LT5 swap into 89MY L98?

[widebodyzr-1]

Originally Posted by Corvettes White

The ’89 Z’s used the same computer as the ‘90’s mounted in the engine compartment. I believe that the electronics in the Atari dash were replaced by the CCM in ‘90. None of the references I have show a second computer in an ‘89 Z.

If you are dead serious on doing this, give me a call, I have thought most of the project through. Make sure you do not mix and match parts too much. And expect to spend some coin depending on how far you are going to take this.

George

thanks George, i will be calling you this week.

and yes, dead serious on swapping LT5 into my 89. i realize the easy route is to pick up a real Z... but there's a certain sentiment to 22 year old low-mileage vette ordered from the factory.

[VetteVet]

Just some thoughts based on what I know (and some of what I think I know). I'm not putting this out as gospel, just the way that I understand things to work.

As far as I know, the only dash info affected would be the fuel economy information and possibly the tach. The oil pressure, coolant temp, oil temp, fuel level, etc. should be OK since they have dedicated senders feeding the dash directly.

The tach could be a problem because the 89 gets it's tach signal from the ignition primary circuit via a tach filter. The ZR-1 tach signal is a 5 volt TTL level signal generated by the Ignition Control Module. If the 89 dash will trigger from the TTL signal, you should be OK.

The digital dash gets information for fuel economy, range, etc. calculations from the ALDL data that the ECM is broadcasting. There are different datastreams used, depending on year, model and ECM. This will lead to problems.

For example, if the dash is looking for byte 6 in the 89 datastream, the same byte in the 90 ZR-1 ECM datastream will more than likely not be the correct piece of information that the dash needs. Thus the info displayed by the dash will be erroneous.

With that being said, the code that the 90 ZR-1 is running can be modified to broadcast a compatible datastream. The downside to this is that the modified datastream will now cause problems with diagnostics when a scan tool is hooked up.

I don't think any of this is insurmountable, just pointing out some of the problems that you could possibly run into.

Jep

[Corvettes White]

If you want, If you have the aility, If it would even make a difference in response to the above comment. The removable chip that was used in 1989 Z's, I have two versions that you may copy if you wish.

[XfireZ51]

Originally Posted by widebodyzr-1

thanks George, i will be calling you this week.

and yes, dead serious on swapping LT5 into my 89. i realize the easy route is to pick up a real Z... but there's a certain sentiment to 22 year old low-mileage vette ordered from the factory.

I owned my 84 for 24 years. For sometime, I strongly considered installing an LSx motor in it. I went ahead and bought a ZR-1. Sentiment went out the window. I really don't think about the 84 much.

[Pete]

I think with all the money and labor you'll put into it you can buy a complete ZR-1 the prices of ZR-1's in the gutter today.

If you decide to do it i have a complete A/C parts for ZR-1/LT5

Pete

[widebodyzr-1]

Originally Posted by -=Jeff=-

If seems to me you are hung up on having a CCM.. Why?

I think Option 1 is the best solution.. I did the 90-91 dash in an 89 it is not as simple as it may seem

ultimately, looking for least painful (time and $$$) route to getting dash/electronics working. i just need to slow down and think this one through.

[RHanselman]

I talked with bill a few months back and he said he used the new computer and just pinned out the connectors to the right outputs. He lost his fuel computations and that was it...

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by RHanselman

I talked with bill a few months back and he said he used the new computer and just pinned out the connectors to the right outputs. He lost his fuel computations and that was it...

Yep that is expected.. all else will work

[phrogs]

I have 90 Dash with harness and CCM still installed, you would need to track down the Dash cluster but I have the dash cover, the skeleton with harness, All the vents, the Info center and almost all the ZR-1 specific wiring harnesses except an engine harness

I have the body harness the headlight harness all of it.

It's kinda what you want to do and if you really want the 89 dash.
Since you can bypass the power key with the chip its not like you have to incorporate the valet key.

[widebodyzr-1]

thanks for all the posts on this thread guys. i really appreciate the knowledge share you all are providing this outsider (no ZR-1 in my stable).

i'll be tackling installing my 90 LT5 into my 89 and making the existing dash work. this is a long term project, so i have no expectations going in to this; i'll work issues as they come up.

first up is p&p heads and top end. also weighing the cost of 368 or 415 upgrades.