Engine Swap

Experts, im asking for your knowledge. I have yet to do an engine swap on a computerized engine and im not sure of the process. I am either looking at a 6.0L swap then modding it, or possibly a camaro or vette engine and modding it. I am definately looking for a 5 or 6 speed if i can.

I guess my main question is, Does the engine run on its own comp, and the rest of the electrical system for the truck is stand-alone? or do i need to integrate a new engine computer to control everything else in my truck?

Does anybody have any good sites for doing swaps?

I guess the other option is to mod my 5.3 but i want some serious power, dont think i really wanna go forced induction though, so what are some good reliable mods, and approx. cost value?

Thanks for all your help!

Matt
99 silverado 5.3L 2wd scsb

some serious gear heads hang in this one
do a search for engine swap
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20

Experts, im asking for your knowledge. I have yet to do an engine swap on a computerized engine and im not sure of the process. I am either looking at a 6.0L swap then modding it, or possibly a camaro or vette engine and modding it. I am definately looking for a 5 or 6 speed if i can.

I guess my main question is, Does the engine run on its own comp, and the rest of the electrical system for the truck is stand-alone? or do i need to integrate a new engine computer to control everything else in my truck?

Does anybody have any good sites for doing swaps?

I guess the other option is to mod my 5.3 but i want some serious power, dont think i really wanna go forced induction though, so what are some good reliable mods, and approx. cost value?

Thanks for all your help!

Matt
99 silverado 5.3L 2wd scsb

Alright, brotha, here to help.
1. A 6.0L is the easiest swap you can do, and an LS1 out of a vette or camaro will work, but will require a bit more modification to some of the accessory brackets, etc.
2. The 6.0L will work off of your stock computer, but the computer will have to be tuned to get the maximum benefit of the engine. NelsonPerformance is a great tuner. You just call, tell him everything you have done to the truck, then he sends you a pcm tuned for everything, then you send him your stock pcm.
3. You have to get an 01+ 6.0L in order for your transmission to bolt up correctly. The 00-earlier 6.0Ls only bolted up to the 4l80e transmission, and plus they came with iron heads. You want aluminum heads, like the ones that came on the 01+ motors.
4. The LS1 engine(like those out of the camaro, etc) are nice engines to put into these trucks, but I would really recommend going with the stouter 6.0L, due to its simplicity in installation.
5. You will not have to find a complete motor with accessories. All of your accessories off of your 5.3L will bolt right up to the 6.0L, including your intake manifold. All you'll need is a motor with the heads to the oil pan.
6. Go ahead and do any upgrades you might want to do in the future while the motor is out. I saved up parts from January until October. This includes cam upgrade, headwork, etc.
7. You'll want to start looking at upgrading your transmission. You can buy a built one, or have yours rebuilt with stouter components. Also look at getting a higher stall converter if you go with a cam upgrade. At the least, get a transgo shift kit and a corvette servo.
8. You'll want to look for some 02+ injectors. These were rated at/around 28lbs, while your 99s are like 24. Nelson will tune for these.
9. You'll also want to talk to Nelson about a possible trade for a 99 pcm to an 02 pcm. The 99 pcms had a tendency to have false knock retard, as well as other small problems they worked out in 02.
My entire setup ran me around $8000, which includes everything in my sig. I drive the truck 50miles a day with no problems, and I can carry it to the track and run 12s. With my Eaton in and my underdrive pulleys on, I should be in the 11s by February. ALL MOTOR/NO POWER ADDERS. :biggrin:
If you have any questions regarding the swap, feel free to post up or p.m me. Always here to help.

some serious gear heads hang in this one
do a search for engine swap
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20

My boys, heh heh :iceslolan

You are the man...man! I have a feeling you an I will be talkin lots, im too much of an adrelaine freak to let everything stay as is. So the other question becomes, what about going to a manual tranny?


