Root2812

iTrader: (1)

Thank you. That's great I can use the trans from behind a 4.8. What about the difference in year?

chevySS425

I use a 2000 ford explorer rear end s-10 leaf springs 10 inch wheel fit perfect and is not necessary cut cut the bed sides this rear end as posi track 3:73 and Disc brakes original usually find those for 200 bucks

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

That's the exact same rear end I have. Mine came out of a totaled 2000 explorer.

slowbu

iTrader: (4)

How do u plan on wanting your harness to lay out
pcm an fuse box under the hood
Or everything hid under the dash/in the truck etc

slowbu

iTrader: (4)

if u do the harness yourself
U may can save u some work an get a harness from a ls1 Camaro/firebird automatic car an sale the truck harness
Or u can mod the truck harness to fit how u want just a little time a work
Email Brendon at lt1swap if u need help
Super nice guy to deal with
An he has the wiring diagrams on his site
Just print them out
Put a pot of coffee on an get to work lol

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

slowbu, I've read up a lot on the lt1swap page. I plan to do my harness my self. I want to disassemble the truck harness and lay it out so as much is hidden as possible. I will put the fuse box and PCM in the cab. I haven't decided where yet. There isn't a lot of room under the dash on this truck and there will be even less if I add Vintage Air. I think I am going to put the fuse box and PCM under the seat or behind it since the fuel tank is coming out of the cab and that makes a lot of extra space back there.

slowbu

iTrader: (4)

Yea that's how I would do it mount it all behind the seat in a nice carpet covered box
An run the harness under the cab to keep from having to try an hide all that wire under the carpet

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

Update.

I'm closing in on getting the motor in. I have stripped the frame and gotten the Mustang II IFS all welded in. When I get the weight on the front it will settle about 3 inches more so it will be nice and low. I also got my rear suspension from TCI but I haven't gotten it on yet. The rear will be about 5 inches lower than it is now and I'll have the limited slip rear instead of the torque tube rear.

I'm starting to get excited about getting the motor in. The finish line is along way away but I'm closer. Next I put in the rear suspension, then motor and trans, then fuel tank (make mounts), then it can all come apart for the frame to get blasted. The goal is to be going back together by summer. Here are some pics of the IFS.

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

Slow progress but still progress. Too much travel for work has been slowing me down but today after months of hymning and hawing I finally dropped some cash on my tranny. I picked up a 2001 2wd 4l60e from a Silverado. The truck had a 4.8 in it and only 73,000 miles. This should go nicely with my 2000 Silverado 5.3L motor. Anyone see a problem with this combo as I have the 2000 wiring and PCM? I think it will work but since they are different years I figured I'd ask.

73,000 mile tranny for $644 out the door seemed fair since I had no core to swap in and 2wd trucks are not common in Minnesota so this tranny is harder to find.

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

There has been some good progress since I last posted. Earlier this month I finished up the suspension with a leaf kit from TCI and getting my limited slip rear end in.

Here you can see the torque tube still in place


New set up


That was quite a job. Apparently GM felt it necessary to use a ton of rivets that fought me every step of the way. But this is an engine swap thread right.... Well Finally this weekend, the engine found its home in between the frame rails! I haven't finished up the trans cross member yet but at least the engine is in.

I started by getting the tranny and engine mated together and up on the lift.


And I had put the Corvette LS6 exhaust manifolds (heat shields removed) on but I had to take them back off for clearance. Its really really tight!. I'll end up clearancing my frame boxing plates a little to make the exhaust clear.


I used the Dirty Dingo adjustable mounts and had to trim them down to fit but they worked great. The mounts came with 2 rubber isolators for each side but the pics from Dirty Dingo showed one between the mount halves. I assume the second is so the bolts will tighten evenly without distorting the first isolator. I think I'll move the second one to the nut side but for now I put it on top to take up the slack. The one that needs to be between the mounts is.


So after a days work here is what I have.



I have to pull everything apart for paint so this is just mocked up but man that engine looks huge on this tiny frame! Its going to be fun!

Since this old truck had such a small motor before I know front to back clearance will be tight but it will fit. I have everything within a half inch of where it needs to be and my slider mounts have 1 inch of adjustment left each way so I'll be good. It does look like a pusher fan is in my future.

LS1LuvTruck

I have a suggestion for you, as I also have a 04 5.3 that I bought for $400.00
and a 4l60e I bought for $100.00. The LS1 intake doesn't have a provision for a detent cable which you will need for your 700r4, so you'll have to find a good transmission shop who can work that out for you. A4l60e is controlled by the pcm. Also the later model 4l60e's have much better internals than the late 80's models. They've improved the replacement parts for both, and are supposed to be the same now. If you go with the LS1 intake, you'll also have to have the LS1 harmonic balancer, water pump, alternator/ power steering bracket, alternator? and ac if you are going to have that. As I understand it the LS1 intake interferes with something on the front of the block. There is nothing wrong with the truck manifold, in fact it has more torque than the LS1 up to about 5500.

