LS? Swap - Experiences/Opinions needed

[TwoLeftThumbs]

I posted a little over a year ago noodling a possible engine swap for my 60. Currently, she's got a 400 sbc out of a '78 Impala in her mounted to the original tranny with overdrive. It's...fine. MPG is garbage, of course, there's power, but relative to today's engines not a whole helluva lot, and I'm just thinking it's probably time to strap on my big boy pants, find a newer engine and start fiddling around with that as I could sink a ton of money into this thing to get it running better, faster, more economically, but it'd never come close to newer engines and likely cost twice as much in time, money, and pain in the ass issues that undoubtedly will arise from screwing around with an engine a year older than myself.

Sooooo, enter the LS-fill-in-the-blank engines (including LR, LQ, LM) engines. There's a part of me one day that wants to see a giant blower sticking out of the hood all Mad Max style, but even raising the foundational numbers with a stock LS sounds like fun to me. I'd also like to keep a manual gearbox in her. I get bored otherwise.

The questions I know I have:
- Who has done any of these swaps and what advice might you have in general?
- I worry the stock tranny won't be able to handle the power, do I go with a T56? Will it fit well?
- What's the rear end situation here? Will the FJ's stock bits handle the power I'm going to put back there? If not, what's the solve?
- What am I not thinking about? What questions am I not asking?

Help me, my brethren.

 

[Shes Mad]

I cant talk about the 4speed, as I put a 4l60 in mine. I haven’t tried to break it on the trail, but I’ve put about 4000 miles on mine with little issues. 374 HP at the crank. No mechanical, just some electronic issues pop up here and there. I’ll say mechanical it was very straight forward. I think upgrading the brakes would be desirable. There are adequate, but not stellar. Just the known challenges of oil pan, driveshafts and shifters. Electrical was a little more challenging to get everything working. I wanted all the OEM electronics functioning.
With overdrive, you need at least 410 gears. 456 if you are running bigger that 33 inch tires.

 

[NTAPHSE]

I just swapped an LQ9 in place of a 454, similar to what you're proposing. I have a TH400, so the LS bolted right in place of the 454 with billet engine mount adapter plates. I would think with your bellhousing adapter to the stock trans you should be able to bolt an LS up too. I am running Holley EFI, the harness was plug and play and fired right up. You can find almost everything you need on Amazon or Rockauto, just do you research for the common part you will need, Corvette fuel filter/regulator, adapter fittings, engine mount adapter plates, etc. My swap was not hard at all, just took a little time to find and order the right fittings, bolts etc.

 

[SilverKast]

I had my 5.3L with an H55F put in by Torfab, they did an awesome job and I love it every time I jump behind the wheel. To me it was worth the cost as an engine swap is beyond my expertise and available time. After driving the stock version for a few years before I can say with certainty that the LS swap is worth it in every way.

 

[TwoLeftThumbs]

I had my 5.3L with an H55F put in by Torfab, they did an awesome job and I love it every time I jump behind the wheel. To me it was worth the cost as an engine swap is beyond my expertise and available time. After driving the stock version for a few years before I can say with certainty that the LS swap is worth it in every way.

How has your rear end held up?

 

[cruisermatt]

You’re going to have a tough time with an engine swap if you can’t do basic research, all the question you asked have been answered hundreds of times

Google Search

 

[coppercruiser]

FJ 60 5.7 LS 1 in California, what would be the preferred cast OEM exhaust manifold?

 

[ScottT]

If you are in CA you will need a CARB legal build. You can’t mix and match. Your best bet is an E-Rod set up. There are many requirements, single vs dual exhausts, distance of cats from headers,type of headers, etc, etc. New erod ls3 w/ trans and required pieces/ parts around 17 to 20k or more depending on supplier. Pace performance has good prices if you’re not in a huge hurry. I was quoted almost double from other suppliers. Do not expect help from General Motors. They are like, we got it certified so now you are on your own. Things you could do easily and cheap are complicated and expensive in CA. I’m so glad I moved.

 

[ScottT]

I was answering Copper cruisers post. For 2 left thumbs, the 40 and 60 are 1 ton trucks. They have stout transmissions and rear ends. Depends mainly on how big of a tire you put on the end of the axle. Many people have run 33’s. Over the last 30 years or so without problems, when you you get up to 35s or 37s or more you are going to break stock stuff. If you install a 430 hp ls3 you can break stuff with too much right foot on a ledge or something like that. If you drive smart and keep your right foot in check you should be good with stock parts.

 

[TwoLeftThumbs]

Appreciate it @ScottT. Have 33s right now and looking at possibly working with one of the smaller bore LS engines. The 4.7 or 5.3. Mild heads and cam put them in some really good numbers territory and should save me a bit on the MPG. Also they seem to be much cheaper to get into than the LS1, 3, etc.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Finished a 84fj60 a month ago with a lq9 4l80e to Toyota split case with 3.70 gears and 32 inch falken at3 60mph was 1700 1800 rpm. Plenty fast and more than enough power.
Tommy

 

[ScottT]

I cruse @ around 77mph and about 1900 rpm. Drag is high with a fj60 (duh) and I also have a high Confer roof rack. Mpg is in the 10-12 range at this speed which is better than stock with the same configuration. Taking off the rack adds about 2 mpg at this speed. Rear end is stock 3.70 with 33 in Mt geolanders all around. Your weight would be around the same with a 5.3 (iron block). Hp and Torque is less but plenty and lest costly. Mpg would probably be about the same or better. After about 30 mph the main factor is drag. I wanted mine to be CARB legal because I was living in CA at the time and wanted to be able to sell it in CA in the future if required.

 

[RredFJ40]

Builds - 5.3/RangerOD/H41 - another one goes Vortec

I’ll try to keep this fairly short as it’s nothing new around here. This rig is back on the road, though definitely needs some kinks worked out. Long story short: I’ve owned this FJ60 since 2004. 2F had somewhere north of 300k miles on it and was getting tired. Rather than rebuild and the...

forum.ih8mud.com

If you already have a small block in it, half the work is already done!