kingb

i finally removed the engine from my 85 k10 4x4 with excitement of installing my 5.3 .. to my horror there is absolutely no good way to get it to fit. the cross member and the tranny are in bad places. being a 4x4 i can't move the tranny and the crossmember in the front hits everything..... so my 5.3 is going to be on the market. it is a complete 5.3 with all the ex.

MrDude_1

iTrader: (4)

what hits? the oilpan? you can easily swap oilpans to fit..... the accessories? you can get one of several OEM setups, or go aftermarket.... where theres a will....





in anycase, if it was horribly, unbeliveably cheap, id take it.. i want to shove one in my S10..LOL.

Oscar Will

I've seen several of these 4 X 4 swaps with 5.3 motors. It's pretty straight forward with just a few of the right components. Don't throw in the towel.

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

NOTHING A SAWZALL CAN'T FIX!
seriously , look at other options/solutions before throwing the in the towel.

have you concidered notching the offending part?

eagleuh1

Hey, thats why its called a conversion and not just an engine swap. It'll fit, if your willing to convert a few things. If it will go into an S10, it will go into your K10, with a little converting. Takes a little bit more time to convert though, and money.LOL

Schitzo

iTrader: (6)

tragic loss?????

You have to make it work. It is not going to just drop in and bolt right up. More than that there are still more fitment/clearance problems to come once you have the engine and trans in......headers,rad and fans etc.....make it work and you will love it.

kingb

i am taking a breather and researching the mounts. i think if i throw the conversion plates in my pond and find a set of vette mounts i will be able to make a lot better mount surface , not giving up just frustrated for the moment.

'JustDreamin'

Hey Boss.....

I've got a 6.0L LQ4 & a 4L80E (with a NV 246 tcase behind it) installed in my S10 Blazer (actually, its a Bravada). And it does take some doing.

For me, I ended up building an oilpan from scratch and a transmission crossmember from scratch. For both of those it was easier to build a new one (at least for me) than to modify the existing stuff. Also had to modify one of the frame crossmembers (the welded in variety) in order to be able to actually install the engine trans and tcase.

My point is not to brag about my fabrication skills.

My point is this: You're swapping into a platform that has a bunch more room than mine. Its not impossible. It may be a bit more work and more challenging than you had anticipated, but its not impossible. Keep the faith. Most of the things that are messing you up right now are reasonably easily solved with a sawzall and welder. If you don't have those items, make some friends quickly!

Don't throw anything in the lake just yet, you might need them (or part of them) later.

'JustDreamin'

MrDude_1

iTrader: (4)

just the thought of how tight it must be under there makes me want to cringe.. lol... heck, the 4banger looks huge in there.. LOL

kingb

building a set of mounts to fit my truck. i am having clearance problems with the front crossmember. in a 4x4 i would rather not move the tranny, and that is what is causing the problems. on a 2wd you can move the tranny forward and lengthen the driveshaft, on mine that throws a lot out of whack, drive shafts, front especially, shifters. and a few other things. no it is not imposible but it is going to take a little more time thanks

kingb

i guess if itcomes down to it i do own a plasma cutter.......

'JustDreamin'

Mine's 4wd too..... But since I'm swapping from the 4L60E to an 80E (which is 3" longer) and going from a NV136 to a NV246 (which changes the front output shaft configuration) I don't have any choice but to modify a/o replace both shafts (not that its cheap or anything).

That's the spirit! Hack, chop, grind, weld, as needed to make it fit!

Um, yeah, its a bit tight.

I'm still concerned that I'm either going to have to pull the motor or the torsion bar crossmember to remove the trans / tcase. Not 100% sure that I'll have to do that, but the chances are slim.

Front driveshaft has to be a small diameter unit, to clear everything. Oilpan is custom to "mold" around the front diff. Manifolds have been modified to clear stuff. Passenger's side f-body manifold has a big honkin' lump on the side, which had to be removed to clear the shock mount (on my 4wd), filled it back in with a section of 2" steel pipe.

Sooner or later I'll snap some pics of the project and post them up. I know I took pics of the oilpan before it went on the motor and into the truck. Won't be for another week or so, though, I'm going on vacation starting Sat.

'JustDreamin'

kingb

i am going to go ahead and bolt the engine to the tranny and set it in the truck where it causes the least resistance and tommorrow night i will fab some mounts.. i like the way vette mounts have one bolt and a rubber cushion so i will try something like that.