The 5.3 Swap Begins: Glory or Absolute Failure and Destitution?

99% of my parts arrived this week and are already installed on the 5.3. I'll pick up the modified wire harness and CPU this Friday, and with any luck and the help from friends, I will have the old 5.7 out by Sunday evening.

This Monday, I tried to drop the gas tank and swap out the pump and lines for the high pressure fuel supply, and that went over like a turd in a punch bowl. First off, the heavy duty towing package is bolted up wrong and not coming off unless I remove the rear bumper. Secondly, none of the bolts have been spun off in like - 20 years! I sprayed them down with a bunch of panther piss (WD40), so hopefully they'll be more cooperative tomorrow evening. I suspect many aspect of this swap will be a lot more slow going than I originally anticipated.

Just a few questions for anyone who is willing to respond:

1) for the engine R & R, would it be better to have the Blazer up on ramps, or level?

2) Likewise - for the R & R, would it be better to take apart and remove the front pf my truck, or just pull out the old engine-transmission/drop in new engine/-transmission through the hood (i.e. remove the hood only)?

3) So, like, do I only become a senior member on this forum after I successfully pull off a ls swap, or do I have to, like, drink some of the previous senior member's blood from a rustic, dirty bottle like Lost Boys I?

4) (back to the engine swap) Anything I should really watch out for or absolutely not screw up at all in the smallest way?

Thanks! I will be sure to document and post pictures in my own special way.

Yours Truly,

88Blazerboy

In for answers and good luck!

I would suggest removing the core support
You will not have to raise the engine/trans that high up

Well, that was a fun experience. It took me almost a whole day to disconnect and pull the 5.7 and transmission out. Everything went pretty good: nothing broke and nobody got crushed. I really tried to not get ATF all over the floor of my garage, but that was a pipe dream - it went everywhere. The way we hooked up the chains, the tail of the transmission hung about two feet below the front end and wouldn't clear, so me and another guy lifted up the tail for a brief moment and got it out (stuff is heavy). I also ripped the oil filter open on the motor mount, but other than that, it was a slow, clean removal.

Installing the 5.3 and 4l60e was a pain in the a@%! Even with the shortest chain setting and emptying the air out of the front tires, there was no way the engine oil pan was going to clear the front end. We tried once again to lift the engine over, but this time it wouldn't budge since the weight was in the middle of the engine instead of the end. We ended up tearing the whole front end off (that took about three hours, and then we got the 5.3 into a good starting position almost right away. From there, it took about 4.5 hours to go in right and bolt up with the transfer case and motor mounts (this was the hardest half inch I have ever fought for). The trick for me was to put hydrolic jacks under the rear crossmember and lower it a little to get the spline to go in just right. There was probably an easier way, but I took what I could get that night.

The exhaust manifolds didn't hit the chassis at all, and the only thing I don't like about the position of the engine now is that the oil drain plug is right next to (and facing) the drive shaft to the front differential. When I changed out the oil, I couldn't get a ratchet on the bolt and needed to use a box wrench instead. Also, when the oil came out, it pukes all over the shaft and made a mess, but that's OK, I guess. The engine is 25 years younger than my truck and it was never made for it. Now, I'm just trying to get everything back together and hook up the new wiring and fuel lines. I hope to be done in a couple weeks, but my work schedule has really sucked lately. I'll be posting some pictures soon and get into more detail on some aspects of the swap but I don't have time now.

Peace!

Very nice. What mounts did you go with and what harness?

I finally have some pictures of the process (just a few for now).

I ended up using Dirty Dingo mounts for my truck (DD-2575-4). They worked great for clearance and were easy to move around. As expected, i had to remove the 5.3 factory A/C compressor on the bottom passenger side of the motor, and relocate one grounding screw on the bottom driver-side. I think that if I didn't use the Dingos, then I would have had to relocate the rear crossmember and cut my drive line. When I get the truck up and running, I'll comment on how they ride.

The wire harness was modified from the 5.3 factory harness and a few parts from the 5.7 harness to make the gauges work. I had a local company build it and flash the cpu. I'm hoping it will work:)

Here is a picture of the front end taken apart in prep to drop the 5.3 in:
http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...5&d=1414021566
This was not fun because the bolts were rusty and hadn't ever been spun off.

