My 97 4.3 has an oil leak at the pan and timing cover. Quoted price to fix it was almost what the truck is worth so I'm thinking swap time. I spoke with a shop that wanted to do a 5th gen L83 but it was going to be about 13k because of all the extra stuff you have add like power steering and gauges etc and labor (I don't have room to do it and have 3 fused vertebrae so that makes it difficult). LS swap wasn't going to be much cheaper.
I have an unused 383 small block sitting in the garage. Unfortunately I live in an emissions county and from what I've read it will always have to have OBDII functionality. My first thought was finding a 97 vortec and swapping the intake and accessories over, but also would need to do the 411 pcm swap for tuning. Then I had an epiphany and figured why couldn't I start with the 2002 Express intake and harness and 411 PCM that's got the right base tune. I've got the heads and cam and crank triggers figured out. I would also probably need truck frame mounts. Is there anything else obvious I'm missing that would prevent the swap?
I have an unused 383 small block sitting in the garage. Unfortunately I live in an emissions county and from what I've read it will always have to have OBDII functionality. My first thought was finding a 97 vortec and swapping the intake and accessories over, but also would need to do the 411 pcm swap for tuning. Then I had an epiphany and figured why couldn't I start with the 2002 Express intake and harness and 411 PCM that's got the right base tune. I've got the heads and cam and crank triggers figured out. I would also probably need truck frame mounts. Is there anything else obvious I'm missing that would prevent the swap?
