After a load of consideration I've decided against rebuilding my 350 TBI and I'm going to drop in a 5.3 LM7 instead.

I swapped an LQ9 into my '80 Camaro last year so it seems only sensible to take this route with the truck too.

I intend to keep this a fairly stock swap. I'm not really intending to do any tuning on the motor other than a decent cold air intake set up. This is my daily driven truck and also used for hauling my Camaro on a trailer so I don't want to compromise reliability or low RPM torque. Hopefully it will also boost performance and economy over my rather tired 350 TBI.

I'll be converting to cable throttle to keep things as simple as possible and be looking at getting a reprogrammed ECM/PCM with all the emissions stuff removed along with other changes to make it work well in my truck.

I'll also be rebuilding the transmission with a 4wd output shaft so I can bolt up my transfer case and keep the 4wd functioning.

Does anyone know if the VSS in the transfer case is 40 pulses per rev? If so it looks like I'll just need to add a low range switch to my floor shifter.

Here's the motor and transmission, from a 2002/2003 Tahoe. There's no ECM/PCM and the throttle is DBW.

I'll be swapping the in tank low pressure pump for a new high pressure one.






When I start stripping the truck down I want to get it done as quickly as possible so I'm trying to get everything planned out first.

The parts list I have so far is:
Engine mount adapter plates
Electric fan conversion
Exhaust mods
Cooling system hoses
Fuel hoses
Wiring mods
What issues might I run into?

 

If memory serves, your '95 and my '92 are part of the same "generation" of trucks. I'm planning on doing the same swap to my truck, so I'm thinking that this thread that I've bookmarked might be useful for you as well.

Good luck, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread!

 

Great, thanks.

It looks like I'll need to make some extensions for the stock exhaust where I can fit the O2 sensors. Not a major problem, and I need to build myself a new system anyway as someone has fitted a terrible 2 1/4" mild steel system that just has to go...! I'll just plan that into my list...

I was hoping, perhaps optimistically, that I could do the swap in a week if I got everything together and ready to go...

 

Oops, forgot to update this!

Here's the truck this motor is going in a '95 K2500. It's also my daily driver. It's in pretty tidy condition considering its age. It was the cheapest one I could find and it does have a few issues that I'll be working my way through fixing. But it runs and drives OK.





Plans are to stick a mild cam and valve springs in it, rebuild the 4L60E and then drop it in. I'm now in the process of gathering parts and information to do the swap. Looks pretty simple right now....

Pulled the heads off the motor, a bit of water damage in 2 of the bores. Which it turned out was too deep to be honed out so I will be boring it out to 99mm and fitting LS1 pistons instead!

Other than that it looks to be a good clean example of a 2002 5.3....

I started to re-pin the harness as well based on the info from the LT1 swap site which is excellent.











All of the extra wires have been traced and removed. All that's left to do is put in the wires for TPS and IAC as I converted from DBW to cable throttle.

The connectors for the transmission range switch are damaged, but I should be able to replace them easily enough.

A pretty straightforward job, just needed a bit of patience. I just worked on one circuit at a time and labelled cables as I went, as there are a lot which are the same color....









I then started to strip the motor down for inspection and rebuild. I know it's had water in it, so I'm going to tear it down completely.

Removing the fan and clutch wasn't easy. I ended up making a holding tool from some flat stock that I bolted to the holes in the front of the water pump pulley, then used my largest adjustable wrench and a large hammer to undo it.

Removed the intake.

The EVAP/purge solenoid is broken, but I won't be using it anyway.







Finished wrapping up the harness. Just a couple of pieces to finish, but I'll leave those until it's in the truck and I know exactly where everything needs to be.



Next I decided to get the transmission rebuilt. I needed to strip it down to fit the 4wd output shaft anyway. Pulled the pan off and found it was full of clutch material. Turned out there were 2 toasted clutch packs and one check ball wedged firmly in the separator plate. I expect that was a contributing factor.... Aside from that I couldn't find any major issues with it other than the normal wear you would expect.

HEG frictions throughout including 3-4 powerpack (1 extra steel and friction), alto red eagle band, corvette servo, Transgo HD2 shift kit then new seals and stuff throughout. Should all help it live for a long time in my truck as it will mainly be towing



















I plan on dropping the block off at the machine shop in the next few weeks, but until then I am getting the other parts cleaned up and rebuilt ready to refit.

So I started cleaning up the heads first

Fitted LS6 springs as I plan on putting a mild cam in the motor. I also gave them a good wash, cleaned all of the ports out and lapped the valves although there was very little wear on the seats.

Got one finished, I'll do the other one tomorrow.

 

Washed the intake manifold out with some old fuel to clean all the old oil and gunk out of it. Then got the billet cable throttle fitted up. I gave the injectors a soak in my ultrasonic cleaner and they now look like new again. I'll refit them with new seals soon.

I also got the crank removed from the block, main bearings and crank are perfect. Just need to get the block bored and honed then I can get it built back up again.