WTB - DMC-12 With LS Swap

[beatboy77]

Looking to buy a DMC-12 which has gone through the LS swap. Prefer an automatic (if possible). Looking for one with a nearly flawless body. Cash in hand ready to move forward.

Josh

[Dangermouse]

Where are you located?

You know that there are only 2 (maybe 3) in North America and I can't see either of them selling.

[beatboy77]

Where are you located?

You know that there are only 2 (maybe 3) in North America and I can't see either of them selling.

I am in Colorado. I am willing to hire someone to build one as well.

[DMCMW Dave]

I am in Colorado. I am willing to hire someone to build one as well.

Good luck on the automatic. An LS mated to an automatic is a good way to make small parts out of big parts.

[beatboy77]

Good luck on the automatic. An LS mated to an automatic is a good way to make small parts out of big parts.

I am confident with the talent from several members here, it can be done.

[SamHill]

i am confident with the talent from several members here, it can be done.

lol.

[Farrar]

Assuming money is no object, you can go right ahead and pay someone to figure out how to swap in an LS engine and a modern automatic transmission, and then to do that for you. It will involve lots of fabrication of custom parts. You can go as fast as your wallet allows. :)

[Ryan King]

I am confident with the talent from several members here, it can be done.

HAH. Just throw enough cash around and you'll get what you want?

All the LS1 swaps were done through months of trial and error, custom fabrication, and above all, dedication.

You want one? Build it yourself.

[Ryan King]

Assuming money is no object, you can go right ahead and pay someone to figure out how to swap in an LS engine and a modern automatic transmission, and then to do that for you. It will involve lots of fabrication of custom parts. You can go as fast as your wallet allows. :)

Posted at the same time, Farrar.

[Farrar]

HAH. Just throw enough cash around and you'll get what you want?

I think about $80k oughta do it. ;)

^5 for simultaneous postings!

[Dangermouse]

I know someone who has a PT Cruiser AT that he isn't using at the moment ;)

[Ryan King]

I think about $80k oughta do it. ;)

46150

[Farrar]

I know someone who has a PT Cruiser AT that he isn't using at the moment ;)

You're joking, but I have seriously thought about what it would take to get that fourth gear in my D.

But that isn't the way to do it. Apart from having a fourth gear, it wouldn't be much of an improvement over the Renault 4141. If memory serves, the 41TE (which is in my PT) can handle ~200HP and ~200 lb./ft. of torque without modifications. (Same transaxle was used in N/A and boosted 4-cylinders, plus the pre-Pentastar-era 2.7L and 3.0L V6.) You can find guides for DIY bolstering the 41TE on Mopar modding websites/forums. But again, there's time and money vs. reality.

Besides which, though I'd love to have overdrive in #2613, the transaxle in my PT was mated to a transversely-mounted engine in the front of a front-wheel-drive car. There would be far too much engineering involved for me to make that kind of a swap. I don't have the tools, knowledge, or talent for that.

[Rich_NYS]

Good luck on the automatic. An LS mated to an automatic is a good way to make small parts out of big parts.

Josh can destroy them one after the other...lol!

[beatboy77]

Wow, I have to say reading the comments here are quite condescending. I am simply asking if someone here in the forum with the talent would be interested in a project like this. I personally do not have the talent to do a project like this, so I am simply inquiring if anyone is interested for hire to do so. I understand having an AT would be challenging, however I would like for my wife to be able to drive the car as well.

After reading through many of the threads, it is evident there are some members here with crazy good talent. I am VERY impressed by them.

I am a serious car collector and have budgeted up to $100k for a build of this magnitude. Like many of you, I have pined to have a DMC-12 since the mid-80's. I just prefer classic cars which have been restomodded. I am not saying we need to only go with an LS engine, I am open to other options as well.

Josh

[Michael]

Josh, there is a member here who had a VW vr6 engine installed in his car by an outfit that specializes in these custom builds. I'm sure someone knows who this is and I even contacted the shop who did the build because I was curious as to what a engine swap would run. I was very impressed by his work I had seen in the pictures and his estimate was extremely reasonable.

I believe (and again I'm going on some pretty dusty memory here) his name was Eddie and his shop was SEO Motorsports.

[beatboy77]

Josh, there is a member here who had a VW vr6 engine installed in his car by an outfit that specializes in these custom builds. I'm sure someone knows who this is and I even contacted the shop who did the build because I was curious as to what a engine swap would run. I was very impressed by his work I had seen in the pictures and his estimate was extremely reasonable.

