Worth it to buy whole donor vehicle vs just engine?

[TrybalRage]

Hey all. Considering an LS swap for my 1985 longbed. I'm hoping to turn it into a reliable daily and a vehicle that can tow my 17' boat without issue to locations that could be several hours away.

Currently I have a 2016 Ram 1500 that gets those duties, but my lease is up in July of 2020, and I'd rather say goodbye to that payment... so as I see it I have roughly a year and a half to get my C10 redone.

In the early stages of planning, I'm wondering if it is worth it to try to pick up a whole donor vehicle rather than just an engine/trans on a pallet. My thinking is, I'll have all accessories, wiring, PCM, etc, along with possible other parts that could be used in the swap. (radiator? fuel tank? others??)

I guess I'm wondering how much of that will just get junked anyway to be replaced with new/modified stuff in the process.

Is there money to be saved by starting with a wrecked donor truck/suv? Does this make the job "easier"?

EDIT: For clarification, I'm eyeballing a 2005 Suburban with ~200K miles on it.

[kipps]

Don't plan on making a profit selling parts off the donor. Breaking even should be doable, though.

How much are you going to move over? If all you want is a long block that you'll be outfitting entirely with aftermarket stuff, the donor might not make as much sense. If you want wiring, fuse box, engine, intake, exhaust, transmission, etc, then the donor looks better.

Also, is this donor a driveable licensed vehicle? Can you test drive it and even daily drive it for a while to prove it?

[TrybalRage]

Originally Posted by kipps

Don't plan on making a profit selling parts off the donor. Breaking even should be doable, though.

How much are you going to move over? If all you want is a long block that you'll be outfitting entirely with aftermarket stuff, the donor might not make as much sense. If you want wiring, fuse box, engine, intake, exhaust, transmission, etc, then the donor looks better.

Also, is this donor a driveable licensed vehicle? Can you test drive it and even daily drive it for a while to prove it?

Not looking to make a profit, it's more about being able to use more parts off it. I see people needing to buy all the front accessories, wiring, etc. I'm curious how much people actually re-use that stuff or does it get trashed. I saw one thread on here where I guy actually re-used the fuel lines... part of what got me thinking of this.

Edit: just read your post further - not looking for a crazy aftermarket build. Just want a nice, stockish running setup.

I've seen some that are running and some that are wrecked. The suburban in question was t-boned in the rear axle area so is not driveable. It's also half the price of some of the street-running vehicles.

If I was to buy *just* an engine, seems like I'd pretty much have the same worthiness guarantee.

[Highcountrybulls]

I bought a complete 2007 Yukon Denali from Copart. Had $4500 total in it including the cost to go pick it up and all the fees. Pulled everything off it that I wanted/needed and then sold the roller for $1k. I kept engine, trans, t-case, radiator, seats, wiring, stereo and a few other odds and ends I thought may come in handy. I found a few other items that I overlooked like the obd connector but nothing major. Having a matching powertrain was very valuable for my purpose and saved me a pile. In my experience it was very valuable having the complete donor vehicle but ymmv.

[suburban99]

I've done 2 LS swaps. One on a 62 C10 (5.3 4L60E) bought a 2001 for $1000..removed parts I needed and sold rest for $1000. 2nd swap is a 72K10
6.0 LQ4 swap...Bought a 2002 2500HD removed engine and related parts..sold remainder for $400.00 If you have the space buy the donor...

[95chev-w/t-guy]

Originally Posted by suburban99

I've done 2 LS swaps. One on a 62 C10 (5.3 4L60E) bought a 2001 for $1000..removed parts I needed and sold rest for $1000. 2nd swap is a 72K10
6.0 LQ4 swap...Bought a 2002 2500HD removed engine and related parts..sold remainder for $400.00 If you have the space buy the donor...

I just bought a 2002 2500hd 6.0l 5 speed 2wd as a donor for my 84 C10, currently using it as a daily driver. Paid $2000 for it, and the way I see it if I get at least $1000 out of what's left when I'm done I'll be happy. Plus I'm getting lots of use out of it in the meantime. I agree, in my opinion, get the donor. Especially if it can be driven, otherwise itll be a big ??? until the day you get it running. If you drive it for a few weeks/months first you'll know exactly what you have.

[mongocanfly]

It's not neccessary to have the whole vehicle...but if you have the space it won't hurt to have it handy...

[Macdaddy1]

If I had the space I would get the donor as there is always some small amount of parts that you can harvest from the donor that you did not plan for and saves a bunch of time and money. If you can manage to sell off parts and break even then in my book you qare golden.

[Andyking1203]

I bought my donor truck for 400, sold 500 bucks worth of parts/and junking the truck. And kept the motor and all accessories needed except the trans(was a 4x4 truck and I'm building a 2wd c10).. so my motor ended up being free!!!

[rowdy11]

I bought a 2011 GMC 2500 donor for my swap. On the downside, I've had to harvest the engine/trans etc myself, which takes more time and effort. But I would do it the same way again. I've been able to harvest quite a bit more from the vehicle than I thought (like the hydroboost and master cylinder for example). And I've sold off individual parts - I expect to break even on the cost of the vehicle and what I sell off - so worth it in my book.

Agree with others that you have to have some long term space to do it.

[jjzepplin]

I got a 99 Trans Am For $1500. Running driving with a bunch of newer parts. I am going to drive it for a while and row that 6 speed manual til my Blazer gets back on the table. It's got 150,000 so it will go quite a ways before it needs a rebuild. I want a stock swap so I am redoing the harness myself and reusing everything I can to save money. Eventually I will have used all that I can from the carcass and will CL or scrap it.