1974TORINO

Glad to hear it. Peace of mind is another big factor for this, definitely comfy being able to keep the rpms nice and low

G Atsma

The 4L60-65-70E transmissions were usually put behind nothing larger than 6.0 engines, and many of those got 4L80E trannies. The difference was how heavy duty a vehicle. 2500 series and above trucks got the 4L80E, below that usually the lighter trannies. Being your vehicle is a car, the 4L65E should be fine for general use. Just keep in mind the 390 is a very torquey engine.

1974TORINO

Yea I'm a bit worried about longevity cause I have heard about a lot of 4l60s breaking under power. I would go for a 4l80 but I'm really interested in that 3.06 first gear in the 4l60. Pus, if I get a 4l65e they're a little bit stronger aren't they? I've also heard that they last way longer without pushing the shift points and, hypothetically if it was behind my 390, it barely revs up. Don't know about that theory though

G Atsma

The 4L65E IS a bit beefier than the 60. What you need to watch with a 390 are full throttle upshifts. As I said, the 390 is torquey, and that comes into play during an upshift when the next gear takes hold. Too much torque is what tears up trannies. You never saw Ford put C4's behind 390's for that reason.

SwapStang

I don't think that trans will be adaptable to that motor. I'm unaware of a kit nor do I think that would be worth the cost considering its electronically controlled so the cost of a controller and whatever sensors you need would make this work would be unrealistic.
Just do your research and make a plan thats the best thing you can do.

1974TORINO

I know 2 or 3 places that have adapter kits specifically for this, then I would need a standalone controller and tps. Would be pricey, prob 1500. Not saying I will do it, just options.

SwapStang

Please don't take this the wrong way but for that cost that really is NOT an option. Unless you're in the more money than brains club with Jay Leno and just "wanted to do it because" I don't see that as an even remotely viable option. This whole post was about better options for gas mileage so I'd guess tha'ts not your club. Again make a plan, do some research (I'm sure someone has done a similar swap) and see what you need. Spend money wisely and don't be too impatient. Good luck.

G Atsma

Swapstang makes VERY good points...

1974TORINO

You make a very fair point. One thing I should realize is that I keep speculating and generalizing instead of having an actual plan. If I'm gonna make a plan i would lay it out like this: I truly believe I could do this for 3 grand or less if I'm smart, granted that does involve taking a lot of risks with used parts but I am willing to do that. One thing is that provided I find myself in over my head, I wont get myself in a position where I can't at least return my LTD to it's 390 form and let it be as that and resell the things I have bought. If a donor vehicle comes up, I'll certainly go that route but I don't mind slowly piecing stuff together and laying it all out together pre-swap, making sure I have everything. I've been surfing market place for a while and here's how pricing seems to be give or take and a plan I see fit:
4l60e trans - $350
LS engine(complete with accessories) - $400
Wiring(stock) - $200
Fuel pump and system using stock tank with mods - $100
Computer/ECU - honesty I'm at a loss for that with cost of having a stock one tuned vs. investing in my own tuning system
Cooling system - stock mechanical fan, modify shroud.
Mounts- self fabricate
Oil pan - $150
Gauges- I'll pass for now
Shifter - modify stock, not perfect but will work
Exhaust - stock/fabricate myself
Fittings for things like steam vent/adapt power steering/fuel line/lots of other hardware - say a safe $200
Driveshaft - 4l60e is within inch and a half of c6, could potentially be smart with engine placement and use stock shaft with different yoke, also have a spare longer shaft - $70 + $120 if I do need it shortened.

-Right there is 1500ish, obviously there will be more costs and I didn't include the ecu stuff which could potentially double the cost, OK.
-Unforeseen problems could occur, sure. Worst case I have to go back to 390+c6. LS is much smaller than my 390 so little cutting will have been necessary, maybe I modified the crossmembers. Sell what parts I can over time, probably down some cash, not the worst thing in the world.
-What I want out of this, and I see the LS swap as the best way to get it: 4 speed transmission with better torque multiplication and overdrive, tunable EFI, reliability and a motor hopefully capable of high miles, if anything goes wrong on the road a lot of parts are available for this combo, motor capable of revving up higher than my old 390, 20mpg on the highway in a car that's much lighter than a chevy truck and is cruising at lower rpm - though that can go both ways for efficiency. Hopefully similar power to my 390 with the better gears. Ultimately I want to daily drive my 1966 ford LTD down the highway at 80mph doing 2000rpm all day long and bum around the city without worrying about putting miles on a vintage motor.

