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New dumb LS question: Where to route the coolant bottle?

Thank you both for the valuable information on cooling system layout and the intake; cathedral port, 3 bolt TB. I'll look around for LS6 options. I'll stick with DBW - easier to keep stock cruise control functionality vs. adding cables & servo pods, etc., to make it work.

I'm wondering whether I will need to switch to the car version accessory drive (AC, PS, ALT) to gain that couple inches clearance for cooling system. That's a whole 'nother can of worms - there are so many variants it seems, bling aside (which I don't care for).

Broke4speed said:
There are two types of intake port on the Gen III LS-based engines: cathedral and rectangle. The 4.8 LR4 will have cathedral ports which means only certain 'car' intakes will fit. There are two types of throttle body flange as well: three bolt and 4. The LR4 has a three bolt, which again means you need to use a specific car intake if you don't want to mess about with converting. The LS1 and LS6 car intakes are three bolt and cathedral port, so those are the ones you want to hunt for IIRC.
Click to expand...

JohnMc said:
Mine was a truck motor too, an alu 5.3 LH8 from a Hummer Alpha. LS parts all swap back and forth pretty extensively, I think (talking Gen 3 and 4) the only thing you have to look for are the older 'cathedral' ports vs. the newer 'rectangle' ports.

Other than that I suppose there could be some oddball interferences between car intakes and truck accessories, and vice versa. In terms of front end accessories poking up where the lower car intake's throttle body needs to be.

My motor came from a front-crashed truck, I was pretty much starting with a blank slate, so I used Corvette front end stuff, it's is about an inch shorter (length, not height) than the car stuff (Camaro/GTO), and a couple of inches shorter than the truck stuff.
Click to expand...
 
The original Volvo cruise control still works on mine. It's a vacuum actuator that works directly on the gas pedal itself, so all I did was get a Lokar cable kit and ran that to the pedal.

Actually works better than it did with the 16V turbo, because it's not into boost at cruising speeds, which makes the throttle response non-linear and confuses the cruise control logic.
 
lookforjoe said:
Thank you both for the valuable information on cooling system layout and the intake; cathedral port, 3 bolt TB. I'll look around for LS6 options. I'll stick with DBW - easier to keep stock cruise control functionality vs. adding cables & servo pods, etc., to make it work.

I'm wondering whether I will need to switch to the car version accessory drive (AC, PS, ALT) to gain that couple inches clearance for cooling system. That's a whole 'nother can of worms - there are so many variants it seems, bling aside (which I don't care for).
Click to expand...


Be sure to match the crank pulley to whatever set of accessories you decide to go with, because there are three 'depths'.

1NWd9b0c_o.jpg


https://www.ictbillet.com/swap-guide/ls-swap-guide/ls-crank-pulley-harmonic-balancer-swap-guide.html
 
I have my drivetrain scooted forward 1 1/4 inches, just to make room for the back end of the CD009 trans. I needed that clearance in front, even with the radiator against the rad support and the intercooler in the nose (not stacked behind the rad support like a factory turbo).

I think putting the motor where it would normally go would provide similar clearance even with the truck accessories.
 
Broke4speed said:
Be sure to match the crank pulley to whatever set of accessories you decide to go with, because there are three 'depths'.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that - I will keep that image for reference


JohnMc said:
I have my drivetrain scooted forward 1 1/4 inches, just to make room for the back end of the CD009 trans. I needed that clearance in front, even with the radiator against the rad support and the intercooler in the nose (not stacked behind the rad support like a factory turbo).

I think putting the motor where it would normally go would provide similar clearance even with the truck accessories.
Click to expand...

I'll test fit with what I have to start, can't see 1.5" being critical (based on Corivus's fit), but maybe that would mean less destruction of the bulkhead to allow the 4L60 to fit....
 
Coming back to the cooling system routing - I just realized I don't need to run the 3/4" hose back to the heater, just to the reservoir base, where the Volvo setup would come from the radiator mid tank. It seems the Volvo heater outlet then needs to come around & join that circuit, based on the posted LS cooling pic above. I guess I didn't need to buy the $50 heater hose w/elbow kit :roll:

LS%20cooling%20system%20-%20numbered_resize.jpg



To make this all work, the 3/4" needs to step down to 5/8" for the heater return hose to attach, and perhaps further to attach to the reservoir - I don't know what size that is offhand, seems like less that 5/8" from memory though.

PXL-20221126-143557652.jpg


Any of you have pics of the surge tank hose setup for reference?
 
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