My Ls Swap project

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TonyM

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Since the old 7.4 was tired and burned gas without making any power I decided to swap it. I bought a donor truck last year, a 2002 Truck with 156,000km on it that was smashed and started collecting the parts I needed until I was ready to pull the trigger. I reworked the harness myself in my spare time, stripping what wasn’t needed and rerouting things for a little cleaner look. The truck was a dbc but I swapped it out for a dbw tb. I used a 94 diesel pedal. E fans are from the same 05 truck the tb, tac module, and ecu came from. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when the alternator went on the 454 and I figured instead of wasting money on a new one, I pulled the engine and started the swap. I was surprised how everything pretty much went together without any real hiccups and it started on the first crank. Drove it around for about a week and a half and first gear in the th400 decided to say bye bye. Built 4l60e coming next. Didn’t take many pics but here are a few. The first pic is the tow haul button I installed for when the new tranny shows up the green led on the far right in the cluster lights up when tow haul activated
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L31MaxExpress

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Hate to be the one, but a stock 150K mile 4L80E pulled from the mud in the junkyard for $300 is a stronger more durable transmission than a Level Infinity 4L60E.
 

Drunkcanuk

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Dang.....that a nice clean install, well done. More pics of the gauges and what's going on there would be appreciated.
 

TonyM

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Hate to be the one, but a stock 150K mile 4L80E pulled from the mud in the junkyard for $300 is a stronger more durable transmission than a Level Infinity 4L60E.

For me the problem with the 4l80e is the taller 1st gear and the power it robs. The truck is just a cruiser/toy. This is my first swap so I'm keeping everything relatively stock. I've got an 88 rcsb 2wd that will be getting a swap and a turbo or 2 next.
 

L31MaxExpress

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For me the problem with the 4l80e is the taller 1st gear and the power it robs. The truck is just a cruiser/toy. This is my first swap so I'm keeping everything relatively stock. I've got an 88 rcsb 2wd that will be getting a swap and a turbo or 2 next.
The 1-2 shift split kills anything the lower 1st gear gains. 0-60 I was quicker with a 4L85E that had the stock high stall converter in it than I was with a 4L60E and stock high stall converter. Mildly cammed 350 with headers pulling around a 3.42 geared van. The power difference to drive a 4L80E/4L85E vs 4L60E is minimal compared to the durability increase even in a relatively stock setup. Keep in mind GM even used the 4L80E behind some 4.3L and 4.8L where the 60E would have burned up in no time.
 

TonyM

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The 1-2 shift split kills anything the lower 1st gear gains. 0-60 I was quicker with a 4L85E that had the stock high stall converter in it than I was with a 4L60E and stock high stall converter. Mildly cammed 350 with headers pulling around a 3.42 geared van. The power difference to drive a 4L80E/4L85E vs 4L60E is minimal compared to the durability increase even in a relatively stock setup. Keep in mind GM even used the 4L80E behind some 4.3L and 4.8L where the 60E would have burned up in no time.
Lol are you sure you hate "being the one" :)

See thats thing, I don't care about 0-60, cams, hi stall, etc with this truck.
Dang.....that a nice clean install, well done. More pics of the gauges and what's going on there would be appreciated.
How’s this? Nothing crazy going on. Just an eBay set the wife got me for Christmas couple years ago. Made a bezel out of lexan and texture coated it to match the exterior. LEDs are from Amazon, left too right they’re alt, ses, Brake, oil and tow/haul. Pretty much everything is using the factory wire harness behind the cluster
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TonyM

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I like it. Do the LEDs dim? Or are they full boar at night, I would find that annoying.
No they don’t dim unfortunately. But the good thing is they only come on when something is wrong
 
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