1989 Suburban 2500 Full L83 6L80 build

[amberkalvin]

Okay as exciting as that title is, its finally happening. I'm getting some LS/LT swap going on in my life. Always wanted to swap something but never had the time or money.

In doing all of the research I have finally decided on an L83 out of a 2015 Silverado. A little more money up front and cost involved in the swap, but it's the latest and greatest unless we're talking that E-Rod thing that GM came out with and I am not doing that.

This is where we'll start. I picked up this suburban making a terrible knocking noise only when you start it or shut it off. It also had a terrible drivability issue that turned out to be a simple fuel pump problem. It's a TBI 454 TH400 truck. Knowing exactly what that sound was upon checking the truck out I made the dude an offer and I was off. You know what that sound is, I'm sure most of you on there are much smarter than I am but if you guessed the torque converter bolts you'd be right. So get it running and driving great and ac all fixed now I'm driving it for 6 months and boom, I sell my K5 which is going to fund this whole ordeal.

Now, on to the pics of the truck:










My daughter approves


So does the wife


Various other photos of the truck the day I bought it






























Don't mind my messy garage. It's a whole ordeal to keep it clean enough to use. And that 5.3 In the back you see here is for a buddy's Regal we're doing a Turbo set up on.


Now tossing around the idea of a LS, I was truly thinking 6.2 was the way I wanted to go, but just got so excited about the LT engines and their performance for price and couldn't resist. I also watched a couple YouTube videos on the differences between the LS and the LT and there's pretty much nothing the same on the two motors. But if I'm going to be doing a swap and seeking performance and fuel economy I might as well shoot for the stars.

Richard holdener has a great LT 5.3 dyno video up and it kinda sold me. So engine should be here in the next couple weeks. gotta order some brackets and what not to make it work, anyone have any tips or recommendations? I'm leaning toward PSI conversion for the harness and PCM TCM tuning and dirty dingo for motor mounts and all the bracket stuff. Holley oil pan, aeromotive fuel pump, blah blah blah.

I promise this build won't be as extravagant as the beautiful trucks I see on here so please don't get your hopes up but it will be successful and I do want it to look better than an average swap.