My 1946 Suburban LS 5.3 swap

[NEWFISHER]

Since the pre 47 section is a ghost town and I have gleemed a ton of inspiration from you all here in the lsx area, im going to slowly unfold my journey or shoe horning this beast into the narrowest chassis to squeeze one of these engines into.

A little about the rig: dropped straight axle, 235 inliner, 1955 car 3 speed, 1955 car rear diff and a manual stock steering box mounted inside the frame rail. It still has the knee action lever shocks and is a blast to drive. We added this rig to our collection next to our 50 burb as they make great road trip, camp out of, keep dogs safe and dry vehicles and we can cruise with 7 other friends at the shows.

The plan: parallel 4 link and bag the rear with a small bridge through the floor behind the middle seat. Ive always wanted a spark throwing tail dragger and needed some motivation to get the Ls project on its way onve the rear is dropped. I was hoping to keep the straight axle but with the inner rail steering box conversion, disc brake conversion, having the front sheetmetal off for the Ls it just makes sense to toss an I.F.S system in it with a power rack and build the engine mounts off of the crossmember..right? I have also never seen a straight axle 40-46 LS conversion so not wanting to travel the dead end path ive decided to loose the drop axle. Im going to be running an external pump, a 4" elbow to a K&N and keep the ugly truck intake until next year. I am inquiring with Adam at PSI regarding the extension of the ecu harness so I can hide it inside. No room on the narrow firewall and i dont have inner fenders to rest it on. I picked up the conversion last night and whipped up a roll around cradle for it to hang out on while I detail it and get the puzzle sorted out.

Any comments and suggeations are welcome and appreciated. It will be my first 4 link and my first LS conversion. Here are a few pics to get this going. Hoping to have the 4 link done by next month and the Ls done by the end of December.

[ls1nova71]

That's a nice looking truck! The engine swap will only make it better!

[Coach529]

Subscribed.......this is going to be AWESOME!!

[BR3W CITY]

Def havent seen too many high performance builds on something like that. Cool.

[Clyde65]

That is a beautiful rig right there!!! I love it!

Have you considered just rolling a new build frame under it? if you decided to do that I bet there is someone out there that would love the rolling chassis for their burb build.

[Low Elco]

Good lookin'! Can't wait to see where it goes!

[aggie91]

I will be watching, I liked what you did with the '65...

[NEWFISHER]

Thanks guys! Should be interesting trying not to "down" the rig for more than a weekend as I am using the space at work to do the conversion, 4 link and the front IFS. I have to keep it moveable through out the process so the tech's at work can generate some income during the day in the space the Burb will be worked on. I envy those who have shop's or garage space at home!
Any words of wisdom welcome.

[littlevictories]

spend time/money on a well thought out fuel system.
don't let yourself get mentally hung-up on "it's gotta have this" make it run and make it safe.
have fun.

[NorCalAnthony]

What are your plans/goals for the engine? If you're just wanting a cool cruiser with a stock 5.3 that set up you have should be fine but if you plan on suping up the engine at all you may want to pick up a 4L80E. The 4L60E's don't last long once you start upping the power level and with all the custom work you'll be doing to make everything fit you may want to plan for that now instead of having to rework things later on...

This project looks like it's going to be awesome! I'm definitely subscribing to see how everything turns out.

[laid67c10]

Sure is a nice looking burb sir!

[solidaxel]

Everything will fit !!!

[NEWFISHER]

Thank you for the comments and suggestions!

Other than a K&N filter, msd red wires , Trailblazer SS manifolds and a single Magnaflow muffler I plan to leave it stock. The 4l60 is a bit smaller than the 80 and this rig is considerably smaller everywhere than what im used to. There is no hump for a trans tunnel, just flat floor to the toe kick. Ive already worn out a tape measure laying under it in the garage.
Good new: the UPS driver has figures out what im doing parts are starting to show up. I think its the 2 or 3 things every paycheck that keep me excited. Im going to swap in a new water pump and tstat housing next week and start tearing down the engine for some paint.
Thanks for the heads up on the fuel system. I was considering rubber fi line but AN fittings and some good braided hose will find its way in the build. I plan on building the fuel system and capping the ends and hanging it so its already done when I get to the install. Same with the radiator. Its a fully welded aluminum Champion large tube and I had the necks welded and the steam pipe installed already. It will go in and cap the steam pipe and convert the hoses to run it until the conversion gets done.
I was going forward with a parallel 4 link and then switched to a triangulated set up due to the dramatic swing in height and not wanting a pan hard bar to shove a tire into the fender durinv the cycle. Still trying to decide which IFS kit to run, afford bags, air management etc. Go big go in debt or go home right?

[mcmlxix]

You can also check out the 5th Gen camaro exhaust manifolds if you have frame clearance issues. They tuck closer to the block and use 2 studs instead of three. CLICK HERE

For my fuel lines on the Blazer I used some local parts store length of 3/8 hard line and used a 3/8 compression to -AN fitting for a short flexible line at the motor and the tank. Some years had systems that use a retun line with a regulator at the intake manifold. I lucked out with a 2005 motor and the regulator is built into the fuel pump module and uses a returnless single line up to the motor.

[solidaxel]

Here is the floor on the 46 abd it is flat like yours and there is a 4L60E under there and no (very little) bump at the toe board

[NEWFISHER]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

here is the floor on the 46 abd it is flat like yours and there is a 4l60e under there and no (very little) bump at the toe board

inspiration!!!!!:-[

[Bomp]

Your rides are always top quality so I know the skill will flow from your finger tips on this one.

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by mcmlxix

You can also check out the 5th Gen camaro exhaust manifolds if you have frame clearance issues. They tuck closer to the block and use 2 studs instead of three. CLICK HERE

For my fuel lines on the Blazer I used some local parts store length of 3/8 hard line and used a 3/8 compression to -AN fitting for a short flexible line at the motor and the tank. Some years had systems that use a retun line with a regulator at the intake manifold. I lucked out with a 2005 motor and the regulator is built into the fuel pump module and uses a returnless single line up to the motor.

I used these manifolds, worked great.

[NEWFISHER]

GM is currently backordered on the tbss left side and spac case comes up empty. Switching to the 5th gen F body ones. Thank you guys!
Spent the weekend with family at the beach / car show in Seaside this weekend. The only excersise that was had would be my Visa card and online orders for parts I keep wanting. Lol

[Low Elco]

I got mine through LKQ.

[psiconversion]

NEWFISHER check your pm's

[NEWFISHER]

Originally Posted by psiconversion

NEWFISHER check your pm's

Called you earlier and have checked PM's

[Hart_Rod]

Will 2001 Corvette manifolds work? If so, I have a nice set off of a low miles Vette LS1 (26K miles).

[Low Elco]

Hey Fish, put pics up for ya in the Yeller thread of the electrical Center. Holler if you have any more questions.

[NEWFISHER]

Originally Posted by Hart_Rod

Will 2001 Corvette manifolds work? If so, I have a nice set off of a low miles Vette LS1 (26K miles).

Thanks! Lemme check the interwebz and see if they are similar to the fboxy dump and tuck thing.