The Next Vortec Swap Thread

[Clonestocker]

Have my first question. The swap will be starting soon. My garage is kinda limited as to where the 3FE is going to get parked. Would you take the T/C off the trans with the motor still in the vehicle? I'm thinking that being able to move the 3FE around and trying to get the T/C off the motor sitting on the floor will be a pain. What do you swappers think? thx matt

 

[Dirtgypsy]

Leave it connected to the tranny, but disconnect the tranny from the engine. A440's weigh a LOT and so do 3FE's. If this is a one man job your back with thank you!

good luck and post up lots o pics.

clint

 

[Kurtis]

A split case is pretty light so getting it off isn't to big of a deal. If your by yourself I'd say doing it like Dyrtygpsy suggested is easiest. If you have help I'd pull it as a unit, its a little quicker and then pull the t case.

 

[Elbert]

I removed the hood, grill, condensor, radiator and then removed the engine,transmission and transfer case all together.

 

[alaska60]

I removed the hood, grill, condensor, radiator and then removed the engine,transmission and transfer case all together.

X2...... the best way to attack this!! hands down!!

 

[The Phoenician]

Post up tons of pics. I'm still deciding between a 4bt cummins or a vortec.

 

[Clonestocker]

Thanks for the input. I'm planning on pulling the whole dog house off. Will try to take tons of pictures. Will be using the Chevy harness, puter and fuse box. Hoping to tie the stock wiring into it. Have the ECM reflashed for just the necessities including smog. Going to try fab mounts that will utilize the chevy engine mounts.

Does anyone know if the chevy engine can be put on the same crankshaft center line as the 3FE? If not, what did you find that worked the best? What about engine height? I want to try to keep the fan the same distance from the radiator as stock. What under hood wiring can I junk? That's all for now.

matt

 

[dbleon]

Matt!
Glad to hear your getting moving on your swap. My drivetrain is getting mounted as we speak. Race you? just kidding.
Oh ya, remove the engine/tranny/tcase all together. It comes out easy!!

Piece of cake! All by myself....

 

[Clonestocker]

Dan,

I'm not stripping my motor before I pull it. I'd have stuff everywhere. I'm afraid I'm going to bend the hoist I own so I'm going to see about borrowing a big one. Un bolt the mounts unplug the wires it's outa there. Going to the car wash in the morning to degrease. Then I'll start taking pictures. later

 

[jascolt]

Sweet And can you start an accurate tab on all your expenses including the vortec cost and wiring harness. It would be very useful for someone that needs to budget this out in the future.

 

[Clonestocker]

Hit the point of no return today. Pulled the front bumper, front and rear drive shafts, header pipes, cats, O2 sensors. front carpet, both shifters @ trans and inspection cover. Tomorrow will be disconnect all under hood stuff to get the dog house off. At what point would anyone like to see pictures start happening? Also, do you think there is a market for the cats and O2 sensors? They're not new but they work fine (spares). If you have any questions let me know. matt

 

[dbleon]

Good going! Finally

Make sure you have a freind to help lift the whole front end off....

 

[Clonestocker]

Next step finished. Doghouse is off and it's time to start taking some measurments. I hoping to position the Vortecs fan in the same place as the 3FE. Does anyone know if this is possible? I had also asked earlier if you can keep both crank shafts on the same centerline but the 3FE is way off to the driver side. If I move the crank centerline to the passenger side it will start changing the driveline angles out of the T/C. Would like some real time opinions guys. Kurtis? Do I try to keep the Vortec as far to the driver's side as possible? Flame away. matt

BTW: I'm also going to try to figure out why the Criuser lean. LOL

 

[rover67]

When I did it I kept it to the driver's side as far as possible and it didn't really jack with the DL angles that much. What did mess with the DL angles was picking it up enough so that the oil pan would even start to clear the axle. If I were to do it again I would have cut and welded the oil pan from the start to get as much clearance as possible, then place the motor. I have no idea fi you can keep the fan in the same spot, but I wouldn't let that dictate engine placement. that's easy to address with a new shroud.

 

[Kurtis]

I used the AA mounts and it ended up one slot in on the driver side and the outside slot on the passenger side if that makes any sense. So that makes it offset 1" to the driver side. It gets it pretty close and thats pretty much as as far as the AA mounts will let it go to the driver side with out some type of modification. Even if it was off as long as your setup is straight with the frame that little of an amount wouldn't cause any vibes since your flanges are would still be parallel.

Your a 5.7 vortec right? Then it should be the pretty similar to what I ended up with. You'll see when you get the mounts tacked in there is only so far you can go. I personally went high. The motor side of the mount sit just above the frame rail and it worked out well for me. No clearance issues even before the SOA
In hindsight I could have went a little lower and still been fine.

 

[Elbert]

with my 5.7 we installed engine as high as possible and still clear the hood line (using string across the fenders and then from the fire wall to the rad support to replicate the hood line, then we tried to center the engine square with the radiator and still clear the drivers side frame rail area / ps gear. I used a marks adapter. If I were to do my swap agagin I would move the engine back from the radiator more while still allowing room at the firewall and that would mean maybe 2inches or a little more towards the rear of the truck which would allow more room around the front of the engine for radiator & fan clearance. This most likely would invovle using a different bellhousing adapter and you would have to change your trans crossmember and drive shaft lengths.

 

[Kurtis]

I installed mine so the mechanical fan clutch clears by about an 1". That way you can get it on and off for water pump changes or fan clutch changes without to much worry about damaging the radiator.

I defiantly needed a new cross member. I fabbed one up pretty quick with some round tube and plate and it has worked well for the past 2 years. I bought a nice tube bender a few weeks ago so I'm going to revisit it and make one with some style and a hoop for a track bar shackle. I've been fine without a track bar but the v8 defiantly exaggerates axle warp. I'm dropping to 4.56s with the 35s and 4l60e so I figure now is the time to get that done.

 

[Clonestocker]

Saturday the 20th. Next step. Engine out and on the garage floor. Tomorrow going to pull the T/C off the A440 and start mock up for install. Going to remove the factory engine mounts from the frame. Lots of choices for new mounts. Anybody think the stock chevy could be made to work. Build a bracket to hold the stock mount. Don't want biscuit mounts. TranDapt has something that uses early Camaro mounts. Need to do some research. later matt

Can't believe there is no response on the motor (all those emission goodys) and trans. Going on Craigslist tomorrow.

 

[hunde]

Good pics, helps me get an idea of what I need to do while i daydream of a chevy swap...

 

[Kurtis]

You can build mounts pretty easily. I've built them for my little brother in his race care before not to bad. Just buy the motor side rubber mount and build your bracketry to match. The AA biscuit mounts work fine though honestly were not talking a 750hp motor here. I've had em for over 2 years now and they have defiantly had some abuse. Some 60ish mph runs through the desert and had no problems. If I did it now though I would just build them and save a 100$. First time around I have to say the AA is nice because everything just lines up nice not to much work.

I hated my 2f with so much passion I didn't even put it for sale I just gave it away so I didn't have to look at it any longer than I needed to.