I believe (and again I'm going on some pretty dusty memory here) his name was Eddie and his shop was SEO Motorsports.

Thank You Michael!

Josh

[vwdmc16]

If I recall as well, Ed G shut down his shop atleast for the time being to concentrate on family.

[Josh]

Wow, I have to say reading the comments here are quite condescending. I am simply asking if someone here in the forum with the talent would be interested in a project like this. I personally do not have the talent to do a project like this, so I am simply inquiring if anyone is interested for hire to do so. I understand having an AT would be challenging, however I would like for my wife to be able to drive the car as well.

After reading through many of the threads, it is evident there are some members here with crazy good talent. I am VERY impressed by them.

I am a serious car collector and have budgeted up to $100k for a build of this magnitude. Like many of you, I have pined to have a DMC-12 since the mid-80's. I just prefer classic cars which have been restomodded. I am not saying we need to only go with an LS engine, I am open to other options as well.

Josh

Hi Josh,

As far as I know there are two ls swapped deloreans in N/A, one of them being my car. There are a few more as projects scattered over the world, but all standards.
Nothing is impossible, Porsche makes some auto gear boxes that could handle the power of a v8. This would be a new avenue in the Delorean LS swap world, so a lot of r&d work would be required. But once again not impossible.
The thing with engine swaps (especially LS swaps) is there are a lot of people that want one, but do not understand the magnitude of the project. In terms of cost, labour, and the thought that goes into something like this. This kind of explains the tone of this thread.
Feel free to pm me if you are seriously considering this, I can try my best to help.

[Shuttleman]

I convinced my wife by getting her in the car reassuring her on whatever she was doing with the clutch and gaz pedal. She likes it very much now (and she is good). I had to do that since all the cars I own are standard. But I understand it is a personal preference. Another thing I did is take her to the track in a high power rear engine car and told her to accelerate and let go of the accelerator while in gear so she could experience the rear of the car getting in the front. This is more difficult to control in a automatic since you can't disengage the engine from the wheel when the rear end goes wild when not familiar with high powered cars. There is a lot of automatic Mustangs on youtube doing just that. 46153461544615546156461574615846159

[sdg3205]

Hi Josh,

As far as I know there are two ls swapped deloreans in N/A, one of them being my car. There are a few more as projects scattered over the world, but all standards.
Nothing is impossible, Porsche makes some auto gear boxes that could handle the power of a v8. This would be a new avenue in the Delorean LS swap world, so a lot of r&d work would be required. But once again not impossible.
The thing with engine swaps (especially LS swaps) is there are a lot of people that want one, but do not understand the magnitude of the project. In terms of cost, labour, and the thought that goes into something like this. This kind of explains the tone of this thread.
Feel free to pm me if you are seriously considering this, I can try my best to help.

Josh S. - Is your car for sale at $100k if you're paid to R&D the auto transaxle?

Josh (OP) - my wife had to learn stick for her dream car (MX-5). Any reason yours can't?

[Josh]

Josh S. - Is your car for sale at $100k if you're paid to R&D the auto transaxle?

Josh (OP) - my wife had to learn stick for her dream car (MX-5). Any reason yours can't?

My car is never for sale. Well at least while I am alive.

[Josh]

I convinced my wife by getting her in the car reassuring her on whatever she was doing with the clutch and gaz pedal. She likes it very much now (and she is good). I had to do that since all the cars I own are standard. But I understand it is a personal preference. Another thing I did is take her to the track in a high power rear engine car and told her to accelerate and let go of the accelerator while in gear so she could experience the rear of the car getting in the front. This is more difficult to control in a automatic since you can't disengage the engine from the wheel when the rear end goes wild when not familiar with high powered cars. There is a lot of automatic Mustangs on youtube doing just that. 46153461544615546156461574615846159

Olivier your work is absolutely beautiful. The attention to detail is amazing.

[Dangermouse]

[QUOTE=Shuttleman;205378]I convinced my wife by getting her in the car reassuring her on whatever she was doing with the clutch and gaz pedal. She likes it very much now (and she is good). I had to do that since all the cars I own are standard. But I understand it is a personal preference. Another thing I did is take her to the track in a high power rear engine car and told her to accelerate and let go of the accelerator while in gear so she could experience the rear of the car getting in the front. This is more difficult to control in a automatic since you can't disengage the engine from the wheel when the rear end goes wild when not familiar with high powered cars. There is a lot of automatic Mustangs on youtube doing just that. 46153461544615546156461574615846159[/QUOT

Nice work!!!!