Now I still haven't bought a single thing yet and I'm still not sure If I'll do this. I hope none of you think I'm crazy stupid for wanting this, it's hot-rodding, it's seems like that's what we're all here for in the end. I have been doing a crap ton of research on this and I do appreciate everyone's input. Unfortunately I'm just naturally indecisive, I do find myself breaking the "don't fix what aint broke" law and ending up worse off, so I hope my outlook on this is realistic. I think it is. I do want to put the money into this car and I do want to take on a challenge like this.

G Atsma

I see a little of where you're coming from-
Lots of cool, weird, crazy, innovative, smart, incredibly dumb, brilliant, and useless ideas get formulated in the interest of HOT RODDING.
But keep in mind- there's GOOD, PRACTICAL, FOCUSED hot rodding, and wasteful, poorly resulted hot rodding.
Do the former and you will be a HAPPY HOT RODDER!

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

4l60e trans - $350 for a good working transmission? Less than the core charge at most reputable performance transmission shops? That seems too good to be true in my honest opinion.

The least expensive I've seen listed online with any sort of 30 day warranty was $700 from a reputable company.

It should work out fine either way if you have the ~$1,000 to ~$2,500 on hand to cover the rebuild that's probably going to be needed. If the $$$ isn't on hand for the rebuild, it's probably a wasted $350.

My negative view comes from buying a low mileage LS1 driveline back in 2003 from a reputable seller. Engine required a rering minimum, 4L60E needed a rebuild, coil packs were toast, Alternator needed a voltage regulator, water pump was defective and the harmonic balancer was damaged 💔 😢 ☹️ 😳.

The internals were used up junk Cause it had had forced Induction on it

That how badly things can go and my drive line had less than 26,000 miles on it and was 3 years old

CattleAc

iTrader: (7)

...

1974TORINO

Hell that's were I got the idea, haha.

-That project you linked is a great reference, thanks.

68Formula

4L80E and 4.11s.

pdxmotorhead

Just a 2 beer shot at the list..
4l60e trans - $350 + 800 when it dies on or shortly after the first start. a good one near me is near a grand..
LS engine(complete with accessories) - $400 + 1800-2500 when it turns out to be worn out.
Wiring(stock) - $200 + 550 when you find out the whole harness needs stripped and reworked and you totally get sick of messing with it.
Fuel pump and system using stock tank with mods - $100 + about another 200,, you need fittings and hose and and..
Computer/ECU - honesty I'm at a loss for that with cost of having a stock one tuned vs. investing in my own tuning system - 300 , budget 500-2000 if you want to tune it yourself and have good functionality. (All the stand alones WILL cost almost 2K by the time they are in. Its the "little extras" that add up.
Cooling system - stock mechanical fan, modify shroud. + 250 - 550 for a new radiator unless yours is less than 10 years old.
Mounts- self fabricate -
Oil pan - $150
Gauges- I'll pass for now - You can't really tune a LS without something.. I cant imagine not having at least oil/water/Volts
Shifter - modify stock, not perfect but will work
Exhaust - stock/fabricate myself I did this,, the pipe costs a little ,, FWIW there are some really tucked tight C5 center dump manifolds if you run out of room.
Fittings for things like steam vent/adapt power steering/fuel line/lots of other hardware - say a safe $200 - Just the steam vent kits are about a hundred,, Get used bits from u-pullit. (you can use a front one on the rear if you want full 4 corner..
Driveshaft - 4l60e is within inch and a half of c6, could potentially be smart with engine placement and use stock shaft with different yoke, also have a spare longer shaft - $70 + $120 if I do need it shortened - I would give a ton if a 4l80 would fit in my Jeep.. Just way cheaper and easier to make it strong.

