LS1 to Audi 01E Adapter COMPLETE!

S

svsgt1

Guest
Hey guys, I forgot to post pictures of this when I finished it a while back. But anyway the adapter and everything else is done for the Chevy LS1 to Audi 01E conversion. It is a 1" thick adapter plate made of aluminum. It uses a stock LS1 starter, flat LS1 flexplate, stock Audi flywheel, stock Audi clutch, and stock Audi slave cylinder. The cool part is that it also uses the stock LS1 pilot bearing as apparently the T56 and 01E have the same shaft diameter at that point. Anyway, the other custom piece is basically what mounts/spaces everything together inside which also aligns the gearbox input shaft and holds the pilot bearing. It is a pretty simple design and everything went together perfectly the first time. I should be firing the unit in the next 2-3 weeks when I get it back from the exhaust shop to fix the mistakes the guy made. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy. Sorry for not having pictures of the internals as I didn't take pictures of those when I made them.

Thanks,
Adam
 

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Adam,

Nice work!

How did you adapt the Audi flywheel to the LS1 crank hub/flexplate? Did you use the dual mass Audi flywheel? As I recall, the Audi flywheel 6 bolt circle pattern doesn't allow room to accommodate staggering the LS1 6 bolt pattern mostly due to unavailability of anything other than standard hex head bolts (the LS1 has that weird M11x15 thread). Do you have any photos on how you solved adapting the flywheel?

In order to use the stock LS1 starter with that long snout, did you cut out some of the transaxle bellhousing casting for clearance?

It's interesting that the stock LS1 pilot bearing ID is the same as the Audi (15mm). I suspect you had to extend the pilot bearing quite a bit in order to reach the input shaft.

Thanks,

Andy
 
S

svsgt1

Guest
To answer your questions. I'm actually using a Fidanza Aluminum flywheel for this Audi box. I did have to drill 6 new holes to fit the LS1 crank pattern but there was plenty of room for them. You do have to make recess for the new holes just like the stock holes are in this flywheel. The hardest part was finding the bolts that are long enough. I did have to get the custom made from ARP, but they actually had some left over from another customers request.

The starter is actually an aftermarket LS1 starter so it does NOT have the snout on the end of the gear. I did NOT have to machine away at the bellhousing.

Yes, I did find it rather funny that the pilot bearing ID is the same. Considering that the T56 input shaft protrudes forward from the bellhousing and the Audi 01E in behind the bellhousing mounting surface I did have to push the pilot bearing out about 2 inches. But the slick part about this piece is that it fits into the LS1 crank where the pilot bearing is supposed to go so that it can be cenetered. Plus it also acts as a spacer and a centering guide for the flywheel since the lip on the LS1 crank is not long enough. The whole things gets bolted on with the flywheel so there is no chance of extra stress being put on the pilot bearing.

I do apologize about the lack of pictures of the internal parts as that is really the best part. If and when I take the trans off the engine I will post some pictures of them but hopefully that won't be for a while.

Thanks,
Adam
 
Adam,

Thanks for your response. I realized that you mentioned not having photos after I hit send; sorry for that.

I have done some work on adapting the 01E to an LS1. I have one more question about your setup, if you don't mind sharing your experiences. The LS1 flex plate ring gear extends back 7/8" from the block surface. If your adapter plate is only 1" thick, that only leaves 1/8" of material thickness for the adapter plate and no clearance for the ring gear. Add some clearance, and you have nothing left. Did I miss something in how the assembly goes together?

I never thought of contacting ARP directly for the crank bolts. I got my bolts from Quartermaster who sources them from ARP; they're actually shorter than the stock LS1 bolts, yet the stack up of thicknesses of the ring gear and Quartermaster button flywheel is more that stock. I believe the crank bolts from the LS series truck motors are slightly longer than the LS1. Do you perhaps have a contact person at ARP that will know what I'm talking about if I inquire about longer flywheel bolts? BTW, how long were the one's you used? I've usually found them to be somewhat less than technical; simply thumbing through catalogs.

