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I’m just making this post to document my little project truck I picked up today. I got this truck for doing a little work for a friend. It’s been sitting for 6-7 years but with a fuel pump and fresh battery it started up and is driving. It’s currently got a TBI 4.3 and 700R4 and 70k original miles. The plan is to use a 4.8 or 5.3, 78/75 turbo, 80e and a Ford 8.8. I’m about to start searching for an engine, I’ve already got the transmission from a buddy. Once I get the donor engine I’m gonna go ahead and pull this one and clean everything up.
I took my 13 year old son for some one wheel burnouts haha. I’m really looking forward to having a father/son project.
It’s been a little slow, but I finally cleared up my garage and organized my tools since we moved earlier this year. I washed it for the first time in probably several years and moved it inside for its transplant.
Yesterday I went up to Pullapart looking around for engines. I thought I found one I wanted in a Tahoe but it was missing several injectors and coils. As I was going to look for another one they brought another Tahoe over with the forklift that they had just gotten in. Since I was the first one to lay my hands on it, it was complete. I ended up pulling a 5.3 out of an 01. I don’t know the miles but a couple employees there told me it ran and seemed like a good motor. I got a step ahead of myself I guess because I have no cherry picker or engine stand and no way to get this motor out of my truck bed. I’ll go pick those two things up tomorrow and then I plan to clean this thing up and tear it down and see what I’ve got.
Its been a long time since I’ve pulled an engine out. I was by myself and it took my about 4 1/2 hours to have it out on the ground. It would have been a little easier if it wasn’t a 4x4 and also those rims they use for jack stands were all in my way. I’m pretty sore today but hopefully it will be worth the pain.
I got bored this morning and went ahead and finished the swap 🤣.
Anyway hopefully I’ve have some more exciting updates coming soon.
Yeah pulling those 4x4 ones are tough. The easiest way is to cut the frame rail just before the firewall from the top down on both sides, leave like a 1/2 on the bottom. The weight of the engine bends the frame rails down, giving you was more access, but hind sight is for next time.
The install swap looks good!
Yeah pulling those 4x4 ones are tough. The easiest way is to cut the frame rail just before the firewall from the top down on both sides, leave like a 1/2 on the bottom. The weight of the engine bends the frame rails down, giving you was more access, but hind sight is for next time.
The install swap looks good!
That’s a good idea I didn’t think about doing that. The worst part for me was the torque converter bolts. After I got 2/3 I decided to pull the converter out of the trans and take it loose on the ground. Oh well, I did learn a few things and I think I could cut the time down on the next one.
Here’s my update for the day. I got a cherry picker and stand and mounted the engine to it yesterday. This morning I went out and took all of the accessories and harness off.
I hit it with some engine degreaser and the pressure washer next to get some of the gunk off.
After that I pulled the heads and lifters out. All of the lifters look great as well as the cam. I can still see crosshatch in all of the cylinders and there isn’t any damage in the bores. I still haven’t pulled the pan off to look inside the bottom end. There was a little more sludge under the valve covers than I wanted to see but other than that it looks pretty good. I’m trying to decide what my next move should be. If it’s in good shape to this point should I pull the bottom end apart and do bearings or finish cleaning it up, assemble it and run it?
It's a tough call to say how far to go or not go. I've personally checked just the center main/thrust bearing and #6 rod a few times. It's been about 50/50 for me. I guess it depends on what the end goal is ect ECT.
I think I’m gonna take it on down while I’m this far into it. I’m really trying to avoid the expense of the machine shop. I’m thinking I’ll take it apart and at least check the bearings and plastigauge everything. Then I’ll probably hit the cylinders with a ball hone and put some new rings in it.
If you got the starter with the motor, it would be easy to check compression on it using a compression tester and a battery. That will at least give you an idea of the general health of the motor. You could also easily pull a rod cap to check on the bearings. If the motor seems pretty healthy there is not much reason to pull it apart.
At the very least regasket the big stuff (front/rear covers, oil pan, valve covers, etc).
I appreciate all of the input so far. After really thinking about what I want to do with this truck I think I’m going to take a different direction. I’m not going to be going to the track all of the time and I mainly just want something fun to drive to work every once in a while and a weekend toy. I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew at once with trying to do a turbo build. This is my first LS swap and I think it would be wise for me to just focus on getting the engine in and get this thing running and driving. Because I’m not worried about 1/4 mile times as much as I am fun I am also going to be using a manual transmission. That’s what I really enjoy and to me it would be more fun on the street. Realistically I’m probably not going to be beating on this thing too hard all of the time. I’d really like to have a T56 but the the prices are crazy. I may stick with an NV3500 for now just to get this thing driving. It all just depends on what I can find.
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