Vonrottes

Figured I'd go ahead and "show off" what I've got.
and give a little back story on the hoopty

Started life out as a stock 2.8L/T5 truck 1992 S10 Tahoe had A/C and power steering but no power doors, truck was given to my dad around 2003 and didn't hit the road until around 2009 (after a transmission and rearend swap) stock odo read somewhere around 280k



then in 2012 after a LOT of researching and debating I decided to do a V8 swap and be another "v8 S10" guy initially I was going to do a LT1 swap, but a few forums talked me into the LS-series.

and in january of 2013 I got my engine and transmission a 1999 (maybe 2000) LR4 4.8L drop out from a silverado with 4l60e, pcm and harness for $1,200 was told it only had 180k




Over the course of a few months I started slowly getting other parts needed and tearing my truck apart.




Skipping everything in between because tl;dr

Now I'm here:






Still running the stock LR4 with stock 4L60E
Supporting mods/parts are:
Blazer center console/shifter
V8S10 poly engine mounts
forward mounted "stock" HD radiator
JTR axle setback plates
Ford 8.8 (3.73 w/LSD) and Escape wheels
B&M stacked plate trans cooler(-6an lines)
-6an feed and return fuel lines
Aeromotive Stealth 340 fuel pump
untouched Truck harness W/ truck fuse block
Heat only HVAC box
Full "custom" Dual exhaust
Volvo fan with "custom" sheet pan shroud
RI Stainless short tube headers

Unnecessary mods/parts/upgrades:
Bravada grille
Bravada overhead DIC with Homelink
Removable Dash tablet for gauges & audio
Factory 6k Digital dash (everything works)
Powerstop Drilled/slotted rotors & ceramic pads Front and rear
Energy suspension poly body mounts
33mm swaybar w/ poly bushings

Planned upgrades:
LY2 engine W/ 799 heads, LS6 intake and a custom airbox
stronger 4l60e
"quick" ratio steering box
complete rewire w/ integrated F-body BCM (might try to use passkey system)
Power doors
Cruise control
A/C with LY2
Tubular core support
Fiberglass hood/fenders
new rocker panels
matching Enkei rsf5 wheels
and so much more...

This is 100% a daily driven truck and my only transportation, so progress is...slow to say the least.
Fuel mileage last time I actually checked it on the highway (with leaky header gaskets) was 26.5mpg on a trip from Columbus to Salem, ohio.
before I fixed some BAD exhaust leaks I was getting around 15mpg city(that's with the fuel trims maxing out at idle)
still better than the old V6 that got 10.4 city and 28 highway

If anyone is interested in more pictures... I have everything from before the V8 to current along with plans and failures postes at
http://leameperdue.tumblr.com/tagged/s10

army11b

very nice, something tells me you'll need wider rear tires. +1 for not doing a carbed v8 swap

Vonrottes

Currently running 235/70 r16(stock 2007 escape tires) on the rear and 225/70r15 on the front ..
I'm thinking 255/55r18 if I can get them to clear the wheel wells since 235/70r15's rub full lock.
But for the rear 255/55r18 will fit PERFECTLY since the nitto's I like are listed as 28.94"

Traction bars are a top priority before wider tires though... Wheel hop is crazy.

Vonrottes

June 26th I lost oil pressure in the LR4 intermittently..
Limped it to my dads house and reproduced the oil pressure loss in his driveway, shut the engine down when it didn't recover and the lifters started ticking.

not knowing if it was the pump or a bearing, I decided to get a new engine..
Which is a 2004 LM7 with 142k miles I picked up for $450 from a local auto recycler.

After getting the LR4 out of the truck and dropping the pan I found an alarming amount of sludge and "glitter" in the pan, filter was full of metal and glitter was all through out the top end as well. still not sure what happened there.

(that was after it was thinned out with acetone)




the LM7 had castech heads that looked to be cracked, so I pulled the 862's off the LR4, cleaned them up, Lapped the valves & changed the valve stem seals.. and used the rockers/springs from the LM7.. lucky enough to have the flat 862's so I used GM MLS gaskets.
(both 862 looked like this when I pulled them)

I did find the #8 exhaust valve was visibly bent, just swapped it out for the best looking valve from the 706 heads.


redid all the engine wiring, got ARP TC bolts and a Gforce crossmember to fix some alignment issues.




Had to reroute the driver side exhaust since it wouldn't clear the new crossmember


So far the engine is running GREAT, overall performance is much better.
(difference is not quite as big from the 2.8 to 4.8 but definitely noticeable)


Next plans for the truck as of now are new rear monotube shocks & traction bars.