Registry 8x Series V8 Swaps (9 Viewers)

[bloc]

This is where I bought all my a/c parts from. I'll see if I can find the invoice with the individual part numbers. I can tell you that I ditched the factory tube that runs behind the passenger side head and put one of the toyota fittings there instead.
Cold Hose - AC Hoses, Hose Kits and Fittings

I am just switching to a different wiring harness that allows me to use a factory gm pressure transducer on the high side line's service port. This will allow the ecm to monitor a/c pressure and cycle one of the cooling fans on and off as needed.
I used 2 compression fitting to adapt the 12 mm and 14mm ( i believe) toyota lines to the standard 1/2" and 5/8" a/c hose. All in all it worked well and I was able to minimize the number of fittings. I looked through my pics and don't have any that show the a/c but I will get some and post them if it will help
One other thing I did was use all the factory toyota wiring for the a/c including the pressure/safety switch by the battery. I basically just substituted the toyota compressor with the gm and hooked up the wires to the gm clutch. It all works great

You got parts and made up your own hoses? That seems like a good idea.. then have a local parts place crimp them..

Thanks for the link.

What you mentioned about the wiring and swap GM compressor is exactly what I plan to do. Are your fans controlled by relays or PWM? I assume you've looked at wiring a low-speed relay that is triggered along with the AC compressor?

 

[Squad1]

You got parts and made up your own hoses? That seems like a good idea.. then have a local parts place crimp them..

Thanks for the link.

What you mentioned about the wiring and swap GM compressor is exactly what I plan to do. Are your fans controlled by relays or PWM? I assume you've looked at wiring a low-speed relay that is triggered along with the AC compressor?

I did make my own hoses. I bought the fittings and bulk hose from the above place. I made sure that one end of the hose was a straight fittting so clocking it would not be a problem. I then cut to length and took to my local hydraulic shop and he let me use his crimper to crimp them. My fans are relay controlled. I used to have a binary switch installed on the high pressure a/c line that would ground one of the fan relays when the pressure got to 250 psi. It was a non adjustable fan switch that fit the 10mm x 1.25 thrad on the port. I am in the process of changing that to the factory style pressure transducer and that will let the computer turn on one or both fans as needed and show the a/c pressure on a scan tool. This was just a nice added feature to the new wiring harness I am installing but that is another story.

 

[Squad1]

I did make my own hoses. I bought the fittings and bulk hose from the above place. I made sure that one end of the hose was a straight fittting so clocking it would not be a problem. I then cut to length and took to my local hydraulic shop and he let me use his crimper to crimp them. My fans are relay controlled. I used to have a binary switch installed on the high pressure a/c line that would ground one of the fan relays when the pressure got to 250 psi. It was a non adjustable fan switch that fit the 10mm x 1.25 thrad on the port. I am in the process of changing that to the factory style pressure transducer and that will let the computer turn on one or both fans as needed and show the a/c pressure on a scan tool. This was just a nice added feature to the new wiring harness I am installing but that is another story.

 

[Squad1]

Here are a bunch of shots of how I did my a/c. It is hard to see in the pics but if I did it again I would see if i could keep the factory aluminum like that goes forward through the radiator support to the condenser. I ditched mine and used a hose from the compressor to the condenser. That worked fine except it was to close to the back of the turn signal lamp in the bumper, oops. I ended up cutting a piece out of the plastic turn signal and plastic welded it back together for clearance.
To make the connection at the evaporator on the fire wall , i used one of the factory aluminum pipes and cut off the excess hose/pipe and just used the o ring end with the retainer hole in it. To attach that to the hose is where the metric compression fittings come in. They get crimped onto the a/c hose and compressed onto the cut off toyota end . sounds harder than it was. just measure the od of the aluminum tube, I think mine was 12mm on the pressure line and 14mm on the return from the evaporator. I was able to get those fittings from the cold hose link I posted above. The only other fittings needed were the compressor adapters available from a few sources. They bolt to the compressor ports and allow you to screw on the 1/2" and 5/8" o ring hose ends.
If you are using the stock GM compressor it is a Denso 10S17F or 10S20F and cold hose sells those adapters also. The 1020F displaces a little more and seams to be used on suv's and vehicles with rear air. Either will work for our use.