Regards,

Andy
 
Sorry for the extremely late response. I never got the thread reply notifications. Anyway Andy, I'm using the flat LS1 flexplate and NOT using the spacer. It is the black one that is to some spec (SFI if I remeber correctly) This gives me the extra clearance I need to allow the adapter to be thick enough. I think it is somewhere around 1/2" of material left on the adapter plate which is plenty.

Josh, I would be able to duplicate it but I'm still considering if I want to sell something like this or not. First I need to prove that it works and right now I'm almost to that stange of abusing the crap out of it. Unfortunately I need to pull the motor and diagnose a low oil pressure problem. Then it will get some good track time hopefully by the end of the year.
 
I'm not sure about the exact numbers yet as Iran into a bit of an issue while tunning the ECU. Probablly bearing related but I won't know until I open her up which will hopefully be this week. But I'm planning on making some where around the 470-485hp at the wheels. So no high rpm clutch drops for me.

I had the headers made at a local shop in Coral Springs. I will say the quality is definietly not there but they were cheap so I can't complain. They will still function just fine but they don't have the best looking of welds.
 
I don't suppose by any chance you have an accurate drawing of the LS1 bolt holes. I have been searching in vain and whilst I have a bellhousing to measure there appears to be no logical pattern!

If you do could you possibly send me an e-mail [email protected]

John
 
I'm in similar situation. had been scoudering the net for information on LS1 and Audi trans bellhousing mounting polt patterns with no luck.
Could you possibly send me a copy of those drawing to [email protected]

Jerry
 
I'm working on my Toyota V8 to Audi 012 adapter. during this I've talking with a Ceng buddy of mine who works for a major automotive consultancy. He was very down on the idea of using the flex plate unsupported at the periphery in the same way it would typically be when used with a torque converter.
Potential problems he saw were vibration and failure of the part.

I had planned to do something similar to whats been described here, but he's really urging me to do a design where the ring gear is taken off of the flex plate and attached to the flywheel proper.

I guess my question are there people out there with experience of running this type of setup i.e. a separate flex plate and flywheel bolted to the crank. And whats been the experience of people doing this?

Thanks,
 
Doug,

The type of setup where a flex plate is retained by a separate flywheel is common in stock car racing. You can view this arrangement on WEB sites such as QuarterMaster, Tilton, and Power Train Technology. I'm employing such an arrangement, which I sent over to a local race shop to have it balanced as an assembly.

Andy
 

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Hi Andy,

Thanks for that I think the difference with what I was planning is that the flex plate would only be supported at the crank.
Looking at the QuarterMaster setup the bolts at the periphery of the clutch also support the flex plate I think?

Below is the current impression of the plan...

Any thoughts?

Option-1.jpg
 
Doug,

What you have posted (3D model) is exactly what QuarterMaster et al call a "Button Flywheel." It mounts onto the crank flange just as does your proposal. Here's a photo of a QuarterMaster "Button Flywheel" that bolts to the crank flange with the flexplate sandwiched in between. The outermost bolts do not connect to the flex plate; they only retain the pressure plate to the button flywheel. It's a common practice on stock cars.

Andy
 

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That is really nice, well done. Quick question though, did you have your flywheel rebalanced after you drilled the new holes? This might not be bad idea before you install the entire assy into your car.

Just a thought.

Erik Johnson
Carquip Sales
(303) 443-1343 ext 2 work
(720) 980-9407 cell
 
hi svsgt1<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
I just hit your link about the 01e trans. Just wondering if you ever made any further headway in making those drawing. I'm at the current time scowering the net on how to adopt the Audi trans into LS1 and would love to see some more info on how you have done yours. if you can please post some more pics specificaly the adapter plate or mail it to my self directy at [email protected]

thanks, jerry
 
Hi Andy,

Thanks for that I think the difference with what I was planning is that the flex plate would only be supported at the crank.
Looking at the QuarterMaster setup the bolts at the periphery of the clutch also support the flex plate I think?

Below is the current impression of the plan...

Any thoughts?

Hi Andy and Doug,

I have been doing something similar too. Do you know of a smaller diameter ring gear to fit on this stuff somehow so I can lower the engine and use dry sump oiling?
 
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