NCFJ
Supporting Vendor
The reason that there are no "complete" swap kits is that there are just so many variations on the theme, LS/Vortec swaps. There have been many changes along the way to both the electronics side as well as the mechanical side of these engines. I can tell you that I have not done two swaps the same yet.
One word of advise that I will offer is to avoid as many or all "hacks" as possible. One "pet peeve" of mine is all the trouble I read about concerning getting the OEM gauges to work. Spend the extra money and time to use aftermarket gauges, it will save a lot of headaches, now and down the road. Hacks will come back and bite you on the butt.
The full parts list is also a tough one. An example, lets say that the list is for a 5.3L from 2005, and your motor is a bit newer and one change was the exact placement of the throttle body on the intake, or the list is for a Vortec and the swap you are doing is an LS, throttle body position is very different. This changes the air intake position, but more important, it changes the routing of the upper radiator hose. There are scores of little differences like this.
Use as many stock, off the shelf parts as you can. There is no way a swap can be completed without a level of fabrication but the more complex you build it, the more complex maintaining it will be. When it comes to motor mounts and T-case cross member mount, use common isolators that are easy to source.
RESEARCH is the key to a good swap. There are a ton of swap threads here on MUD. Venture out of the 80 section as well. Most important, research off of MUD as well. These motors have been put in every vehicle imaginable, some with great success, some not so much. Learn from the mistakes of others that have walked this path ahead of you. A guy building a 67 Camaro and sliding in an LS3 may just have figured out an easy solution to what you may consider a major issue with your swap.
Wiring, living hell for most of us, although over the years I have taken a perverse pleasure in most of it. KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS I have completely wired boats with twin motors and a 3 battery systems, built and wired new trash trucks, cars trucks and motorcycles but when it comes to Electronics, noooooooooooo thank you. I farm out the engine and trans harness and the ECU. Plan out all your wiring ahead of time and build your harness work to be easy to remove with connectors rather than hard wiring everything in.
If you are waiting for plug and play, my guess is you will be waiting a while. Shocks are plug and play, a new bumper is plug and play. A drive line swap simply is not. Up side is, it's been done a whole lot with great documentation. Just requires a lot of research, a lot.
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