85 swb gets LS'd

[misternash2]

well i've been researching the LS swaps and i'm ready to start mine. i asked my wife very politely if i could do an engine swap in my truck and she very politely informed me that i had too many projects and that surely i could fund the project from selling other projects. so long story short i sold my motorcycle.

it's an 85 shortwide with a worn out 350/th350. i picked it up for 1700 bucks with a bad tranny. i swapped in a used trans that my stepdad had lying around. it's been repainted several years ago, and although it's not completely trashed, it hasn't been taken care of very well. it'll do for now. later down the road i may get rid of another project to get paint and body done. anyhow, i'll get some pics up real quick for y'all. oh by the way, i've already done the gauge swap from a 90 suburban.

[misternash2]

oh yeah, excuse the interior, it's trashed. and the hood looks like it's out of adjustment, but some pinch welds are broken between the skin and inner structure, so they're coming apart at that seam. i'm looking for a steel cowl hood for it now.

[clinebarger]

What LS engine are you going to run? Good looking truck & baby. I tried the electronic speedo on my 85, didnt have any luck making the speedo work & the transmission shift out of first gear at the same time. Ended up buying a conversion tailhousing for the 4L60E (mechanical speedo drive & a VSS sensor).

[68GMCCustom]

so....you going with a 4.8, 5.3, 5.7, 6.0, or 6.2L?

[misternash2]

Looking at a 5.3. Should know more wednesday. I hadn't heard there may be a problem with the electronic speedo yet. I'm excited to find out now. i see you're from mckinney. my uncle lives in fairview just a few minutes south of there. small world.

[STOCKISH]

Cant wait to see another LS swap started. Good luck with it.

[misternash2]

got off the phone today with them. the guy said he could get me everything i needed for $1500 with about 70000 miles. the wife's got finals this week so i'm in charge of the kiddo this week. i can't go tomorrow for sure so i'm shooting for wednesday. that's the best day this week so with a little luck i'll get it wednesday. i thought that was fairly cheap and the place is 20 minutes from my house.

[68GMCCustom]

Is that for engine (5.3?) and a tranny?

[misternash2]

Yes. That's engine trans wiring harness, pcm, gas pedal, cooling hoses, head pipes with O2's. Everything I'll need. Like I said sounds cheap but its got 70k on it too. Not that it scares me but that's the tradeoff for cheap. They have one out of an 09 burban too but its VVT as I understand. Anyone dealt with these?

[68GMCCustom]

VVT would add extra costs...either in keeping everything needed to run it...or everything needed to remove it. I purchased a new VVT crate motor and am removing the VVT...but I am running a carb style setup and using the MSD 6LS to fire the coil packs. My reason for buying this motor was I wanted a brand new one, got a good deal on this one, and I wanted a 6.0 and the L92/LS3 style heads. A LY6 is basically the genIV LQ4 so to speak...upgraded with VVT and the great breathing rectangular port heads.

[misternash2]

I haven't researched VVT much. What all do you need to run it? Besides the stuff already needed to run the EFI

[68GMCCustom]

right now...an engine designed that way. the hardware is fairly simple tho. Cam has hollow area that allows oil pressure to be used from the 2nd cam journal and an electronic actuator on the front of the cam that allows it to advance or retard the cam (in relation to the crank) like 5-7 degrees advance, to 40-50 degrees retard. Mast Performance is pretty much the VVT cam design/electronics/software leader right now.

[misternash2]

well i researched VVT a little bit, and i decided to stay away from that and the AFM. that left me with 99-06. i picked up a 5.3 out of an 04 avalanche. 72k miles. i got the engine, a 4l60e out of a sierra, the wiring harness, stock fuseblock, computer, head pipes with 02's, the clutch fan, cooling hoses, engine cover, stock air induction (with a k&n), everything i could think of that i'll need. i'm using LT1swap.com for the tune and harness. it will be 4 weeks for the harness and tune just because he's booked up. he does everything wait4me does but adds his own fuseblock. so it's all stand alone. i haven't talked to him on the phone, but through e-mails he comes across as a stand-up kind of guy. and knowledgeable too. i just got off rock auto and ordered fuel tank, pump, filter/reg., FI hose, some dorman fittings for the fuel line, a new sending unit, all new steering parts(i got mevotech, i'll let ya know about the fit and how they wear. i'm a little skeptical, but i haven't heard anything bad about them. it's all greaseable, so we'll see.), shocks, and probably some other stuff i'm not thinking of right now. spent almost $550 at rock auto and almost $1600 at the local salvage yard. the tune and harness is $350. i'm right at $2500 in right now, and i've got another 500 in the budget. may need to sell another project, but right now it's looking good. oh yeah i got the motor plates for 32.94 this morning on ebay. they are the 5/16" ones. all i know that i need is oil, filter, trans fluid, filter, and FI hose clamps. i'm sure there's more stuff i'm forgetting. oh yeah like the steam fitting from jags that run. i'll get that ordered now. wow, that's a lot of typing right there.

thank you very much, bob(glock) for your in-depth write up. and 72supercheyenne, too. that should make this fairly simple. also, thank you to all the others who have gone before me. i've read through most of your build threads and taken notes. i sincerely appreciate all the work you guys have gone through answering questions and posting pics.

by the way, i'm a redneck by nature. this is not a show truck. it is not gonna be a very nice installation compared to some of the others i've seen. i am doing this because i want power, reliability, and mileage. i'm just building a truck to drive the wheels off of.

