Faded 87 soon to be LS powered

[Raceaprilia]

I got another one of the C10. Some call that addiction, I call that something to keep me busy and out of trouble lol. Was looking for another but this time good swb base driver 64-66 on local CL for about a year now but no good unmolested trucks available. Had one 66 lined up and that didnt work out... The way how my restored 64 turned out I dont want to use it as driver...

Anyway I posted on CL looking for square roller or driver since I like that body style too, no (major) rust, original paint,... Like all of us lol. Lot of offers came by but no good trucks there. Finally one guy called me about his 87 SWB. Said no rust, couple inperfections in and out, overall strong base to start with,... and I was like ok at first till I got some pics of it. He mentioned price and I was already on my way to look at it. First person in long time that did not wrap sh** and said it is what it is. Truck was all what he said. Original paint, faded, trans not working, engine is perfect working 305 TBI, couple things that need attention on the body but overall exactly what I am looking for. It had some side and tailgate pinstripe done sometime in the nineties and it look good to me. Oh yea and it is not chevy its GMC. He was willing to work some on price and we had a deal.

[Raceaprilia]

The plan is not to go nuts on the expenses but still make nice driver out of it:
Power: I got 4.8 vortec with 4L60E trans out of 2005 silverado recently. I paid $1900 for the whole truck that was side wrecked and I am still selling good parts out of it. Goal is to have no more then $1000 tied in engine-trans combo when all is sold.
Interior: Redone bench seat or newer buckets with center console, not sure yet. All carpets and plastic are red now - will go for the black on carpet and plastic, not sure on seat yet. Dash is black and it pop out nice on red.
Suspension: Belltech 3" drop spindle with potential 1-3" spring up front, flip kit rear. When this is done I will decide on small C notch and anything else needed to make it sit right.
Wheels and tires: staggered set of 18" wheels, not decided on style yet (hoping on good local CL deal till then lol), same tires as on my 64; 255 front, 295 rear. Might even do 20" on this one, square body looks good with 20" on it.
Brakes: Stock size rotors and drums, new flex lines, new all that need attention.

When I am done this is look I am going for but no tint glas lol.

[slotard]

Do you plan on keeping the 4.8 stock or will it get some work done to it? I'm thinking of doing something similar on my C20.

[Raceaprilia]

Originally Posted by slotard

Do you plan on keeping the 4.8 stock or will it get some work done to it? I'm thinking of doing something similar on my C20.

No engine work planned on it for now. Truck came stock with 170HP 305; 4.8 put out 285HP. Thats plenty enough for me. I will put headers on it but this is about all expense around engine bay planned for now. Who knows what might happen later on... I will do rear gears or end swap too; Truck has 273 gears now and plan is to go with min 342 gears. With wheel and tire size of 2005 and my plans; 342 come out about same gear ratio with 2005 being 373 gears. 05 was driver when I got it and I liked 373 on it. I might even go to 373 on square but then its going to be already too much fun.

[Corts60]

That's gonna look sick.

[scottybaccus]

I recently completed a 6.0/4L80e swap into my '87 GMC. I made everything as OE as possible. Have a look on my shop page, or pm me for details. I've put nearly 7k miles on it since the swap.

[bnoon]

Very nice looking truck and project plan. Wish I was as dedicated regarding the direction of my truck(s). I change my mind nearly daily!!!

[old yelr]

I'm in for the ride!

[NorCalAnthony]

Sweet looking project! I'm gathering parts for a similar swap on my '89 K5 and like getting ideas from everyone else doing these kinds of projects. Good luck and keep the posts coming

[Raceaprilia]

At the moment I am at $900 back from sold parts off of 05. Goal is reached and still have some parts left to sell. I did spend some $$ past couple of days on new parts that need to be changed. Spark plugs & wires, filters, oil, some seals, new thinner oil pan, trans oil filter and the list goes on... I realized that one thing is getting donor engine and the other is to make it road worthy with new parts to make sure not to have it apart again any time soon after transplant. I decided to just clean engine and trans good and leave aluminum finish on it without painting it for now. I would like to make inside engine compartment look like this is how it came from the factory. Sorry no pics were taken today just working lol...

