The Catamaran is getting a new Boat anchor (5.3L Vortec) (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 9, 2016
Threads
8
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Location
Louisburg, KS
So, i named my '91 FJ80 "The Catamaran" a few years back driving to work in the worst of an East Kansas' late March snow storms (ended up snowing 22" in about 3 hours) the wind was blowing me from what i thought was white line to white line but i made it all the way in, the only person that didn't live in the town i work in... anyway that's all beside the point.
I have to pull the 3FE/A440f and decided i'm putting an LM4/4l60e/marks4wd adapter/HF2a.
Right now I'm the proud owner of a '04 GMC Envoy that was smashed up pretty bad! great doner vehicle for $800 and 96K on the clock.

As i purchase items for the swap i will post a link of where i purchased on this first post. Along with all the handy resources i find.​
~91 FSM and EWD - Land Cruiser, 1991 Toyota Land Cruiser Manuals
~
 
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Right now I'm the proud owner of a '04 GMC Envoy that was smashed up pretty bad! great doner vehicle for $800 and 96K on the clock.

Planning on trying to use all of the envoy's components that I can... Cooling system, engine compartment fuse box, DBW, might try to incorporate the gage cluster and steering column ect...

Since my grandpa owns an Upolstery business we are going to redo all the cloth in the interior to a red, green, and tan Camo. Going to try do a 3 tone paint jobber to match...

A buddy I know has a 3D printer that if I can get the steering column to work we are going to make a Mr. T badge that fits in place of the GMC badge on the horn pad...
 
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subscribed. I am just down the road, so hope to see this someday.

There is a very active local club board under clubhouses, look for TAC, tornado alley. Or go to the white background land of Google and search ih8mud TAC

Cheers, and good luck.

Oh, and the welcome sign here at MUD.... :flipoff2:
 
subscribed. I am just down the road, so hope to see this someday.

There is a very active local club board under clubhouses, look for TAC, tornado alley. Or go to the white background land of Google and search ih8mud TAC

Cheers, and good luck.

Oh, and the welcome sign here at MUD.... :flipoff2:
Thanks! I bought my 80 about 3 years ago and fell in love with it... I'll probably get buried in the damn thing... Hopefully someone has tried the RF1A behind the 4L60e... If not I guess I'll be the first to try it...
 
i need to find a 5.3 envoy with 96k miles for $800
 
i need to find a 5.3 envoy with 96k miles for $800
A buddy got a Driving award and totaled it he was going to put it in his JK but came across a 5.7 hem I and went that route so he hooked me UP!!! My A440f went out and I was in the middle of pulling it to perform a rebuild when he offered it up and a dimly lit light bulb came on in the hamster trap I call a brain...
 
A buddy got a Driving award and totaled it he was going to put it in his JK but came across a 5.7 hem I and went that route so he hooked me UP!!! My A440f went out and I was in the middle of pulling it to perform a rebuild when he offered it up and a dimly lit light bulb came on in the hamster trap I call a brain...
some guys have all the luck...
 
why not use the factory case? saves you the money and time of making new drive shafts and trans mount.
 
Thoughts and concerns...
I bought a totaled out '05 GMC Envoy from a buddy(whole vehicle) and am putting motor and trans. in my '91 FJ80. I'm thinking of pulling all of the envoy wiring and using the entire engine, chassis, and body harness to put in my 80. Anyone ever tried this? Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject? Got the Envoy for $800 and am wanting to use as much of it as humanly possible to keep my build costs low to get "extras... (Lift,bumpers, roof rack,lighting, ect.) looked into painless and their kit is a ton more than I want to spend on wiring if I can keep from it... I know there will be circuits that I won't be using but at the same time I'm a cheap ass!
 
Also planning on using all engine accessories, including keeping DBW and possibly installing the steering column in the 80 (if I can get it to mount up safely) so I can have cruise and steering wheel controls for the radio... Since it was an Envoy Denali I may even try to integrate the entertainment system in (which would be pretty bad ass if I can pull that off hence using all wiring from the envoy) and it looks as if the gage cluster might fit in the 80's dash with a lil modification (maybe )
 
How good are you with wiring?

TONS of guys install these engines into all types of vehicles and the wiring mods are pretty well documented here and all over the net. Basically with a tuner to make the appropriate adjustments in the GM ECU you can run the engine successfully on a handful of wires.