The hoses re pretty straight forward. There are 2 ports on the compressor, the larger one is the suction and comes from the firewall. The smaller one is the pressure side and goes forward to the condenser. I used 90 degree fittings with R134 sevice ports crimped onto the hoses at the compressor end. Cold Hose sells a high pressure 90 degree end with both a service port and 10mm port for a switch. The switch port is needed for the transducer or fan switch. I kept the factory toyota pressure switch near the battery. That switch acts as the safety to shut off the compressor if pressures gets to high.

 

[bloc]

This exhaust is taking forever. The front half is mostly done.. I'm going to add another straight coupler on the passenger side behind the crossmember to eliminate the need to drop it when pulling the muffler. All 304 SS, back purged with argon (kindof a waste, considering how bad the front of the welds look.. need a table and less ******* mosquitos requiring fans).. 2.25 out of the headers into 2.5 an inch away, all mandrels, into a 2.5-3.5 merge pipe from vibrant. That thing is expensive but a work of art.

No pics but I put the muffler I ordered on and tacked it in.. it is WAYYYY too loud. Not sure if it's the 3.5" diameter, or lack of any piping after the muffler.. but it's gonna have to get quieter somehow. Will finish the exhaust and regroup if needed. I'm committed to the front half though.

I also built cat heat shields out of 20ga stainless sheet. These cats are pretty close to the shift selector, wiring harness, driveshaft, etc.. so hopefully this reduces some of the radiant heat issues. Hoping the welds on them don't crack from vibration.. time will tell. You can obviously see the header wrap I used in places that the exhaust is close to sensitive things. LOTS going on up by the downpipes, before and after the middle v-band are the fuel tank and transfer case/sensors..

One of the downpipes comes pretty close to the 6L80E cooler lines.. my front driveshaft is too close to the bellhousing to use the factory hard lines, so I bought a $50 -6AN adapter block on ebay and got the continental equivalent of the aeroquip socketless hose. Then added some DEI heat barrier to be safe.

I'm a little OCD about heat killing things. Probably going to send the manifolds off for swaintech white lightning coating eventually.

You can also see the spare O2 bung with a cap on it. This is for a wideband O2 sensor.. part of my plan to eventually calibrate the MAF and maximize power/drivability.

One drawback to my upper radiator hose is it appears to make purging the system of air a VERY slow process. Even with the lowest point of the upper hose below the top of the tank, air is extremely slow to actually make its way to the tank. When I get the truck on the road I'll bring it by a local welding shop to see what they think about fabricating that pipe to go across the shroud

 

[Squad1]

That exhausts look great! What muffler are you thinking of? I've tried 2 different ones, currently a 3" flowmaster 70 series, and the sound level is tolerable but not as quiet as I would like. I found that a vibrant resonator fits at the very back just where the factory ones went. It quiets it down quite a bit . I am running 3" from the y pipe all the way to the tail pipe

 

[bloc]

Right now it is a flowmaster pro-series, the longer of the two cases. It also doesn't have a tailpipe yet so that's probably not helping. The 3.5" size really reduces available options, but that is what GM used with the 6.2 so I don't want to go any smaller.. even though my exhaust is much shorter overall. On the flowmaster brand anyway, they like offset inlet on the quieter options but I'm committed to a center inlet.

I thought about the 70 or 50BB back when I could have offset the inlet, but have read reports of drone/resonance with Eve larger chambered mufflers. I'm ok with it being "not quiet" as long as it doesn't drone.

