Stumbling my way through an LS Swap (4 Viewers)

[yotadude520]

I piped that extra vent on the tanks inc in tank pump back into my vent hose that goes up the frame rail into the engine bay to the charcoal canister. It was the fuel tank vent plus the tanks inc vent.


The result was liquid fuel pouring out of the line at any fill amount above half full on the tank. I removed it and capped that vent and left only the fuel tank vents and its been happy ever since. @tmxmotorsports is right about capping it. Trust me

Appreciate the heads up guys - just a regular old vacuum cap will do?

 

[dbbowen]

Appreciate the heads up guys - just a regular old vacuum cap will do?

Id use something rated for fuel. Vaccum line will get ate up from the gas.

 

[yotadude520]

Id use something rated for fuel. Vaccum line will get ate up from the gas.

Just bought the one that Tank's Inc sells. I've got some thick rubber ones that I'll use in the meantime until it comes in.

5/16" Hose Barb Fuel Vent Cap - Viton

Tanks, Inc. manufactures fuel system components and polyethylene, steel and stainless steel gas tanks for street rods and special interest vehicles.

www.tanksinc.com

 

[dbbowen]

Just bough the one that Tank's Inc sells. I've got some thick rubber ones that I'll use in the meantime until it comes in.

5/16" Hose Barb Fuel Vent Cap - Viton

Tanks, Inc. manufactures fuel system components and polyethylene, steel and stainless steel gas tanks for street rods and special interest vehicles.

www.tanksinc.com

thats exactly what i used on mine

 

[Fyffer]

Lurking, good posts. PO build thread were great but way to technical and later modified with no updates. KISS for me, please

 

[yotadude520]

Got the cooling system plumbed up, don't have much to add as I followed @dbbowen's thread to a tee.

Here's a pretty easy way to flush your heater core through the valve, just drilled a hole through a rubber plug and put a cheapie funnel through it. You can stick a hose in there too but I used distilled water to flush everything.

Here's the heater lines all done up

Installed my Mosley radiator and got it plumbed up. For anyone installing one in the future, it really helps to loosen the bolts to the radiator brackets on the firewall first, then bolt the radiator to them and tighten them up afterwards.

Here are the part numbers for the hoses I used (in addition to what's noted dbbowen's thread)

-Heater valve to 5/8 tee - Dayco 87730
-Rear Heater Hoses - Gates 18079
-Upper Radiator hose - Gates 23093
-Lower radiator hose - Dayco E71990

With the cooling system finished I finally felt like I was at a place where I could turn the key and see what happens....



SHE RUNS!!

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel....

 

[dbbowen]

Got the cooling system plumbed up, don't have much to add as I followed @dbbowen's thread to a tee.

Here's a pretty easy way to flush your heater core through the valve, just drilled a hole through a rubber plug and put a cheapie funnel through it. You can stick a hose in there too but I used distilled water to flush everything.

Here's the heater lines all done up

Installed my Mosley radiator and got it plumbed up. For anyone installing one in the future, it really helps to loosen the bolts to the radiator brackets on the firewall first, then bolt the radiator to them and tighten them up afterwards.

Here are the part numbers for the hoses I used (in addition to what's noted dbbowen's thread)

-Heater valve to 5/8 tee - Dayco 87730
-Rear Heater Hoses - Gates 18079
-Upper Radiator hose - Gates 23093
-Lower radiator hose - Dayco E71990

With the cooling system I finally felt like I was at a place where I could turn the key and see what happens....



SHE RUNS!!

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel....

Looks great! I like what you did with the rear heat Y pipe. I might have to copy that on mine haha.

No better feeling in the automotive world than that first start after a motor swap!

 

[BurntToast]

Got the cooling system plumbed up, don't have much to add as I followed @dbbowen's thread to a tee.

Here's a pretty easy way to flush your heater core through the valve, just drilled a hole through a rubber plug and put a cheapie funnel through it. You can stick a hose in there too but I used distilled water to flush everything.

