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First of all, let me say thank you for all the effort put forth on this site by so many knowledgeable enthusiasts. It has been a very helpful source in my new journey into the world of LS motors. Now, on to my situation:
I'll start with my setup and what I am attempting to accomplish- I have a 2002 Silverado with a 4.3 v6 and I have recently purchased a 2000 Corvette C5 LS1 engine which I will be swapping out. I have searched through many articles here and on Google, but can't quite come up with any concrete answer to my question. I am wondering how I am to go about mating the LS1 engine to my existing 4l60e. I have read I should use a flex plate from an F-Body Camaro which uses the same engine/tranny combo and that makes sense. I can't however find any information on the proper torque converter to use. Another thing that is throwing me off is the mention of different input shaft lengths between the truck/car variations of the 4l60e. I would just like to know ahead of time what to go after for my parts search.
This is my first attempt at a motor swap, so maybe my questions don't make sense to more experienced wrenchers in the forum. Any help would greatly be appreciated and I am looking forward to hearing what others have to say. Thanks
I personally would purchase stock and aftermarket parts as needed, by building the vehicle as if an original 2002 Silverado 5.3L/ 4L60E.
I would grab the bell-housing, turbine-shaft, stator-support, torque-converter, flex-plate, engine mounts, and engine oil pan.
If the truck is slammed down low to the ground and the truck oil pan becomes a problem... go with a LS2 Corvette oil pan instead.
I personally would much rather have the added oil capacity/ cooling should the truck oil pan fit.
I also would most likely use the truck accessory/ serpentine belt/ balancer/ water pump set-up as well.
This will keep things as simple as possible, with no need to worry about mixing and matching components.
Last edited by vorteciroc; Oct 3, 2019 at 11:58 PM.
I do plan on implanting the motor "complete" with all it's original accessories. Mixing up parts between the truck and the car doesn't seem very appealing to me and I'm not all that find of aftermarket parts either. The oil pan swap makes sense for cooling, but in my mind the Corvette pan was designed for the motor anyways so it should work just fine. Like I said, the lack of concrete information has me confused as far as mating this motor to this transmission as there seems to be slight variances in 4l60e from cars to pickups.
Get a 5.3 stock flexplate and bolt it to the ls1. Your oe v6 4l60e should bolt right up. The newer v6 takes same style converter as the v8 setups. The older late 90s v6 has a diff converter and needs a crank spacer and flexplate. Pull off converter and take a pic of input shaft. Thin we can verifie which route to go.
Ive installed them all diff which ways etc. I used them all with success!
Most likely you will need to buy a turbine-shaft, stator-support, and torque-converter for a 2002 5.3L Silverado (300mm design) as I said above.
The bell-housing may fit... but most of the time, the bell-housing you have will be a 1/4" shallower and will be missing the 12 O'clock bolt hole compared to
the 5.3L bell-housing (GM #24206953).
Again... I would just buy a 2002 5.3L Silverado bell-housing, flex-plate, turbine-shaft, stator-support, and torque-converter.
It does NOT get any easier than this!
Last edited by vorteciroc; Oct 3, 2019 at 11:59 PM.
Most likely you will need to buy a turbine-shaft, stator-support, and torque-converter for a 2002 5.3L Silverado (300mm design) as I said above.
The bell-housing may fit... but most of the time, the bell-housing you have will be a 1/4" shallower and will be missing the 12 O'clock bolt hole compared to
the 5.3L bell-housing (GM #24206953).
Again... I would just buy a 2002 5.3L Silverado bell-housing, flex-plate, turbine-shaft, stator-support, and torque-converter.
It does NOT get any easier than this!
Noted. I appreciate the insight. I stumbled upon a similar thread where a guy was going for a similar motor/tranny combo but I assume he already had a v8 4l60e because he didn't have to change anything except the flex plate from the sound of it. Are the input shafts fairly straightforward to swap out?
Ive swapped 3 silverados to 5.3 setups. All of them originally had a 4.3 engine. I reused there orriginal v6 trans without issues. Bolted right up to the 5.3 using the original v6 converter. **** i just ls swapped a 78 transam tht is using a 98 model v6 transmission behind a 500hp built 6.0! It can be made to work. Very easy swap!! Pm me.
Ive swapped 3 silverados to 5.3 setups. All of them originally had a 4.3 engine. I reused there orriginal v6 trans without issues. Bolted right up to the 5.3 using the original v6 converter. **** i just ls swapped a 78 transam tht is using a 98 model v6 transmission behind a 500hp built 6.0! It can be made to work. Very easy swap!! Pm me.
So you literally changed none of the transmission internals/bell housing?
The 4.3 V6 used the old style converter up to the end of the third generation of this engine (well into the 2000's model year)
I just did a swap and the 2003 4.3 had the old style converter. Sure it'll bolt right up with the right flexplate and spacer, but it's the old style converter and bellhousing.
And good luck putting the corvette oil pan in the truck. FWIW the whole STOCK oil pan sits above the frame on that year truck.
All u gotta do is pull tht converter off and look at the input shaft. If its a 300mm shaft it will bolt directly to the 5.3 no problem. 300mm shaft has same converter as the v8.
Now if it has a smaller v6 input shaft (small pointed tip on end) u will need to oblong the flexplate holes a lil bit and use a crank spacer. $25 part.
The 4.3 V6 used the old style converter up to the end of the third generation of this engine (well into the 2000's model year)
I just did a swap and the 2003 4.3 had the old style converter. Sure it'll bolt right up with the right flexplate and spacer, but it's the old style converter and bellhousing.
And good luck putting the corvette oil pan in the truck. FWIW the whole STOCK oil pan sits above the frame on that year truck.
Yes that Corvette oil pan looks quite ridiculous in person haha. I found an amazing oil pan comparison article and it looks like I'll just go for the 5.3 V8 variant for simplicity's sake.
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2000 Corvette LS1 and 2002 Silverado 4l60e 