I think I can barely fit one of the larger magnaflows so I ordered one and will set it up on jack stands to see whether it's any better. A small resonator in the tailpipe has crossed my mind but I can't put the exit in the stock location due to likelihood of smashing it on things. It'll probably end up just behind the tire as high as possible. I'm already looking into shorty resonators.. or possibly a flowmaster 10-series just before the exit. As it is getting 3.5 over the crossmember and through the rear suspension is going to be a challenge...

 

[daytonadogie]

Interesting video on mechanical radiator fans



I'm getting ready to do a 5.3 Vortec/ FZJ 80 swap and this is making me think real hard about using an electric fan.

 

[bloc]

That test is well run for what it is.. but also very one-dimensional. They only care about power loss.

For me the mechanical setup being able to move more total air, and not needing to worry about electronics in deep water outweigh the significance of the power and mileage drop.

Also there are a couple reports of people having trouble keeping their vortecs cool with electric fans and the stock radiator... (rockrod coles to mind) though others haven't had that issue.

But yes, if power and mileage, and simplicity of install (if my build is any indication) is more important.. electric fans are great if the charging system can handle them. Fortunately most of the LS/Vortec swaps have plenty of alternator for the job.

 

[Squad1]

Interesting video, I'm looking forward to seeing how my diesel truck runs when I put electric fans on it.

 

[thatcabledude]

I will be using mechanical for three reasons.

Simplicity.

Less stuff to buy.

Doesn't sound like a huge hairdryer at stop light.

 

[bloc]

I will be using mechanical for three reasons.
.
.
Doesn't sound like a huge hairdryer at stop light.

Just tell people it's the supercharger

 

[azcrackshot]

Interesting video, I'm looking forward to seeing how my diesel truck runs when I put electric fans on it.

I tried this on my 2005 Chevy 2500 with the LLY motor and it was a failure. There is not an electric fan setup that comes close to the CFM above 1,000 rpm that the factory mechanical fan can provide. Might work if you don't tow but as soon as you do you will regret it. There is a reason that every truck designed to tow has a mechanical fan on it from the factory.

 

[DieselDriver]

I tried this on my 2005 Chevy 2500 with the LLY motor and it was a failure. There is not an electric fan setup that comes close to the CFM above 1,000 rpm that the factory mechanical fan can provide. Might work if you don't tow but as soon as you do you will regret it. There is a reason that every truck designed to tow has a mechanical fan on it from the factory.

So how do Mechanical Fans Rate in CFM compared to Electric Fans?

 

[daytonadogie]

I tried this on my 2005 Chevy 2500 with the LLY motor and it was a failure. There is not an electric fan setup that comes close to the CFM above 1,000 rpm that the factory mechanical fan can provide. Might work if you don't tow but as soon as you do you will regret it. There is a reason that every truck designed to tow has a mechanical fan on it from the factory.

Baja trophy trucks run balls to the walls under the worst conditions with electric fans. What E fan set up were you using? I'm not positive, but believe the late model Chevy Duramax trucks have electric fans too.

 

[daytonadogie]

After doing a little research, it appears that most GM trucks after 2005 have E fans. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[thatcabledude]

I know the new body style 1500s are.

 

[bloc]

2500 and 3500 were mechanical, both gas and diesel. Diesel had electronically controlled clutch on those mechanical fans, however.

1500/2500/3500 vans were all mechanical.

I only looked at 07 specifically, but basically all engines in the 1500 pickup had electric and mechanical parts available so it may have depended on options/etc.

What is clear though.. in GM's HD applications, mechanical is the only setup available... even in their extremely expensive diesel engine packages.

 

[azcrackshot]

After doing a little research, it appears that most GM trucks after 2005 have E fans. Please correct me if I am wrong.

How about the 3/4 and 1 ton. The trucks that are meant to tow?

 

[azcrackshot]

Most of the newer HD trucks that tow have mechanical fans that are 10,000 CFM and up. I believe my D-Max fan was around 13,000 CFM. The good electric fans will provide 3,000 CFM for a single fan to 6,000 CFM for a dual set up at a high amp draw.