Is this now a running car, or is it still a work in progress?

[Shuttleman]

Thank you Josh! Going with the LS4 was really inovative of you. I appreciate that kind of extra effort you had to go through to do this.

Also thanks to Nick, I would not have done this swap if he did not make his blog which showed that it could fit. His is gearbox coupler is really appreciated too. (And his shaft is what the dreams are made of and I want it but this sentence may sound a little bit gay lol).

[Dangermouse]

Wow, I have to say reading the comments here are quite condescending. I am simply asking if someone here in the forum with the talent would be interested in a project like this. I personally do not have the talent to do a project like this, so I am simply inquiring if anyone is interested for hire to do so. I understand having an AT would be challenging, however I would like for my wife to be able to drive the car as well.

After reading through many of the threads, it is evident there are some members here with crazy good talent. I am VERY impressed by them.

I am a serious car collector and have budgeted up to $100k for a build of this magnitude. Like many of you, I have pined to have a DMC-12 since the mid-80's. I just prefer classic cars which have been restomodded. I am not saying we need to only go with an LS engine, I am open to other options as well.

Josh

Apologies of some comments seem "condescending" - it's just that we get a lot of dreamers who claim when they get their D, the first thing they will do is rip out that "pathetic PRV" and install "engine du jour" based on their Gran Turismo 4 creation assuming that it is a simple drop in replacement.


If you are serious, it sounds like you should contact DMCH and see if this would fit within their "new" delorean program

[Shuttleman]

[QUOTE=Shuttleman;205378]I convinced my wife by getting her in the car reassuring her on whatever she was doing with the clutch and gaz pedal. She likes it very much now (and she is good). I had to do that since all the cars I own are standard. But I understand it is a personal preference. Another thing I did is take her to the track in a high power rear engine car and told her to accelerate and let go of the accelerator while in gear so she could experience the rear of the car getting in the front. This is more difficult to control in a automatic since you can't disengage the engine from the wheel when the rear end goes wild when not familiar with high powered cars. There is a lot of automatic Mustangs on youtube doing just that. 46153461544615546156461574615846159[/QUOT

Nice work!!!!

Is this now a running car, or is it still a work in progress?

Thanks, I am working on the exhaust now. Tomorrow I'm leaving for 28 days because of my work, so fabrication will resume then. It is also going through a full restoration of the car. Good things takes time, although this saying does not apply to Josh as he can swap an engine overnight.:smile:

[DARCOM]

I have been dreaming about a LS motor in my Delorean ever since i saw this at sema.

[at88mph]

I have been dreaming about a LS motor in my Delorean ever since i saw this at sema.


Unfortunately I don't see ANY way a LS series mated to an auto trans will fit into the DeLorean frame period. This is just my opinion bc as many said, if you have enough money....but frame wise, I don't see it. When I was doing my swap back in '01, I wanted to put a LS6 into mine. (Mine was a auto DMC at the time) With the custom bell housing (or even the bellhousing shown above; which I believe is an auto setup) mated to that Porsche transaxle, I don't see all that fitting into the DeLorean engine/trans area.

With my 4.3 mated to the auto, I had to run a short water pump and STILL had to notch the rear fascia just to get it to fit. However, that being said, when the auto trans crapped out on me, and I found the Porsche 915 transaxle, the bell housing size went to roughly 3/4 of an inch!!! PLENTLY of room to drop a LS series engine in there now with the manual 915 but the 4.3 has so far been COMPLETELY bullet proof and....well, if it ain't broke I'm not gonna fix it. I have decent power and no issues whatsoever but when the 4.3 does finally go, I do have a spare LS1 engine that I'll drop in at that time. (recently swapped out my LS1 in the Vette so I have the spare)

So in short, if you're lookin at a LS series engine, manual is the way to go and if you go stock DMC transaxle, your weak point is going to be the input shaft. If you go with a 915 or G50 Porsche trans, you'll be good to go.

Hope this helps :)

[Josh]

Unfortunately I don't see ANY way a LS series mated to an auto trans will fit into the DeLorean frame period. This is just my opinion bc as many said, if you have enough money....but frame wise, I don't see it. When I was doing my swap back in '01, I wanted to put a LS6 into mine. (Mine was a auto DMC at the time) With the custom bell housing (or even the bellhousing shown above; which I believe is an auto setup) mated to that Porsche transaxle, I don't see all that fitting into the DeLorean engine/trans area.