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

I ended up getting a 4l60e and giving the 700r4 back to my dad for his project. By the time I had bought the adapter plate and figured out the tv cable I would have spent almost as much as I did on the 4l60e. Good tips like yours led me to just buying the newer tranny and calling it a day.

As for the engine, I've got my LS6 intake and to alleviate the clearance issues I will be using the f-body waterpump with the Dirty Dingo spacers to bring the water pump in line with the truck pulleys. I also got their idler pulley relocation bracket. Its cheaper than going with the complete f-body accessory drive and will fix the clearance issue. I know that the truck intake is a good intake and that I may even lose some torque at the low end by swapping intakes but I'm doing it for aesthetic reasons since I want to take this truck to car shows when its finished.

Mike Cordero

iTrader: (123)

From which company you bought the IFS? How much you paid for it?

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

My IFS came from Fatman Fabrications. Including shipping I got it for just a little less than $2100. I paid extra for the power steering rack.

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

So I have some minor updates and a few questions I hope you guys can help me with. I still haven't fired up my 5.3 but I decided to just do a rebuild on it anyway. It has 180,000 miles and I hate leaks so I was going to change all the gaskets and seals but since I am in there I might as well do bearings and rings. Then since its all apart I might as well send it to the machine shop for a quick hone and hot tank. Its amazing how things snowball on you. Aside from that I'm just about finished with the chassis and the engine and tranny are mounted. I also got a S&P MAF/air filter from a board member for $220 that was never used and is the chrome one so I am happy about that. He said he spent $600 on it. I had only looked at the non-chrome one and that would have been over $300 so I got a good deal.

If you remember back a while, I had gotten an LS6 intake that came broken but was replaced so I had the broken one for free. I decided to try and fix it. I know the Nylon66 is a bastard and is nearly impossible to bond to with anything so I contacted a company that specializes in plastics and plastics epoxy. They had an epoxy made for thermoplastics (Nylon 66 is one) so I paid $30 for a tube to try. That stuff is stronger than I had ever imagined and it looks like it worked. I'll give you guys a more detailed write up after I test it out. Hell, if I can fix it for $30 and sell the other one I come out a head.

I'm also starting on my harness and I got in contact with Branden at LT1swap.com for my PCM flash.

So here are my questions. Since I am swapping the LS6 intake on to a 5.3 should I use the MAP that came from the truck or from the car intake? I have both, one is the black label and the other is blue.

Anyone know a good source for the injector pigtails for the LS6 injectors? Those are EV1 right? and the truck is EV6? or is it the other way around?

thanks

ls1CANTU

iTrader: (9)

Project is coming along very nice.

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

Thanks CANTU,

Its been a lot of hard work and a lot of fun. Its my first build of any kind and a frame up is turning out to be a great way to learn.

Bowtiecobra

Nice project! I'm starting a project almost just like it. '52 AD Chevy truck. I have a 6.0L and 4L65E out of a Hummer ready to go into it. Front end will be either TCI or Speedway Motors. I'm considering a 4-Link out back but have not made a final decision yet.

My better half wants A/C in the Truck. does it look like there is room with the factory accessory drive to use the A/C pump? Mine looks close but have not gotten to the point of dropping the engine in.

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

Yeah a 52 will be identical as far as chassis and engine swap. I'm glad to see another on the board. TCI makes good stuff, that's what my rear is, but I also really like the Fatman IFS I got. I also considered a 4-link at one point but opted for the TCI rear leaf kit instead.

So the engine bay is tight on these trucks and if you want to recess your fire wall a few inches you should be good to go with everything but the factory AC. The easiest thing to do will be to swap over your accessory drive to an F-body, CTSV, or corvette the gain the clearance you need. I am going to keep the truck accessories and run a pusher fan so I don't have to mod the firewall. You can't use the factory AC with the truck brackets, maybe with the car accessories but not the truck. The factory AC location interferes with the frame. What you can do is get rid of the factory AC and run a vintage air kit with a high mount compressor. With the high mount compressor you would only need to notch the inner fender a little.

Root2812

iTrader: (1)

No picture worthy updates but the chassis is apart and off to the sand blaster. Within a month I should have it all painted and back together. Sadly when I opened up my motor yesterday I found over an inch of water in the #6 cylinder and rust in all of them. Looks like I'll be doing a full engine build now. I also got my PCM back from LT1swap. Things are coming along nicely.

I do really need some help from you guys. Can someone provide me with a link for the pig tail connectors I need for the LS6 injectors? I don't know which ones I need. I also would like if someone can give me the part numbers for the ls6 front steam tube and rear block offs.

Thanks Guys.