Hello !!
First post here after spending time reading all of the great info here !!
I work for a transmission shop that also does Diesel Performance and custom stuff. We took on this 64 Impala engine swap as a winter project, and I some questions about some of the stuff needed to do it.
We are using the drivetrain out of a 2001 Silverado....5.3 with 4L60E trans.
We have the engine and trans bolted into the car with little issue.
The main problem we are having is finding the right exhaust manifolds/headers that will work with this.The truck manifolds hit the frame on the drivers side, so they wont work.I want to keep costs reasonable for the customer.What stock manifolds do you guys use for this swap that will work ? Will the 98-02 camaro LS1 ones work ?
Our second issue has to do with the fuel system.We need to put in a new tank anyway.Is it better to buy a tank set up for FI,or do we put in a stock tank with a Walbro external pump ? Obviously we need new lines to....so what are you guys using to make fuel lines from the pump to the intake ?
Any help would be appreciated with these issues.
On a side note....this is a 3 on the tree car and we want to change the column out since we are going to automatic trans.We also want to convert to power steering as well.Do you folks recommend finding a stock auto column and using that, or buying something aftermarket.
Any help with these items would be great !!
Michael
Here is a pic of the engine mocked into the car.

 

Wow lots of questions.
Unsure of manifolds, but I know vettes/fbodies are some of the tightest fitting; can't give a year.

In tank systems are best, but inline pumps will do the trick, likely for cheaper at the expense of noise.

New column would be best, but aftermarket would be easier, and likely cheaper (depending who/where you get parts from)

 

I'm running a Ididit column in my 62 Biscayne with a column shifter. It's pricey but I'm only buying it once, it has tilt also and why play around with a 45 + year old column, I also am running a cpp power steering box. My wife might want to drive it some day. I know it's a 62 and not a 64 like your running, but they are pretty close to the same in the chassis area. I'm sitting on the fence post about the fuel pump issue, but finally decided to run a external pump and not a in tank one. I can live with a little noise, as I', sure the engine might cover up some of it. Price also made the choice for me.

 

Devil,

I agree with Dothedo that intank pumps are best, however, in the 64's the fuel sender is on the top FRONT of the tank so it may be tricky getting that to work (I used an internal pump on mine but am not happy with the way it turned out). I would recommend finding an EFI tank if someone makes one.

Stormed, what pitman arm did you use with the CPP box?

Jon
PSI

 

Thanks for the replies...so you think the 2010 manifolds are narrow enough ?
The truck ones fit on the pass side....but the driver side hits the frame.Headers are spendy....and I am trying to do this right for this guy....but keep it reasonable as well.I wish this was an SS car with bucket seats so we could floor shift the trans.

 

you my friend just opened a can of worms,this is not an easy swap but it can be done. this is the same combo that I am running in my belair and I think I can help you out a bit.the cross member will need some massaging the oil pan will need replacing.the gas tank I just might be letting mine go I want to put my pump in the tank and build a new custom one ,but I am not ready yet.I been through this install and lets get more info.are you going to run air?are you going to replace the steering?was the car a auto originally? or was it a three on the tree like mine.?let me show you what the frame might need.

the cross member is way to tall for this to fit unless you cut the tunnel top off and the raise the tranny way up. and you are limited to fit your drive shaft through the frame. the manifolds from a 99 Camaro is the only ones that I could find to fit they still need some modifications the flange one one of them is huge and needs to be trimmed down an drilled and tapped easy mod. I took about three inches out of the cross member to drop the motor to a normal level you are also going to make up a new drive shaft because the slip on the shaft is azz backwards from the factory.that is why they eat carrier bearings.the slip should be in the rear of the shaft problem solved.and no carrier bearing failure again.are you going to use drive by wire?

here is a link to some of the build photos.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...ercharged.html

 

Jon. I used the stock 62 Biscayne one. Bolted right up, have over 2000 miles on the power steering swap. I currently have the 355 out of it and the ls engine/4l60-e tranny sitting in it. I am using a 700 r4 cross member I bought from late great chevy, but I notice on a ls engine I bought from a 2004 GTo the tranny cross member looks pretty nice, I might use that for the swap.

 

a "carb" tank with a walbro 255($100) next to it will be more than enough. hardware store 3/8" and 5/16" return will do fine(or you can go AN hoses if your fancy)

for the powersteering hoses/make one off ebay using 6AN power steering hose. (thats what i did, looks great aswell) -- its 4 fittings plus some hose for the high pressure side - and for the low pressure side you can use 2 fittings and a hose clamp for where it mounts to the PS pump OR cut the existing low pressure hose by the fitting, slap on the hose there with a clamp and then clamp it again at the PS pump port.

for the exhaust manifolds, i went with a LQ4 passenger side manifold and a f-body LS1 on the drivers side with my 65" A-Body car... although im sure the impala will differ than my chevelle. also you can look into C5 Corvette Manifolds(they look like they hug the block well if your having major frame/manifold clearance problems)

hope that helps

 

I think the issue with the tank on a B-body is that the sender is in the front of the tank not on the TOP. Is the Chevelle's on the top like most GMs?

