Chickenbone

As the title says, I may be trading my '92 S-10 for an '82 C-20 to a relative that can no longer drive a slightly lifted truck. This is a good possibility (depending on how stubborn the guy is), so I'm doing the research into this swap. The C-20 currently has the OE 292 inline 6 (just a little head work and full exhaust), 3-speed tranny, factory 4.10 rear, and 33" tires. It will be a daily driven truck like my S-10. The I-6 has over 500k and can probably still pull a house down, but I don't think it's up to the task of a 40-80 mile per day commute to work. Occasionally I will need to carry or tow heavy loads with the truck. I know the LS series engines aren't too bad on gas and make decent power, so I figured that I would swap one into the C-20. I can get junkyard LS series engines locally without too much trouble (people in NJ don't drive too well=better parts selection for me ).

So I'm thinking an LQ4 or LQ9 out of an Escilade backed by a NV4500 tranny with the stock drivetrain should work. So here are the basic questions. Since the engine I'm thinking of getting will be apart, I would like to get a top end kit from Trick Flow (part# TFS-K306-485-460). They offer the same basic package for the smaller 5.3L LS engine; will that work for the the combination in my given vehicle? Or should I stick with the stock engine and have a little head work done to the stock heads? I'm just looking for ideas from people with experience with these engines. Thanks in advance for any input.



Chickenbone