1985 K10 Project budget LS swap

[chevyman95]

I have owned this 1985 K10 for about 3 years now. I used to only love the short beds then I actually owned a long bed and now in 4x4 I think its the way to go. It already had a 4" lift and 33" tires on it. Unfortunately the tranny bit the dust and lost 3rd and 4th gear. So I decided to swap in a fuel injected 5.3l with a 4L60E. I also plan on cleaning up the redoing the interior and a general clean up on the whole truck.

[chevyman95]

Here is a pic. (Unfortunately I had to sell the 66 to get some money for this project and to repaint and fix some stuff on the house)

[chevyman95]

In garage finally, took the front clip off for easy access. Got the motor pulled. Scary thing is the transmission to motor bolts were literally finger tight. No clue what was going on there. Same with the header bolts. Explains the whispering. The PO welded on the headers so I jacked up a couple spark plugs on the way out. I loaned out my sawzall unfortunately. Motor is out though. Tranny and transfer case next.

[chevyman95]

Needs a little cleaning I would say

[chevyman95]

Donor rig, picked this up off Craigslist for $1200. It has a 5.3l and a 4l60E (4x4) interior is pretty trashed and the rear end is going out. It has more miles than I wanted at 225,000 but the motor runs strong. I doubt I will put more than 7500 miles a year on it so I'll freshen it up a little and should be alright. I bought a whole truck because I like to see how these things come apart and I know I have most of what I need. I will part this thing out and hopefully have a pretty cheap motor.

[chevyman95]

Sold the 350 for $500 in about 15 minutes on a Facebook group. Makes me wonder if I should have asked for more. Oh well. Here's my cost breakdown so far

Truck- $2200 (3 years ago when it had a good tranny)
Donor- $1200
Motor- -$500
Total- $2900

About to go up quite a bit as I'm ordering parts. About to purchase a steering box, tie rod ends, steering coupler, lift arm, and misc pieces to fix my wandering steering and ensure it drives like new. Probably going to leave the ball joints, bushings, and other pieces alone as they seem good for now.

[Dax]

I've got an 86 that looks alot like yours and I'm wanting to do the same thing. I'm still in the planning stages, probably a couple years out. Got 2 kids in college right now, so funds are limited!

Will be watching your build closely. Good luck!

[Wwes]

Sub'd. Awesome project

[chevyman95]

Been super busy with work/family/fall stuff but dropped the transfer case and tranny today. Started taking the LM7 out of the Suburban as well.