Alright, brotha, here to help.
1. A 6.0L is the easiest swap you can do, and an LS1 out of a vette or camaro will work, but will require a bit more modification to some of the accessory brackets, etc.
2. The 6.0L will work off of your stock computer, but the computer will have to be tuned to get the maximum benefit of the engine. NelsonPerformance is a great tuner. You just call, tell him everything you have done to the truck, then he sends you a pcm tuned for everything, then you send him your stock pcm.
3. You have to get an 01+ 6.0L in order for your transmission to bolt up correctly. The 00-earlier 6.0Ls only bolted up to the 4l80e transmission, and plus they came with iron heads. You want aluminum heads, like the ones that came on the 01+ motors.
4. The LS1 engine(like those out of the camaro, etc) are nice engines to put into these trucks, but I would really recommend going with the stouter 6.0L, due to its simplicity in installation.
5. You will not have to find a complete motor with accessories. All of your accessories off of your 5.3L will bolt right up to the 6.0L, including your intake manifold. All you'll need is a motor with the heads to the oil pan.
6. Go ahead and do any upgrades you might want to do in the future while the motor is out. I saved up parts from January until October. This includes cam upgrade, headwork, etc.
7. You'll want to start looking at upgrading your transmission. You can buy a built one, or have yours rebuilt with stouter components. Also look at getting a higher stall converter if you go with a cam upgrade. At the least, get a transgo shift kit and a corvette servo.
8. You'll want to look for some 02+ injectors. These were rated at/around 28lbs, while your 99s are like 24. Nelson will tune for these.
9. You'll also want to talk to Nelson about a possible trade for a 99 pcm to an 02 pcm. The 99 pcms had a tendency to have false knock retard, as well as other small problems they worked out in 02.
My entire setup ran me around $8000, which includes everything in my sig. I drive the truck 50miles a day with no problems, and I can carry it to the track and run 12s. With my Eaton in and my underdrive pulleys on, I should be in the 11s by February. ALL MOTOR/NO POWER ADDERS. :biggrin:
If you have any questions regarding the swap, feel free to post up or p.m me. Always here to help.

You are the man...man! I have a feeling you an I will be talkin lots, im too much of an adrelaine freak to let everything stay as is. So the other question becomes, what about going to a manual tranny?

You will get addicted to spending money on your truck! Trust me on that one. I just blew another $800 on mine this week, with the Eaton posi unit, the racing seats, and my underdrive pulleys. Oh, well, money well spent in my book. :biggrin: On to the tranny.

It is my understanding the the T56 out of an fbody would bolt up, but a few problems arise. You would have to have a donor truck to get all the equipment, pedals, etc. Then you have to worry about finding a clutch that would hold up to slipping and hard shifts. The fbody guys have a pretty hard time keeping their clutches together when the horsepower goes up, and that is in a 3500-3800 lb rig, let alone a truck that would go over 4300lbs.

My suggestion on the tranny would be to either go with a fully built 4l60e with a 3000+ stall converter, or I would upgrade to the 4l80e tranny with a nice size converter.
The manual really wouldn't be benefitial over the auto with a high converter. Take a look at the guys running these SRT10s with the mauals. They are having so much trouble hooking the trucks and running consistant times. Then look at the built bowties and lightnings putting down the great numbers!
My tranny/stall setup is doing a great job! I would love to see what a 3200-up converter would do!

K you are doing all the things i wanna get to, so racing seats? where, how much? and are they working well? look good? and posi, i think my posi is ****ed a lil, and i was lookin for a new and stronger unit, how much for the eaton? and hell underdrive pulleys, why not! haha

okay tranny question now, what about the comp? im not worried so much about my drag numbers as much as i am wanting to bang through the gears and have fun. It cant be just as simple as puttin the the T56, and gettin a centerforce 2 is it? theres gotta be programmin issues.....or something.



You will get addicted to spending money on your truck! Trust me on that one. I just blew another $800 on mine this week, with the Eaton posi unit, the racing seats, and my underdrive pulleys. Oh, well, money well spent in my book. :biggrin: On to the tranny.

It is my understanding the the T56 out of an fbody would bolt up, but a few problems arise. You would have to have a donor truck to get all the equipment, pedals, etc. Then you have to worry about finding a clutch that would hold up to slipping and hard shifts. The fbody guys have a pretty hard time keeping their clutches together when the horsepower goes up, and that is in a 3500-3800 lb rig, let alone a truck that would go over 4300lbs.

My suggestion on the tranny would be to either go with a fully built 4l60e with a 3000+ stall converter, or I would upgrade to the 4l80e tranny with a nice size converter.
The manual really wouldn't be benefitial over the auto with a high converter. Take a look at the guys running these SRT10s with the mauals. They are having so much trouble hooking the trucks and running consistant times. Then look at the built bowties and lightnings putting down the great numbers!
My tranny/stall setup is doing a great job! I would love to see what a 3200-up converter would do!

K you are doing all the things i wanna get to, so racing seats? where, how much? and are they working well? look good? and posi, i think my posi is ****ed a lil, and i was lookin for a new and stronger unit, how much for the eaton? and hell underdrive pulleys, why not! haha

okay tranny question now, what about the comp? im not worried so much about my drag numbers as much as i am wanting to bang through the gears and have fun. It cant be just as simple as puttin the the T56, and gettin a centerforce 2 is it? theres gotta be programmin issues.....or something.

