First LS swap
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First LS swap Hello all,
I live in Evansville, Indiana for anyone close by who wants to connect/be friends/etc
I'm getting towards the end of my first LS swap. I bought a wrecked 99 Silverado with 90k miles, pulled the drivetrain and parted it out to have only $300 in my whole long block. I'm not particularly mechanically gifted, but my dad is, so I'm just kind of learning as I go with his help. I'm 24, former Army Infantry and in school to be an X-ray Tech. So not exactly mechanically educated or experienced.
Did the basic mods (ls7 lifters, ARP studs, ARP rod bolts, BTR cam springs/pushrods, Trunnion Upgrade) and a simple rebuild(ish) by having the block baked and tumbled, crank polished, new cam bearings and such.
Well, the swap has been anything but simple. It's going into a 2005 Single Cab Short Bed Colorado that was PREVIOUSLY 350 swapped (who does that???). So, had to work around all of the previous owners wiring and such. They cut out the motor mounts and welded in their own, so that was kind of tricky for me since I'm not a fabricator but I got it figured out with the help of some friends. So if anyone knows someone who used to have a 350 swapped colorado in one of the carolinas, I probably have their old truck.
I really wanted to make an account here just so I could upload the directions to the Fast LSXRT manifold. They literally do not exist anywhere on the internet. Only the 92mm regular manifold instructions, and the LS7 instructions currently are publicly available. And they're definitely different, wasted an entire day trying to use them. I eventually called FAST on the phone and the emailed me the original LSXRT instructions so I'd like to share them with the world. So if someone could PM me on how/where to do that, that would be cool!
Here's a pic of the engine bay in progress. The colorado came with an exhaust system from the previous swap but my truck manifolds weren't fitting on the drivers side, so I'm just gonna run them flipped forward and forgo the hood for now. I have a GT475 turbo and I was going to turbo it eventually but I guess this kind of forced my hand and I'll be doing it sooner rather than later.
https://imgur.com/a/yeen2m8
I live in Evansville, Indiana for anyone close by who wants to connect/be friends/etc
I'm getting towards the end of my first LS swap. I bought a wrecked 99 Silverado with 90k miles, pulled the drivetrain and parted it out to have only $300 in my whole long block. I'm not particularly mechanically gifted, but my dad is, so I'm just kind of learning as I go with his help. I'm 24, former Army Infantry and in school to be an X-ray Tech. So not exactly mechanically educated or experienced.
Did the basic mods (ls7 lifters, ARP studs, ARP rod bolts, BTR cam springs/pushrods, Trunnion Upgrade) and a simple rebuild(ish) by having the block baked and tumbled, crank polished, new cam bearings and such.
Well, the swap has been anything but simple. It's going into a 2005 Single Cab Short Bed Colorado that was PREVIOUSLY 350 swapped (who does that???). So, had to work around all of the previous owners wiring and such. They cut out the motor mounts and welded in their own, so that was kind of tricky for me since I'm not a fabricator but I got it figured out with the help of some friends. So if anyone knows someone who used to have a 350 swapped colorado in one of the carolinas, I probably have their old truck.
I really wanted to make an account here just so I could upload the directions to the Fast LSXRT manifold. They literally do not exist anywhere on the internet. Only the 92mm regular manifold instructions, and the LS7 instructions currently are publicly available. And they're definitely different, wasted an entire day trying to use them. I eventually called FAST on the phone and the emailed me the original LSXRT instructions so I'd like to share them with the world. So if someone could PM me on how/where to do that, that would be cool!
Here's a pic of the engine bay in progress. The colorado came with an exhaust system from the previous swap but my truck manifolds weren't fitting on the drivers side, so I'm just gonna run them flipped forward and forgo the hood for now. I have a GT475 turbo and I was going to turbo it eventually but I guess this kind of forced my hand and I'll be doing it sooner rather than later.
https://imgur.com/a/yeen2m8
Welcome to LS1Tech! Thank you for your service to this great nation! Swap looks like it’s going great. I don’t really know much about Colorado’s, but couldn’t you get one with an LS engine already? If so, you should be able to find OEM parts to make this painless. Good on you sir for wanting to learn as you go. The school of hard knocks is the best training grounds to really learn something. Keep it up!
Yes, welcome. I think the Colorado/Canyon had the 5.3 as an option from 2009-2012. My mom has a 2010 with a 5.3L. She's 84 years young...
Don't be afraid to ask questions, there are a lot of us here that have done a lot of swaps.
