sorry for the repost of this i put it in the wrong group last time new to how this works on here.

I Just bought a very solid 91 step side roller for $400 no interior at all looking to make a turbo LS truck out of it but really don’t even know where to begin. Never messed with any thing like this in a diesel tech by trade and just now got to where I could afford my own toys. Any who the game plan

5.3 or 4.8 got pending deals on both very cheap,
forged pistons ( not much luck finding them), stock crank, head studs, 90lb injectors, not sure if I need a larger fuel pump, stock heads and valves, upgrade springs and pushrods, and find a used intake but not sure what to get at all, and get a nice tune. With hopes of single turbo added next summer. Backed by monster th400. Blowing the 10 bolt then not sure

I’ll get it unlocked and tuned but I’m going to tackle the harness. Also want to run 10.5back tire keep truck looking fairly stock ride height, fuel cell, just somthing fun to drive in weeks and pick up grudge races. Trying to keep on a 6-7k budget just would like some feed back in brands any advise would be greatly appreciated. Or just good links to other pages. Thank you

 

Honestly, if I had it to do over again, I would find a wrecked vehicle that had the engine/transmission that I was looking for & buy that because buying all of the individual pieces/parts to do a swap takes FOREVER, & costs a lot more. Buying a donor vehicle allows you to reuse the correct relays, sensors, etc. And the factory stuff is likely to be better quality than the Chinese-made crap you get at parts stores.

OK, hopping off of my soapbox now.

I'm planning on swapping an LS into my own '92 4x4 Silverado after I finish my Firebird, so I've saved a couple of links to build threads that have some decent info.

Here's the first one.

And here's the 2nd one.

Aside from those two, I'll tell you the same thing that a lot of others here will likely suggest - use the search function. There are other threads on here that cover these trucks, & people have done things in different ways.

My last piece of advice is this - READ THIS FORUM. You might be reading about a vehicle that's nothing like what you're working on (say an RX-7 or a '58 x-frame BelAir or something) & pick up a tip that sits you back in your chair! And when you run across those tips, COPY them into a document or spreadsheet or something on your local computer, so that you have all of that info in one place - that can save your bacon too.

Good luck - and when you start your build, don't forget to document it here (with plenty of pictures!) so that others can learn as well.

 

 

A wrecked truck with either motor 4.8 or 5.3 will save you money because you have everything right there if you need it. My first swap i started with a wrecked tahoe which gave me access to tranny and motor and harness ect ect. Dirty dingo mounts for the win, Being able to slide that motor will help a ton fitting your headers and drive shaft. I slid my motor in the perfect spot so no driveshft was needed. You would be suprised how strong that 10 bolt is, I beat the dogshit out of many 10 bolts with the 8.5 ring gear at the track and been pretty lucky I guess with zero issues.

 

You don't want a Monster Transmission.

Find a van or another donor that can get you a 4.8L/4L80e combo; or similar. Just aim for the 80e as a mandatory requirment.

 

I'll add a bit here based on my experience.
My intention when I first started was to get the harness done and get a baseline mail order tune and just "leave a few HP on the table" and be done. with all the posts on harness setup, I should have done it myself. As for the mailorder tune...it got me idling, but I soon found myself purchasing EFILive and discovered a whole host of things had been completely untouched(like the VE tables!) and the idle tables weren't done correctly, they were just done to force a higher idle no matter the setup.

Honestly though, I'm glad because it turns out that I love tuning the motor. getting the engine to behave perfectly for part throttle driveability is a lifelong pursuit, but very rewarding, and something that is not going to happen when a tuner slaps it on the dyno for a few hours.

Injectors. Incorrect injector data is probably the cause of 60%(made up number) of all the issues I see on the forums. don't be fooled by "pulling the caps" off the truck injectors, yeah it raises flow, but ruins all the other values that your tune depends on. Get good injectors with ALL the data that needs to be input into the tables otherwise your tune will always be trying to make up for bad data.

Don't buy sticky tires until the project is well tuned. Depending on your situation(kids, home, job...) something may come up and three years of slow progress may let your new Nitto NT05's dry up before you get to use them(ask me how I know lol).

Don't cut the trans tunnel out, just cut enough to peel it back, much much easier to stitch it back together if you realize later someone sprayed rubber floor liner on the inside and outside of the floor.

Oh, last thing, the truck intake is more than capable of flowing all the air you need with that turbo. lots of comparisons out there showing it flows as good as the LS1(or 6 can't remember). I only got the ls6 intake for the looks.

I think thats all I got. definitely going through peoples build threads is the best way to pick up all those tips and tricks. look forward to seeing this progress. good luck!