[Raceaprilia]

One of the things that I read about as good and cheap improvement on trans is vette servo for 4L60E. Item ordered and want to see difference on shifting when truck is back on the road.

[Raceaprilia]

I might need to change that name lol. It is cleaning out pretty good and paint is getting some shine back.

[InitialBoss]

Nice color on it. Are you using cleaner wax or some other type of washing agent on it? It's looking pretty sharp!

[Raceaprilia]

Originally Posted by InitialBoss

Nice color on it. Are you using cleaner wax or some other type of washing agent on it? It's looking pretty sharp!

I used turtle wax polishing compound that I had. For cab I run out of it and used another product for clear coat but it did not clean it that well. Will be good for now, when engine swap is finished I will do cab again to match everything together.

[Marty68]

when is the swap starting? looking now for 4.8 or 5.3 now for my 68

[Raceaprilia]

Originally Posted by Marty68

when is the swap starting? looking now for 4.8 or 5.3 now for my 68

Soon I hope. Work keep me way too busy. Plan was before new year but I guess it is moving to later date...

[aggie91]

Found your thread. Hope to see some progress soon...

[Raceaprilia]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Found your thread. Hope to see some progress soon...

Hi Karl, I hope to see some progress here soon too lol.

I did order some wheels and tires. Tommy had no Eagle 225 there then we picked gray 338 in 20" size and he is shipping out soon. With 50% off shipping price was good too. Tires are 255/45 and 295/40. Slightly bigger then stock but not bad. Price was good on those too.

What do you think on this Eaton Detroit Truetrack unit?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dt...eviews/?page=3
I cleaned up and painted stock 89 suburban rear end with 342 gears and is ready to go in. With bigger tires that it was planned originally I might reuse my stock rear and build 373 with posi later on.

[aggie91]

That Eaton unit is a great piece. Even with the 3:42's that could be a good set up and should get great mileage.

I am thinking of using one of these:
http://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/a.../10-16-14.html

The Spartan Locker for my '85 10 bolt is Part # SLGM8528. At RockAuto.com it is $292.79. I can do this install myself, because you out it in the existing carrier in the rearend. just have to keep track of the shims for each side when you pull out the carrier. Bearings and Races can be replaced and should not effect the shim pack.

Just another way to think about it.

[cfan10]

^very nice...great now I want a 4.8 had no idea they produced that much power...guessing there much better on gas for a daily than 5.3 or 5.7...

[66LSx]

Few things I thoroughly enjoyed during my swap and I hope you consider carrying over......

1. Glad your talking corvette servo.... win. Do it... its worth it.

2. On your truck computer... you'll have tow/haul mode built into the computer.... rewrite the tow/haul mode shift program page to copy an an 06' GTO... its a riot and another cheapy upgrade.... Simply add a momentary push button somewhere on the tash and viola... grandpa 87 C10 turns into haul a** mode and back to grandpa MPG mode with a push of a button.

3. You'll find the 4.8 or 5.3L in stock form MORE than adequate.... long tubes and CAI woke mine up and made it a beast.

4. My 66 still isn't your 66... maybe someday

I'm along for the ride on this one from here on out.... nice score and nice plan.

[Raceaprilia]

Originally Posted by 66LSx

Few things I thoroughly enjoyed during my swap and I hope you consider carrying over......

1. Glad your talking corvette servo.... win. Do it... its worth it.

2. On your truck computer... you'll have tow/haul mode built into the computer.... rewrite the tow/haul mode shift program page to copy an an 06' GTO... its a riot and another cheapy upgrade.... Simply add a momentary push button somewhere on the tash and viola... grandpa 87 C10 turns into haul a** mode and back to grandpa MPG mode with a push of a button.

3. You'll find the 4.8 or 5.3L in stock form MORE than adequate.... long tubes and CAI woke mine up and made it a beast.

4. My 66 still isn't your 66... maybe someday

I'm along for the ride on this one from here on out.... nice score and nice plan.