Here's the heater lines all done up

Installed my Mosley radiator and got it plumbed up. For anyone installing one in the future, it really helps to loosen the bolts to the radiator brackets on the firewall first, then bolt the radiator to them and tighten them up afterwards.

Here are the part numbers for the hoses I used (in addition to what's noted dbbowen's thread)

-Heater valve to 5/8 tee - Dayco 87730
-Rear Heater Hoses - Gates 18079
-Upper Radiator hose - Gates 23093
-Lower radiator hose - Dayco E71990

With the cooling system finished I finally felt like I was at a place where I could turn the key and see what happens....



SHE RUNS!!

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel....

Ohh hell yah!

 

[k91]

Got the cooling system plumbed up, don't have much to add as I followed @dbbowen's thread to a tee.

Here's a pretty easy way to flush your heater core through the valve, just drilled a hole through a rubber plug and put a cheapie funnel through it. You can stick a hose in there too but I used distilled water to flush everything.

Here's the heater lines all done up

Installed my Mosley radiator and got it plumbed up. For anyone installing one in the future, it really helps to loosen the bolts to the radiator brackets on the firewall first, then bolt the radiator to them and tighten them up afterwards.

Here are the part numbers for the hoses I used (in addition to what's noted dbbowen's thread)

-Heater valve to 5/8 tee - Dayco 87730
-Rear Heater Hoses - Gates 18079
-Upper Radiator hose - Gates 23093
-Lower radiator hose - Dayco E71990

With the cooling system finished I finally felt like I was at a place where I could turn the key and see what happens....



SHE RUNS!!

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel....

Hopefully you noticed that heater hose?

 

[yotadude520]

Hopefully you noticed that heater hose?

View attachment 3785379

I did - that's how the hose came which is a little annoying but I'm not too worried about it, I'll squeeze it as I'm filling it with coolant and it should be fine.

UPDATE - heater hose fixed itself, kink went away as soon as I got coolant into the system

 

[taoofbean]

Amazing progress, congrats on the first start. Question, how did you test your wiring progress along the way? I am imagining it would have been really simple to accidentally cross a single wore or miss a line in the progress. before you loomed it all up and taped it neatly.

 

[yotadude520]

Amazing progress, congrats on the first start. Question, how did you test your wiring progress along the way? I am imagining it would have been really simple to accidentally cross a single wore or miss a line in the progress. before you loomed it all up and taped it neatly.

Thank you!

To be honest, I didn't check the wiring until all the connections were made which was a little nerve wracking. Before I did any of the wiring I made sure that everything was properly identified and that I was connecting it the right way. It's extremely straight forward since you don't have to modify much of the body wiring at all.

 

[yotadude520]

It's been a while since I updated this thread, but have got the truck to where it's driveable and enjoyed it the last few weeks.

I wasn't able to get the air intake finished before I got it to the exhaust shop so I bought a cheapie $50 air intake from Amazon and made it work. I'm still throwing a MAF sensor code but I think it's due to the intake tube being 4" which is larger than stock. I'm going to be redoing the intake with a stock 60 series intake and an 80 series lid. This cheapie setup has worked pretty well in the meantime to putz around with.

I'll then take it to have a proper tune put on, even though the BP Automotive base tune is pretty damn good.

The exhaust shop did an incredible job, I went with a stock sounding exhaust with a single tailpipe. I'll grab some pictures when I'm back home in February but its pretty quiet and is routed really well.