EXTRAs:
+200 for wiring.. I am probably that or more in good electrical connectors rolls of wire, relays etc..
+200 for radiator, heater,transmission cooler plumbing (And this is conservative. )

Cheers! Its going to be fun..

78TranzAm

Its hard to see that this is LS1 tech and guys are trying to get you to keep your 390...LOL.

But anyways if youre wanting to do a cheap and simple swap i can help. Thats all i do. Most (from what i've read) are more into the expensive swaps. You have the same exact plan as i did when i swapped my 73 Cuda. And your reason for swapping is also the same. Cheap and reliability.

For harness youll want to go to amazon and get it from amazon. The cheapest one is $225. Or theres one on ebay for $216, theyre literally the same harness. Then for $20 youll need to get the injector adapters. As these cheaper harnesses are basically made for car intake injectors but all the plugs are the same on the rest of the engine.

Harness-
Injector adapters-
Basic tuned computer just to get it running-- https://www.ebay.com/itm/324775204556


Then for fuel system you can run an external fuel pump. Most on here will try to tell you thats not a good idea blah blah blah but guys have been doing it since the 2000s so... Youll want the Walbro pump with the corvette filter/regulator---
Corvette filter/regulator--

Then you can run rubber fuel line rated for EFI fuel pressue, also as i did.

And as i stated earlier in the post. Since youre putting it in a truck you can run the stock accessory set up.

JUST MAKE SURE YOU BUY A COMPLETE ENGINE. Its ok if its missing the harness and computer but other then that you want it 100% complete. Also, if you can get one that already has a drive by cable throttle body on it thatll save a little money.

But thats everything you need just to get the engine running. And about as cheap as you can do it without re working a harness yourself.

1974TORINO

Thank you! Probably the most helpful thing I've heard in a couple days. This is a great base for me to get things going. Though it says the ecu still needs tuning/flashing? Any ones that are more plug and play, or options for tuning softwares?

pdxmotorhead

I have lost count of the number of cars I fixed that DNF'd with external pumps.. Just sayin.. Just cause you can doesn't mean you should.. LOL

Rubber fuel line wont pass tech at a lot of tracks.. Check if that's an issue, rubber fuel line and gas with alcohol = fire if you don't keep fresh rubber in place, needs swapped every other year. #1 reason I've had to put fires in cars out, #2 reason is rubber push fit oil lines for transmission coolers.. (I work turns at the local road race track... )
I replace the 2 short hoses at the rear and front of my jeep every 2 ish years since 1994 and they are always rotten.

Its going in a "66 Ford LTD" according to the first post, he was buying a truck for parts but it fell through. So he will have to deal with the tank at some point.

Yea the 400 dollar ones often don.t come with all the front engine "braketry" and accessories you'll want and piecing it together is a pain. I bought a 400 dollar complete L59 flex fuel truck engine just to strip the externals off it. Brackets/alternator/PS pump/AC pump etc and pulley mounts. It had Spun all the main bearings..

78TranzAm

Youre welcome! its hard nowadays finding just simple help for a simple swap. TV shows and the internet since i got into LS stuff in 2013 has made ls swaps far more complicated and expensive then they need to be. Yes, you can spend a butt load on an LS swap with a badass motor and transmission and fuel system etc but you can also be cheap for a basic swap.

Whats crazy is i was on this site back then and the cool thing to do was do an LS swap as cheap as possible. Now if you don't spend at least 10k youre not cool so... Most of these replies don't surprise me.

If i were you, i would still try to find a donor vehicle for cheap. That way you can personally test out the engine and transmission. Then pull the engine and trans and part out the vehicle and make some money back or just sell it to a junkyard and get some money back. But either way, sell the 390 to a ford fanatic and drop an LS in it. Youll be glad you did.

Also, my thread of LS swapping my Cuda is on here in case you have any questions that i might answer in it.

78TranzAm

Sorry, just saw the rest of your reply to mine. That Computer is plug and play. It will get the engine running. After that you will want to get it fine tuned just like if you bought a brand new carb and stuck it on. Itll run but youd tune it for best performance. You can use HPtuners, which i've never used but will in the future so i can do my own tuning or just get a local tuner to tune it how you want it tuned.