LT1 powered stepper

[1981Stepside]

Hello all! Now that my very slow going project is almost complete, I figured it was time to post some pics and share my blood sweat and tears with the forum. All comments and (constructive) criticism are welcome!

My current project is a 1981 Silverado stepside. I bought it about 2 years ago in Victoria, BC. I have loved the look of stepside pickups for as long as I can remember, so when I saw this one listed for sale it was love at first sight.

This is what she looked like when I bought her:




Nice solid base to start with. Frame was rock solid, cab and front clip were in pretty good shape, but the rear stepside fenders were toast. Standard rot spot below the fuel fill doors (yes it has the dual tanks) Interior was well weathered and needed some attention.

The biggest issue was the old powerplant. Tired ol' dog 350. Had an edelbrock carb and I was told it had an RV cam too. I figured the heads were shot or the cam wasn't enough for the carb because it was getting something like 200km to the tank. Pathetic even for a 350.

So after many thousands of dollars of fuel later, I decided to pull the old motor and drop in a newer fuel injected motor.

The old mill, nothing special:



So the search began. My build was on a budget (or so my wife told me) so I needed to find the best bang for my buck. I needed an engine, transmission (the TH350 screaming on the highway wasn't cutting it) wiring harness and ECU/PCM. I obviously wanted an LS1, but the cheapest combo I found was around 5k. I was looking into a TPI because I liked the look of the intake, but after reading up on them I didn't like the batch fire on the injectors and I had a hard time finding a 350 TPI. (all the wreckers had 305's)
So I finally decided on the LT1 for the reverse cooling, fair choice of aftermarket goodies, etc. Now it was just a matter of finding one.