Before I left town I was able to get a few weeks of driving time in and the LS swap is 100000000% worth it. Here are my first impressions:

• Even with the 5.3 instead of the 6.0 there is so much more power than stock. I actually find myself speeding more often than I’m not – which is absolutely insane in an old brick like this!
• The H55F with 3.70 gears (due to the 10% OD gears in TC) is fantastic. It’s more like a four speed though, in normal traffic I’m typically starting in 2nd gear to takeoff, and can cruise at 1800 RPM going 50 in 4th gear. I haven’t taken it on the highway yet to see what those RPMs are but think they’ll be relatively low.
• Engine temp with the Mosley radiator is pretty good – hovers around 190 degrees and climbs when I’m stopped but that was due to not having a shroud. @cruisermatt sent me one that he makes for the Mosley setup and am excited to get it on when I’m back.

Prior to the swap I had never pulled an engine by myself, and knew next to nothing about LS engines. I had never rebuilt or even removed a transfer case before this build. This swap is doable by literally anyone with a good set of tools and are willing to put in the time to do research. There is so much valuable information on this forum and through it's members that I am so grateful for. Special thanks to the below members who helped guide me along the way:

@cruisermatt
@BurntToast
@dbbowen
@tmxmotorsports
@Dubs2017

I mean it when I say literally anyone can do this, and it's singlehandedly the best upgrade you can do on a 60 series to make it a practical daily driver.

I'll post some more pics/updates when I'm back in a few weeks!

 

[dbbowen]

Prior to the swap I had never pulled an engine by myself, and knew next to nothing about LS engines. I had never rebuilt or even removed a transfer case before this build. This swap is doable by literally anyone with a good set of tools and are willing to put in the time to do research.

I mean it when I say literally anyone can do this, and it's singlehandedly the best upgrade you can do on a 60 series to make it a practical daily driver.

Thats what in F'n talking about man!!!! You did a great job on this and made great time. What a success!

 

[BurntToast]

H

It's been a while since I updated this thread, but have got the truck to where it's driveable and enjoyed it the last few weeks.

I wasn't able to get the air intake finished before I got it to the exhaust shop so I bought a cheapie $50 air intake from Amazon and made it work. I'm still throwing a MAF sensor code but I think it's due to the intake tube being 4" which is larger than stock. I'm going to be redoing the intake with a stock 60 series intake and an 80 series lid. This cheapie setup has worked pretty well in the meantime to putz around with.

I'll then take it to have a proper tune put on, even though the BP Automotive base tune is pretty damn good.

View attachment 3810611

The exhaust shop did an incredible job, I went with a stock sounding exhaust with a single tailpipe. I'll grab some pictures when I'm back home in February but its pretty quiet and is routed really well.

View attachment 3810612

Before I left town I was able to get a few weeks of driving time in and the LS swap is 100000000% worth it. Here are my first impressions:

• Even with the 5.3 instead of the 6.0 there is so much more power than stock. I actually find myself speeding more often than I’m not – which is absolutely insane in an old brick like this!
• The H55F with 3.70 gears (due to the 10% OD gears in TC) is fantastic. It’s more like a four speed though, in normal traffic I’m typically starting in 2nd gear to takeoff, and can cruise at 1800 RPM going 50 in 4th gear. I haven’t taken it on the highway yet to see what those RPMs are but think they’ll be relatively low.
• Engine temp with the Mosley radiator is pretty good – hovers around 190 degrees and climbs when I’m stopped but that was due to not having a shroud. @cruisermatt sent me one that he makes for the Mosley setup and am excited to get it on when I’m back.

Prior to the swap I had never pulled an engine by myself, and knew next to nothing about LS engines. I had never rebuilt or even removed a transfer case before this build. This swap is doable by literally anyone with a good set of tools and are willing to put in the time to do research. There is so much valuable information on this forum and through it's members that I am so grateful for. Special thanks to the below members who helped guide me along the way:

@cruisermatt
@BurntToast
@dbbowen
@tmxmotorsports
@Dubs2017

I mean it when I say literally anyone can do this, and it's singlehandedly the best upgrade you can do on a 60 series to make it a practical daily driver.

I'll post some more pics/updates when I'm back in a few weeks!

Hell Yah!