I think moving the chassis harness over would be a terrible idea. The amount of work required to integrate the power windows, locks, AC, turn signals, radio.. basically ALL of the electronics? Unreal. And for the record, I have some experience in this field.. I adapted a 94 LC engine/transmission into a 97 LX body shell.. I wouldn't wish even that on anyone.

Steering wheel controls for the stereo I can't comment on. Making the toyota cruise stalk work with the GM DBW setup has been done here. Did require a bit of circuit building but it is a super interesting project and @MarkN is nothing short of brilliant for making this work and telling us all how to do it. LS SWAP - DBW - Cruise Control

That is all IF you stay DBW. Mounting the throttle pedal is a challenge, but has also been done and documented by a few people on here. When I get around to doing my L33 swap I may just convert to a throttle cable.. but I'm a few months away from having to make that call.

I've spent a bit of time looking at this.. basically mandatory parts: tc/trans adapter ($1400), tach adapter, shifter cable and fabrication, f-body oil pan/pickup, headers, motor mount legs, tuning, front driveshaft, universal fan shroud for toyota radiator, GM fan & clutch.. I'm sure there is stuff I'm forgetting.
 
post #41 in my vortec thread has links to the spreadsheet I am keeping to show what I am buying, where I am sourcing it and the cost.

Impending Vortec Swap

Keep in mind, I am running a 4l80e and I have some costs in there to rebuild my tranny and stick a reluctor ring in it. My motor shows up this week, but my pregnant wife says I need to finish tiling my girls bathroom before she pushes out girl #3....but, I'll start tearing into the tranny this week after the little ones go to bed and I can't get into the bathroom.

And, if you look at my spreadsheet, take note of where I sourced the tranny/t-case adapter.
 
Also planning on using all engine accessories, including keeping DBW and possibly installing the steering column in the 80 (if I can get it to mount up safely) so I can have cruise and steering wheel controls for the radio... Since it was an Envoy Denali I may even try to integrate the entertainment system in (which would be pretty bad ass if I can pull that off hence using all wiring from the envoy) and it looks as if the gage cluster might fit in the 80's dash with a lil modification (maybe )

I agree with Bloc, why add more work than what you'll be doing already for the transplant. I'd leave the Toyota body harness do what it's doing and just mess with the engine ECU/PCM harness. Otherwise, I have a feeling that you'll hit a wall and lose motivation in the project. Lots of swaps of this nature and NONE of them involved messing with any other harnesses. Just my .02 cents.
 
Do not over complicate things trying to integrate a body harness, its totally unnecessary ! You simply need the engine harness and ECU and mate it into your std harness, a gazzilion posts here on how to do that.
 
If you want to do what you propose, go for it. But do it in pieces. Get the engine installed and and truck driving first. It is going to take a lot longer than you are anticipating (assuming you have never done an engine swap before). Getting the truck up and running will be a huge boost. Once that milestone is achieved, then move on into the rest of the electrical. Since it is straight forward to set up the GM drivetrain as a stand alone, integrating the rest should not take the truck off the road for long periods of time if you plan it that way.
 
If you want to do what you propose, go for it. But do it in pieces. Get the engine installed and and truck driving first. It is going to take a lot longer than you are anticipating (assuming you have never done an engine swap before). Getting the truck up and running will be a huge boost. Once that milestone is achieved, then move on into the rest of the electrical. Since it is straight forward to set up the GM drivetrain as a stand alone, integrating the rest should not take the truck off the road for long periods of time if you plan it that way.

I have done a couple but they were all straight forward swaps, not conversions... And NO Electrical BS... LOL Just did a 22RE in my '89 pickup last year, stupid simple... And in high school I did a few in trucks and cars I owned but they were all just rebuilds or R&R so this is my first "conversion"... The only conversions I've even been a part of were a bronco II that had a 3.0 and we put a 5.0HO in there (tight fit) I only installed and mounted motor another buddy did all the wiring, and then I helped put a TDI out of a Volkswagen into a jeep but that all came in a kit from Coty built... Again I just helped install the motor, all of the wiring was done but the guy that owned it... He told me he would help with the wiring once I got to that point. I wasn't sure on the difficulty level of it. I'll probably go the route everyone is pointing me toward I just haven't had the time to check out the plethora of info on here...
 
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Well I found out today that since I have a 4wd transmission I have to change out the output shaft to one from a 2wd tranny... I think I'll give monster transmission a look and see if they have them, and while I'm inside there I might as well do a couple upgrades... Shift kit... Idk guess I'll see what I can do based on cost... Boo on having to use a 2wd output shaft...
 

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