Stormed, so if I read this correctly, you are using a POWER ASSIST box with the LS Power steering pump? Are you still using the power assist ram like the factory application? I only ask because MANY years ago, I purchased a steering box from a very well known company who CLAIMED it was a direct bolt in to the 62-64 b-bodys. Well it did bolt in, however, no one (including the mfg who sold the box) could find the correct pitman arm to link it to the rest of the steering. I ended up putting a 605 steering box in it, but would still like to come up with something better (without a rack and pinion).

 

I found some 2010 Camaro manifolds that will work on the exhaust part of this,so I am happy with that.We have the engine and trans bolted in.We fabbed our own engine mounts and made a crossmember for the 4L60E. We bought the F Body oil pan...but we still had to massage the crossmember a little to get pan clearance. I think we will go with a external fuel pump on this project since this tank is different than most out there.
The problem we are finding out about now,since we have the engine sitting in the car where its going to sit, is that the truck intake is too tall and will be way too close to the hood.
It looks like I will have to get a car manifold to put on this.....but I have no idea what one to get.This 5.3 is a 2001 with a throttle cable. What manifold will bolt to this block....and will the fuel rails and injectors from this manifold work on it ?
I need to figure all of that out before I figure out the fuel system....since the truck manifold fuel rail has its own regulator...and I have no idea what the car one uses.I could really use some advise on what manifold to look for....
This car was a 327 V-8 with manual on the column, manual brakes and steering. We are needing to change all of that over....Auto Shift,Power Steering and brakes. We are not adding AC.....thank goodness !!
I wish I would have researched this more before we took this on....but we are commited to doing this and need to make what we have work.
Any help with the intake would be great !!
As for the steering....I found a guy on Ebay that sells the 605 box and he sells a pittman arm that fits the rest of the manual steering linkage. The hoses will be the easy part.I just hope the 605 does not interfere with PS pump. I am almost bald....so I dont have much hair to pull out !!

 

Jon. I'm running a cpp 500 series power steering box with a stock 62 Biscayne pitman arm on it. All the rest of the front end is factory 62 stuff. Power steering hoses are right off a 1968 chevelle/camaro with the ends changed on the pump side so they work with the ls engine. Exhaust manifolds are 2001 Corvette ones and work with enough clearance. I have some pics of how close the power steering box is to the rad, there's a rib in the casting of the box, I ground it smooth to look like it wasn't there, I was worried about grinding into the box itself. Otherwise it would hit the rad. I see that they do sell a different rad with a notch out of it for power steering applications and was wondering if I needed to go that way. Took a gamble and won on not needing that rad.

 

I could really use some help on the intake questions for this project

 

the intake is another can of worms. you can make the intake that is on it work by lowering the motor.but then you might have issues with the steering hitting on the p/s pulley . oh this is a can of worms. you can use a 98 to 2002 ls1,2,intakes with the lower throttle body ,,,buttttt.this opens another set of problems.the tensioner will no longer work.word has it someone makes a tensioner relocation kit for this.or you can change the front drive drive accessories to something like a corvette or a gto. you will need everything including the balancer.oh and the water pump.don't give up it will be worth it in the end.we will help you through this.

 

The engine clears the hood if you leave the cover off.But the top of the engine is unsightly without that cover.I got the 2010 Camaro exhaust manifolds and they will work if you trim the flange on the left side.Lowering the engine, like you said will cause every problem you stated...so that wont be a good option.
I almost need to get a core engine to get all of the intake and accesory stuff if we change it over. I assume I would also need different fuel injectors too?

 

Well,we are going to leave the truck manifold on and fab our own cover to place on top of the intake to pretty it up.
We are using the original radiator(3 core).We had the radiator shop check out the core and it was nice.They added an ATF cooler to the bottom tank that we will hook the cooler lines to.We have decided to go with electric fans and I found a nice dual fan setup that fits the radiator.I would very much like to have the PCM run the fans. The PCM came from 2001 truck.When we have it programmed, can it be programed to runs the fans even though that was not an option on a truck ??
If not I will have to get a stand alone controller.
Let me know what can be done.
Michael

 

Hi, any progress on this car? I`m starting this same project to an 63 Belair Wagon and would like to get tips! Engine is coming from -06 Silverado with DBW and 4L60E.

I`m also new on this site, but I have read couple off this swaps to X-frames.

 

Car is done and running.It was done 2 months ago and it is now at the body shop getting painted.Fun project that drives real nice, shifts great, and stops better than it ever did !! Not even 1 Check Engine Light !!
DDD Michael