did you correct the speedometer? Remember when you go up in tire size you slow down the drivetrain and speedometer/odometer read slower. You will record less miles on the odometer and throw off mileage calculations
Registry 8x Series V8 Swaps (11 Viewers)
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I got rid of the shielding on mine with no side effects. I used the stock toy sender in place of the ls oil pressure sender with an adapter. I just lengthened the wires. For my electrical parts I get all my pins and connectors from either waytek or mouser
Yes sir the day the lift and 35" tires went on. Adam from Torfab installed the Mark's adapters speedo correction box.
Squad1, You've done pretty much exactly what I am just now in the planning stages for: gen IV 5.3/6L80E into my 96 and maintaining AWD (lifted about 3.5" on 35s, stock gears). I've read all your posts on this topic. Thank you SOOOO much for putting all of that out here.
I'm probably 6 months away from pulling the engine, but I intend to do as much prework and component purchases as is possible before ripping into it. I know a lot is fab'd on the spot and will have to wait, but anything I can do to cut down on the duration of the build is a plus.
I REALLY want you to do a build thread and document all the little bits, brackets, and adapters in one place- but I know that's asking a lot. It would be awesome to know what items you had to replace or modify from the GM drivetrain. I know the pan and exhaust manifolds are key items on that list, but I think I may have missed a few in my read of these 19 pages.
Did you post any overhead photos of your completed engine bay and any of your engine mounts?
I'd love to know where your fuel mileage ends up. Right now, I'm getting about 10 hwy. I don't expect it to be way better after, but 2 or 3 more mpgs would be nice.
Thanks again. J
bloc
SILVER Star
For the record I plan to put some documentation together on the wiring aspect of a genIV setup going into a cruiser.
A very important part, IMO, will be using the GM body control module if the engine is pulled from a truck/SUV/van. This will give you charge control, cruise, tow/haul mode, just to start.. based on what others are doing with the BCM in swaps. Possibly other things like reverse lights, even other creature comforts in the GM trucks. Park/neutral starter interlock can be done without the BCM, it looks like.
A very important part, IMO, will be using the GM body control module if the engine is pulled from a truck/SUV/van. This will give you charge control, cruise, tow/haul mode, just to start.. based on what others are doing with the BCM in swaps. Possibly other things like reverse lights, even other creature comforts in the GM trucks. Park/neutral starter interlock can be done without the BCM, it looks like.
I will get some more current pics up and post a video or two on youtube with the links. I am working on an o2 sensor problem and want to get that sorted out first. If I have time I will try to put together a build thread but I will only be posting my conversion stuff here on this thread to keep it all in "the same spot"
For your planning , the 2 big things that came to mind were tcase placement and front driveshaft clearance
for the tcase ,what I am referring to is when using the marks adapter I had interference between my pass side valve cove and the firewall. I regret taking a hammer to the firewall and pounding it in a bit for room because in the end what i did was move the whole drive train forward
3/4" and to the passenger side 1/2". The 1/2 move to the side put the drive train parallel with the frame. I centered the gap between the a/c compressor and the power steering pump and there was plenty of room for both. That movement caused the drive train to be slightly crooked ,hence the 1/2" movement to the passenger side. To get the valve cover to clear I moved everything forward and now have plenty of room. All this was easily done by re drilling the 2 holes in the cross member. One other thing about the marks adapter i ran into was the bolt pattern for the tcase shifter. They set it up to use the earlier square pattern so I had to buy a shifter (91-94 I think)
I run a cv front driveshaft on mine and had to trim the corner on the trans pan to clear the cv joint. A stock shaft would not have this interference. I only had to take off some of the overhanging sheet metal on one corner and did it with the pan installed using a die grinder and carbide burr
I love the way it drives and have no regrets about the swap. If you want to come up to the north east we can go for a ride.
The offer is open to anyone here looking to do this swap. This has been a great group of folks always willing to help and a great resource to me for doing this swap. As a note, I allowed myself a month to get it done and running . I got the bulk of it done in that time frame ,but as with any project of this size, the details take time. I still have a few tuning issues to finish and have not yet gotten the tap shift hooked up. Stay tuned
thatcabledude
GOLD Star
Holy crap! I thought someone was running a leaf blower next door until you popped the hood. 
Looks great. I missed where the ECM was mounted. Where did you put it?
Looks great. I missed where the ECM was mounted. Where did you put it?
Holy crap! I thought someone was running a leaf blower next door until you popped the hood.
Looks great. I missed where the ECM was mounted. Where did you put it?[/QIt
on its side behind the air cleaner. I made a bracket out of steel to hole the ecm and fuse box
Thanks, It is a liitle louder than I wanted but i'm working on it. The flowmaster I have on there is a 3" ,70 series and has a broken baffle inside. I have another new one to put on. Maybe this weekendHoly crap! I thought someone was running a leaf blower next door until you popped the hood.
Looks great. I missed where the ECM was mounted. Where did you put it?
bloc
SILVER Star
Not sure about 4l60/80, but it looks like an IPOR skid plate will not clear the trans pan on a 6L80.
I'll cut the front section of the trans pan skid off right about where the kink in the pan is.. maybe find a way to lower and extend the front section later on.
I could probably find a shallower 6L80 pan that would clear but if it's not painfully obvious by now I'm pretty OCD about having lots of fluid volume for my powertrain, plus I already have a new filter for this setup. So for now it'll get chopped.