I had similar codes with the MAF and BP tune. New tune woke up the engine even more and fixed the codes

 

[toy_tek]

Awesome, looking forward to checking it out man.

 

[RevISK]

Awesome job brother.

 

[yotadude520]

H

Hell Yah!

I had similar codes with the MAF and BP tune. New tune woke up the engine even more and fixed the codes

That's good to know - I bought a brand new Delphi MAF and was thrown off by the code. Can't wait to finish the intake and have it tuned. Then I just need to get the A/C finished up like you did!

Thats what in F'n talking about man!!!! You did a great job on this and made great time. What a success!

Thanks dude! It was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be and is honestly really straightforward. Not having EFI before made this so much easier as there is so little wiring on these 60's.

Awesome, looking forward to checking it out man.

Thanks Jon! I'll hit you up when I get back in town, feel free to reach out to me though if you have any prep questions on the swap.

Awesome job brother.

Thanks Ian - glad to see you got Paul up and running, it's a great rig. All it needs now is an LS....

 

[RevISK]

That's good to know - I bought a brand new Delphi MAF and was thrown off by the code. Can't wait to finish the intake and have it tuned. Then I just need to get the A/C finished up like you did!



Thanks dude! It was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be and is honestly really straightforward. Not having EFI before made this so much easier as there is so little wiring on these 60's.



Thanks Jon! I'll hit you up when I get back in town, feel free to reach out to me though if you have any prep questions on the swap.



Thanks Ian - glad to see you got Paul up and running, it's a great rig. All it needs now is an LS....

I'd be happy with true 33's at this point.

 

[Dubs2017]

It's been a while since I updated this thread, but have got the truck to where it's driveable and enjoyed it the last few weeks.

I wasn't able to get the air intake finished before I got it to the exhaust shop so I bought a cheapie $50 air intake from Amazon and made it work. I'm still throwing a MAF sensor code but I think it's due to the intake tube being 4" which is larger than stock. I'm going to be redoing the intake with a stock 60 series intake and an 80 series lid. This cheapie setup has worked pretty well in the meantime to putz around with.

I'll then take it to have a proper tune put on, even though the BP Automotive base tune is pretty damn good.

View attachment 3810611

The exhaust shop did an incredible job, I went with a stock sounding exhaust with a single tailpipe. I'll grab some pictures when I'm back home in February but its pretty quiet and is routed really well.

View attachment 3810612

Before I left town I was able to get a few weeks of driving time in and the LS swap is 100000000% worth it. Here are my first impressions:

• Even with the 5.3 instead of the 6.0 there is so much more power than stock. I actually find myself speeding more often than I’m not – which is absolutely insane in an old brick like this!
• The H55F with 3.70 gears (due to the 10% OD gears in TC) is fantastic. It’s more like a four speed though, in normal traffic I’m typically starting in 2nd gear to takeoff, and can cruise at 1800 RPM going 50 in 4th gear. I haven’t taken it on the highway yet to see what those RPMs are but think they’ll be relatively low.
• Engine temp with the Mosley radiator is pretty good – hovers around 190 degrees and climbs when I’m stopped but that was due to not having a shroud. @cruisermatt sent me one that he makes for the Mosley setup and am excited to get it on when I’m back.

Prior to the swap I had never pulled an engine by myself, and knew next to nothing about LS engines. I had never rebuilt or even removed a transfer case before this build. This swap is doable by literally anyone with a good set of tools and are willing to put in the time to do research. There is so much valuable information on this forum and through it's members that I am so grateful for. Special thanks to the below members who helped guide me along the way:

@cruisermatt
@BurntToast
@dbbowen
@tmxmotorsports
@Dubs2017

I mean it when I say literally anyone can do this, and it's singlehandedly the best upgrade you can do on a 60 series to make it a practical daily driver.

I'll post some more pics/updates when I'm back in a few weeks!

Incredible work, man. Very well done. You got this done in a staggeringly small amount of time.