tiltthe63s

This summer i want to pick up a late 80's s-10 and want to drop a bowtie small block i have the motor its out of a caprices classic but have edelbroke heads and comp cam with new intake ands holley 650dbl pumper i was wondering how hard it would be to put in, have any of you done this and what are the mods am looking at having to do.

Pewter'01SS

O.K. I'm sure I'm going to miss some things but I'll try.

Starting from the front and working back...

You might need a thinner radiator so the fan won't hit.

The engine mounts should be carfully considered because that will determine how much modifying you have to do.

My '86 used stock mounts from the 350 and welded to the frame, my friends had a solid mounted plate on the front of the motor.

The two main concerns about space under the hood is the pass. side valve cover and the distributor. The heater box on the firewall might hit the valve cover so it might need to be notched out a bit. Mainly, make sure the distributor doesn't hit the firewall.

You need special headers, two of the primarys wrap around the steering column. I had to do some very intricate body modification ( BFH and an air hammer) to the underside of the cab to get the exhaust to clear.

Transmount may need to be totally custom, I used 1" sq. tube stock bolted to the plates that are welded to the frame.

I bought a Pro-Ratchet shifter and just ran the cable to the trans.

They make an ass load of kits to do this, Jegs or Summit, find a set of headers, radiator and fan, driveshaft depending on what trans your using and have fun.

And you might want to think about putting beefier springs in the front end, the weight of the 350 is a little too heavy for stock springs that are 15 years old. The stock ones will work but they might sag the front end.

As far as the nitrous, there's plenty of room in the bed to mount your bottle.

tiltthe63s

Thank you I am thinking of some little trick things that i have never seen before and would like to try. the radiator, Im going to get a bigger one and run dual electirc so a fan hitting wont be a big problem and im in the proccess of chopping the bed to fit 10 inch tires in the back. i want to do it like a midnight black and I want to do stacks for the exhuast or running board exhuast and put a couple of injectors on them so they breath fire. thanks for the tips on headers and dis. cap. I think it would look really cool when im done.

dugie6551

I have added a V8 in the past to a 1987 GMC S15 and I had to also build a new transmission mount.
For the headers; if you want to use headers, then you have to go to the aftermarket (jegs, summit, etc.) I used exhaust manifolds from a 305 engine. They work to get the exhaust to under the cab with very little problems (and allows clearance for the starter.
Radiator: I used a 3-core rad from a chevy van and I used two electric fans mounted on the front of the rad.
Waterpump: Use a short shaft chevy waterpump instead of a regular, long shaft. This will also help with the rad clearnance. Using the pump and fans I did not have to cut or modify the rad support.
Enigne mounts: I used "U-style" engine mounts and hard mounted them to welded 2"X2" steel square tubing to the frame ( just behind the existing mount locations ). Have everything installed on the motor (starter, distributor, exhaust headers/manifolds, waterpump, radiator, rad support, etc.) before welding the mounts. By doing this you can fine tune the location on the motor front to back and up and down to insure everything is clear.