Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

The wires that run to the fuel pump are in one of the harnesses that bolt to the underside of the big under hood fuse box. You've probably already unhooked them.

That looks perfectly normal to me, and the fluid around it looks nice and red. I would change the filter and run it, especially if you say it was shifting fine.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

Oh ok. I will trace the only harness left that went to the fuse block which is the one that goes under the truck on the driver side. I have to drop the tank anyway as it is required to be able to take it to the scrap yard. I have to empty it out.

Well that is great news on the trans then. I was really thinking it was not a good sign seeing all the stuff on there and had already called shops about a rebuild. So I will run it as is and just replace the filter. Thanks a lot.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

yes I 2nd the trans...that is normal accumulation of fine metallic on the magnet.
clean pan, filter, fresh dex VI, good to go.

for pulling, I usually use the upper most, inner bolts...so that the chain doesn't damage the valve covers.
it doesn't look like a whole lot of aluminum there around the bolt holes...but they are plenty strong. I use the bolts like you have there, if they are threaded in with engaged thread of ~ 1" should be fine.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

Well they are finally out and it feels good. now the fun begins, and all the questions.

I ended up going to lowes and getting some bolts to use instead of using the originals. I just didn't want to damaged any of them.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

This was one of the casualties. I don't even know what it is. So what do I need to be looking for and is it expensive?

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

Some more questions before the donor goes to crap metal:

Do I need the donor Throttle cable or will I be using my 85 cable?

what about the transmission shifting cable or any part of it from the donor, do I need to keep to use?

do I need to keep any part of the exhaust after the Y?

This last one is just something that I just thought about looking at the donor engine bay, what about brake master and booster, are any of these two of any use/benefit and easily adaptable to the truck?

thanks.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

Can't answer any of your questions exactly. Mine is DBW. I'd save it just in case. I also went to some trouble to get the entire transmission shift cable which required dash dissassembly to get to the back of the column to disconnect it. I'll be replacing the column so not sure how it will work out.

I tossed the whole exhaust. The muffler was the size of a VW bug.

I also upgraded the brakes on mine already. I assume the booster and master could be made to work or was of some value to somebody else.

I probably kept too much. I still have a pile of parts I'm trying to sell....

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

well i have some concerns from what i see with regards to the head and maybe the engine.

my plan was to just swap the engine and not do any major work but from what you all see, do you think i will need major work on the engine or maybe the heads.

here are some pic of the intake and exhaust valves two from each side as you can see one of the intake valve has oil on top of it.

please let me know what you think. thanks.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

It's got 155k on it, it isn't going to look brand new. Since it was your Suburban, you should know better than anyone how well it ran. If it ran good then put it in and go with it, then if you have an issue down the road, take care of it then, but worrying about every little detail will most likely cost you more and could lead to you getting burned out on the project.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

No you're exactly right on all that.

I guess more than anything I wanted to get a feel for what all that shows meant and if it were obvious sings hat it was bout done. I am hoping that I can get another 50k out of it just the way it looks in there before anything is needed.

Now that was or better yet, it is still the plan and for exactly the same reason you mention, I don't want to dump a lot of money in it only to get burned out before it is done. I have seen lots of high build threads that just went cold.

As far as the engine, its true, it was running good and no noticeable issues other then the codes for knock sensors. So we'll continue plowing ahead.

thanks a lot.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

It’s been a while since we had any progress on this swap, but I am hoping that now that the weather has turned and the 99 degree weather is gone I can get some good progress done before the really cold days set in, so I will start to post all my questions and issues that I am facing and hope to get some guidance as to what the best options for my needs are or will be.

I did get my engine cleaned up so now it’s ready to start with all the work.


Here are some pics of the engine after I pulled off covers and pan. But as discussed before at this point I am not leaning towards rebuilding the engine just yet. Now one thing I did forget to mention before was that I could hear lifter(s) upon initial start-up, but it would go away after a minute or so I might go into replacing these. New gaskets and seals, oil pump and timing chain for starters.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

Following,
Ron

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

if you change the oil pump keep in mind that the new one has to be shimmed..
most gaskets on a LS can be reused..so if it aint leaking id leave em alone...
if you look at at the timing change itll be loose..if you put a new one on itll be loose as well..
my 99 z71 had 285000 on it when I sold it 6 yrs ago....the guy that bought it is still driving it...only thing on the engine thats been changed is the water pump
if your worried about the oil on the valves then new valve seals are a simple swap...easy to do it now with the engine out of the truck

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

That looks a lot better than the 5.3 I just slid into my suburban. Keep plugging away. It will go together quickly as soon as all the parts are there and ready.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

so i have been collecting all the parts that i need for the engine. mainly gaskets and seals, timing chain set and oil pump, for the most part i think i got all that i need but a few odds and ends.

Also got my mounts.
I decided to go with Tejas Steel Works to be able to use my stock oil pan and keep my a/c in the LM7 stock location. i still need to paint them but...

on a side note; the truck will be taking its last drive tomorrow to empty out the gas tank before i start removing the engine and funny how things work, a lifter has started to make noise upon start up every morning for about week now. well that's what it sounds lie to me, it sounds like marbles hitting together on the passenger side.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

I have also been patiently working on cleaning some of the part that can be cleaned; valley pan cover, oil pan, pick-up tube, windage tray, front/rear covers and all bolts. I was pretty surprised how good they cleaned up with the cleaning solution from Summit with almost no scrubbing effort just had to let them soak for a while.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

Here is how the pan and all other covers looked like... I know they are not going to be seen nor will it give me extra HP, but i just couldn't throw them back on looking the way they were, lol.

Re: 85 C10 "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 5.3 Swap
 

so along the lines of clean parts affecting performance.
I know that my engine was working ok in my suburban but in the case of my valves and intake/exhaust ports looking like they do, how is the engine affected by this. and I ask to see if the benefits of cleaning them would out weight the cost/effort at all. I tried vacuuming as much of the small debris as I could, but some still remains and that worries me. maybe it is nothing to worry about therefore, i ask.

some have mentioned that if it was running before I should be ok and I understand that. I can go with that, but i am just wanting to weight benefit vs cost, effort I don't mind at all specially now that its open. thanks again.