I'll start another post with the pics of my seats. They were a set of cheap ones from ebay. I bought them because my upholdster told me he'd give me a sweet deal on a custom leather setup, so I went with them. They were $320 shipped, and weigh in at a scant 20lbs apiece. The Eaton will cost you around $300, but you'll have to buy a few other things(bearings, etc). I got the underdrive pulleys from a buddy of mine that went to a supercharger. They usually go for around $230 for both with the proper belt.

The tuner will be able to make the proper tuning issues in your pcm. I know there's a company that makes the proper wiring for the 4l60e to 4l80e swap, so they might know if any other wiring would be required to plug up the T56. My main concern would be the clutch, though. Even with a centerforce 2, you would have a good bit more weight to push around than an fbody, and that 6.0L can make some mad power if you want it to. It would be cool as hell to bang the gears, though! When I get my fbody, I won't own anything but a manual! I used to drive the crap out of my buddies new mach 1 with the stick. Good stuff! :biggrin:

I'll start another post with the pics of my seats. They were a set of cheap ones from ebay. I bought them because my upholdster told me he'd give me a sweet deal on a custom leather setup, so I went with them. They were $320 shipped, and weigh in at a scant 20lbs apiece. The Eaton will cost you around $300, but you'll have to buy a few other things(bearings, etc). I got the underdrive pulleys from a buddy of mine that went to a supercharger. They usually go for around $230 for both with the proper belt.

The tuner will be able to make the proper tuning issues in your pcm. I know there's a company that makes the proper wiring for the 4l60e to 4l80e swap, so they might know if any other wiring would be required to plug up the T56. My main concern would be the clutch, though. Even with a centerforce 2, you would have a good bit more weight to push around than an fbody, and that 6.0L can make some mad power if you want it to. It would be cool as hell to bang the gears, though! When I get my fbody, I won't own anything but a manual! I used to drive the crap out of my buddies new mach 1 with the stick. Good stuff! :biggrin:

Alright, so heres what im thinking, i think im gonna stick with teh 5.3, and do as much to that as i can for power, gonna look into the the T56, so if you can get me the name of that wiring company who makes the harness for the 60-80 swap ill get in contact with them. And as for the PCM Nelson could incorporate the standard tranny into the programming?
So then, 5.3 parts,
-cam?
-exhaust?
-how about dumps, or cutout in the exhaust, make a diff other than sound?
-cold air intake
-how wide tires do ya have on your truck right now?
- hows the eaton workin out? there a reason you went with posi over locker?

Alright, so heres what im thinking, i think im gonna stick with teh 5.3, and do as much to that as i can for power, gonna look into the the T56, so if you can get me the name of that wiring company who makes the harness for the 60-80 swap ill get in contact with them. And as for the PCM Nelson could incorporate the standard tranny into the programming?
So then, 5.3 parts,
-cam?
-exhaust?
-how about dumps, or cutout in the exhaust, make a diff other than sound?
-cold air intake
-how wide tires do ya have on your truck right now?
- hows the eaton workin out? there a reason you went with posi over locker?

I'll look back on my old computer at my favorites for that company. Nelson is the man when it comes to mail order tuning. He'll be able to hook you up with any mods you do.

Cam- absolutely! Alot of 5.3L guys are going with a Thunder Racing 220. I have the Thunder Racing 224, and would recommend it to anyone! Downfall is the powerband is in the 1600-6600 range, so I had to get at least a 3000 converter to keep me in the heart of the powerband. When you do a cam swap with a higher lift, you'll need to upgrade the springs. I have the Comp 918 springs(lift up to .600).

Exhaust-You'll want to get a set of long tube headers to help out that cam. Summit Racing sells Thorley long tubes for $430, which is an excellent price for long tube headers. Arizona Speed, the Other Guys

Headers, and other mid length headers will run anywhere from $600-up.
You might as well do a true dual setup with the headers. Bolt on trucks really don't get much of a gain from a true dual setup, but higher horsepower trucks can really benefit from it.

I'm running two long tube headers, right behind them two QTP electric cutouts, into a magnaflow x-pipe, then finally two dumped magnaflow mufflers. The cutouts really only help the top end of the powerband out, but you should see the look on peoples faces when the cam is hitting with open headers! It sounds like a freakin muscle car! I'll get a sound clip up of mine with the open headers.

Intake is a definate when you're modding. You'll need alot more airflow with the new setup. I would recommend Airaid, K&N, or the UPD setup. All three are high quality and have similar results.

