My 1999 OBS C1500 LQ9 6.0 LS Swap

[Mickeymotormount]

Nice looking shortblock. I wish I were stuffing that in my project vehicle.

[ChevyMan90]

Thanks, its been a very slow build. Can't wait to get back behind the wheel. Heres some more progress. Getting closer to where its currently sitting..

Here's what showed up next!


PRC Heads from Texas Speed. LS6 heads (243/799 Casting)


Starting to look a little more like a motor here.

[ChevyMan90]

Then I ordered the Schoenfeld swap headers. I sandblasted them then primed & painted with the VHT Flame Proof paint from Oreilly's.



A little mock up..




These are the headers and ORY off the 5.7, sold them not long after I pulled them off

[ChevyMan90]

Decided to keep the 4L60E and got one for cheap from a 2001 Silverado that needed a rebuild. This way I could run a LS1 style converter and not have to worry about adapting to the older style. A good friend builds them all the time so I got all the parts needed and we did a full rebuild. Then got a 9.5" PI Vigilante triple disc converter. Its supposed to be a 3800-4000




All bolted up!

[kewljay223]

lookin good man. word of caution tho. i see your truck is dropped a bit... im guessin 2/4 or maybe 3/5?? your gonna wanna check clearance on that pan. mine is a 4/6 and i had about 2-3" from ground to pan and was forced to get an ls1 pan for clearance. just letting you know now cuz you will have to pull the motor back out if you end up having to swap it. but anyway keep up the great work!!

[baronsmith98]

This is a nice build man good job. How does that paint you put on the headers look like it will hold up?

[ChevyMan90]

Thanks guys!

kewljay223: Thanks! I think I remember reading somewhere on here (may have been your thread) that the oil pan does sit kinda low. I didnt notice until I brought this motor home that the oil pan I have is shallower than the usual 4.8/5.3/6.0's that I've seen. Not sure if it's because this is a Gen IV motor or what. I'll have to ask a friend of mine. He told me something about it a while back, just can't remember what he said. Thanks for the heads up though! The truck is 2/4 now but I do want to go 4/6 once the swap is finished!

baronsmith98: Thanks man! I blasted the headers to bare metal and primed, painted, and cleared them. All with the VHT stuff. The picture you see with the old headers and ORY was after about 4 years & 50,000 miles of use. They aren't the prettiest, but they have minimal rust. This VHT paint is a lot better than what comes on the headers for sure. I won't be driving this truck everyday, so I expect them to last a decent amount of time.

[ChevyMan90]

This here has been the most exciting part of the build yet! Pulling the 5.7 and getting the LS in! This is 5 minutes after the 5.7 was out. Needed a lot of cleaning!


After pressure washing and adding some paint. Looks freshened up now. Also put on some new motor mounts!