With my 4.3 mated to the auto, I had to run a short water pump and STILL had to notch the rear fascia just to get it to fit. However, that being said, when the auto trans crapped out on me, and I found the Porsche 915 transaxle, the bell housing size went to roughly 3/4 of an inch!!! PLENTLY of room to drop a LS series engine in there now with the manual 915 but the 4.3 has so far been COMPLETELY bullet proof and....well, if it ain't broke I'm not gonna fix it. I have decent power and no issues whatsoever but when the 4.3 does finally go, I do have a spare LS1 engine that I'll drop in at that time. (recently swapped out my LS1 in the Vette so I have the spare)

So in short, if you're lookin at a LS series engine, manual is the way to go and if you go stock DMC transaxle, your weak point is going to be the input shaft. If you go with a 915 or G50 Porsche trans, you'll be good to go.

Hope this helps :)

I fail to see how you are any farther ahead with a 915 transaxle compared to a UN1 with an upgraded coupler. For this reason I do not understand why anyone would run a g15 in a delorean.
As for the g50, it would be a similar story to the fitment of an auto. It is a HUGE transmission. and expensive once you rebuild one and convert it to a side shift.

[AdamKontras]

Unfortunately I don't see ANY way a LS series mated to an auto trans will fit into the DeLorean frame period. This is just my opinion bc as many said, if you have enough money....but frame wise, I don't see it. When I was doing my swap back in '01, I wanted to put a LS6 into mine. (Mine was a auto DMC at the time) With the custom bell housing (or even the bellhousing shown above; which I believe is an auto setup) mated to that Porsche transaxle, I don't see all that fitting into the DeLorean engine/trans area.

With my 4.3 mated to the auto, I had to run a short water pump and STILL had to notch the rear fascia just to get it to fit. However, that being said, when the auto trans crapped out on me, and I found the Porsche 915 transaxle, the bell housing size went to roughly 3/4 of an inch!!! PLENTLY of room to drop a LS series engine in there now with the manual 915 but the 4.3 has so far been COMPLETELY bullet proof and....well, if it ain't broke I'm not gonna fix it. I have decent power and no issues whatsoever but when the 4.3 does finally go, I do have a spare LS1 engine that I'll drop in at that time. (recently swapped out my LS1 in the Vette so I have the spare)

So in short, if you're lookin at a LS series engine, manual is the way to go and if you go stock DMC transaxle, your weak point is going to be the input shaft. If you go with a 915 or G50 Porsche trans, you'll be good to go.

Hope this helps :)

Even with my short time in this swap world, I have to 2nd and 3rd the notion that there's no way you're mating an LS with any auto trans other than the Delorean on the original frame. I wanted to do the same and there simply isn't the room. And the original Delorean auto trans will be destroyed by an LS... attempting it is beyond foolish. Manual is the only way to handle that power in that chassis long term... hell, even short term.

[Nicholas R]

Even with my short time in this swap world, I have to 2nd and 3rd the notion that there's no way you're mating an LS with any auto trans other than the Delorean on the original frame. I wanted to do the same and there simply isn't the room. And the original Delorean auto trans will be destroyed by an LS... attempting it is beyond foolish. Manual is the only way to handle that power in that chassis long term... hell, even short term.

Agreed, I've looked at a lot of different automatics trying to come up with something. Best I could consider is one of the Porsche automatics from the 90s, which I still think you'd have to heavily modify the frame for. Plus, even then, my understanding is due to the lack of computer communication, they will only operate as a "shiftronic" transmission rather than an automatic that shifts on its own. Not worth the effort in my book.

[Will F.]

Are any of the LS swapped guys selling any of the basic parts to make the swap? Flywheel clutch assembly, adaptor plate, ect? Just curious. The problem with most of the swapped cars is the people that have done them want a fortune for the necessary parts. Listen, I know it takes a lot of R&D, but having a reasonable priced part or even selling the cad files could better open the doors for better swaps, and maybe a bit of refinement from the original.

[Rich_NYS]

I've decided to sell Josh from Canada's badass swap; he has no knowledge of this, so I appreciate if we can keep it on the DL.

We'll meet somewhere near the border after dark, please wear dark clothes and bring your own ski mask.

[Josh]

Ok Ill keep quiet. Dont want to mess up your plan. I have a ski mask too, can I join?

Will, I sent you a PM

[Rich_NYS]

Ok Ill keep quiet. Dont want to mess up your plan. I have a ski mask too, can I join?


ARRRGGHHH...! Who told him?!!

[sdg3205]

ARRRGGHHH...! Who told him?!!

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