Right now I'm running a 17X8.5 Boyd Coddington Timeless 6 with Nitto 255/50r17 extreme performance tires. They are completely worthless when it comes to hooking up out of the hole! They are an extremely hard tire, and I mainly got them for their higher speed performance and durability. At the track I run a BF Goodrich Drag radial (255/50r16) on a set of stock tahoe wheels. With a good burnout they do really good at the track and hook really hard on the street. They do look really short on the truck though, and I have a 3/4 drop. My next set of slicks will be the new Mickey Thompson street slicks. They are amazing!!!

I haven't gotten the Eaton in yet. I've been busy doing the holiday thing, so it's been put off until the first of January. I went with the Eaton over a locker because I commute 50 miles a day on the truck, through everthing from rain to ice. The Eaton is hands down the best posi unit available for our trucks when it comes to hard launches. It doesn't do like the stock posi(g80) and unlock when you need it most. I saw one 1.78 60ft time at the track, but the stock posi unlocked and I spun at about the 62ft mark. I'm making sure that won't happen again!!!

You might want to look at some light headwork as well. I have a simple stage 1 port/polish job and it really did wonders for me.

I'm going out tonight to have a little fun with the truck. I'll try to get some vids up if there is anything worth posting. :biggrin:

OKay so:
Cam: whats the diff between the 220 and 224? do both work in the 5.3 or is the 224 for the 6.0? h ow much the new springs worth? oh and can this swap be done with out pulling the engine? and, if i choose not to get headers but just a cat back in the mean time, will i still see some decent power gains from the cam?

As for exhaust, i just made a great vehicle contact, a custom rod buillder who wants to take me on as a bit of an apprentice, and he gonna help me build a stainless exhaust, sweeeeet. but the next question about the cutouts is will i lose power due to not keeping the appropriate backpressure or anything?

Im thinkin about the drop too, looks really amazing, whos a good company to get the springs and shackles from? and I know what you mean about theposi it sucks ass!

I know the only guy in town who does great head work too, an old buddy of mine, so if you are saying it works well, well then ill have to throw them his way!

Thanks for the continuing info, this is great! add me to yahoo if ya want, its Mech_02.

Take care.

I'll look back on my old computer at my favorites for that company. Nelson is the man when it comes to mail order tuning. He'll be able to hook you up with any mods you do.

Cam- absolutely! Alot of 5.3L guys are going with a Thunder Racing 220. I have the Thunder Racing 224, and would recommend it to anyone! Downfall is the powerband is in the 1600-6600 range, so I had to get at least a 3000 converter to keep me in the heart of the powerband. When you do a cam swap with a higher lift, you'll need to upgrade the springs. I have the Comp 918 springs(lift up to .600).

Exhaust-You'll want to get a set of long tube headers to help out that cam. Summit Racing sells Thorley long tubes for $430, which is an excellent price for long tube headers. Arizona Speed, the Other Guys

Headers, and other mid length headers will run anywhere from $600-up.
You might as well do a true dual setup with the headers. Bolt on trucks really don't get much of a gain from a true dual setup, but higher horsepower trucks can really benefit from it.

I'm running two long tube headers, right behind them two QTP electric cutouts, into a magnaflow x-pipe, then finally two dumped magnaflow mufflers. The cutouts really only help the top end of the powerband out, but you should see the look on peoples faces when the cam is hitting with open headers! It sounds like a freakin muscle car! I'll get a sound clip up of mine with the open headers.

Intake is a definate when you're modding. You'll need alot more airflow with the new setup. I would recommend Airaid, K&N, or the UPD setup. All three are high quality and have similar results.

Right now I'm running a 17X8.5 Boyd Coddington Timeless 6 with Nitto 255/50r17 extreme performance tires. They are completely worthless when it comes to hooking up out of the hole! They are an extremely hard tire, and I mainly got them for their higher speed performance and durability. At the track I run a BF Goodrich Drag radial (255/50r16) on a set of stock tahoe wheels. With a good burnout they do really good at the track and hook really hard on the street. They do look really short on the truck though, and I have a 3/4 drop. My next set of slicks will be the new Mickey Thompson street slicks. They are amazing!!!

I haven't gotten the Eaton in yet. I've been busy doing the holiday thing, so it's been put off until the first of January. I went with the Eaton over a locker because I commute 50 miles a day on the truck, through everthing from rain to ice. The Eaton is hands down the best posi unit available for our trucks when it comes to hard launches. It doesn't do like the stock posi(g80) and unlock when you need it most. I saw one 1.78 60ft time at the track, but the stock posi unlocked and I spun at about the 62ft mark. I'm making sure that won't happen again!!!

You might want to look at some light headwork as well. I have a simple stage 1 port/polish job and it really did wonders for me.

I'm going out tonight to have a little fun with the truck. I'll try to get some vids up if there is anything worth posting. :biggrin: