Currently I'm helping out my dad that has a 53 studebaker commander 2dr ht and am looking for ideas from guys that have already done this swap or in the process. Right now we're going to be putting the body back on the frame (frame was stiffened and rearend swapped out for a ford 8.8. Suspension is mostly stock except for discs all around and possibly r&p steering, whole car is gutted and all rust has been repaired. Basically he just wants a budget friendly daily driver close to stock ls swap utilizing what ever parts we can from the donor.
The donor vehicle is a running 2011 Express van with a L92/6l90e with an e38 ecm.
My dad's a bit older so doesn't know much about efi and this will be my first ls swap so there's a bit of a learning curve plus I have a young family so don't have a lot of extra time. Just more so want to find out what works and what doesn't. Looking to see what people do for mounts, oil pan, front accessories, rad and so on. We have pretty good fab skills so building mounts, crossmember, modifying oil pan is no problem just would like to get ideas and a plan. Probably start pulling van motor soon.
p.s pics would be great aswell! Thanks in advance

 

I remember seeing a thread on here where they did an old Stude I think it was a 48 or 49, did you do a search?
Here you go 48 Studebaker LS3 swap Build Thread

 

Not much help but a local guy did a swap and reused the factory supercharger and had "STUDEBAKER" script on the valve covers. Pretty cool build

I'm about 30 miles from the old factory

 

Most of the time, with something like that, there's not much specific info, but a lot of similar projects you can get some good info from. You might search on *any* V8 swaps.. SBC, SBF, whatever. Many issues will be the same as an LS, like oil pan clearance.

Here's how my process runs, maybe you find it helpful.

Look at it system by system

Physical: How to mount it. If you can fabricate, this isn't too hard. Just a crossmember for the trans, and a couple engine mounts. If you have the width, going straight down onto biscuit style works well. You can look at the C4 corvette mounts in my build thread in this same forum, or look at C5 corvette mounts. Or you can do the simple: bolt a plate to the engine, build a couple ears on it, and run leaf spring bushings inside a tube and then weld that to a frame side mount.

Looks like the original Studebaker engine is a rear sump, but I am not 100% sure. If so, you probably can just pick whatever pan you need to clear things, the oil pan sticky thread above has a million dimensions.

The big challenge I see if the 6 speed auto. That likely requires a lot of floorboard cut out. You also probably need to swap the oil pan, most find the truck/van pans to hang quite low. Check out Pontiac G8 pans.

For Accessories, looking at photos, the commander is kind of sleek/low. If you find the truck style doesnt work, you might look into high mount setups. These are usually copying the C5 corvette high placement of the PS pump and alternator on the left, and then a high mounted AC compressor on the right. This places things high and wide. ICT Billet, Dirty Dingo, Holley, etc, all have options. You can delete the AC, and the PS if you don't need them.

Fuel Plumbing/system is pretty generic

Exhaust, usually the only challenge is what fits at the engine... manifolds or headers. Holley swap manifolds, 5th gen camaro manifolds, and Trailblazer SS manifolds are all pretty tight with rear outputs and fit narrower frames.

Cooling, if the car had a V8, usually the original radiator should. There are sources for hose couplers that also change the diameter of the radiator hose (LSs use smaller hose diameters than most older cars) and can accept a steam port fitting. I use fitting like this to connect my LQ4 to my stock 1971 GMC radiator. I go mine from Jags-That-Run.

Computer.. your choice, more in a second on this.


In my opinion, the key is to really think about the goals.

The L92 bone stock makes 400+ HP. The most reliable thing is to not crack open the engine. If its not broken, the should be no need to go in and freshen up anything. So think about if this is the powerband and power output you want.

The 6 speed trans is likely a bit of challenge to mount. The shape of the transmission is large in the rear of it, and it can hang low. I would *guess* you need to hack out the tunnel and build a new one.