Also got a shot comparing the stock vortec truck engine oil pan (dark/old) to the LS3 pan (bright/new).
Preliminary fit today makes it look like the LS3 pan will not clear the axle when sitting on the stock bump stops (with no spacers.) Granted, I hadn't clearanced the firewall yet and I couldn't get the transfer case into it's correct spot due to the skid plate issue mentioned above.. So the engine wasn't REALLY where it'll end up. But, it didn't seem like it would work at that axle height.
I threw in my 1.5" front bump spacers tonight.. will try the LS3 again tomorrow.. when I'll be more ready to tack the mounts onto the frame anyway. If this thing doesn't clear I'll run the F-body pan most likely. I can't find another LS oilpan setup that will work well and not cost a ridiculous amount of money.
That said.. for those of us with 4+ inch lift I think the LS3 pan is a great option. 7+ Qts capacity and in those rigs it'll clear the front axle easy. I'm only on 2" TJM lift.. though with dual batteries, slee shortbus, and winch, I was a bit under 2". I'm hoping this engine being so much lighter than the 1FZ will help me recover some of that lift. And I have some 30mm spacers to throw in if needed.
Speaking of lighter.. I STILL can't find solid numbers for the weight of one of these in various states of build vs a 1FZ. I can say that from moving them around with an engine hoist the Vortec seems a substantial amount lighter.
I do know the total weight of my rig so it may come down to weighing the whole thing when I'm done.
I'll cut the front section of the trans pan skid off right about where the kink in the pan is.. maybe find a way to lower and extend the front section later on.
I could probably find a shallower 6L80 pan that would clear but if it's not painfully obvious by now I'm pretty OCD about having lots of fluid volume for my powertrain, plus I already have a new filter for this setup. So for now it'll get chopped.
Also got a shot comparing the stock vortec truck engine oil pan (dark/old) to the LS3 pan (bright/new).
Preliminary fit today makes it look like the LS3 pan will not clear the axle when sitting on the stock bump stops (with no spacers.) Granted, I hadn't clearanced the firewall yet and I couldn't get the transfer case into it's correct spot due to the skid plate issue mentioned above.. So the engine wasn't REALLY where it'll end up. But, it didn't seem like it would work at that axle height.
I threw in my 1.5" front bump spacers tonight.. will try the LS3 again tomorrow.. when I'll be more ready to tack the mounts onto the frame anyway. If this thing doesn't clear I'll run the F-body pan most likely. I can't find another LS oilpan setup that will work well and not cost a ridiculous amount of money.
That said.. for those of us with 4+ inch lift I think the LS3 pan is a great option. 7+ Qts capacity and in those rigs it'll clear the front axle easy. I'm only on 2" TJM lift.. though with dual batteries, slee shortbus, and winch, I was a bit under 2". I'm hoping this engine being so much lighter than the 1FZ will help me recover some of that lift. And I have some 30mm spacers to throw in if needed.
Speaking of lighter.. I STILL can't find solid numbers for the weight of one of these in various states of build vs a 1FZ. I can say that from moving them around with an engine hoist the Vortec seems a substantial amount lighter.
I do know the total weight of my rig so it may come down to weighing the whole thing when I'm done.
How about spacing up the trans mount a 1/2" to clear the trans pan?
bloc
SILVER Star
It hits by at least 1/2" so far way out on the end, and that wouldn't account for the weight of the drivetrain, plus hitting bumps and things. Basically I'd be uncomfortable spacing the drivetrain up as far as would be needed to actually clear the trans pan..
so I'll just cut it off and find another way to protect the transmission. Realistically that skid wasn't going to be super effective if I sat it down on a rock anyway. Yes, it's 3/8" plate.. but that is a long lever that would allow a lot of deflection if high-centered on it.
A more effective skid would tie the frame rails together under the transmission. I might do something like that eventually.
so I'll just cut it off and find another way to protect the transmission. Realistically that skid wasn't going to be super effective if I sat it down on a rock anyway. Yes, it's 3/8" plate.. but that is a long lever that would allow a lot of deflection if high-centered on it.
A more effective skid would tie the frame rails together under the transmission. I might do something like that eventually.
bloc
SILVER Star
It did occur to me that I could heat the skid and bend it downward, then another bend to level it, making a step to clear the trans pan.. but I don't have the correct equipment to handle such thick plate steel. With access to a press brake it'd be easy to sort out as well.. but again, I don't have one and anywhere in town that does is going to want a lot of money.
That's with a DC front shaft?
I believe so . Its the one I bought off here a few years ago for the group buy price of $300 if memory serves
Got mine dyno tuned the other day only went 160kw and 500NM, pretty low numbers for a 6ltr with a baby cam..
Great video! Thanks.
Too bad - my folks just left New England (like two weeks ago). We've lived all over the N.E. area over the years but they were outside Boston for the past twenty. Now that they both retired, they sold and move to the mountains in North Carolina. He's having a shop built on the property and we plan to do this conversion there once he's set up.
Again, thanks for the all the info you've put up here.
I'll keep that in mind. Right now, I'm entertaining buying a complete wrecked donor rather than just the drivetrain. Either way, I'll try to be sure to get the BCM too. I definitely want cc to function.
