If you plan on swapping an LS motor into any GM car ’55 and up, you need to call this man! Phil Brewer, Sr. runs BRP Hot Rods in Cumming, GA (770-751-0687), which makes headers, motor mounts, crossmembers, oil pans, and all the other doo-dads required to make the small-block Chevy of the new millennia fit into your favorite GM. Phil’s posing here next to his non-working display car, a ’64 Lemans with an LS1. Swap kits typically start under $500, headers at $500, and oil pans at $250.
Phil’s car caught our eye at this year’s Year One Experience event, which is held every spring near Year One’s Braselton, GA, headquarters. Like many onlookers, we were drawn to the battered Lemans for its rat rod looks. “It’s not an actual driving car,” says Brewer, “I just needed a body to help demonstrate our product.” So many onlookers commented on the Pontiac’s cool patina, that Brewer is now thinking about actually fixing up the old rust bucket.
The main point is that one by one, Phil Brewer is knocking out the key conversion components to fit everybody’s new favorite mill—the LSX—into virtually every GM platform made in the last half century. Among the engines in the LS family are the small 4.8 and 5.3L variants like the LM7, on up to the ubiquitous LS1, found in hundreds of thousands of aging Camaros and Firebirds. Upmarket conversions also encompass the LS2, LS3, LS6, and LS7 powerplants found in more recent Corvettes, and offered as crate motors from GM Performance Parts.
Brewer admits that it’s a daunting task, and it won’t happen overnight, but he already has many kits available, including for the ’64 – ’72 GM A-body, ’67 – ’69 F-body, ’70 – ’81 F-body, ’62 – ’67 X-body, ’55 – 57 Tri-five, ’78 – ’88 G-body, ’63 – ’82 Corvette, and ’55 – 87 Chevy truck. For the most part, that covers engine and transmission mounts, but headers are also available (or on the way).