How hard is this? I guess if I ask....its too difficult?
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How hard is this? I guess if I ask....its too difficult?
its a pretty simple swap if you have the money and skills to do it correctly. Buy a good used engine/transmission combination, motor mounts, custom harness, pre-programmed swap PCM and go to town on it. Little things will come up but its not too bad. Get all the parts you can from the engine supplier that they will give you. Tell them to cut no wires, save all bolts and destroy nothing when taking it out of the donor vehicle.
Well I have looked around and what I was thinking is maybe put a 6.0 in my 2003 then the 5.3 thats currently in my '03 in my '85. I don't know yet. I was wondering about the ignition. I don't know how that will be affected. also little things like cruise control?
if you get a late model 5.3 with electronic throttle you can use the NBS wiring to do your cruise control functions rather than the old vacuum diaphram cruise control. You'll have some wiring to tie together from the cruise control stalk to the PCM but its doable.
Great because all those vacuum lines in my pickup I cut and tore out for now to put the headers in. They look like crap. The '85 is my first pickup and ive been working on it for years. I'd like to put a 5.3 in it. I'd like to thank it have better throttle response and be more reliable if its done correctly.
it will scare you the first time you drive it with some real power. You'll need a high pressure/high volume pump similar to what you're running in your truck or from a Buick grand national to supply fuel. Have you read the conversion topics on OBS to ls1 swaps?
No I haven't. I figure that the old sending unit from the '85 wouldn't work. I will have to read that. I will probably just drive the 350 til it blow but I think I'm going to buy a 6.0 and get to working on it so its ready when its time to blow up the 350 haha its a hard choice the 350 runs great and sounds great
and probably gets about 8mpg too. :lol:
yeah its fun though. I work in the oil field man. Job Security HAHAHA. gotta love it. Man I couldn't believe when I bought this '03. I drive and hour back and forth to Graham TX and I get 21 miles a gallon on the highway its amazing. well thats what the computer tells me I've never checked
I meant the 85. Mine got gallons per mile instead of MPG.
Yeah i did too my '85 sucks it down but as long as guys like us burn it. I'll have a job. Haha Thats why I say I was so shocked at the '03 i had no idea that I was spending so much in gas until I started saving it in my '03.
Do you think a 3000 stall is too much in a daily driver? My dad says it is but I have no idea that's why I ask.
I run a 3500 stall in mine with a 408 and get 14-15 mpg. The stall makes it more fun and easier to drive in my opinion.
will the stall change the gas mileage? like I said 7 out of 10 days I drive an hour back and forth to work. sometimes less but I don't know what to go with. I'd like more power but I don't know what to change that wont kill my gas mileage. Do I have to sacrifice the gas mileage. If so fine but....
It will hurt city mileage more than highway. 3K is not bad for a daily driver.
I was just curios as to what else has to be changed once you do the motor swap. Do i use the computer that goes along with the motor or will I need a different one? What about a/c controls?
you need the PCM from the LSx based engine you buy so that it matches up to the electronics and throttle body. There are kits to put the factory rotary vane compressor on the LSx based engines.