1967elcamino

hey guys... im new to this site i am 17 yrs old and am a proud owner of a 1967 El Camino. i have been wanting to do a engine swap since i have been craving more power... and i wanted to use a 5.3 L chevy Vortec engine. i have done a little research and came up with some info but not a hole lot... i was wondering if i this swap could be done? and if so how much if any modification would i have to do?? and if i could do it within a 5,000 dollar budget?? please help it would be awesome if some one could tell me what i'm getting myself into.... thanks!

jborders

Yes you can do it for under 5000 for sure. 5.3/4.8 is the cheapest option as they are very plentiful in salvage yards now. Just search on here there are tons of swaps. The best advice I could give is when you get your engine if possible get everything with it. ECM , if dbw get gas pedal and tac module also. That helps .

Goldhawg

iTrader: (7)

Also depends on how much you'll be farming out and how much you do yourself. Do you have access to the tools and other things necessary? What are your auto skills level? Things to think about.

oldgoat69

This is a common swap. Do your research here. Make sure to search the site for similar swaps. A key to success is making sure that the parts you choose are truly compatible. Check proven combinations, don't try to mix and match to save money. Chances are you won't.

1967elcamino

thanks guys i am planning on using a complete drop... so i should get all the sencers and the ECM. i am also planing on buying a stand alone wiring harness for it. and i am comfortable doing this swap me and my dad have built 10 plus cars some from the frame up, the only thing that makes me scared is some of the wiring, but it should be Farley straight forward with the stand alone wiring. thanks for the tips and concerns

1964SS

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure you can get all your swap questions answered here. One thing to take note of is that the 5.3 truck pan hangs very very low so you will want to order an aftermarket oil pan. I've seen the truck intakes stuffed under the hoods, but I'm sure it will be a tight squeeze. You may want to clean up the top of the intake manifold or switch to an LS1/LS6 type intake. If your not wanting to dish out for headers right away then F-Body exhaust manifolds will work for you. I'm still using stock F-body manifolds on my chevelle. Another issue will be your power steering pulley clearance against your steering gearbox if your trying to use the factory truck accessories.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

You should look into a complete swap kit, Holley, BRP, etc.. that would ensure that (well almost) all will fit. Mixing and matching parts can lead to problems.
I would suggest you look at the Holley setup.. Todd who is a tech for Holley is on here and can help answer you question and problems.

suggest you research the many ABody swaps that are documented here in this forum. Get a build thred going so we can follow along and help out with suggestion and answers

BC



Get as much as you can from the dropout donor.. having more parts is better than not having enough.

1967elcamino

thanks for the info with the headers and pan 1964ss and ill look into the swap kits bczee

jerrya

For 5k you could build a very healthy gen 1. Are you going to force feed the 5.3?

1967elcamino

idk what i am going to do i was just going to use all of the stock intake stuff unless i put a ls1/ls6 intake on it what would you do?

SE-R Spec

iTrader: (2)

hey man, with all due respect, do yourself a favor and do A LOT more research. I swapped an lq4 I built to a 370 cube into my dad's 87 Monte SS and I'm still working out kinks. By no means am I a master mechanic or anything like that but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on things and I'm three years deep in this.

Getting it in and running is fairly easy but making it look nice and tidy takes some work, especially if you do your own fuse boxes, relays, and swap an LS intake to name a few things.

With that being said, its a very fun project so dont let what I said deter you but just know its more involved than your average honda swap. $5k is a great budget and a 5.3 will do you well.

Derek

oldgoat69

Don't be afraid to modify the harness yourself. Look at www.lt1swap.com for a guide on the process. As all have mentioned, research, research and then research some more. Pick a proven combination and move forward. A truck 5.3 or 6.0 will give you everything you need save changing the pan and PS pulley. You might get lucky and find one with the 4L60E still attached. Take a look at www.car-part.com for engines and transmissions.

1967elcamino

i was planing on buying a stand alone wiring harness for it.. but would it still work if i put a ls1/ls6 style intake on it... is all the wiring and sensors still compatible?

oldgoat69

For the most part yes. Make sure to look at the LT1 site for a wiring guide before you go too far. I don't see why you could not start with the truck intake to get things going and make a change later if you think it is necessary. Try to keep things simple in the beginning.
I do think the truck intake will clear if you make the well documented modifications to the top. Search smoothed truck intake.
And make sure to post pictures of the car and your updates. And welcome aboard, don't be afraid to ask questions. Most of us have already made the mistakes, use our experience to save yourself time and money.

jamesgr81

I have a 1967 El Camino with LS swap. I used the 4L65e transmission. To save bucks just modify truck wiring harness using info per LT1 swap website. Use the 0411 ECM and use one of the vendors here to program out VATS and other stuff.

The alternator won't clear steering box, I used the Kwik relocate kit and it works great. I also used the Doug's Engine swap headers and motor mount plate with engine moved forward 1 inch. A little beating of metal and the trans makes under floor with no cutting. Got a Griffin LS swap radiator from Summit and it fits right in. I used a LS6 intake from Craigslist. The truck intake won't clear the hood, ditch it, no way am I gonna chop up my SS hood. I used the Lokar shift linkage to the column, the original won't work, or you could use floor shifter. Got Cook's Machine Shop to shorten my driveshaft.

The Olds-Pontiacs of the same years used a cable throttle instead of the linkage like the Chevelle. I got one from a boneyard, easy swap, uses the same mounting bracket, then I used the Lokar cable to throttle body.

I used the Spectra gas tank with electric fuel pump and vette fuel regulator.

Big money items are the headers, radiator, accessory drive, and the fuel system. You could save dough using OEM exhaust manifolds, junkyard radiator, and some hack job on fuel tank-pump.

jborders

If you get a dbw equipped engine you can get away from having to worry about a throttle cable and you can have cruise control easily. You'll have to mount the pedal for it but that's easy fab work .