Here is a picture of the 5.3 right after it slid in right. I just bolted up the np208 transfer case to the 4l60e via the Advanced Adapter. The very front of the engine sits very close to the front crossmember of the chassis. I don't like this much, and I had to remove the Vortec plastic wire bracket. It caused some clearance issues going in, but ended up alright.
http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...2&d=1414021566

Here is the engine in and the front of the truck slowly going back together. To get the holes to line up right for bolting, I not only had to stand on one side of the front at a time, but also wear a 50 lb weight vest and ratchet quickly at the same time. There is probably a better way.
http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...8&d=1414026182

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...7&d=1414026175

The Air Intake took some playing around with. My harness kept the sensor plug, so I messed around with parts until I figured out a way to mount the Tahoe's air box (with the sensor) to the front of my truck. I used 3" plumber's pipe, a couple flexible thingys I got at a bone yard, and some metal belting. It looks hillbilly, but it's holding very well for now. When I have more time, I'll weld a tray and bracket.
http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...1&d=1414021566

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...3&d=1414021566

And for the modified air pipe...
http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...4&d=1414021566

Sort of a brief update:

I'm now approximately 5 months into this swap (for good or bad). I read something that kept popping up on many people's threads about doing a swap: "It takes time - be patient." Now that I'm done and smoothing out bugs, I would completely have to agree. It's interesting that I my time frame and budget were right on when I was doing the work (which was about 85% of the swap); but when I had two other "professionals" do some work on it, it took forever to get done, and naturally, they charged me for it. Anyway, I will add some new pictures and maybe a video link when I get the time. Truthfully, I think the process of uploading photos onto threads here is a pain, so I'm not overly motivated to do it.

Here's where I'm at presently - truck's running pretty good. The JBA shorty headers makes the otherwise quiet 5.3 significantly louder - especially over 75 mph (sounds like a freaking airplane engine).

I ended up putting a 2008 Tahoe radiator and the double radiator fans in, but the fans will not kick on. They work, but the engine just hasn't been getting over 198 degrees. I did have the fans tested - I know they work, they just aren't coming on yet. This will probably change when I pull my trailer.

The A/C is on hold unit March or April. It's pretty much put together and caped up for now, but since the Tahoe radiator is so damn long, I had to bend straight the condenser
lines which I will plumb around and behind the radiator shortly. Looks pretty easy, and I'm sort of proud of myself for unbending the lines with my hand and not breaking them.

The engine keeps throwing upstream 02 sensor codes, so the service engine light has kicked on about three times now. I put universal upstreams in and I have no downstreams (they were not built into the harness and were turned off on the computer). My exhaust is pretty much stock 88: there are the JBA headers with two upstreams, then the Y-pipe, catalytic converter, and single muffler. Had a pro do it since I can't weld for crap right now. I'm really not sure what is going on right now. The truck runs decent, but it's smelling a bit on the rich side like it's cold, and if I don't step into the acceleration a bit from a take-off, it's got a little murmur. It could be the CPU, could be vacuum, could be the 02 sensors - I'm really not sure. The engine's acceleration bands are also not consistent either. Sometimes it really takes off fast and strong from the get-go to about 45, and then even floored, seems to just gradually creep up in speed thereafter. Other times it accelerates very well after 40 and is a bit sluggish when taking off. Any thoughts folks? I can probably supply more info if needed.

I hate my present accelerator pedal arrangement! If anyone want's one bit of advise on an LS swap, I say go with a GENIII and avoid the GenIV for older tucks like mine. Having to retain the 2008 Tahoe accelerator pedal for the Drive-By-Wire blows. The pedal is long so it can easily be put too close to the floor and not be able to fully accelerate. Unless you are able to do do some serious rearranging down there by the brake pedal, there isn't much room to work with the accelerator pedal. I build a mount that's working, but the pedal is so far to the right of the brake pedal, and it's very far forward. At some point, I'll do some surgery on the pedal (which is plastic!) and modify it so I can put it in a better location. Just letting folks know that this wasn't hard to make work, but I'm really not happy with the results as of yet.

Lastly, the 4l60e seems to be doing fine. I ended up using one of those steering column shiftier kits, and after spending hours on my back tweaking it, it ended up working fine. The only thing I'm concerned about is when I slow down to a stop, it feels like someone lightly bumped into me from behind. I talked with an ex-Chevy mechanic and he said that his 2010 1500 pickup does the same thing - that it's just the way that transmission works. I don't like it, and naturally, since I put a Corvette servo in it, I'm double guessing my work and worried that I screwed something up. That was a super easy job, though. The only thing I didn't so was put a new pin in it.

That's it for know. I will get some photos up soon - mostly so people can see what not to do:) Just kidding! I wouldn't screw something up....

