496chevy

I have a history of doing stuff like this, swaps/conversions. In the past I have converted a few cars, most of them are mine except the nova, its one of my customers.
1993 mustang 5.0 w/T-5 to 2003 4.6 w/3650 5-speed and hydroboost
2001 Silverado R/C S/B 4.3 to a 5.3 kept the 4L60E (which i just sold 9/5/07)
1976 Nova 327 carb w/th350 to 5.3 FI w/4L60E
And now my 1987 Silverado!
Its a Short Bed, black exterior, black interior and either a 305 or 350 TBI under the hood backed by a 700r4. the motor/trans (less intake/TBI/wiring) was sold to a buddy of mine earlier this week. The TBI and wiring will go up for grabs on ebay.

So far I spent a little while getting this truck to bone stock before I start. It had alot of wierd wiring for some off the shelf electronics... got rid of that!! it also had some 15x10 weld racing wheels on all 4 corners which went bye-bye.. here we are now, bone stock.
Now on to the good stuff! I will do my best to make my thread as detailed as possible on this type of conversion. I will include wiring diagrams, pictures and a general how-to. This will all be going up on my website, some of you might remember it www.87chevy.com. It hosted my baby, my last 87chevy - build 496, built th-400, built 9" 3.55 gears w/a detroit locker, and the stock 2pc drive shaft that never gave in!

My original plan was to get a 6.0 and a 4L80E, but that would have been 2100.. the 6.0 block is the same as a 5.3, just bored out, plus the slightly better heads.... that being said i went with a 5.3 and 4L60E

I got one heck of a deal today:
2004 motor (throttle bodies switched to cable) complete top to bottom, front to back!
2002 transmission w/converter, driveshaft yoke, 2002 wiring harness w/matching computer + computer bracket, all radiator hoses, accessories, coolant tank, throttle cable, a/c lines, MAF sensor, transmission lines (without optional 2nd trans cooler), 1st part of the exhaust (right before cat converter) plus the o2 sensors for a mear 1550 including tax!I purchased a new 6.0 radiator and used 2005 style electric fan for the 2001 silverado that never got installed, but with this new conversion, they will be going into my 87! Since I work at a chevy dealership I got the radiator below cost (whole sale dealers)
Too bad I purchased the trans lines and a driveshaft yoke from this same yard about a month earlier... bummer, guess they will go up for sale soon!

My plan is to make my own adapter plates and test fit the engine/trans this weekend. Yes I know you can buy theses adapter plates online but they are 100 bucks. Its only 3/8 steel or aluminum with some holes drilled in there (its all in the R*D)... since I have some 3/8 aluminum leftover, I will attempt to make my own plates. Im sure I will accomplish this, and a template will follow suit.

First things first, get my trucks engine bay cleaned and ready for its new drivetrain. Then the drive train will get cleaned and the trans will get a coat of paint.

till next post,
clint

496chevy

heres a link to it on fullsizechevy.com : http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums/...ml#post2802198

here are some pictures so far:










just like my mustang conversion, the passenger side header goes on almost with no effort. had to bust out the hammer once again. all that was needed was a good beating on one tube. i might go back and notch the frame 1/4 inch along the frame where that one tube is close... just for engine torqe, i dont want to crush it too much more.
the drivers side... just like the mustang. this time only one tube will have to be re worked. number 4 (rear tube) has a crazy bend that hits the control arm. no biggie, plus the collector will need to cut and re-welded strait. to describe it, the collector kicks out towards the drivers side door.

i wont be using these ls1 headers for one reason. not that i cant weld, but ***, my buddys t/a was so low, the bottom 2 tubes on the d-side was so flattened, i just cant work with that. i will just spend some dough on a new pair of truck headers.
clint

CarmineSHOW

good write up man.

SBTork

iTrader: (5)

awesome, keep the updates coming, can't wait to see some more progress

496chevy

i ordered the last of my parts i need. ... already got the new radiator.. ordered pacesetter truck headers, fuel lines/fittings. so all i need to do is get them made up (once i get them from ups wed) and install them. once i get the fuel lines and trans lines done, i will pull the motor, paint the inner fender, frame and decipher the wiring and fire it up... looks like i should fire it up next weekend if i get 2 full weekends in. woot
clint

RandomHero

iTrader: (24)

Looks good, but just so you know the 6.0 and 5.3 don't shart the same block. The 6.0 has a lot more meat on it. It's the same reason why you can't build a 408 with a 5.3L or even an ls1 block.

SBTork

iTrader: (5)

what kind of pacesetter headers did you order?

496chevy

cool, thanks for the info.. explains why 4.8/5.3 is stamped on the block and 6.0 is stamped only on a 6.0.
as far as the headers i ordered, i just went with the truck style headers.. i will se how they fit under the truck frame.. i hope they dont sag or require a but load of modification... if so, il just return them and get ls1 headers...

today i made very little progress... small stuff like sliding the steering column closer to the dash for my long **** arms, figuring out where a connector went on the 87.. cough.. i over complicated the connector lol... and flared the fuel filter line to accept the tube nut and sleeve i put on there.

is there any way to know by looking at a hose to know if its high pressure or not? reason i ask is the stock 87 has dual tanks which has a switching valve on it. from the pressure port of the switching valve it has a rubber hose then a metal line crimped onto the rubber line forming one line. so this line connects the switching valve to the fuel filter. i would like to know if this rubber is high pressure or not.
thanks
clint

SBTork

iTrader: (5)

I think it should be high pressure line because of TBI. TBI only puts out 12-14 psi though, I do not know if that would be ok for the 5.3 use.

496chevy

thats what im wondeing about... hopefully this weekend i can at the least do a fuel pressure test. i will (should have) installed the fuel pressure line and return line (high pressure fuel hose), and hopefully found a wiring diagram for the dual tanks on the 87. i need to find a schematic so i can tap power into it.
hey sbtork the 87-c10 you got, its a r10..
tomarrow should be chaulked full of updates!
clint