Final Steps LQ4 OBS

Greetings and salutations,
Im not really a new member on here but I do very seldom post. Ive been browsing this forum just to get ideas for my truck. I never really posted in the newbie section because I guess I felt that my truck was never worthy enough. Anywho, I am from the dfw area of Texas. I got my first obs 4 years ago when I first moved from FL. I came here with no money and suspended license so I was only able to get a broke down 1992 Lexus ES300 for $600, which I eventually fixed up and traded for a 1990 GMC RCLB. I didnt realize I was in love until I sold it. After weeks of no truck I realized I had to do everything within my grasps to get one back. Long story short, here I am and I would have to say its been a long time coming.

My truck started out like this:
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0250.jpg
minus the wheels

I drove on this for over a year. I did the dash swap from a 1998 Suburban. This is where I found a whole bunch of problems. The floor board was rusted completely through. For the dash swap, the steering columns were different. The 90 utilized a huge hole to seal the column whereas the 98 used a smaller seal. This left me with a huge hole that I didnt seal. When finished with the interior swap, the noise decibels where fixed by turning up the radio. I never got around to fixing the flintstone floorboards either.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0281.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0279.jpg

After driving for the year I realized it was time to fix the spewing oil leaks. The tired 300,000 plus 5.7l was crying for attention. I did what I could with the leaks and all seemed to be fine until it randomly overheated. Oil AND coolant blew everywhere. I was able to limp it to the shop and assessed the damage. It seemed the Melling oil pump was too much for the engine to handle. I searched high and low for a good used engine but everyone wanted way too much. Thats when I decided to go vortec power. Local junkyards wanted 700 plus and I was just not having it. The idea of paying that much and still having to deal with the grand canyon under my feet.
After searching high and low I found a 1997 c1500 ECSB with a rod knock. The body was clean with no rust and the interior was mint.
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0282.jpg
I was adament about keeping the 4x4 so the frame swap process began. I got to thinking that it would take too long to do so decided to do the engine part first that way I can drive on the c1500 for awhile that way I can restore the 4x4 frame. I used my 1990 shortblock and the vortec top end. This worked for a couple of months but soon the tired block said no no and locked up. I slapped myself silly and cursed at why I didnt just rebuild it. This is when I my fiance said my only choice is to go LQ4 or throw away the whole thing. She said do it right or dont do it at all. So the build process was under way.
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0304.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0307.jpg
Frame restored and thanks to MAGIC PAINT my frame is blinging.
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0353.jpg
bye bye old buddy you will never be forgotten
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0312.jpg
I couldnt get my hands on a cheap enough Lq4 so I had to settle with what I could find. 30,000 mile LY5 hotness
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0414.jpg
Since I was "forced" to do things the right way some goodies were on the way
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0313.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0316.jpg
Surgery was underway and everything seemed to be flowing smoothly until I got to the transmission. The NV3500 was ok but power seemed to be debatable. I started looking for the NV4500 but price got way up there. I found a guy with a wrecked 2004 Silverado and after some persuasion I ended up getting his 60,000 LQ4 WITH yes WITH the NV4500 for a whopping $900. The LY5 was out of there and the LQ4 assembly went in. I searched high and low there was no way I was going to pay 700+ for a harness so thanks to LT1SWAP.COM I dove in.
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0382.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0389.jpg
Started up on the first try!!!!!
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0449.jpg
I put in all the bushings mounts and put everything back. I had to rig up some type of intake. Four core radiator and dual flex-lite fans.
Thanks again to Brendan at LT1SWAP.COM for the site and the vats delete.
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0535.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0540.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0535.jpg
OOOOOHHHHHH just got some flares to set off my off road theme
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/IMG_0539.jpg
So thats it, I think. All in all the process wasnt too hard. I havent driven it yet cause im still waiting on my Rancho 9000XLs. Future mods include rear discs but I cant find anything on them for a good price. I have the 14 bolt semi-float if someone can send me a link that would be great. Thought about using the setup from an astro van or a nbs but I cant seem to find the thread on them. Heres a link to the rest of my album if you want more detailed pictures.
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w...asux/90%20obs/
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w...asux/97%20obs/