Drummerboy,

Your write up is very helpful as I am also replacing my cooked LNF with a ZZP LDK engine.

A question I have is... the knock sensors that came attached to the LDK engine have a different p/n than the old LNF engine. (2621820 vs 12614342AA). Were you planning on using the new ones that came on the LDK or transferring your old ones off the LNF?

Someone that has already done the conversion should have first hand experience with this. To me, they look identical but I don't know if they are a calibrated or ? Anybody that has done the conversion?

Thanks,

Randy D.

 

I did the swap on my wife's 08 SS. I used the new sensors that came with the LDK. A tip given by alldata was to make sure the pigtail was installed at 90*. Didn't specify a direction but I have mine at 9o' clock with no issues.

 

I typed each of those part numbers into GMpartsoutlet and got no hits.

 

Good tip and thanks a lot. New at 9 o'clock it is!

 

Those numbers are stenciled on the pigtails of the knock sensors. I assumed they were part numbers. A Google search of the longer p/n pulls up some info. I too couldn't find any info on the short number.
Randy D

 

This one doesn't even have a connector, just splice it in?

https://www.google.ca/search?q=12621...z1ZX6Qp9FcM%3A

Part number 12621820

https://www.parts.com/index.cfm?fuse...R-KNOCK-SENSOR

 

Hey Randy,
Looks like someone got to it before I did. I honestly didn't think of that, but I know ZZP said it's a "plug and play" setup. I took that as being able to use everything that came attached to the LDK. Whatever was missing, I look off the LNF.

I just talked to Steve from ZZP last week, and he mentioned the LDK is a great replacement for the LNF. Higher compression ratio, and a sand cast block makes it more durable than the LNF.

Good Luck!
-Nick

 

Thanks for the reply.
One thing I noticed with your swap is a lot of electrical wiring is still attached to the engine. This would seem to make the swap a lot easier when it comes time to plug everything together. I have the factory service manuals and it basically has you keep all the wiring harness in the engine compartment. It becomes quite a rats nest when you combine it with all the hoses laying in there. I think I will review your pictures and connect some of the problem connectors and wiring harness sections to the engine before I install the LDK into the engine compartment.
Randy D.

 

Correct. We removed the LNF from the cradle with the harness still attached to all the ports on the engine. We then put the LDK on the cradle and inspected what was missing (AC motor, starter, etc) so we could see what to take off the LNF. As we were doing that, we started connecting the wiring harness to the LDK, that way we knew exactly where everything plugged in.

Plus - since we're adding a couple additional bolt ons, we wanted to make sure we kept the wires as clean as possible. We never thought about how much stuff connects to the manifold, and clips to brackets that keep other things in place! When you start replacing them with aftermarket bold-ons, you lose all that and have to figure out how to mount brackets, sensors, etc.

I'm lucky to have a brother who worked at a GM dealership for 15+ years and left around the time the delta I platform was discontinued - so this is something he is familiar with. Only thing that's a learning curve is the turbo setup.

 

Another update.

We worked on the car again this past Saturday, but I didn't get many pictures since I was at Home Depot trying to find adapters and fittings for the catch can setup, which I'll explain in a bit.

We had to install the other inner and outer tie rods since we only did 1 side last week (all AC Delco FE5 parts) and Moog end links. We then removed the line that connects the valve cover to the turbo inlet. On the turbo the connection is secure to the turbo using a 10mm bolt. Removed that and was able to turn and move the hose away from the turbo. We covered up the turbo and any possible openings in the back, and moved the line away from the engine so we could cut the hose.


Goal was to cut the hose, but we nicked the lip on the end connection too. We were able to just pull the connection off the valve cover port.

Since that was out of the way, it was time for me to figure out the catch can setup. I got the monster can from RX Speedworks back in feburary - which has 1 dirty in (B) and 2 clean outs (A and C). Goal was to filter the lines for turbo and intake manifold together into the B port of the can, then run line A to the turbo and line C to the manifold. Unfortunately this required a little more effort than we expected - and caused me to sit in Depot for almost an hour while I tried to make sure my head didn't explode. You can go crazy knowing that connections are in 2 separate isles, and you're seeing combinations of 1/2", 3/8" and 1/4" connections in various styles, combinations, and material.....oof!

With the current engine setup, the line running from the valve cover to the turbo inlet used a 3/8" hose, where the tap on the TTR manifold is a 1/4" and the catch can used 1/2". In order to T these together, I got a 3/8" T from Depot and put a 3/8" to 3/8" hose connection on one end, and a 3/8" to 1/4" connection on the other. We then took the 3/8" to 1/2" connection that came with the catch can setup at the end of the T so we could feed the line to the catch can.


If you saw earlier posts, you saw we installed a TTR manifold, which comes from them as a PCV delete. I want to keep the PCV functionality, so they taped it and included a PCV external housing. We took the 1/4" hose from the tapped flange to the PCV housing, then to the T pictured above. We also took an old bracket and fabricated a makeshift PCV bracket so we could mount it to the valve cover. We wanted this to be visible incase there is ever an issue it's easy to access. This is temporary until we either fabricate something better or get someone to do it for us.


next we hooked up the PCV valve to the manifold, then to the T for the catch can.




Since I was so long at Depot, my Brother was able to get everything else connected to the engine and cradle. Now the cradle looks exactly the way it did when we dropped the LNF out of the car.



Today I'm going over after work to clean the engine bay - I'm going to be putting this in the Conshohocken Car show June 4th, so I figured it's the perfect time to clean the engine bay with nothing in it.

Wednesday we put the cradle back in the car, then can figure out where the catch can will fit and run the line from the T to the dirty in of the catch can! We can then run the A and C clean lines to the Turbo inlet (3/8") and Intake Manifold (1/4"). Once the car is running, we'll test to make sure this all works and if it does, I'll replace the black rubber hoses with steel braided ones.


The end is in sight!!!