Old Yeller's new heart-5.3/4l60 swap!

[Low Elco]

My dad (Boppa) and I built this truck frame off 2 years ago, and it was great until we had a small cooling mishap that killed the existing (less than 10K mile) SBC until it was dead. So we've decided to upgrade.

[desertdogg]

Congrats ! what are your plans ?

[ls1nova71]

Hey Chip, been meaning to message you to see if you picked up an engine a couple of weeks ago. So did you get one or the whole 6.0 truck you were talking about?

[Low Elco]

Well, we just picked up an '06 5.3/4L60 from LKQ out of TX. The Pics are deceiving, there was a screwup and the "leave together" order got ignored. But they still had the trans, it'll be here Monday. They also broke one of the O2 sensors and didn't give us the pipe to the rears as specified. But, we got the pedal, TAC module, stock airbox, MAF, harness, VIN, all that stuff. The truck had 100,200 miles and was cleeeeean. New Belt, Alt, MAF, plug wires, idler pulley, etc. While still skittish, I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm hoping this works. I've talked to Eric, (ls1nova71) and he's generously offered to help with whatever roadblocks come up, and talk me down off the ledge, if need be.

Shameless Plug: Had a great experience with Kent Roberts at LKQ. Call him for anything like this you need, he's a great hookup and can send stuff anywhere there's an LKQ. Based in KC and is hot rod sympathetic, and more reasonable on price than you'd think. 1-866-478-2164, kmroberts@lkqcorp.com

Now, the harness. Call me names, but I want no part of hacking into this thing at my current level of experience. That being said, who's the best? Really looking hard at PSI, entertaining a few others. Suggestions?

And now, the pics!
Snug in the bed.


Cleeean!


New stuff!


Even back here!


Boppa and The Kid are stoked!


Thanks for watching, guys. Feel free to holler if you see something phenomenally stupid about to happen.

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

Hey Chip, been meaning to message you to see if you picked up an engine a couple of weeks ago. So did you get one or the whole 6.0 truck you were talking about?

See, Eric is on GAME! Hi, glad as hell to see you! Took a couple three weeks to find a candidate, but yeah, we got one on its own for Dad. Thanks for chiming in!

I also went crazy and bought a 2002 s-10 scsb and a 2002 2500 HD 6.0/4l80 for a grand total of....$800. For both of them. S10 needs a trans. Big boy threw a rod. Know anyone with a 6.0 on the floor they're moderately disappointed in they'd like to have out of the way? (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Waiting for titles and the trailer storage to dry out to go get them. They are mine, not sure what I'm gonna do. Was gonna strip big boy and part it out, but they're worth 3-5K running and the body's in good shape. I dunno. The Dime is getting a trans and a deep cleaning then who knows.

[Low Elco]

The truck in question here.







Off to bed for me. Thanks for the look!

[jlsanborn]

Congrats guys and super glad to see some action on Yeller! I for sure would've taken the low road on a flat tappet, four barrel. Can't wait to see how cool you bring in the new. Need pics of the rod-tosser and the S10... Also cool to see a bit of dirty work in the back of BBT!

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

I've talked to Eric, (ls1nova71) and he's generously offered to help with whatever roadblocks come up, and talk me down off the ledge, if need be

Or will I push you over??? If you want that 6.0 I have in the corner of the garage, ill sell it for what I have in it. Not sure how you'd cleane it though? It ran, so I guess you could tear it apart and clean it then put it back together.

[truckdude239]

I used www.lsx-harness.com for mine but it really not that bad to hack it up plus side ls1nova is close to you ifyou get lost hacking it up hes done alot of these swaps.

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

Or will I push you over??? If you want that 6.0 I have in the corner of the garage, ill sell it for what I have in it. Not sure how you'd cleane it though? It ran, so I guess you could tear it apart and clean it then put it back together.

I may beg you to push me over before this is done! Gonna be a busy couple of months.

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by truckdude239

I used www.lsx-harness.com for mine but it really not that bad to hack it up plus side ls1nova is close to you ifyou get lost hacking it up hes done alot of these swaps.

I'm hip, but I'd feel bad bothering Eric (even more) and I'm no electronics genius. Plus, it's for my dad, and I don't need any hassles. I want Click, click, Vroom as it were. Now, if it was for me, I'd probably take a whack at it. Thanks for the lead!

[Low Elco]

Thanks, John! Here's BBT in its usual mode-It gets used!

