Calling all LS owners

[Tennessee80]

Here’s what I learned as I was in your same shoes.
I decided a Cummins swap and was limited on knowledge. I have a good friend who swapped a Cummins in his Ford Highboy. He said find a motor and he’d help me put it in my 60. Well, I found one and we did the swap. What I’m getting as is that I learned a ton helping. It was a lot of work and time. The great thing is it was literally like a year plus automotive class. I know how things were put together and how to fix/ replace components that fail or leak. Like my vacuum pump three times. Thankfully it’s been covered under warranty at Napa every time.
I say if you have enough money, tools, space and time then reward yourself and do it with friends, help and IH8MUD. In the end anybody can pay a shop to do it, if you have even more money, but honestly it’s so much more rewarding to build it yourself.

great points, dude! I’ll take that all under consideration !!

 

[Tennessee80]

Bumping this up, any thoughts from anyone around a 350 TBI set up? A little bit more old-school, but also more simple…?

Cheers mud

 

[Bama4door]

Bumping this up, any thoughts from anyone around a 350 TBI set up? A little bit more old-school, but also more simple…?

Cheers mud

Less power, worse mpg...pretty reliable though.

 

[Tennessee80]

Less power, worse mpg...pretty reliable though.

I’m just so used to a truck that has a very low IQ. Not sure what it would be like to have one that is much smarter now, LOL

 

[Bama4door]

I’m just so used to a truck that has a very low IQ. Not sure what it would be like to have one that is much smarter now, LOL

There's also plus and minus of that. LS will have an OBD2 port to get real time diagnostics on, if you have issues. Parts for LS are available at any national parts store countrywide. Depending on year of 350, I think you can do OBD2 also (not as familiar with them), and parts will still be easy to come by.

 

[BMValentine]

As I’ve been looking for motors, the 5.3’s (LM7) are pretty widely available. I don’t see too many 5.7’s or older 350’s

 

[Tennessee80]

5.3 may be the all around best choice, then. Bang for the buck

 

[BMValentine]

5.3 may be the all around best choice, then. Bang for the buck

That’s what I’m thinking. It seems the 4.8 (LR4) are priced well too. And offer around 20hp less than the 5.3. But from my research the 4.8’s make their power higher in the RPM range

 

[pistonpete]

What kind of mpg are the 5.3's getting in a 60 rig ?? Average ??

 

[cruisermatt]

5.3 may be the all around best choice, then. Bang for the buck

They all cost the same at the pick and pull yard

 

[NCFJ]

-You really can not go wrong with a 5.3L
-If you do go with a 5.3L you CAN NOT just swap in a car style intake, the front drive set up is different as well to clear
throttle body
-Wayne at 150tunes.com will build you a complete new harness and flash your ECU at a reasonable rate. Just a few
wires to hook up
-Tilden Motorsports will sell you a motor that has been bench run and checked out with the harness already done and
the ECU flashed. All ready to install with just a few wires to hook up
-You will have to have both drive shafts made to length and the front shaft will not clear the trans is most cases without
being altered.
-Do yourself a favor and factor in modern gauges, no hacks for the tach and a temp and oil pressure gauge with actual
numbers rather than a vague range between C and H
-Good time to switch to twin sticks on the transfer case
-Add an extra trans cooler and PS cooler
-Go with AN fittings on all liquid lines. It will cost a bit more up front but it makes maintenance so much easier down
the line
-Put the fuel pump in the tank, frame mounted pumps end up having to work too hard.
-Use a Corvette style filter/pressure regulator as close to your tank as possible, no full length return lines
-DO NOT cheap out on a radiator
-Replace your fuel lines
-Buy a fuel pressure gauge and use it
-Run the steam port hose to the upper tank of the radiator or a surge tank
-Use a quality shifter for the trans, I use floor mount Lokar, never an issue

 

[pistonpete]

Is there any models better to pick from ?? years ??

 

[thatcabledude]

I’m just so used to a truck that has a very low IQ. Not sure what it would be like to have one that is much smarter now, LOL

They’re not more simple than LS.

 

[NCFJ]

I agree. Why anyone would put in a SBC over an LS based motor is beyond me. The amount of work is right about the same as is the cost. The LS based motor will adjust itself from seal level to the highest point in the country. The USB port and a scanner will let you know about basic issues and steer you in the right direction on more complex issues.

I am old school, 60 years old. If I can adapt to computer controlled engines, so can you.

Computer controlled, multi port fuel injection is the sliced bread of the internal combustion motor world!

 

[daytonadogie]

What kind of mpg are the 5.3's getting in a 60 rig ?? Average ??

