A little late into my swap

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AgentYager

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Around October of 2019, I took inventory of my donor vehicle (drove it from Daytona beach to the other coast) and as soon as I got it home, I started tearing into it.
Donor: 2002 1500 z71 5.3/4l60e
Going into: 1989 c1500 5.0/5lm60

Im keeping the standard trans and engine parts incase I come across another beater that is in need.

Once I got the donor engine and trans, I started acquiring parts to go through the engine and reseal everything. Well, that kind of snowballed and I ended up with a TSP stage 3 lowlift, ls6 valve springs, new rockers with trunion upgrade and ls2 timing chain. I also added a melling high volume oil pump, ls7 lifters and zzp 5/16th 7.4" pushrods. I also installed a billet oil bypass barbell and billet oil pickup tube girdle. I took my time building this as it was my first build and I didn't want to screw it up.

I then moved on to the trans, I ended up getting a new tail shaft and 2wd output shaft and had that put in as I'm not comfortable gutting the trans quite yet.

Engine and trans were good to go so I went ahead and started removing the anemic 305 to make way for the new engine and trans. While I was in there, I started thinning out the truck's stock harness of things i no longer needed. I ended using dirty dingo mounts and slid the engine and trans in and everything bolted in with no problem.

I reworked the stock 5.3 harness to work as a standalone and then installed that.

For exhaust, I used schoenfield swap headers which I had to strip down and refinish.
Test Fitting:
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Stripping:
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Welding on Vbands:
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Not the greatest welder, but it's there.

Finished and installed Product:
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AgentYager

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Part number for the headers is 1302ls1 and they do work with the Dirty Dingo swap mounts (DD-2550C).
 

AgentYager

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I fabricated my own 3 inch exhaust into a high flow cat and a magnaflow muffler.
I started with:
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Half way there:
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All sealed up and ready for paint.
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Painted:
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RDF1

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Just be warned that oil pump can suck the pan dry fast.
If your going to hang the rpms up there above 5000 you might want to add some more oil. I always run 7 quarts in a 6 quart pan.
 

Jglew82

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Wow, other than mine being a 6.0 and DBW, this is almost exactly what I did with my swap, even your 3" exhaust and headers with V-bands are identical to mine! I put a one-in-two-out Flowmaster 70 series, and I love the way it sounds.
 

Nickpisp

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I'm building one with the same cam but its a 6.0 with 706 heads, it's going in my '93.
 

L31MaxExpress

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I have tuned several swaps. A couple of 5.3s and some 6.0Ls. All revs and no real low-end power. Never have really been impressed by any of them. I went with a cammed 8.1 in my Tahoe. Tahoe is on 305/50R20s with a 3.42 rear and a 4L80E with a stock converter. Way cheaper, much quicker and still gets 17-18 mpg highway. I used a takeout 8.1 HO marine cam that had break-in and dyno time only. The HO 8.1 makes 450 hp @ 5,100 rpm with headers and 550 tq @ 3,600 rpm. Bolts directly in place of the small block. I went DBW using a 6.5 diesel pedal and the early 8.1 TB and TAC module. I left the axle torque limit and propellor shaft torque limits for the 8.5 rear end in an 02 Van. Have not had any issues with the rear end yet. DBW limits the throttle opening to about 65% in first gear due to those torque limits but it still pulls STRONG.
 
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Jglew82

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I have tuned several swaps. A couple of 5.3s and some 6.0Ls. All revs and no real low-end power. Never have really been impressed by any of them. I went with a cammed 8.1 in my Tahoe. Tahoe is on 305/50R20s with a 3.42 rear and a 4L80E with a stock converter. Way cheaper, much quicker and still gets 17-18 mpg highway. I used a takeout 8.1 HO marine cam that had break-in and dyno time only. The HO 8.1 makes 450 hp @ 5,100 rpm with headers and 550 tq @ 3,600 rpm. Bolts directly in place of the small block. I went DBW using a 6.5 diesel pedal and the early 8.1 TB and TAC module. I left the axle torque limit and propellor shaft torque limits for the 8.5 rear end in an 02 Van. Have not had any issues with the rear end yet. DBW limits the throttle opening to about 65% in first gear due to those torque limits but it still pulls STRONG.

I think by now we all know your disapproval of the LS platform vs what you are running, but why put that in his build thread? Let the man enjoy his swap and the project he chose, the way he chose it.
 

L31MaxExpress

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I think by now we all know your disapproval of the LS platform vs what you are running, but why put that in his build thread? Let the man enjoy his swap and the project he chose, the way he chose it.
Only brought it up because several had commented about other swaps. I did a LQ4 6.0L/Lloyd Elliot ported 706 head swap (2.00 intake valves, milled 0.020" with a stock thickness head gasket and BTR double springs) with an Elgin cam in an 87 G20 with a 4L80E behind it too. Used the NBS intake & injectors off a LMG 5.3 and DBW TB. Speed Engineering shorties. Even weighing in at 4,200 lbs with a 3.73 gear I feel it lacks torque.
 
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