[Vic1947]

Made the trip, although unsubbing from Boppa's old thread was a bit unsettling. Looking forward to the transition from old tech to new. Even old dogs learn an occasional new trick. Keep me in mind if some bracket or gizmo needs TiG welding or machine work to be "just so".

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

...Now, the harness. Call me names, but I want no part of hacking into this thing at my current level of experience. That being said, who's the best? Really looking hard at PSI, entertaining a few others. Suggestions?....

Chip

Take a look at the info on lt1swap.com. He has put together a ton of info and made a step by step guide at taking a harness apart and reworking it.

I did my first one on the '82 I built for my son. I have 12-15 hours in the harness, and only about $75 for items I had to buy for the fuse block and some terminals and wrap. It worked like a charm. The first time I went to fire it up, I got the click, click, Vroom you talked about...

I have read Eric's stuff on here and he is a great one to have on your side. Give it a shot, it is not that hard!

[hgs_notes]

subscribed. This is likely in my future for my C-10 also. Not that my engine is hurting now, but more power and and overdrive for my planned road trips makes it worthwhile.

[nlped]

FWIW, I went with PSI for my harness & ECU... I'm gonna be following along on this one too. I need to get my a$$ is gear and get some work done on mine

[KSWes]

Subscribed. The guys on the trucks show used 150tunes.com to cut down their harness and reprogram their ECU. The prices looked reasonable. Hope the new plan solves all your engine troubles. Good Luck!

[Low Elco]

Vic- Thanks for coming over. Hopefully from my research, the fab end shouldn't be bad.

Karl- Thanks for the encouragement, I dunno what's gonna happen. I have to kick a good sized side job out before I can get started, we'll see.

Mike- I'm hoping it's the kind of improvement I've seen in other guys trucks. We're doing this for the same reasons you stated, just pulling a bass boat.

Nlped- I hope it works as well as it as for you.

Wes- Thanks for the lead, the 150tunes.com site seems like they have it together and the GM Master Cert doesn't hurt. Good prices as well. Pics to back it up on their FB page. A frontrunner for sure!

I wanted to say, thanks to all for coming along. I greatly appreciate it. The support and encouragement means a lot. Option paralysis is my middle name, so be prepared for some waffling! But once we go, we gonna go!

[Low Elco]

Well, it's been a busy week on several fronts. I got several side gigs (one large) out of the way in the last week , got the garage cleaned and organized a bit, and got the engine stand back out of the shed and went and bought the proper bolts and got it off the pallet and on the stand. Hopefully the trans will be picked up on Monday.

Made a corporate decision and will be sending the harness off to 150tunes this week. I'm doing something even if it's wrong. Still deciding what to do about motor mounts, as I want to retain the AC in the stock location. Eric has a great plan for that, and the fab is no problem, but I don't know if I'll be able to do the in-out on our install that those require. We've also talked to Vic about our pan. We called him about a recommendation for a welder, and he recommended himself! Yaay! So hopefully we're gonna have that over to him soon. Thanks Vic!

So, not much of an update, but clearin' decks and makin' decisions!

[jlsanborn]

More than I did to my truck this weekend. Wifey and I got spring-fever and have been tearin crap up around the house. Knuckles has had the shop tied up again switching transmissions back and forth in Punching Bag. Been four days and he just now got it back to what it was before he started the mess
Must be pretty cool to have an LS on the stand! Sure wish there were a photo or two... Watchin like a hawk man!

[ivorton74]

Sweet truck man...will watching this one.

[Low Elco]

Just for Johnny- gratuitous LS on stand shot. Gonna be strippin' like Saturday night this week. Pardon all the crap on top, trying to keep it all together!

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by ivorton74

Sweet truck man...will watching this one.

Thanks!

[ls1nova71]

If you want to borrow those mounts I have for a pattern, let me know. Also, what are you going to be doing for gauges?

Oh, and remind me not to be anywhere near you on saturday nights.....

[Low Elco]

I appreciate it, Eric. I've been meaning to call you, just clearing decks all week and weekend. I need to find some of the late frame stands to pull that off. Damn, I miss having a full heavy fab shop at my disposal. I was looking at mounts last night, the idea of tagging onto the back of a factory 60's frame stand and moving the mount back on the plate seems pretty good, and easy to pull off. I'm just worried about the in and out to pull off the fab work on a done and shiny truck. Still debating pulling the front clip, and the bed, for that matter. I haven't the foggiest on Gauges. I really like the s10 gauge that you did, but I'm no electronics genius. Planning on using the stock cluster for now, but I like that Camaro cluster idea. Lots of ways to go. Like I said, option paralysis!