Project "Estelle"

[Fw190d9]

Howdy all, I have just finished swapping a 5.3 into my daughter's 71 C10 Cheyenne "Estelle". (she dubbed it so when we bought it) I found the process so easy and enjoyable that I thought I would post some pics of the transformation. I was a bit intimidated of all the unknowns of swapping a modern engine into an older vehicle but with all the threads on here showing all the successful swaps I figured I would just dive right in.

First up, the day we brought Estelle home and my "favorite" daughter driving her baby.

[Fw190d9]

Next we have the old tired 350, prepping to come on out of there

Evan Q.

[Fw190d9]

Next step was to call my buddy who runs a wrecking yard and put in an order for a 2006 5.3/4L60e out of a Tahoe with only 37k miles on the clock. Got the full harness and tac module with gas pedal also.

Evan Q.

[Fw190d9]

Next order of business was to finish yanking that tired old mouse motor. I scored an engine leveler to use with my shop crane and was able to yank it with the tranny no problemo.

Evan Q.

[Fw190d9]

Oops, forgot this pic

[Fw190d9]

I then proceeded to stare at the wondrous 5.3 in all its glory for a bit. Then remove the harness, manifolds and motor mounts.
E.

[Fw190d9]

Once I bolted up the Dirty Dingo slider mounts, I decided to go ahead and test fit. It fit so well I never took it out again. I moved the crossmember back 2.5 inches and drilled it for a single mount bold in the center. I also installed the Dirty Dingo A/C compressor mount as Estelle already had Vintage air and needed the sanden compressor.

E.

[Fw190d9]

pics

[Fw190d9]

Got a stand alone harness from Speartech(great service and product BTW) to speed things up a bit. Some cool ceramic coated headers from Doug Thorley which were a breeze to install and fit perfect with no mods. I had a dual electric fan kit from Entropy left over from a previous blazer project that fit perfect. Scored a spectre intake kit on ebay for cheap bucks and got some radiator hoses for a 90s something chevy truck. I even found the number of serpentine belt to use with the DD ac mount right here on the forum(It pays to Lurk!)

[Fw190d9]

MSD adjustable plug wires clear all the header tubes nicely. Used the original power steering hoses and only needed to weld up one fitting. I plumbed the trans cooler lines with braided hoses and an fittings.

[Fw190d9]

I then took my ECM to my corvette tuner and had him flash a program on it to remove the evap stuff and found a plastic ECM mount on GM parts website. I made a custom mount from 1/8 steel strap to mount the ECM and TAC module to the inner fender.

[Fw190d9]

Mounted some new O2 sensors to the doug thorley headers and built a mount for the gas pedal out of some 16 ga steel.

[Fw190d9]

Ordered up some 2.5" exhaust pipe sections and some flowmaster look alikes from summit and proceeded to weld up a crimpless dual exhaust system

E.

[Fw190d9]

I used a walbro pump and a C5 corvette filter/regulator on the passenger frame rail and mounted a blazer tank to the rear frame rails(didnt like the ideal of my little girl sharing a cab with a gas tank). The tranny fits beautifully and I had to shorten the front driveshaft exactly 2.5". The original TH350 yoke fit the 4L60E perfectly. The stock tahoe oil pan hangs about 1" below the front crossmember which still gives me plenty of ground clearance.

[Fw190d9]

Now heres the really cool part. After all this installation stuff, I turned the key on and off a few times to make sure the fuel pump was pumping, then turned the key to start and she fired right up on the first crank! Runs fantastic. Never had an engine install go that easy before. Performance is outstanding, Poor ol Estelle never had so much smooth power before. Bad part was I made the mistake of letting my 15 yr old son drive it, now he wants one too...

Evan Q.

PS, thanks to all you guys on this forum for providing so much great swap info, really made my job easier.

[chuckmc8]

I love that truck- I learned to drive in a brand new twin of that one in 1971.

I just finished a 5.3 swap into my 71 2wd Blazer. It is amazing how good they run in these trucks, and how EZ the install is. I am running 4L60 with 3:73 rear, lots of fun if someone had a tendency to squeal the tires ;-)

There is no going back once you drive a 67-72 with LSx power

[68Stepbed]

Awesome!! I bet your daughter is loving it. I bet she will also have the boys swarming like flies to sugar.

[Fw190d9]

Chuck, I know what you mean, Ive squealed the tires a few times test driving it.

Matt, She cant wait to get it back and yeah, Ive had to show quite a few boys the "Gun collection".

E.

[ls1nova71]

Nice looking truck! Reminds me of my old blue truck with the 6.0 I sold a few years ago. Hope the cruise control install goes as smoothly as the engine swap. Hit me up if you have any questions.

[Fw190d9]

Installed the Cruise control today, was an easy install. The hardest part was fishing the plug thru the flaming river steering column. Wired it up and it works great! Thanks Eric, great product. BTW, I need another one, scored another 72 C10 this afternoon. My Son is itching to get started on his 5.3 swap.

Evan Q.

[68GMCCustom]

Great looking truck...and yes...I'm guessing now you have a hp problem with your son!

I'm guessing maybe its just the angle of the pic....but it looks like you have 1/2" of clearance or less at the yoke, and this is while the wheels are hanging w/o supporting weight? Does it have enough room for the suspension to fully compress w/o bottoming the yoke?

[Fw190d9]

Kurt, its the angle of the pic. Plenty of room all round the yoke even during full suspension compression.

Evan Q.

[Fw190d9]

I also installed some "bling" for my little girl to enjoy while driving.
A full set of autometer Old Tyme gauges and a Kenwood Nav system to keep her from getting lost all the time.

E.

[jimmyjammoto]

Beautiful truck and beautiful daughter! I can't wait to get my swap done; of course I don't think I could handle my girls driving it.. there has been a shortage of ammo lately..

Nice work again!

[truckdude239]

so you didn;t have to shorten or length the drive shaft?