Yep, its another one I guess. Picked up the LQ4 yesterday and a 4L80e Transmission. Now its time to figure out how to do this. I'll be taking some pictures and posting them as I go so others can see them. But there are things I need to learn with help. The truck had the 2.2 engine and auto trany.

Fuel pump is one. I no longer have the stock tank, it was rotted. So I am going with a race cell and will require an external pump. Can I get a pump with separate regulator and have it work? My concern is that I do not know if these engines increase pressure at high loads or do they just maintain 1 pressure so it can be set and your done.

Next is the ecm. Anyone know a local Texas person that can setup the ecm and help with the harness so its good to go?

After these it will be learn as I go, so I will post questions as I find them.

Thanks guys

 

wiring info and pcm get with Brendan on LT1 Swap.com. He has alot of wiring info on his site. For fuel tank why dont you get another s-10 tank with pump it be that much easier. Everything else is normal v8 swap stuff.

 

Also S10's have weird ohm ratings for the fuel level gauge. So you might not be able to find a aftermarket float that will put the correct reading to your gauge. I ran into this problem back in the day when I was running a fuel cell in my 02 S10.

 

The fuel cell deal is a cheap thing. I have an extra cell from my circle track days. I was looking to see if any company offered a fuel pump that would mount in the cell like a stock pump with the level sender as well.

Also I looked at the fuel rail today on the engine and there is a regulator with a return line, so that's cool. The info I had found stated that the regulator was at the pump assy. This one I can just run an aftermarket pump. We may even have a pump laying around as well from a drag car.

Time to order the engine mount swap kit. Not sure about the trany mount though for that high price. I have plenty of cage pipe that I can build my own for a lot less. I'll also be cutting the front crossmember for the pan clearance. Done that many times on our stock cars to make room for mechanical fuel pumps and big capacity pans.

 

oil pan still need to be changed out as its to deep for ground clearance. I used the GM musclecar pan its to deep too. Everybody says holley has pan to go with.

 

Keep in mind that your fuel pressure needs to be at 55psi for the LS fuel system. If I remember correct you can actually reuse your fuel lines from a 2.2 (supply and return) and all you will have to do is replace fuel pump in the tank granted you would have to get another tank. This would be easier then having to install the fuel cell and having to run a supply and return lines to the front of the truck. Plus the expense of having to buy the fittings to connect the fuel lines to the factory fuel rail, filters etc....

Also if my memory serves me correct the throttle cable is the correct length for a cable driven throttle body.

As for the wiring harness www.lt1swap.com is a great place to look at how to do your own wiring harness, Brendon really breaks it down.

I am getting ready to start a 5.3/4L60E swap on a 96 s10.

Good luck on your swap and keep us updated.

 

I know the oil pan will be below the crossmember. I found pictures of other guys that used it and it looks to be 1-2 inches too low. I am going to think about this part since I don't want to buy another pan. I think I can fix the issues pretty easy with welding a piece of steel pipe section to the bottom of the crossmember to make a bump stop basically.

On the fueling, This truck is most likely going to end up a drag truck in its near future and for now its just a play around tire eater. So the fuel cell and extra pump with needed fittings is not an issue.

I come from a racing back ground with my last strip car being an IHRA Top Dragster which ran mid 7's in the 1/4. The plan for this truck is to drop the stock engine in for now and build a pile of parts needed for a rebuild. At which time I am looking for Carbed 600hp and then add a kit or 2 of NOS. Narrow the rear, 9" and ladder bar or 4 link setup. So with all this happening to the rear end, the cell would be required at that time anyway.

The one thing I am most worried about is the wiring right now and making sure its correct. I wire race cars but that's old school stuff. Nothing like this. Heck I don't even have the tool to get the pins out of the connectors if needed. I just don't want to screw that part up and want it to run right. I don't know what I can get rid of and what I really have to keep. I will send the computer off to get programmed. But again, the harness worries me a little. So if there is someone close to San Marcos with experience I would greatly appreciate any help I can get.

The plan for today is cut the crossmember and weld on a bump stop. I don't have the motor mounts yet but I think I can figure this out without dropping the engine in to see where it needs to be exactly. Cut off some un-needed mounts and do some more cleanup on the frame and get some primer on it.

I'll try to get some pics posted today on the progress.

 

Ok, heres a few pics of the current status. I need to get the adapter mounts so I can figure out the crossmember cut area.

 

And just for fun, some of my past rides. I've done a lot of things and built a lot of cars. Missing some of them but these are pics I can find right now.

