LS1 to Audi 01E Adapter COMPLETE!

01-09-08, 01:28 AM

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

andys · 01-09-08, 12:11 PM

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

01-09-08, 03:31 PM

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

andys · 01-10-08, 12:02 PM

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