Sounds like you're enjoying all those lovely headaches from a swap! I'm on the tail end of my swap and luckily for me, I already had a compatible trans in my truck to bolt up to my engine. I know what you're saying about the accelerator pedal though, it is a real pain in the ass! I'm gonna have a welder buddy of mine cut it off about half way and weld it back on the way I see fit. I have a lifted truck so the way I got around taking the core support off was by taking my front wheels off and lowering the front end till the stud on the lower ball joints was about a 1/2 inch off the ground lol. I still maxed out my cherry picker and had to give the engine a little helping hand to clear the oil pan over the radiator. Also, I'm doing a hybrid harness with the one from the donor LQ9 and the one already on my truck, and if you want to talk about headaches, I got you beat when it comes to wiring!! I would love to buy a custom built harness but my funds have ran out for this swap and I'd prefer for all the accessories to work in my truck. Keep on keepin on though, you're almost there!!

Here is a shot of the pedal as it is now. As you can see, there is a huge gap between the brake pedal and gas. I designed a very durable steel pedal bracket that attaches to the stock pedal holes - it's about as good as it gets to fit this stupid pedal, and I might get a picture of it up at some point. My advice is to get a GenIII with Drive-By-Cable and not deal with this mess. If you go my rout, you're just going to have to get creative.

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...0&d=1422499451

Unless I want to move some circuitry around under the dash, this is just about the only position I can have the pedal. Another problem is that I had to have the pedal pushed out about 5 inches from the firewall so that the tip of the pedal doesn't hit the floor and cut short acceleration. The plug is right above the breaks, and I sometimes bump it with my foot. I'm thinking about cutting and modifying the Tahoe pedal so that I can move it back closer to the firewall and not hit the floor, but it will look like crap. Lokar makes an aftermarket pedal but it's around $400.00, and I still don't know if/how it will fit. Wouldn't buy it anyway.

Thought I would add some other photos for now. If anyone wants specific information about them or the work, hit me up.

Here is the radiator I ended up going with:

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...5&d=1422499498

It's a radiator for a 2008 Tahoe, and it's significantly longer than the Blazer's stock radiator. I had the Tahoe's electric fans, so I wanted a radiator that would match and fit the best. I had to bend the lines straight on my condenser and will be hooking them up with some 90s in the next couple months. I don't really see a problem with this. I used the Blazer radiator brackets and whipped up some half-ugly bolt attachments that pull the fans and radiator to the grill and secure them from flopping around. By going with the Tahoe radiator, I didn't have to do any custom transmission line conversions to make them fit the Blazer's radiator (it was also leaking pretty good too). If I could do it over, i think I might have bought a clutch fan for the 5.3. since it had the attachment. I would have got a new 88 Blazer radiator (or something similar) and retained my old fan shroud. This would have ended costing a bit less than what I spent on the new radiator, the tank T with a filling spout, and redoing the harness, fuse box and fan relays to get the fans to work. It would have pulled better air too when pulling a trailer.

Here is a picture of the vacuum lines and such. Pretty basic, but I never found a photo like this on anyone's threads. Maybe it will help. All seems well here, but my brake booster is leaking for some reason and making a whoosh sound when I break. I'm going to be replacing it here shorty - easy surgery, and not too much money.

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...4&d=1422499488

Here is a shot of the CPU. I put it on the driver-side front tire well by the fuse box. Part of me wishes that I has the harness made longer so I could have put this behind the glove box where the old TBI computer went. But this would have been hard to get to when pulling up codes. It seems fine here - the computer has a pretty durable case.

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...1&d=1422499459

Here is a shot of the Tahoe duel fans. The hardly fit in here, but I got it all to work.

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...8&d=1422499430

Here is side-shot of the engine from the front passenger side. For my first swap, it doesn't look too out of place.

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...9&d=1422499440

While I had the engine out, I thought I would try making the steering a bit more tight. The gearbox wasn't leaking, and the rag joint was recently rebuilt, so I decided to replace the steering arm with a Bergenson. My advice is to save your money, go to a boneyard and pull one from an older Jeep that fits almost perfectly with one minor modification. This thing is heavy duty (it's already heavy duty starting to rust), and it was a complete pain in the ass to beat on. About $300 for one of these or $30 for the Jeep version at a salvage yard. The steering is significantly tighter now, so it worked.

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...2&d=1422499469

Lastly, I've got a shot looking up at the shiftier of the 4l60e transmission. My truck has a shiftier on the steering column that I wanted to retain so I had to buy a Kugel shiftier kit. It was easy to install and extremely aggravating to adjust. I think I spent about five hours screwing with it until i got everything set right - I also had to bend the rod in two places (approximately the same way the Blazer's stock rod is bent). I'm a bit worried about the durability of this kit. It sort of looks and feels like a piece of crap. I guess time will tell. Maybe I'll have to build in an electric shiftier in the the future.

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/attac...3&d=1422499479

I think that's it for now. In a short while I'll post a video of the thing running.