68c10owner

Ok guys. I`ve asked a few questions here and there but I`ve got a few more. I`m considering swapping in a 5.3 into my 65 chevelle. The motor will be pretty much stock with the exception of headers and a intake kit, maybe a small cam. Anyway, what is the cheapest way to set up the fuel system and wiring harness? I know I`ll need different motor mounts but is there anything else I should know about the swap? Also, what do I need to conect it to a 700R4? Thanks guys.

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

For the fuel system the truck motors should have a FPR on the rail until at least 2002 or 2003. And you can use GM plastic feed/return lines for the flexible part and steel line in between. For the tank do a search, you could either adapt a newer caprice tank, put a 98+ sending unit in your tank, do a tanks inc kit, or run an external pump. It all depends on your skills/preferences. If I had to do it again I would probably adapt a 98+ sending unit to my tank even though I was able to find a factory EFI tank/sender for my car.

For the wiring the cheapest way is to do it yourself, there are lots of threads on here about that and some info in the FAQ sticky

jeepinpete

I would recommend keeping the engine as stock as possible during the initial swap. That way there are as few variables as possible. Once it is up and running, then add the cam and whatnot, since you now have a baseline.

Take a look at my webpage, under projects then Cherokee. You need a spacer and bolts, both available from GM. Use the 700R4 TC, and the 700R4 will bolt up to the 5.3.

As for the wiring harness, you can use the stock harness, and pick up the underhood fuseblock off of ebay. There will be minimal rewiring that way. You will end up with a lot of extra fuses, and if you are so inclined, you could rewire the entire car into that fuseblock. You can also buy a prefab harness from many sources, which is the easy way out if you are not into wiring. You will need to have VATS programmed out of your PCM. Wait4meperformance.com does this very reasonably (~$25). You cannot fool it or work around it, it must be turned off.

Finally, you may have hood clearance issues with the truck intake in a Chevelle. And oilpan clearance too. It is a tall combination. Others will know better than I though...

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

The oil pan will probably be too deep, it hangs down 3" deeper than the truck pan. You will probably need to swap to a f-body pan which also requires swapping the windage tray, pickup, dipstick and dipstick tube. The intake will probably clear, it cleared on my El Camino. The highest part of the intake is the EVAP solenoid which is easily moved, then the alternator is the second tallest thing, actual intake is the 3rd tallest. You may also need to swap to f-body exhaust manifolds, the truck manifolds are slightly wider and will not fit the 78-87 A/G-Bodies, I don`t have any experience with the older A-bodies.

68c10owner

Thanks guys. I was thinking of running a external fuel pump. I saw a guy in a magazine ran one from a ford bronco and it seemed to work for his 5.3 swap. I was planning to run headers since hooker sells the engine swap ones not. i also read here in the forums that late model f body LT headers might fit pretty decent. I wasn`t aware that the truck intake was taller that the LS1`s in the vetts and camaros but maybe that will be a excuse to go with a cowl induction hood. I saw that street/performace does a modification service to the pans and pick ups to clear the chevelle chassis. I`m just more concerened with the costs of everything. It doesn`t cost much to build a 327 or 350 but whith the GEN III and LS1 stuff, it gets expencive fast.

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

It depends on how you are going to build it. I put a 2001 5.3L and a 4l60e overdrive trans into my el camino and including EVERYTHING (engine, trans, wiring, computer reprogram, gaskets, nuts/bolts, fuel tank that I needed anyway, etc) I spent just over $2500. No the motor and trans are not fresh rebuilds but if I tried to build a 350 SBC and an overdrive trans I don`t think I could have built it for that. Plus my car is my only car/daily driver and it idles perfectly, gets 13-16MPG in the city (and I beat on it constantly), and runs 14.5xx`s through the factory single exhaust, 13.99x`s if I drop the exhaust behind the cats. You can probably run a stock f-body pan without notching, I was able to do that with only minor clearancing of the valvecover/heaterbox. Bill G. was able to fit a LS1 into his 70 chevelle without notching anything. I don`t have any experience with a 65 chevelle but I would think that a 65 would have more room under the hood than my 85.