wlink14

I started this journey last September at 17 years old, and I'm nearly complete(as in on the road... maybe some power adders soon!). Picked up my car as a running and driving rustfree project car, nice interior. After getting it to run well and reliably, I decided to pull my believed "350" for some mild work, as it was a little tired. About 2 minutes after the engine was out, Dad walks in the barn, looks at the back of the block, and says, "Nice 305". The first words out of my mouth were "Time for an LS" after a few select words I'll not repeat on this forum. So I picked up a nice 5.3/4l60e combo that I heard run and drive for cheap, and threw it all together with a Holley Terminator x max for a computer. Shortly after getting this old girl running, only about 120 miles of mild driving, the engine decided to throw a rod bearing. I yanked that #$%@ motor out, and went for a blown up shortblock 6.0, which I had freshened by a local shop with forged internals, 5.3 heads, and a mild cam(I dont plan on spinning the engine above 6k rpm ever). While that was being built, I knew my bone stock 4l60e would be begging for mercy behind my high compression 6.0, so I decided to upgrade it myself with new hard parts, clutches, and a small stall converter. I also upgraded my axle from a terrible 2.73 drum brake to a 3.27 posi disk brake unit out of a wrecked '88 GTA. With my new killer combo ready to go, I fired it up, put it in drive, and rolled out onto the road only to turn right back around because my used axle was f'ed. Could barely go over 5mph. Sent that out to a local truck shop to get redone, and tidy'ed up a few things while I waited impatiently for the axle to get freshened. With the new axle back in, I went on a second first drive, this time about 5 miles, and lost 3rd and 4th gear. Dad gave me a tow home, and I dropped the trans pan to find 3/4 of an inch of clutch material chilling in the bottom surrounded by campfire smelling fluid. Ripped the trans out and sent it to a very reputable friend/trans builder, and he said the only thing I did wrong during my rebuild was I tore one of the teflon seals on the input shaft while installing the pump. Yep. That happened. Live and learn. Oh, and while the trans was out, I had to replace my faulty Melling oil pump, because the pressure relief valve on the oil pump was stuck open and giving me low oil pressure at hot idle, but good pressure at rpm. (A new HV/HP pump fixed this nicely) Last week, I finally get my new, wickedly overbuilt trans and new big stall converter in, fire this thing up for what I think is the last f****** time, and while I was giving the trans its 10ish quarts of fluid, I smell gasoline. I quickly shut the engine down, and found the leak to be my original TPI fuel lines. Not wanting to half *** anything again, I decided it was time for a whole fuel system upgrade. I dropped the tank and had my buddy who is dangerous on a TIG welder fit some nice AN fittings on the bottom of my stock fuel tank to feed my new inline walbro pump. I should be on the road by Thursday now, once my fuel rail adapters come in. This project has been a huge learning experience filled with some ups and downs. If I were to do it again, I would have stayed old school for simplicity, as swaps are a pain.

I would like to turn this thread into an informational source for others. Any questions are welcome. Below is a list of parts/pieces you will need, or what I was able to reuse.
Stock Truck LS accessories
Stock Truck Intake(Shaved)
Stock K member (I would notch)
F body LS1 oil pan(barely works)
F body LS1 power steering line
Dirty dingo slider engine mounts
Custom fabbed trans crossmember
2003 Chevy Express van trans mount 2WD
Speed Engineering LS swap headers
Stock Radiator with upgraded electric fans
Heater core hoses (found on youtube, badluckgarage)
Lower Radiator Hose (found on youtube, badluckgarage)
Upper Radiator Hose from any 99-2006 LS truck
Custom 6an trans lines with aux cooler
Custom Y pipe
Vacuum port adapter for brake booster PN 12559760
4 inch fernco 90* fitting for air intake, cheap $45 ebay CIA for a Silverado(really a hot air intake, whatever)
Steam line was ran through the upper rad hose, but will soon go through radiator
Stock shifter linkage for 700r4

ECU
Holley terminator x max
You will need a 1992 camaro v6 air intake temp sensor drilled and tapped into your LS intake for the holley
Holley Alternator Pigtail with Resistor

I'll attach some pictures soon.....

t/adreams

iTrader: (1)

WOW!!! STRONG WORK

jbenge

iTrader: (2)

Good job getting the swap done and sticking with it even after several problems. It's always a learning experience! I've LS swapped 3 thirdgens and I've learned a lot along the way...there's always things you find later that you wish you would have done differently. I'm looking forward to seeing the pics.

wlink14

It should run tonight! I got the fuel rail fitting yesterday, but I was welding a full catback exhaust setup for a buddy's bimmer until very late in the night.

Pics and video coming soon I promise!!!