[misternash2]

well i ordered the steam tee from jags that run. i went out and pulled the wiring harness and computer off. boxing them up tonight before work and sending them out to be modified and programmed. the salvage yard guys broke the connector on the ac compressor, so i'll have to take that and exchange it. other than that, i'm waiting on parts.

[68GMCCustom]

my build is going to get serious tomorrow. I built a stand for my bed today...so I can pull the bed and work on the chassis under it, cutting rivets. Should have the 383 stroker and turbo 350 pulled from the truck this weekend. Then once the front crosmmember is cleaned and painted up and mounted in the old frame...I'll set the LSx motor in the frame. yippee!

I just need somewhere to put the old motor and tranny.

[misternash2]

i've got a camping trip a couple hours away june 2nd-7th. after i get back, it's on like donkey kong. if you need any information, i've got a ton of bookmarks. just let me know. then again...i may end up doing the info asking

next week i'll do the steering stuff and shocks. and mount up the pump to sender and install it in the tank but i still have to wait to get the real stuff done till i get back. gotta haul all our stuff down to AR.

[fpjr0]

misternash2 I dont know how much you are going to pay for the harness to be rework or how good you are with wiring, but,with the info from lt1swap.com I did mine, it was easy and unexpensive,, didnt have any problem,also have a avalanche engine here... have a little over 1k miles on swap... good luck

[87chevy.com]

you can remove vvt, swap the crank trigger for a 5.3 one, get an 5.3 timing cover and use a cable throttle body (aftermarket) to fit the 6.2 intake, and a 5.3 computer and a good tune... Hella bad arse.... I should have grabbed the 6.2 when it was offered to me on a silver platter... i didnt want to shell out the dough at the time. anyway theres the solution to 6.2 with no vvt and no crazy wiring harness. If you keep the 6spd auto you will have to keep the 6.2 computer and the wiring is different than a 4.8-6.0. food for thought

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted by 87chevy.com

you can remove vvt, swap the crank trigger for a 5.3 one, get an 5.3 timing cover and use a cable throttle body (aftermarket) to fit the 6.2 intake, and a 5.3 computer and a good tune... Hella bad arse.... I should have grabbed the 6.2 when it was offered to me on a silver platter... i didnt want to shell out the dough at the time. anyway theres the solution to 6.2 with no vvt and no crazy wiring harness. If you keep the 6spd auto you will have to keep the 6.2 computer and the wiring is different than a 4.8-6.0. food for thought

Im confused? Are you talking about running a 6.2 gen IV engine (58X) with a 5.3 gen III (24X) computer & hardware?

[misternash2]

Originally Posted by 87chevy.com

you can remove vvt, swap the crank trigger for a 5.3 one, get an 5.3 timing cover and use a cable throttle body (aftermarket) to fit the 6.2 intake, and a 5.3 computer and a good tune... Hella bad arse.... I should have grabbed the 6.2 when it was offered to me on a silver platter... i didnt want to shell out the dough at the time. anyway theres the solution to 6.2 with no vvt and no crazy wiring harness. If you keep the 6spd auto you will have to keep the 6.2 computer and the wiring is different than a 4.8-6.0. food for thought

that's not something i want to do. i'm not even gonna break the intake loose. i just want to throw and go. max displacement is not an issue for me. i would have bought a 4.8 if it was a better buy. the 5.3 will have way more power and driveability than the old 350 in it now. that's what i'm looking for. oh yeah, and 20+ mpg.

it's a vehicle that i prefer to drive. we drive an hour or better almost every single weekend, so i thought this would be the best way to include my truck in our family outings. i was out in town today and i got 5 or 6 compliments on my truck. i'm beginning to think that i've just picked it apart so it doesn't seem that nice to me. i guess i need to remember the first impression is what counts. no body else is gonna look at it as long or as hard as i will. unless i commit the capital sin and sell it. haha, yeah right.

[misternash2]

got the shocks changed out today. and got all the steering off, gonna toss the new stuff on tomorrow. my wife only let me work about an hour and a half, maybe two hours. she wanted to do something "fun". if only she saw things from my point of view...

[misternash2]

finished up the steering components. man, mevotech just isn't worth the savings, IMO. next time i'll spend the money for moog. which will be this winter i'd say. the adjusting sleeves were junk. they weren't threaded straight. i had to go get some cheapies from o'reilly's. one of the grease zert threaded holes was stripped out. it's just stuck in there for now. not a fix but like i said, i'll be changing it all out in six months or so. also instead of rubber boots, some of the parts had a foam ring around it. which will do a fair job of keeping the dust and dirt, but still. i paid for cheap parts and i really shouldn't be upset cause i got junk. still. all you other guys looking at mevotech, beware. i know i've seen other guys asking around about them and no one i saw had used them. so here's your review.

again, i paid for cheap parts. my advice is: save up for moog. it's not worth your while to put mevotech on your truck. IMO!!

[68GMCCustom]

Thats what I'm thinkin.

[misternash2]

i looked at the pinout page, and i thought about trying it myself. i just decided to pay the money and get it done. i'll do like bob did and take notes on what's been done, and i'll do it myself next time. i figure it's 250 bucks well spent. we shall see.

[68GMCCustom]

you spend your money on the cheap stuff...you get a cheap solution.
spend a little more and get a better product...and it will pay you back by lasting longer.