Corvette servo is installed, it take no more then 20 min to do it. should be worth it.

I already send PCM to Brandon to get it ready, not sure how its done with tow mode. I liked the difference on U haul truck with button turned on. When I get all squared away to driver condition this one is on my list. This computer, wire thing is not my strong spot...

4.8 is plenty for me. 87 is 600 LBS lighter then 05 was. This is big difference already. I will run long tube Gibson Headers GP139S-C. Not sure what CAI is??

Not much happen on the weekend. Rear end is blasted, painted, oil in it changed and pinion seal with it. Gears are looking great. Axles are 30 spline(89 suburban donor). If I decide for locker it will be installed in this rear, not going to build another one. I am sure it will be cheaper and easier that way.

Started to put harness back on engine and I run into problem. When I changed oil pan with another that is not that deep I did not notice that new one does not have tread for oil level sensor on it (located on pan above starter). Will this be any kind of problem? As I said not strong on electric part. Also one of bottom bellhousing bolts will not line up with new pan but I think this should not be too big of a problem since there is plenty of bolts holding it together..
I pulled rear two oxygen sensors off the harness already. I plan to keep all the rest on the engine. Is there any other wires that I can pull out? Is there any good direct link for 2005 harness modification that someone can stick over here or on PM? I looked at lt1swap but not sure if I was looking the right stuff, did not want to proceed with wire cutting for now till I read some more. Makes me want to buy premade harness but this is just not me lol. Another scary thing will be gasoline lines. Need to pull gas tank off truck first to se what I have and work my way around it then. Fuel pump will be AC-DELCO EP381, it should be direct fit in place of stock one for TBI.
I also got someone that will buy old 305TBI with 700R4 trans from me to get some $$ back in the build. Just need to pull it out now...

[l92powered77]

post that engine on craigslist the old school guys will call you all day on that oe drivetrain just spray it down with purple power and wipe it down before you take pics to sell and bada bing bada boom. hey what engine mounts do you plan on using? I used dirty dingos 73-87 specific mountsm right now im looking for headers again because the gibson # gp139s DID NOT fit my 77 c10 swb and im using dirty dingo mounts .i am gonna try oem camaro ss manifolds if i can find any if not probaly order some on ebay ,i was told by the owner Brent of dirty dingo that i should use cheap ebay ls swap c10 headers which use a mid length header design ..good luck with swap!

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by Raceaprilia

Not sure what CAI is?? COLD AIR INTAKE

Started to put harness back on engine and I run into problem. When I changed oil pan with another that is not that deep I did not notice that new one does not have tread for oil level sensor on it (located on pan above starter). Will this be any kind of problem? If you follow the pinout harness info on LT1Swap, this sensor is eliminatedAs I said not strong on electric part. ...I pulled rear two oxygen sensors off the harness already. I plan to keep all the rest on the engine. Is there any other wires that I can pull out? Is there any good direct link for 2005 harness modification that someone can stick over here or on PM? I looked at lt1swap but not sure if I was looking the right stuff, did not want to proceed with wire cutting for now till I read some more...I followed the info on LT1Swap to a T and also his FB feed when I did mine. I had no issues at all......

See my comments in BLUE above...

[Raceaprilia]

Originally Posted by l92powered77

post that engine on craigslist the old school guys will call you all day on that oe drivetrain just spray it down with purple power and wipe it down before you take pics to sell and bada bing bada boom. hey what engine mounts do you plan on using? I used dirty dingos 73-87 specific mountsm right now im looking for headers again because the gibson # gp139s DID NOT fit my 77 c10 swb and im using dirty dingo mounts .i am gonna try oem camaro ss manifolds if i can find any if not probaly order some on ebay ,i was told by the owner Brent of dirty dingo that i should use cheap ebay ls swap c10 headers which use a mid length header design ..good luck with swap!

Thanks for info, what was issue with headers on your truck? I plan to use 3 different point adapter plates from ebay with stock mounts for 87.