I get 17-18 MPG with my 5.3 FJ 62. 16 in my FZJ 80, 5.3 also. Neither truck has much armor on them which makes a big difference. I’m thinking of swapping in a 6.0 but they’re harder to find.

 

[Kleatus]

With what I have learned now that I play with the LS stuff regularly I would say that 80% of the LS info you’ll get on Ih8mud is worthless.

My tips if I was swapping a truck tomorrow.
- if you use an auto skip the the 4l60 that everyone uses. They’re garbage.
Just get a 4l80e and be done.
-get the most complete and running engine for your money. I would not pay more then $500-600 for an engine.
- “worthless” 4.8’s that no one wants are great. Especially with a $250 cam swap.
- if you buy an engine that needs to be rebuilt or you want to rebuild then you bought the wrong engine
- skip the stock PCM and get a Holley Terminator X.
- the stock radiator works great if it’s in good condition

There’s no reason your swap should cost more then $4-5k if you do everything yourself, not including selling your original powertrain.

Edit: if you’re having a shop do it for you they are probably going to disagree with everything I just wrote.

Wait, mud disagrees with 80% of this? I agree wholeheartedly with 85% of it and could be persuaded on the last 15% .
My 15% could also be cancelled out by ageeing 200% with leaving the 4L60 back where it belongs in Karens 2wd grocery getter Tahoe..

I added up my impending swap and am right at 4k, and will probably be right at 5 when I remember all the stuff I forgot...

 

[cruisermatt]

Wait, mud disagrees with 80% of this? I agree wholeheartedly with 85% of it and could be persuaded on the last 15% .
My 15% could also be cancelled out by ageeing 200% with leaving the 4L60 back where it belongs in Karens 2wd grocery getter Tahoe..

I added up my impending swap and am right at 4k, and will probably be right at 5 when I remember all the stuff I forgot...

Now I have my own shop and a half dozen customer LS conversions scheduled for this year and I am now finding myself breaking all my own rules

It's one thing when you do the swap for yourself and only have to hold yourself accountable for being cheap or taking shortcuts in certain areas it's a completely different ball game when you're accountable for someone else's ride that they plan on driving across the country without tools.

That being said, pretty much anything I post here on mud is going to be aimed at the DIY perspective as that is what I can relate to and enjoy the most, One day I'll make a 60 run with a LS for $1K and post it up to show it can be done, but I'd never do that on a customer rig

 

[Kleatus]

Now I have my own shop and a half dozen customer LS conversions scheduled for this year and I am now finding myself breaking all my own rules

It's one thing when you do the swap for yourself and only have to hold yourself accountable for being cheap or taking shortcuts in certain areas it's a completely different ball game when you're accountable for someone else's ride that they plan on driving across the country without tools.

That being said, pretty much anything I post here on mud is going to be aimed at the DIY perspective as that is what I can relate to and enjoy the most, One day I'll make a 60 run with a LS for $1K and post it up to show it can be done, but I'd never do that on a customer rig

$1000? Totally doable, you and I both know that. But we've also paid in years and money to get to the point of being able to know we can do it. Now that we know it's possible, our time has become valuable enough that we know it's really a backwards proposition.

Believe me I am all about cheap, but things that save you time and effort are worth good money. The older I get and the less shop time I have the more they're worth to me.

That money/time equation ia different for everyone. Some are glad to pay 30k for a turnkey deal and some are proud to piece together something that gets them down the trail for way less. Nothing wrong with either option!

 

[rhah]

I agree. Why anyone would put in a SBC over an LS based motor is beyond me. The amount of work is right about the same as is the cost. The LS based motor will adjust itself from seal level to the highest point in the country. The USB port and a scanner will let you know about basic issues and steer you in the right direction on more complex issues.

I am old school, 60 years old. If I can adapt to computer controlled engines, so can you.

Computer controlled, multi port fuel injection is the sliced bread of the internal combustion motor world!

Low end torque

having done plenty of LS swaps

my next swap will be a 350 with a Holley sniper.

cheaper to cam and build up than an LS and give more low end torque

sniper get your “fuel injection” everyone wants and no power loss climbing the rocks from and empty carb

 

[rhah]

Now I have my own shop and a half dozen customer LS conversions scheduled for this year and I am now finding myself breaking all my own rules

It's one thing when you do the swap for yourself and only have to hold yourself accountable for being cheap or taking shortcuts in certain areas it's a completely different ball game when you're accountable for someone else's ride that they plan on driving across the country without tools.

That being said, pretty much anything I post here on mud is going to be aimed at the DIY perspective as that is what I can relate to and enjoy the most, One day I'll make a 60 run with a LS for $1K and post it up to show it can be done, but I'd never do that on a customer rig

You can do better Matt, my LS swap paid me 700$ to put it in