If you plan to leave the engine basically stock, and want the 6 speed, and can get it mounted, then using the factory wiring and ECU would be a decent option. You'll have to rework the harness (not terribly difficult) and have the ECU reflashed to get rid of VATS and a few other things.

I would say take a few minutes and compare what the build would look like if you switched to a different transmission, such as a 4L60e or 4L80e. This would be lighter and likely fit the tunnel better. This would allow for an aftermarket ECU, specifcally the Holley Terminator X which can run your engine and those particular transmissions. If you have any interest in learning to tune your engine, this is a far more straighforward software to use. But not everyone is wanting to do this.

 

Thanks these are all great points I've been doing a lot of reading and to find anything ls swap related to this vehicle seems non existent most are show cars using different front clips and such haven't come across one using stock front suspension parts. I'm curious to both engine and trans pan truck I could shorten up if needed but wasn't sure if it has other clearance issues and I also seen about g8 trans pan mod aswell.
If I could find a 4l80e trans local I'd be all over it forsure but they're pretty hard to come by so for now just going to stick with the 6l90e unless something else comes available in the near future so with that being said I'm going to try my hand in reworking this factory e38 harness and have ecm flashed and a couple things deleted but still sticking with the VVT also trying to keep wiring simple as possible so probably look into aftermarket cruise control and not bother with the tap shift. Engine and trans seem to run great so going to leave as is at the same time hopefully retaining the truck intake aswell.
My dad's been working on this car off and on for the last 15years so would like to see him being able to drive it down the road finally.
Thanks again for the great pointers

 

48 Studebaker LS3 swap Build Thread
Do a search on that thread he used all the stock front end with a disc brake conversion, Is the 53 that much different than a 48?

 

The 53 Commander in question is the famed Loewy Coupe intro'd in 53. The 48 is the previous body style. The chassis may have similarities, but the bodies are totally different.

 

Look up "Stu Cool" on this site. He had a 53 studebaker hardtop that he swapped a ls1 in years ago. He has been driving the car for probably 8-10 years. Good luck and post some pictures of the project.

 

Thanks yes I did read up on that 48 stude build was interesting wondering if it ever hit the road but yes like G Atsma said they're totally different bodies I don't even think frames are similar the 48 uses a front sump where as owners is a rear.
RicOtt I did check out that 53 stude quite some time ago and I'm pretty sure he's running an aftermarket clip aswell but I'll see if I can find it again nice ride for sure! I'll post some pics soon just don't really have much yet lol

 

I'm not sure how closely related they are but I'm Currently doing a 5.3 swap in a '53 Cadillac with an X frame.

 

So here's a couple pics I found of the car when we dragged it out of the field back in Aug of 04, pretty rough

 

Here's the explorer 8.8 diff that I shortened up the one side to center the pumpkin

 

Here's a pic of the frame with the rearend installed

 

This is the frames current state with the freshened up stock front suspension, no pictures of the body yet since its still wrapped up under a tarp on dollies

 

Made some progress but not much we used an old firewall and fender to place motor and trans to where we think it should go so I was able to make mounts

 

Not 100% sure what these frames have for a rake or degree the frame sits at during proper ride height but to me they look pretty flat so we set the frame level front to back and set motor as low as we could and set motor/trans at 3degrees. With that being said the trans sits is gonna sit quite high in the car.
We cut part of the trans tunnel out as a start but not quite ready to set body down yet as we still have to figure out brake lines and fuel system. Not sure which way we're going with either of these yet

 

Stu Cool and I did some of the earliest LS stuff, about 20 years ago. Last I heard he was still driving his Studebaker with the LS6. I have topped 40k miles on my LS 35 Ford. Easy installs.

 

Cool build, I’m in the middle of a very similar swap. Have you figured out what you’re doing about the radiator?

 

Sorry just seen this, haven't had a chance to figure out rad yet just finally got the body back on the frame

 

Here's a couple progress pics with body back on and rack installed