newbie questions for ls1 swap

[kewljay223]

hello everyone. i know im a newbie and i have searched this forum and others and have gained quite a bit of info on this subject and as you know it is quite confusing due to all the different configurations. so to let you know from the get go im not the person who wants to be spoon fed. i would just like a straight answer or a point in the right direction. my question is, is there a checklist for parts needed for this kind of swap. i have a 95 c1500 with a 350 tbi thats on its last leg and i love any kind of challenge when it comes to a motor vehicle. i restored a 69 mustang from scratch so im not afraid of anything. but its smog exempt so i didnt have any worrys of what went under the hood. but for the truck i need a new motor reguardless due to the fact that the smog guy told me a month ago that i passed but i will not pass in two years.... good news i got two years to do this. lol bad news, it NEEDS to be done. and to me since it needs to be done, im gonna have some fun with it!! i want an ls and its in my head so thats it! ha! i just want to know what exactly is needed to perform the swap. i want to do it all legally going thru bar regs and all. im looking at the 01 ish years cuz they seem to be somewhat plentifull. is my question open ended because it matters which year ls i choose or do they all basically have the same requirements in sensors and parts like that? i want to look for everything i need, i just dont know what the total check list of parts that i need is.. can anyone shed some light on this? thanks in adcance!

 

[DRAGGIN95]

If you haven't already check out this thread over at LS1 truck it will help you a lot http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/lsx-truck-conversions/9535-obs-lsx-conversion.html

 

[kewljay223]

If you haven't already check out this thread over at LS1 truck it will help you a lot http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/lsx-truck-conversions/9535-obs-lsx-conversion.html

yeah i read through that several times. good thread for sure. just still confused as too what parts i need exactly as in sensors and stuff for emissions requirements. ive heard something about the fuel tank needing to be used because of return lines or something like that but i havnt read anything stating that on this or the other forum... can i re-use my fuel tank? i think i see that i can keep my radiator and tranny cooler and ac pump but that seems to be about it right? so im looking for a motor/trans, ecu, harness, all sensors and pullies... and thats it? is it really that simple other than getting the harness married? am i missing anything?

 

[DRAGGIN95]

Ok well first off yes you can reuse your radiator, gas tank, transmission, ac compressor, your oil pressure sending unit and water temp sensor both need an adapter though but that's simple. I would try to buy an ls motor with everything you mentioned above, be sure if you buy a DBW engine that you also get the TAC module and gas pedal. I would suggest a company such as Nelson performance to modify your ls harness to make it work in your truck. You can even reuse your existing fuel lines up the fuel filter and after that there are adapter's that allow to use -06 AN hose's up to the fuel rail. For a fuel pump you could use a Walbro 255 that's what I have, or a Racetronic's pump, etc. The higher pressure pump will fit right in to your current fuel pump carrier.

 

[kewljay223]

Ok well first off yes you can reuse your radiator, gas tank, transmission, ac compressor, your oil pressure sending unit and water temp sensor both need an adapter though but that's simple. I would try to buy an ls motor with everything you mentioned above, be sure if you buy a DBW engine that you also get the TAC module and gas pedal. I would suggest a company such as Nelson performance to modify your ls harness to make it work in your truck. You can even reuse your existing fuel lines up the fuel filter and after that there are adapter's that allow to use -06 AN hose's up to the fuel rail. For a fuel pump you could use a Walbro 255 that's what I have, or a Racetronic's pump, etc. The higher pressure pump will fit right in to your current fuel pump carrier.

thank you!!! thats the kind of answer i was looking for. i have been searching the last couple hours for motors that i would like to use and the going rates and craigslist, etc.. i have found a few different ads that seem pretty decent. its just kinda scary to make a choice!! lol there are so many options. my thinking is that if im going to do a motor swap, i would like to have something that puts out a minimum of 300 ponies to make it worth my while. and i had in mind nothing less than a 5.7 but i came accross a 5.3 gen 4 (LY5?) that from the research i found is around 320hp??? is this correct? is this a decent motor? if i was to say go with another motor other than an "ls1" such as this LY5, the conversion will be basically the same as a ls1 correct?