Back in the day I know Mallett would build you a brand new LS powered Solstice or Sky for eleventy billion dollars. But have we talked about a GRM approach with used parts? Solstices (Solsti?) are getting pretty cheap these days. How LEGOish are these cars when it comes to pulling out the ecotech and dropping an LS in? It doesn't seem like a terrible platform.
HOT ROD article from about 10 years ago
Seems like it's not so simple an affair, though most of the parts are available from GM or junkyard.
I remember Hot Rod Magazine did an LS7 swap prior to the Mallett swap becoming commercially available.
You'll have to do a little hunting for the rest of their articles but here is the first one, which includes the entire parts list.
edit: I'm not even surprised I was beaten to the punch on this one.
That Hot Rod article listed a whole mess of brand-new GM part numbers, which when added up would probably be far beyond a GRM budget. However, I'd bet you could get all of those parts from a wrecked Camaro SS, and I'd also bet there's more than a few of those out there on Copart.
penultimeta wrote: HOT ROD article from about 10 years ago Seems like it's not so simple an affair, though most of the parts are available from GM or junkyard.
Found that article as well. They do provide a lot of information but all the parts are specified by part number. That would be fine if I wanted to drop by the local GM Dealer's parts department and spend 42 bazillion dollars to buy everything brand new. They also use an LS7 with the dry sump system which is cool but not necessary. I guess there is no easy answer like I was hoping for.
Also...
Check this one out - a zero mileage flood damaged SS for less than $8K currently. Can you even imagine a more perfect donor? Use the engine and drivetrain for the swap, then sell off all the perfect body panels and other unused parts. You could almost make a profit on it.
pinchvalve wrote: Also...
That's cool and all, but it's anything but cheap. Plus as much as I like NB's I do not fit in them properly. The Solstice's popped up on my radar because they are getting stupid cheap and they are made for more "American" sized people. Also, from what I understand you can stuff stupid large tires under one.
Would buying a GXP and cranking the boost get you to where you want to be? Seems like the easier, cheaper option.
STM317 wrote: Would buying a GXP and cranking the boost get you to where you want to be? Seems like the easier, cheaper option.
Buy the GXP, sell drivetrain to someone with an S10, then install LSx. Sounds like 2 people would win there.
Apparently a 2JZ swap is "actually surprisingly easy". Looks like it would be a lot easier to work on.
mblommel wrote:penultimeta wrote: HOT ROD article from about 10 years ago Seems like it's not so simple an affair, though most of the parts are available from GM or junkyard.Found that article as well. They do provide a lot of information but all the parts are specified by part number. That would be fine if I wanted to drop by the local GM Dealer's parts department and spend 42 bazillion dollars to buy everything brand new. They also use an LS7 with the dry sump system which is cool but not necessary. I guess there is no easy answer like I was hoping for.
Looks like a lot of that stuff could potentially be included with a donor motor as well, if you could get away with running the accessory setup it came with (probably not the case for a truck motor, but I'd think an F body, GTO, or Corvette setup should clear.) If you can stand to skip stuff like AC or maybe even power steering that could cut some expense as well.
Motor mounts look to be an off the shelf part, which cuts out a lot of the expense in a Miata swap because you don't have to buy a whole sub frame. CTS-V diff swap looks to be necessary still, but can you get away with running the stock halfshafts? That would cut a good chunk of change vs the Miata swap as well.
Yeah, I think looking up which cars those parts belong to and then figuring out which Copart wreck gives you the biggest cross-section of stuff is how this one gets done on a budget.
Then you'd get to see this every day:
How cool would that be?
If I had a Solstice and a suitable LS to swap into it, the first thing i would do is sell the Solstice and buy a Sky. 
Typically, I love the idea of stuffing a V8 in cars never intended to have that much power. However, sometimes it just doesn't make any logical sense to me. Seems like what you end up with is just a slightly shorter wheel base Corvette. Except its got all the custom built tuner car quirks, rather than being oem reliable. I get the whole "build it yourself" idea....but C6 Corvettes can be had for well under 20k now. Can you buy a solstice, buy a drivetrain and build the car, with all its needed parts and electronics to run/drive better than simply buying a Vett? I feel like that's a easy no.
Heads to Craigslist to search for solstice
mblommel wrote:pinchvalve wrote: Also...That's cool and all, but it's anything but cheap. Plus as much as I like NB's I do not fit in them properly. The Solstice's popped up on my radar because they are getting stupid cheap and they are made for more "American" sized people. Also, from what I understand you can stuff stupid large tires under one.
Check to make sure you fit, because the Solstice/Sky twins have less interior room than a Miata, in my experience. I'm 6'3" and fit in an NA Miata comfortably. Every Solstice I've ever driven has my knees jammed into the dashboard and the back of the steering wheel and unable to work the clutch. And the top is an engineering travesty.
TGMF wrote: Typically, I love the idea of stuffing a V8 in cars never intended to have that much power. However, sometimes it just doesn't make any logical sense to me. Seems like what you end up with is just a slightly shorter wheel base Corvette. Except its got all the custom built tuner car quirks, rather than being oem reliable. I get the whole "build it yourself" idea....but C6 Corvettes can be had for well under 20k now. Can you buy a solstice, buy a drivetrain and build the car, with all its needed parts and electronics to run/drive better than simply buying a Vett? I feel like that's a easy no.
Size and weight.
In reply to Keith Tanner:
With a cramped interior and a sub-200 pound pre-swap weight difference (GXP vs C6 Z51), I just don't see either of those being being overly advantageous for a street car.
Driven5 wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: With an cramped interior and a sub-200 pound pre-swap weight difference (GXP vs C6 Z51), I just don't see either of those being being overly advantageous for a street car.
yep. Now add in the heavier engine,cooling system, trans, diff, wheels, tires and brakes and its a wash....thus my conclusion.
Didn't realize the Solstice was so porky. There's a 1000 lb difference between our LS3 ND and a current Z06.
In reply to Keith Tanner:
Yeah, that was a huge sticking point in the media when these came out. The weight difference with the NC is something like 500 lbs. Even with the extra power options, it still wasn't really comparing apples to apples.
The engine fits the SHELL okay, but there's a lot of electronic jiggery-pokery if you want things to work. There's a guy who did figure out which combination of PCM and BCM and other things are required, and he's quite protective of this information.
When my boss's dad did his, he disassembled the rack, removed the ram line fitting that was fouling on the engine, TIGed the hole shut, and TIGed the fitting back in at a different clock position. Without messing up the bore. Skills.
I still want to know how they routed the exhaust on the left side, too. The transmission was practically hard up against the tunnel.
singleslammer wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: Yeah, that was a huge sticking point in the media when these came out. The weight difference with the NC is something like 500 lbs. Even with the extra power options, it still wasn't really comparing apples to apples.
The miserable trunk space was another huge complaint. Obviously on cars like this, there's never going to be a ton of trunk space, but the Solstice/Sky with the top down was pitiful
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