Drunkcanuk
I'm Awesome
It needs to be a sticky of it's own!This is officially the longest message I’ve ever personally seen on this forum
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It needs to be a sticky of it's own!This is officially the longest message I’ve ever personally seen on this forum
I based all my comments off of your original post where you said the engine and transmission were doing fine enough and you would wait till they "let go" and then look at an LS and transmission swap. You complained about the towing up hills. I stated to do the gears and asked what gear you have and then guessed at a gear ratio I had never heard of.What are you even on about? I didn't disregard you, I quite literally gave you what you asked for, I just didn't do it at 10pm on a Monday. My post isn't about an inexpensive towing rig, it's about how feasible dropping an LS into this chassis is. I understand I'm going to be out thousands of dollars. That's the hobby after all.
The rear gear isn't ideal but it gets the job done for now, eventually I will change it. What good is 4.10 if the 700r4 explodes or the 350 drops a cylinder? An LS AND 4.10 gearing is possible. Those are not impossible things to combine. Regardless, this truck does a great job towing anyway in it's current condition, the question has and always will be for how long? In the year I've had it, it makes monthly trips to the metal yard with 2k in bed, has towed 8k in the form of a 67 Caprice and 25ft trailer from Chicago to Saint Louis getting 13 MPG @ 55mph, towed a Miata from the hills of Branson MO, did 16 hours round trip to Krakow Wisconsin to pick up the fun car. It did and does great, but for how much longer?
The 700r4 is a good transmission, I have never doubted that, I never said anything to even imply I didn't think that. MY particular 700r4 isn't very good, if I were to drop the pan I would probably find 17lbs of clutch material on the bottom. I would keep it and rebuild it, but if I'm going for a modern engine wouldn't it make sense to put a modern transmission in it? You wouldn't put a 2016 engine in your tow truck paired to a powerglide because it's "a good transmission."
Whether or not the 350 is stems or rings doesn't matter to me because I don't plan on keeping it. "The 350 and 700r4 are doing fine enough" doesn't mean they're factory fresh, it means I turn the key and it still stumbles to life and starts driving with a smoke and oil trail. I don't understand what the resistance is to wanting to plan ahead and have some stuff ready so that I can drop a fresh engine and trans in maybe before the truck leaves me stranded in the middle of nowhere while towing something. "Maintenance pays & breakdowns cost" and there sure as hell hasn't been any maintenance done to this truck in it's life and I'd bet it's probably too late to start now so I think I'm just left with breakdowns.
Just because it's numbers matching doesn't make it good.
This right here is the kinda stuff I needed. Thank you. I figured it would be this easy, most Chevy stuff is. How complicated does it get to get the power steering pump and AC to go where it used to? I saw on that real long post that there are adapters I can buy. How bad was moving the cross member? Just drill new holes or do some already exist?Sorry if I'm late to the party, but thought I'd offer some insight from my LS swap in my '89 truck. Don't go crazy on cam selection. A low lift cam of around .550" or less and short duration (208/214) should give you the torque you need. Choose a better stall convertor (2200-2500) will help the engine with your gears for pulling. Get slider type mounts to position your engine/trans in a position where you can run your stock driveshaft and column shifter. It'll require you to move the stock trans. crossmember back about 2". Stock exhaust manifolds will work, but manifolds from V8 trailblazers/envoys/raniers will fit closer to the engine block (everybody says go trailblazer SS manifolds, but guess what, they're all the same). Most of your truck's engine wiring for the TBI and ECM wiring won't be needed, as LS 's use their own PCM and harness(go aftermarket). These harnesses will have the necessary fusing and relays for your fuel pump and fans. Keep your engine's temp. and oil pressure senders/wiring for your gauges. Pretty much, that's it. I would recommend using a gauge cluster from 92-94 for speedometer compatibility with the PCM. If you can weld, making an exhaust system shouldn't be too complicated
You can buy brackets to mount the A/C compressor. Or....there is a thread here about modifying a old pre Vortec 4.3L mount. Check ICT Billet for sure and possibly Dirty Dingo for those brackets.This right here is the kinda stuff I needed. Thank you. I figured it would be this easy, most Chevy stuff is. How complicated does it get to get the power steering pump and AC to go where it used to? I saw on that real long post that there are adapters I can buy. How bad was moving the cross member? Just drill new holes or do some already exist?
It didn't seem to me, to be a difficult thing to do. Just time consuming.1991 GMC C2500 5.7 700r4, I use it exclusively as a toy hauler. It takes my car to the track, and brings poor marketplace decisions home, I do not want to put an LS in it to make 500,000 horsepower. I have no interest in going fast in this old ass truck LOL. Now that we've got that out of the way; how easy is LS swapping?
Right now my 350 and 700r4 are doing fine enough, I've towed about 8k with it and other than hills, it did fine.... however, this combination if I'm to believe the odo has 214k on it and I know it won't last forever. I figure when the 350 or the 700r4 lets go, I'll swap something modern into the truck and keep it on the road for as long as possible. Either a 5.7 or a 6.0 paired with a 4l80e, really whatever I can find. What all goes into this? Does anyone have a definitive parts list? Will I have to move my trans crossmember around? Are there kits that I can't find because Google is just useless nowadays? What's the difference between Vortec and LS, is one easier than the other?
I just want to turn the key and get to towing at the end of the swap