7 Second dragster


My Dirt Modified


My 1950 Mercury Rat truck


1961 Bug

 

If you go carb'd you will not need the factory harness. But you will need to get a controller for the 4L80E, and the MSD controller for the carb set up.

 

Your correct on the carb setup. But when done the trany will have a manual valve body so no need for a controller for that.

Trying to locate engine mounts right now. I find a bunch for the older model s10 but not the 97. The only thing I found for this year if with the trany crossmember too and its a 600+ bucks. That's crazy for what they are selling. I can make the trany crossmember for nothing. I just need the engine mount kit.

 

Figured out the mounts. I was looking at bold location on the rubber mount and it looked different but found them on another site and its the right ones. I hope to have the engine and trany installed next weekend. Going to get a set of shorty headers as well.

Watched a youtube video on the harness mod, and yea, I'm not wanting to do it myself LOL. I just might screw that part up.

 

just print off the list (wiring chart from LT1swap). the numbers are on the pcm plugs. Pull them out with small srew driver or carb pick. you cant really mess it up as he tells you the highlighted yellow not needed highlighted blue must stay. other wires stay as well thats not highlighted. easier if you plug everything onto motor start pulling it out. I just did my first swap harness & it started first try.

 

http://www.currentperformance.com/ can build you a harness that will take all the guess work out of it. I don't know why anyone would put a carb on these engines, I could see if it was an old hot rod but on your S10 they can build you a harness that will plug in and when done all your factory gauges will work and it will start and run like a factory engine. I've seen some LS1 conversion that when you open the hood it looked like a factory install.
Current Performance has just about everything you need. Radiator/Mounts/Headers/Wiring/Oil pan/AC Lines & brackets.

 

I am buying the motor mount / header kit from Current performance. I may try to tackle the wiring myself and see how it turns out. I guess I also need to send the ecm off to be programmed which I will use the LT1swap.com guy. Cant remember his name. I know he can do the harness too if need be.

As for the carb setup. I actually like it better than the EFI. And many tests have been done with cams, heads ect and the carb setup always made more HP than the EFI. At least the ones I have seen. The end result for this truck ( as planned for now ) will be a pure drag truck. Gutted, cage and big HP. I will want this truck to run in the high 8's to low 9's in the 1/4 mile if possible, which I know it is. So I am shooting for pure power later on. But yes, for right now, its a neat street sleeper with all the stock dash working.

 

That used to be true but not with todays electronics and hardware. You can have your cake at eat it to so to speak. Take todays turbo engines, Idles like stock pulls 20-30 miles per gallon and can make 600+ horsepower. In the past you needed a big block big tire car to run 9's, Now you have people drive to the track with drag radials run 9's and 10's and nobody blinks an eye. Ten or fifteen years ago you knew if you pulled up to a car if it could be fast or not just by listening to it, You'd hear the lope of the cam or smell race fuel and so on. Now you can pull up next to a rusty ford Fairmont and it could be quiet as mouse and blow your doors off.

Aftermarket systems are expensive but so much better than they used to be also, I just bought the Holley Dominator EFI system and what it's capable of doing is mind blowing. The Holley HP system is actually reasonably priced at $1600 after you consider the cost of a good carb and intake and gauges. You can buy a cheap windows tablet to use as a dash and run one tune for the strip and another for the street and switching only takes a minute.

 

OK, I went and tackled the wiring harness. It has taken me 6 hours so far. I have it all done up to where you start soldering the power wires together and building the relays and fuse block. I'll work on this later this week. Its been a long day. LOL

 

These trucks are a blast with a LS swap. I have a 1994 SS S10 with a LS swap. Post up some pics!

 

I'm sure its going to be a lot of fun to drive around. I'll post some pics as I get more done.

And I need to ask someones advice on the O2 plugs on the harness. My understanding is that the REAR plugs get removed and are not needed. So I cut them off. THEN I see where he mentioned that the O2 plugs are sometimes whit square plugs. That's the ones I cut off. The front plugs have offset pin locations. So do I cut off the front plugs and use the rear only? If so then I need to solder these plugs back onto the harness.

Also I am going to cheat a little. I bought the built fuse/relay box from Current Performance. I also thought about something else for the fuse box I need for this harness. Since the truck already had these same fuses and relays couldn't I just plug into those wires that are already in the truck coming from the fuse block?

 

Anyone have info on a bigger cam I could run and still use stock valve train? I would like to do a cam swap before stabbing it into the truck since I like big cam lopey engines. Will go bigger later when I actually build the engine for a more strip or straight race application.