mail. I'll try to update soon. Here's my thread:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59279



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I was looking at the motor mounts and they do concern me from an engineering standpoint.

They are only secured by one bolt to the subframe. Allowing lateral twisting perhaps. As well where the mount secures to the motor 'plate' part of the mount. It is quite far forward of the supported portion of the mount.

I am curious how they will hold up

Was thinking the same thing, if I were using these mounts I'd probably weld them and integrate a bushing in there as well so the big V8 doesn't rattle the car to bits

Same deal for tranny mount, and if it's for track work or even just some decent power upgrades it would help to reinforce the tunnel where the mounts attatch. The way it is if you get enough torque your gonna have problems lol

Its strong enough, and it does have a bushing in there from CX. Works pretty well in my experience.

Oh ok, looking at the kit on eBay I didn't see any bushes that's all


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It's the blue part in this pic

How is this holding up? Would you recommend this kit for an LS FRS daily?

I wouldn't recommend anything for an LS FRS daily. Those three words don't go together. I would however recommend it for an LS FRS. If you want a daily LS you bought the wrong car :iono:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mD22AM4Yj4"]Hoss Fly V8 Barstool Startup - Sounds like a drag car! - YouTube[/ame]

You can daily anything if you build it right. The trick is doing it a way that you can live with. Not just overlooking annoying issues, but correcting those things. Otherwise those little annoyances you could live with in a weekend car will drive you crazy over time in a car you use everyday.

Been Dailying mine, going on 2 years no issues....dont know why anyone wouldnt, 23 mpg if i go easy. No better way to check how reliable and how things hold up, so far with my Vorshlag kit and MRS Electronics working my gauges racking up thousands of trouble free miles.Nothing better than driving a race car to work everyday, i look forward to it. Very noisy and a lot of NVH.....love it.

I will be daily driving my frs when I finish the LS swap.